A complaint alleging that Karen DuBois-Walton, who is exploring a run for mayor in New Haven, was acting contrary to the federal Hatch Act has been closed and no violation found, according to a member of the exploratory committee. Will Viederman, who is coordinating the committee filed by DuBois-Walton in early March, said she received a call from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel sharing the news. A spokesman for the office said it never comments on cases. A message was left for DuBois-Walton. The main question, which would have given OSC jurisdiction, was whether DuBois-Waltons compensation as executive director for the New Haven Housing Authority/Elm City Communities, was funded 100 percent with federal money. The Hatch Act limits political activities of federal workers, as well as some state and local employees who work under federally funded programs. The laws (Hatch Act) purposes are to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation, according to the OSC website. Prior to the announcement by Viederman, an attorney for the Office of Special Counsel, speaking to the Register in general terms, said total salary coverage with federal money was key to an investigation. The complaint, which had been filed in recent weeks, questioned DuBois-Waltons actions in forming an exploratory committee, as well as raising close to $70,000 for a potential campaign and other activities, while she was still the executive director. Viederman said DuBois-Walton has a base salary of $205,113 of which $143,185 comes from federal funds. A report filed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2018 on Housing Authority executive salaries, said $143,185 of the executive directors salary that year, as well, came from federal Sec. 8 and Sec. 9 grants. Viederman said the remaining source of revenue to cover her salary is all non-federal funds for development services and non-federal subsidy property management services. He said for her 13 years as executive director/president of Elm City Communities, her salary was never paid with only federal funds. Viederman said it was split across multiple funding sources because ECCs work has not been solely public housing and voucher operations. Paying her entirely with federal funds for her work that is not federal would have been a violation of federal funding guidelines and would have resulted in audit findings and corrective actions. The authority this week approved a leave of absence for DuBois-Walton from her executive position starting May 1 until Sept. 30 or such further time as may be in the best interests of the authority. The Democratic Town Committee mayoral nominations will take place in late July; petitions to run for the office for candidates not endorsed have to be filed by Aug. 11; the Democratic primary is Sept. 14. Until the Hatch Act was revised in 2012, anyone whose duties were connected to federal funds, no matter how small, could not seek elected office and continue in their jobs. An attorney in the Office of Special Counsel, familiar with the Hatch Act, said two other factors that would have to be in place, after meeting the 100 percent federal funding marker, in order to run afoul of the act. She said the election has to be a partisan affair and certain actions viewed as testing the waters, such as forming an exploratory committee, engaging in fundraising and canvassing for voter support, while short of a formal announcement, constitute candidacy under the Hatch Act. DuBois-Walton has an exploratory website at https://karenduboiswalton.com/ where she talks about her vision for New Haven and where supporters can make a contribution. Rose Eveleth, author of the new book Flash Forward and host of the podcast by the same name, is your guest newsletter writer for this weekend. Sign up to receive the newsletter every other Saturday. Writing about the future is daunting. Its hard not to imagine future cynics, tenting their fingers and chortling about just how wrong you werethe way that we do when we look back at past predictions. (We still dont have flying cars, after all.) The future is a strange creature, full of tentacles that you cant quite keep track of even if you know how many there are. Advertisement Take the current pandemic, for example. For years, experts had warned that the next pandemic was a question of when, not if. It was a certainty that it would happen at some point, probably soon. On my podcast, Flash Forward, I did a pandemic episode in July 2018, walking listeners through all the ways it might go, the agencies that would respond, whether travel bans would work, and the like. The U.S. government did several simulations to walk through how to respond best to a novel virus like SARS-CoV-2. And yet, well, I dont have to tell you how things went. Suffice to say that it doesnt seem like all those predictions and simulations did very much good. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement So imagine my mental state, in March 2020, as I tried to finish a book about the future that I knew wouldnt come out until 2021. All around me, the world was being flipped upside down in both surprising and unsurprising ways. While the virus itself was novel, a lot of the problems that made this pandemic so bad for so many people in the United States and beyond arent new. Income inequality, racism, the gutting of the social safety net, the rise of conspiracy-theory-as-political-ideology, all of these topics addressed before on Flash Forward. Even with the certainty that what I was seeing made sense, was a logical outgrowth of trends Id covered for years, nothing felt sensical at all. Advertisement For many people, the pandemic created a mind-bending combination of certainty and uncertainty. For those who were able to stay home and shelter in place, days become monotonous and repeating, with a constant, paralyzing dread about what would happen. If you want to make people unhappy, one of the best ways to do it is to tell them that something bad will happen soon, but not tell them when. This is the feeling all my work tries to fight against, and its what I hope people take from the Flash Forward book as well. The future is uncertain by definition, but that uncertainty doesnt have to be paralyzing. Thinking through the possibilities, imagining what might happen, can actually make us healthier, happier, and less afraid. Even imagining dark scenarios offers us a blueprint for what to avoid, and how. Perhaps the best email Ive ever gotten in the nearly six years of making Flash Forward is one from a woman who told me that she felt less afraid, and more prepared for the pandemic because she went back and listened to that 2018 episode. Advertisement Advertisement Many chapters of the Flash Forward book offer an escape from our present reality: living underwater, living in space, living in a world where gender is malleable for everybody. There is no pandemic-related chapter (thankfully), but there is one about death, something that far too many people have close encounters with over the past year. And if theres anything that a futurist can reasonably predict, its that well all at some point die. What happens next is the hard part. The above is adapted from Flash Forward by Rose Eveleth. Copyright by Rose Eveleth. Reprinted by permission of Abrams ComicArts. All rights reserved. Its Future Tense Fiction day! This months story is Congratulations on Your Loss, by Catherine Lacey, author of Pew, The Answers, and Nobody Is Ever Missing. Its a tale of facial recognition and trusting technology over your own senses. In the response essay, human rights lawyer Nani Jansen Reventlow writes, As we continue automating our lives, entrusting important decisions to technology in not only our justice system, but also in welfare, health care, and schooling, we need to continually pause and ask ourselves critical questions. Advertisement And here are some articles from the recent past of Future Tense. Advertisement Clara McMichael Opponents of Myanmars Coup Have Adopted a Controversial New Tactic to Fight Back Online Yasmin Tayag The Really Surprising Thing About Fully Vaccinated People Who Get COVID-19 Aaron Mak It Will Take a Lot More Than Money to Get Internet to Every American Stephen Harrison Fake Reddit Post Starts Serious Debate About Video Game Accessibility Hana Schank and Tara Dawson McGuinness What Happened When the U.S. Government Tried to Make the Immigration System Digital Future Tense Recommends Ive been thinking a lot about how we might remember the Earth in the future, after humans have ravaged even more of its ecosystems (happy Earth day?) and as part of that depressing exercise I recently resisted a podcast called Forest 404 by the BBC. Its a fictional series, centered around a character whose job is to sort through and delete old sound files that remain after some kind of crash. When she finds the sound of a rainforest, everything changes. The story is full of suspense, and big ideas, and just some really, really beautiful sounds. And the podcast actually comes with extra episodes that just provide you with those sounds themselves. So much nature appreciation is highly visual (who doesnt love BBCs Planet Earth) but this series manages to evoke the same wonder using only audio. Wish Future Tensed Published This Appropriate Measures: Changing the Tech We Use Is Not Enough to Mitigate the Environmental and Social Harm of Mass Technology, by Jackie Brown and Philippe Mesly, Real Life What Next: TBD On this weeks episode of Slates technology podcast, Lizzie OLeary and Missy Cummings, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke University, discuss the latest deadly crash apparently involving a Tesla on Autopilot mode. Last week, Lizzie talked to Charlie Warzel about his decision to live the New York Times to start a Substack newsletter, and how Substack fits into the changing relationship between content creators and their audiences. Future Tense Events Wednesday, April 28, noon Eastern: Former Slate Editor David Plotz talks to Amanda Ripley about her new book, High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out. RSVP here, and read an excerpt about how a Danish town came to a sort of peace during a toxic discussion over wolves. Wednesday, May 4, noon Eastern: Nicholas Schmidle discusses his new book, Test Gods: Virgin Galactic and the Making of a Modern Astronaut, with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. RSVP here. Sign up to receive the Future Tense newsletter every other Saturday morning. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Pictured from left, diplomat Ehren Schimmel, Col. David Williams and Maj. Greg Durant all graduates of South Kingstown High School in the 90s recently spent time together in the Erbil region of Iraq, where Williams and Schimmel are stationed with the U.S. State Department diplomatic corps. Durant, who is currently in Kuwait, was in the country visiting for work. The three are just some of the local graduates who have found careers in U.S. embassies around the world. YEREVAN. Past daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes. As it is known, there are quite a number of so-called human rights activists and various human rights NGOs in the RA, which are mostly funded by the West. This section of human rights activists had kept a close eye especially on the activities of the police and of the RA law enforcement system in general, and made even the smallest incident a subject of discussion in a wide public sphere. These "human rights activists" changed their behavior after the change of power in the RA in 2018, and during these three years they do not properly assess the violations of the law, human rights violations, do not respond to even the most blaring phenomena. In particular, the [Past] newspaper has received information that this circle is most interested in the elections; moreover, in recent days, human rights activists are actively discussing the topic of the forthcoming snap [parliamentary] elections [slated for June 20], trying to present the fact of holding elections in public discourse as an extremely important stage for the state. According to our source, the main theses are that the upcoming elections "will be the most participatory" and "will pass in accordance with all democratic standards." It turns out that the "human rights activists" being funded by the West are trying in advance to legitimize "from the beginning" the possible elections to be held by [PM Nikol] Pashinyan (). (Alliance News) - Wizz Air Holdings PLC will fly 60% to 80% of its 2019 capacity this summer as the travel situation improves, Reuters reported. "I'm expecting something between 60% to 80%, and this is the Wizz Air perspective," Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi told a virtual aviation conference on Friday, according to Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/wizz-air-hldgs-outlook/wizz-air-sees-summer-capacity-at-between-60-80-idUSS8N2KU07L In a trading update earlier this month, the Budapest-based low-cost airline said it expected "only a gradual traffic recovery into late summer 2021" before what it expects to be a period of "good progress" of national vaccination plans. However, it hadn't provided the percentage of pre-pandemic capacity that it expected to fly. Wizz Air is "well placed for a return to normal operations" following recent investments in airplanes and new routes, it had said. By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Even after Derek Chauvin was convicted this week in Minnesota, even as speakers Friday at a rally in downtown Huntsville noted the Confederate monument no longer stood next to the courthouse, more work needs to be done to bridge the gap of inequality for people of color. That was the message as about 60 people gathered and marched through downtown and stopped at the steps of the Madison County Courthouse for a series of speeches. The Derek Chauvin verdict was not justice, just accountability, said Travis Jackson of Montgomery as he addressed the group at the courthouse. Chauvin is the Minnesota police officer found guilty of murder in the killing of George Floyd, who died while being held to the ground under Chauvins knee. About 60 demonstrators marched from Big Spring Park, passing Huntsville City Hall, on the way to rally on the steps of the Madison County Courthouse. They chanted #BLM and called out the names of Dana Fletcher and Crystal Ragland, two people killed by police locally. pic.twitter.com/JpJLAlPUNd Ashley Remkus (@aremkus1) April 24, 2021 Speakers at the rally gave a litany of issues for their protest from bills in the state legislature to everyday life of being a Black person to ongoing complaints about Huntsville police, fueled by a report released Thursday that criticized HPD for actions during protests last summer. Being Black in America means you have to watch your back 24/7, Jackson said. Camille Bennett, the founder of Project Say Something in Florence, objected to a bill passed by the legislature that sets parameters for protests in her home county of Lauderdale. The bill comes after ongoing protests in downtown Florence over Confederate monuments. They are dismissing our pain, Bennett told the crowd. We are disrespected. She also brought up the anti-riot bill that has passed the state House of Representatives and is under consideration in the Senate. The bill would increase penalties for crimes related to participating in a riot and require mandatory jail time. The bill is sponsored by state Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Morris, a former assistant police chief in Birmingham and is a response to the protests in Birmingham last May that resulted in extensive property damage in the Magic City. The anti-riot bill affects all of us, Bennett said. Any cop can walk up to one of us and say thats a riot, she said, adding that protesters could now be charged with a felony if the bill becomes law. Unique Dunston, whose group Reclaming Our Time has led protests in Albertville over the Confederate flag outside the Marshall County Courthouse, urged the crowd to lean on each other and find strength in community. Community is the way out of police brutality, she said. Get to know your neighbor. She told the story of a friend whose neighbor was playing music loud late at night. Rather than call the police, her friend went next door to her neighbor and asked for the music to be turned down. The friend quickly obliged. We didnt need to call 9-1-1, she said. Remus Bowden, a leading advocate for racial justice in Huntsville, said that bills targeting rallygoers are proof that their calls for change are being heard across the state. Whatever they are attacking, there is a reason they are attacking it, Bowden told the crowd. Dont think what youre doing out here is nothing. Lets kick some injustice ass, he said. By Kim Chandler, Associated Press Alabama legislators in the closing days of the session will face decisions on gambling, medical marijuana as well as legislation that would ban the use of medications to help transgender youth transition. House Speaker Mac McCutcheon said he expects all three measures, which have already cleared the Alabama Senate, to get votes in the House of Representatives in the final days of the session. Lawmakers plan to meet for two more weeks and then return to Montgomery for a final day on May 17. Here is a look at the three of the issues before lawmakers in the closing days of the legislative session: GAMBLING The Alabama Senate approved sweeping gambling legislation that would establish a state lottery as well as allow nine casino sites in the state. But familiar sticking points are emerging as the bill heads to vote in the Alabama House: Where the casinos will be located and how the state will use gambling revenue. If approved by lawmakers, the proposed constitutional amendment would go before voters. In addition to a state lottery, casino sites would be located in: Jefferson, Mobile, Macon, Greene and Houston counties; a north Alabama site in Jackson or DeKalb county; and the three sites owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. The casino licenses would be put out for bid. However, the existing dog tracks and electronic bingo operations, such as Greenetrack and VictoryLand dog tracks, would be given an opportunity to come in and make a final bid to exceed the highest bidder to win the license in their respective county. The Poarch Creeks will have the right for the final bid for the site in north Alabama. In trying to muster enough votes for passage, the bill gives an advantage to the largest existing gambling operators, although courts have ruled against the legality of electronic bingo machines, but excludes smaller operators. Democratic Sen. Malika Sanders Fortier, who has been absent from the session because she is undergoing cancer treatment in Texas, is urging lawmakers to also include an existing bingo operator in Lowndes County, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. How can we forcibly close the doors of a business that has existed for 20 years (in one form or another) in a small rural impoverished community like Lowndes County? she said in an emailed statement. MEDICAL MARIJUANA The legislation by Republican Sen. Tim Melson of Florence would allow people with a qualifying medical condition to purchase marijuana after getting a recommendation from a doctor. More than one dozen conditions, including cancer, a terminal illness and chronic pain, would allow a person to qualify. The bill would allow marijuana in forms such as pills, skin patches and creams but not in smoking or vaping products. The House has traditionally been more skeptical of medical marijuana proposals. A medical marijuana bill in 2013 won the Shroud Award for the deadest bill that year in the House of Representatives. Melson has expressed optimism about the bills chances this year after years of setbacks. I think its going to be a close vote. I really do because there are many members who are supportive of the medical aspect. Some feel like it may be an opportunity for marijuana to come into our state and be a gateway drug, McCutcheon said. TRANSGENDER TREATMENT BAN Arkansas this year became the first state to ban gender confirming treatments for transgender youths. Alabama could become the second. The Alabama bill would make it a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, for a doctor to prescribe puberty-blockers or hormones or perform surgery to aid in the gender transition of people 18 years old or younger. Children arent mature enough to make these decisions on surgeries and drugs. The whole point is to protect kids, bill sponsor Republican Sen. Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, said after the Senate vote. Supporters say they are trying to protect children from decisions that should wait until adulthood. Opponents, including parents and trans youth, say such measures interfere with medical decisions and target trans individuals for the sake of politics. I ask you to take a look at our family. How am I hurting me or anyone else by wanting medical hormonal treatment? I do not want to be a pawn in a political agenda in which I was never consulted about, Phineas Smith, a 16-year-old transgender boy, told reporters during a press conference. Opponents say the bill will almost certainly be challenged because it singles out one type of medical decision. (Natural News) Thomas Renz, an attorney from Ohio who attended the recent Health and Freedom Conference in Tulsa, Okla., is suing both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for lying about the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19). In order to plunge the country into tyranny, these two federal agencies, both under Donald Trump and now Joe Biden, artificially inflated Chinese Virus case numbers and death counts. They then used this fake data to implement lockdowns, mask policies, business closures, experimental vaccination, and various other destructive interventions. Renz is urging everyone to do whatever they can to put an end to all this authoritarian enslavement. Assuming that it will all just go away on its own without a fight is wishful thinking, and American patriots need to continue taking a stand against it. Fight, Renz told LifeSiteNews at the conference. Dont accept that you have to wear a mask. Dont accept that you have to inject an experimental vaccination in your kids arm. Do not do it. We have the ability to fight. Call your county commissioners. Call your town council whoever youve got to call. Call someone. Do something. Educate your friends. None of this has ever been about saving lives Renz stressed the fact that this does not mean that people should get overly upset. As difficult as it might be to continue living in this new normal, the best method of dealing with it is to be rational but also firm in every dealing. That doesnt mean scream at them, Renz says. That doesnt mean yell at them. It certainly doesnt mean yell at the $9-an-hour guy in the store whos saying youve got to wear a mask or I get fired.' What it means is youve (got to) start reaching out and educating people, telling them theres truth thats out there. Youre just not seeing it in the media because the medias complicit. Its unbelievable, the corruption. All Renz is saying is that people need to equip themselves with the information necessary to educate others, whether that be family members, friends, the coffee shop barista, the local city council, or whomever. Take a stand, Renz says. Be willing to stand for something. Be willing to fight for something. As an attorney who recognizes the many facets of the scamdemic, Renz is really busy right now challenging the lockdowns, mask mandates and business closures. He says he is filing an awful lot of lawsuits while trying to cause as much of a stink as possible in order to get our freedom back. One of his clients, who has stage-four cancer, was actually put at risk because of the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdowns. She tried to ask for special permission to travel in order to get to her post-op appointment but was denied. My first client in was this lady who was immediate post-[operation] on stage four cancer, Renz explained. We had to go to the media because we had approached the governor of Ohio and asked him for an exemption because no one was allowed to travel, no one was allowed to do anything, everybody was locked down, and she needed to get to her post-op appointment and she was unable to do so because of the lockdown. Gov. Mike DeWine, it turns out, could not have cared any less about this womans life. In the name of saving lives, he put hers at needless risk, which just goes to show that none of this is about helping people stay alive. So, I knew it was fraudulent, Renz admitted. I mean, the numbers werent adding up. These people werent doing what they said they were doing. They didnt actually care about lives. To keep up with the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19), visit Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: NaturalNews.com LifeSiteNews.com Another staff member said he had seen officers huddle on Rikers Island to decide what statements to make on official forms. He said a captain once also asked him to change the time of an incident on a report to hide when it took place. The data offered the most complete portrait to date of staff discipline in the citys lockups, but the records were still very limited. They identified the officers only by last name, with a brief description of the offense and the outcome. The records did not include unsubstantiated allegations or cases in which the accused officer was cleared of wrongdoing. Nor did they contain at least five guards who were fired in the past two years. Three of those officers had been criminally charged with beating incarcerated people and then covering up the assaults, according to the Bronx district attorneys office. Another had been arrested in Queens on a drunk-driving charge. The data also did not include officers disciplined for drug smuggling or sex crimes. Drug smuggling allegations are generally referred to local prosecutors, officials said, and there were no substantiated rape allegations during the 20-month period in question. Still, the records showed that, in general, most guards who were brought up on departmental charges of using excessive force escaped serious punishment. Nine of the more than 270 guards resigned or retired under pressure, the data showed. Twenty-four officers were suspended, and 17 additional officers were placed on probation, which lasted from one to four years. (Some of the suspended officers were also put on probation.) Most of the rest lost vacation days. Six of the nine officers who resigned or retired had lied or filed incomplete reports about an inappropriate use of force, the records show. We do not tolerate false reporting, or excessive or unnecessary uses of force under any circumstances, said Jason Kersten, a spokesman for the Department of Correction. Jamaal Bowman, M.C., has been my congressman since January 3 of this year. He defeated Eliot Engel, my previous member of Congress for 32 years, in a Democrat primary context. Engel was ousted from Congress having reached the pinnacle of his 16-term tenure: chairmanship of the House Committee on International Relations. As chairman of this committee, Engel was reliably pro-Israel in a congressional district with a significant number of Jewish constituents. Jamaal Bowman is no Eliot Engel. As if to make this perfectly clear, he has signed up as sponsor of H.R. 2407, an anti-Israel measure introduced by Rep. Betty McCollum (DFL, Minn.). Who are the other sponsors of this anti-Israel measure, intended, apparently, at undoing the progress toward Middle East peace of the Abraham Accords midwifed by the Trump administration? Why, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, and the other members of the notorious "Squad," of course. And now comes Jamaal Bowman to be the first male Squad member. H.R. 2407 takes for granted Israel's "abuse" of Palestinian children living under its military detention and calls for denying aid to the Jewish State. H.R. 2407 includes language that could have been taken from the most one-sided and biased anti-Israel resolutions to be adopted by the U.N. General Assembly of years past. It is said that McCollum's anti-Semitic measure and let's call H.R. 2407 for the anti-Jewish mindset it reflects has little chance of passing. No? Is it not possible that the Democrat Party is moving toward the mindset of that Pharaoh of Exodus who knew not Joseph, and proceeded to decree the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt including the drowning of male babies? Congressman Bowman has explained that he is pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. That is an example of his readiness to dissemble for the purpose of deceiving those American Jews whose "progressivism" leaves them vulnerable to anti-Israel propaganda like the Jews of J Street. A petition has been drafted urging the congressman to withdraw his sponsorship of H.R. 2407, a petition drafted by local Bronx and Westchester rabbis, including Avi Weiss, the rabbi emeritus of Hebrew Institution of Riverdale. It is my sense that Rep. Bowman is as likely to reverse himself on H.R. 2407 as he is on the rest of the Squad's radical agenda. Perhaps the petition drafted by the rabbis implicitly recognizes the implacability of the new foe of Israel representing New York's 16th Congressional District. The petition concludes with these words: "We will not remain silent." This vow to continue to speak out presupposes the need to continue to oppose Bowman on Israel. Bowman and the other anti-Semitic leftists in Congress must, indeed, have this impressed on them: the days of the "Jews of Silence" are indeed over, even these days of silence ruthlessly pursued by our totalitarian-minded cancel cultists. Raise your anti-Semitic banners, and be prepared to face the righteous wrath of persons of good conscience and moral fiber from sea to shining sea. Amen! Image: U.S. House. To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here. New Delhi, April 24 : Tata Group with German company Linde have managed to secure 24 oxygen transport tanks and they will be airlifted to India to increase oxygen transport capacity from production sites to Covid-19 hospitals. The German Embassy in India on a social media platform stated: "In this spirit, the private German company Linde together with Tata have managed to secure 24 oxygen transport tanks that will be airlifted to India in order to increase transport capacity from production sites to Covid-19 hotspots." On April 21, the Tata Group on social media platforms stated that it is "committed to doing as much as possible to strengthen the fight against Covid-19" and to "mitigate the oxygen crisis". The group officials said a taskforce is specially looking and collating medical requirements and requests coming in to arrange resources to meet the same. Quarantine centres and hospital beds are the two other main focus areas where resources are being arranged by the group. The central government has assigned Indian Air Force to airlift oxygen containers and equipment from Germany. India is facing oxygen transportation due to an acute deficiency of containers to carry the life-saving material. The government is in talks with all the stakeholders. As second wave of Covid-19 hit India, the IAF was roped by the Centre to airlift oxygen cylinders, regulators, and essential medicines as the national capital region faced shortage of oxygen cylinders and medicines. Earlier this week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh directed all the defence establishments to set up more Covid-19 hospitals, use emergency powers and to bring in retired personnel to tackle the crisis. A roadmap on how military infrastructure can be used to ramp up the fight against Covid-19 was also discussed in a Covid preparedness review meeting chaired by the minister. The minister also suggested the utilisation of the services of vaccinated retired armed forces personnel to assist the civil administration and state governments to deal with the current situation. Hundreds of blameless former postmasters and postmistresses were pillars of their village communities until they were preposterously branded crooks and had their lives torn apart. Each was peddled the same cruel lie by Post Office investigators that they were the only one having trouble with the new computer accounting system Horizon. In truth, it was riddled with bugs that caused baffling shortfalls in post office branch accounts across the land... As the Post Office scandal unfolded, some bosses accumulated wealth, honours and directorships. Part-time priest Paula Vennells, 62, stands accused of covering up the scandal and forcing postmasters into a High Court battle. After she became chief executive in 2012 there was a 'pervasive failure' to investigate complaints about the Horizon IT system, the Court of Appeal said yesterday. Part-time priest Paula Vennells, 62, stands accused of covering up the scandal and forcing postmasters into a High Court battle. After she became chief executive in 2012 there was a 'pervasive failure' to investigate complaints about the Horizon IT system, the Court of Appeal said yesterday. On leaving, she received a CBE for 'services to... the Post Office' and now holds roles advising the boards of Morrisons and Dunelm Alice Perkins earned 100,000 a year as chairman from 2011 to 2015. The wife of Labour grandee Jack Straw was in charge when alarm bells started ringing and was in a position to demand the scandal be dealt with properly On leaving, she received a CBE for 'services to... the Post Office' and now holds roles advising the boards of Morrisons and Dunelm. Yesterday she said she was 'truly sorry'. Alice Perkins earned 100,000 a year as chairman from 2011 to 2015. The wife of Labour grandee Jack Straw was in charge when alarm bells started ringing and was in a position to demand the scandal be dealt with properly. Yesterday she apologised for the 'deep distress'. Almost 150 postmasters were prosecuted between 2010 and 2012 when Dame Moya Greene was chief executive of parent company Royal Mail. Almost 150 postmasters were prosecuted between 2010 and 2012 when Dame Moya Greene was chief executive of parent company Royal Mail. In 2011, an audit found IT weaknesses could 'lead to... erroneous transactions'. Dame Moya was Sunday Times Business Person of the Year in 2014 In 2011, an audit found IT weaknesses could 'lead to... erroneous transactions'. Dame Moya was Sunday Times Business Person of the Year in 2014. She has previously declined to comment. Chairman Tim Parker, 65 nicknamed the Prince of Darkness in City circles supported Paula Vennells when she took on 557 former staff in civil courts. He is now trying to rebuild relations with postmasters. Mr Parker, worth at least 200million, said the firm was 'extremely sorry'. IT provider Fujitsu is said to have known there could be glitches as early as 1999. Police are investigating whether former Fujitsu IT experts Anne Chambers and Dr Gareth Jenkins misled trials, which could lead to charges of perjury. UTICA, NY - As Oneida County health officials remain vigilant, watching for a possible encore from the dance competition in Syracuse that spawned a Covid cluster, the owners of the unnamed local dance studio whose symptomatic young members took part are now moving toward compliance. "...Plan wasn't submitted, it needs to be, it has been now. Looking at that to see what has to be addressed. The place in question is closed because the instructors or owners are also positive, so there's that impact as well," says Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. It's likely the cluster will grow, as hundreds in quarantine watch themselves for symptoms. "You're talking hundreds because of that incident. The dance competition is one thing, then they move into schools and then the contacts just expand, and then the contacts beyond the school expand, and the household and the families, what other gatherings took place, so you continue to multiply the numbers," says Picente. The cluster initally infected 20 people and placed 300 in the Whitesboro School District under quarantine. The school switched to district-wide remote learning this past Tuesday to allow for contact tracing. Utica's Jones Elementary School switched to remote learning for the remainder of the month after learning of three positive cases and 39 in quarantine. Our Lady of the Rosary Church, in New Hartford, has postponed Monday's First Communion to Saturday, out of an abundance of caution for the situation at Jones School in nearby south Utica. Utica School Superintendent Bruce Karam expects new test results and possibly updated case and quarantine numbers on Monday. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. US Senator Elizabeth Warren welcomes President Joe Bidens intention to recognize the Armenian Genocide. I commend President Bidens decision to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide. Calling this atrocity what it was genocide is long overdue. We must recognize the horrors of the past if we hope to avoid repeating them in the future, the Senator said on Twitter, sharing the Bloomberg report according to which Biden has told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he will call the 1915 Armenian massacres as genocide in his April 24th address. I join the Armenian American community in MA and the rest of the Armenian Diaspora in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, honor and remember the lives taken, and celebrate the survivors and their families for their years of advocacy to achieve this hard-fought recognition, the Senator said. April 24 marks the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan Galveston, TX (77553) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 79F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. 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. New Delhi: The Central government is going to import oxygen from abroad to lessen the acute shortage of life-saving gas oxygen in hospitals in the country during the second wave of the corona. After Germany for the import of oxygen, talks are now underway at the government level from Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). At the same time, the Home Ministry has said that 4 cryogenic (capable of maintaining low temperature) tankers are being sourced from Singapore, which will be used to transport oxygen to different parts of the country. Moreover, the government has directed to restart the closed oxygen plants to increase the domestic production of oxygen. The decision comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the corona situation in the country. The Home Minister has issued several instructions to states to increase the production of oxygen. In addition to the Home Ministry, the Ministry of Defence has also started its efforts to address the shortage of oxygen. The Ministry of Defence has decided to import 23 mobile oxygen production plants and containers from Germany. They will be airlifted by air force transport aircraft. Sources have said that the capacity of those oxygen production plants is 40 litres per minute and 2400 litres per hour. Panchayati Raj Day: PM Modi said "Stop Corona infection from reaching the village" Immunologist discovers more potent new airborne Covid strain in Sri Lanka BJP MLA NVSS Prabhakar made befitted reply on Telangana Health Minister allegations Asus has announced when it's going to make the Zenfone 8 family of smartphones official. The unveiling event will take place on May 12 at 1 PM Eastern / 7 PM CET. We are thus less than 19 days away from that point, as the counter on the special event website helpfully informs us, with a handy countdown that perhaps unnecessarily includes seconds. The Taiwanese company says we should expect something that's "big on performance", and "compact in size". Regarding the former, the implication is obvious - expect a Snapdragon 888 chipset at the helm. As for the latter claim, we have seen a lot of rumors lately talking about a Zenfone 8 Mini, so that one would take care of the compact aspect for the entire family. Speaking of, it's unclear if Asus plans to unveil two or three phones on that day, so come back on May 12 and we'll let you know exactly what went down. Jindo dogs are shown at a festival on Jin Island, South Jeolla Province, in this Oct. 30, 2010 photo. Korea Times file. By Bahk Eun-ji An appellate court has upheld an earlier ruling that gave a prison term to a man for having two Jindo dogs slaughtered so he could then eat them, just one hour after he bought them from a breeder. The appellate division of the Incheon District Court said Friday that it upheld the sentence imposed on the 75-year-old for fraud as well as instigating an act that violated the Animal Protection Law. The court said the man bought two indigenous Jindo breed dogs a three-year-old mother and her one-year-old pup May 17 last year in Incheon, after lying to the former owner that he would raise them himself. One hour later, however, he asked the owner of a slaughterhouse to kill them so that he and his friend could eat meat off them. He paid 120,000 won for the slaughtering of the dogs. The slaughterhouse owner and the friend were each sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for one year, for violating the Animal Protection Law. The former owner of the dogs posted a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website after hearing about how the men had eaten the dogs, urging that they be strictly punished. "I gave the dogs to him on the condition that he would return them to me if he couldn't raise them, but they went to a place where I could never see them again," the dog owner wrote. More than 60,000 people had signed the petition at the time of the court ruling. Some recent media reports suggest the U.S. military will seek to reposition some of its troops in Central Asia after its big decision to withdraw from Afghanistan after nearly two decades in the country. The New York Times reported on April 15 that U.S. officials had been in contact with Kazakh, Uzbek, and Tajik authorities about the possibility of using bases in the region. And U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in tweets that he had spoken on April 22 with the Uzbek and Kazakh foreign ministers, though it's not known if they discussed the possible use of military bases by U.S. or other NATO troops. If such a deal was made between Washington and Central Asian countries, it would not be the first time the region hosted U.S. and other NATO troops. The last time Western troops used bases in Central Asia -- beginning in 2001 and lasting until 2014 -- it did not end so smoothly. But there are still several good reasons for U.S. and NATO officials to talk to Central Asian countries about trying it again. Been There Before Shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda on the United States, Washington contacted officials in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to talk about a role for Central Asia in the upcoming U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan. There were several reasons for the Central Asian governments to eagerly agree to help out. With the exception of Turkmenistan, the other four countries had watched with growing concern as fighters from the fundamentalist Taliban movement swept from southeastern Afghanistan toward their countries. Taliban forces reached the river town of Hairaton, just across the Amu-Darya from Uzbekistan, in August 1998. One month later they were in Sher Khan Bandar, just across the Pyanj River from Tajikistan. There was also broad international support for the looming U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan, and the United States had been helpful to Central Asia throughout the 1990s. The United States was, for example, among the first countries to recognize the independence of the five Central Asian states (in December 1991) and to establish diplomatic ties with them. Washington's support for their sovereignty reassured the new governments that they were not solely bound to Moscow. Also, with the exception of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon (known as Rahmonov until 2007), the Central Asian presidents were granted official visits to Washington in the 1990s. (Rahmon has still not had an official visit). Furthermore, the United States was also the largest donor of humanitarian aid to Tajikistan during that countrys 1992-1997 civil war. So the new Central Asian countries saw an opportunity for positive publicity with U.S. ties and, at the same time, concluded that cooperating with the United States and its Western allies could rid them of what they saw as a serious threat to the region -- Islamist fighters in Afghanistan. The Situation Before 9/11 Security had become a big concern for Central Asia ever since the Taliban appeared on the regions doorstep. Turkmenistan abided by its policy of neutrality and managed to engage with various Afghan factions -- including the Taliban -- without committing to them or incurring their ire. But Tajikistan and Uzbekistan supported formations under the command of their ethnic kin: the ethnic Tajik Afghan commander Ahmad Shah Masud and the ethnic Uzbek Afghan commander Abdul Rashid Dostum, respectively. The Taliban even complained to the United Nations in March 1997 -- about one year after it took Kabul -- about rival Afghan military factions receiving help from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, including the Tajik government allowing Masud to base warplanes in the southern Tajik city of Kulob. The Tajik and Uzbek governments' active support of the Talibans opponents left open the possibility of the Islamist group or their followers attacking those countries. When the Taliban captured Kabul in September 1996, there was a unity among Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan that has seldom been seen. A common foe -- the Taliban and its Islamist ideology -- had brought them together. By the summer of 2001, the Taliban controlled some 95 percent of Afghanistan. That made the Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek governments amiable to allowing the United States and its allies to use their territory, including military bases, to wage a campaign against the Taliban and their terrorist friends. U.S. forces deployed to the Khanabad base in Uzbekistan, the Bishkek airport in Kyrgyzstan, and briefly the airfield in Kulob, Tajikistan -- the same base where Masud had moved his warplanes. NATO allies were also stationed in Central Asia. Germany used a base near Termez, Uzbekistan, and French troops used the airfield outside the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. The new cooperation paid off almost immediately. Notorious Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) leader Namangani was killed in a U.S. bombing raid in Afghanistans northern Kunduz Province in November 2001 and the IMU a Central Asia terrorist group allied to the Taliban -- was also shattered, its remnants fleeing to tribal areas in Pakistan. Central Asias southern borders were secure -- at least for the time being. But the conflict inside Afghanistan continued and after an initial lull, it became apparent the Taliban had regrouped and that fighting would not stop anytime soon. The duration of the stay of troops from the United States and its allies at Central Asian bases started to become an issue, certainly for Russia, which grudgingly supported the Central Asian governments initial involvement in the U.S.-led campaign. China was also increasingly wary of a U.S. and NATO presence near its western border, albeit in relatively small numbers. Time To Say Goodbye On March 24, 2005, Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev was ousted in a popular uprising. Seen as the latest of the so-called colored revolutions in the former Soviet space -- following Georgia in 2003 and Ukraine in 2004 -- it was a most unwelcome development for the authoritarian Central Asian leaders. Akaev had been Kyrgyzstans president since independence in 1991, just like the presidents in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (Tajikistan's Rahmon came to power in 1992). Then, when a peaceful protest in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon was infiltrated by an armed group and turned into an uprising in May 2005, Uzbek authorities used extreme force to restore order and ensure Uzbekistan would not be the next country to have a colored revolution. Hundreds are believed to have been killed. Governments in the United States and Europe harshly condemned the disproportionate use of force on protesters and demanded an independent international investigation. The Uzbek government responded by telling the United States to remove its troops from the Khanabad base. During a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in early July 2005, fellow SCO members China and Russia supported Uzbekistans position and helped draft a final statement that said it was necessary for "members of the anti-terrorist coalition" in Afghanistan to set a timeline for the withdrawal of their militaries from bases in SCO member countries. U.S troops were out of Uzbekistan before the end of 2005, though German troops remained at Termez. NATOs use of the Dushanbe airport gradually decreased and the last of its forces left in 2014. The U.S. base at the Bishkek airport had become a regular source of criticism from various Kyrgyz politicians and, with heavy Russian influence, it also closed in 2014. U.S. troops had been based at Bishkek's Manas air base from 2002 until 2014 and were there for two revolutions and some horrifying interethnic violence in June 2010. The Kremlin became angry with Akaev's successor, Kurmanbek Bakiev, because of his promise to Moscow in 2009 to close down the U.S. base in exchange for Russian financial assistance. Bakiev then renegotiated the cost of leasing the base with the United States, enraging Moscow. Bakiev was chased from office in 2010, and U.S. troops remained for four more years. But that experience in Kyrgyzstan -- and very strong opposition from Moscow -- might be why the U.S. officials in The New York Times report did not mention Kyrgyzstan as a possible location to reposition forces. Current Situation Heats Up In the last decade, as foreign forces have decreased their numbers in Afghanistan and handed over responsibility for security to Kabul, fighting has again spread throughout the country. The areas south of the Central Asian border were relatively calm for more than 10 years after the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan began, but for the last seven or eight years the security situation has deteriorated across the northern part of the country. There are districts in northern Afghanistan that border Turkmenistan and Tajikistan under partial or total control of the Taliban while militants from other groups roam the area. That makes the Central Asian countries that share a border with Afghanistan nervous about security. Afghan security forces in the north regularly report capturing or killing Tajik and Uzbek nationals in the Badakhshan, Takhar, and Kunduz provinces that border Tajikistan, and in the Balkh Province bordering Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. They also fight Uzbek nationals in the Jowzjan, Faryab and Badghis provinces bordering Turkmenistan. Another group active in northern Afghanistan is a group that Kabul calls Jundallah. And then there is the Islamic State of Khorasan (ISK), a branch of the terrorist Islamic State -- known best for creating a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq. The numbers of ISK fighters are unknown, but Russian officials frequently give estimates. Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Igor Lyakin-Frolov said on February 20, 2019, there were up to 3,000 ISK fighters in northern Afghanistan. Tajik General Rajabali Rahmonali said just days later that there were some 16,700 total militants in the area, of which 6,370 could be described as foreign mercenaries. The head of Russias Federal Security Service, Aleksandr Bortnikov, said in May 2019 there were some 5,000 members of terrorist groups in northern Afghanistan, along the borders of CIS countries." Meanwhile, in December 2019, the deputy secretary of Russias Security Council, Rashid Nurgaliev, said there were between 3,500 to 10,000 ISK fighters in Afghanistan. Why U.S. Bases May Still Make Sense Looking across the border from Central Asia into Afghanistan today, the situation does not look much different than it did in the late 1990s. The Taliban are back in some areas along the border with the Central Asian countries, but more importantly for the Tajik and Uzbek governments, some of their citizens are again in terrorist groups in northern Afghanistan. This time the Central Asian governments are engaging with the Taliban in the hope that a peace deal can be mediated, but likely also with the hope that even if peace cannot be achieved, an understanding can be reached so that Central Asias domestic terrorists cannot use Afghanistan as a base for trying to create instability inside Central Asia. Allowing the United States to temporarily use their bases could be justified if part of the aim of these bases is to help neutralize Central Asian extremist groups in northern Afghanistan, even if that reasoning is not entirely accepted by the Taliban. Russia has bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and even China has a small base in the remote mountains of the far eastern part of Tajikistan where the Tajik, Chinese, and Afghan borders meet. Both countries conduct counternarcotics raids with Tajik forces into Afghanistan. But their role and support for Tajikistans southern border is of a defensive nature against large groups and even with all the money and equipment Moscow, Beijing, and others have given Tajikistan, small groups still cross from Afghanistan. The U.S. bases being considered seem to be for military support of Afghan government forces operations against groups such as Jamaat Ansarullah, the Islamic Jihad Union, whatever is left of the IMU, and the ISK, all of which could threaten Central Asian stability. Some have noted Tajikistan, if it agrees to allow the United States to use a base, would be the first country to simultaneously host Russian, Chinese, and U.S. bases. But eyebrows were previously raised when Kyrgyzstan hosted a U.S. and Russian base at the same time -- and when Tajikistan hosted both a Russian and a NATO base. Uzbekistan does not have a Russian military base and is not a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) -- as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are. Uzbekistan is counting on bilateral military agreements if the country faces a security threat and hosting U.S. troops could provide some extra insurance for keeping Central Asian militants based in Afghanistan at bay. It also helps Tashkent continue to delay a decision about joining the CSTO. The United States and its allies helping the Afghans fight the Taliban would like to have military bases in countries neighboring Afghanistan, as opposed to redeploying to sites further away, such as in the Middle East. Of course Iran is not an option and Pakistan a very unlikely one. That leaves Central Asia as the ideal choice. None of Afghanistans neighbors or the countries that have been helping the Afghan government for the last 20 years want the sort of instability that broke out in Iraq after the United States and its allies withdrew from that country to occur in Afghanistan, as it could potentially spill over the borders. There is one other very good reason why some U.S. and other foreign forces will need to be in Central Asia. In 2008, as relations between the United States and Pakistan grew increasingly tense, Washington and its allies established the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), bringing nonlethal supplies from Europe through Russia and Central Asia to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Russias illegal annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine led to Moscow cancelling agreements on the transit of ISAF supplies through its territory in 2015. But the NDN continues to operate by bringing cargo through Georgia and Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan and further to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The network not only brings supplies to Afghanistan, it also was a major route for bringing foreign military equipment out of Afghanistan once the drawdown began almost a decade ago. The NDN will continue to be used by foreign forces as they continue their withdrawal -- due to be completed on September 11 -- and presumably will still bring other supplies to Afghanistan to support the current government as long as it is in power. Millie Mackintosh looked radiant as she cradled her daughter Sienna in a series of sweet snaps on Saturday, ahead of the tot's first birthday next weekend. The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, looked every inch the doting mum as she took to Instagram to share the post of herself and her mini-me daughter in matching blue floral dresses. Posting three separate photos taken in her stunning London home, Millie gushed in the caption: 'I can't believe Sienna will be 1 next weekend!' Sweet: Millie Mackintosh, 31, looked radiant as she cradled her 11-month-old daughter Sienna in a sweet new series of snaps on Saturday, ahead of the tot's first birthday She added: 'Loving this weather and dressing up in matching outfits.' The former Made In Chelsea wore her dark blonde hair down in loose waves and styled her daughter's with a sweet blue bow. Going barefoot for the snap, Millie beamed with happiness as she held her daughter close to her chest. Adorable: The former Made In Chelsea star, 31, looked every inch the doting mum as she donned a floaty floor-length dress, with her mini-me wearing a short-sleeved version It comes after television personality revealed she and her husband Hugo Taylor are closer than ever since welcoming Sienna last May. The mother-of-one touched on going through 'the test of lockdown' with her spouse of almost three years, 34, in a new interview for Women's Health UK's Going for Goal podcast. Millie, who featured on the front cover of the publication's April issue in an accompanying swimwear shoot, also declared she loves her new curves and is embracing her postpartum figure. On her strong marriage, the socialite said: 'I feel like we've got through the test of lockdown, and we're closer than ever. Twinning: The former Made In Chelsea wore her dark blonde hair loose and styled her daughter's with a sweet blue bow 'They say these things make you stronger, and to have had a baby and be in lockdown, that's two super intense situations for any relationship. I think it has taught us a lot about each other.' The reality personality also recently opened up about how she struggled with the baby blues following Sienna's birth on Giovanna Fletcher's Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast. She revealed that occasionally she felt 'completely blue' and out of control when it came to her emotions. Pregnancy: Millie also reflected on her pregnancy and post-partum figure as she shared a snap of her bump one year ago alongside an ab-flashing workout selfie Family: Mille also told her fans: 'My favourite weekend ritual is morning cuddles in bed all 3 of us (excuse the giant laundry pile) Millie said: 'A couple of hours later I could just be feeling completely blue, really low, couldn't stop crying... 'There were days when it was hard with Hugo as he would be like are you ok? And then I would be like oh god I need you to tell me I'm ok don't you freak out about me not being ok!' She went on: 'At the time, what I found really scary was that I didn't know what it was. 'I like to be quite in control and I couldn't gauge whether I did have post-natal depression or whether it was the baby blues. 'Because people talk about the baby blues and oh you are going to be a bit tearful and it is really normal to be a bit up and down, but I had some really low days and it was hard because I was so in love with Sienna and so happy.' 100 years ago 1921 A Kulpmont man died at the Shamokin Hospital Sunday afternoon from gunshot wounds inflicted by another Kulpmont man as a result of a quarrel over a girl and a debt. 75 years ago 1946 Miss Edith Patterson, librarian at the Pottsville Free Public Library, was honored at a testimonial dinner held Tuesday evening at the Necho Allen Hotel. 50 years ago 1971 WASHINGTON The governments law-enforcement and military forces girded for 100,000 demonstrators expected to crowd downtown streets of the nations capital in a promised peaceful protest of the Indochina War. 25 years ago 1996 SCHUYLKILL HAVEN Last year, LaVonda Popish noticed older people she visited couldnt climb stairs and were confined to one room of their homes. Other homes were poorly lit. Others lacked heat. The Ringtown nurse decided to do something about it. She organized Grey Matters, volunteers who will build handicapped ramps and do other work so elderly people can live comfortably and safely in their homes. That kind of initiative is what the Schuylkill Community Health Partnership hopes to be all about. Detailing a two-year assessment of the countys health needs assessment, the partnership Tuesday issued a call to action: Lets help one another. I hope this is the start of something good for all of us, Gino J. Pazzalini, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Centers chief executive officer, told about 60 people at a town meeting at Penn State Schuylkill Campus. The partnership formed by Pottsville Hospital and Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in March 1994, hired Tripp Umbach & Associates, Pittsburgh consultants, to explore our health needs and such habits as smoking, drinking and exercise. Of 7,500 surveys mailed, 900 were completed. Also, nine focus groups were held. Six problems areas were identified and detailed at Tuesdays session at Penn State Schuylkill Campus. Zostera muelleri is New Zealands only native seagrass. Photo, Ewen Cameron. Snells Beach residents concerned by the swathes of seagrass inundating the coast of Kawau Bay held a meeting with Auckland Council marine experts this month. Dr Megan Carbines and marine ecologist Tarn Drylie from Auckland Councils research and evaluation unit (RIMU) met with the Snells Beach Ratepayers and Residents Association (SBRRA). The cause of the sudden surge in seagrass is not entirely known, however it has been noted in various locations across the Auckland region. Ms Drylie and Dr Carbines theorised that a return of seagrass to Kawau Bay may be a result of a slight improvement of water quality recorded by RIMU. But, they said it could equally be recovery from disease caused by marine slime mould or an extended lifecycle. But we definitely would not expect to see an increase in seagrass if the environment was degrading, Ms Drylie said. She said that seagrass used to be prevalent but was believed to have been smothered by sedimentation caused by development from the 1930s to the 1970s. However, seagrass thrives in an environment with a moderate amount of silt and better siltation management may have improved conditions for seagrass. She said seagrass tends to anchor some sediment making the sea floor muddier rather than sandy. The question on residents lips was whether the silty seafloor might cause Snells Beach to be taken over by mangroves, similar to Kawau Island. Ms Drylie said it was unlikely as coastal currents still dispersed sediments, unlike estuaries where mangroves had taken hold. Zostera muelleri is New Zealands only native seagrass and it changes its pigment from green to brown depending on how much sunlight is available. Ms Drylie said healthy seagrass beds slowed down currents, removed carbon dioxide from the water column and stabilised the seabed. They are also an important snapper and trevally nursery. A patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is evacuated from a hospital after it caught fire in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, (Photo : REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas) People across India scrambled for life-saving oxygen supplies on Friday and patients lay dying outside hospitals as the capital recorded the equivalent of one death from COVID-19 every five minutes. For the second day running, the country's overnight infection total was higher than ever recorded anywhere in the world since the pandemic began last year, at 332,730. Advertisement India's second wave has hit with such ferocity that hospitals are running out of oxygen, beds and anti-viral drugs. Many patients have been turned away because there was no space for them, doctors in Delhi said. Ambulance sirens sounded throughout the day in the deserted streets of the capital, one of India's worst hit cities, where a lockdown is in place to try and stem the transmission of the virus. Mass cremations have been taking place as the crematoriums have run out of space. At Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in the north east of the city, critical patients gasping for air arrived in ambulances and autorickshaws. Some waited for hours on trolleys outside and one, Shayam Narayan died before being admitted, a death unlikely to be counted in the city's rising toll. "The system is broken," his younger brother Raj said. Tushar Maurya, whose mother was being treated inside, urged anyone not in a serious condition to keep away. "The staff are doing their best but there is not enough oxygen," she said. ALL ALONE The India Today television channel showed angry relatives outside a hospital in Ahmedabad, the largest city in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat. "People are dying in front of hospitals while they wait for a bed to become available," one man said. Another young man, who was not identified, said "Is this why we voted for this government? When we need it the most, we find ourselves all alone. Where will the poor go?" Health experts say India became complacent in the winter, when new cases were running at about 10,000 a day and seemed to be under control, and lifted restrictions to allow big gatherings. Modi himself has faced rare criticism for allowing political rallies and a Hindu religious festival, in which millions take a ritual bath in the Ganges river, to go ahead. He addressed many of the rallies with packed crowds and few people wearing masks. "Indians let down their collective guard," Zarir Udwadia, a pulmonologist on Maharashtra's task force, wrote in the Times of India newspaper. "We heard self-congratulatory declarations of victory from our leaders, now cruelly exposed as mere self-assured hubris." Delhi's government declared in February it had beaten back the coronavirus. On Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal went on live television to plead for medical oxygen supplies in a virtual meeting with Modi, warning that many people would die. "All of the country's oxygen plants should immediately be taken over by the government through the army," he said. Police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, some wielding assault rifles, escorted trucks carrying oxygen to waiting hospitals in Delhi, while city governments traded accusations over hoarding. Modi said the government was making a "continuous effort" to increase oxygen supplies, including steps to divert industrial oxygen. In Washington, U.S. health officials and a White House spokeswoman on Friday said they were weighing how to help India and had been in contact with officials there, but gave no details on any possible U.S. action. In Mumbai, a fire broke out in a suburban hospital treating COVID-19 patients early on Friday, killing 13 people. On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra where Mumbai is located when oxygen supply ran out due to a leaking tank. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was concerned about the growing case load in India, which on Thursday passed the previous global high of 297,430 recorded in January in the United States, where case numbers have fallen. "The situation in India is a devastating reminder of what the virus can do," he told a virtual briefing in Geneva. WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said reducing transmission would be a "very difficult task" but the government was working on limiting mixing between people, which he said was essential. Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan in the United States, said it seemed as if there was no social safety net for Indians. "Everyone is fighting for their own survival and trying to protect their loved ones," he said. "This is hard to watch." COLUMBUS, Ohio Before Ohio House Republicans put the final touches on their version of the state budget approved this week, they stripped out many of Gov. Mike DeWines top priorities. It was just the latest example of the legislatures lack of deference to DeWine, whos ostensibly the leader of the state party and heading into what could be a tough re-election campaign year in 2022. DeWine had included in his budget proposal a package of legislation that he designed to reduce gun violence. The changes would have toughened reporting requirements for the system used to run background checks on gun buyers and strengthened penalties for certain violent gun-related crimes. DeWine first introduced the proposals in 2019, following a deadly mass shooting in Dayton, but the legislature wouldnt advance them. DeWine tried again through the state budget, and GOP lawmakers dumped the provisions last week. They also removed a request from DeWine to spend $50 million on a tourism campaign promoting Ohio, particularly to people who may consider moving here from more expensive areas of the country. Promoting Ohio as a destination has been a pet project for DeWine since he took office in January 2019. DeWine plugged the provision during a news conference announcing his budget plan, during which he memorably referred to Ohio as a progressive state. But that proposal was killed, too. In a slap at the governors coronavirus safety orders, the House budget bill also would force the DeWine administration to refund fines issued against bars and other restaurants for COVID-19 safety violations, and also would reinstate liquor licenses for bars that lost them for the same reason. It otherwise spends more than $74 billion over two years, funding state government operations and containing many noncontroversial provisions. A major component is an overhaul of the states formula for funding K-12 schools, that when fully phased in, would increase the amount the state spends on schools by $1.8 billion, or 20%. But to pay for the new formula, lawmakers diverted a signature DeWine program, hundreds of millions in wellness dollars used to pay for support services for at-risk students. Besides rejecting DeWines priorities in the operating budget, they also removed a DeWine-backed proposal from the state transportation budget in March that would have strengthened penalties for people convicted of distracted driving. And weeks later, they took the extraordinary step of overriding a DeWine veto of a bill that limited the governors power to issue health orders. While DeWine didnt ask for it, the operating budget bill includes a 2% income-tax cut that will cost the state $380 million over two years, while saving a taxpayer who makes a $60,000 salary only $29 a year. As lawmakers finished their budget changes, which will allow them to say they voted to cut taxes and increase funding for schools, DeWine took credit for his fiscal management of the state. Our budgets in a very good economic place, and thats directly related to the tough fiscal decisions the governor had to make early in the pandemic, said Dan Tierney, a spokesman for the governors office. Opposition to DeWine from within his party stems largely from the coronavirus-related restrictions he first imposed in March 2020. In May, then-House Speaker Larry Householder, a Republican, began pushing DeWine to begin lifting restrictions that he said disproportionately affected small businesses. Republicans in general have tended to dismiss the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic or criticize the government response as overblown. At several campaign events for then-President Donald Trump last year, DeWine and his Lt. Gov. Jon Husted were criticized or booed when their names came up. DeWine has implored Ohioans to wear masks to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, but many lawmakers have refused to wear them. DeWines challenges with the legislature show no sign of easing up heading into the 2022 election campaign. From the right, former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, a possible Republican challenger, praised the legislature for taking DeWines gun reforms out. Thank you to the Ohio House for stripping the gun control request from Mike DeWine in the State Budget. The pressure is working to put Ohio First, Renacci wrote on his Facebook page last week. And from the political left, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, a Democrat, portrayed DeWine as weak for not standing up to his party and for failing to get his gun reforms through the legislature in a video her campaign produced to announce that she is running for governor. We could use a little more tough in Columbus. A little more strength, Whaley, who was mayor during the August 2019 mass shooting, said in the video. Because right now, corruption, criminal conduct and cronyism is just the way things are done. And our leaders are too weak to do something. House Speaker Bob Cupp, a Lima Republican, said the GOP-dominated General Assembly isnt making a point of rebuking the governor. The legislature is an independent branch of the government. The governor has ideas, the legislature has ideas. Were not always going to agree on policy. We look at them independently, and thats what were doing. It doesnt mean theres any kind of bad relationship with the governor at all, he said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24) Organizers and village officials can carry out "reasonable" crowd control measures and law enforcers can only intervene if health protocols are violated, according to community pantry guidelines issued by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Saturday. Belmonte said she "strongly" urged community pantry organizers to send written notice to barangay officials where they intend to set up stalls with free food items, drinks, and medical supplies mindful of possible overcrowding. On Friday, an elderly man fainted in line at a crowded community pantry in Barangay Holy Spirit organized by actress Angel Locsin. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival. Locsin apologized for what happened and vowed to help the family of the 67-year-old man. Belmonte reiterated a community pantry does not need permit to operate. "The notice should indicate a responsible person who shall be accountable for the pantry, and who is preferably a resident of the barangay concerned," she said. Community pantries may also operate from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. subject to change, and organizers should enforce a "no mask, no service" policy, and one-meter physical distancing in the line, the mayor said. Metro Manila mayors earlier imposed a unified curfew of 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. when the region shifted to modified enhanced community on April 12. Pantry staff should wear face mask and face shield, Belmonte said, adding donors of food and other necessities must at least wear face masks. She said law enforcers should "refrain" from intervening unless there is a breach of health and safety protocols. The first community pantry along Maginhawa Street in Diliman, Quezon City briefly closed early this week because lead organizer Ana Patricia Non said some police officers asked her affiliation. Other rules Pantry operators are responsible for making sure food is safe, Belmonte said. "Food must be fresh or not expired, and no adulterated, spoiled, or unsanitary foods shall be distributed," she said. Belmonte also encouraged organizers to prevent hoarding in light of reports that some people are "exploiting" these pantries. In a virtual briefing on Saturday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said local governments play a key role in making sure health protocols such as the wearing of face mask and face shield, and physical distancing are observed in community pantries. "Ang kailangan nating ngayon na ipakita sa mga kababayan ang importansiya ng minimum health standards at ibang protocols na pinapatupad," she said. "Also, we're on MECQ so sana walang mga matatandang lumalabas muna," she added. [Translation: What we need now is to show the people the importance of minimum health standards and other protocols that are being implemented. Also, we're on MECQ so hopefully the elderly should not go out.] The greater Manila area, as well as the provinces of Quirino and Abra, and Santiago City in Isabela are under MECQ until April 30. Sought for the department's comment on the "death by community pantry" statement of COVID-19 response adviser and Health Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa Jr., Vergeire said: "Let's show the benefits of what the community pantry can do to our citizens." A 50-year-old man was killed in a fire that consumed a house in Sussex County Friday night, authorities said. The fire was reported at about 7:25 p.m. at a house on Clove Road in Montague, said New Jersey State Police Sgt. Alejandro Goez. When firefighters arrived, the house was fully engulfed, he said. It was not immediately released what alarm the fire reached or what time the fire was put under control. After searching through the rubble, first responders found Roman Soloviov, of Montague, Goez said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. An unidentified woman was taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, Goez said. No other injuries were reported As of Saturday morning, the fire was not being considered suspicious, but authorities were still investigating and had not released a cause, Goez said. The Montague Fire Department, Greeley Fire Department, Sparrow Bush Fire Department, Huguenot Fire Department, Orange County Fire Department, Port Jervis Fire Department, Westfall Township Fire Department, Sandyston Fire Department and Milford Fire Department all responded to the blaze to help. A GoFundMe was started to help the family with funeral and other costs. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. It was these wretched black boots, Maud said. That was the trouble all through. I bought the tunic and breeches from a soldier, and the putties in George Street, and the cap in Bathurst Street. But I could get no regulation tan boots that I could wear. I tried everywhere, but it was of no use. So I had to chance it. I could kick these boots round the room for vexation. Loading The officer and the crew still didnt realise Maud was a girl, but when the captain told her she would have to see the ships doctor and pass a medical examination, she confessed. The captain was left with little choice; he told her he would have to put her on a passing ship to take her back home. Then I cried for the first time; it was hard luck, wasnt it, now? she said. The captain was a jolly fellow. He asked me why I didnt get tan boots, and that made me cry more. He was very nice and kind. They all were. He pretended to scold, but said he would have taken me on if the secret could have been kept. But it was all over the ship in a minute and there must have been 500 snapshots taken of me. I was bitterly disappointed that I was not going to lend a hand. Maud was transferred at sea to the Blue Funnel liner Achilles, and arrived in Melbourne on Christmas Day 1915, where she was cared for by the Matron of the Young Womens Christian Association in Melbourne. Mauds granddaughter Julie Goodall, who lives in Canberra, only learnt of her grandmothers exploits after she had died in 1987. My mother said that my grandmother was embarrassed about it and that she didnt want to talk about it anymore; she just wanted to forget about it, Goodall says. She always said to my mother that if it wasnt for those bloody black shoes she would have got away with it. Butler sneaked on board the HMAT Suevic, pictured here in Sydney Harbour circa 1930, and hid in a lifeboat, before being discovered out at sea two days later. Credit:Archives Not to be deterred, Maud told reporters she intended to return to Sydney and would find some way of joining the Red Cross. I shall be at the front yet, youll see, she said. Within months, Maud made her second attempt to stow away. On March 7, 1916, she bluffed her way on board HMAT Star of England, pretending to be a drunk soldier returning from leave. Butler became a registered nurse and midwife and ran a home birthing facility for mothers and babies in Campsie in the 1940s. She learnt from her mistakes and made sure she had the correct shoes, Goodall says. She even created her own identity disc and stamped a false name on it No. 4850. Private Harry Denton, 15th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade, Australia but for some reason she acquired a pistol, and I think she overdid it. Maud was discovered the following morning when an officer asked to see her disc and found the name on it didnt match any of the ships records. The ship left Sydney without her and she was charged and found guilty of having wrongfully worn a military uniform. Maud abandoned the idea of stowing away and tried to help the war effort by collecting money for charity instead, but it wasnt long before she was in trouble again. On April 25, 1916, she was arrested by Military Police in Sydney for collecting money while wearing an AIF uniform. She was incredibly independent, and she was quite determined, Maud Butlers granddaughter says. They thought at first that she was a soldier contravening a recent military order that men in uniform could not collect money for the war effort. During her trial the assistant secretary of the Returned Soldiers Association, Lieutenant Thomas Bathurst, spoke on her behalf. He said Maud had been asked to collect funds for the association and had already collected 200 in Sydney and Newcastle while wearing the AIF uniform. In an age of long skirts, the magistrate was shocked to hear of girls going about in trousers and made her promise never to appear in uniform again. It wasnt until after the war that Maud finally fulfilled her dream of becoming a nurse. She had married George Redby Hulme in February 1918 and had three children, but her husband left when the youngest Goodalls mother, Paula was three months old. What a lot of people dont know about my grandmother is that she went on to be a very well-respected nurse and midwife in the Campsie and Canterbury area of Sydney, Goodall says. Shed left school when she was 14, so she went back to study at night school so that she could matriculate and enrol in nursing or midwifery. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 20:24:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close At the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link and delivers an important speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together" in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) Xi Jinping's remarks outlined "far-reaching values for global cooperation among all peoples," says Kevin Clark. LOS ANGELES, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's appeal for fostering a community of life for man and nature boasted far-reaching wisdom and values, scholars at U.S.-based think tanks have said. "It is important that we have shared values for the globe to embrace nature and develop an ecological civilization," said Dr. Bruce Hanson, a researcher at the California-based Institute for Postmodern Development of China (IPDC) while recalling Xi's speech at the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate made via video link on Thursday. To build a community of life for man and nature, Xi made a six-pronged proposal as to what the international community must be committed to -- from harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, to multilateralism and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. Discussing what we mean by harmony, productivity, systemic governance, well-being and other core values is a key to common understanding of climate change, Hanson told Xinhua in an interview on Friday, noting that he appreciates the values and initiatives presented in the speech. "The Chinese civilization has always valued harmony between man and Nature as well as observance of the laws of Nature. It has been our constant pursuit that man and Nature could live in harmony with each other," he quoted Xi as saying. It is "very encouraging" to hear what the leader of the most dynamic economy of the world has to say, said Hanson, noting that Xi's appeal also embodies the nation's ancient wisdom. The IPDC advocates global pathways to ecological civilization through new modes of development, according to its website. At the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link and delivers an important speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together" in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) Echoing Hanson, Kevin Clark, Director of Center for Organic Philosophy, a Washington State-based non-profit organization, said on Friday that Xi's remarks outlined "far-reaching values for global cooperation among all peoples." In an interview with Xinhua, Clark said he was impressed by the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities the president conveyed at the summit, stressing that developed countries, who bear more responsibility, should feel the call of their duty and contribute to the systemic governance of our ecosystem. Just like no country or place on Earth is the same, developing countries can make diversified contributions to climate actions, and the others must accommodate their particular difficulties and concerns, said Clark. Such values, illustrated in Xi's remarks, come from a compassionate heart and guide countries to their immanent own responsibilities, according to Clark. The president "reminds us (that) we need to work on the basis of international law, follow the principle of equity and justice, and focus on effective actions," he added. At the invitation of U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link and delivers an important speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together" in Beijing, capital of China, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) Hanson emphasized that, to balance human welfare with the welfare of nature, the world need actions other than words, especially a massive and immediate reform of industrial systems. "This does indeed require multilateralism, encouraging each of our efforts and sharing the rewards of those efforts," he added. Hanson said he agreed with what the president has said about China's goal of moving from carbon peak to carbon neutrality in a much shorter time span than what might take many developed countries requires extraordinarily hard efforts. Meanwhile, he expressed concerns that it may be hard for the global community to achieve an "ecological civilization," unless it enables a faster and more dramatic change in greening. "Innovation and willpower needs to come from everyone on the planet. How might we encourage such a 'grassroots' effort?" asked Hanson, noting that China has made ecological cooperation a key part of Belt and Road cooperation, endeavoring to improve the life of people while preserving nature. Patients are seen inside an ambulance while waiting to enter a COVID-19 hospital for treatment, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ahmedabad, (Photo : REUTERS/Amit Dave) India recorded the world's highest daily tally of 314,835 COVID-19 infections on Thursday as a second wave of the pandemic raised new fears about the ability of crumbling health services to cope. Health officials across northern and western India, including the capital, New Delhi, said they were in crisis, with most hospitals full and running out of oxygen. Advertisement Some doctors advised patients to stay at home, while a crematorium in the eastern city of Muzaffarpur said it was being overwhelmed with bodies, and grieving families had to wait their turn. A crematorium east of Delhi built funeral pyres in its parking lot. "Right now there are no beds, no oxygen. Everything else is secondary," said Shahid Jameel, a virologist and director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University. "The infrastructure is crumbling." Six hospitals in New Delhi had run out of oxygen, according to a tally shared by the city government, and the city's deputy chief minister said neighbouring states were holding back supplies for their own needs. "It might become difficult for hospitals here to save lives," Manish Sisodia said in a televised address. Another 2,104 people died in the space of a day, taking India's cumulative toll to 184,657, according to the health ministry data. The previous record rise in cases was in the United States, which had 297,430 new cases on one day in January, though its infection rate has since fallen sharply. "INDIA WEEPS" Television showed images of people with empty oxygen cylinders crowding refilling facilities, hoping to save relatives in hospital. In the western city of Ahmedabad, a man strapped to an oxygen cylinder lay in the back of a car outside a hospital as he waited for a bed. "Helplessness," tweeted former foreign secretary Nirupama Menon Rao. "India weeps." "We never thought a second wave would hit us so hard," Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, executive chairman of the healthcare firm Biocon, wrote in the Economic Times. "Complacency led to unanticipated shortages of medicines, medical supplies and hospital beds." Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the city needed about 5,000 more intensive care beds. Similar surges of infections, notably in South America, are threatening to overwhelm other health services. China said it was willing to help India, although it was not immediately clear what this might consist of. Only a tiny fraction of the Indian population has received a vaccination. Authorities have announced vaccines will be available to anyone over 18 from May 1, but experts say there will not be enough for the 600 million people who will become eligible. Health experts say India let its guard down during the winter, when daily cases were about 10,000 and seemed to be under control, and lifted restrictions to allow big gatherings. MORE INFECTIOUS VARIANTS New, more infectious variants of the virus, in particular a "double mutant" variant that originated in India, have helped accelerate the surge, but many also blame the politicians. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government ordered an extensive lockdown in the early stages of the pandemic but has been wary of the economic costs of more tough restrictions. In recent weeks, the government has been criticised for holding packed political rallies for local elections and allowing a Hindu festival at which millions gathered. "The second wave is a consequence of complacency and mixing and mass gatherings. You don't need a variant to explain the second wave," said Ramanan Laxminarayan of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in New Delhi. This week, Modi urged state governments to use lockdowns as a last resort. He asked people to stay indoors and said the government was working to expand oxygen and vaccine supplies. He cancelled a visit to West Bengal scheduled for Friday. A YouTube stream showed a hundred or more supporters attended Interior Minister Amit Shah's election rally in Harirampur on Thursday. Most donned saffron-coloured face-masks - in sharp contrast to the thousands seen at similar gatherings this month - but were still seated close together. "We are dying here, and they are holding rallies there," one woman in the northern city of Lucknow said on television. Madhukar Pai, professor of epidemiology at McGill University in Canada, said India was a cautionary tale for the world. "If we declare success too soon, open up everything, give up on public health, and not vaccinate rapidly, the new variants can be devastating," he tweeted. Apr. 23SANTA FE, N.M. Firefighters are working to knock down a wildfire that broke out Friday about 5 miles northwest of Las Vegas, threatening some structures and causing students at nearby United World College to voluntarily evacuate. Leo Maestas, emergency manager for San Miguel County, said fire crews with the U.S. Forest Service, New Mexico Forestry and about four local crews were on the fire, which was reported about 1 p.m. A helicopter was also helping with fire suppression efforts, he said. What's been named the Peterson Fire had burned about 20 acres on both side of N.M. 65 near the Peterson Reservoir by late Friday afternoon and had slowly crept east during the day. "Everything looks pretty good. We haven't had it move very much," Maestas said, adding that the fire was burning timber and brush in a steep, canyon area. Maestas said students at the college had evacuated due to smoke in the area, not because buildings at the college were threatened. He said the Peterson Fire was burning about a mile south of the college and moving away from it on state and private property. Other residents in the area have self-evacuated, according to the New Mexico Fire Information website. Wind could be a challenge for firefighters working the blaze, including efforts to suppress the fire from the air. Winds were blowing at 15 to 20 mph, gusting to 30 to 40 mph, Maestas said. The cause of the fire has not been determined. An elderly Filipino American woman who made global headlines after falling victim to a vicious attack in New York City late last month is breaking her silence over the incident. Vilma Kari, 65, was hospitalized after being punched, kicked and ignored outside an apartment building at 360 West 43rd Street in Midtown Manhattan on March 29. Her attacker, identified as 38-year-old Brandon Elliot, was accused of making anti-Asian sentiments in the encounter telling her "F*ck you, you dont belong here." Elliot, who was reported to be on parole for the murder of his own mother, was arrested and charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and attempted assault as a hate crime, among other charges. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Nearly a month after the incident, Kari says it's "surreal" watching herself be attacked on video. But she says she's recovering with each passing day. "I am doing well, feeling well, getting better each day," Kari told WLS. The 65-year-old settled in Chicago after immigrating from the Philippines many years ago. She was widowed in 2012 and formerly served as a local parishioner. Security footage at the Brodsky Organization-owned apartment building showed staff ignoring Kari during the attack and closing the door on her. Those employees were reportedly terminated amid the public backlash after the footage went viral on social media. Kari hopes no one else is attacked because of their race. "I am healing each day and only hope that this incident will continue to bring greater awareness to the racism and hate crimes against the Asian American Pacific Islander community," she told WLS. Kari's daughter, Elizabeth, has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover costs associated with her recovery. Kari wishes to use the rest of the funds to support other victims and organizations working to further raise awareness for the Asian American community, Elizabeth wrote on the page. As of this writing, the campaign has raised over $267,000 of its original $20,000 goal. "We are happy to let you know that she is recuperating well. Though the recovery is long, we remain hopeful and positive as each day is a step forward," Liz wrote in an update. "Weve been conversing with a selected group of non-profit organizations and look forward to updating you all especially with Mays Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month." Featured Images via CeFaan Kim (left) and Elizabeth Kari / GoFundMe (right) Story continues Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark! Influencer Sparks Outrage with Corona Time Video at Nail Salon on TikTok Armenia Voices Support For China Fighting COVID-19 in Heartwarming VIdeo Hee Sook Lee, Founder of BCD Tofu House, Passes Away Devastating House Fire Claims Lives of 3 Children, Grandmother During Texas Winter Storm Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 14:37:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Xinhua writer Liu Yanan NEW YORK, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Multiple advocacy organizations and the Chinese business community in the United States are calling for actions to cope with the historic rise of hatred, violence and xenophobia targeting Asian and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the country. The United States reported a spurt of anti-AAPI crimes during the pandemic. According to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based nonprofit social organization, it received nearly 3,800 reports of attacks or abuse against people of Asian descent between March 2020 and February 2021 and the real number of such incidents is believed to be far more than that. In response to the horrific scenario, the U.S. Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill combating surging hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. While acknowledging such a gesture, the minorities in the United States are calling for concrete actions to protect them from hate crimes. ACTION NOW A coalition of advocacy groups on Thursday voiced their appeals to the U.S. law enforcement, elected officials, and government agencies to ensure a holistic response to the Anti-Asian hate problem, and recognize the urgent need to take concrete actions. In particular, the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice should set up a task force to specifically investigate and combat increased violence directed towards the AAPI community, stated a release by the Committee of 100, a non-profit organization of prominent Chinese Americans, which organized the action. The coalition also called on the U.S. Department of Justice to revisit its China Initiative, which instigates U.S. judicial confrontations with China, and examine whether the program has caused the spike in prosecution of innocent Chinese American scientists. Senior executives and those in leadership positions should ensure that the AAPI community has a voice at the table, including in the boardroom, stressed the coalition. "This coalition across communities showcases the strength and impact we together possess ... Collectively, we can work to put these horrific incidents in the past and move forward as one nation," said Zhengyu Huang, president of the Committee of 100. More than 10 advocacy groups in the United States joined the coalition, including the 1990 Institute, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, the Committee of 100, Council of Korean Americans, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Partnership With Native Americans. Those organizations would meet on a quarterly basis to continue discussions of joint programs, activities and advocacy to combat anti-AAPI hate, said the release. "Silence is unacceptable. Unity in combating hate is absolutely imperative," said David Harris, chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Jewish Committee. "Only through coordinated action can we prevent further acts of bias-motivated violence and hurtful scapegoating," said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, the world's leading anti-hate organization. BUSINESS COMMUNITY PLAYS A ROLE Meanwhile, the Chinese business community is also working to fight anti-AAPI hate and violence. "I would say we shouldn't really feel that we need to be fearful about what's going on ... You should be able to feel that you're at home," said Ni Pin, president of Wanxiang America Corporation, an automobile component designer and manufacturer based in Illinois, at a webinar organized by the China General Chamber of Commerce-USA (CGCC) on Friday. Speaking of the China Initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice, Ni said, "under that initiative, many people got a screening, which really is hurting American interests, American competitiveness, and for sure is gonna hurt the Asian American community." The business community should take the lead in fighting anti-Asian hate and violence as the companies have resources, funds and laptops, according to Ni, who is also the chairman of CGCC Chicago. As much as 86 percent of companies feel that the business community has the responsibility to support the fight against anti-Asian hate and violence, according to a survey by CGCC Chicago. AAPI small businesses are not able to operate safely and need assistance now, said Chiling Tong, president and CEO of the National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE). The National ACE calls on its partners to join in responding to the ongoing violence against the AAPI small business community by helping to educate employees, customers, and the public to intervene to halt these deplorable acts. Asian American employees need a special space to talk about the hate issues right now as a lot of them are hurting and that's affecting their work, according to John C. Yang, president and executive director of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an advocacy for Asian Americans' civil and human rights. As for the business community, "the next step is also to engage in these interracial conversations and think about how we show up for each other," said Yang. Enditem Victorian Labors lucrative fund-raising vehicle Progressive Business is closing down, with the Andrews governments tough donation laws and probing by the states anti-corruption commission making its cash-for-access model unworkable. But documents filed with the state government reveal the controversial entity is to be reborn as Energise Victoria, a money spinner still associated with Labor and other progressive causes and a likely test for the new electoral rules. Daniel Andrews has been a prominent figure at Progressive Business functions over the last 20 years Credit:Getty The move comes as fund-raising by both the Labor and Liberal parties is under scrutiny from the Victorian Electoral Commission following evidence in 2020 to Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission public hearings about the Casey land scandal pointing to possible breaches of donation laws. Formed in 1999 as both a Labor money machine and bridge to the business community, Progressive Business has generated more than $20 million, with more than $8 million going directly to the Victorian ALP, helping it hold power for 18 of the 22 years since. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. PHOENIX The rising demand to eliminate fossil fuels has left some researchers and activists skeptical that nuclear energy can be part of the solution to meet climate goals. But a recent study finds that the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station outside Phoenix may be key to eliminating carbon emissions from utility grids across the Southwest. In a joint study called the LA100, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that LA could eliminate fossil fuels from the power supply as soon as 2035. Thats one of four scenarios envisioned by the federal laboratory, which specializes in renewable energy research. The city would need to make large investments in building infrastructure and renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and geothermal power, along with help from nuclear and hydropower plants, the study said. In Arizona, utility regulators are pushing to achieve similar goals by 2050. Its the first study the lab, known as NREL, has conducted to explore the reliability of 100% renewable energy in LA with detailed solutions to the clean energy transition, said Jaquelin Cochran, a lead researcher with NREL. Were building a lot of resources that both simultaneously meet increasing demand, hotter temperatures and renewable energy targets, Cochran said. This is not a light effort, it is an investment, but its the investment that were showing is reliable you can make a renewable system reliable. Two scenarios highlight LAs continued 5.7% stake in the Palo Verde nuclear plant west of Phoenix to meet energy demands while eliminating fossil fuels. Across state lines, Arizona Public Service, Arizonas largest utility and operator of the Palo Verde plant, plans to transition to 100% carbon-free power generation by 2050 and eliminate all coal-generated power by 2031 a goal largely attainable due to the output from Palo Verde. Were already starting, were making this commitment to 100% clean (energy) by 2050, and were already halfway there, said Jill Hanks, spokesperson for APS. Were at 50% clean and that is in large part due to Palo Verde, and we believe that there is no path to a cleaner energy future without nuclear energy. One uranium pellet, called fuel rods, used at the Palo Verde plant generates about as much power as a ton of coal or 149 gallons of oil, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, the Biden administration proposed its $2 trillion infrastructure plan, which included a Clean Energy Standard to eliminate carbon emissions from the power industry by 2035 to fight climate change. Federal officials say Palo Verde and other nuclear plants can serve the countrys long-term goals, and the administration has signaled that breakthroughs in advanced nuclear plants will help achieve national climate initiatives, a departure from the climate policies of the Trump administration. Our goal is reliable, resilient, affordable, and clean and nuclear hits all of those, said Shannon Bragg-Sitton, the national technical director for the Department of Energys Integrated Energy Systems program. And it has to be part of that mix to find these solutions in a way thats affordable. Yet, some researchers say Palo Verde and other nuclear plants are not a permanent solution to carbon-emitting power sources because the amount of resources needed to manage such plants is enormous, said Meng Tao, Arizona State University professor at the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering. Environmentalists have also voiced concerns about the millions of gallons of treated wastewater used on-site to cool fuel rods, uranium mining, nuclear waste and the overall cost to maintain nuclear generating stations. Its pretty clear that renewable energy is going to be Arizonas future, said Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Clubs Grand Canyon Chapter. We think that the direction that Arizona is going right now, and will go in the future, is with renewable energy, energy efficiency and not new nuclear. Tao echoed Bahr in saying that the future of Arizonas power grid is shifting toward increased use of solar and other renewable sources, but he noted that the technology to store power and manage waste from photovoltaic plates isnt there yet. In the meantime, nuclear generated power can buy us time so we can build up the solar capacity, Tao said. Bragg-Sitton disagrees; instead, she expects nuclear energy production to increase with advanced nuclear technology such as small modular reactors that vary in size and scale to meet region-specific energy demands to power growing populations such as those in Arizona and California. I really dont see a way that we can continue to meet growing electricity demand, and growing demand in the transportation sector and the industrial sector, and still achieve net-zero carbon goals or even dramatic reductions in carbon, Bragg-Sitton said. Because if we look at whats happening elsewhere, as nuclear plants go offline, theyre not being replaced by wind and solar, theyre being replaced by natural gas in many regions. In recent years, retired nuclear plants in the U.S. were replaced with coal and natural gas to make up for lost electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Densely populated regions like Southern California and metro Phoenix need a diversity of energy resources to support growth, Bragg-Sitton said, and we certainly cant throw away any of these options. If were going to be serious about a clean energy transition, we need to look across the board, she said. We need to look at those growing sectors in all of these regions and understand where their energy is currently coming from and how that can be replaced with zero-carbon emission technologies. For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org. Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny has announced the end of his hunger strike, which he earlier declared at a penitentiary to demand that he be examined by doctors of his choice. "I am not withdrawing the demand that the doctor I need be admitted to me, as some parts of my legs and arms occasionally grow numb, and I'd like to understand what this is and how it can be cured, but, considering the progress and all circumstances, I'm beginning to exit my hunger strike," a statement posted on Navalny's Instagram account says. "By the rules, this will take 24 days, and I've heard it's even harder. So wish me luck," Navalny said. Navalny said he has been examined by panels of civilian doctors twice, "the last time right before the rallies." "They've examined me and taken tests from me, and they've given me the results and conclusions," he said. Navalny also mentioned a statement his personal physicians made on Thursday, calling on him to end his hunger strike. "I'll say frankly: their words [...] seem noteworthy to me," he said. Navalny has been serving time in Penitentiary No. 2 in Pokrov, Vladimir region in connection with the Yves Rocher case since the middle of March. Navalny's supporters said on social media on March 31 that he had gone on hunger strike, demanding that a doctor be allowed to see him and provide him with medication. Navalny's lawyers have said that his health has seriously deteriorated. On April 19, the Vladimir region department of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service reported that Navalny had been transferred to a regional hospital for prisoners on the territory of the penal colony where he is serving his sentence. "Navalny's health is currently being assessed as fair, a physician examines him daily. The patient is receiving vitamin therapy with his consent," it said. A psychologist is facing charges after allegedly having sex with two of her clients who were being held at a sex offender treatment center in Minnesota. Michelle Brownfield, 38, allegedly had multiple sexual encounters with two men, who were at the facility under court orders. The encounters allegedly happened over a span of two years, with sexual acts taking place in rooms where she was supposed to evaluate the feelings of her clients. The alleged victims said they feared that they had to have sex with Brownfield because her position of power could dictate their ability to be released. Brownfield, of Duluth, has been charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. A warrant has been issued for Brownfield's arrest in Minnesota and the states that border it, the Star Tribune reports. Her lawyer says she denies the charges. Pictured: Moose Lake Prison, which is adjacent to the treatment facility Brownfield was an employee at a treatment facility in Moose Lake, which is run by the state, working for the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) from August 2014 to December 2020. She provided psychological assessment services to clients and had the ability to share her assessments with authorities, as well as provide testimony to state panels that can determine the future confinement of the clients. She was also responsible for providing leadership and direction to other psychologists in the program. According to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in Carlton County District Court, the sexual assaults allegedly occurred between 2016 and early 2018. At least some of the assaults allegedly took place in rooms where clients would have psychological assessments and polygraph tests. The two alleged victims told the Star Tribune that they felt pressured to engage in sexual acts with Brownfield because she was in a position of power and could potentially affect their ability to be released. 'It's insane,' alleged victim Eliseo Padron told the Star Tribune. 'I mean, you are talking about the person who does the evaluations of sex offenders. ... That's who we were having sex with.' 'It was physical,' Padron added. 'She was aggressive and, well, I like aggression.' Padron told investigators that multiple sexual encounters took place with Brownfield in the fall of 2017. In the complaint, a sexual encounter in a room where polygraph tests are administered was alleged. Padron also claimed Brownfield would seek him out to describe her sexual fantasies and have explicit conversations. Duncan Brainard, meanwhile, alleged more than a dozen sexual acts with Brownfield before she suddenly ended their relationship. 'I was completely shattered,' Brainard said to the Star Tribune. 'I feel like there's no way that I can ever trust the system moving forward.' Padron claims Brownfield tried to hide the alleged misconduct by urging Padron to use 'any means necessary' to prevent Brainard from revealing private text messages. An arrest warrant has been issued for Michelle Brownfield, a former employee of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program at Moose Lake Court documents show texts obtained by authorities at Moose Lake where Brownfield expressed romantic feelings towards Brainard, even describing it as a 'Romeo and Juliet scenario.' Her phone also allegedly had sexually explicit photos, a booking photo of Brainard, and descriptions of Brownfield being sexually aroused during client evaluations. Law enforcement investigated the claims of sexual assault for six months before issuing the charges. DHS Deputy Commissioner Chuck Johnson did not comment on the individual allegations, but said allegations of sexual contact between staff and clients are 'taken seriously, treated with urgency and examined thoroughly.' 'We expect all staff to maintain strict professional boundaries at MSOP,' Johnson added. 'That's essential in any therapeutic setting, and anything less is unacceptable.' An attorney representing Brownfield told the Star Tribune that Brownfield 'categorically denies all the criminal accusations in the criminal complaint, and she will be proven not guilty when all the evidence comes out.' Pictured: An aerial shot of the Moose Lake facility where the alleged sexual offenses took place Daniel A. Wilson, a Moose Lake client leading a push to close the facility criticized the psychologists' positions of power. 'A lot of guys would have difficulty saying 'no' to sex with any staff member here because they are desperate,' Wilson said. 'They want to go home and they want to be free.' Brownfield is still listed as a licensed psychologist by the Minnesota Board of Psychology and there is no public record of discipline against her. State law dictates that employees of state facilities who engage in sexual intercourse with patients is guilty of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, regardless of consent. The charges come as MSOP faces controversy about their struggles to release offenders back into the public after the completion of their prison sentences. A lawsuit is currently challenging the constitutionality of MSOP, as it allegedly confines sexual offenders indefinitely following the completion of prison sentences. In January, some of the clients at the Moose Lake facility launched a two-week hunger strike to protest their indefinite confinement. Tony Collins was removed as Greensboro zoning commissioner after declining multiple times to acknowledge Carrie Rosarios doctorate A zoning commissioner in Greensboro, North Carolina has been voted out of his position after refusing to acknowledge a Black woman by her appropriate title during a public meeting Monday. Tony Collins, the now-former commissioner, refused to refer to Carrie Rosario, who has a doctorate in public health, with the preferred title of Dr, according to the Charlotte Observer. The incident took place during a virtual zoning commission meeting when Rosario, an associate professor at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, spoke about her concerns about a development project adjacent to her home. Carrie Rosario, PhD, (left) and Tony Collins (right) Towards the end of the four-hour meeting, Collins, a partner at Collins & Galyon General Contractors, addressed Rosario as Mrs. Rosario, despite her request to be addressed as Dr. Rosario. Rosario corrected him saying, Its Dr. Rosario, thank you. READ MORE: North Carolina woman arrested after intentionally driving into group of Black teens Collins then said, Mrs. Rosario. Again, Rosario reminded him to call her Dr. Rosario. After this, Collins stated that the name listed on the virtual call read Carrie Rosario, then referred to her as Carrie. Again, she said, Please, sir, call me as I would like to be called. Thats why I identify myself. When Collins tried to dismiss her request by saying it doesnt matter, Rosario said, It matters to me. And out of respect, I would like you to call me by the name that Im asking you to call me by. When Collins repeated that shes listed as Carrie Rosario, she replied that she was verbalizing her name as Dr. Carrie Rosario. She then called out Collins for his rudeness. And it really speaks very negatively as a commissioner to be disrespectful, she said. READ MORE: North Carolina teacher killed in shootout with drug cartel Rosario stated that she was hurt, upset, angry that Collins had treated her this way. Earlier in the same meeting, Rosario corrected another attendee saying that she was to be called Dr. Rosario, to which that attendee apologized and accepted. Story continues I tried to give [Collins] the benefit of the doubt at first and corrected him, but as the exchange unfolded it was clear that he was intent on disrespecting me, Rosario said. On Tuesday, one day after the exchange, a recording of the virtual meeting was played before the Greensboro City Council meeting. The body then voted unanimously to remove Collins, who was under term until 2023, as zoning commissioner. It was a very disrespectful exchange between an important commissioner and a public citizen, said Sharon Hightower, a Black councilwoman who called for the vote. That should never happen. According to Rhino News, Collins called Rosario to apologize after the incident and left her a voice message. He wrote a formal apology letter addressed to the Greensboro City Council accepting his removal. I agree with you that my exchange with Dr. Rosario was out of line and accept your judgment to remove me from the commission, Collins wrote. There is no good excuse for my interaction with Dr. Rosario so I will not try to offer one. Citizens deserve better. I would never want to bring any harm to the City of Greensboro or to any of our citizens. I failed to live up to my own standards and to yours. I regret that sincerely. 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 NC official gets the boot after refusing to refer to Black woman as doctor appeared first on TheGrio. Turkey has lifted its suspension on direct flights from the UK, in a move that brings holidays there a step closer. The tourism hotspot also announced that travellers will not need to be fully vaccinated in order to enter the country. Arrivals need not present a so-called vaccine passport, but must instead show a negative Covid PCR test result taken within 72 hours of travel. To further reassure visitors, Turkey has prioritised employees working in the tourism industry, such as hotel staff, to receive the vaccine. More than 20 million vaccine doses have been given in Turkey as of 22 April 2021. The country has also launched a Safe Tourism Certification Program, mandatory for all tourism accommodation with more than 30 rooms, which has certified 8,000 facilities so far. The certification ensures tourist accommodation offers guests access to testing if required before they return home to the UK. PCR tests cost just 30 (26) and are also available at Turkeys international airports; by comparison, the average test in the UK costs 120. The UK government has confirmed that all arrivals will have to produce a negative test result before travelling to the UK (rapid antigen and lateral flow tests are also accepted). International leisure travel is currently set to resume from England on 17 May. For added peace of mind, tourists can purchase an insurance package from 15 (12), which covers Covid-19 related expenses such as treatment, medication, and emergency care costs that may be incurred if they are taken to a state-owned or private hospital during their stay in Turkey. The Covid-19 Accommodation Support Insurance also guarantees to cover any extra accommodation expenses that may be necessary during the trip, for example, if a holidaymaker is required to quarantine at a hotel. Two and a half million British tourists visited Turkey in 2019 its clear the country is keen to welcome back holidaymakers as soon as possible. However, there is one more sticking point before holidays become feasible again: at present, Turkey still requires arrivals from the UK to quarantine for at least 10 days - if they receive a negative PCR result on day 10 - rising to 14 days if they dont submit to a further test. A general view of the United States Supreme Court in Washington, U.S. (Photo : REUTERS/Will Dunham/File Photo) The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday made it easier for states to impose sentences of life in prison without parole on juvenile offenders, ruling against a Mississippi man convicted of killing his grandfather at age 15 in a case testing the Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Advertisement The justices in a 6-3 ruling rejected arguments by the inmate, Brett Jones, that his sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole violated the Eighth Amendment because the judge in his trial had not made a separate finding that he was permanently incorrigible. The court's six conservative justices were in the majority, with the three liberal members dissenting. Jones, now 31, was convicted of fatally stabbing his grandfather in 2004 in a dispute involving the boy's girlfriend. The ruling, authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, marked the end of the court's recent run of decisions that put limits on life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders. The court has moved rightward with a 6-3 conservative majority after the addition since 2017 of three justices appointed by former President Donald Trump. The ruling will lead to "uneven and arbitrary imposition of life without parole on children, based more on geography and the race of the defendant than their culpability and capacity for change," the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth advocacy group, which supported Jones, said in a statement. Juvenile life sentences without the possibility of parole have come under heavy scrutiny in recent years as part of a larger debate over criminal justice and sentencing reform in the United States. Of the 50 states, 25 have banned such sentences, with Maryland becoming the latest to do so earlier this month. Kavanaugh said in the ruling it was the responsibility of states - not courts - to "make those broad moral and policy judgments" about juvenile sentencing reform. "Jones's argument that the sentencer must make a finding of permanent incorrigibility is inconsistent with the court's precedents," Kavanaugh added. As long as the state considers the youth of the offender during sentencing, no other analysis is required, Kavanaugh wrote. In a scathing dissenting opinion, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the court effectively gutted previous rulings that imposed new restrictions on juvenile sentencing. "The court is fooling no one," Sotomayor wrote, saying that without a finding of permanent incorrigibility, judges can effectively circumvent the court's previous rulings that limited such sentences. Sotomayor noted that 15 state courts have found that the earlier Supreme Court rulings required a finding of incorrigibility. "The question is whether the state, at some point, must consider whether a juvenile offender has demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation sufficient to merit a chance at life beyond the prison in which he has grown up. For most, the answer is yes," Sotomayor wrote. In a 2012 ruling, the Supreme Court had decided that mandatory life sentences without parole in homicide cases involving juvenile offenders represented cruel and unusual punishment. The court had previously ruled that juveniles could not be executed and only juveniles accused of murder could be subjected to life sentences without the possibility of parole. In 2016, the justices decided that the 2012 ruling applied retroactively, meaning that convicted criminals imprisoned years earlier could then argue for their release. Conservative former Justice Anthony Kennedy, who Kavanaugh replaced in 2018, was a key vote in the earlier rulings, siding with the liberal justices in favor of curbing juvenile sentences, although he stopped short of saying they were always unconstitutional. Kennedy wrote in the 2016 ruling that life in prison should be reserved for juveniles whose crimes reflected "irreparable corruption." Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arrives at a press conference - Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images New Zealand has criticised as ill-informed suggestions that the "Five Eyes" alliance is at risk amid fears over Beijing's influence. Earlier this week, New Zealand said it was "uncomfortable" with letting the so-called Five Eyes intelligence alliance - which includes New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the US and Britain - dictate its dealings with China. Insiders have said the government will not be corralled into sabotaging its relationship with China, which is its main trading partner, and won't outsource its foreign policy as rhetoric over dealing with China becomes increasingly bellicose. New Zealand has previously been reluctant to sign joint statements from Five Eyes partners criticising China, including on the crackdown on Hong Kong's democracy movement and the recent arrests of activists in the city. But suggestions that the intelligence sharing group is struggling over China have now been played down by Wellington and by intelligence agencies. A former senior New Zealand minister said the Five Eyes group had survived serious disagreements before with no impact on the fundamental cohesion of the alliance. Phil Goff, New Zealands former foreign affairs minister, said: "No-one can ever accuse New Zealand of not playing its part in the fight for international security, peace and freedom. A large sign displayed in a Hong Kong street reads "Free HK" - Anthony WALLACE / AFP Mr Goff said throughout his decades in politics, New Zealand had valued both the Five Eyes relationships and its independent foreign policy, believing the two could co-exist without difficulty. "Even in the years when there was a strong reaction from the US to our nuclear-free position, and even though a whole series of sanctions were taken against New Zealand for daring to have an independent policy, the intelligence relationship survived and continued pretty much as normal," he said. Neale Jones, the former Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, told The Telegraph: New Zealand has a longstanding independent foreign policy that has continued through National and Labour administrations for many, many years. Story continues Mr Jones said New Zealand had recently issued joint statements with Australia raising concerns about Chinas treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang. New Zealand is still criticising China, he said. However, Mr Jones said successive regimes guarded New Zealands independent foreign policy and would not outsource that policy to Five Eyes, or any other entity. No speech is given by the Foreign Minister without the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade being all over it, without it being canvassed very widely within the bureaucracy. The government is not naive about China's increasingly aggressive stance on the world stage." British intelligence and security agencies are unconcerned about the recent suggestion New Zealand was adopting a softer line on malign Chinese activity. This week New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, who has a moko kauae - a traditional female Maori tattoo - on her chin said: We will not ignore the severity and impact of any particular countrys actions if they conflict with our longstanding and formal commitment to universal human rights. Speaking at a meeting of the New Zealand-China council, Ms Mahuta praised aspects of her countrys bilateral relationship with China, which is New Zealand's biggest trading partner and with which it has had a free trade agreement since 2008. Trade between the countries accounts for 29 per cent of New Zealand exports. The UK's MI6 headquarters - Oli Scarff/Getty Images Last year the Five Eyes alliance took the decision to expand its remit beyond its core role, dating back to its formation during the Second World War, of collecting and sharing intelligence. The network now also seeks to promote shared values on democracy and human rights. Officials in New Zealand have not previously addressed the issue but Ms Mahuta said Wellington wanted to chart its own course in dealings with China. She said: New Zealand has been very clear... not to invoke the Five Eyes as the first point of contact on messaging out on a range of issues. Weve not favoured that type of approach and have expressed that to Five Eyes partners. Critics of Prime Minister Arderns position on China say she risks isolating her country from allies like neighbouring Australia, whose own trading relationship with Beijing has suffered heavily because of Canberras criticism of Chinas attempts to cover up the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its assault on Hong Kong. A Whitehall security official told The Telegraph the recent spat showed the Five Eyes alliance was sufficiently comfortable to be able to disagree publicly on specific matters without it impacting the groups fundamental strength. This is a storm in a teacup, The Telegraph was told. In recent years China has adopted an increasingly aggressive foreign policy, particularly over sovereignty issues in the South China Sea. Relationships with Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and other regional nations have been strained over Beijings land claims, many of which are widely disputed. In the recent Integrated Review of foreign, defence, security and development policy, the British government said Chinas increasing power and assertiveness internationally is likely to be the biggest geopolitical factor of the 2020s. The significant impact of Chinas military modernisation and growing international assertiveness within the Indo-Pacific region and beyond will pose an increasing risk to UK interests, the paper said. The third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, has issued a message on the occasion of the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. This was reported by the office of the ex-president. The message reads as follows: The genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people at the beginning of the last century is not over yet. The bloodthirsty Turkish yataghan still remains a threat and hangs over the head of the Armenian nation: As long as The Armenians have not done away with the victim complex, the victim mentality by defending their rights with dignity. As long as Genocide, which knows no statute of limitations, has not been punished and has not served a lesson for those criminals capable of committing such a crime. As long as The incumbent Turkish authorities are reluctant to face their own history, they deny with cynical complacency the genocidal steps planned by the Ottoman Empire in 1894-1923 and carried out against the Armenian people, which resulted in the loss of homeland, massacres aimed at exterminating Armenians, ethnic cleansing, and the annihilation of the Armenian heritage. As long as The advocates and servants of non-pro-Armenian geopolitical interests are prepared to forget and make the Armenian Genocide a subject of bargaining. As long as The Armenian people have not learned a lesson and drawn proper conclusions from history, ignoring the past mistakes and failures, while some weak-minded people in the Armenian government, denying the facts of torture and murder of thousands of our compatriots with Turkeys active participation, are told to kneel down before the executioner begging for peace if they wish to remain in power. As long as Any Armenian, who ignores or disputes the united will of Armenia and the Armenian nation to achieve worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide, condemn that appalling crime perpetrated against mankind and overcome the consequences of the Genocide, is not considered a traitor. As long as In addition to commemorating the 1.5 million innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide, we fail to bow down in gratitude, pay tribute to the memory of those heroes who fought for our national and human dignity and thereby raised the fighting spirit of the survivors. As long as We try to fit major regional economic projects into our own national interests with the active participation of Turkey. As long as We have not realized Armenias mission and role in the region and have not perceived ourselves as a nation that has made a significant contribution to civilization. As long as We fail to acknowledge the need for building a truly independent, strong national statehood, if we are to preserve our identity and ethnic values. Therefore, before being a claimant, let us be patriots as a nation! McCracken Kindergarten Ready Event Today By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - The McCracken County Early Childhood Council is hosting a Kindergarten Ready Drive Thru event today from noon until 2 pm in the parking lot of Heartland Church, 4777 Alben Barkley Drive.Chairperson Kristy Lewis said, The purpose of the McCracken County Early Childhood Council is to build innovative, collaborative partnerships that promote school readiness for children so that all children can begin school ready to learn or have the proper supports in place to be successful. Our Council felt that a drive thru event was the safest way to get this important school readiness information to our families.Market House Theatre will be the main draw for the event this year. Their crew will be acting out highlights from the popular children's book "You Are Not Small" in three stops along the route. Other stops include information about the domains of learning, educational materials, books, school information, surveys and door prize information.Paducah Public Schools Tornado Take Out food service program will be giving a healthy snack as the last stop on the drive thru route.There are five domains of school readiness that the Council focuses all educational efforts on. These domains are General Knowledge and Math; Health and Well-Being; Social Emotional Development; Language and Communication Development; and Approaches to Learning.This event is sponsored by Paducah Head Start, Paducah Public Schools, McCracken Preschool, McCracken County Schools, and the Purchase Area Community Early Childhood Council. A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying four astronauts from three countries docked with the International Space Station early Saturday morning ET, beginning the crew's six-month stay in space. This mission, dubbed Crew-2, marks the third-ever crewed flight for Elon Musk's company and the first to make use of a previously flown, privately-owned rocket booster and spacecraft. The astronauts took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida Friday morning and spent nearly 24 hours soaring through orbit at more than 17,000 miles per hour, as their Crew Dragon spacecraft maneuvered toward the ISS, which orbits about 250 miles above Earth. On Saturday morning, the capsule slowly aligned itself and moved in to dock directly with one of the space station's ports. The crew consists of NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, and Akihiko Hoshide with Japan's JAXA space agency. A prime focus of the astronauts' mission will be research with 'tissue chips,' or 'small models of human organs containing multiple cell types that behave much the same as they do in the body' and that NASA hopes will advance the development of drugs and vaccines, according to the space agency. That work will build on years of studying biological and other scientific phenomena aboard the ISS, where the microgravity environment can give scientists a better fundamental understanding of how something works. Kimbrough, McArthur, Pesquet, and Hoshide joined seven astronauts already on board the station, four of whom arrived on a different SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in November. That brings the space station's current total of personnel to 11 one of the largest crews the ISS has ever hosted. But that number will quickly drop back down to seven when four of the astronauts who'd been on board hitch a ride home from the station on April 28. NASA has spent more than a decade working to boost staffing aboard the 21-year-old space station after the retirement of its Space Shuttle program in 2011 left Russia's Soyuz spacecraft as the only option for getting astronauts to and from the ISS. The United States had been paying Russia as much as $90 million per seat for those trips. For years, SpaceX worked under a $2.6 billion fixed-price contract to develop its Crew Dragon spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Crew program, which for the first time in the space agency's history handed over the task of building and testing a crew-worthy spacecraft to the private sector. (Boeing is working under a similar contract to develop its own capsule for the program. That capsule, called Starliner, is still in the testing phase.) The mission is a hallmark in SpaceX's efforts to reuse spacefaring hardware in order to drive down the cost of spaceflight. Both the Crew Dragon capsule, named 'Endeavour,' and the Falcon 9 rocket that lofted it into orbit have flown in space before. Though the company has re-flown boosters and spacecraft dozens of times on satellite and cargo launches over the past several years, this marks the first time the company has reused hardware for a crewed mission. The Tyrannosaurus rex is the best-known predator of the prehistoric world. It measured 12 meters long, stood four meters tall up to the head and could weigh between 6,000 and 9,000 kilos. But this feared and powerful carnivore had a preferred walking speed of 4.6 kilometers per hour, a rate similar to that of humans. Thats according to new research by a team of scientists in the Netherlands and published on Wednesday in the Royal Society Open Science. To reach this conclusion, the researchers did not focus on the feet or the hips of the theropod, who roamed the Earth during the Cretaceous period, but rather on the role of its tail. Although earlier studies had analyzed the movement of the Tyrannosaurus rex when it wasnt running or hunting, they did not highlight the action of the tail in their calculations even though it accounts for more than half the dinosaurs body weight and can weigh as much as 1,000 kilos. Animals and people save energy by walking at a regular pace. Humans reach the right walking speed for our bodies using our legs and the rhythmic swinging of our arms. The Tyrannosaurus rex had very short front limbs, very long hind limbs and a powerful tail with vertebrae and ligaments that allowed it to store and release energy by swaying it from side to side. When the tails compass achieves resonance, in other words, the greatest movement with the lowest effort, we can talk about natural frequency. In this case, that would be when the animal is walking leisurely, says Pasha van Bijlert, 27, the lead author of the investigation and a Masters degree student at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam who is analyzing the locomotion of dinosaurs. The walking speed of the Tyrannosaurus rex was similar to that of other two and four-footed animals, like elephants and ostriches Pasha van Bijlert, lead author of study To study the dinosaurs movement, the researchers created a three-dimensional digital model of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. This model was based on the skeleton of a 12-meter long female nicknamed Trix, whose 66-million-year-old remains were excavated almost in their entirety in the United States in 2013. The researchers then added the muscle and ligaments around the tail vertebrae, which are flexible and resistant to traction and compression. In order to understand the role of the tail in locomotion, the team subjected the musculoskeletal model to a series of biomechanical tests. The balance of the tail is thanks to the ligaments that acted as a counterweight, explains Van Bijlert. Its comparable to the suspension of a bridge, and produced some of the force needed to rhythmically push the body forward towards the front limbs. The speed of the steps had to correspond to natural frequency with the rise and fall of the tail, and we show that the Tyrannosaurus rex walked 1.28 meters per second. To calculate the dinosaurs speed, the researchers also had to determine its stride, i.e. how much distance is covered with each step. To do this, the team digitally scaled a large tyrannosaurid trackway to determine a step length of 1.94 meters. Combining both figures in all of our calculations, we estimate that it walked 4.6 kilometers an hour, more or less like a person, says Van Bijlert, who adds that the calculations made by other experts on the dinosaurs movement based on the height of its hip and the length of its legs were also key to analyzing its walking speed. According to our interpretation, focusing on the tail can also help the results, he says. Although the walking speed of the Tyrannosaurus rex was relatively slow, Van Bijlert points out that it is similar to that of other two and four-footed animals, like elephants and ostriches. The team determined that the dinosaur has a stride of 1.94 meters The study also counted on the participation of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden in The Netherlands, where the skeleton used for the teams biomechanical model is on display, as well as Utrecht University and Vrije Universiteit. The new research has had an immediate impact on the academic world. John Hutchinson, professor of evolutionary biomechanics at the Royal Veterinary College of London, responded that the role of the tail in these types of studies had been overlooked until now a very promising message, says Van Bijlert, who stopped studying medicine when he realized that what really interested him were dinosaurs. As there is no paleontology degree available in Leiden, the 27-year-old decided to study dinosaurs in the movement sciences faculty. Van Bijlert says his passion for dinosaurs goes way back, and admits to seeing the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park dozens of times. The researcher has calculated the preferred walking speed of the Tyrannosaurus rex, but does he know how fast it could run? Van Bijlert estimates that this was around 30 kilometers per hour, but says that studies put it between 20 and 30 km. Some even argue it was faster, but if this was the case they could have broken their legs, he says, adding that he would like to study the issue in the future. For now, studies show that the Tyrannosaurus rex, while huge and terrifying, was not as fast as the one racing after humans in Jurassic Park. As Van Bijlert puts it: They exaggerate the speed of their Tyrannosaurus rex, but its a fun recreation. English version by Melissa Kitson. India is once again trying to silence online criticism of its government. Medianama and TechCrunch report that the Indian government has ordered Twitter to pull more than 50 tweets criticizing the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twitter has since blocked residents' access to the posts, which included critiques from a Member of Parliament, a minister and prominent members of the film industry. Twitter isn't the only affected platform, TechCrunch added. The company didn't directly address the removals in a statement, and instead outlined its policy. Twitter will only "withhold access" to content within a given region if it's deemed illegal but doesn't violate the social networks' policies. The firm added that it notifies account holders "directly" when a legal order affects their service, and publishes takedown requests on Lumen. India is struggling with a record surge of COVID-19 cases after faring relatively well earlier in 2021. Hospitals have been overwhelmed, and oxygen shortages have compounded efforts to treat severe cases. Critics have blamed Prime Minister Modi's administration for the failures, including packed election rallies, religious gatherings and a lack of preparation for a second wave. Twitter has stood its ground at times. It said in February that it wouldn't block activists, journalists and politicians in India. Those safeguards don't apply to others, though. Much like other social networks, Twitter is trying to strike a balance between freedom of expression and honoring local laws and that doesn't always work out as hoped. LANSING, MI - The stench of sexual harassment has pervaded the Michigan State Capitol and surrounding political circles for years, acknowledged, for the most part, only in whispers among those who endured it. This week, dozens of women who work in and around Lansing politics spoke with MLive about how sexism has affected them and in some cases held back their careers. From enduring pinches on the butt to avoiding certain men in elevators, reporting their horror stories could be career-damaging, and violating lawmakers cant even be fired. But theyre speaking out, some via survey and some in on-camera interviews: Read more: In addition to the comprehensive reporting on sexual harassment and discrimination in Michigan politics, it was a busy week in lawmaking. Here are the highlights: Negotiations begin over controversial Republican voting package One month ago, Michigan Senate Republicans debuted their plan to overhaul the states election laws. The ensuing weeks brought criticism, protests and press conferences from Democratic officials and liberal activists calling the package everything from racist to voter suppression. Much of the pushback focused on a portion of the package that would tighten control and adds steps to the absentee ballot process. This week, Republican lawmakers got their chance to respond and commence negotiations on the 39 bills, and frankly, theyre starting slowly. Read more: Michigan Republicans leading with less controversial bits of voting package Three less controversial bills addressing voter rolls and clerk training, as well as fixes recommended by the Auditor General in 2019, were the subjects of a Wednesday hearing of the Senate Elections Committee. The whole package will transform throughout the process and many of the bills will look different than they do today, said Senate Elections Committee Chair Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly. Were going to take them one-by-one, the former secretary of state told MLive. Nothing is pre-determined. We get input from all the stakeholders, and I think the package that will get done will make sure that we have secure and fair elections. Current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, meanwhile, released a breakdown of her opposition to each Senate bill in the package. Unlock Michigan turns in signatures on a petition to limit Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's emergency powers on Oct. 2, 2020. Power-limiting petition fails to reach certification A law deemed unconstitutional that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer previously used to issue pandemic orders will remain on the books, for now. The Board of State Canvassers failed to certify the signatures of a petition seeking to repeal the law during a Thursday, April 22 board meeting. The anti-executive power group Unlock Michigan submitted more than half a million signatures in October 2020 in a petition drive aimed at undoing the 1945 law Whitmer used to issue executive orders last year. The bipartisan canvassing boards 2-2 certification vote follows the petition signatures being deemed valid by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and collected with no prosecutable illegal activity, according to Attorney General Dana Nessel. Read more: Unlock Michigan petition certification fails in split vote of state canvassers At the same meeting, the state canvassers also unanimously approved petition language for the right-wing Michigan Patriot Party to start collecting signatures for future certification. Read more: Michigan Patriot Party one step closer to a spot on the ballot The Michigan Capitol building, pictured Feb. 7, 2019 in a fog. House unveils $13 billion pandemic relief plan, bipartisan ethics reform initiative Members of the House revealed two legislative plans this week; one just from Republicans and the other with bipartisan support. The first involves a $13 billion pandemic relief plan from Rep. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, which draws funds from both pots of federal aid and $1.3 billion in state money. Read more: House GOP ties half of $13 billion pandemic relief plan to limiting Whitmer spending power The plan, proposed Tuesday, April 20, would fund a variety of programs, including vaccine distribution, COVID-19 testing, food assistance, remedial school education and road repairs. It also ties $6 billion for roads, schools and hazard pay for front-line workers to a measure that would limit Gov. Gretchen Whitmers ability to shift funds through the State Administrative Board. Related: Whitmer carves out priorities for Michigans $18.8 billion in stimulus funds The plan targets relief where its needed most, said Albert in the release, while The Michigan State Budget Office told MLive that Alberts plan comes before guidance on how to spend the new federal money has been given by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The other plan revealed this week is a brokered partnership by both partys leadership on wide-ranging government ethics reform. In a Tuesday announcement, House Speaker Jason Wentworth and House Democratic Leader Donna Lasinski announced a sweeping set of proposed changes that if signed into law would subject Michigan lawmakers and top state officers to financial disclosure, prohibit lawmakers from voting on conflicts of interest and prevent exiting lawmakers from stepping through the revolving door into lobbying for two years. Read more: Michigan House leaders propose wide-ranging changes to government ethics laws Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon speaks during a Monday, Dec. 7, 2020 press conference. (Image provided by Michigan Executive Office of the Governor) Subpoena issued to former MDHHS director The Michigan House Oversight Committee voted Thursday to issue a subpoena to former Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon after he declined to come before the committee voluntarily. Oversight Committee Chair Steve Johnson, R-Wayland, said in a statement following the vote that the committee will be questioning Gordon as part of the committees investigation into non-disclosure and separation agreements between the state and employees. Read more: House panel issues subpoena to former Michigan health director Gordon will comply with the request, spokesperson Kenneth Baer said in a Thursday statement. While Robert strongly believes that public officials should be able to receive confidential advice from their senior leaders, he will of course honor the subpoena and testify, Baer said. Potential GOP candidate for Michigan governor The Republican National Committee says its Chair Ronna McDaniel is focused solely on winning back Congress in 2022, but there may be something else on her mind, according to a Thursday Politico report citing unnamed sources. McDaniel, a Michigan native, told RNC members during a closed-door meeting in Dallas that shes considered stepping down and running against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the 2022 November election, Politico reported, citing two people familiar with her comments. In a statement, an RNC official essentially rejected the idea that McDaniel could run. Read more: RNC brushes off report of Ronna McDaniel mulling run for Michigan governor More on legislation: The Michigan Senate approved Senate Bill 134 , which would ban the distribution, delivery, sale or possession of drug masking products. A misdemeanor would be a $1,000 fine or a one-year misdemeanor prison sentence. Read more: Ban on drug-masking products on urine tests approved in Michigan Senate The Michigan Senate unanimously approved $110,000 in private money to provide meal vouchers to National Guard members currently deployed to the U.S. Capitol. Many have reported poor food conditions. Read more: Michigan Senate approves funds to buy better meals for National Guard deployed in D.C. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia highly appreciates the principled and impartial position adopted by France during the recent war, Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan said following the meeting with President of the Senate (upper house of the Parliament) of France Gerard Larcher. Today we commemorate 1.5 million Armenians who were killed just because they were Armenians and Christians. Today is the 106th anniversary of those events, although that event has not been limited to one year, the Armenian Parliament Speaker said. He reminded that today is also the 20th anniversary of the official recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide by France. He considered symbolic the visit of the French Senate President and his delegation to Armenia, which is taking place after the recent war unleashed by Azerbaijan with the support of Turkey against Artsakh and the Armenian people. Thus, we assess this visit as a clear message of solidarity and support by our friendly France also in this context. We highly appreciate the principled and impartial position adopted by France during the war, Mr. Mirzoyan said. He thanked the French Senate for the adoption of the resolution on the need to recognize Nagorno Karabakh on November 25, 2020. Mirzoyan said the adoption of this resolution is very important for the strengthening of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format, as well as for the recognition of the international status of Artsakh as a key guarantee for the security of Artsakh-Armenians. It is also a sobering message addressed to Turkey and Azerbaijan, which do not stop making anti-Armenian, Armenophobic and militaristic statements to date, Ararat Mirzoyan said. The French Senate President and his delegation arrived in Armenia for the participation to the Armenian Genocide commemoration events. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Ola Jordan has opened up about having a second child with her husband James Jordan and predicts her next pregnancy will be smoother. Likening the process to 'an old car', the former Strictly star, 38, said: 'As soon as you get it going the first time, it keeps going.' The blonde beauty also gushed about her and 43-year-old James' 'perfect' daughter Ella, fourteen months, hailing the tot - who was conceived after one round of IVF. Little sibling? Ola Jordan, 38, has opened up about having a second child with husband James Jordan, 43, and predicts next pregnancy will be smoother Speaking to The Sun about her daughter and the IVF process, Ola said: 'We are very lucky it happened for us on the first attempt, and we're extremely blessed to have Ella, she's such a little character.' She added: 'There are so many people who go through IVF and it doesn't happen for them. And there are lots of people out there who want a baby and they can't afford it.' Despite her joy, Ola joked that she's pining for a full night of undisturbed sleep, as Ella has taken to waking up at 3am. Happy family: Ola also gushed about her and James' daughter Ella, fourteen months, hailing the tot - who was conceived after one round of IVF - 'perfect' Ola and James - who tied the knot in 2003 - welcomed Ella in February 2019. Last month Ola revealed her daughter has still never met her parents or another child amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Ola told how her parents, who live in Poland, have been forced to communicate with their granddaughter solely through FaceTime. She said: 'It's unbelievable to think my mum and dad haven't met my baby girl. It was my hope that my mum would be there to help give me tips with my first baby. 'We talk on the phone - and thank God we have FaceTime - but not being able to have my parents around me when you have a little baby is really quite tough.' It comes after doting father James shaved off his hair on Loose Women last week in honour of his father who passed away last month. Heartbreaking: Ola revealed Ella has still never met her parents or another child amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic Family: Ola told how her parents, who live in Poland, have been forced to communicate with their granddaughter solely through FaceTime (pictured with her mother Janina) The former Strictly star got rid of his long locks with the help of Ola and explained he didn't want to cut it while his father Allan, who died from a brain tumour, was ill. James explained that he wanted to do 'something positive' in memory of his father, and that the sadness from losing him 'comes in waves'. He said: 'It's been a month now and I say it kind of comes in waves, it's extremely upsetting for my family. In memory: James got rid of his long locks with the help of wife Ola, and explained he didn't want to cut it while his father Allan, who died from a brain tumour, was ill 'The funeral is going to be next week on the 20th and I just wanted to try and do something positive from the whole thing in his memory.' The ballroom dancer added that keeping his long tresses became a 'superstition' and that he didn't want to cut it because he 'thought something bad' would happen. Speaking to presenters Nadia Sawalha, Kaye Adams, Jane Moore and Penny Lancaster, he added: 'It became a bit of a superstition that I kept my hair long all the time he was alive and doing well. 'I didn't want to cut my hair as I thought something bad was going to happen, so now I want to do it as a positive to raise awareness for brain rumours and the charity. Family: Taking to Twitter to share an emotional video, James said he was 'totally devastated' by the loss of his dad (left) 'He was a great husband, dad grandfather, a daredevil unlike his son who became a dancer, he is my hero and I'm going to miss him every day. 'What he went through at the end with my family was truly horrendous. It's an experience I wouldn't want anyone else to go through.' In March, James returned to social media following the death of his father and shared an emotional video saying he was 'totally devastated' by the loss. He revealed he had previously tried to post a video but was 'too emotional'. James said: 'I haven't been on social media for quite a long time now because my father unfortunately passed away on 13 March at 8.05am. 'I've been totally devastated. I did try and do this post before, but I wasn't able to because I was too upset.' He went on: 'My dad had a stage four brain tumour - a glioblastoma. He was diagnosed approximately one year ago and myself and my family watched him slowly disappear. So sad: James revealed the sad news on Instagram that his father Allan had passed away after battling a brain tumour, noting that his dad 'became an angel at 8:05am' 'It's an absolutely horrendous horrendous disease. Cancer is awful no matter which cancer it is but brain tumour in particular takes away that person's identity a lot. 'Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer in children and adults under 40. Out of 600million raised in the UK, less than three per cent goes to brain tumour funding for treatments. 'I want to change that because I don't want any of you guys to go through what I and my family went through.' Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here NEW YORK, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm rated Top 50 in the 2018 and 2019 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report and headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating Colony Bancorp, Inc. ("CBAN" or the "Company") (CBAN) relating to its proposed acquisition by SouthCrest Financial Group. Under the terms of the agreement, Southcrest shareholders are expected to receive either $10.45 in cash per share, or 0.7318 shares of CBAN per share they own. The investigation focuses on whether Colony Bancorp, Inc. and its Board of Directors violated securities laws and/or breached their fiduciary duties to the Company by 1) failing to conduct a fair process, and 2) whether the transaction is properly valued. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/colony-bancorp-inc. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. About Monteverde & Associates PC We are a national class action securities litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders from corporate wrongdoing. We were listed in the Top 50 in the 2018-2020 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. Our lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions. Mr. Monteverde is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017-2019, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017-2020 Top Rated Lawyer. Our firm's recent successes include changing the law in a significant victory that lowered the standard of liability under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act in the Ninth Circuit. Thereafter, our firm successfully preserved this victory by obtaining dismissal of a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted at the United States Supreme Court. Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019). Also, in 2019 we recovered or secured six cash common funds for shareholders in mergers & acquisitions class action cases. If you own common stock in Colony Bancorp, Inc. and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341. Contact: Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC The Empire State Building 350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405 New York, NY 10118 United States of America [email protected] Tel: (212) 971-1341 Attorney Advertising. (C) 2021 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC Related Links http://www.monteverdelaw.com Advertisement Eight officers have been injured as protesters bombarded police with missiles and bottles after thousands of anti-vaccine passport activists marched through London. TV presenter Beverly Turner and London Mayor candidates Piers Corbyn and Laurence Fox joined thousands of activists in a 'Unite for Freedom' protest to demand a ban on vaccine passports. Demonstrators hurled bottles as officers attempted to disperse the crowds in Hyde Park on Saturday evening, the Metropolitan Police said. Photographs posted on social media show a female police officer bleeding from a cut to her head, while another suffered a similar wound on his forehead. A Met Police spokesman said two officers were taken to hospital after protesters turned violent last night. They added: 'Eight officers were injured as they worked to disperse crowds in Hyde Park this evening. 'Missiles including bottles were thrown in small pockets of disorder. Two officers were taken to hospital. Thankfully, they are not believed to be seriously injured.' Five people were arrested for offences including assault on police and remain in custody. Demonstrators made their way through the capital earlier yesterday as they waved banners and placards daubed with a range of slogans including 'no new normal' and 'no health passport'. The crowds did not appear to be adhering to social distancing guidelines and were not wearing face masks. Two other arrests were made earlier in the day as a 38-year-old was taken into custody at 3.20pm near Embankment on suspicion of a public order offence. At 4.40pm a 37-year-old man was arrested near Trafalgar Square on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly and a public order offence. The protest comes amid discussions over 'Covid-status certificates' being considered by ministers to help open up society, get people back into work or away on holiday despite concerns from Boris Johnson's own MPs that they will be 'intrusive, costly and unnecessary'. A police officer was left with blood streaming down his face as the protests turned ugly in Hyde Park this evening The gathering was in protest against vaccine passport, face masks and lockdown. Pictured: Protestor clashes with an officer Protestors, including London Mayor candidates Piers Corbyn and Laurence Fox (pictured), made their way through London Thousands of activists marched through central London yesterday in a protest to demand a ban on vaccine passports A Met Police spokesman said two officers were taken to hospital after protesters turned violent this evening Some officers were obscured by a cloud of colourful smoke as smoke bombs appeared to be set off during the clashes They added: ' Eight officers were injured as they worked to disperse crowds in Hyde Park Demonstrations turned violent as police made five arrests over the course of the afternoon and into the evening Tensions flared as protestors squared up to uniformed officers wearing masks at the clashes in London's Hyde Park Smoke grenades appear to have been deployed amid the violent clashes following the protest in London's streets One officer was so injured he had to be taken to hospital, the Met Police confirmed, after missiles were thrown at police An officer is seen esturing to another person off camera as police tried to bring the crowds under control after the protests As footage emerged showing thousands of placard-wielding protesters take to the streets of London, emergency service workers shared their disappointment online. John Apter, a serving police officer, tweeted: 'Thoughts are with my @metpoliceuk colleagues who really are that thin blue line in Hyde Park tonight. 'Facing provocation, missiles being thrown, cameras being stuffed in their faces and more. People who criticise them from their armchairs wouldn't last one minute in their shoes.' John Apter, national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, continued: 'These officers are just doing a job, they're somebody's son, daughter they're mums and dads. 'To be targeted in the way they are says a lot about the society we've become. I will continue to do my best to support them but I need Government to do more, much more.' And Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden wrote: 'I'll be honest as an ICU doctor this actually makes me want to cry. A gut punch for NHS staff everywhere tonight. I'm gutted. 'The thing that tears me up about this is we have been coming out of lockdown slowly to prevent a third wave and further lockdowns. This kind of selfish behaviour risks not only everyone's safety but further lockdowns. 'NHS staff are still living through the trauma of the last year. This is a slap in face for all us and for everyone who has lost friends, colleagues and family members. Why can't these people just go and have a beer in a nice pub garden?' TV presenter Beverly Turner was among the crowds marching through central London in a 'Unite for Freedom' protest to demand a ban on vaccine passports Piers Corbyn made an appearance at the protest to complain about the possibility of vaccine passports Crowds, which included families, did not appear to be adhering to social distancing guidelines and were not wearing masks Hundred of protesters gathered in London for the Unite for Freedom protest on Saturday afternoon The anti-lockdown activists made their way through central London in their thousands as part of a 'Unite for Freedom' protest Police were seen detaining one of the protestors in London who was wearing a hoodie that read 'say no to medical tyranny' A demonstrator holds a placard during an anti-lockdown Unite for Freedom protest, amid the spread of the coronavirus A demonstrator wore a historic doctor's mask and 'biohazard' tape as he joined protesters in London yesterday The supporters were protesting against new Covid-19 measures including what they call 'coerced vaccinations' Demonstrators made their way through the capital as they waved banners and placards daubed with a range of slogans Police have said they are aware of plans for a large-scale protest and have increased officer numbers accordingly as protestors made their way through the capital Demonstrators made their way through the capital earlier today as they waved banners and placards daubed with a range of slogans including 'no new normal' and 'no health passport' The Metropolitan Police took to Twitter to confirm that authorities were on the scene in London and 'engaging with those taking part' The protestors did not appear to be adhering to social distancing guidelines and were not wearing face masks Demonstrators made their way through the capital earlier today as they waved banners and placards daubed with a range of slogans including one that read: 'No to vaccine passports' The protestors marching through the capital did not appear to be adhering to social distancing guidelines and were not wearing face masks More than half of the UK's total population has received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, figures show. NHS England data up to April 23 shows that of the 38,189,536 total doses given in England so far, 28,102,852 were first doses - a rise of 107,656 on the previous day Demonstrators held banners with messages such as: 'Covid-19 Vaccine Holocaust', and: 'No To Vaccine Passports.' Another banner read: 'You don't need proof to know truth.' Earlier this month, Britain's equalities watchdog warned the Government that vaccine passports could be unlawful, create a 'two-tier society' and discriminate against migrants, ethnic minorities and the poor. It comes as the Government said there had been a further 2,061 lab-confirmed cases in the UK - a drop of 7 per cent compared to last week's figure of 2,206. In further good news, only 32 new deaths from the disease were recorded - an eight per cent drop on last Saturday's figure of 35. And NHS England data up to April 23 shows that of the 38,189,536 total doses given in England so far, 28,102,852 were first doses - a rise of 107,656 on the previous day. The supporters of the anti-vaccine passport movement are protesting against new COVID-19 measures including what they call 'coerced vaccinations'. Among the group were a host of famous faces including TV presenter Beverly Turner as well as London Mayor candidates Piers Corbyn and Laurence Fox. The Metropolitan Police took to Twitter earlier in the day with a series of posts that read: 'We have a policing operation in central London today as a result of a number of demonstrations. 'Anyone coming into London for a protest must make sure their gathering is lawful, with a risk assessment carried out by the organiser. See below our open letter on public gatherings... 'Officers are on site and are engaging with those taking part.' Thousands of activists have marched through central London in a 'Unite for Freedom' protest to demand a ban on vaccine passports London Mayor candidate Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy, was also seen taking part in a protest march through central London Thousands of anti-lockdown activists are marching through central London in a 'Unite for Freedom' protest to demand a ban on vaccine passports The protestors did not appear to be adhering to social distancing guidelines and were not wearing face masks with one man holding signs that read 'question everything' and 'wake up world' Crowds gathered in London earlier today in the 'Unite For Freedom' protest as one man carried a sign that read: 'Unmasked, unmuzzled, unvaccinated, unafraid' The supporters of the movement are protesting against new Covid-19 measures including what they call 'coerced vaccinations' The Metropolitan Police took to Twitter to confirm that officers were on the scene and 'engaging with those taking part' One protestor wearing a costume who was taking part in the 'Unite for Freedom' protest held a sign that read: 'Wrong is wrong no matter if everyone is doing it. Right is right no matter if no one is doing it' The protest is in response to 'Covid-status certificates' being considered by ministers to help open up society, get people back into work or away on holiday despite concerns from Boris Johnson's own MPs that they will be 'intrusive, costly and unnecessary' The protest is in response to 'Covid-status certificates' being considered by ministers to help open up society, get people back into work or away on holiday despite concerns from Boris Johnson's own MPs that they will be 'intrusive, costly and unnecessary'. Recent polling has found the majority of Britons back their use - especially for foreign holidays - but there are wider concerns that they could be used in every facet of life including to get on public transport, into shops, pubs and restaurants. Earlier this month, the Equality and Human Rights Commission piled pressure on the PM and told the Cabinet Office that while they are a 'proportionate' way of easing restrictions, they could also exclude people from everyday life. One demonstrator dressed in camouflage did not show their face as they took part in the anti-lockdown 'Unite for Freedom' protest in London earlier today Thousands of anti-lockdown activists are marching through central London in a 'Unite for Freedom' protest to demand a ban on vaccine passports The protestors, some of whom set off smoke flares, did not appear to be adhering to social distancing guidelines and were not wearing face masks The supporters of the movement are protesting against new COVID-19 measures including what they call 'coerced vaccinations' as well as the use of face masks Demonstrators made their way through the capital earlier today as they waved banners and placards daubed with a range of slogans including 'no new normal' and 'no health passport' One woman walking among the crowds in London held two sheets of A4 paper that read: 'All I wanna say is... they don't really care about us' One protestor attending the demonstration in the capital held a sign that read: 'We are in the middle of a mass hypnosis' Thousands of demonstrators marched through central London during a protest against the restrictions and legislations imposed by the Government to control the spread of coronavirus And they warned that a 'no jab, no job' policy could be illegal before the entire population is offered a jab, while plans to force all care workers to be vaccinated could also be subject to a legal challenge. The EHRC's submission, seen by the Guardian, says they could cause 'indirect discrimination', citing recent migrants to the UK, people from black and minority ethnic groups or those from poorer backgrounds. 'There is a risk of unlawful discrimination if decisions taken in this process disadvantage people with protected characteristics who have not received, or are not able to receive, the vaccine, unless they can be shown to be justified,' it said. Lockdown restrictions in England began easing on April 12 which allowed pubs and restaurants to reopen outdoor seating areas. The move also paved the way for retail, gyms and beauty salons to reopen. A day after a glacier burst incident took place in Sumna, Neeti Valley near the India-China border in Chamoli district, the informed on Saturday that 291 persons have been rescued so far, adding that rescue operations are still in progress. "291 persons have been rescued so far. Rescue operations still in progress," said the in a series of tweets. In another tweet, it informed, "A BRO (Border Roads Organisation) Camp came under an avalanche in the afternoon of 23 Apr during heavy snowfall in Sumna area of Joshimath Sector in Chamoli district of While 55 BRO persons could be mustered at first count, blizzard conditions kept rescue operations at bay till late evening." It further stated another 150 General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) personnel trapped in the BRO Camp have been rescued and brought to safety during the rescue operation that was undertaken by the Army at night. Rescue operations are still in progress to search for the persons still trapped under snow or stranded at worksites since late evening. Two bodies have been recovered so far. Mountaineering rescue teams and air efforts are at stand by for further rescue operations, said the Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said that he has been in constant touch with the district administration after the glacier burst incident has taken place in Sumna, Neeti Valley near the India-China border in Chamoli district. "A glacier burst has been reported in Sumna, Niti Valley. I have released an alert in this regard. I am in constant touch with the district administration and BRO," Rawat said in a tweet in Hindi on Friday night. "The district administration has been instructed to get complete information about the incident. In NTPC and other projects, orders have been given to stop work at night so that no untoward incident occurs," he added. The Chief Minister further said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has taken immediate notice of the information of the glacier burst and has assured full help to the state government, besides instructing the ITBP to be vigilant. "I express my heartfelt gratitude to the Home Minister Amit Shah on behalf of my people for his readiness and sensitivity," he added. At around 1600 hours on April 23, 2021, an avalanche hit a location about 4 km ahead of Sumna on Sumna - Rimkhim road in Uttarakhand. This is on Joshimath - Malari- Girthidobla - Sumna- Rimkhim axis. A BRO detachment and two labor camps have been there nearby for road construction work along this axis. An Army camp is located 3 Kms from Sumna (approximately 1 Km short of BRO Sumna detachment). The area continues to experience heavy rains and snow that it has been witnessing for the last five days. The road access has been cut off at four to five locations due to multiple landslides. Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) teams from Joshimath are working to clear the area en route from Bhapkund to Sumna since last evening. It is expected to take another six to eight hours to clear this complete axis. In February, a glacier burst incident had taken place at Joshimath in Chamoli district, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and causing large-scale devastation. Over 50 bodies were recovered and hundreds were declared missing. Kolkata: The corona epidemic has created a lot of terror all over India and the infection is spreading rapidly day by day. On Thursday. 14 lakh new cases have come to light which is the highest ever in a day. The death toll is also increasing rapidly. A new corona stretch has emerged from this central West Bengal. According to media reports, the new 'triple mutant variant' is said to be more fierce than the rest of the strain. According to reports, the train is spreading at a rapid pace in West Bengal as well as Delhi and Maharashtra. Experts say that the mutation E484 present in the variant is a matter of concern. E484K is an immune escape variant that helps to flush out variants from the immune system and compromise the stake in the vaccine. A 'triple mutant variant' is formed when three mutations of the virus combine to form a new variant. The same Has Increased Rapidly In The Recent Past West Bengal Triple Mutant Variants. However, there is not much information about this mutant yet. According to reports, it is still difficult to say more about this variant, but experts say it is dangerous from the rest of the variant. Dr. Madhukar Pai, Professor, McGill University had said in an interview that it is a more infection-causing variant that is making people sick soon. On the other hand, AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria, Chairman, Narayan Health, Dr. Devi Shetty, and Medanta President Dr. Naresh Trehan informed the people about the corona. Health Minister Rajesh Tope ready to touch center's feet for oxygen supply Joe Biden vows out his vision for a greener economy to halve emissions by 2030 UP-Haryana and Delhi to receive rain in next few hours Apple is facing a $50 million ransom demand from a notorious Russian hacker group called REvil. The company was attacked after Quanta, which is a Taiwan-based supplier, reported a data breach on one of its servers that contained data about upcoming Apple products. 9To5Mac reports that the hacker group has offered proof, which includes schematics of new and upcoming Apple products, by releasing some of the documents that it has on the internet. The documents that the hacker group has released so far includes specifications of the upcoming Apple Silicon-powered MacBook Pro bearing codenames J314 and J316. The leaked details are in line with the reports, which suggested that the new MacBook Pro will come with an SD card slot and an HDMI port among other things. As per a separate report by MySmartPrice, REvil posted the data from the Quanta server on Happy Blog, which is a dark web marketplace that it runs. The hacker group then asked Quanta to pay a ransom of $50 million, but when the company refused, it moved to Apple threatening to release sensitive commercial information pertaining to the company. Now, the hacker group is threatening to release more data if its demands are not met by a deadline of May 1. It is worth noting that Apple is not the only target of the company. The publication says that earlier REvil has posted information belonging to Acer India. The list included the companys pay orders, commercial documents and bank documents. by Vladimir Rozanskij Fresh attempts at dialogue, but there is fear of the Ukrainian armed forces, ready for anything. The Navalnyj case - and Western sanctions augment the fragility of the Russian system. In recent days, an attempted coup d'etat in Belarus against Lukashenko, a faithful dauphin. Fresh attempts at dialogue, but there is fear of the Ukrainian armed forces, ready for anything. The Navalnyj case - and Western sanctions augment the fragility of the Russian system. In recent days, an attempted coup d'etat in Belarus against Lukashenko, a faithful dauphin. Moscow (AsiaNews) - Vladimir Putin has decided, together with Defense Minister Sergej Shoigu, to withdraw part of the troops deployed in recent weeks in Crimea, near the breakaway regions of Donbass. Right up until the moment of yesterdays decision there was fear of the rekindling of the conflict between the two ex-brother countries. Either way the Kremlin guarantees it will "preserve its war potential" around the Donbass, winking at possible negotiations with Volodymyr Zelenskii's Ukraine. For his part, the Ukrainian president invited Putin to negotiations, to be held "anywhere in the Donbass". According to observers, the Russian retreat could be due to the fear of a response from the Ukrainian armed forces, which have shown that they have no fear of the Russians: this is the opinion of Sergej Garmash, a publicist and representative of Ukraine in the "group of three-way contact with Russia and the OECD, who spoke on the Obozrevatel television channel. According to Garmash, Bidens phone call and rigid positions from the United States and Europe would also have an effect, deflating Putins desire to show his strength. This explains why during Putin's "speech to the nation" last April 21, all reference to the conflict in the Donbass was absent, disappointing the expectations of pro-Russian separatists in the areas concerned. The "Navalnyj case" also helped push the Russian leadership towards milder tones, both due to the threats of further Western sanctions, which would bring the economy to its knees, and to the internal pressure of public opinion, manifested in the demonstrations of 21 April for the release of the opponent imprisoned in Vladimir. The statistics released after the actions of the navalists speak of about 150 thousand participants in the marches, with almost 2 thousand arrests. The police acted in moderation everywhere, except in St. Petersburg, where 800 people were arrested. Russia fears the Ukrainian army's operations in the Donbass, aimed at regaining full control of the territory, in imitation of the Azeris in Nagorno Karabakh, when the Russians were forced to take note of the situation and cede the main role in the area to Turkey caucasian. For this reason, the tension will remain high for a while, and Putin nevertheless spoke of a "red line" not to be crossed. Moreover, even the Ukrainians have no intention of undertaking risky attacks that would lead to heavy losses in terms of life. Garmash states: "We need to start over from the Minsk agreements of 2014, and get the people of Donbass to express themselves with a real referendum under the guarantee of all, not as happened in Crimea ... Russia must stop presenting itself as mediator, and agree to be a party to the confrontation ". Among the events that have fueled Putin's fears is the dark story of the "attempted coup" against Belarusian President Lukashenko in recent days. So far, four people have been arrested accused of plotting to assassinate the Belarusian batka [father]. In his speech on April 21, Putin complained that "the West has not condemned this very serious fact, regardless of what is happening in our countries, unlike those that interest them". Lukashenko himself visited Moscow yesterday to ask for more support and protection from Russia, in view of a de facto merger that would be the only possible way out for him. Both neighboring and "related" countries - Belarus and Ukraine - contribute to creating an atmosphere of great uncertainty for Putinian Russia. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov has said that the proposal voiced by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to meet for resolving the situation in Donbas with the "heads" of the self-proclaimed so-called "DPR" and "LPR" mean their de facto recognition by Russia and its withdrawal from the Minsk agreements. "According to international law, the proposal that we heard from the President of Russia is the official recognition of two quasi-formations of the occupation regime with the corresponding names 'DPR' and 'LPR.' This is, in fact, a withdrawal from the Minsk agreements, because there is no such concept in the Minsk agreements. There are the concepts of ORDLO of Ukraine. It is important to analyze both in the Normandy format and in the OSCE," Reznikov said on the air of the Freedom of Speech (Svoboda Slova) program on the Ukraina TV channel on Friday, April 23. As reported, Putin expressed his readiness to discuss bilateral relations with the President of Ukraine in Moscow, and in order to solve the problems of Donbas, he invited him to meet with the self-proclaimed heads of ORDLO. The on Saturday asked the Centre about the preparedness to deal with the expected COVID-19 second wave peak in mid-May, terming the massive rise in cases as a tsunami', and warned it will "hang" any person who tries to obstruct supplies to hospitals here. Talking tough, a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli, said this during a special hearing on a holiday on the issue of mounting crisis in various hospitals in Delhi. The court said the viral disease has a low mortality and those who have a low immunity will eventually die but the problem comes when people who could be saved are also dying. "The mortality rate needs to be reduced." Referring to a study by a team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, the court noted its assessment that the peak of this COVID wave will come in mid-May. We are calling it a wave, it is actually a tsunami, the court said, and asked the Centre about the preparedness in terms of infrastructure, hospitals, medical staff, medicines, vaccines and as on date for the peak. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said there might be a rapid rise in the number of cases in May and June and the country needs to be ready for the worst. He said the Prime Minister and others are working on it and have decided to import oxygen and are also exploring the remotest possibility of generating oxygen from wherever it is possible. The court was hearing submissions by the counsel for Maharaja Agrasen Hospital, Jaipur Golden Hospital, Batra Hospital and Saroj Super Speciality Hospital here over shortage of oxygen for treating seriously-ill COVID patients. "We will hang that man. We will not spare anyone," the court said while telling the Delhi government to give one instance of any official at the central, state or local administration obstructing the pickup of oxygen supplies. The court told the Delhi government to inform the Centre also about such officials of the local administration so that it could take action against them. It also asked the Centre when the 480 metric tonne (MT) of oxygen per day allocated for Delhi would see the light of the day. "You (Centre) had assured us (on April 21) that 480 MT per day will reach Delhi. Tell us when will it come? The 480 MT per day is still to see the light of the day." The query came after the Delhi government said it was getting only 380 MT oxygen per day over the past few days and it received only around 300 MT on Friday. During the hearing, the court also questioned the Delhi government officers as to what endeavour they have made to secure tankers to get the supply of oxygen allocated to it by the Centre. (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.) What if Iran doesn't actually plan to use a nuclear weapon? What if Iran wants, as various of its officials have said over the years, to prevent being toppled the way Saddam Hussein was, or Moammar Gaddafi or Hosni Mubarak? To prevent a 20-year U.S.-led invasion like that of Afghanistan? Nuclear-armed North Korea, not to mention Russia and China, have received far more forbearance from the U.S. than the leaders of Iraq, Libya, and Egypt, or the Afghan people. Yes, all things considered, its better to be a nuclear-capable Iran than not. Iran might be willing to accept delays in the program in exchange for time, space, and money to pursue its other long-term goals. We can't know that for certain, which makes pressure and a tight negotiating posture essential for the U.S. and its allies, and makes the ongoing, effective sabotage at nuclear-related facilities a well executed blessing. The time to parse Iran's nonnuclear weapons goals is now, before making concessions to Tehran. Biden and Obama administration officials and their media supporters appear to regard a return to the JCPOA (the "Iran deal"), or even an extended and more restrictive JCPOA, as the solution to the problem of Iran. But it is not. Regardless of the outcome of the Vienna talks, the problems that make Tehran a threat to peaceful order at home and abroad will remain and likely be exacerbated. This calls into question the proposition that Iran needs protection nuclear or not from the U.S. and Israel. You don't need nuclear protection if you plan to be a civilized country. On the other hand, if you are planning to do something aggressive, hegemonic, deadly, and illegal, nuclear protection from the consequences seems wise. Tehran's goals include hegemony in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea; proxy forces controlling Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon (the "Shiite Crescent"); Shiite supremacism across the Muslim world; diminution of U.S. power and prestige in the region; and ultimately, the destruction of Israel, which stands in the way of the other goals. Iran is fairly far along. The "Crescent" not only provides close access to Israel, but also spreads across the northern borders of two key Sunni adversaries Saudi Arabia, guardian of Mecca and Medina, which the mullahs covet, and Jordan. It splits historic foe Sunni Turkey from the other Sunni Middle East states. Only Israel keeps Iran from digging in deeper, and Israel was helped by the reduction in available cash for Iran by President Trump's "maximum pressure" regime. A southern arc encircles Saudi Arabia from the Persian Gulf through the Gulf of Aden with a base in Yemen and a Houthi proxy at the bottom of the Red Sea, threatening the Bab el Mandeb Straits and the exit of Israel and others into the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and threatening the American base in Djibouti. The Biden administration makes Iran's life easier by refusing to support the Saudis in the Houthi war Iran is waging from Yemen. Iran has incubated Sunni jihadists in the poor, corrupt, and vulnerable states of the second tier of Africa Sudan, Chad, Niger, and Mali resulting in waves of migrants headed for Europe. A unified North African tier was part of the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue that helped control safety and security in the sea until the Obama administration toppled Gaddafi in 2011. Libya has become a hole in the dam through which hundreds of thousands of African migrants pass. Throw in the mullahs' total disregard for the health, welfare, and political life of its own people mired in poverty and disease while the regime executes political prisoners with no consequences from the Biden administration. To the extent that Iran is successful, Israel and every Sunni or pro-American country in the region faces what could grow to an existential even if not nuclear threat. Finally, we are likely to find ourselves in the "beyond the JCPOA era" fairly soon. The Biden administration is throwing away leverage to curry favor with Tehran in hopes of getting a quick deal. Iran is planning for the day it has more money and more freedom of action with fewer constraints by Washington not to mention increased cooperation with China and new Russian weapons. There are multiple reports of "progress" being made to bring the U.S. and Iran closer reports made by the Chinese envoy to the talks (who appears to be the official spokesman for the P5+1, which is a bit disconcerting) and at least one report says the U.S. has agreed to provide compensation to Iran for "maximum sanctions." Tehran should be in a good mood right now and might actually find something to agree to that would enhance its prestige, make it appear reasonable, restore it to the community of "civilized countries," and boost its bank accounts. That may be the way Iran wants it focus on the JCPOA. Be agreeable. Find a temporary deal while building a weapon to protect the Islamist government from future American or Israeli intervention. In no case should the Biden administration believe that a restored JCPOA is Iran's goal. And Israel's determination that Iran not be permitted to acquire or build nuclear weapons should be supported and applauded. Image: Chickenonline via Pixabay, Pixabay License. To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here. Kathmandu, Apr 24 (PTI) Nepal's former King Gyanendra Shah and Queen Komal Shah on Saturday have been admitted to a hospital here for treatment of coronavirus, days after they were tested positive for the viral infection on their return from India after participating in the Maha Kumbh at Haridwar. The 73-year-old former King and 70-year-old former Queen were diagnosed with the disease on April 20. The former royal couple and their daughter Prerana Singh have been admitted to the Norvic International Hospital for treatment of COVID-19, the hospital officials said. Shah's aide and former press secretary of the Narayanhiti palace, Faniraj Pathak, also confirmed that the former monarch has been admitted to the hospital. "They (the couple and their daughter) dont have any health complications and their condition is stable for now, said Somnath Bastola, the chief of the hospital's Communications and Public Relations Department. The couple had recently returned from India where they had taken a holy dip at Haridwars Har Ki Pauri during the Maha Kumbh -- a religious congregation of Hindu seers and devotees, Nepal's Health Ministry had said. According to a report in the Himalayan Times, hundreds of people had gathered at the airport in Kathmandu to welcome the former king and queen during their arrival back home. As of Saturday, the Himalayan nation has reported a total of 297,087 coronavirus cases and 3,136 deaths. Of the total infections, 16,828 cases are currently active, the health ministry said. Shah was crowned as the king of Nepal in 2001 after his elder brother Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and his family were killed in a massacre at the Royal Palace. An investigation blamed Birendra's son Dipendra, who was among the dead, for the massacre. Shah stepped down in 2008, after a popular revolt forced him to abdicate, and the centuries-old monarchy was abolished, turning the country into a republic by the Constituent Assembly. He became deeply unpopular when he seized direct control of the nation in 2005, claiming mainstream parties had failed to tackle the deadly Maoist insurgency. He has kept a low-profile and has occasionally made public appearances. In normal circumstances, the Maha Kumbh is held for nearly four months. Its last edition was held in Haridwar from January 14 to April 28 in 2010. PTI SBP SCY AKJ SCY (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Offer a personal message of sympathy... By sharing a fond memory or writing a kind tribute, you will be providing a comforting keepsake to those in mourning. If you have an existing account with this site, you may log in with that below. Otherwise, you can create an account by clicking on the Log in button below, and then register to create your account. FLINT, MI A man is hospitalized following a morning shooting in Flint. Flint Police Chief Terence Green said at about 11 a.m. Saturday, April 24, a 29-year-old man suffered at least one gunshot wound in the 700 block of South Dort Highway. The wounded man was taken to an area hospital, where he was listed in good condition, Green said. Green said the victim may have been involved in an armed robbery of a business in that block just prior to the shooting. The chief could not disclose additional details, such as if the shooter has been identified or is in custody, saying the investigation is ongoing. Flint police and Michigan State Police troopers had the area cordoned off with crime scene tape into the afternoon hours. Read more: Flint-area officials say community engagement is key to policing and policy change in wake of Chauvin verdict New deputy chief selected for Flint Police Department He had a style of his own: Flint mother urges people to provide information on sons shooting death Flint grapples with pandemic-fueled surge in homicides, crime Desperate refugees and migrants attempt to reach Europe in dangerous boats like these in Libya. UNHCR/ F. Noy UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are deeply disturbed by reports of a tragic shipwreck off the coast of Libya. Fears are that this latest incident could have claimed the lives of up to 130 people. The rubber boat, which reportedly embarked from the Al Khoms area east of Tripoli, is said to have capsized due to bad weather and stormy seas. The NGO SOS Mediterranee reported that the first distress call was received by authorities on Wednesday morning. SOS Mediterranee and commercial vessels searched the area on Thursday only to discover several bodies floating around the deflated rubber dinghy but no survivors. This would be the largest loss of life recorded in the Central Mediterranean since the beginning of the year. So far in 2021 alone, at least 300 other people have drowned or gone missing in the Central Mediterranean. This is a significant increase compared to the same period last year when some 150 people drowned or went missing along the same route. IOM and UNHCR warn that more migrants and refugees may attempt this dangerous crossing as weather and sea conditions improve and living conditions in Libya deteriorate. In Libya, migrants and refugees continue to be subjected to arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, exploitation and violence, conditions that push them to take risky journeys especially sea crossings that may end up with fatal consequences. Legal pathways to safety, though, are limited and often fraught with challenges. UNHCR and IOM reiterate their call on the international community to take urgent steps to end avoidable loss of lives at sea. This includes the reactivation of search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, enhanced coordination with all rescue actors, ending returns to unsafe ports, and establishing a safe and predictable disembarkation mechanism. For more information please contact: For UNHCR: In Geneva, Aikaterini Kitidi, [email protected] , +41 79 580 8334 , +41 79 580 8334 For Libya, Tarik Argaz, [email protected] , +216 29 961295 For IOM: Paris, TX (75460) Today Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers this afternoon. Thunder possible. High around 80F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Rain developing after midnight. Low 69F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. A resident of Stavropol Nikolai Sobolev became a defendant in a criminal case under the article Involvement in extremist activities, the investigation already sent documents proving his guilt to the Industrial District Court of Stavropol. Sobolev is accused of participation in the USSR sect banned in Russia. According to Komsomolskaya Pravda-Stavropol, the investigation established that Sobolev found out about the sect that denies Russias existence back in 2016. He became a member in 2019, being appointed the "commandant of Stavropol." To the editor: In 2018 the voters of Michigan passed two amendments to the Michigan constitution. Both of these had over 60% voter approval. One amendment was to eliminate gerrymandering. The other was to strengthen the voting procedures and make voting more accessible for all registered voters. Some of our Michigan legislators are bringing forth 39 new bills. Most of these bills are about weakening and restricting the will of those voters. It weakens our democracy. Bill #289 is a good example. Our federal government gives money to each Secretary of State. Our Republican legislators are proposing that our Secretary of State cannot have the money unless it gets their approval. Michigan currently has more than enough political squabbling over power and this adds to it. This is nothing short of a power grab that takes over the Secretary of States responsibilities. Bill #310 would make it harder for me and you to get an absentee ballot application. Last election, I was sent a letter asking me if I wanted an absentee ballot application. I returned it with a yes. My ballot was mailed to me and I filled it out. I could either mail it in or put it in a drop box. The new bill says I have to go in person and possibly stand in line to go thru this process of getting an application and ballot. How does this work for older folks, those with disabilities, and those with limited transportation? The first words of the Michigan constitution are All power is inherent in the people. Many of these 39 bills are designed to take away the power of the Michigan voter. If these bills get a veto, our politically oriented legislators are ready to override the vetoes with petition signatures. It takes less than 5% of the population to do this and it will be a done deal. Another power grab. Our legislators who created and support these bills should be called and taken to task for their disrespect of the voters. EILEEN GREW Midland A man believed to be the patient zero of the Mercure Hotel cluster had recently returned to Perth from attending a wedding in India. India is in the midst of a massive wave of coronavirus cases that has been clogging local hospitals and overwhelming local authorities. This week, the country set a new world record for daily infections after recording 314,000 new cases in a day. There are about 34,000 Australians overseas registered as wanting to return, the largest cohort of whom, about 9000, are in India. The man was in quarantine on a floor of the Mercure Hotel with 24 other overseas travellers when the virus spread across several rooms. A woman, her four-year-old child and a Victorian man who had recently returned from China were all infected. The Victorian man, who has since returned to Melbourne, spent five days in Perth as a tourist visiting several sites and transmitted the virus to a Kardinya receptionist who had hosted him at her home. Mark McGowan (right) and WAs Chief Health Officer Dr Andy Robertson. Credit:Peter De Kruijff Of the 24 guests, five have left Australia. All but one of the remaining 19 guests, the Victorian man, have so far tested negative for the virus. Premier Mark McGowan made the revelations during a press conference this afternoon, adding it was just nuts the federal government had allowed people to travel to high-risk countries. The person in the hotel the other day who was infectious had recently gone to India, who passed it onto the people across the corridor, Mr McGowan said. It was not his fault that it spread across the corridor. But the fact of the matter is the Commonwealth let him go to India recently. Mr McGowan said Australians travelling to countries with large COVID numbers and then returning a positive test had become a growing problem. Some, he said, had travelled to Europe and Africa to attend sporting events. We should be dealing with that issue, he said. They are the whodunnits that make Line Of Duty look straightforward. Who has been leaking Downing Street secrets in an attempt to damage Boris? And is there one guilty party or multiple villains? Here our Political Editor Glen Owen examines the evidence and reveals the most likely culprits. Leak 1: 'Chatty Rat' reveals details of a second lockdown Plans for England's second lockdown were leaked last November on a Friday night after a meeting attended by just four Cabinet Ministers the 'quad' of Boris Johnson, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove. The details of the Ministers' conclusions, briefed to newspapers that evening, led to an extraordinary scramble at No 10 to arrange a special Saturday press conference to make the announcement. The move infuriated Boris Johnson, who felt 'bounced' into the lockdown. A senior source told The Mail on Sunday that 'our rat, whoever it is, seems to be very chatty at the moment' and the leaker has been known as the 'Chatty Rat' ever since. The details of the Ministers' conclusions, briefed to newspapers that evening, led to an extraordinary scramble at No 10 to arrange a special Saturday press conference to make the announcement Cabinet Secretary Simon Case launched an investigation which led to the security services swooping on the homes of Ministers and their aides to seize their phones. The suspects Pro-lockdown 'doves' such as Mr Hancock or Mr Gove or their advisers. Dominic Cummings was accused of being the Chatty Rat by No 10 last week. But the MoS was told in November that investigators were '90 per cent sure' that the rat was a Gove adviser. In his incendiary blog post on Friday, Mr Cummings said the investigation had concluded that Henry Newman, a former Gove aide who now works in No 10, was the Chatty Rat but that Mr Johnson had buried the findings because Newman is a friend of his fiancee Carrie Symonds. No 10 says the investigation is still continuing six months later. Our verdict It all points to a 'dove' aide such as Mr Newman (who denies it). But No 10 officials insist Mr Cummings remains their prime suspect. n his incendiary blog post on Friday, Mr Cummings said the investigation had concluded that Henry Newman, a former Gove aide who now works in No 10, was the Chatty Rat but that Mr Johnson had buried the findings because Newman is a friend of his fiancee Carrie Symonds Leak 2: Bad dog! The misbehaviour of Dilyn In February, it was reported that Mr Johnson was furious with his dog Dilyn because he chewed furniture at Chequers and cocked a leg on an aide's handbag. An insider says that the PM called for someone to 'shoot that f****** dog' after Dilyn disturbed a meeting. Friends of Ms Symonds then told The Mail on Sunday that Mr Cummings was briefing against Dilyn as he harboured a grudge against the animal because it once 'humped his leg'. They also said the pet was being used to fight a proxy war against the PM's fiancee. The suspects Dominic Cummings, or friends of Ms Symonds retelling the story out of amusement rather than malice. Our verdict Dominic Cummings. Friends of Ms Symonds then told The Mail on Sunday that Mr Cummings was briefing against Dilyn as he harboured a grudge against the animal because it once 'humped his leg' Leak 3: Tory donors and Wallpapergate Mr Johnson was revealed earlier this year to have ordered a six-figure redecoration of his Downing Street flat, including designer furniture from Lulu Lytle, then tapped up Conservative donors to contribute towards the cost. After the Electoral Commission quizzed Tory chiefs over the refit, Mr Johnson was last week forced to pay 58,000 from his own pocket towards it. In his blog on Friday, Mr Cummings said he had warned Mr Johnson that the proposal was 'unethical, foolish and possibly illegal', adding that he had refused to help to arrange any such payments. The suspects Dominic Cummings or 'Redthroat', the name given to a Labour mole (or moles) suspected of leaking secret government information to Sir Keir Starmer's officials, who then hand details to friendly media. Our verdict Dominic Cummings. Mr Johnson was revealed earlier this year to have ordered a six-figure redecoration of his Downing Street flat, including designer furniture from Lulu Lytle (pictured), then tapped up Conservative donors to contribute towards the cost Leak 4: The Cameron lobbying scandal A series of leaks have revealed the lobbying activities of David Cameron on behalf of Greensill Capital, in which he had a commercial interest. They include sending text messages to Chancellor Rishi Sunak in an attempt to gain access to a Covid loan scheme and contacting Treasury Ministers Jesse Norman and John Glen. Lex Greensill, the company's founder, had worked inside No 10 when Mr Cameron was PM and the Labour Party obtained his business card, which it passed to the BBC. The suspects Redthroat or Dominic Cummings. Our verdict Redthroat. A series of leaks have revealed the lobbying activities of David Cameron on behalf of Greensill Capital, in which he had a commercial interest Leak 5: The Dyson tax texts controversy The BBC obtained a series of leaked texts between Sir James Dyson and Mr Johnson in which the Prime Minister promised the entrepreneur that he would 'fix' a tax rule to help Dyson staff make ventilators for the NHS. Sir James said he wanted to be sure his staff would not have to pay extra tax if they travelled to Britain to work on the ventilators last year. When he did not receive a reply to a letter he sent to the Treasury about it, he took up the matter with the PM. Mr Johnson replied: 'I will fix it tomo! We need you.' The PM then texted Sir James again and referred to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, saying: 'Rishi says it is fixed!! We need you here.' The suspects Downing Street blamed Mr Cummings in a briefing last week. But Mr Cummings is understood to be able to prove that the screenshot of the text exchanges were attached to an email sent from Sir James's office to the Treasury, which was then circulated in Whitehall to between 30 and 40 officials not including Mr Cummings. Our verdict Redthroat. Leak 6: Is Cummings the 'Chatty Rat'? Three national newspapers ran claims on Friday morning that Mr Cummings was using 'damaging' leaks to seek revenge against the Prime Minister because he was enraged by the Government's soaring poll lead since he was forced out of Downing Street and the success of the vaccine rollout. A 'No 10 source' cited the Dyson texts and the 'Chatty Rat' row. In his blog, Mr Cummings pointed the finger at Downing Street's new director of communications Jack Doyle but the MoS understands that the Prime Minister contacted newspaper editors directly. The suspects Boris Johnson, Jack Doyle. Our verdict Boris Johnson. GETTY IMAGES 19 50% Sanjay SrivastavaGenpact Gopeshwar: At least eight Border Roads Organisation (BRO) workers were killed in an avalanche near the Indo-China border in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, officials said on Saturday (April 24). Two bodies had been recovered from the site in Sumna area of Niti Valley on Friday night, while six more were recovered on Saturday, District Magistrate Swati Bhadauria said. Four injured have been rescued from the site, where rescue operations are on, PTI quoted Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat at Joshimath. Around 391 BRO personnel out of over 400 who were at work when the avalanche occurred on on Friday are said to have reached the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camps safely, said CM Rawat, who undertook an aerial survey of the area to assess the damage. Sumna, where the avalanche occurred is approximately 25 km from Malari village and located near the confluence of Girthigad and Kiogad, two streams that originate from Dhauli Ganga, which witnessed a calamitous avalanche in February in which 80 people were killed and 126 went missing. Heavy snowfall in the area is hampering the rescue operations, which is being carried out jointly by the ITBP, NDRF and the SDRF, CM Rawat said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured of all help in the rescue operations, Rawat said. A similar avalanche at Sumna had killed eleven ITBP personnel in 1991. Live TV A team of UMass Memorial Health Care doctors has embarked on a two-year study looking and whether COVID-19 triggers inflammation in the brain that in turn causes brain matter to start to break down, leading to dementia. The group consists of Dr. Douglas T. Golenbock, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at UMass Medical School; Michael Heneka, professor of medicine at UMass Medical School and a senior researcher and Director of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Gerontopsychiatry at the University of Bonn; and Dr. Robert Brown, Leo P. and Theresa M. LaChance Chair in Medical Research at UMass Medical School. Using funding National Institutes of Health, the three researchers will closely follow 40 people who contracted COVID-19 and subject them to series of brain MRIs, as well as neuropsychiatric and immune system tests to assess changes in cognition and gather physical evidence, demonstrated in blood-based biomarkers, of dementia an umbrella term for all diseases of the brain marked by the impairment of at least two brain functions. We believe COVID-19 infection causes neuroinflammation, which in turn causes a decline in cognitive capability and loss of brain matter, Golenbock told MassLive. If true, Golenbock says the respiratory infection can lead to the acceleration of conditions like Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease. And the idea that COVID infection can actually damage brain tissue is not exactly a novel one. Numerous studies have demonstrated that patients with severe COVID-19 who end up needing ICU care often exhibited symptoms of cognitive decline during their bout of illness. A study published by researchers at Northwestern Medicine dating back to October found that more than 80% of 509 hospitalized COVID patients had neurologic manifestations. Such manifestations range from seemingly harmless disordered taste and smell, symptoms that have been widely reported by COVID sufferers, to full-blown encephalopathy, a disease of the brain marked by alterations to its structure, which roughly one-third of patients developed in the study. In fact, there is a growing body of evidence that neurological effects in COVID patients are more common than once thought. Episodes of delirium have been observed in critically ill COVID patients in Europe and the United States at unusually high rates so much so researchers have thought about making part of the diseases diagnostic criteria. The group says that COVID-associated dementia may be closely connected to the experience of so-called COVID long haulers patients who report symptoms months after infection, including brain fog and feeling fatigued. A study published in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology in March found that more than 80% of COVID long haulers who were not hospitalized reported experiencing brain fog among a host of other neurological symptoms. Their primary neurological symptoms included brain fog, which was present in 81% of patients; headache, present in 68%; and numbness/tingling, present in 60%. A little more than half of the patients reported a persistent loss of taste or smell and muscle aches that involve the bodys soft tissue tendons, ligaments, and connective tissue, according to the study. The point of interest for the team of UMass researchers begins with one central process: inflammation. The group proposed the COVID-dementia link after learning that COVID patients can experience an exaggerated immune response to the infection called a cytokine storm, a potentially fatal condition of multi-system inflammation caused by the release of an excess of small proteins called cytokines that act as messengers for the immune system. The phenomenon is also thought to have played a part in what made the Spanish flu so deadly during the 1918 influenza pandemic, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. The bacterial infection Yersinia pestis, responsible for the Black Death that swept through Eurasia in the 14th century, also triggers the overproduction of cytokines, resulting in the cytokine storm, according to NEJM. Heneka said the study will look at the underlying pathogenesis of the posited COVID-associated dementia, building on his own research that suggests immune reactions in the brain can play a role in the development of diseases like Alzheimers. Its possible, Heneka says, that COVID initiates a completely new neurodegenerative process, or accelerates already existing disease. Dementia can begin in the brain years if not decades before the onset of symptoms a problem that continues to vex scientists studying the origins of the phenomenon. Is it a transient function, or a true neurodegenerative process that remains to be seen, Heneka said. In Germany, where Heneka resides, COVID patients often call into the University of Bonns memory clinic complaining of memory problems, loss of concentration and unusual tiredness. He says a 35-year-old who had a very minor bout of COVID was recently seen by neurologists for dementia-like symptoms. Its cases like these that have experts concerned about how much is still unknown about the virus. Of course, the challenge of getting a proper scientific handle on the link between COVID and dementia requires long-term study of patients. So the results may not be in for years, if not decades. But postmortem analyses of the brain tissue in COVID patients have shown that the structural changes are real. It is has also been shown, Heneka says, that the virus can directly invade the brain. There is direct (brain) invasion in very few cases, so there is obviously a way, Heneka said. There is probably a route to the brain through the olfactory system. The group stressed that while they hope the study will lead to a greater understanding behind the origins of cognitive decline in COVID patients, its important that scientists continue to develop therapies to combat the virus. And one thing thats at least helped long haulers feel better has been getting the vaccine, which new research suggests helps to clear up brain fog and other symptoms, according to NPR. There are reports of people recovering from the fatigue after vaccination, Heneka said. Related Content: Based on a qualitative study of women microworkers on Amazon Mechanical Turk, this paper explores the gendered modus operandi of global platform capitalism. For women from households negotiating caste and class status in small-town South India, digital labour platforms like AMT are the optimal choice; an answer to both economic necessity and familial validation. Women must, however, endure the platforms coercive disciplining, striving to meet its unknowable metrics. With the pandemic, even as they are forced to contend with the oppressive precarity of digital labourreducing job availability, falling pay, longer hours and the risk of suspensionwork on AMT, paradoxically, becomes non-negotiable. The artificial intelligence-based regimes of the platform economy urgently need a norm shift towards gender equality and redistributive justice. Digital work is increasingly being seen as an important pathway for developing countries to harness the rapidly growing opportunities of the digital economy (Banga 2020). From a development perspective, there is thus an imperative to take stock of the emerging trajectories of the platform labour market. This paper presents findings from a research study exploring the experiences of women working on the microwork platform, Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT or MTurk). Microwork platforms refer to crowdwork1 platforms that provide businesses with access to a large, flexible workforce distributed across the globe for performing numerous small and quick, often repetitive, tasks (Berg et al 2018). According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the rise of digital labour platforms is the most significant transformation in the world of work since the financial crisis of 2008 (Berg et al 2018). The reconstitution of the economy in the fourth industrial revolution, propelled by data and artificial intelligence has opened new labour markets. The production, development and support of artificial intelligence requires human intelligence (Altenried 2020) so that technology can learn cultural and social facts. Microwork is hence not a fringe phenomenon (Tubaro et al 2020), but a new workplace that needs to be understood in relation to how human computational labour inhabits the invisible spaces of the digital economy. Dramatic footage captures the moment a UPS driver came to the rescue of a four-year-old boy, after a 97-pound package he had just delivered fell on top of the 40-pound child. The incident was captured by a RING cam and shows Illinois UPS driver Marco Angel sprint from his delivery truck to come to the boys aid. Young Max Pratt tried to collect a package left by Angel on the porch of his Oak Park home, before he is overcome by how heavy it is. The box tilts sideways, crushing the boy against the steps. The boy can be heard yelling 'help!' as he remains trapped under it. Almost immediately Angel is seen running across traffic to help. Four-year-old Max Pratt attempts to handle a 97 pound package delivered by UPS driver Marcos Angel UPS driver Marco Angels sprints from his delivery truck to help the boy who is heard yelling for help UPS delivery driver Marcos Angel lifts the 97-pound package off the 40-pound boy 'I was scared I was going to fall down the stairs,' Max told CBS Chicago. Max says that he is usually the one who brings in packages for his family, but this delivery in particular was too much for him to handle. 'I couldn't get it well, the package man got it.' he said. Angel, who has been working for UPS for a year, tells CBS Chicago that reacted as fast as he could to help the boy. 'As soon as I saw the package tilt, I just started running back to it,' he said. 'I pictured my boys in his situation. Obviously, you go into kind of into full parent mode or full dad mode to make sure the kid is all right,' Angel added. UPS delivery driver Marcos Angel says he reacted quickly because his parental instincts took over 4-year-old Max Pratt tells CBS Chicago that he is the person who usually brings packages into his Oak Park home when they are delivered Marcos Angel is reunited with Max and his parents on video chat where Max's mother thanks him for helping her son Max is okay, telling CNN that he only suffered an 'ouchie' Max's mother, Traci Pratt, said that after helping her son, Angel helped get the heavy package inside the home. Traci told CNN: 'I went to get the package and he was like, "No, no, no. I'm taking it inside for you. Where do you want me to put it?" He was so nice.' Angel had a video chat set up by CBS Chicago where Max's mother told the UPS driver he lived up to his surname. 'You are our angel, the way you flew in and helped him.' she said via video chat. Pratt says she hopes that UPS gives him a bonus or makes him employee of the month after his quick action to help her son, CNN reports. Max is also a fan of Angel, giving him the nickname 'The Package Man' and says the thinks he's nice, CNN reports. On Wednesday, Google Argentina has failed to renew its domain name in the country. This allowed an Argentinian guy to secure legal ownership of the name google.com.ar. After the said purchase and mistake on the end of Google, the said site became inaccessible--albeit for three hours. Google Search Engine Bought for $5 According to Newsweek, the Argentinian man who bought the domain name of Google.com.ar was identified as Nicolas David Kurona after he posted on Twitter that he has acquired the search engine for 540 Argentine Peso or a little over $5.Kurona stated that he had purchased the search engine from domain registrar NIC Argentina when he noticed it was for sale. Quiero aclarar que entre a https://t.co/XtzUy8WL36 vi el nombre de https://t.co/cK20BdyuxB disponible y lo compre legalmente como corresponde! Nicolas David Kurona (@Argentop) April 22, 2021 Esto es lo que vi el dia que compre el dominio de https://t.co/cK20BdyuxB, gracias por el apoyo !! pic.twitter.com/hYsVcEoLLj Nicolas David Kurona (@Argentop) April 23, 2021 When Kurona purchased the search engine, Argentina could not access the search engine and was reported unavailable for three hours. However, Google managed to restore things to normal after the country suffered technical difficulty accessing the site. Google and NIC Argentina have no further comments on how Kurona managed to purchase the search engine and how it was registered on NIC as a product. The publication reported that this kind of activity is called "Cybersquatting," which some people do online by holding, registering, and buying or selling a domain to make money out of it. The publication also noted that Kurona could have probably bought Google.com.ar because Google Argentina forgot to renew its domain and did not turn on the auto-renew feature. El que no conoce a DIOS, a cualquier santo le reza. pic.twitter.com/ZdBikmE52p Julian Yedlin (@jyedlin) April 22, 2021 el argentino menos ventajero le durmio el dominio a google jajaj alberto pelandez (@alpelandez) April 22, 2021 El que no conoce a DIOS, a cualquier santo le reza. pic.twitter.com/ZdBikmE52p Julian Yedlin (@jyedlin) April 22, 2021 For what it's worth, the main global page Google.com is available and accessible in the country during the shutdown and was not affected. Google's Multiple Shutdowns According to Android Police, this is not the first time a Google domain has failed to renew its policy. Last year, Google India domain suffered the same fate as Google Argentina when Blogspot.in had gone dark, shutting down thousands of smaller blog posts. However, Google has regained control of the blogpost domain. Read Also: Is Google Using Its New Ad Tracker on You? Try This Online Tool to Check T The publication also reported that the Google Argentina domain is set to expire in July this year. With that said, it should not have appeared on NIC Argentina as an available domain name. Given that situation, questions about how Google.com.ar got into the NIC site still have no answers. RT further pointed out that Google has also suffered a significant outage for thousands of users in New York with its search, mail, docs, and drive apps last week. Many have posted online that all Google-related applications were down, such as Google Docs, Gmail, and Google services for 2.300 users. Is Google completely down for anyone else? pic.twitter.com/EDYAjSoq91 John W. DeFeo (@johndefeo) April 16, 2021 hello #twitterverse is google docs down? google classroom? remote schooling has come to a screeching halt in our house. Is it just us? Rbratspies (@RBratspies) April 16, 2021 This morning I checked Bing to see if Google was down, so it's gonna be one of those days. Jacob Tierney (@Soolseem) April 16, 2021 Besides that, Google experienced error messages and long loading times for its U.S. and Europe users earlier this week. This Google outage experienced in parts of the U.S. was because of the internet outage caused by Verizon, who blamed it on a fiber cut in Brooklyn. The significant internet blackout caused apps like YouTube, Google, Amazon and Zoom to shut down. Related Article: Apple 'Sherlocking' Highlighted in Antitrust Probe-Google Also Questioned Over 'Firewall' Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 20:35:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- There is a need for African governments to invest in community outreach programs aimed at combating vaccine hesitancy that has undermined the fight against infectious diseases including COVID-19, an African expert said on Saturday at the start of African Vaccination Week. The African Vaccination Week that will run from April 24-30 with the slogan of "vaccinated communities, healthy communities" is expected to rally the public towards embracing routine immunization as a means to reduce the continent's disease burden. Tunji Funsho, a cardiologist and member of Nigeria's Presidential Task Force on Polio said during an online interview that targeted messaging is key to debunk myths and misinformation that have derailed vaccine uptake in Africa. He said that African governments should mobilize key stakeholders including community and faith leaders, educationists, healthcare workers and investors to promote awareness on the role of vaccines in combating emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19. The week-long event will reaffirm Africa's commitment to scale up immunization against diseases that have exerted pressure on the continent's public health systems besides retarding economic growth. He said that routine immunization hastened the realization of Africa's polio-free status in August 2020, adding that the continent is on course to contain other vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, yellow fever, and meningitis. "I believe that the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa region's wild poliovirus-free certification offers the rest of the world a template for how to address, and ultimately conquer a vaccine-preventable disease," said Funsho. Polio vaccination campaigns that temporarily paused in many African countries at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 have resumed, boosting the immunity of vulnerable groups like children. He said that strategic partnership and robust outreach that led to the success of polio vaccination in Africa should be emulated to boost inoculation against vector-borne diseases that are to blame for high infant and maternal deaths in the continent. Enditem STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two new studies show both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines may provide more antibodies against the New York variant of the coronavirus (COVID-19) than antibodies from being infected with the virus. First identified in New York in November 2020, the B.1.526 variant is responsible for nearly half of all diagnosed cases that underwent sequencing in the five boroughs so far this month. The two independent studies conducted by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and bioRX suggest that Pfizer and Moderna will effectively prevent serious illness and death from the B.1.526 variant. The findings suggest that current vaccines and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies will remain protective against the B.1.526 variants, one study said. Although neither study has been peer reviewed, both studies results are in line with other findings, indicating that both vaccines are effective against not only the New York variant, but the South African and U.K. variants as well. Its been nearly one month since officials in New York City spoke at length about concern over variants; most of the citys efforts have been focused on getting its residents vaccinated. On April 23, the city lifted all of its eligibility restrictions at city-run vaccination sites, allowing any resident aged 16 and older to getting the shot without an appointment. However, despite wide-spread vaccination efforts, the New York variant appears to be spreading at an alarming rate and further support the value of wide-spread vaccination. Mayor Bill de Blasio previously told the Advance/SILive.com that while the city is still keeping a close eye on positivity rates, hospitalization and death rates are the focus when looking at variants. WHERE DOES STATEN ISLAND STAND ON VACCINATIONS? Once the borough with the highest vaccination rate, Staten Island now ranks third with 49% behind Manhattans 60% and Queens 52% but ahead of 45% of Brooklyn residents and 41% of those living in the Bronx. Forty-nine percent of the boroughs residents 183,958 people received at least one dose of one of the three coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines. Thirty-five percent 131,514 people are considered fully vaccinated, according to the most recent city data. Citywide, 6,004,406 doses have been administered since the beginning of the vaccination effort. Staten Islanders who identify as Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander have been vaccinated more than other ethnicities: 64% compared to 40% of white residents, 32% of Latino residents, and 27% of Black residents. Residents aged 65 to 74 have the highest rate of vaccination at 75% while those aged 18 to 24 have the lowest rate at 28%. Females have a slightly higher vaccination rate on Staten Island compared to males, 51% compared to 47% respectively. EEK MUTATION IS OF CONCERN A mutation found in the New York variant, being referred to as the Eek mutation, slightly changes the shape of the virus therefore making it harder for antibodies to stick to the virus. The Eek mutation has also been found in the South African variant. Jesse Bloom, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, told the New York Times that antibodies created by vaccines cover more sites on the virus than from natural infection. Bloom led an analysis comparing the efficacy of antibodies created by a vaccine and those created by natural illness. Vaccinations work by binding to multiple locations on the virus and attacking it. The altered shape due to the mutation makes it harder for antibodies, either from the vaccine or illness, to attach to certain areas therefore potentially decreasing its effectiveness. As long antibodies are able to attack to other sites on the virus, its still effective. This could potentially be a good thing as the virus is creating mutations, Bloom said. FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 19:32:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DHAKA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government has decided to reopen all shops and malls in the country from Sunday despite the ongoing lockdown which remains from April 22 to 28. Bangladeshi authorities decided to let shops and malls open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time while strictly maintaining health safety guidelines. Bangladesh's Cabinet Division said in a gazette notification Friday that the decision had been taken to reduce the livelihood-vulnerability of people. Those caught flouting the safety guidelines will face dire action, it warned. During the countrywide strict lockdown that began on April 14, the government closed all shops and markets in efforts to fight the second wave of COVID-19 which is continuing to worsen with mounting deaths. The COVID-19 resurgence since last month prompted the government to extend the strict lockdown to April 28. Bangladesh recorded 112 deaths from COVID-19 on April 19, its highest daily toll from the pandemic, the government said. On Saturday the country's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported 2,697 new cases of COVID-19 and 83 new deaths, bringing the number of total cases to 742,400 and the total death toll to 10,952. Enditem The Delhi Police on Saturday created a green corridor and helped Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in the eastern part of the national capital to get an tanker, officials said. The police received a call from a government-appointed nodal officer for transporting an tanker from Inox plant in Modinagar, they said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) contacted the DIG Police and SP Rural in Ghaziabad and coordinated the transportation with a police escort, a senior official said. A team was also dispatched from GTB Enclave police station which met the UP Police team midway and took over the responsibility, they said. The team escorted the tanker via the shortest possible route and reached the hospital within an hour, the officer added. In the north district, police also came to rescue of Sant Parmanand Hospital by providing 71 cylinders after they received an SOS message. On Friday, SHO of Civil Lines police station received a distress call from the hospital authorities, saying their oxygen supply has run out and they needed immediate help, officials said. "The staff rushed to the hospital. Oxygen suppliers at Bawana and Mundka were asked to provide refilled oxygen cylinders. Thereafter, a team with two vehicles of the hospital carrying 40 empty oxygen cylinders was sent to Bawana refilling centre," Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) Anto Alphonse said. Another vehicle carrying 31 empty cylinders was sent to Mundka refilling centre, police said. The police escorted the two vehicles carrying 71 oxygen cylinders back to the hospital by providing a green corridor, they said. Similarly, in southeast district, police helped a hospital in Lajpat Nagar to get oxygen cylinders. "On Thursday, police received information that IBS Hospital was having a scarcity of oxygen cylinders. The lives of 40 COVID patients were at stake. Police arranged six oxygen cylinders from different locations and handed over to the hospital," Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) R P Meena said. On Friday, authorities of IBS hospital also made a distress call to the police, saying there was a shortage of oxygen cylinders at their facility. The police arranged six oxygen cylinders for the hospital. A green corridor was created by a team of Lajpat Nagar police station from Badarpur border to IBS Hospital for supplying the oxygen, Meena 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.) Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Montana passed a state-level version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, joining nearly two dozen other states with similar religious freedom protections. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 215 on Thursday, requiring that state agencies will need to show a "compelling governmental interest" to interfere with a persons religious beliefs. A spokesperson for the Governor's Office told the Montana Standard on Thursday that Gianforte signed the bill to protect the freedom of people of all faiths to exercise their sincerely held religious beliefs. Montana joins 21 other states with RFRA laws, where it has historically been used to allow Native American children to wear braids in school, Sikhs to wear turbans in the military, and Christian employers to refuse to cover abortions under their health insurance policies, the spokesperson said. Source:The Christian Post Nearly 10,000 people staged a torchlight procession in Yerevan in memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed over a century ago in Ottoman Turkey, Al-Arabia reported. The march began from the central square to the huge memorial complex, where the activists burned the Turkish flag. Historians estimate that in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, about 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Turks in what many consider the first genocide of the 20th century. Although Turkey recognizes the killings during that era, it rejects the term genocide, claiming that the death toll was exaggerated and that these deaths were the result of civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Armenia officially celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide on April 24, when the murders began in 1915. The US State Department referred to the expected announcement of the Armenian Genocide, which, most likely, is a confirmation of the readiness of US President Joe Biden to recognize it. Washington has so far refrained from talking about genocide. Turkey refuses to talk about the Armenian genocide, while more than twenty countries and many historians recognize it. Biden will become the first US president to recognize the Armenian genocide under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the newspaper added. (Alliance News) - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denied he tried to block an official leak inquiry following a series of incendiary allegations by his former top adviser Dominic Cummings. In a furious outburst, Cummings accused Johnson of seeking to halt the investigation into the leak of plans for a second lockdown after he was warned a close friend of his fiancee Carrie Symonds could be implicated. He also claimed Johnson had attempted an "unethical, foolish, possibly illegal" plan to get Tory donors to fund the lavish refurbishment of his official Downing Street flat. The claims prompted speculation Cummings is bent on revenge after his dramatic departure last year from No 10 amid a bitter internal power struggle with Symonds. Ministers are braced for further allegations when he appears next month before MPs investigating the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson sought to brush off the charges saying the public did not "give a monkey's" about such matters. Asked by LBC radio if he had tried to block the leak inquiry, the prime minister replied: "No, of course not." Downing Street said in a statement that ministers had acted at all times "in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law". Labour said the Tories were fighting "like rats in a sack" demonstrating a "breath-taking contempt" for the public. Cummings' onslaught was prompted by briefing to newspapers that Johnson believed he was behind a series of leaks including text messages exchanges in which the prime minister promised to "fix" a tax issue for the entrepreneur James Dyson. In a lengthy blog post he accused Johnson of ordering his aides to make false allegations about him and offered to give evidence to the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case. He went on to deny a No 10 claim that he was the so-called "chatty rat" responsible for the leak last October which was seen to have "bounced" the government into announcing a second lockdown. He said Case had told both him and Johnson that "all the evidence" pointed to Henry Newman, a special adviser and a close friend of Symonds, and "others in that office" as having been responsible. The prime minister, he said, had been "very upset" as it would cause him "very serious problems" with Symonds if Newman had to be fired and had asked whether the leak inquiry could be stopped. Cummings said he told Johnson that was "mad" and "totally unethical" and that he could not cancel an inquiry into a leak which had affected millions of people "just because it might implicate his girlfriend's friends". "It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves," he said. Cummings there now needed to be an urgent parliamentary inquiry into the government's conduct over the Covid crisis, with the key players required to give evidence on oath. Johnson, who spent Friday campaigning in Hartlepool by-election, insisted he was concentrating on protecting the health of the public, adding: "I don't think people give a monkey's about this issue". In a statement, Downing Street said that Johnson had "never interfered" in a government leak inquiry. In response to Cummings' claims about the funding of the flat refurbishment, the statement said: "At all times, the government and ministers have acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law. "Cabinet Office officials have been engaged and informed throughout and official advice has been followed." Earlier a government statement said that Johnson had met the cost of the flat refurbishment a which reportedly ran to GBP200,000 a out of his own pocket. Former foreign secretary Lord Hague said he did not know if there was any truth in the claims but said that Downing Street would need to come up with some "good answers". "If all of these things were true, they would be damaging to anybody, including a prime minister," he told Times Radio. By Gavin Cordon, PA Whitehall Editor source: PA Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Those who have received Chinese-made COVID vaccines have experienced an array of adverse reactions, including fever, nausea, and diarrhea, a new leaked document has revealed. The document also tells of a Chinese man who was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and yet repeatedly tested positive for the disease, implying that the Chinese-made COVID vaccines may have a very low efficacy rate that is not enough to protect individuals from the harrowing virus. The Epoch Times got a hold on three leaked documents, one of which was titled "Statistical Table of Adverse Reactions of COVID-19 Vaccines" issued by the community health center of Laishui County in Baoding City, located in the Hebei Province of China. In the document dated April 8, it revealed that locals who were inoculated with the Chinese-made COVID vaccines experienced adverse reactions, including fever, nausea, diarrhea, rashes, a tightening of the chest, and shortness of breath. A second leaked document was also obtained, this time issued by the office of Baoding Municipal Leadership Team for Response to the Epidemic, dated March 3. The document recorded the case of Sui, a Chinese local from the Lianchi district of Baoding City who received two doses of the Chinese-made COVID vaccine in December last year. Following his inoculation, Sui traveled to Germany, but upon his return to Baoding on January 11, was kept in quarantine for up to 47 days. Sui underwent several COVID-19 tests five times during his 47-day quarantine, which tested his blood, CT, blood serum, and nucleic acid. Test results showed that his IgM antibody in the blood serum test was positive every single time. Detecting IgM antibodies in his bloodwork meant that he had a relatively recent COVID-19 infection. Baoding Municipal Government's Foreign Affairs Office told ET that based on their policy, a person can only be released from the centralized quarantine site if they turn up with a negative IgM test result. The representative said that Sui has been undergoing expert consultation once a week and every week, they recommend that he "continue his quarantine." However, IgM antibodies are often present in the early stages of a COVID-19 infection. Such presence in Sui is highly unusual as he had already been in quarantine for over a month, leading experts to believe that Sui's IgM antibodies may be a result of the Chinese-made COVID vaccines. A third leaked document obtained by ET was titled "Notice on Further Strengthening the Safety Management of COVID-19 Vaccination" and dated April 9. In the document marked as "extra urgent and non-disclosure to the public," authorities urged for continued monitoring of those who were inoculated with the Chinese-made COVID vaccines and had adverse reactions. It also ordered government agencies to strengthen monitoring of such "adverse reactions that would have a major negative impact on society." The CCP continues to downplay the adverse effects of the Chinese-made COVID vaccines, with communist state-sponsored Global Times reporting that the incidence of adverse effects from Sinopharm's two inactivated COVID-19 vaccines is at 1.06% only, "far lower" than the phase II clinical trial results that reported 13% and 19% respectively. A former Oklahoma resident has found that she spent the last two decades with a felony charge to her name after failing to return a rented VHS tape. Caron McBride's legal troubles stem from a VHS copy of 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' which was rented back in 1999 from Movie Place in Norman. McBride says she assumes it was rented by a roommate. But when the tape was never returned it was her that was charged with felony embezzlement of rented property in March of 2000. The rental store ultimately closed in 2008, but the charge remained. McBride says she only learned of the charge in the last year when she got married in Texas and tried changing her name. She now fears the charge has been secretly plaguing her life for years - and could be why she has missed out on job opportunities. Caron McBride recently learned she was charged with a felony for an overdue rented VHS tape The VHS tape was of 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch,' which was rented from Movie Place in 1999 'I went to change my driver's license, during this COVID thing you had to make an appointment, and so, I sent them an email [and] they sent me an email and they told me...that I had an issue in Oklahoma and this was the reference number for me to call this number and I did,' McBride said to FOX 25. When she called, she was directed to the Cleveland County District Office, who relayed the charge to her. 'The first thing she told me was felony embezzlement, so, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack,' McBride said. 'She told me it was over the VHS tape and I had to make her repeat it because I thought, 'This is insane. This girl is kidding me, right?'' 'She wasn't kidding,' McBride added. McBride placed the blame squarely on a roommate of hers who had two daughters and possibly rented the VHS for them. 'I had lived with a young man, this was over 20 years ago,' McBride said. 'He had two kids, daughters that were 8, 10 or 11 years old, and I'm thinking he went and got it and didn't take it back or something. 'I have never watched that show in my entire life, just not my cup of tea.' McBride (left) pictured with her husband. She learned of the charge against her after she tried to have her legal name changed following her marriage in Texas The charge against McBride has since been dropped, but her record hasn't been expunged She added, 'Meanwhile, I'm a wanted felon for a VHS tape.' Thankfully for McBride, that's no longer the case. On Wednesday, the charge was dismissed after the DA's office reviewed the case. Ed Blau with Blau Law Firm says she still needs the case to be expunged to clear her record, though. McBride says she has experienced problems in the past, including being let go from several jobs without explanation. 'This is why...because when they ran my criminal background check, all they're seeing is those two words: felony embezzlement,' McBride said. 'I mean, I didn't try to deceive anyone over 'Samantha [sic] the Teenage Witch.' I swear,' McBride said, mispronouncing the name of the VHS tape that has given her so much trouble. According to KFOR, McBride is looking at hiring an attorney to help get her record expunged. 'It's a serious issue,' McBride said to the station. 'It's caused me and my family a lot of heartache financially because of the positions I've lost because of those two words. Something's got to give.' Felony embezzlement in Oklahoma can carry a prison sentence up to two to eight years, as well as a fine between $5,000 and $10,000. New Delhi: Bollywood actress and daughter of late legend Sridevi and producer Boney Kapoor Janhvi Kapoor is a social media sensation among fans and is hugely popular on Instagram. The star kid often posts pictures with her younger sister Khushi Kapoor, fun videos with her friends, and stunning selfies as well. Recently, Janhvi took to Instagram to post breathtaking stills from her bridal photoshoot with the Asian Magazine Khush Mag. The star kid was seen donning three beautiful lehengas and gracefully posing for the camera. In the first picture, Janhvi is seen laying on a sofa and smiling while wearing a white, heavily embroidered lehenga with mirror work on it. In the second still, Janhvi looks even more stunning with a yellow lehenga with a netted dupatta and huge traditional earrings. The actress is seen flaunting her highlighted cheekbones as she looks to the side. In the third picture, Janhvi takes a new approach to the traditional red or pink wedding wear and goes with a flamingo pink-coloured lehenga. The actress can also be seen wearing a designer necklace with intricate patterns on it. As stunning as she looked, Janhvi took a more humble approach in sharing these pictures with her fans keeping in mind the rising COVID-19 cases. She wrote in the caption, "In these trying times, I know its important to be sensitive to the troubles we as a country are facing & I would never want to be inconsiderate towards that. This cover, however, and the subsequent posts of it had been committed to a while back and were shot before lockdown. We were as safe and precautious as possible. I hope all of you are staying safe and strong! Love always." Check out her lovely bridal looks: Fans were awestruck by her modern bridal looks and flooded the comment section with heart emojis and fire emojis. One user commented, "Beautiful look and nice smile", while another said, "So pretty". On the work front, Janhvi was last seen in the Maddock Films-produced horror-comedy 'Roohi' co-starring Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma. She will next be seen in 'Good Luck Jerry', 'Dostana 2', 'Takht' and 'Bombay Girl'. One of AstraZeneca's most senior bosses has defended his chief executive's decision to run the British pharmaceuticals giant from Australia as it rolls out its Covid vaccine. Pascal Soriot has faced criticism for working from his family home Down Under amid concerns about the Astra jab's links to blood clots. Under pressure: Pascal Soriot has faced criticism for working from his family home Down Under amid concerns about the Astra jab's links to blood clots Ketan Patel a fund manager at EdenTree, which has a stake in Cambridge-headquartered Astra said 'being halfway around the world doesn't give the right signal'. But finance chief Marc Dunoyer hit back, telling The Mail on Sunday: 'I see [Soriot] many times a day at different times of the day [on video calls]. He's in absolutely close contact. 'It's a fallacy to think that the business is run from any one place. When you're a global company like we are, we have people who are in many different parts of the world, different time zones.' Dunoyer is charged with overseeing the 28billion takeover of US peer Alexion. The deal, announced in December, is due to complete between July and September. Astra's shares fell after the announcement but have rallied in recent weeks. 'It's because the probability of implementing [the deal] is now so high,' said Dunoyer. Alexion specialises in rare diseases and Astra hopes to grow the American firm's presence in Asia. Dunoyer said the tie-up could allow Alexion and Astra scientists to use research into rare diseases defined as affecting fewer than one in 2,000 people as a platform to create treatments for more common problems such as chronic kidney disease and congestive heart failure. The news outlets being sued by Ben Roberts-Smith have lost their bid to include in a defamation trial evidence of new allegations of serious criminal conduct against the former SAS soldier over his conduct in Afghanistan. But a Federal Court judge on Friday granted The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald permission to use new evidence of eight Australian soldiers who are expected to detail Mr Roberts-Smiths involvement in several incidents including the alleged murders of two Afghan men in 2009, to bolster the news outlets truth defence. Former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith. Credit:Getty Images Mr Roberts-Smith, a highly decorated former soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, is suing The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald over reports he allegedly committed murder during deployments to Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012, and that he also allegedly punched his mistress in the face in Canberra in 2018. Mr Roberts-Smith denies the allegations and says the reports are defamatory because they portray him as a criminal. The European Medical Agency (EMA) said on Friday that people who received the first dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine should get the second one, reiterating that the benefits of the shot outweigh the risks. The big picture: EMA's decision comes after several countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the agency's assessment of a "possible link" between the shot and rare blood clots. EMA recommended the condition be listed as a "very rare" side effect. The Swedish Health Agency said this week that people under 65 who have received their first AstraZeneca dose should get an mRNA vaccine as their second dose instead. The U.K., which has relied heavily on AstraZeneca in its world-leading vaccine rollout, has recommended that people under the age of 30 receive either Pfizer or Moderna. What they're saying: EMAs human medicines committee "considered recommendations to give the second dose of Vaxzevria [AstraZeneca] after a longer interval than the recommended 4-12 weeks, to not give a second dose at all, or to give an mRNA vaccine as a second dose," the agency said. ADVERTISEMENT The police in Kwara State have announced the rescue of Alaga Olayemi, the 69-year old businessman abducted in his farm at Oke Onigbin, Isin Local Government Area Wednesday evening. Mr Olayemi and his aides were attacked by seven gunmen, this newspaper earlier reported. Ajayi Okansanmi, the spokesperson of the police, broke the news on Friday night. He said Mr Olayemi was rescued through a search and rescue operation ordered by the commissioner of police in the state. The police spokesperson said the search was conducted within Oke-Onigbin, Iloffa, Ekiti and Eruku areas of the state by the police and other members of the security community in the state. The rescue operation forced the abductors to abandon their victim at Oyogbo village under intense security pressure when it became obvious they could not escape arrest. He said the victim was undergoing medical checks in a hospital while efforts were being intensified to get the abductors. The commissioner of police, while soliciting for more cooperation of the citizens by giving police information. He wishes to assure the good people of Kwara State of their safety at all times, while warning criminal elements to vacate the state, as the police command would not hesitate to employ all lawful means to deal with criminals irrespective of their status. Kidnapping for ransom has been on the rise in different parts of the country lately. Despite several promises by security agencies and government officials to curb the menace, the situation has worsened. Emerald Biofuels is still ramping up its Port Arthur operation but will finish a bit later than originally planned. That led the company to request a delay in its agreement with the Port Arthur Independent School District, which would cap taxes on their appraised property. The amended agreement was approved by the board Thursday night. You have before you an application for an amendment to the previous agreement with Emerald Biofuels, said Dan Casey, an attorney reviewing the matter for the district. We have seen a handful of these across the state due to the pandemic and other factors that have delayed progress on the projects. The delay will not impact the terms of the agreement, which Casey said are quite favorable for the district. This is certainly something I would recommend to you, he said. Phyllis Geans, the CFO for the district, said the move would not impact the districts budget because of how far out any expected earnings would occur. The district does not budget for anticipated revenues in future years, she said. The first projected year for any revenues is 2025-26. Howard Jensen, the CEO of Emerald Diesel, told the board the project was a long time coming. Weve been working on this for a long time so I feel I know the Port Arthur area pretty well, Jensen said. We are very pleased to be able to come to Port Arthur and weve lined up a set of investors and we plan to finish our investment by July at the very latest. The Emerald Biofuels project has been actively in development since at least 2014, when the Chicago-based company leased an 8-acre portion of industrial property from GT OmniPort logistics terminal shortly after it opened. The company has been awarded $210 million months earlier as a part of a partnering contract with three companies to produce cleaner diesel for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. In early talks with Jefferson County, the company told officials that its initial plans were to invest $315 million in construction and employ 50 full-time workers. Emerald Biofuels has said its first project, dubbed Emerald One, would be designed as a commercial-scale refinery capable of producing approximately 110 million gallons per year of renewable diesel using feedstocks like recycled cooking oil. The company Emerald Renewable Diesel LLC first applied for an agreement with the district in late 2019, with the first expected tax year under the agreement being 2022. That date will be pushed back. Emerald Biofuels is just one of a growing number of renewable diesel projects coming to the region, something Jensen cited as a good sign for the district. We think the opportunity in the renewable diesel world is only getting better, Jensen said. There is a major renewable diesel refinery coming called Diamond Green Diesel. They have had significant success on their other projects and I think we are anticipating similar (success) with our project. That recently approved renewable diesel project, which would also be a client of GT Logistics, started construction in January. Diamond Green Diesel (DGD) Port Arthur, expected to have a capacity of 470 million gallons per year, is estimated to start operations in the second half of 2023 and would create up to 25 jobs. PAISD has a similar tax-limitation agreement with Diamond Green Diesel, which was reached in early 2021. According to Jensen, the technology of the two companies is similar. Trey Novosad, a consultant for GT logistics, testified at a December 2020 board meeting about the growing number of projects in the region. The more plants you get, the more employees you get, and the more revenue in sales and property tax you have, Novosad said. If you arent growing you are dying, so we need to keep the investment coming as you get more infrastructure and more people come. isaac.windes@hearstnp.com jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com Two people were found dead Thursday in Yosemite West, a small community accessed through Yosemite National Park, seen here. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times) Two people were found dead Thursday in Yosemite West, a small community accessed through Yosemite National Park, in what officials are describing as a murder-suicide. The Mariposa County Sheriffs Office, which is investigating the case with the California Department of Justice crime lab in Fresno, said Friday that officials responded to reports of a possible deceased person around 4 p.m. Thursday. Deputies found a deceased man and woman who officials said they believe were visiting the county. The sheriffs office said that investigators think the woman shot the man multiple times before killing herself and that it has no additional people of interest. The names of the deceased are being withheld pending next of kin notifications. Kristie Mitchell, a spokesperson for the sheriffs office, said Yosemite West consists of vacation homes for tourists and second homes for residents. The county reported no homicides in 2020. This isnt very common in the entire area, she said. Jonathan Farrington, executive director of the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, called the incident tragic. "This type of occurrence simply does not happen in Mariposa County or our region at any regularity," he said. "The region is known for being safe, quiet and serene." This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. WASHINGTON, April 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will provide live coverage of the upcoming return activities for the agency's SpaceX Crew-1 mission with NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) from the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Resilience, is scheduled to undock from the space station to begin the journey home at 7:05 a.m. EDT Wednesday, April 28. NASA and SpaceX are targeting 12:40 p.m. for the splashdown and conclusion of the Crew-1 mission. The return to Earth and activities leading up to the return will air live on NASA Television, the NASA App, and the agency's website. Crew-1 is the first of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program, which worked with the U.S. aerospace industry to return launches with astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil. In advance of departure from the space station, Crew-1 astronaut and station Commander Shannon Walker of NASA will hand over command of the station to JAXA astronaut and Crew-2 member Akihiko Hoshide during a change of command and farewell event. The Crew Dragon will autonomously undock, depart the space station, and splash down at one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. Resilience also will return to Earth important and time-sensitive research. For normal crew rescue and recovery operations, the NASA and SpaceX teams select two primary splashdown locations from the seven possible locations about two weeks prior to return, with additional decision milestones taking place prior to crew boarding the spacecraft, during free flight, and before Crew Dragon performs a deorbit burn. NASA and SpaceX closely coordinate with the U.S. Coast Guard to establish a 10-nautical-mile safety zone around the expected splashdown location to ensure safety for the public and for those involved in the recovery operations, as well as the crew aboard the returning spacecraft. NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 return coverage is as follows (all times are Eastern): Monday, April 26 12:30 p.m. Crew-1 final news conference aboard the International Space Station Tuesday, April 27 1:25 p.m. Change of Command and Crew-1 farewell remarks aboard the International Space Station Wednesday, April 28 4:45 a.m. NASA TV coverage begins for 5 a.m. hatch closure 6:45 a.m. NASA TV coverage begins for the 7:05 a.m. undocking 12:40 p.m. Splashdown (NASA TV will provide continuous coverage from undocking to splashdown) 2:30 p.m. Return to Earth news conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, with the following participants: Kathy Lueders , associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters , associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters Steve Stich , manager, Commercial Crew Program, Kennedy Space Center , manager, Commercial Crew Program, Kenny Todd , deputy manager, International Space Station, Johnson , deputy manager, International Space Station, Johnson NASA astronaut Jessica Meir Hans Koenigsmann , Senior Advisor, Flight Reliability, SpaceX , Senior Advisor, Flight Reliability, SpaceX Hiroshi Sasaki , vice president and director general, JAXA's Human Spaceflight Technology Directorate Media wishing to participate in the Return to Earth news conference by telephone must call Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 to RSVP no later than 12 p.m. Wednesday, April 28. Those following the briefing on social media may ask questions using #AskNASA. NASA's Commercial Crew Program has delivered on its goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station from the United States through a partnership with American private industry. This partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station, and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts and the space station blog. Learn more about splashdown locations, weather criteria and recovery logistics, at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-spacex-crew-rescue-and-recovery/ See full mission coverage, NASA's commercial crew blog, and more information about the mission at: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov SAN JOSE (BCN) Trustees of the East Side Union High School District, which serves about 28,000 San Jose students, voted Thursday to hire Glenn Vander Zee to replace Superintendent Chris D. Funk, who plans to step down in June. The district announced the choice in a statement late Friday. Vander Zee, whose LInkedIn profile describes him as bilingual in Spanish and English, has served the district as principal of James Lick High School, director of curriculum and instruction, and associate superintendent. In a frank and dramatic letter to the community, Funk announced his departure in August. He listed the local impacts of the pandemic, described the district's four-phase plan for reopening, called out "systemic racial issues," and praised California's new ethnic studies graduation requirement. "[This provides] the opportunity to revamp our curriculum and build equitable communities where students are welcomed, known, and supported," the San Jose native wrote. "If done successfully and in a collaborative way, we will continue to knock down the wall of oppression, brick by brick." Noting the district faces a perpetual deficit, Funk said it was time for him "to hand over the leadership baton." "Fighting to address the systemic oppression that is baked into our public-school system takes courage and fortitude," Funk wrote. "As an organization taking on this fight, our employees cannot worry about potential layoffs, salary reductions, or impact to health benefits at the same time." Board of trustees president Van Le said in the announcement that Vander Zee will pursue the district's mission to build equitable learning communities. Le said "the district was very fortunate to be able to select from such a highly qualified and impressive pool of candidates." Vander Zee began his career as a teacher in Puebla, Mexico, and has been recognized as a principal and an education innovator, according to the district's statement. He holds a bachelor's degree from Calvin College in Michigan and a master's degree in education from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Copyright 2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. Copyright 2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Hyderabad, April 24 : Hyderabad-based vaccine and pharmaceutical company Biological E. Limited (BE) announced on Saturday that its Covid-19 subunit vaccine candidate has received approval to begin Phase III clinical trials in India. A statement issued by the company said that it has received clearance from the subject expert committee (SEC) of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) following the successful completion of the Phase I/II clinical trials. The Phase III clinical study to be conducted in 15 sites across India will evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of BE's SARS-CoV-2 Covid-19 vaccine in about 1,268 healthy subjects in the age range of 18 to 80 years. It is intended to be part of a larger global Phase III study. "We are delighted with the success of the Phase I/II clinical trials of our Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The results of these clinical trials are very positive and promising. We believe that our vaccine candidate will become another effective global Covid-19 vaccine as we move forward into Phase III clinical trials," said Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E. Limited. BE started the Phase I/II clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the second week of November 2020. Its candidate includes an antigen developed by Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and in-licensed from BCM Ventures, Baylor College of Medicine's integrated commercialisation team, along with Dynavax Technologies Corporation's advanced adjuvant CpG 1018TM. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) have provided support for the Phase I/II clinical trials. "This vaccine could one day fill the gaps in vaccine supply shortages in Africa, Latin America and low-income Asian countries. It's so exciting to partner with BE and help India provide a vaccine to halt the Covid-19 pandemic globally," said Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor, and co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. BE's Phase I/II clinical trials evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate consisting of the receptor binding domain of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 at three-dose levels adjuvanted with CpG 1018 plus alum, in about 360 healthy subjects in the age range of 18 to 65 years. The vaccination schedule consisted of two doses for each study participant, administered via intramuscular injection 28 days apart. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 24th Apr, 2021) Dubai Electricity and Water Authority's (DEWA) Distribution Power Division Complex in Al Ruwayyah has received the Platinum Rating for green buildings from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED v4) awarded by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), achieving 86 points. This is a new global recognition of DEWAs success in implementing the highest international standards in green buildings. "We are committed to the highest standards of sustainability and efficiency in all our projects and initiatives. The Distribution Power Division Complex receiving the Platinum Rating for green buildings from LEED highlights DEWAs sustainability efforts. This supports the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which outlines an integrated roadmap for urban development based on sustainable development, to make Dubai the worlds best place to live. It also supports the Dubai Demand Side Management Strategy, which aims to reduce 30% of electricity and water consumption by 2030, as well as DEWAs vision to become a globally leading sustainable innovative corporation," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA. Dubai is the first city in the Arab World and the MENA region to receive this prestigious certification. Abdullah Obaidullah, Executive Vice President of Water and Civil at DEWA said that the Complex adds to DEWAs growing list of green buildings. These include the Sustainable Building in Al Quoz, the first sustainable government building in the UAE and the largest government building in the world to receive the Platinum Rating for green buildings by the USGBC, the Innovation Centre, the R&D Centre, the Smart Grid Station, and Data Hub Integrated Solutions (Moro). He added that the Distribution Power Division Complex saves nearly 30% of energy, 51.46% of indoor water, and 60% of outdoor water compared to conventional buildings. 41% of the building materials have an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and 26% of the building material have Cradle to Cradle/Health Product Declaration certificates. The Complex features a 663KW solar photovoltaic system. Rashid Bin Humaidan, Executive Vice President of Distribution Power at DEWA, said that the Distribution Power Division Complex building provides a healthy work environment to enhance the happiness of employees through several features. These include maintaining the highest indoor air quality through a high-efficiency air filtering system, and periodic CO2 measurement and monitoring. The building includes parking for 1,335 vehicles, three happiness lounges, a nursery, and a library. It also includes 36,754 square feet of green areas on its rooftop that are easily accessible by employees, in addition to facilities that support DEWAs value-added services to its employees. "Taxi Driver" maintains to wow the viewers with its intriguing storyline and Lee Je Hoon's transformation. Aside from its exciting scenes, the SBS drama sustains its high viewership garnering every episode. "Taxi Driving" Viewership Rating According to Nielsen Korea, the latest episode garnered a 15.6 percent rating in the metropolitan area and 14.2 percent in the nation with an overall rating of 16.8 percent. This is by far the mystery crime drama's highest viewership rating since "Taxi Driver" debuted last April 9. To recall, episode 4 has scored an average nationwide rating of 11.5 percent and 15.6 percent for its two parts and is said to be the most-watched program of any kind to air during its time slot. More About Kim Do Gi's Past "Taxi Driver" episode 5 stars by uncovering the past of Kim Do Gi, played by Lee Jee Hoon. The dotting son told his mother that he wanted to join the military to provide a better life for their family. At first, she was hesitant but later on agreed after seeing his son's determination to join the military. Unfortunately, he was hunted by his trauma and recalled how a psychopath serial killer killed his mother. He ends up waking at the hospital beside the Rainbow Taxi boss, Jang Sung Chul (Kim Eui Sung.) Kim Do Gi Transforms as a Corporate Employee of U Data The latest episode of the SBS drama showed Kim Do Gi's newest transformation. The former military agent turned taxi driver disguised himself as a corporate employee of U Data, the top web hard company in South Korea. He will be working on the "U Data Gapjil Assault Case" that was also handed over to prosecutor Kang Ha Na (Esom.) While checking out the details, Kim Do Gi learned about the inhumane treatment and assault of U Data chairman Park Yang-jin ( Baek Hyun-jin) to one of its employees, Seo Young-min, who suffered fatal injuries and is in a coma due to the CEO's abuse. Kim Do Gi started his plan by applying as an IT expert from Silicon Valley. The deluxe taxi driver stepped up his A-game and managed to land a managerial position. Kang Ha Na Investigates the U Data Case Despite her senior instructing her not to dig into the case, Kang Ha Na still continued to investigate and tell his boss it's not right. To recall, the U Data case was settled after the victim withdrew his case. This made her suspicious, and she had the gut feeling that something was not right. She then met the victim's wife and was told that Seo Young-min fell off the bridge, but the wife believes he wanted to commit suicide. In the hallway, Seo Young-min's wife spoke privately with Kang Ha Na and detailed the abuse that he experienced as well as the U Data case. With the information that she got, she is now eager to reinvestigate U Data's involvement with Seo Young-min. IN CASE YOU MISSED: 'Taxi Driver' Star Lee Je Hoon Reveals What Makes Him Attractive to Women KDramastars owns this article. Written by Geca Wills Fullerton Officials Aim to Fix Citys Subpar Streets The streets of Fullerton, California, are in dire need of improvement, according to city officials, and the city council has become determined to do something about it. At a recent meeting, both officials and citizens acknowledged the poor state of the citys streets and emphasized the need to begin fixing the problem as soon as possible. Mayor Bruce Whitaker told The Epoch Times the condition of his citys streets has reached an emergency stage. The subpar condition of our streets is a public safety issue, increasing potential for accidents and injuries, causing undue suffering and substantial litigation costs, Whitaker said. The streets were rated the worst in the county by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) in a 2017 assessment of pavement conditions and have only gotten worse since then, officials say. They discussed ways to deal with the issue at a meeting held on April 13, according to Councilman Fred Jung. Its not background noise anymore. [This] meeting is a good start for us to get a plan in place, which is what residents of Fullerton deserve: to give them tangible increases in not only the investment in infrastructure, but also our awareness of it, Jung told The Epoch Times. Mayor Pro Tem Nick Dunlap told The Epoch Times that the city has generated about $1 million in savings since last November, much of which will be applied to fixing the problem. For the first time, we have a council majority who understands the importance of fiscally conservative decisions, he said. Thats a small amount of money, but when you invest that kind of money into somebodys neighborhood and somebodys streets, thats their life getting betterone car ride at a time, one day at a time. Now-to-Infinity Budgeting During a recent study session, the Fullerton City Council discussed the current state of the roads and how they can develop a plan for progress. David Grantham, principal engineer for the city, gave a thorough presentation at the meeting summarizing the condition of the streets as well as the challenges that lay ahead. According to Grantham, last years assessment of the citys pavement condition index (PCI), which rates the state of local roads, found that 32 percent of Fullertons residential streets were rated very poor and another 15 percent were rated poor. Of the major, or arterial, roads, 15 percent were rated very poor, while 18 percent were rated poor. The overall PCI rating for the citys 300 miles of streets and roads was fair. The bottom line [is] we need long-term, ongoing, continuous, now-to-infinity infrastructure budgeting, Grantham said. He added that the Infrastructure and Natural Resources Advisory Committee (INRAC), a group composed of local volunteers, said it will cost about $25 million annually to improve and maintain streets and roads. Were digging ourselves out of a 30-year hole, Ryan Alcantara, vice chair of INRAC, said at the meeting. The current proposed street rehabilitation budget for 20212022 is a little over $5 million. According to Grantham, the city needs $8 million per year just to maintain current road conditions. Cracking asphalt in Fullerton, Calif., on Dec. 10, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Problems and Solutions Councilman Jesus Silva suggested implementing a pilot program that would offer special assessment studies in certain neighborhoods. Were not going to be able to get to every street tomorrow, or next year, [or] in 10 years, Silva said at the meeting. So maybe there might be some neighborhoods out there who are willing to do a special assessment tax and see how that goes. Councilman Ahmad Zahra emphasized the importance of finding practical long-term solutions. We cannot be short-sighted about this. If we make decisions, they have to be sustainable for the next 50 years, Zahra said. He also mentioned the citys funding needs for infrastructure extend beyond roads and streets. Our light grids are very old, and some are just not compatible with the upgrades of Southern California Edison, he said, estimating that it might take as much as $35 million to replace one grid. Zahra floated the idea of privatizing poorly maintained alleyways as a possible way to take a lot of mileage off our road maintenance in the future. Recent council meetings have been rife with recommendations from the staff to bolster revenue with new tax proposals as well as rate and fee increases, according to Mayor Whitaker. Such options should be a last resort, not to be considered until all other efforts have been utilized, Whitaker said. He pointed out that Measure S, a 1.25 percent general sales tax proposal, was soundly defeated by city voters last November. Many strategies can be deployed to reprioritize street repairs ahead of other uses of discretionary funds within our current budgets. Mayor Pro Tem Dunlap said, Lets face ita sales tax is not a plan. In his view, a large part of the problem is that the city hasnt paid for infrastructure improvements from the general fund for the past five years. He said that most road repairs and upgrades were funded by one-time asset sales. Over the past 20 to 30 years, any increase in general fund revenuewhether its from property tax or sales taxis almost entirely tied to increases for public employees, Dunlap said. Historically, [we] have not invested that money into our roads, streets, and infrastructure where it should be, and it shows. Worse Than Mexico During the public comments portion of the meeting, several frustrated citizens lamented the condition of Fullertons streets. How many more years do we have to tolerate this condition? said 33-year resident Robert Moosavi, a retired architect who told the council hed been trying to have local roads repaired through official channels since 1994. He said a student from Afghanistan who visited him recently had remarked that Serrano Place and Euclid Street didnt look like streets in the United States. The city should be ashamed of themselves, Moosavi said. Another speaker, who didnt identify herself, called the streets worse than Mexico. And Im talking about rural places of Mexico places where its not a city, its a rural place in the middle of nowhere. And our streets are worse than those streets. We are here because were desperate, said the speaker, who urged the council to allocate funds for infrastructure repair. Resident Young Lee said she presented a petition with 77 signatures from her neighbors to the city council in 2016 requesting road improvements, to no avail. Not one decent maintenance has been done since I have lived in our neighborhood. It seems like Fullerton has no hope, she said. Looking Ahead Councilman Jung told The Epoch Times there are still viable solutions on the horizon, including The American Jobs Plan proposed by the Biden administration that could provide federal aid to improve infrastructure. My expectation is that our congressional representative gets some of that money allocated our way towards Fullerton, which is their largest voting bloc and largest town, Jung said. So that should help, but its not a permanent solution. For the long-term solution, we really have to make infrastructure a priority, and start using general fund money, which we havent done. Jung also mentioned that various utility, cable, and internet companies might be held financially liable for road destruction resulting from their cutting and trenching. We may have to go into an agreement with them to reimburse us for some of the damages that weve incurred on the streets as a result, he said. On April 20, the council unanimously approved the allocation of over $1.2 million in funds for infrastructure improvements to Victoria Drive, including water main and sewer replacements. The broad discussion regarding city street conditions, needs, and funding options is expected to resume sometime in May. Lets start with adultification bias. What does it mean, and how does it manifest in schools or interactions with law enforcement? Jamilia Blake: When Black girls are not seen as children, thats adultification bias. Theyre not seen as being innocent; theyre not seen as needing nurturing; theyre seen as more adultlike, and what it is, is dehumanization. Black girls are not afforded the same freedoms that are guaranteed in childhood, like exploration, the ability to make mistakes or the benefit of the doubt. How it looks in school is this general perception of Black girls behavior being very volitional and menacing, and even more so if they voice their concerns and raise awareness everything that they do is kind of seen as problematic. They are constantly monitored, they receive more severe disciplinary actions, and they arent even able to be sad or cry. And I dont think many educators, law professionals, mental health professionals and individuals who interact with children are even aware of it I dont think they know that the adultification bias may be driving the punitiveness and the severity of their responses to Black girls. Monique Morris: Adultification bias is also age compression. This is a way to erase the normal adolescent behavior and development that we have come to associate with young people, and it heightens our propensity to respond to young people as if theyre fully developed adults referring to girls as women, not allowing them to make mistakes, even how we define their responses to conditions. So when there are things that negatively impact them and they speak up against it, we as adults associate this Black girl behavior with some of the same tropes and stereotypes that have plagued Black womanhood for centuries. Their way of responding and defending themselves is read to be combative, and their way of challenging structures of oppression are deemed to be aggressive. That leaves very little opportunity for us to really think about the prevalence of trauma in their lives. Right, and the very harmful angry Black woman trope is always in the wings MM: Exactly. And sometimes people think about the emotions as mutually exclusive like you cant express anger and also be victimized by systems of oppression. We have to really think about the host of environmental conditions as part of the tapestry shaping their life outcomes to strip them of this context facilitates the adultification bias and, in many ways, reduces the institutional capacity to be responsive. JB: Right, exactly. The ability to express a range of emotions, whether thats in response to oppressive conditions or not, is a function of being human. So what is happening to Black girls and children is that were robbing them of the essential aspects of what it means to be a human being. What were your thoughts when you watched the body-camera footage? JB: For me as a mother I have a 16-year-old whenever videos of these incidents come out, I wait a significant amount of time to watch it because I dont want to see the loss of life of another young Black person for something senseless. It really tears away at your soul. At any given time, that could have been me; that could have been my daughter, my niece or any of the girls that I work with. So when I did see the video, I saw someone who just reacted and didnt take a lay of the land in terms of what was happening, didnt ask questions, didnt try to interrupt the fight. Last year we predicted the arrival of the first US recession since 2009 and we told in advance that the market will decline by at least 20% in (Recession is Imminent: We Need A Travel Ban NOW). In these volatile markets we scrutinize hedge fund filings to get a reading on which direction each stock might be going. In this article, we will take a closer look at hedge fund sentiment towards Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES). Is ES stock a buy? Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) shareholders have witnessed an increase in hedge fund sentiment lately. Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) was in 24 hedge funds' portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020. The all time high for this statistic is 28. There were 20 hedge funds in our database with ES positions at the end of the third quarter. Our calculations also showed that ES isn't among the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds (click for Q4 rankings). So, why do we pay attention to hedge fund sentiment before making any investment decisions? Our research has shown that hedge funds' small-cap stock picks managed to beat the market by double digits annually between 1999 and 2016, but the margin of outperformance has been declining in recent years. Nevertheless, we were still able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 124 percentage points since March 2017 (see the details here). We have been able to outperform the passive index funds by tracking the moves of corporate insiders and hedge funds, and we believe small investors can benefit a lot from reading hedge fund investor letters and 13F filings. Bruce Kovner, Caxton Associates LP Bruce Kovner of Caxton Associates LP At Insider Monkey we leave no stone unturned when looking for the next great investment idea. For example, auto parts business is a recession resistant business, so we are taking a closer look at this discount auto parts stock that is growing at a 196% annualized rate. We go through lists like the 15 best micro-cap stocks to buy now to identify the next stock with 10x upside potential. Even though we recommend positions in only a tiny fraction of the companies we analyze, we check out as many stocks as we can. We read hedge fund investor letters and listen to stock pitches at hedge fund conferences. You can subscribe to our free daily newsletter on our website. Keeping this in mind we're going to review the recent hedge fund action regarding Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES). Story continues Do Hedge Funds Think ES Is A Good Stock To Buy Now? At the end of December, a total of 24 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of 20% from the previous quarter. The graph below displays the number of hedge funds with bullish position in ES over the last 22 quarters. So, let's see which hedge funds were among the top holders of the stock and which hedge funds were making big moves. More specifically, Zimmer Partners was the largest shareholder of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES), with a stake worth $109.5 million reported as of the end of December. Trailing Zimmer Partners was Millennium Management, which amassed a stake valued at $90.8 million. D E Shaw, Citadel Investment Group, and AQR Capital Management were also very fond of the stock, becoming one of the largest hedge fund holders of the company. In terms of the portfolio weights assigned to each position Coann Capital allocated the biggest weight to Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES), around 8.53% of its 13F portfolio. Zimmer Partners is also relatively very bullish on the stock, dishing out 1.61 percent of its 13F equity portfolio to ES. As aggregate interest increased, key money managers have jumped into Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) headfirst. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, established the most outsized position in Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES). Citadel Investment Group had $53.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson's Adage Capital Management also made a $33.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new ES positions are Renaissance Technologies, Matthew Davis's Coann Capital, and Bruce Kovner's Caxton Associates LP. Let's now review hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES). We will take a look at Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (NYSE:PEG), Otis Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:OTIS), Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE:ROK), EOG Resources Inc (NYSE:EOG), Banco Bradesco SA (NYSE:BBD), WEC Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:WEC), and Teladoc Health, Inc (NYSE:TDOC). This group of stocks' market values are similar to ES's market value. [table] Ticker, No of HFs with positions, Total Value of HF Positions (x1000), Change in HF Position PEG,28,374371,5 OTIS,59,2512029,6 ROK,35,635317,-9 EOG,45,750152,9 BBD,17,407632,-3 WEC,25,245402,3 TDOC,50,2616714,3 Average,37,1077374,2 [/table] View table here if you experience formatting issues. As you can see these stocks had an average of 37 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1077 million. That figure was $512 million in ES's case. Otis Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:OTIS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Banco Bradesco SA (NYSE:BBD) is the least popular one with only 17 bullish hedge fund positions. Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. Our overall hedge fund sentiment score for ES is 43. Stocks with higher number of hedge fund positions relative to other stocks as well as relative to their historical range receive a higher sentiment score. This is a slightly negative signal and we'd rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. Our calculations showed that top 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds returned 81.2% in 2019 and 2020, and outperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) by 26 percentage points. These stocks gained 12.3% in 2021 through April 19th and surpassed the market again by 0.9 percentage points. Unfortunately ES wasn't nearly as popular as these 30 stocks (hedge fund sentiment was quite bearish); ES investors were disappointed as the stock returned 4% since the end of December (through 4/19) and underperformed the market. If you are interested in investing in large cap stocks with huge upside potential, you should check out the top 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds as most of these stocks already outperformed the market in 2020. Get real-time email alerts: Follow Energysolutions Inc. (NYSE:ES) Disclosure: None. This article was originally published at Insider Monkey. Related Content Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Youre seeing The Post and Courier's weekly real estate newsletter. Receive all the latest transactions and top development, building, and home and commercial sales news to your inbox each Saturday here. More than half of all SC home sales occurred along coast in Q1 South Carolina has 46 counties, but more than half of the 24,146 home sales across the Palmetto State occurred in the handful of counties hugging the coast during the first three months of 2021. Home sales from four regional offices along the Atlantic shore came in at 12,902 from January through March as buyers rushed to find coastal getaways. Led by the four counties in the Charleston region, residential transactions totaled 5,763 during the year's first quarter. The Myrtle Beach area scored the second-highest number of home sales at 4,574. Hilton Head reported 1,770 sales and Beaufort added 795. In March alone, the four regional offices together had 5,393 sales out of 9,958 for the entire state. March sales statewide also jumped 22 percent over the same month a year earlier, when the coronavirus outbreak began to nip into sales. For the quarter measured against the same three months in 2019, sales climbed 20 percent across the state. Every major metro area in the state tacked up higher home sales for March and for the quarter over the same time frames a year earlier. Columbia's transactions grew 17 percent in March to 1,407 and nearly 23 percent for the first quarter to 3,399. Greenville saw 1,506 sales in March for a 13 percent rise over the same month last year while the Upstate hub registered 3,608 sales during the first three months for a 36 percent increase. Along with rising demand as more homes sell and fewer remain to walk through, the median sales price across the state soared 13 percent to $265,000 last month from March 2020. Across the state, homes are staying on the market an average of about two months, with some areas reporting less than a month before someone snatches up a listing. Inventory has dropped almost 60 percent compared to the same time last year. "Like everywhere else, we have very little inventory," said Phillip Nagley, S.C. Realtors Association region 2 vice president and an agent at Coastal Realty Group, the Nagley Team, in Bluffton in lower South Carolina. "Many agents have buyers for homes before they even hit the market," Nagley said. "Realtors have limited time for showings as agents are lined up outside for the next appointment." Want to receive this newsletter in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up for free. 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! Plans to redevelop the Whole Foods Market-anchored West Ashley Station Shopping Center on Savannah Highway include two new buildings where Doscher's now exists, another where Burrell & Flynn's bakery sits and a fourth offset behind the current bakery site. By the numbers 2: Number of new restaurants opening in Charleston area, including McClellanville and Goose Creek. 5: Number of apartment developments on the ground or in the works by Atlanta developer, including a new one planned for Savannah Highway in West Ashley. 10: Number of acres a Charleston-based, spy drone-making company plans to develop for a new manufacturing facility at Charleston Executive Airport on Johns Island. This week in real estate + Room boom: Avid Hotels opens two new inns in South Carolina during first quarter, including one in Summerville. + Soaring rents: North Charleston is attracting new apartment communities as expensive peninsular Charleston rental rates push developers' interest into the state's third-largest city, but the cost to live in some new units is rising along with more construction. Lowcountry French-cuisine restaurant Fat Hen will officially close April 26 after it is sold to a group of investors behind Neighborhood Dining Group, who plan to transform it into a new Mexican-inspired Minero venue. The restaurant's last day of service is April 24 since it is closed on Sunday and Monday. Did a friend forward you this email? Subscribe here. Craving more? Check out all of the Post and Courier's newsletters here. Former union leader Rusty Hicks was re-elected Saturday to lead the California Democratic Party, defeating former state schools Superintendent Delaine Eastin. Hicks won 68% of the 3,314 votes cast to Eastins 32%, according to preliminary results that the state party announced. Ballots were cast online, by phone and via mail. Im ready to get to work. And I hope you are too, Hicks tweeted Saturday to the states 10 million Democrats. Hicks was elected chair in 2019 to serve the remaining two years of Eric Baumans term, after Bauman resigned amid accusations of sexual misconduct. Hicks will begin serving his four-year term May 2, the final day of the partys four-day virtual convention, after the results are certified. While Democrats hold all the statewide offices and a supermajority in the Legislature, Hicks was blamed by some progressives for the partys loss of four House seats in Southern California and the Central Valley in 2020. Hicks failed to engage emerging immigrant populations to vote for Democrats, several prominent progressives said in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom in March asking him to take urgent action. But Newsom stood by Hicks, who had endured a fierce backlash when he described the effort to recall the governor as a California coup and attempted to link the organizers to Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by followers of former President Donald Trump. Hicks later said he would choose his words more carefully in the future. Before leading the state party, Hicks was president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which represents 800,000 members. Other state party officers elected Saturday included state Treasurer Betty Yee as female vice chair; former San Francisco Supervisor David Campos as male vice chair; Melahat Rafiei as secretary; and April Verrett as controller. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), part of the coalition of agitating farmers, has said that Narendra Modi government's approach towards COVID-19 vaccine policy is same as the one which resulted in the framing of the contentious farm policies, which they oppose. In both cases, the government is allowing corporate profiteering, the organisation alleges. In a statement issued in Delhi on April 24, AIKS strongly condemned the vaccine policy of the Government of India for its total apathy towards the miseries of the people who are facing the severe danger of COVID-19 pandemic. "This policy is essentially an effort to liberalise vaccine sales and deregulate prices, without augmenting supply. Modi government is succumbing to the market forces to make rapacious profit out of the life-saving medicines and vaccine, exposing its brutal neo-liberal mindset", Hannan Mollah, AIKS general secretary, and Ashok Dhawale, AIKS president, said in a joint statement. ALSO READ: Biological E to begin Phase III clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidate AIKS alleged that the policy that drives both farm laws and vaccine pricing is bound to breed large-scale black marketeering and hoarding. "The farmers are on struggle to expose the same policy that the Modi government had brought through the amendment in the Essential Commodities Act of 1955 that deregulated and facilitates hoarding and black marketeering on essential commodities", AIKS said. COVID-19 vaccines were distributed free of cost in the initial phase of vaccination. Later, government allowed vaccination to also happen in private centres at a pre-fixed price. In the latest round of COVID-19 vaccination phase, the new policy of the government allows companies to fix the price of vaccines in the private market. It also allows differential prices for central government supplies and state government procurement. AIKS said such a policy will "facilitate competition in the market thus helping the corporate sector to amass huge profits out of sale of vaccine. This policy will exclude an overwhelming majority of the people who cannot afford the huge price," they said. AIKS wants Modi governmnet to publish a white paper on the cost of production of vaccine and medicines. ALSO READ: COVID vaccination: Centre asks states to set up more pvt centres before May 1 "The union government has failed for a year to do anything to ramp up adequate and needed vaccine supplies and now is trying to absolve from its responsibility to save the life of the people of India. AIKS demands the Prime Minister to give up the pro-corporate vaccine policy and take up the responsibility to provide vaccine, oxygen and medical support to the entire population free of cost. The union government has to ensure 100 per cent procurement of the vaccine, oxygen and medicines including Remdesivir and re-distribute to states and ensure mass vaccination programme free and universal. This has been independent India's heritage and practice," AIKS leaders stated. They wanted the central government to declare the COVID-19 pandemic as a national calamity and ensure all the expenditure will be met through the central package by providing 20 per cent of the GDP to revive the economy from its disastrous impact. Details of the money spent from the PM CARES Fund were also sought. ALSO READ: COVID-19 vaccines, oxygen, oxygen-related equipment exempt from customs duty REDDING Despite some opposition from community members, the Easton-Redding-Region 9 Board of Education is moving forward with its efforts to further diversity, equity and inclusion within schools. A task force, formed in July 2020, has convened regularly and is advising district leaders of initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion known as DEI that can be implemented in classrooms. At its next meeting, the task force aims to recommend the school boards distribute a survey that would help them to get a picture of assets and challenges regarding DEI for all three districts, Superintendent Rydell Harrison said. I think that the purpose of the task force and the intentional focus on DEI is coming from the standpoint of making sure all of our students feel safe and included, Harrison said. I think that one of the things that were working toward is clarifying what our goals are. Harrison noted there has been some confusion and a concern over huge changes to the curriculum that are imminent. In the task forces previous February and March meetings, numerous residents appeared in Zoom windows to show support and thank the group for their efforts, emphasizing this kind of education is needed and important for all students. Angela Caes, a parent and co-president of the Redding Elementary School Parent Teacher Association, said her children couldnt understand why they couldnt draw themselves correctly at school until it was remedied to have multicultural crayons. DEI is incredibly important and its incredibly important we talk about what the reality today... and what may have been a thought of the past and what needs to be the thoughts of the future, she said. Caes story was just one of several shared during that meeting from supporters. Mari Rooney, a Joel Barlow alumni, said theyre thrilled seeing these efforts because DEI didnt exist when they attended school and white was the standard. Knowing this, Rooney, a biracial individual, always felt out of place. There was no real effort to acknowledge the fact that not everyone is white, cisgender and heterosexual. Those of us who didnt fit into that box only had each other, they said. I look back and think of how different my life would have been if this work had already been done, they added. I am thrilled to be here to voice my thoughts today, but let it be known that that was in spite of my schooling, not because of it. More than 500 people have signed a petition for a racially just curriculum at Joel Barlow High School. A committee of alumni created the petition, which grew out of a private Facebook group, the ER9 Social Justice Group. The task force and group are unaffiliated. But a couple residents at that February meeting had opposed some of the task forces strategies. This included Sherry Harris, a former Region 9 board member and leader of an Easton-based political action committee called Citizens for Responsible Government. She said instances where students were disproportionately affected by a policy or practice should be investigated. You cannot assume that a disparate outcome comes from racism, she said in the meeting. I am extremely concerned about the collection of statistics and running forward based on an idea that says racism is the cause of something when that has absolutely never been proven. This group published a document stating the school board and its task force are pushing poisonous ideology toward students with concepts of social justice and intersectionality and the critical race theory. Harrison said he thinks those concepts critical race theory, social justice and intersectionality are helping to frame any conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion. I think that the concept or the idea of social justice is somehow being framed as a negative thing, and I think as educators we are always working to empower our students to create a more just society, he said. The district would miss out on an opportunity to support students if it didnt focus on this, he explained. Focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion is not a political act and it does not have to be controversial, Harrison said. It is simply identifying the ways that we want to engage with our students and provide space for them all to be 100 percent successful. The task force chairperson, Heather Whaley, said there are a few people who have spoken up in favor of a color blind approach to the world, and feel that any discussion of race or gender differences, or differences of any kind, will only further divide our communities. The problem with this way of thinking is that it implies our differences won't be accepted, respected or supported, which is the goal of DEI work, she said. If you feel that having many perspectives and experiences makes a community stronger, you will want to hear about the ways we are all different, and celebrate those differences rather than pretend that they don't exist. But shes not shocked theres been some backlash. Whenever change has happened, particularly in schools, it causes fear and sometimes anger, Whaley said. It happened with integration. It happens with busing and zoning regulations. It happens with curriculum changes and the way we teach history. Change is hard for some, but we always move forward anyway. Police in northern Lao Cai Province said on Friday that they had broken a racket that had helped about 200 illegal migrants cross the Vietnam - China border over the past year. The ring was uncovered after police in Lao Cai -- the capital city of the province, in collaboration with the provincial traffic police, caught 16-year-old Bui Thi Ngoc from the north-central Vietnamese province of Nghe An illegally crossing the border from China to Vietnam on April 13. At the police station, Ngoc admitted that she had previously paid a group VND12 million (US$522) to get support for illegally leaving Vietnam for China, where she planned to work in prostitution. Only seven days later, Ngoc hired the same group to help her exit China to Lao Cai in the same unlawful way before being arrested by the Vietnamese provinces authorities. Based on Ngocs testimony, the functional forces managed to bring to light the aforementioned ring, which had engaged in the organization of illegal entries between Vietnam and China through Lao Cais Muong Khuong District since April 2020. The Lao Cai City police officers summoned Giang Mi, Hoang Sang, Thao Thanh and Giang Nha in Muong Khuong on April 20 and arrested Hoang Sang and Ly Chu from the same district on April 22 for the investigation into the case. Five of the arrested said they had been hired by Giang Mi to carry out a total of 90 trips, successfully bringing nearly 200 people from Vietnam to China and vice versa since April 2020. Mi paid each of them between VND600,000 ($26) and VND1 million ($43.5) after each trip. In cases that customers wanted to cross border from China to Vietnam, the group illegally entered China to meet the customers and took them to Muong Khuongs Ban Lau Commune, where Vu Van Huan, a taxi driver, picked them up. Mi paid Huan VND500,000 ($21.75) for each one-way trip carrying customers between Ban Lau and Lao Cai City. The police assessed that the illegal immigration service managed by Giang Mi posed a danger to the community and society, especially in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the security and public order in the border area. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! WKCTC Alum Tops iTunes Christian Music Chart By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - West Kentucky Community & Technical College alumna Grace Baldridge is an American musician and media host who recently hit number one on the iTunes Christian music chart.Baldridge, who also goes by Semler, topped the charts with her EP Preacher's Kid earlier this spring with more than half a million streams within weeks of its release.She attended West Kentucky Community and Technical College in 2010-11. Semler earned a Bachelor of Arts in mass communications from Elon University in North Carolina in 2013.Semler chose her name because it links her maternal family history and because she said she prefers her music to be experienced from a gender-neutral point of view.Along with music, she is also a host and producer. On State of Grace, a GLAAD nominated docu-series, she explores the intersection of religion and complicated social issues."I attended classes at WKCTC during a time in my life where I felt very lost both personally and professionally," said Semler. "I remember taking a video editing class and being really inspired. That class introduced me to a dynamic and creative field of work that I had never considered before. We also learned basic music editing/mixing," she said. "The combination of the skills I learned at WKCTC laid the foundation for the career today. My time in Paducah was brief, but it was formative. I'm thankful for the lessons I learned along the way." West Australian Premier Mark McGowan says the federal government must step up to improve Australias quarantine system by setting up its own safer quarantine facilities to use instead of hotels. The Premier also labelled it nuts that Australians were being allowed to leave the country and travel overseas to weddings in COVID-19 hot spots, potentially coming back with the virus. The man who sparked the current WA lockdown, when his neighbouring hotel guests got the virus, had travelled to India for a wedding. Mark McGowan has demanded the Commonwealth to step in and help with quarantining returning Australians. Credit:Peter De Kruijff The remarks on Saturday by Mr McGowan were his strongest call for federal management of the national quarantine system to date, as the Perth and Peel regions grapple with a three-day lockdown and a virus outbreak, but his plea may not get that far. The Premier said the federal governments facilities on Christmas Island and at RAAF Base Curtin in the Kimberley should be used for returning travellers. Hotels were not a system Australia should be relying on to stop the virus entering the community. Katie Price has filmed a new documentary about her history with cosmetic surgery, after vowing she'll never go under the knife again. The reality star, 42, who has had an array of procedures including 12 boob jobs, will detail her experiences having the operations, including botched procedures that have left her with lifelong damage. Katie, who recently announced her engagement to boyfriend Carl Woods, will appear in the film that is set to air during Steph's Packed Lunch next week. New show: Katie Price, 42, has filmed a new documentary about her history with cosmetic surgery, after vowing she'll never go under the knife again The new documentary comes following the success of her programme with her eldest child - Katie Price: Harvey and Me, which focused on finding a suitable college for her son, who has Prader-Willi syndrome. Katie's representative told MailOnline: 'Katie is the new Dooley! [There will be] no stone unturned as Katie asks the questions everyone else is too scared to. 'Katie's mini docs are based around her own personal experiences; topics that effect so many in a bid to educate and understand, expose and be the voice for others who have been ignored. 'Katie uncovers and gets the answers she is in pursuit of!' Candid: The reality star, who has had an array of procedures including 12 boob jobs, will detail her experiences having the operations New programme: Katie, who recently announced her engagement to boyfriend Carl Woods, will appear in the film that is set to air during Steph's Packed Lunch next week Katie has openly documented her history with going under the knife, after having her first surgical procedure in 1998. In 2018 the star vowed she'd never have surgery on her face again after a botched facelift left her with permanant scarring. She told The Sun: 'Choosing the right place to do the right procedure is vital. Maybe, with hindsight, I should have thought twice before jumping in. 'I wasn't happy with the outcome last time and didn't like the way I looked. This is the last time I will have surgery on my face.' Katie also revealed last month she has had a 12th boob job. The star admitted in an Instagram post last month that she arrived to the Be Clinic in Brussels with her head 'low' as she was embarrassed to have her breasts corrected. New cleavage! Last month Katie revealed she'd had her 12th boob job, after vowing in 2018 she'll never have surgery on her face again following a botched procedure Transformed: The star underwent her first breast augmentation in 1998, and has since had multiple procedures including a facelift and rhinoplasty Katie Price's Surgery: A Timeline Before: Katie has been going under the knife for 21 years (above in 1998) 1998 - Katie underwent a breast augmentation taking her from a natural B cup to a C cup. She also had her first liposuction 1999 - Katie had two more boob jobs in the same year, one taking her from a C cup to a D cup, and then up to an F cup 2006 - Katie went under the knife to take her breasts up to a G cup 2007 - Katie had a rhinoplasty and veneers on her teeth 2008 - Katie stunned fans by reducing her breasts from an F cup to a C cup 2011 - Going back to an F cup, Katie also underwent body-contouring treatment and cheek and lip fillers 2014/5 - Following a nasty infection, Katie had her breast implants removed 2016 - Opting for bigger breasts yet again, Katie had another set of implants, along with implants, Botox and lip fillers 2017 - After a disastrous 'threading' facelift, Katie also had her veneers replaced. She also had her eighth boob job taking her to a GG cup 2018 - Katie went under the knife yet again for a facelift 2019 - After jetting to Turkey, Katie had a face, eye and eyelid lift, Brazilian bum lift and a tummy tuck Advertisement She explained: 'So loads of people ask me for best place for boobs and surgery and it's @beclinic_brussels Dr Frank Plovier. 'I stupidly had them done in Turkey few years ago and they were awful. So I went back to Frank with my head low lol and he corrected them. 'He is the man for surgery and I promise not only is he a lot more cheaper than UK it's also a amazing clinic a massive Thankyou to Frank and his team xx.' The television personality - who first went under the knife in 1998 - revealed that when she visited her favourite surgeon at the end of last year, it was the twelfth time she'd had her breasts altered. Proposal: On Tuesday Katie announced she's engaged for the eighth time after her boyfriend Carl Woods proposed following a whirlwind 10-month romance (pictured in February) Katie first told her fans about the procedure last October, explaining that it was to correct previously 'botched' work done in Turkey. On Tuesday Katie also announced she's engaged for the eighth time after her boyfriend Carl Woods proposed following a whirlwind 10-month romance. Speaking to OK Magazine about their engagement, Katie said: 'It's refreshing to be with a man that if I decided I never wanted to work again, he'd look after me, I just love him. 'We'd spoken about it a lot, so I knew he was going to, I just didn't know when. It was amazing. Carl asked my mum and dad for permission - and Junior. With Carl, Mum's already told him not to mess me around and so far he's passed the t****r test.' To the future: Katie has made no secret of her desire to marry Carl and said she 'couldn't wait to continue my life with Carl' when her divorce to Kieran Hayler was finalised last month Katie added Carl isn't interested in her fame 'or anything to do with' her alter-ego Jordan and has his own money. Katie and Carl took to Instagram to share their happy news on Tuesday evening and uploaded a snap from their engagement photoshoot, with the mother-of-five proudly showing off her huge diamond ring. In keeping with the bridal theme, Katie cut a glamorous figure in an off-the-shoulder white gown, while Carl looked dapper in a grey checked suit and white T-shirt. Katie wrote: 'I said yes!', with Carl echoing her sentiments in his own caption. Donald Trump has accused CNN of committing a 'campaign violation' after a technical director with the network admitted on camera that they stood in opposition to his presidency. The former president spoke to Sean Hannity of Fox News, and was asked what he thought of a sting carried out by Project Veritas, a conservative watchdog group. An undercover reporter met the CNN camera operative through a dating app, and then filmed him discussing the network's approach. In one clip, the technical director, Charlie Chester, tells his 'date' that CNN's focus was to remove Trump from the presidency. 'That is a campaign violation,' said Trump, describing Project Veritas' work as 'incredible'. Donald Trump spoke to Sean Hannity of Fox News on Friday night and attacked CNN 'What they are doing is a massive campaign violation. When you look at what they did.' Trump, who has been at war with social media companies since he was removed from their platforms following the January Capitol riot, called for more regulation of their operations. He said they were biased towards Democrats, and needed more scrutiny. 'They have to be strong and can't be dominated by Amazon, Google and people that could take them off the air right away,' he said. 'You do need antitrust. You have to do something about it. 'With all of the things you said, look, the Democrats lie, cheat and steal. They are vicious.' He said that without him, Twitter is now 'boring'. Trump spoke to Hannity for the first televised interview after leaving the White House Twitter was accused of protecting CNN after Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe was permanently banned from the site on April 15 - one day after he published an embarrassing expose on the network. O'Keefe, 36, has now vowed to sue the tech giant after it accused him of operating fake accounts. The day before he was barred, he had published another embarrassing clip of the CNN camera director, Chester, on a Tinder date with an undercover operative discussing his employer's attitudes towards Trump and Matt Gaetz. Project Veritas, the media watchdog which O'Keefe founded, said it was proof of the network's bias. James O'Keefe, Project Veritas founder, was removed from Twitter on April 15 Twitter said on April 15 that 'The account you referenced (@JamesOKeefeIII) was permanently suspended for violating the Twitter Rules on manipulation and spam. 'As outlined in our policy on platform manipulation and spam, 'You can't mislead others on Twitter by operating fake accounts,' and 'you can't artificially amplify or disrupt conversations through the use of multiple accounts.'' O'Keefe said he would sue the company. 'I am suing Twitter for defamation because they said I, James O'Keefe, 'operated fake accounts.' 'This is false, this is defamatory, and they will pay. Section 230 may have protected them before, but it will not protect them from me.' Donald Trump Jr was among those to criticize Twitter's decision to suspend O'Keefe's account, after O'Keefe's organization showed the senior CNN figure discussing how they set out to discredit his father. 'In case you haven't figured out how it works by now... @CNN spreads propaganda to elect Democrats. And then @Twitter runs interference to protect CNN. They're all on the same team,' he tweeted In a follow up tweet, he wrote: 'At this point, both CNN and Twitter should have to register with the FEC as Democrat Super PACs' Donald Trump Jr was among those to criticize Twitter's decision to suspend O'Keefe's account, after O'Keefe's organization showed the senior CNN figure discussing how they set out to discredit his father. 'In case you haven't figured out how it works by now... @CNN spreads propaganda to elect Democrats. And then @Twitter runs interference to protect CNN. They're all on the same team,' he tweeted. In a follow up tweet, he wrote: 'At this point, both CNN and Twitter should have to register with the FEC as Democrat Super PACs.' Other Twitter users accused the tech giant of censoring free speech. 'Freedom of speech is disappearing. Did you see Project Veritas thing about CNN? Then Twitter bans James O'Keefe! It's brazen but I think more people are realizing what's happening,' user @ACRoscoe tweeted. Another account with the user handle @carolinastreet tweeted: 'Twitter will not get away with their latest and most outrageous act of censorship. They BANNED James O'Keefe (Project Veritas) because he exposed so much corruption at CNN this week. Truth telling is unacceptable to these corrupt Big Tech Hacks.' O'Keefe is seen at CPAC in August 2020 in National Harbor, Maryland In Project Veritas's expose, Chester told his fake date: 'Look what we did, we got Trump out. 'I am 100 percent going to say it, and I 100 percent believe that if it wasn't for CNN, I don't know that Trump would have got voted out. 'I came to CNN because I wanted to be a part of that.' As a technical director, Chester operates video editing equipment for the cable network, where he has worked since 2018, according to his now-deleted LinkedIn bio. It is unlikely that he would have had editorial input at CNN, or participated in the network's daily editorial calls. But Project Veritas argues that he has unique insights on the editorial culture at CNN, in which he would be immersed daily. Though the video clips of Chester only provide snippets of his remarks, they do provide enough context to make it clear that the general thrust of his comments hasn't been concocted through editing. A CNN source told Mediaite that Project Veritas found Chester through the dating app Tinder, where he boasted of his work for CNN. A Veritas employee claiming to be a nurse matched with him and met him for several dates. Chester and the woman went on a total of five dates, before their final rendezvous in a coffee shop was interrupted by O'Keefe, the CNN source said. CNN technical director Charlie Chester was caught in the embarrassing footage after a woman working with the conservative group Project Veritas found him on Tinder Today, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the 1915 tragic events that took place in the Ottoman Empire. Erdogan stressed that the memory of the centuries-old history of the joint peaceful life of Turks and Armenians should not disappear. We cannot allow a centuries-old culture of Turks, Armenians living together to be forgotten. It had been growing over hundreds of years and was considered an example for all mankind," the Turkish President said. In his address to the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Sahak Mashalian, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he honours "the memory of Armenians of the Ottoman state who died in the difficult conditions of World War I and expressed his condolences to their grandchildren. The Turkish leader drew attention to the fact that modern attempts to politicize the 1915 events in order to use their interpretation as a lever of pressure on Ankara do not advance the cause of good relations. Erdogan said that relations with Armenia should be built on the basis of good neighbourliness and mutual respect. "After the settlement of the Karabakh crisis, we declared our readiness to develop ties with Armenia. Today I repeat this call again," the Turkish President concluded. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 14:37:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A worker loads oxygen cylinders on a van in Chennai, India, April 24, 2021. In the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across India have been reporting a shortage of oxygen supply and urged the federal government to replenish their stocks. (Str/Xinhua) NEW DELHI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Twenty COVID-19 patients admitted at a hospital in the Indian capital died due to a shortage of oxygen, officials said Saturday. The deaths took place at a private health institute, Jaipur Golden Hospital, in Delhi. "We had been allotted 3.5 metric tons of oxygen from the government. The supply was to reach us by 5:00 (local time) in the evening yesterday but it reached around midnight. By then, 20 patients had died," D K Baluja, medical director at Jaipur Golden Hospital, said. According to Baluja, these patients were critically ill and the deaths happened in the critical care area. "Yes, the oxygen pressure was down for some time. They didn't die during that period exactly, it takes 10 minutes here and there, but the pressure was definitely low. They are generally on a very high load of oxygen so that is the reason," Baluja said. "A normal patient would have coped. Those with high requirements couldn't cope with the deficiency." Baluja said at least 215 COVID-19 patients admitted at the hospital were critical and in dire need of oxygen. The deaths have highlighted the worsening situation in the national capital's hospitals, which have been showing an urgent need for oxygen. On Friday, 25 critical patients admitted at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi died under similar circumstances. India on Saturday reported historical highs of daily surge with 346,786 new cases and 2,624 deaths in the past 24 hours. Reports said this is the fastest rise in cases and deaths any country has suffered until now since the outbreak of the pandemic. India is presently witnessing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. In the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across India have been reporting a shortage of oxygen supply and urged the federal government to replenish their stocks. Enditem WAAY 31 reached out to the Huntsville police chief and one of his predecessors about the training that officers go through to prepare for situations like last summer's protests. During Thursday's Huntsville City Council meeting, the long awaited report from the Huntsville Police Advisory Council was presented to council members and the public for the first time. A protest was held June 3 against the killing of George Floyd; Credit: Jonah Weinberger A protest was held June 3 against the killing of George Floyd; Credit: Jonah Weinberger The advisory council was called upon by the city council last June to review the events that happened during protests. In one of those protests, police used tear gas to disperse the crowd, an action they have since stood by. The current police chief shared a brief statement but said he needs more time to read it before commenting on the recommendations. We spoke with a former Huntsville police chief who said during his time in command, they had annual training for riots and protests. Huntsville Police Chief Mark McMurray shared in a statement that he "looks forward to reviewing the findings and recommendations with [his] command staff and city leadership to determine how [they] can become an even better and stronger department." McMurray would not comment on any specifics in the report, saying he needs more time to read the 248-page document. Alabama State Representative and former Huntsville Chief of Police, Rex Reynolds, also wanted more time to read the full report before commenting on some of the findings. In a statement, he said he wants to "understand where they're coming from on their recommendations and sources that were used to come up with those recommendations." He did say that most officers generally receive training for riots and protests as new recruits in the academy. McMurray said they will be back at the city council meeting on Apr. 28 to discuss their plans moving forward. There was a time when astronauts in space squeezed pureed food from a tube, similar to toothpaste. However, that was the space cuisine of 60 years ago. Things have come a long way since then. For example, The New York Times reports that following French astronaut Thomas Pesquets arrival at the International Space Station on Saturday, during his six-month stay, he will enjoy culinary creations associated with those of his country, such as: lobster, beef bourguignon, cod with black rice, potato cakes with wild mushrooms and almond tarts with caramelized pears. While life in space is hectic, these days the worlds space agencies are seeing to it that astronauts get to share their countrys culinary creations and enjoy a quality meal occasionally, the report said. Who will be preparing the French astronauts food? Pesquet and his fortunate ISS crewmates will get to dine on dishes prepared by three separate French culinary institutions. Alain Ducasse, a chef who operates renowned restaurants around the world collaborates with the French space agency to create space station menu items. Michelin-starred chef, Thierry Marx, and Raphael Haumont, a physical chemistry professor at the University of Paris-Saclay, have created some dishes specifically for Pesquet. Servair, a catering company for Air France and other airlines, has been asked by Pesquet to put together some dishes. The report noted that lobster and beef bourguignon wont be everyday fare, rather theyre intended for celebrations of special occasions, with added servings for Pesquet to share with crewmates. What about everyday space cuisine? The Times cited Shane Kimbrough, NASA astronaut and commander of Fridays SpaceX mission, who said that these days the everyday space cuisine provided by NASA for astronauts is pretty fantastic. The report said Ryan Dowdy, who just left NASA after a more-than-two-year stint managing food on the space station, touts the pulled beef brisket and the macaroni and cheese as particularly scrumptious, adding that there are some 200 items on the menu to ward off monotony. Space food, typically low in salt, sugar and fat, is different than food on Earth. The report explained that to reduce size and volume, much of it is freeze-dried, and the water extracted. To rehydrate it, astronauts inject water into the plastic bags, while other dishes are heated with a forced-air convection oven. In order for food to be able to sit around at room temperature, sealed in cans and plastic bags for several years until it is consumed, it is heated to high temperatures to kill off germs. Also, crumbly food doesnt work disintegrating bits could be inhaled or float into sensitive equipment, so thats off the menu, the Times explained. There are challenges. A particular challenge for French cuisine, which prizes its use of wine, is the no-alcohol specification on the ISS. Reportedly, however, Chef Marx did not eliminate the wine from a mushroom sauce prepared to accompany an entree of slow-cooked beef and vegetables. Rather, the alcohol was extracted through a spinning evaporator preserving the flavor. The sauce was then verified to be alcohol-free via a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument. Then theres the sterilization process, which the flavors must survive. Food scientists refer to it as thermo-stabilization, which typically means heating the food to 140 degrees Celsius, or 285 degrees Fahrenheit, for an hour, Dr. Haumont explained. He added, Can you imagine a cake or a piece of chicken or something like that on Earth? He said, More than an hour of cooking at 140 destroyed the structure. So, we have to rework the cooking techniques, the report cited. However, rather than being frustrating, Dr. Haumont described the process as exciting. Cooking and growing crops are several future food challenges to be tackled in space, the Times noted, where an environment without gravity presents multiple challenges. Read an expanded version of this report via The New York Times. READ MORE: Kangana Ranaut Urges Sonu Sood To Promote Coronavirus Vaccine After Later Tests Negative Sonu Sood had tested positive for COVID-19 just a few days after he had taken the first shot of the vaccine. However, the actor who had turned a messiah for the needy and has helped one and all beyond his capacity at times, tested negative for the virus within just a few days. Fans, who had been praying for his speedy recovery could not have been happier. Now, Kangana Ranaut made a special request to the actor after he tested negative. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kangana Ranaut (@kanganaranaut) Taking to her Twitter, Kangana wrote that Sonu's fast recovery is because of the fact that he had taken the first shot of the vaccine. Now, she wants him to promote it and urge everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible. She wrote, "Sonu ji you had the first shot of the vaccine and I see because of that you recovered very fast, may be you want to appreciate India made vaccine and its effects, also encourage people to take the vaccine so that tons of it doesnt get expired post 1st May like before." See the tweet here: Sonu ji you had the first shot of the vaccine and I see because of that you recovered very fast, may be you want to appreciate India made vaccine and its effects, also encourage people to take the vaccine so that tons of it doesnt get expired post 1st May like before https://t.co/k1smgDecwI Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) April 23, 2021 Sonu Sood and Kangana Ranaut have not been on the best of terms after the former walked out of the latter's film Manikarnika despite shooting large portions. While Kangana claimed that Sonu did not want to be directed by a woman and had problems when she took over as the director, Sonu claimed that most of his portions had been chopped off and the film was entirely different from what was narrated to him at the beginning. But they still continue to be friends. Tesla Releases Crash Data, Responds to Regulators(April 23) Tesla releases data from a car crash after a Chinese car owner accuses the company of a brake system failure. A Chinese chemist stole $120 million worth of trade secrets from U.S.-based companies like Coca-Cola. Chinas most famous tech billionaire is evading the public eye. A comment he made nearly 10 years ago is now in the spotlight, as it seems to have predicted his own fate. Former President Donald Trump is warning the Biden administration not to push Russia toward a Chinese partnership. He says the two may pose an even greater threat to America if allied together. Australia has canceled two infrastructure deals with Beijing. Authorities there cite the countrys national interests, but Beijing says the action has wronged China. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China. For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter. SILVER SPRING, Md., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a thorough safety review, including two meetings of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have determined that the recommended pause regarding the use of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S. should be lifted and use of the vaccine should resume. The pause was recommended after reports of six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals following administration of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. During the pause, medical and scientific teams at the FDA and CDC examined available data to assess the risk of thrombosis involving the cerebral venous sinuses, or CVST (large blood vessels in the brain), and other sites in the body (including but not limited to the large blood vessels of the abdomen and the veins of the legs) along with thrombocytopenia, or low blood platelet counts. The teams at FDA and CDC also conducted extensive outreach to providers and clinicians to ensure they were made aware of the potential for these adverse events and could properly manage and recognize these events due to the unique treatment required for these blood clots and low platelets, also known as thrombosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). The two agencies have determined the following: Use of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine should be resumed in the United States . . The FDA and CDC have confidence that this vaccine is safe and effective in preventing COVID-19. The FDA has determined that the available data show that the vaccine's known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older. At this time, the available data suggest that the chance of TTS occurring is very low, but the FDA and CDC will remain vigilant in continuing to investigate this risk. Health care providers administering the vaccine and vaccine recipients or caregivers should review the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine (Vaccination Providers) and Fact Sheet for Recipients and Caregivers, which have been revised to include information about the risk of this syndrome, which has occurred in a very small number of people who have received the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. CDC's independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met today to discuss the latest data on TTS, hearing from the vaccine manufacturer Janssen and the COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Technical (VaST) Subgroup, as well as a risk benefit analysis. ACIP is committed to be vigilant and responsive to additional information that could impact the risk benefit analysis of any of these vaccines. Vaccine safety monitoring will continue and any new information about TTS will be brought to ACIP as needed. "Safety is our top priority. This pause was an example of our extensive safety monitoring working as they were designed to workidentifying even these small number of cases. We've lifted the pause based on the FDA and CDC's review of all available data and in consultation with medical experts and based on recommendations from the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. We have concluded that the known and potential benefits of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older. We are confident that this vaccine continues to meet our standards for safety, effectiveness and quality. We recommend people with questions about which vaccine is right for them have those discussions with their health care provider," said Janet Woodcock, M.D., Acting FDA Commissioner. "Above all else, health and safety are at the forefront of our decisions," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky. "Our vaccine safety systems are working. We identified exceptionally rare events out of millions of doses of the Janssen COVID-19 administered and we paused to examine them more carefully. As we always do, we will continue to watch all signals closely as more Americans are vaccinated. I continue to be encouraged by the growing body of real-world evidence that the authorized COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and they protect people from disease, hospitalization, and death. I urge anyone with questions about the COVID-19 vaccines to speak with their healthcare provider or local public health department." Assessment of Available Data Medical and scientific teams at the FDA and CDC reviewed several sources of information and data related to the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine to reach today's decision. Specifically, the agencies assessed reports submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), reviewed the medical literature and considered the information from global regulatory partners about thrombosis with thrombocytopenia that have been reported following use of a similar, yet not identical, COVID-19 vaccine using a virus from the adenovirus family that has been modified to contain the gene for making a protein from SARS-CoV-2. Update on Adverse Events On April 13, the FDA and CDC announced that, out of more than 6.8 million doses administered, six reports of a rare and severe type of blood clot combined with low blood platelet levels occurring in people after receiving the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine had been reported to VAERS. In these cases, a type of blood clot called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) was seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia). Today, the agencies can confirm that a total of 15 cases of TTS have been reported to VAERS, including the original six reported cases. All of these cases occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 59, with a median age of 37 years. Reports indicated symptom onset between 6 and 15 days after vaccination. Monitoring for Safety Will Continue The surveillance systems that are in place to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use are working, as demonstrated by both agencies' quick work to identify and investigate these rare, but serious adverse events. The FDA and CDC will continue with these efforts to closely monitor the safety of these vaccines. Reports of adverse events following vaccination can be made to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Additional Resources: Media Contact: FDA Office of Media Affairs, 301-796-4540 Consumer Inquiries: Email or 888-INFO-FDA The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation's food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products. SOURCE U.S. Food and Drug Administration Related Links http://www.fda.gov The federal government is likely to bring forward COVID-19 vaccinations for Olympic and Paralympic athletes, with national cabinet poised to make a decision on Friday. There is a growing expectation the government will sign off on the early vaccination of Australias Olympic delegation of about 1400 people including athletes and officials, but details are still being worked through with the states. The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has requested all involved receive the Pfizer jab because of the tight time frames involved - the two jabs can be delivered three weeks apart, rather than 12 weeks apart for AstraZeneca. AOC chief executive Matt Carroll remains pretty confident that the team will be vaccinated before Tokyo. Credit:SMH One of the major sticking points yet to be resolved is where athletes would quarantine after the Games, given there are expected to be COVID-19 positive athletes in the Olympic Village. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday informed that about 1.1 crore people above the age of 18 years will be administered COVID-19 vaccination across the state from May 1 and an amount of Rs 880 crores would be spent on the vaccine administration, which would be borne by his government. Registration for the vaccination would start from April 28, 2021. The Chief Minister said this while presiding over the meeting of the state-level COVID Monitoring Committee held in Chandigarh today. The Chief Minister said that the administration of vaccination in the government hospitals would be done free of cost, while in private hospitals people would have to pay some amount for getting the vaccination. He said that in view of the spurt in COVID-19 cases across the country and the state, an appeal would be made to corporate houses to get their workers and labourers vaccinated while bearing the expenses. The Chief Minister said that the number of beds has been increased in various hospitals of the state. Besides this, directions have been given to make an arrangement of about 1000 Oxygen beds in PGI Rohtak and 1250 Oxygen beds in other hospitals of Medical colleges so that patients do not face any problem due to bed shortage, according to an official release. He said that apart from these directions, doctors and other staff are being deputed from the Army, out of which arrangement of 200 beds will be made at Atal Bihari Hospital. Besides this, private hospitals have also been directed to reserve up to 50 per cent of beds for COVID-19 patients. The OPD timings in government hospitals have been limited so that priority can be given to the COVID patients, he added. The Chief Minister said that work from home in all the government departments of the State would be encouraged as per the need and requirement. Apart from this, in the departments, where the office work can be handled from home, there the employees have been directed to work from home. Also, in view of increasing COVID-19 cases in various districts of the State like Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, private offices have been asked to ensure that their maximum employees start working from home. The Chief Minister said that now the number of gathering in any social and family events has been fixed at 50 persons, while at cremation a gathering of not more than 20 persons would be allowed. He informed that all the District Deputy Commissioners have been authorised to take other decisions including imposing Section 144 as per requirement, fixing the minimum number of employees in government offices located in their respective districts, creating a containment zone, and ensuring that there is no overcrowding. He further announced that Additional Chief Secretary, Power Department, PK Das has been appointed as the State Nodal Officer to monitor the situation in the hospitals across the State. During the meeting, Home and Health Minister, Anil Vij said that final-year students studying in medical colleges should also be deputed in hospitals amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. Apart from this, as many as 417 ICU beds and oximeters are being purchased and committees have been formed in the districts. It was informed that the Home Minister has also issued directions to the officers concerned regarding the reactivation of plasma banks that was created earlier in the state so that patients can be benefited from them as per the need and requirement. Anil Vij said that a request has been made to the Central Government to increase the state's quota of oxygen to 200 MT. "Presently in Haryana, 162 MT of oxygen is being supplied. A special train with about 6000 MT of oxygen would also be provided from Bokaro Steel Plant so that people do not face any kind of shortage. With this, the small scale industries of the state have also been directed to convert industrial oxygen into medical oxygen," said Vij. (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: Boris Johnson is facing a political crisis after his former chief adviser accused the British Prime Minister of unethical behaviour and asking for a leak inquiry to end because it might implicate a friend of his fiancee. In an incendiary attack, Dominic Cummings a key force behind Brexit and Johnsons thumping 2019 election win claimed in a blog post that his former boss had behaved unethically since moving into Downing Street, and offered to testify about the allegations under oath. Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings were allies but have fallen out. Credit:AP/Getty Images He also slammed Johnson and his office for falling far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves. Cummings was once Johnsons closest ally but quit last November and has said little publicly since. PHOENIX, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 27th, 2021, the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations is hosting the 16th Annual International State of the State with Governor Doug Ducey. For the first time, the International State of the State will be broadcast live through web-conference, furthering PCFR's commitment to provide unprecedented access to world leaders, thinkers, and doers. Arizona Governor Ducey will give his annual update followed by a fireside chat moderated by former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl. Since 2006, the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations has hosted Arizona's premier foreign relations event the International State of the State with distinguished guests including Governors of the state of Arizona, world diplomats and United States Senators. The International State of the State event is the platform through which our state Governor and foreign affairs community look outward from metro Phoenix to the state and to the world. What are our challenges and benefits? What are the pressures and issues? PCFR's mission is to help grow Arizona's influence on the world stage. With our state's unique geography, climate and outstanding innovative educational institutions, our willing workforce is ready to participate in a robust exchange of ideas, of goods, services and goodwill. Please join us in this annual tradition to learn about the state of Arizona within the international community. PCFR members and the entire Arizona community are invited to watch Arizona's premier international update live on April 27th from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm MST. More information can be found here: https://pcfraz.org/ISOS-2021-Invite Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations is responsible for this Press Release. SOURCE Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations Related Links http://www.pcfraz.org/ On this world book day, we acknowledge all of ALTBalaji's masterpieces adapted from various bestselling books. Readers loved these while on paper, and they have loved them even more once they were converted into a series. Being able to put faces to their favourite characters is something ardent readers have loved and are encouraging ALTBalaji to continue turning their favourite books into shows that can be binge-watched. Here are 5 shows on the ALTBalaji platform based on bestselling books for you to start the weekend binge-watch! Bose: Dead/Alive ALTBalaji did this one-of-a-kind historical drama complete justice. Subhash Chandra Bose was presumed dead after a plane crash in 1945 until Mahatma Gandhi informed his family not to conduct his last rites. The show unravels a lot of secrets surrounding India's freedom movement. The cast in the show includes Rajkummar Rao, Naveen Kasturia, Edward Sonnenblick, Anna Ador, Alexx O'Nell, and various others. The Married Woman The story follows a woman Astha, bound by the shackles of society and marriage and forced into a drab and dreary life she never truly wanted. One day, she meets Peeplika, who befriends her and shows her that there is so much more to life. The cast in the show includes Ridhi Dogra, Monica Dogra, Imaad Shah and Suhaas Ahuja. Bekaaboo This fast-paced story turning into a web series is one of the best things to happen to humanity. The story is a revenge saga. Following author Kiyan Roy for whom trouble is brewing when a fan gets too close and personal. Bekaaboo has in its cast Priya Banerjee, Rajeev Siddhartha, Madhu Sneha, Jitendra Hirawat, Ananditaa Singh, and Trishna Mukherjee. Bicchoo Ka Khel Bichhoo Ka Khel is set in Banaras, and the story revolves around brainy criminal Akhil, who escapes being convicted after having committed a murder. He is on a mission to seek revenge for his father's death. Starring in the show is Divyendu Sharma, Anshul Chauhan, Trishna Mukherjee, and various others. Dark 7 White Dark 7 White is a political thriller with a murder angle to it, and the show takes a peek into the life of a young politician, Yudi, and his seven friends. Yudi gets mysteriously killed, and all evidence points to murder. Starring in this political thriller is Sumeet Vyas, Nidhi Singh, Jatin Sarna, Monica Chaudhary, Taniya Kalra, Sanjay Swaraj, Shekhar Choudhary, Kunj Anand, and Madhurima Roy. Evangelist Alveda King: Justice for George Floyd Should Turn Our Eyes to the Babies NEWS PROVIDED BY Alveda King Ministries April 23, 2021 ATLANTA, April 23, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Evangelist Alveda King and she is available for comment: Racism A socially engineered concept based upon the false premise that there are separate races of human beings. One is a racist when one believes himself to be part of a distinctly separate race of the human species. This concept of racial separatism has no basis in scientific evidence. "We must learn to live together as brothers [and sisters], or perish together as fools." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tuesday, a panel of jurors found ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three charges in connection with the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, who died on May 25, 2020 after Chauvin held his knee against his neck or upper body for nine minutes and 29 seconds, as a handcuffed Floyd repeatedly said: "I can't breathe." This tragedy resulted in one of the most closely watched, racially charged criminal trials in recent history. Chauvin, charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, was announced guilty across the board while America watched with bated breath, on edge as they awaited the verdict. To the relief of many, including family members and notable celebrities, Chauvin's bail was immediately revoked and he was led away in handcuffs. While Floyd's murder prompted months-long worldwide protests, with calls for an end to police brutality and systemic racism, the verdict seems to bring hope for the possibility for genuine justice for some who are victims of racism and oppression in America. Earlier on Tuesday, President Biden weighed in by saying he believes the case is "overwhelming." He said he had spoken to Floyd's family on Monday and he could "only imagine the pressure and anxiety they're feeling." Having spoken with and prayed with members of George Floyd's family, and also having experienced the grief of murders of family members in the battle against racism, I agree the George Floyd saga has been overwhelming. I am glad justice has prevailed in the verdict. Now, I can only pray that the divisiveness of racism will be broken down; and that the systemic lie that empowers racism in America will be not only exposed, but will be eradicated. There can be only one true critical race theory and that is for the one human race. We are one blood, one human race, and should be regarded as equal, from the womb to the tomb. "Of one blood, God created humanity." Acts 17:26 Racism not only rears its ugly head in situations such as the George Floyd tragedy. Racism is deeply rooted in the socio-economic systems of America. A classic example of this travesty is the foundation of the organization Planned Parenthood, whose racist founder was Margaret Sanger. In her April 17, 2021 op-ed for the New York Times, Planned Parenthood CEO Alex McGill Johnson said her organization would stop making excuses for Sanger. What she meant is that she wants her friends inside the Beltway and in the media to stop talking about Sanger's sordid past, so the organization can quietly continue carrying out its genocide in the Black community while also giving lip service to the Black Lives Matter movement and helping to portray abortion as the very best of things on television and film. Since there is no basis for disputing that Sanger thought Blacks were inferior and wanted to prevent them from ever being conceived, Planned Parenthood is finally acknowledging her racist roots; while adding a caveat that Sanger's racism doesn't mean anything, because that was then, this is now. Yet today PP still carries on with its genocide of the Black community through abortion. Meanwhile, recent history is littered with examples of the duplicity of the abortion industry's so-called compassion for people of color and the underserved. Please examine the sagas of abortionist Kermit Gosnell, the tragedy of Tonya Reaves, the millions of Title X tax dollars, the upside down numbers of abortions over live births in America's Black communities. Here in Georgia, Vernon Jones, a former state representative seeking the office of governor, says America needs more than empty words from Planned Parenthood's well-paid mouthpiece. "Margaret Sanger set out to eradicate the Black community through genocide," Jones said. "She believed Black people were defective from birth and she set out on a mission to sterilize Black men and women and abort Black babies. She spoke to the women of the Ku Klux Klan. Today, Planned Parenthood is America's largest abortion provider but it's time to sterilize, abort and eradicate Margaret Sanger, the racist organization she founded, and their memory." So while America is grateful for the justice for George Floyd, Planned Parenthood is telling us the organization now recognizes that racism is bad while assuring us its attempts to annihilate the Black community will continue unhindered, but now with a veneer of wokeness. Friends, maybe now is the time to connect the dots. MLK once said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Maybe justice for George Floyd should be a gateway to justice for all, from the womb to the tomb. SOURCE Alveda King Ministries CONTACT: Leslie Palma, 917-697-7039 Share Tweet The new rule has been a partisan flashpoint, underscoring tensions and distrust between the two parties since the attack. Some Republicans have reacted hostilely to the new requirement, asserting it infringes on their privacy. Democrats have been receptive, with some voicing concerns that some GOP lawmakers might be dangerous. Armenian Apostolic Church leader Catholicos Garegin II (C) attends a memorial service at the monument to the victims of mass killings by Ottoman Turks, to commemorate the 106th anniversary of the massacre, in Yerevan, Armenia, on April 24, 2021. (Grigor Yepremyan/PAN Photo via AP) Biden Recognizes Atrocities Against Armenians as Genocide WASHINGTONPresident Joe Biden has formally recognized that the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century were genocideusing a term for the atrocities that his White House predecessors have avoided for decades. With the acknowledgment, Biden followed through on a campaign promise he made a year ago April 24the annual commemoration of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Dayto recognize that the events of 1915 to 1923 were a deliberate effort to wipe out Armenians. Biden used a presidential proclamation to make the pronouncement. While previous presidents have offered somber reflections of the dark moment in history via remembrance day proclamations, they have studiously avoided using the term genocide out of concern that it would complicate relations with Turkeya NATO ally and important power in the Middle East. But Biden argued when making the campaign pledge last year that failing to call the atrocities against the Armenian people a genocide would pave the way for future mass atrocities. An estimated 2 million Armenians were deported and 1.5 million were killed in the events known as Metz Yeghern. During a telephone call on April 23, Biden informed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of his plan to issue the statement, said a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss the private conversation and spoke on condition of anonymity. The U.S. and Turkish governments, in separate statements following Biden and Erdogans call, made no mention of the American plan to recognize the Armenian genocide. But the White House said Biden told Erdogan he wants to improve the two countries relationship and find effective management of disagreements. The two also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Brussels in June. In Armenia on April 24, people streamed to the hilltop complex in Yerevan, the capital, that memorializes the victims. Many laid flowers around the eternal flame, creating a wall of blooms two meters (seven feet) high. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C) attends a memorial service at the monument to the victims of mass killings by Ottoman Turks, to commemorate the 106th anniversary of the massacre, in Yerevan, Armenia, on April 24, 2021. (Tigran Mehrabyan/PAN Photo via AP) Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts, speaking at the memorial before Biden issued his proclamation, said a U.S. president using the term genocide would serve as an example for the rest of the civilized world. Erdogan reiterated his long-running claims that the United States is supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria who are affiliated with the Iraq-based Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK. The PKK has led an insurgency against Turkey for more than three decades. In recent years, Turkey has launched military operations against PKK enclaves in Turkey and in northern Iraq and against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters. The State Department has designated the PKK a terrorist organization but has argued with Turkey over the groups ties to the Syrian Kurds. According to the Turkish government statement after the call, Erdogan also raised concerns about the presence in the United States of cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkey of orchestrating a failed 2016 coup attempt. Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s, denies involvement in the coup. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan listens during the opening session of the virtual global Leaders Summit on Climate, as he sits in his office in Ankara, Turkey, on April 22, 2021. (Mustafa Kamaci/Turkish Presidency via AP) Biden, during the campaign, drew ire from Turkish officials after an interview with The New York Times in which he spoke about supporting Turkeys opposition against autocrat Erdogan. In 2019, Biden accused Trump of betraying U.S. allies, following Trumps decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria, which paved the way for a Turkish military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish group. In 2014, when he was vice president, Biden apologized to Erdogan after suggesting in a speech that Turkey helped facilitate the rise of the ISIS terrorist group by allowing foreign fighters to cross Turkeys border with Syria. Lawmakers and Armenian American activists have been lobbying Biden to make the genocide announcement on or before remembrance day. By Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee and Zeynep Bilginsoy HEROIC ACTION: Officer Robert Simon arrived on scene before firefighters, so he raced inside and pulled a 57-year old woman from the living room engulfed in flames. Video Transcript - A hero police officer saved a woman from a burning house on Long Island. Look at the damage to this home in Nassau County. Whew! Officer Robert Simon arrived on scene before the firefighters, so he raced inside by himself, pulling a 57-year-old woman from the living room. The woman was shaken but not seriously hurt. Vijay Varma Heads Home To Meet His Mother In Hyderabad, Takes Neena Gupta Along! Here's How... Gully Boy fame Vijay Verma is riding high on success ever since his hit show 'Ok Computer' released. The actor is now on a quite surprising spree as he has taken on to his social media handle to upload a selfie with yet another fan-made artwork while heading to Hyderabad after a long time to meet his family. He uploaded the picture with the caption, "Main chala apne ghar apni Maa ke paas. @neena_gupta ji ko saath mein le jaa raha hoon. Ok bye mumbai. Artwork by @tanyaedenart " View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vijay Varma (@itsvijayvarma) Wearing a White T-shirt and Blue track pants, the avid sneaker lover headed to the airport pairing the outfit with yet another sneaker of his from his varied collection. He had a Gully Boy mask on and his T-shirt had a photo of Neena Gupta on a matchbox. The best thing about his attire was the fact that his Tee was a fan-made artwork and it would have meant the fan a lot as Vijay not only wore that Tee but also uploaded a selfie in it and tagged the fan. Vijay has had quite a busy year and is now headed home after a very long time. He has been on the sets of his multiple upcoming projects in an endless loop and has finally taken a much-deserved break as he heads home to his Maa. On the work front, Vijay has 'Darlings' with Alia Bhatt, and an unannounced web show, and lastly Hurdang with Nushrratt Bharuccha and Sunny Kaushal in the pipeline. (Newser) Ever wonder what it would feel like to unplug from a hyperconnected world and hide away in a dark cave for 40 days? Fifteen people in France did just that, emerging Saturday from a scientific experiment to say that time seemed to pass more slowly in their cavernous underground abode, where they were deprived of clocks and light, per the AP. With big smiles on their pale faces, the 15 left their voluntary isolation in the Lombrives cave, wearing special glasses to protect their eyes after so long in the dark. For 40 days and 40 nights, the group lived in and explored the cave without a sense of time as part of the "Deep Time" project. There was no sunlight inside, the temperature was 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the relative humidity stood at 100%. The cave dwellers had no contact with the outside world, no updates on the pandemic, nor any communication with friends or family. The team members followed their biological clocks to know when to wake up, go to sleep, and eat. story continues below In partnership with labs in France and Switzerland, researchers monitored the group's sleep patterns, social interactions, and behavioral reactions via sensors. Scientists at the Human Adaptation Institute leading the $1.5 million project say the experiment was designed to help them better understand how people adapt to drastic changes in living conditions and environments. As expected, those in the cave lost their sense of time. On Friday, scientists entered the cave to let the research subjects know they'd be coming out soon. They said many in the group miscalculated and thought they had another week to 10 days to go. At least one team member estimated the time underground at 23 days. Although the participants looked visibly tired, two-thirds expressed a desire to remain underground a bit longer in order to finish group projects, one researcher says. "It was like pressing pause," said 33-year-old team member Marina Lancon. (Read more discoveries stories.) WASHINGTON - For eight years, Joe Biden was a fixture at President Barack Obama's addresses inside the House chamber, a near-constant part of the tableau. He winked. He pointed. He gripped the House speaker's arm. He smiled, and he clapped with gusto. For 36 years before that, he often sat in the audience with his Senate colleagues. He twice gave a portion of the Democratic response to President Ronald Reagan. As one of the nation's longest-serving politicians he has witnessed more speeches to a joint session of Congress than just about anyone. Next week, he will give one. He will have a historic backdrop: Two women, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris, for the first time will be in the immediate frame of the president - something Biden is planning to note at the beginning of his speech. In a different historic marker, both will be wearing masks as part of the coronavirus protocols in the chamber. Biden has been working on the speech for weeks, preparing remarks to reflect on the first 99 days of his presidency, and outlining a range of new initiatives he will pursue. He is expected to press the need for expanding access to health care and outline additional economic relief for American families. He also will renew his call for police reform, coming in the wake of the conviction of former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd. The address marks the conclusion of the first chapter of Biden's presidency, one that he has sought to enter with a burst of activity meant to reshape the country's politics and its place in the world. It will also be yet another vivid collision between the rituals of democracy and the pandemic that continues to grip much of American life. Members and senators won't be allowed to bring guests. Biden is expected to have few, if any, guests aside from first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Those in the chamber will be spread out, with some members on the House floor and others seated in the gallery. No Cabinet members are expected to attend, and just one Supreme Court justice, Chief Justice John Roberts, is expected. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will represent the military. There will likely be only 200 people total in the chamber, according to a person involved in the planning. That's a fraction of the 1,600 people normally in attendance for the president's address to Congress. The event has been designated as a National Special Security Event, which mobilizes the nation's top law enforcement and security agencies. That is typical for joint addresses, but there are extra layers of security this year following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. The perimeter of the Capitol is still fenced off, and some National Guard troops remain there. Biden's advisers have long believed that he would be judged, more than anything else, on his handling of the coronavirus. That guided most of their early decisions around vaccines and school reopenings, mask mandates and stimulus checks. But he is now in the midst of a major push for massive pieces of legislation that would reorient much of the American economy, changing its tax structure, expanding its social safety net, and reorienting many of its environmental policies. Author and presidential historian Douglas Brinkley compared it to John F. Kennedy's first joint session speech, in which he called on the country to send a man to the moon within the decade. That call came as a surprise - whereas many of Biden's policies are already known - but it required a significant amount of convincing, of both the public and congressional Republicans. "Biden - he doesn't seem always to be the best salesperson," Brinkley said, marking the moment as one where Biden transitions from consoler in chief toward a more assertive posture. "But he now has to be talking about the recovery: Covid is on the run. We're going to win and going to go on and make the economy stronger with . . . the largest jobs package since World War II." For much of his nearly five-decade-long political career, Biden has organized his thoughts, and his life, around speeches. He's used prepared remarks to express grief or vent emotions, and he often uses them to determine whether his policies are connecting with an audience. Biden often thrives on speaking extemporaneously and, to the frustration of staff, frequently veers off script. He tells his speechwriters to craft language that is simple, as if they were talking to a relative. He gets heavily involved in the crafting of speeches, writing out longhand or dictating his thoughts - and heavily editing the text, sometimes up until delivery. His top strategist, Mike Donilon, is always involved in major speeches like the one Biden will deliver on Wednesday, as is his speechwriter, Vinay Reddy. Most of Biden's recent speeches have seen their usual pageantry curtailed because of the pandemic. When he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, it was in a mostly empty ballroom. When he won the election, he spoke to a parking lot of honking cars. His inauguration address included elected officials but almost no average citizens on the National Mall. "It will not look like or feel like, in many ways, what past joint addresses have," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday. White House staff will be watching virtually - rather than in person - and there will not be a traditional presidential box for guests. But the timing of the speech, coming on the eve of his 100th day in office, was no accident. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt, presidents have often used their first 100 days as a symbolic marker for their young presidencies. The planning for Biden's first 100 days began almost exactly a year ago when, last April, he tapped his longtime confidant and chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, to begin transition preparations. Kaufman built a team that compiled Biden's campaign promises - often by scouring his speeches to tally up the commitments he made publicly - and began prioritizing them. Entering office, Biden leaned into the 100-day time frame. He said he'd ask Americans to wear masks for his first 100 days. He said he'd oversee 100 million vaccine shots within his first 100 days. He wanted a majority of elementary and middle schools open for in-person learning by the end of his first 100 days. Biden's speech is coming later than most joint addresses, which are typically delivered in January or February. And he has given a number of speeches already outlining many of his priorities - some expect it to be more of a review of his achievements than an articulation of a wholly new vision. "I'm looking forward to being a little bored by it," said Joan Hoff, professor of history at Montana State University and the former president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. "It's only because he's conducted himself so publicly on all of these issues and already taken some dramatic actions. . . . You can only repeat yourself so much." The speech - which is similar to the State of the Union, but in inauguration years is technically a joint address to Congress - can be a television showcase, giving a president one of the largest audiences he can get even as viewership numbers have declined in a fragmented media environment. President Bill Clinton in 1993 had the largest audience recorded, at nearly 67 million, while Obama averaged nearly 40 million viewers over his eight addresses. President Donald Trump averaged about 44 million viewers during his four addresses. "He certainly recognizes this is an opportunity to speak directly with the American people - one of the highest-profile opportunities that any president has in their first year in office," Psaki told reporters. Republicans have criticized Biden for not doing more to reach out to their party and make good on a core promise to unify the country. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has assailed many of Biden's priorities as out of the mainstream, and he tapped Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to give the Republican response to Biden's speech "Nobody is better at communicating why far-left policies fail working Americans," McConnell said in announcing Scott, the only Black Republican senator. While Biden has received frequent criticism from Republicans, he has managed to keep his own fractured party united around many of the items in his agenda. "To his credit, he has looked around and said incrementalism, small steps, are not going to do it," Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a chief rival of Biden's in the presidential primary, said in a recent interview. "It's a lot easier to keep the party together when you have serious and good legislation supported by over 70 percent of the American people." But in one indication of some of the challenges Biden faces in maintaining party unity, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., is also giving a response to Biden's Wednesday night speech, on behalf of liberal Democrats. "It's a balancing act. He's already done a lot that I love. And he's going to say a lot of things that I like, as well," Bowman, who last year defeated a 16-term incumbent, told NBC News. "But if we relent, it doesn't mean that what's been going on so far is going to continue. It's important for us as progressives to continue to push and continue to organize." In addition to the speech next week, the White House is planning to make a concerted effort to claim credit for a range of early accomplishments, with Biden traveling to Georgia on Thursday in the first of several trips organized around pushing toward the next phase of his agenda. The White House has branded each of its efforts. First was the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion package that Congress approved without any Republicans voting for it. He has also proposed the American Jobs Plan, which is another $2 trillion plan aimed at fixing infrastructure and boosting the green energy economy. Biden this week is planning to flesh out in more detail the American Families Plan. That will include new spending on child care, education, paid family leave and other domestic priorities. The price tag - which could be around $1 trillion along with $500 billion in new tax credits, The Washington Post reported this past week - would be offset by tax increases on high-income Americans and wealthy investors. The plan is another area where Biden made comparing promises for universal prekindergarten, tuition-free community colleges, and paid family and medical leave. Biden over the past year has often taken inspiration from Roosevelt, attempting to usher in far-reaching government programs. But he also has a long record of quoting from the New Deal Democrat in a way that he could again turn toward next week. "As Franklin D. Roosevelt said during the recovery from the Great Depression just four words are important," Biden said, in delivering a response to Reagan's State of the Union address in 1983. "These four words: It can be done." This idyllic two-bed cottage on the outskirts of the famed town of Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare sits on over an acre of land with beautiful views of Slieve Elva is on the market for just 120,000. With working fireplaces in every room, original flag floor and a wood burning stove in the sitting room, and a a back boiler that generates heat for the whole cottage - the descerning buyer can enjoy the rustic charm of the property or modernise accordingly. Click the 'Next >' above or 'Next Story' below to browse through the gallery of pictures The property has a detached, insulated cabin at the rear, constructed of timber with a wood burning stove which is ideal for a home office. Situated on the edge of the Burren on the N67 and just a few minutes drive from the Cliffs of Moher, Fanore, Lahinch and Ballyvaughan, and ideally located along the Wild Atlantic Way with all amenities and facilities easily accessible. It is listed with an asking price of 120,000. For more information or to view the full ad, click here. 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. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency is reporting the country's civil aviation agency has banned all flights to and from India and Pakistan because of the dramatic surge in coronavirus cases in the two nations. IRNA says the decision was made by Iran's Health Ministry and it takes effect Saturday at midnight. Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh, spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization noted there are no routine flights between Iran and India and "flights are operated occasionally." Several other countries in the region, including the sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait, also have banned flights to and from India over the rise in coronavirus cases there. Zibakhsh said flights to and from 41 countries already were prohibited in Iran, while those who want to fly to other countries listed as high risk are required to have a coronavirus test in Iran. Travelers over 8 years old need to submit a negative PCR test within 96 hours of departure and do another test on arrival. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said 18,230 new confirmed cases over 24 hours, bringing Iran's total on Saturday to more than 2,377,000. Also Read: COVID-19 crisis: India reports over 3.46 lakh cases; 13.83 crore vaccines given so far Also read: Support pours in from countries amid India's devastating second COVID-19 wave A wagon of a freight train of the Kansas City Southern (KCS) Railway Company is pictured in Toluca, Mexico (Photo : REUTERS/Edgard Garrido) The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said on Friday the potential acquisition of the Kansas City Southern freight railroad should set off "alarm bells" about industry consolidation. Representative Peter DeFazio, a Democrat, said the deal could spark a "new wave of railroad mergers that stifle competition and trigger industry-wide consolidation." Advertisement "Wall Street will make money from railroad consolidation, but the U.S. economy and workforce will be worse off for it," he said in a statement. Both Canadian National Railway Co and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd have offered to buy Kansas City Southern. Canadian National said on Thursday it had informed Kansas City's board about its confidence in winning regulatory approvals for its $33.7 billion offer for the U.S. railroad. Canadian National told the U.S. Surface Transportation Board the merged railroads "would remain only the fifth largest railroad in the United States - both on a track-mile basis and on an operating revenue basis" and would not be anti-competitive. Canadian argued that "the fiercest and most aggressive 'competitor' to the freight rail industry is the trucking industry, which has a dominant market share for the transportation of most commodities - including intermodal traffic." The railroads would have limited overlap - just 1% of their network - and Canadian said it would work with customers to ensure they would not be served by just one railroad as a result of a merger. DeFazio said that there were 33 Class I, or major, railroads in 1980. "Today there are seven, and a merger between KCS and Canadian National or Canadian Pacific would leave only six." He added that a series of mergers "will likely result in a significant reduction of the railroad workforce, a workforce that has lost tens of thousands of jobs since 2015, and will negatively impact the rail network's ability to provide affordable and reliable access for our nation's shippers." The railroads did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier introduced Danny Ramirez as the Marvel superhero, Joaquin Torres a character that plays a significant role in the comic books. Ramirez recently opened up about his place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and talked about his potential return as the new Falcon. Danny Ramirez in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier | Marvel Studios Who is Joaquin Torres in Marvel comics? Joaquin Torres, aka Falcon, first appeared in the October 2015 Marvel comic, Captain America: Sam Wilson #1. As a young kid, he moved from Mexico to Arizona with his mother and grandmother. And as a teen, he was kidnapped by the Sons of the Serpent and handed over to Dr. Karl Malus. Malus experimented on Joaquin using the vampire falcon Redwings DNA. The experiment turns the teen into a winged falcon/human hybrid with the ability of flight and regeneration, along with a psychic connection to Redwing. Can't wait for Joaquin Torres to become the new Falcon once Sam becomes the new Cap. He did give him his old wings, remember? Hope they tease something at the end of the last episode. pic.twitter.com/rdwUMUqgFt D-Piddy (@_dpiddy) April 17, 2021 RELATED: Why The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Gave Anthony Mackie Feelings Fear and Horror After fighting off villains, Joaquin is trained by the new Captain America Sam Wilson. And he eventually becomes the superheros new sidekick. Joaquin Torres is a little different in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Unlike the comic book version, Joaquin Torres in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is a human with no superpowers. As an Air Force officer, he helps Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) bring down the Flag-Smashers. Ramirez knows his version of Joaquin is not true to the comic books. Well, I was told early on that [the character] was an inspiration for the role, not necessarily the role itself, he told Collider. The comics and MCU are Theres a slight deviation. .@DannyRamirez swoops in to thank everyone for the love his character Torres has received. How excited are you getting for the #FalconAndWinterSoldierFinale?! pic.twitter.com/b4Q4GROgbO The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (@falconandwinter) April 23, 2021 RELATED: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: Wyatt Russell Reveals Why John Walker Carries a Gun But going into the series, Ramirez did channel some of the original characters tone and personality. Hes such an exciting and fun character in the comics, he said. And thats what I tried to bring across like hes a little bit more of a ladies man in the comics. There are just funny little character traits, and Im like, Oh, thatd be fun to play with in an interesting way. Danny Ramirez would love to return as Falcon after The Falcon and the Winter Soldier In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam packs up his broken Falcon wings and hands them to Joaquin. The scene suggests Joaquin may become the next Falcon. And thats something Ramirez is entirely up for. Its all been positive memories being a part of this story, that I would 100 percent say yes [to more], he told TV Line. Without a doubt, no questions asked. Where do I sign? Our to-do list: stuff. Marvel Studios' The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is now streaming on @DisneyPlus! #FalconAndWinterSoldier pic.twitter.com/kUj1THdM5M The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (@falconandwinter) March 23, 2021 RELATED: What Is Sebastian Stans Fitness Routine for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? And while he didnt reveal any specific details about his future as Falcon, the actor did hint the MCU has some thrilling ideas in store. You will have to wait and see, Ramirez teased. But theres a lot of exciting stuff down the road, maybe, from what Ive been hearing. Theres a lot of things to be excited about, for sure. Please note The Sun Chronicle is providing this story and all of our local coronavirus coverage for free so that all readers have access to this important information about the pandemic. Please visit our dedicated coronavirus coverage page for more stories. If you'd like to support our mission, please subscribe. Themes of empowerment and self-identity recur, just as various forms of the word apocalypse betray a prevailing unease. Normalcy exists only to be upended, not least in Crowes The Tree, the Leg and the Axe, in which two women (Letty Thomas and Alana Jackson, both terrific) sit cozily in the theater bookstore and exult in being safe ones far removed from the virus no masks for them! only to reveal a landscape marked by savagery. Several plays embrace the environment of the Court. Maud Dromgooles witty Museum of Agony, a solo piece delivered with sustained brio by Jackson, folds its simmering anger into a discussion about what to order from the theater bar. Episode 6 features an arresting turn from the performance artist Nando Messias, whose Mi Casa Es Su Casa, by Hester Chillingworth, concludes with the elegantly clad Messias rising from the outdoor steps of the Court and entering the playhouse, an invitation for us to follow scrawled on the performers back. Any of these themes could fuel an entire season in nonpandemic times, especially at the Court, known for keeping an eye on the mood of the moment. It has a history of plays embracing political tensions (one was Jez Butterworths The Ferryman, set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland) and of casting a wide geographic net. The theater also introduced the notion of the angry young man in 1956 with John Osbornes Look Back in Anger, and it courses with palpable emotion here. Tensions in the Middle East fuel several of the plays, like Dalia Tahas A Warning, about planting the seed for revolution in Ramallah in the West Bank. The renewed violence in Northern Ireland propels the bitterly funny Flicking the Shamrock by Stacey Gregg. At four minutes, it is beautifully performed by Amanda Coogan and Rachael Merry as women whose preferred forms of sign language (BSL versus ISL) indicate a power-sharing that may not be going according to plan. Tsinghua University issued a report on Thursday to explain the vital role of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in improving China's epidemic prevention and control efforts and facilitating the resumption of work and production. Following China's extensive use of AI technologies in controlling the pandemic and economy recovery, the report studied the integrative mechanisms and social organizational architectures that manage the cooperation between government and enterprises, and further provided suggestions on AI governance for both policymakers and China's social sector. Proactive and competent enterprises, government with AI adaptive abilities, and a great number of linking departments between these two are what enabled China to give full play to AI technologies in preventing and controlling the epidemic, said the report. Yu Yang, author of the report and assistant professor at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences of Tsinghua University, explains the dynamics of the cooperative mechanisms. Yu's presentation further elaborated on enterprises' growing awareness of public governance, government bodies' algorithmic thinking, and the flexible links in the middle. AI technologies have been applied extensively across China since the early outbreak of COVID-19. For instance, research bodies like the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) established various big-data-based models to evaluate the flow of people, especially during national holidays, and develop early-warning systems for potential outbreaks. Last August, tech giant Baidu introduced its Linearfold algorithm, which is 120 times faster than traditional means in predicting secondary structure information of COVID-19's RNA sequence. AI technologies have also been widely used for drug development, CT image reading, preventive supplies distribution, temperature screening in public spaces, as well as movement tracking. However, other studies indicated that a considerable amount of personal information such as ID numbers and biometric data has also been collected by third-party agencies. This raised concerns among scientists and policy-makers about the potential ethical and technological risks of AI. Conversely, experts also suggest that new technology products may be more inclusive and friendly to the elderly. Given this, Gong Ke, president of the World Federation of Engineering Organization, urged researchers to focus on the weak links of AI in epidemic prevention. Gong also called for more research efforts which implement AI governance principles on the fundamental AI elements such as data, algorithm, computation, application scenarios, and personnel involved. Gong stresses the international governance should be based on the common demands of all people of the world but not the national labels; more efforts should made to identify the common interests and promote global consensus. "More efforts should be made toward building a resilient and responsible digital society," said Zhang Wei, assistant resident representative of UNDP China. Zhang urged relevant stakeholders to fully address the ethical issues of AI, the need to help disadvantaged groups, and the risk of data leaks. Zeng Yi, a professor at the Institute of Automation of the CAS, noted that China's AI governance efforts could play a bigger part in building global capacity on the issue. "I think that China's technological exploration and governance can bring benefit to the rest of the world, and help build a community with a shared future for humanity in the field of healthcare," Zeng said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 19:19:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Export-Import Bank of China (China EximBank) has increased loan support for small and micro-businesses, with outstanding funds topping 100 billion yuan (about 15.4 billion U.S. dollars) under a targeted program by the end of March. Under the loan model, the policy bank provided low-cost funds to medium and small banks, which then grant the loans to small and micro-businesses to reduce their financing cost. China Eximbank is a state-funded and state-owned policy bank dedicated to supporting China's foreign trade, investment, and international economic cooperation. China has rolled out a slew of measures to reduce financing costs of small and micro-companies. Outstanding inclusive finance loans to small businesses climbed by 30.3 percent by the end of 2020 from the previous year to 15.1 trillion yuan, central bank data showed. Enditem Sydney Falun Gong practitioners remember the historic April 25, 1999 appeal in China on April 23, 2021 in Sydney Town Hall, Australia. (Yi Luoxun/The Epoch Times) We Really Salute You: Sydney Rally Honours April 1999 Beijing Appeal Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Sydney on Friday to mark the 22nd anniversary of a significant day for the groupthe peaceful April 25 appeal at Chinese Communist Party (CCP) headquarters in Beijing. Out of respect for Anzac Day, the large crowd gathered at Sydney Town Hall two days early to hand out fliers and raise awareness of the appeal that took place outside the State Councils appeals office in Beijing on April 25, 1999. On that day, around 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for the release of around a dozen practitioners who were wrongfully arrested in Tianjin city days earlier. Then Premier Zhu Rongji won international acclaim for peacefully responding to the demonstrators by engaging in dialogue with them. However, this changed overnight when then CCP leader Jiang Zemin overthrew Zhus decision and unilaterally initiated what has become one of the longest-running persecutions against people of faith in China. Falun Gong practitioners in a peaceful rally at Sydney Town Hall, Australia on April 23, 2021. (Rebecca Zhu/The Epoch Times) Roughly 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners peacefully appeal outside Zhongnanhai, the central headquarters for the Chinese Communist Party, in Beijing on April 25, 1999. (Minghui.org) One Chinese local told The Epoch Times that it was only once she gained unrestricted access to information after arriving in Australia that she learned the CCP had not told the truth about what happened that day 22 years ago. Its after coming to the free world that I began to learn about the April 25 appeal, and [have access to] more detailed material about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners [in China], Pan said. I didnt [have the chance to] see all this back in China. Pan has been practising Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, for three years. She says she feels so lucky to be in Australia where she has a good environment to practise due to the countrys values of freedom of religion. Pan, a Falun Gong practitioner attends the April 25 commemorative rally at Sydney Town Hall, Australia on April 23, 2021. (The Epoch Times) Falun Gong is a spiritual practice from the Buddhist tradition whose adherents follow the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Between 1992 and 1999, the practice grew in popularity with official estimates recording between 70-100 million in China. The arrests in Tianjin, which sparked the April 25 appeal, came after three years of intense official oppression, in which Falun Gong books were banned from publication, an article smearing Falun Gong had been published in a major state-run newspaper, and the police had begun disrupting group exercise sessions in parks. For 22 years, details have emerged from China of practitioners suffering beatings, extreme sexual abuse, torture, brainwashing, and even being killed for their organs in concentration camps across China. For Pan, now that shes in Australia, she said she takes it as her duty to defy the CCP by going out to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and undo the regimes lies. She hopes that both the local Chinese community in Sydney and other Australians will learn the truth as well. We Really Salute You: Sydney Local Passerby Mohammed Moh said he believed everyone has the right to exercise their beliefs without fear of persecution. He said that he greatly respected Falun Gong practitioners because despite suffering under Chinas communist regime, they continued to fight for their freedom. I hope one day, sooner or later, they can return back and exercise their freedom in their own motherland, China, Moh told The Epoch Times. Human rights lawyer Muhammed Moh (centre) at a peaceful rally at Sydney Town Hall, Australia on 23 April 2021. (Wen Qingyang/The Epoch Times) Moh said he respects Falun Gong practitioners courage to continue rallying against the CCPs persecution despite the risks. For us who are watching the movement, we really salute you, he said. Our hearts [go] to the victims and their families. We hope justice comes and we see accountability for those who committed such crimes against humanity. Another onlooker, Bruce Richmond, told The Epoch Times that Falun Gong stands for freedom. The people of Australia ought to support these people, he said, adding that the CCPs persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Christians, and Uyghur Muslims was totally evil. Im a Christian, and Christians know that atheism, Marxism, and communism is not from God, Richmond said. But now, Australians dont believe in God, or very few, so they are opened to all possibilities and governed by money. Falun Dafa Association of Australia spokesperson John Deller wrote in an op-ed for The Epoch Times that the CCP falsely mischaracterised the April 25 appeal after the fact, in the lead up to when Jiang Zemin launched the persecution. Not since Tiananmen Square in June 1989 had so many Chinese citizens gathered in public to appeal to the government, Deller wrote. [CCP] officials often claim this was an organised siege, falsely alleging that it posed a threat to the nations leaders, he said. Some western governments and media still refer to the CCPs narrative as a reason that Falun Gong was banned. Li Zhihua, a Falun Gong practitioner from Tianjin at the 425 appeal rally on 23 April, 2021, at Sydney Town Hall, Australia. (Epoch Times Sydney Staff/The Epoch Times) Li Zhihua, 65, lived in Tianjian when the first practitioners were first arrested. On April 11, 1999, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Science named He Zuoxiu published an article in the Science Review of Juvenile titled I Do Not Approve of Youths Practice of Falun Gong. The article repeated defamatory propaganda. Li went with some local practitioners to the university to ask the publication to retract the statements which they said smeared Falun Gong. The publications editorial board promised to reply the next day, but instead, the Tianjin practitioners were met by hundreds of riot police over the coming days and around 40 were brutally arrested. The Tianjin government diverted all appeals to the central government in Beijing. When asked why she has persisted in speaking out for over 20 years, Li simply said: Its only three words: Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.' Because this practice is good. Its not wrong to be a good person. Bharat Biotech has announced that it will sell its COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, to state government at Rs 600 for a dose and to private hospitals at Rs 1,200 per dose. The company also said that it will export the vaccine at $15-20 (Rs 1124-1499) per dose. "Recovering costs is essential in the journey of innovation towards other vaccines such as intranasal COVID-19, chikungunya, zika, cholera and others. Our core mission for the last 25 years has been to provide affordable yet world class healthcare solutions for the globe," said Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Krishna Ella. Bharat Biotech has announced prices under directives from the central government regarding its next phase in COVID-19 vaccination programme that is scheduled to kick off on May 1. Centre had asked vaccine manufacturers to supply 50 per cent of their capacities to state governments and private hospitals at a pre-determined rate. This phase aims to inoculate every citizen above the age of 18. ALSO READ: Bharat Biotech's Covaxin 78% effective; works against most COVID-19 variants Covaxin is one of the two vaccines, after Serum Institute of India's Covishield, to be approved for use in India's vaccination programme. Notably it is twice as costly as Covishield, which will be sold to state governments at Rs 400 per dose and to private hospitals at Rs 600 per dose. Covaxin has been developed jointly by Bharat Biotech, Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). The inoculation is based on the coronavirus sample isolated by the NIV. It also is the first indigenous vaccine against coronavirus. Recently published Phase III trial data shows that Covaxin has an overall interim clinical efficacy of 78 per cent and 100 per cent efficacy against severe COVID-19 disease. ALSO READ: E-pharmacies plan COVID-19 vaccination; PharmEasy to vaccinate 3 crore people in coming months Covaxin has also shown resistance against multiple variants of coronavirus, including the double mutant variant. "ICMR study shows Covaxin neutralises against multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 and effectively neutralises the double mutant strain as well," ICMR recently announced. In order to arrive at this conclusion, the ICMR-National Institute of Virology isolated and cultured multiple variants of the virus - B.1.1.7 (UK variant), B.1.1.28 (Brazil variant) and B.1.1.351 (South Africa variant). India's premier health research body said that COVAXIN has shown its potential in neutralising the UK and Brazil variants. Recently, ICMR-NIV was successful in isolating and culturing the double mutant strain B.1.617 SARS-CoV-2 which has been identified in Maharashtra, and several other countries outside India. This led to countries like Hong Kong, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, the US and the UK impose travel restrictions on India. According to ICMR, "Covaxin has been found to effectively neutralise the double mutant strain as well." ALSO READ: India to expand COVID-19 vaccination but supplies run short, imports delayed (Edited by Vivek Punj) The Queen has swapped a smiling social media profile photo with Prince Philip for an image of the monarch alone as her official two week mourning period for her husband comes to an end. Before the Duke of Edinburgh's death, the Queen, 95, had been using a profile image as she and Prince Philip enjoyed a day out at the Epsom Derby in 2016. In the days after Prince Philip's passing on Friday 9 April, mourning members of the Royal Family temporarily replaced their avatars to their official coats of arms in a mark of respect. However the Royal Family account has now replaced the crest with a close-up photograph of Her Majesty during a visit to the headquarters of MI5 at Thames House in February 2020. The Queen, 95, has swapped a smiling social media profile photo with Prince Philip to an image of the monarch alone on an engagement as her official two week mourning period for her husband comes to an end Before the Duke of Edinburgh's death, the Queen, 95, had been using a profile image as she and Prince Philip enjoyed a day out at the Epsom Derby in 2016 The Queen's social media page has now been updated to show the royal alone on an engagement last year to the MI5 headquarters Following the sad news this month, the Royal Family changed its social media profile image - which had shown a jolly image of the Queen and Prince Philip at the Epsom Derby in 2016, pictured - to the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom Meanwhile other senior members of the royal family have replaced the crests with their original avatar images. Kensington Royal, the handle of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, has changed its image to show the couple with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis clapping for carers from their Norfolk home Anmer Hall last year. Meanwhile Clarence House also swapped its crest, the Prince of Wales's feathers, for their original avatar, an image of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles smiling in an official portrait released to mark Wales Week 2019. The change comes after the Queen was seen driving through Windsor on her way to take her dogs for a walk as she marked her 95th birthday without her 'strength and stay' of 73 years. Other royal social media accounts, including Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, returned to their original avatar photo, having used a royal crest during the official mourning period ales Week 2019 Meanwhile Kensington Royal, the handle of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, also changed its image back to a photo of the children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis clapping for carers from their Norfolk home Anmer Hall last year The monarch - who was recently gifted two new corgi puppies by Prince Andrew - was pictured leaving Windsor Castle in a green Jaguar Estate after the 'low-key' birthday celebrations on Wednesday, believed to have included several family members and her closest aides. Earlier this week, in her first comments since Prince Philip's death, the monarch thanked well-wishers across the globe for the tributes paid to her husband which have 'deeply touched' the royal family. The Queen said she and her family were in a 'period of great sadness' but were comforted by words of praise for Philip, who died peacefully at Windsor aged 99. Her Majesty said in a statement: 'I have, on the occasion of my 95th birthday today, received many messages of good wishes, which I very much appreciate. The change comes after the Queen was seen driving through Windsor on her way to take her dogs for a walk as she marked her 95th birthday without her 'strength and stay' of 73 years 'While as a family we are in a period of great sadness, it has been a comfort to us all to see and to hear the tributes paid to my husband, from those within the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and around the world. 'My family and I would like to thank you all for the support and kindness shown to us in recent days. 'We have been deeply touched, and continue to be reminded that Philip had such an extraordinary impact on countless people throughout his life.' Buckingham Palace also shared a photo of the steadfast monarch at a royal engagement with a message wishing her happy birthday. In her first comments since Prince Philip's death, the monarch thanked well-wishers across the globe for the tributes paid to her husband which have 'deeply touched' the royal family Instead of sharing their own posts, Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Instagram accounts re-posted the radiant photo of Her Majesty. Celebrations were subdued this year with no traditional gun salutes while the Queen observes a two-week mourning period following the death of her husband the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99. The Queen was expected to be visited by family but grandson Prince Harry will not be among them. Prince Philip and the Queen pictured together in a photo released in 2007 to mark their Diamond Wedding Anniversary He returned home to California from London on Tuesday, just 24 hours before his grandmother's birthday and two days after his grandfather's funeral. He is said to have met the Queen privately 'at least twice' and spoke to his father and brother Prince William after the Duke of Edinburgh's emotional funeral at Windsor Castle on Saturday, according to Harry and Meghan's friend Omid Scobie. Meanwhile, William and Kate had earlier visited a RAF cadet base in east London, as the Duchess reconnected with her family's long history in aviation. The Sterling Heights Assembly Plant Autoworker Rank-and-File Safety Committee will be holding a meeting, For an emergency four-week shutdown of SHAP and other auto plants! on Sunday, April 25, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time. Sign up to attend here. Workers expressed shock and sadness following the death of Terry Garr, age 57, of Shelby Township, a veteran crane operator at Stellantis Sterling Stamping plant in the north Detroit suburbs Wednesday evening. Garr died in an industrial accident when he was crushed by a heavy die toward the end of his shift. Sterling Stamping workers rack inner door panels as they roll off the line (Stellantis Media) Few facts have been made public regarding the circumstances of the tragedy. According to Sterling Heights Police Lt. Mario Bastianelli, a worker was using a stamping press when it seemed to shift the weight load. The initial investigation shows the worker was lifting the press machine with a crane and apparently the weight shifted and fell on the employee," Bastianelli said. Garr died later at an area hospital. Such deaths are all too common at industrial facilities in the US. In 2019, the last year for which data is available, 5,333 workers died in workplace accidents in the US, the largest number since 2007. There were 164 fatal workplace incidents in Michigan. According to the United Auto Workers Local 1264 Facebook page, two other Sterling Stamping workers have died since March. The UAW has not reported the causes of those deaths. On December 30, 2020, Mark McKnight, a contract electrician at the General Motors stamping plant in Marion, Indiana died when a 4,500-pound partition wall made of tubular steel fell on him. In mid-November, a 42-year-old auto parts worker, David Spano, was crushed to death by a 25,000-pound manufacturing mold at the Romeo RIM plant in suburban Detroit. In all too many cases, the official state investigations of such deaths amount to a whitewash of management. They drag on for months and typically result in at most wrist-slap fines, which are often waived on appeal. As for the UAW, the supposed representative of workers, it does little more than parrot the line of management. Garrs coworkers reported that he had previously been employed at the Chrysler Twinsburg, Ohio stamping plant that closed in 2010, one of many facilities shuttered under provisions of the 2009 Chrysler bankruptcy. Garr, like thousands of other workers, was forced to relocate hundreds of miles, far from family and friends, to maintain his job. A former coworker posted on Facebook, To my former Chrysler family, Terry Garr who worked at Twinsburg with us, was killed at Sterling Stamping. I guess he was working on a die, it shifted and he was crushed. God bless ya Terry, you will be missed! So sad. Another worker posted, He was my very best friend. We worked at the Twinsburg stamping plant. (The most profitable stamping plant they had.) If they kept us open he would be alive today ... love you my brother ... f*** you FCA & Stellantis, seen too many coworkers die for you ... first got crushed taking inventory ... in Twinsburg. 3 months after coming to Kokomo Claud fell 30 ft., then an oiler died while driving a forktruck, enough is enough.. I am outta here first chance I got ... Bad hips, bad knees, bad ankles, bad back, bad hands, bad wrists, you do not care about us... A veteran worker at Ford Chicago Assembly Plant spoke to the World Socialist World Web Site Autoworker Newsletter on condition of anonymity. Like many autoworkers, he has worked at a number of different plants across the Midwest and witnessed the dangerous conditions in every plant year after year, which the UAW has done little to nothing to address. I used to have to go into the Ford stamping plant in Flat Rock every night to work and I always was looking up when they would move the presses with the crane. They would move presses in and out for different parts 20, 30 feet in the air. I used to watch them move them in and out and saw how they repaired the dies. Not a job I would do today. I could have gone to Chicago Stamping, but I chose not to because of the danger. I try to work safe and be careful, and try to tell everyone. I have seen a lot of people that have gotten hurt or that have died in those plants. I remember one guy got his head cut off by a machine at St. Louis back in the day. I was being very careful every day, but one day, just one day, I let my guard down and I got hurt badly after 35 years of watching out. It only takes a few minutes or seconds. Workers must demand a full and independent investigation into the death of Terry Garr to prevent further such tragedies. No confidence can be placed in the UAW-Stellantis joint safety committee, which will inevitably seek to carry out a whitewash. Nor can the Michigan Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (MIOSHA) be trusted one iota. The necessity for an independent investigation is underscored by the criminal cover-up carried out by the UAW over the spread of COVID-19 in the auto plants. The UAW has enforced full production at the auto plants despite the fact that manufacturing plants are major vectors of virus transmission, according to figures from the Michigan state government. The auto companies and the UAW have conspired to cover up both the number of infections and deaths in the plants in order not to create panic; in other words, to prevent workers from comprehending the true extent of the danger to which they are being subjected daily. According to the state of Michigan, since March of last year employers have reported more than 40 worker deaths from COVID-19, certainly a vast undercount. Meanwhile, MIOSHA has received more than 12,000 complaints from employees alleging COVID-19 hazards in the workplace. The vast majority of these complaints are not investigated, or are dismissed out of hand. There is every reason to believe that the push by management to maintain production levels despite high absentee rates is further undermining safety conditions. This has been compounded at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant by the imposition of an impossible 12-hour, 7-day work schedule for skilled trades workers in an apparent attempt to squeeze out more production. Such Dickensonian working conditions are a recipe for accidents and deaths. Only the independent action of workers can secure the right of workers to safe and healthy conditions. We call on workers to build and expand the network of rank-and-file safety committees. For more information about building a committee at your plant, contact the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter at autoworkers@wsws.org. The "Portugal Cards and Payments - Opportunities and Risks to 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Portuguese cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including ash, cards, credit transfers, direct debits, and cheques during the review-period (2016-20e). The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2020e-24f). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes. The report brings together research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies and recent changes in regulatory structure. This report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Portuguese cards and payments industry, including: Current and forecast values for each market in the Portuguese cards and payments industry, including debit and credit cards. Detailed insights into payment instruments including cash, cards, credit transfers, direct debits, and cheques. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments. E-Commerce market analysis. Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Portuguese cards and payments industry. Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit and credit cards. Scope The rising adoption of contactless payments during the review period drove overall card payments. According to Banco de Portugal the number of contactless cards and contactless POS terminals increased 27.5% and 20.7% respectively in 2019 compared to 2018. In 2019, contactless card payments accounted for 7.8% of total card payment volume and 3% of total value. To capitalize on the growing popularity, banks such as Banco BPI, Santander, Caixa Geral de Depositos (CGD), Novo Banco, and Millennium bcp offer contactless cards. Meanwhile, to promote contactless payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, the central bank increased the contactless payment limit from 20 ($22.45) to 50 ($56.14) in March 2020. To further promote the uptake and use of electronic payments, in 2020 the central bank announced the National Strategy for Retail Payments 2020-2022. As part of the strategy, the central bank intends to migrate all payment cards and POS terminals in the country to contactless within this period. The bank is also planning to introduce a new law that will mandate merchants to accept at least one electronic method of payment. In addition, the bank plans to promote instant payments in the country by allowing fund transfers using mobile phone numbers, email addresses, civil identification numbers, and tax identification numbers instead of bank account numbers. Alternative payments are gaining prominence in the country, with a number of international and domestic payment methods now offered. In November 2020, Google launched its payment solution Google Pay in Portugal. The solution allows in-store, online, and in-app payments. In the same month, the Lydia payment solution was launched in Portugal. The solution enables users to make online, in-app, and in-store payments as well as P2P fund transfers to other Lydia users. Previously, Apple Pay was launched in Portugal in June 2019. It allows users with Apple devices to make online, in-app, and in-store purchases. Key Topics Covered: Story continues Market Overview Payment Instruments Card-based Payments E-Commerce Payments Alternative Payments Job Analysis Payment Innovations Payment Infrastructure & Regulation Appendix Companies Mentioned Millenium BCP CGD Novo Banco Santader Banco BPI Multibanco Visa Mastercard Lydia Apple Pay Google Pay Masterpass For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/13oczq About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005396/en/ Contacts ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 RVShare, a peer-to-peer R.V. rental site, keeps a list of first-come-first-served campsites around the country. Or book a deluxe camper van rental from Moterra, which has four pickup locations around the West, or from Vermont Adventure Vans, out of Burlington. Those van outfitters can often help with custom trip planning; they may be able to recommend first-come-first-served campsites along your route. Once you find a campground that doesnt take reservations, keep it in mind for future last-minute trips. For instance, the 10 public campgrounds on Tioga Pass (including Tioga Lake Campground and Saddlebag Lake Campground) outside the lesser-visited Tuolumne Meadows entrance to Yosemite National Park do not take reservations. Neither does the riverfront Salmon River Campground near Stanley, Idaho, or the lakefront Dockery Lake Campground in Dahlonega, Ga., less than two hours from Atlanta. All of the backcountry shelters run by the Appalachian Mountain Club in the White Mountains of New Hampshire are also first come first served. Most of these no-reservation spots in popular areas fill up in the morning, so get there early and plan to wait around until a site is vacant. If you have flexibility, come midweek or come early in the day, said Ms. Harris, of Outdoor Afro. Show up on a Friday afternoon and youll just spend the evening driving around in circles looking for a spot. Skip the campground; go dispersed camping. Dispersed camping means sleeping for free on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (B.L.M.) or the U.S. Forest Service. The B.L.M. has online maps and guidelines for how and where to camp on public lands. Its not for everyone, and its not available everywhere. Be sure to read up on local land-use restrictions regarding camping and be familiar with leave no trace principles and area campfire regulations. Campendium and Freecampsites.net list established sites where you can post up in the woods, with no fee and no reservations. KINDE - North Huron High School principal, Tanya Kramer, announces the honor students for the Class of 2021. Valedictorian is Maxwell Cole Iseler. Salutatorian is Keagen Ray Spicer. Maxwell Iseler is the son of Scott Iseler and Holly Iseler of Port Hope. He will graduate as Valedictorian with a 3.986 grade point average. Along with maintaining his high scholastic standing, Maxwell has also been very involved with his school and community. Over the course of his high school years, Maxwell has earned several academic awards. He was the top medalist in Algebra, English, physical science, geometry, chemistry, Algebra 2, woodworking, and government. Maxwell was awarded certificates in World History, English, Zoology, American History, health, woodworking, and biology. He also received perfect attendance his sophomore year. Maxwell was inducted into the National Honor Society at the end of his sophomore year and continued his involvement throughout the rest of high school. Maxwell participated in many school and community-related activities through the National Honor Society. Some of these events include Red Cross Blood Drive, Toys for Tots, Adopt-a-Highway, Polka Fest Breakfast, and Book-it-Carnival. Maxwell was a part of both track and field and cross country, as well as the school band and FFA. Maxwell received first in Land Judging, competed in the Forestry Skills contest, and took part in FFA state band. After high school, Maxwell plans to attend the University of Michigan for a four-year degree in computer science and a minor in climate and space sciences. Keagen Ray Spicer is the son of William and Randi Cannon of Kinde. Keagan will graduate with a GPA of 3.918. Over the course of his high school career, Keagen has earned many academic awards. He was the medalist in art, chemistry, and English. Keagen was awarded certificates in geometry, chemistry, zoology and the environment, physical science, English, government, and Algebra II. Keagen has also received an academic letter, a President's Award for Educational Excellence, and a Learning Lamp. Spicer also received the perfect attendance award for his junior, freshman, and senior years. Keagen was inducted into the National Honor Society his sophomore year, serving as secretary both his junior and senior years. He participated in many school and community-related activities through the National Honor Society. Some of these events include Red Cross Blood Drives, Toys for Tots, Adopt-a-Highway, Book-it Carnivals, Making floral arrangements for local businesses, and running activities at Fall Family Fun Night. Spicer is also a member of the National Society of High School Scholars. In addition to his volunteer work, Keagen was also an active member of the FFA. Participating in the Floriculture Career Development Event in his freshman and sophomore year, Keagen and his team advanced to represent Michigan on a national level and ranked in the top 50 percent of the nation. Spicer has also participated in leadership events earning silver and gold medals in Agricultural Issues. Keagen has also participated in the FFA state band for his freshman, sophomore, and junior years. Keagen was an active participant in the arts. His junior year, he enrolled in the Mechanical Architectural Engineering and Design program at the Huron Area Technical Center (HATC). Spicer used the experience he gained at the HATC to create art at North Huron. He also gained experience using engraving machines and part lathes which he plans to use in his future career. Keagen was also an active member of the band. Keagen earned the Outstanding Musician Award and has participated in Solo and Ensemble. After his high school career at North Huron, Spicer is both prepared and excited for his future. He will be attending Wayne State University in the fall to pursue a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Other students that have distinguished themselves academically: Graduating Summa Cum Laude (3.90 - 4.0) are: Jadyn Marie Pitts, daughter of Don and Kristi Pitts of Port Hope Graduating Magna Cum Laude (3.750 - 3.899) are: Joseph Brian Weiss, son of Les and Linda Weiss of Port Hope; Alexis Danielle Bogart-Veneziano, daughter of Evangeline Bogart of Port Austin and Andrew Veneziano, Paige Alyssa Koroleski, daughter of John and Brenda Koroleski of Port Austin. Graduating Cum Laude (3.5 - 3.7499) are: Mollie Kate Zaleski, daughter of Scott and Tracy Zaleski of Port Austin; Rylee Jordan Donovan, daughter of Kari Donovan and Kenneth Strahan of Kinde; Lucy Jean Wiley, daughter of Kevin and Helen Wiley of Kinde; Karrigan Isabelle Schipinski, daughter of Ed and Jodie Schipinski of Kinde. Commencement will be at 3 p.m., Sunday, June 6 in the high school gymnasium. LeBron James apparently deleted a tweet in which he posted, "YOU'RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY" with a picture of police officer Nicholas Reardon, who shot Ma'Khia Bryant, who is on body cam video brandishing a knife within a foot of another Black person (the one in the pink outfit). This underscores the accuracy of what the student who was forced out of "canceler" Hardin-Simmons University posted about Black Lives Matter. If Bryant had succeeded in killing the other Black woman, the latter would be just one more anonymous crime victim as opposed to a useful martyr to the Cause. If Hakim Littleton, who is on body cam video pointing a gun at a cop's head, had succeeded in killing the officer instead of being shot dead by the cop's partner, the officer would be just one more anonymous dead "pig" as opposed to a useful martyr to the Cause. The body cam video of Reardon shows, meanwhile, that he probably saved the Black victim from death or serious injury by placing four shots into the body of her assailant, and nowhere else, even though Bryant was essentially on top of the victim. That might be easy enough to do on a firing range with inanimate shoot/don't shoot targets with enough practice, but it's a lot harder when you have to do it with an innocent person in your line of fire and perhaps less than a second to save her life. Our country used to call police, firefighters, and paramedics who save the lives of innocent people "heroes" and some of us still do. Officer Reardon deserves a commendation, but the "woke" left prefers to call cops who take any Black life, even a perp threatening another Black life, racists, murderers, and white supremacists. This includes Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, who libelously accused the officer who shot Michael Brown in self-defense of "murder." Both are attorneys and should know full well that a false public accusation of murder is libel per se. While not directly relevant to the death of Bryant, here is an outrageous statement from Nancy Pelosi about George Floyd that is well worth quoting to swing voters ahead of the 2022 election. "Thank you, George Floyd, for sacrificing your life for justice." Let's see if we can help Nancy out here. Civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, who were murdered for trying to register Black people to vote in Mississippi, sacrificed their lives for justice. Martin Luther King, who was murdered for his civil rights activities, sacrificed his life for justice. George Floyd was a thug who did prison time for robbing a pregnant woman at gunpoint, and his sole claim to fame is that he later ran into another thug with a badge and a gun he should not have had. James is not the only member of the "woke" left to use the occasion to attack police. The Washington Post, which is hardly a right-wing source, reports that Kiara Yakita, the head of Black Liberation Movement Central Ohio, said, "Law enforcement and city officials are rushing to make excuses because she had a knife. Those excuses are not valid to me." Perhaps Ms. Yakita would be just fine with the police standing by and talking nicely to an assailant of any race brandishing a knife within a foot of her, as opposed to shooting the assailant. Yakita, however, seems to have the support of the president of the United States, who said, "Instead of standing there and teaching a cop when there's an unarmed person coming at them with a knife or something, shoot them in the leg instead of in the heart ..." Who needs stand-up comedians when the head of the Democrat party says, with a straight face, "unarmed with a knife"? It is contrary to law enforcement doctrine to shoot to wound. If your life or somebody else's is in danger, you can't use less than decisive force, and if nobody's life is in danger, it's probably illegal to aim a gun at somebody at all, let alone fire it. Joe Biden is an attorney; he ought to know this, and he also ought to know that you cannot legally (in most jurisdictions) fire a gun into the air to scare off prowlers. Think about it: the current occupant of the White House and head of the Democrat party has (1) tried to equate the Second Amendment with a right to hunt, which means firearm ownership can be limited to arms suitable for hunting; (2) depicted knife-wielding assailants as unarmed; (3) advocated shooting to wound in contravention of generally accepted law enforcement practices; and (4) encouraged the unlawful and possibly felonious reckless discharge of firearms. His vice president is meanwhile an attorney who thinks it is OK to tweet false accusations of felonies against identifiable people. One wonders why Twitter banned Donald Trump but not Kamala Harris. The student who was forced out of Hardin-Simmons was 100 percent right. Black Lives Matter and its associates do not care when a Black person kills another Black person, or a criminal of any race kills a cop of any race, as Hakim Littleton tried to do and Stephen Cannon allegedly did to David Dorn. The bodycam video shows clearly that Ma'Khia Bryant was menacing another person with a knife and was close enough to use it. The object looks like a knife to any reasonable person who watches the video and therefore looked like a knife to Officer Reardon, which is by itself the prerequisite for the use of deadly force. In addition, the object was then discovered afterward to have in fact been a knife. Had the woman in the pink outfit been killed or seriously harmed, it would not be convenient for BLM, LeBron James, and so on to say her name, but it is convenient for them to say Bryant's name. This tells us everything we need to know about their credibility. Civis Americanus is the pen name of a contributor who remembers the lessons of history and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way. The author is remaining anonymous due to the likely prospect of being subjected to "cancel culture" for exposing the Big Lie behind Black Lives Matter. To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here. A military retiree who had been employed as a Burke County teacher when arrested last summer on child molestation charges was arraigned Friday. A not-guilty plea was filed in Richmond County Superior Court on behalf of Eddie Byrd, 50. He is accused of aggravated child molestation, enticing a child for indecent purposes, sexual assault of a student and computer pornography. Byrd, who is free on bond, is accused of having a sexual relationship with an underage teen he met through Snapchat. He was arrested in June. Byrd is no longer a teacher with the Burke County Board of Education; he resigned in lieu of firing last year, said Amy Nunnally, public information officer for the school district. Before he was hired in Burke County, Byrd taught at the Richmond County Technical Career Magnet School. Byrd served 21 years in the Army and five years in the Marines before he began teaching, according to an earlier report in The Augusta Chronicle. This article is written by Sandy Hodson from The Augusta Chronicle, Ga. and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com. "President Biden's principled stand on the Armenian Genocide today powerfully overriding Ankara's foreign veto against honest American remembrance of this crime - pivots America toward the justice deserved and the security required for the future of the Armenian nation a landlocked, blockaded, genocide-survivor state." "President Biden's principled stand on the Armenian Genocide today powerfully overriding Ankara's foreign veto against honest American remembrance of this crime - pivots America toward the justice deserved and the security required for the future of the Armenian nation a landlocked, blockaded, genocide-survivor state," said ANCA Chairman Raffi Hamparian. "The ANCA looks forward to working with the Biden Administration to translate this statement into a fundamental reset in U.S. policy toward the region one that prioritizes the survival of Artsakh, the security of Armenia, and a fair and lasting regional peace based upon a just resolution of the Armenian Genocide," said Hamparian. Armenian Genocide recognition is particularly impactful today, in the wake of Turkey and Azerbaijan's unprovoked, genocidal attacks against Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) last fall, that resulted in a regional humanitarian disaster including the displacement of over 100,000 Armenians from their homes, the ongoing Azerbaijani imprisonment of over 200 Armenian POWS, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's threats of renewed Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia made as recently as this week. President Biden's recognition of the genocide pivots the U.S. toward a sustained policy that meaningfully and materially supports Artsakh's survival and Armenia's security, while forcefully challenging Turkey and Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian aggression. Alongside growing global condemnation of this crime, U.S. recognition also isolates Turkey and undermines its denials, increasing pressure upon Ankara to end its campaign of lies, cease its obstruction of justice, and open the door to a truthful, just, and comprehensive resolution of present-day Turkey's legal, moral, political , and territorial responsibilities for this still unpunished crime. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide honors the memory and dignity of its victims and survivors, while more broadly rejecting the use of human rights as a bargaining chip. In elevating genocide and atrocity prevention to the level of moral and political imperative, this recognition honors all victims of the scourge of genocides past and present making future atrocities less likely. Editor's Note: Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian is available for comment and interviews. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Chouldjian at [email protected] or call 202-775-1918 / 703-585-8254 cell. Additional information and background on the Armenian Genocide and U.S. affirmation of this crime is available at anca.org/genocide. [email protected] | anca.org/facebook | @anca_dc Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian Tel: (202) 775-1918 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Armenian National Committee of America Related Links www.anca.org Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent a letter to US President Joe Biden as the latter used term Genocide in his statement commemorating the victims of Armenian massacres in 1915. "I've recently sent the following letter to US President Joe Biden," Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook sharing his latter. His latter comes as follows: "I highly appreciate your principled position, which is a powerful step on the path of truth, historical justice, invaluable support to the heirs of the victims of the Armenian Genocide," he noted. "Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is possible not only to pay tribute to the 1.5 million innocent victims, but also to prevent the recurrence of such crimes." "The recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States is a much-needed message to the international community that reaffirms the primacy of human rights and values in international relations. From that point of view, it is an encouraging and inspiring example for all those who want to build a just, tolerant international society together," the PM added in his letter. Under-40s could also get an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine despite fears that it could delay Britain's inoculation drive by a month. On April 7, the Government's vaccine advisory group ruled that people aged between 18 and 29 should be offered either the Pfizer or Moderna jab instead of the AstraZeneca vaccine while experts continue to investigate its link to rare blood clots. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) found that, by the end of March, 79 of 20million Britons vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab had suffered deadly blood clots in the brain or arteries, a rate of about one in 250,000. New data from the drugs watchdog has indicated the risk of forming a serious blood clot has increased to one in 126,000 over a fortnight. It is understood that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is now contemplating further altering its policy ahead of the rollout to those aged 30 to 39, reports The Daily Telegraph. But the Government's scientific advisers are divided over whether to offer alternatives to under-40s, with analysts from Airfinity earlier predicting the change in guidance for those aged below 30 will hamper the nation's vaccine drive. Amanda Krawczyk from Penrith is the first patient to arrive at the Penrith Auction Mart Vaccination Centre to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 25 It is understood that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is now contemplating further altering its policy ahead of the rollout to those aged 30 to 39 (file photo) Some scientists believe the alternative should be offered to those aged 30 to 39, while others say there is not yet enough evidence to change the guidance further and potentially lower confidence in the vaccine. Maarten Postma, a member of the JCVI and professor in pharmacoeconomics at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, told the Financial Times: 'I would for sure support giving people who are 30 to 40 another vaccine. 'There are alternatives so we can be careful.' Slides presented at a press conference announcing the change in policy earlier this month showed that younger people are more prone to blood clots after vaccination than older groups. Nineteen of the cases who suffered serious blood clots died and three were under the age of 30. The MHRA said healthy people aged 19 to 29 will be offered either the Pfizer or Moderna jabs instead when the programme moves to younger groups in the coming months. More than half of the UK's total population has received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, figures show. NHS England data up to April 23 shows that of the 38,189,536 total doses given in England so far, 28,102,852 were first doses - a rise of 107,656 on the previous day People queue to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine at the newly opened Covid-19 vaccination centre in the SSE Arena, Belfast, on March 29 Patients wait in the post vaccination observation area after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine at Penrith Auction Mart Vaccination Centre on March 25 in Penrith Anyone who has already had their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, regardless of their age, is being advised to go for their second appointment as planned. But former Tory leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith told Politico's Emilio Casalicchio the move could be a 'real blow' to uptake of the vaccine. He added: 'I'm concerned that this statement by the MHRA will lead to a lack of confidence in the jab.' AstraZeneca's jab is only being paused for under-30s in Britain because coronavirus levels are so low, said Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam earlier this month. Anyone who has already had their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, regardless of their age, is being advised to go for their second appointment as planned If Covid was still more prevalent, as it is in Europe, he suggested that the vaccine would still be recommended for all ages, including young people. The MHRA insisted there was still no concrete proof that the British-made vaccine is causing the clots, but admitted the link was getting firmer. The review prompted the Government's vaccine advisory group, the JCVI, to recommend that people aged 18 to 29 be given an alternative jab. Professor Wei Shen Lim, coronavirus chairman for the vaccines committee: 'The Covid-19 vaccines have already saved thousands of lives and the benefit for the majority of the population is clear if you are offered a vaccine, you should take it.' Chattanooga firefighters carried out a quick attack and knockdown of a second alarm apartment fire in Hixson on Friday night. The call came out at 6:25 p.m. and responding units found a fully involved building on arrival, spotting smoke as they were headed to the scene. The fire was substantial and visible from across the area. A second alarm was called for additional manpower due to the possibility of entrapment. Several residents were home at the time. One resident knocked on doors of other units to alert others, allowing everyone to escape safely. Battalion Chief Don Bowman, incident commander, said, We were on the scene so quick that we were able to catch the fire before it got past the roofing area. Everyone did an incredible job. Crews worked like a synchronized team as they were trained. They put all of their effort into it. Firefighters continued working until the apartment blaze was under control and then made sure any hot spots were fully extinguished. Four apartments were impacted. The roof and back of the building were damaged. The American Red Cross will be assisting residents. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Responding units and agencies: Ladder 19, Squad 19, Quint 16, Quint 10, Engine 12, Engine 11, Engine 22, Engine 4, Ladder 1, Quint 1, Squad 1, Squad 7, Ladder 7, Quint 6, Quint 17, Battalion 2, Battalion 3 (Green Shift), HCEMS, Hamilton County 911s Incident Dispatch Unit, CFD Investigations, Chattanooga Hamilton County Support Services Unit, CPD, EPB, Fire Chief Phil Hyman and Assistant Chief William Andrews. (CNN) The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and US Food and Drug Administration lifted their recommended pause on use of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine Friday and said the label will be updated to warn of blood clot risks. The agencies acted quickly after a vote by the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices recommended lifting the pause. "We have concluded that the known and potential benefits of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older," acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock said in a statement. "We are confident that this vaccine continues to meet our standards for safety, effectiveness and quality. We recommend people with questions about which vaccine is right for them have those discussions with their health care provider." ACIP members worried that taking one of only three vaccines out of the mix available to Americans would slow efforts to immunize the population against a virus that has killed more than half a million people in the United States. Plus, they agreed that having a one-shot vaccine that doesn't need to be stored in freezers was valuable and would be preferred by many people who do not want to come back for a second dose, or who would struggle to make two vaccination appointments. The vote was 10 in favor, four opposed, with one abstention. "This is a very rare event -- a very rare event," Dr. Jose Romero, who chairs ACIP and who is also the top health official for Arkansas, told the meeting. He noted that vaccinating more people would prevent Covid-19 deaths, but would also prevent other problems, including mental health consequences of infections and so-called long Covid syndrome, in which survivors experience months of symptoms. "Limiting the vaccine for a greater population certainly would have an impact on that," he said. What's next? The panel debated various possibilities, including recommending restricted use of the vaccine, but finally voted simply on the option to recommend use of the vaccine as it had been before -- in all adults over the age of 18.The language of the vote: "The Janssen Covid-19 vaccine is recommended for persons 18 years of age and older in the U.S. population under the FDA's emergency use authorization." The US Food and Drug Administration will update the label for the vaccine, indicating that women under the age of 50 should be aware of the risk of a rare blood clotting syndrome associated with the vaccine. Earlier, Johnson & Johnson officials said they had agreed to new language for the label that acknowledges the risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS. Some members of the committee were unhappy with the decision and the vote was not unanimous. Four members voted against the recommendation. "I did not object to the recommendation; I objected to the absence of any kind of guidance from us," said Dr. Sarah Long, a professor of pediatrics at Drexel University College of Medicine. Of the 15 US cases of rare blood clots associated with the J&J vaccine, 13 were in women under the age of 50. ACIP discussed the need to give women in this age group an extra warning, but in the end left it out of the vote. "This is an age group that is most at risk, that is getting this vaccine predominantly to save other people's lives and morbidity, not their own," Long said. "And I think we have a responsibility to be certain that they know this, and if they choose to be vaccinated with this anyhow, we want to respect that choice." Dr. Pablo Sanchez, a pediatrician at Ohio State University, also wanted ACIP to include more guidance with its recommendation. "I have no problem with the continued availability of this vaccine," he said. "But I think that we are just making a blanket recommendation," he added. "I think we have to have stronger language." Dr. Grace Lee, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, voted for the recommendation but said she understood the no votes. "I absolutely think this is a serious adverse event. We need to continue to ensure that awareness is raised," she said. "I also think that we have to come out with a clearer recommendation." But other ACIP members said the country needs the vaccine. "I think the risks and benefits of this vaccine clearly show that we're preventing tremendous disease, and that we need to be cognitive of that fact,"said Dr. Jason Goldman, a physician in private practice in Coral Spring, Florida, who is not a voting member of the committee. "Many of my patients are expressing a preference for the vaccine for a single dose because they cannot take off from work," added Goldman. "I am gravely concerned that if we do not continue with the vaccine, it is going to dramatically reduce the ability of my patients to get vaccinated." US CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will sign off on ACIP's recommendation and then US FDA will prepare an amended emergency use authorization for the vaccine, Dr. Amanda Cohn, ACIP's executive secretary, told the meeting. "We are awaiting and anticipate that the FDA will be putting out a new, a newly approved EUA language," Cohn said. "And additionally, we will be taking the input from today, along with this language that FDA will publish and both FDA and CDC will have communication materials and education materials including infographics, patient fact sheets." Next week the US CDC has scheduled a telephone briefing for doctors and other clinicians to explain the changed recommendations and lay out the symptoms of and treatments for TTS. Most patients with TTS develop a severe headache days to weeks after getting the vaccine, doctors told ACIP. There will also be a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report -- the US CDC's main publication for disseminating health news -- to share the information. American Medical Association president Dr. Susan Bailey said her organization would help get the word out about risks. "The population-level data presented during ACIP's meeting today clearly demonstrates that the benefits of this approach outweigh the risks, which include becoming infected with COVID-19 and the potential for severe illness or death," Bailey said. "The AMA will continue to work with the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure physicians and patients are aware of the rare, but increased risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) in women under the age of 50, as well as the appropriate treatment, so they can act quickly." Blood clots are common, but TTS is especially rare. It involves an unusual immune reaction that targets platelets, which are cells involved in blood clotting. Antibodies latch onto the platelets, pulling them out of circulation and causing them to clump together. The result is blood clots along with a low platelet count. Treatment includes using blood thinners, but not heparin, as well as an immune product called IVIG to regulate the antibody response. Risks and benefits The US CDC's Dr. Sara Oliver presented the results of several models laying out what might happen if the vaccine is used again, including with restrictions on use in certain groups. The US CDC took into consideration deaths from coronavirus and the likelihood that people would get vaccinated more quickly if the Janssen vaccine was in the mix. "When resuming vaccination among all persons at least 18 years, we expect 26 to 45 TTS cases depending on vaccine uptake," she said. But 600 to 1,400 deaths from Covid-19 would be prevented, and as many as 3,500 ICU admissions would be prevented. If the vaccine were restricted to people over the age of 50, three TTS cases could be expected, but between 40 and 250 Covid-19 deaths would be prevented, and as many as 1,000 people would not need treatment in the ICU. For every million doses of vaccine given to women 18 to 49, 13 TTS cases can be expected, Oliver said. But 12 deaths from Covid-19 would be prevented and 127 ICU admissions would be prevented among those women if they had access to the Janssen vaccine. American Society of Hematology president Dr. Martin Tallman, a specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said Covid-19 carries a much higher risk of blood clots than any vaccine. "In fact, COVID-19 infection carries a much higher risk of blood clots 147,000 in 1 million hospitalized COVID-19 patients experience clots, compared to roughly two in 1 million individuals who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine," Tallman said in a statement. Moderna's and Pfizer's vaccines have not been linked with blood clots at all, the ACIP panel heard. The CDC did not consider a gender-based restriction, Oliver said, because it would be too hard to explain -- even though the risk of blood clots appears to be very low among men. Dr. Paul Offit, who is a vaccine adviser to the FDA and a pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said he thought the CDC did a good job of laying out the risks of the vaccine versus the risks of Covid-19. "This was the CDC at its finest," Offit told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. This story was first published on CNN.com, "CDC advisers recommend resuming use of Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine" Is it fair or even patriotic to threaten states that do not conform to the Democratic Socialists' mandate to control the outcome of Free and Fair elections enacted by constitutionally guaranteed states' legislatures? Yes, all elections must be federalized so that the whim of the majority political party can set the standard for all elections. No, Our Founders purposefully decentralized elections by guaranteeing only states' legislatures the independent right to enact Free and Fair elections. In January last, the government launched a special drive and issued notices to hundreds of hospitals after fire erupted at a health care centre in Bhandara in Maharashtra in which 10 infants were killed. (Representational Image/PTI) Visakhapatnam/Vijayawada/ Tirupati: Many private hospitals notified as Covid treatment facilities in the state have not obtained their Fire NOC till date. Officials, while notifying private hospitals, had insisted that they adhere to safety norms and obtain NOC from the fire safety department. In January last, the government launched a special drive and issued notices to hundreds of hospitals after fire erupted at a health care centre in Bhandara in Maharashtra in which 10 infants were killed. In Visakhapatnam, 40 private and corporate hospitals were notified as Covid treatment facilities and those that were located in Health City at Arilova were declared as fire safety compliant. Ten hospitals outside the Health City have not obtained the NOC. Six hospitals got NoC during the last two days and four are yet to comply with the fire safety norms, said regional fire officer with GVMC, Niranjan Reddy. He said unlike in normal times, the authorities would not hesitate to close down the hospitals. Merely having safety equipment is not enough. The hospitals should conduct mock drills, which they have not done despite repeated advisories. Reports from Vijayawada said 26 private hospitals have been notified as Covid hospitals and four of these have applied for NoC. But the requests were held up as they did not adhere to all the norms. Tirupati reports said three out of the eight hospitals notified there as Covid treatment facilities are not having the Fire NoC. The fire department refused to issue NoC to RUSH hospital, Lotus hospital and ESI hospital. The Purnas Remedy hospital, DBR hospital, Sankalpa hospital, Narayanadri hospital and Amara hospital have obtained fire NOC, said Kiran Kumara Reddy, assistant district fire officer in Tirupati. A disgraced teacher has been jailed after having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy he met through a dating app. Craig Slater was working as an IT teacher at Byrchall High School, in Ashton-in-Makerfield, when he first made contact with his victim on Grindr, prosecution barrister Ben Lawrence told Bolton Crown Court. The court heard that Slater, 40, then groomed the boy in a 'sophisticated and highly effective manner' between June and November 2019. Despite the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, listing his age as 18 on the app, sick Whatsapp messages retrieved from Slater's phone proved that he knew his true age before meeting him. In the depraved conversations, Slater described himself as a 'sex-obsessed pervert' and said it wouldn't be a problem if the boy turned up to one of their meetings in his school uniform. Disgraced teacher Craig Slater, 40, (pictured) has been jailed for five years and three months after having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy he met on the dating app Grindr Slater used a fake name - Andrew Spilter - and would often sexualise regular conversations. When the boy expressed his reservations, he said: 'It makes me feel like I'm coercing you into it'. Mr Lawrence submitted that this response was a sophisticated grooming method. Slater, who is in an open relationship, also told the boy that he wouldn't be telling his partner about their relationship because it was 'technically naughty'. Slater told the victim 'I don't want to wait until then', after the boy revealed when his 16th birthday was. Slater bought his victim gifts, suggested he could book them a hotel room, and on at least one occasion sent a lengthy message indicating that he had romantic feelings for him. They swapped explicit photographs and videos and eventually met up for sexual activity on three occasions. Slater was working as an IT teacher at Byrchall High School (pictured), in Ashton-in-Makerfield, when he first made contact with his victim. A spokesman for the school confirmed that Slater's contract has been terminated Police became aware of Slater's crimes in May 2020, when the boy named him during enquiries into an unrelated matter. Officers seized Slater's phone and he was arrested. On his phone, there were 19 indecent images of the boy - one category A, two category B and 16 category C. During his police interview, Slater told police that he had believed the boy was 18-years-old, because of his Grindr profile. He also told officers that he didn't believe that the boy was actually 15 and thought that it was just 'fantasy'. Slater admitted that he was attracted to 'young trendy guys', aged between 17 and early 20s, and when asked about one of the occasions he had sex, he said: 'It wasn't my finest hour.' He pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of possessing indecent images of a child, engaging in sexual communication with a child, inciting a child to watch sexual activity, and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. Defending, Simon Gurney told the court that for the first two months of their communication, Slater was not aware of the boy's the age and by the time he'd found out, they were already in an 'emotional and affectionate' relationship. Bolton Crown Court (pictured) heard that Slater, 40, groomed the boy in a 'sophisticated and highly effective manner' between June and November 2019 He added: 'That is not an excuse and he should have put a stop to it once he learnt.' Mr Gurney said that Slater, from Crewe, has no previous convictions and that prior to his offending, he had gone 'above and beyond devoting his life to a profession helping young people.' He told the court that at the time, Slater had an 'unhealthy sexual preoccupation and was addicted to pornography, as well as social media'. Mr Gurney referenced a letter written to the court by Slater, in which he expresses his remorse and 'shame'. He went on say that Slater now takes anti-depressants and that his partner of 17 years is continuing to stand by him. Slater then wept in the dock as Mr Gurney spoke about his elderly mother, who is currently in hospital, following emergency surgery. Sentencing Slater to five years and three months imprisonment, the judge Recorder Alex Leach described the offences as 'reprehensible'. He added: 'During your dialogue with him, you groomed him in a sophisticated and highly effective manner, drawing him into performing sexual acts, both over the internet and in person, for your gratification. 'The fact that you worked as a teacher, the fact that you must've understood the impact that this type of offending could have upon teenage boys, the fact that you understood the safeguarding and particular vulnerability associated with someone the age of the complainant neutralises any mitigation you might otherwise have been able to draw from your long service as a teacher.' A Sexual Harm Prevention Order has been imposed on Slater until further notice and he will have to sign the sex offenders register for life. A spokesman for Brychall High School confirmed that Slater's contract has been terminated. The benefits of Vaxzevria (formerly COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca) outweigh its risks in adults of all age groups, however, very rare cases of blood clots with low blood platelets were detected post-inoculation, European Union's drug watchdog, European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a report on Thursday. Vaccine formally known as the AstraZeneca was authorized in the EU to provide protection against the COVID-19 disease and mitigate deaths and severity of the respiratory ailment. Following the reports of several cases of unusual blood clots and low levels of platelets in patients, the University of Oxford / AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine was suspended across several EU countries including Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Latvia until an accurate and clearly confirmed diagnosis came from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). We recently released data from our COVID-19 vaccine US Phase III trial. We maintain our commitment to supplying our vaccine broadly and equitably at no profit during the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/a0wLTtLaUc AstraZeneca (@AstraZeneca) March 25, 2021 To support governments in making decisions on how to best use the AstraZeneca vaccine, EMAs human medicines committee (CHMP) analyzed available data and declared that there was no evidence of pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or thrombocytopenia (TTP) in any age group or gender. Around 17 million people in the EU and UK have now received our vaccine and the number of cases of blood clots reported in this group is lower than the hundreds of cases that would be expected among the general population, AstraZenecas chief medical officer Ann Taylor said in a statement. The pharmaceutical firm was going beyond the standard practices for safety monitoring of licensed medicines in reporting vaccine events to ensure public safety, she added. The very rare occurrence of a mysterious blood-clotting disorder among some recipients of the OxfordAstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has got researchers scrambling to uncover whether, and if so, how the inoculation could trigger such an unusual reaction. https://t.co/hG0M3Ukcbp Nature (@nature) April 22, 2021 Effective at 'preventing deaths' Publishing the safety report on the EMA website, AstraZeneca said, that the risk of incidences of blood clots with its vaccine was very rare in the context of the jabs benefits across different age groups and different rates of infection. The Committee analyzed the vaccines benefits and the risk of unusual blood clots with low platelets in different age groups in the context of the monthly infection rates. It also analyzed hospitalizations, ICU admissions, deaths, and benefits of vaccination increase with increasing age. Vaxzevria is effective at preventing COVID-19 hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and deaths due to COVID-19 said AstraZeneca. It added, that the most common side effects associated with the inoculation were usually mild or moderate and disappeared within the first few days. The most serious side effects are very rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets, which are estimated to occur in 1 in 100,000 vaccinated people. People should seek medical assistance if they have symptoms," the company said. A Minneapolis jury's conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin on all counts in the brutal killing of George Floyd was seen by so many as such an important moment of reckoning that it would be easy to overlook the news closer to home about police officers being held to account for criminal actions. That would be unfortunate. Because even though there's clearly a disturbing pattern in this nation of police killing unarmed people and facing little if any punishment these are individual breaches, which occur in individual police departments, so part of the solution must occur in individual communities. And on Monday, as a tense nation awaited the Minneapolis verdict that would come a day later, we got a reminder right here in Charleston of what it looks like when our criminal justice system works to produce ... justice. Even when it involves criminal actions by those sworn to protect us. We got that reminder courtesy of former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager, who thrust himself back into the headlines by challenging his 20-year prison sentence for killing Walter Scott, an unarmed black man who was running away from him. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel's order upholding that sentence was no surprise; the attempt to overturn it was baseless. But Judge Gergel's order served as a reminder that police in our state do sometimes get punished for killing unarmed suspects. No, they still dont get punished as often as they should: Far too often, unless they're charged and convicted of a crime, they dont even get fired. No matter how inappropriate their actions. But they do sometimes get punished. Michael Slager got punished after he pulled over Walter Scott for a broken tail light, got into a struggle and then, as Mr. Scott fled, shot at him eight times. He got punished for putting five of those bullets into Mr. Scotts back. He got punished for concocting a story before he knew a bystander had captured the whole ugly scene on video about how he was forced to kill Mr. Scott because otherwise he would have been the one killed. And for continuing to lie about it even after the video became public. 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! Theres a lot that's special about the Lowcountry. But contrary to what officials continue to say six years later, there was nothing extraordinary or even special about the fact that our community didnt erupt in deadly riots after Michael Slager killed Walter Scott. Or, for that matter, two months later, following the massacre of nine precious members of our community inside Emanuel AME Church. The protests that have become commonplace in Charleston and other cities during the past year arent borne of the fact that individuals kill black people, even evil individuals determined to start a race war. They arent even borne of the fact that police kill black people. Well, at least not the sustained protests. Theyre borne of the fact that police keep killing black people, over and over, and in most cases, nothing ever seems to happen. They are borne, that is, of police immunity: of cops who kill innocent people and arent even arrested. Arent even fired. Arent even suspended. We didnt have an eruption of violence in the wake of Mr. Scotts killing because North Charleston officials fired Michael Slager immediately after they saw the bystanders video that demonstrated that Mr. Slager had fabricated a story, to justify his actions, that bore no resemblance to what really happened. And soon after he was fired, Mr. Slager was arrested. He was prosecuted. And when he had the good sense to plead guilty because the federal government didnt make the mistake of bringing an unwinnable murder charge against him, as the state had done he got the sort of sentence that anyone other than a police officer would have gotten for shooting someone in the back five times while the person was running away: 20 years in prison. Over the past few weeks, Mr. Slager has been kind enough to remind us of this one instance in which an officer was held accountable. And to give Judge Gergel an opportunity to rip apart the absurd argument that Mr. Slager somehow didnt deserve that sentence. Perhaps we should be grateful for that. A cascade of failures as Winter Storm Uri began to settle in over Texas in February resulted in almost 5 million Texans being left in the dark as the states electric grid struggled with the record-setting cold. Everyone needs a full assessment of the situation, said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, in unveiling a report on the performance of natural gas during the storm. The report was conducted by data analytics firm Enverus. Bernadette Johnson, senior vice president power and renewables at Enverus, said that, Based on our assessment of the data, it is likely issues started at power generation units. Responses from upstream participants in the survey, which represented 51 percent of natural gas production in the state, identified three impacts on their operations: Loss of power to the site 65 percent; wellhead and equipment freeze-offs 13 percent and not being able to move production due to issues with third-party facilities - pipelines, gathering or transmission lines, processing facilities or plants 8.7 percent. Approximately 91 percent of respondents said their operations are powered through a connection to the electric grid. Midstream participants in the survey offered four impacted on their operations: Loss of power 80 percent; lack of production from upstream 80 percent; road, crew, truck and other logistical issues 40 percent, and equipment freeze-offs 20 percent. Every fuel type declined during the storm, with natural gas-fired plants losing 20,000 megawatts, coal-fired plants 6,000 megawatts, wind 4,000 megawatts and nuclear fell by 1,000 megawatts. Despite the challenges, data shows natural gas increased to provide 60 percent of the fuel powering electric generation during the storm. The timing of the failures was geographically widespread but happened in rapid succession, Johnson said. We looked into the gas supply issues that caused generators to fail. The geographic spread and rapid succession pointed to issues at the power generators not related to natural gas supplies. That ties into the largest failure during the storm, which was communications, said Staples. He noted that the Application for Critical Load, which lists facilities that electric generators like Oncor must continue to power, does not apply to field services the wells and processing facilities that move the natural gas. Thats why mapping the supply chain is critical, so we can identify facilities, starting with whats directly connected to the power generation units. The power generators are the only ones with the responsibility to put power into the grid, but others have a responsibility as well, Staples said. In addition to mapping the supply chain and ensuring field facilities are part of the critical load designation, Staples said weatherization standards adequate to protect those facilities should also be enacted. He said data indicates that after examination of the 2011 winter storm that urged weatherization of facilities, natural gas operators winterized their facilities to various degrees. Its our belief that without electricity to the well site and the distribution chain, no amount of weatherization matters, he said. The report will be key to helping the public and decisionmakers understand what happened and take proper steps to address the issues found, Staples said. I think reports like this help inform both the industry and policymakers and reports like the one ERCOT has done will continue to inform policymakers in order to come out with best policies, he said. He listed a number of bills making their way through the Texas Legislature and said he believes the legislative body is moving in the right direction. More work needs to be done but the legislature is headed in the right direction to ensure this never happens again, Staples said. Minutes after the Manitoba government expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility for adults living in three Winnipeg neighbourhoods, Mathew Joseph had booked his appointment for the shot. Minutes after the Manitoba government expanded COVID-19 vaccine eligibility for adults living in three Winnipeg neighbourhoods, Mathew Joseph had booked his appointment for the shot. The 32-year-old resides downtown and works for the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba as an after-school program manager. "This is our home, this is our space, this is our community, and there's no protection. But now we do have the choice now that we can be protected with the vaccines," Joseph said by phone from his home in the prioritized district of "Downtown East." Yafet Araya photo Mathew Joseph lives in downtown Winnipeg and works with IRCOM which has residences in downtown and the Centennial neighbourhood. He was able to book his vaccination shot today and will be helping clients to do the same. "We have so many struggles within downtown, such as (access to) grocery stores, so I thought this was a very thoughtful decision by the government on behalf of the people." About 35,000 people became eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines Friday, as Manitoba expanded its vaccine rollout to include all adults who live in Downtown East, Point Douglas South and Inkster East, and some front-line worker employed in those areas. "In these communities, we've seen, starting October forward, that they've had higher case counts than other parts of the province," said Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for the provincial COVID-19 vaccine task force. "There was a lot of transmission in these three areas, so that was the No. 1 factor that brought them to the top of the list." We have so many struggles within downtown, such as (access to) grocery stores, so I thought this was a very thoughtful decision by the government on behalf of the people. Mathew Joseph She said persistent, localized COVID-19 transmission was also considered, in addition to high-risk community characteristics that could lead to future outbreaks. (A map showing the boundaries of eligible neighbourhoods can be found on the province's website: gov.mb.ca.) "The vaccine takes a few weeks before it works," Reimer said. "So our focus is not so much to stop an outbreak thats already happening where everybody in a certain location has already been exposed. "Our focus is trying to understand where the highest-risk areas of ongoing transmission are, because we want to intervene before we start to see those really focused outbreaks." Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for Manitoba's vaccine committee. THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES/John Woods Eligible workers include teachers, child care providers, public health inspectors, and workplace safety and health officers, and anyone who works in a food processing facility, grocery or convenience store, at a gas station, restaurant, food bank or anywhere that serves food. Reimer said more communities will be prioritized next week. In the meantime, Joseph said the work of community organizations such as IRCOM will begin to make sure people are aware vaccines are available and they are eligible to receive them. COVID-19 vaccine eligible areas in Winnipeg In collaboration with Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations, Joseph said informational material has already been prepared to inform and educate the community it serves about COVID-19 vaccination. Maps and additional information to distribute in the community is being prepared, he added, and walking escorts to clinics may be provided, if needed. "Weve got to continue letting them know that theres great news happening and the benefit of the vaccines, but we're also going to encourage them," Joseph said, adding the organization has support from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and social workers. "Its great news and were hoping the families are going to jump on it." Reimer said the province is also working to translate written materials into different languages to circulate through the prioritized communities, as well as connecting with organizations that provide services in the areas. "Our focus is trying to understand where the highest-risk areas of ongoing transmission are, because we want to intervene before we start to see those really focused outbreaks." Dr. Joss Reimer "Our communications team, our medical officers of health, our public health nurses and many others are working very hard to connect with the local communities, because we know that hearing from a local trusted voice is often the most effective way to make someone feel comfortable in going for a vaccine," Reimer said. NDP MLA Uzoma Asagwara said by prioritizing residents who live in the Union Station constituency, working-class Winnipeggers, many who are lower income and have essential service jobs, will have a bit of relief moving forward. "For them, it is crucial to be able to go to work, take public transportation, and provide for their families with a peace of mind that they've got this vaccine," Asagwara said. However, the NDP health critic said immunization needs to be barrier-free and workers need to be able to get the shot without losing wages or hours to see uptake among those who are at greater risk of the disease. "And that approach comes from talking to the community members themselves, and having a solution-focused effort around them," Asagwara said. In addition to previously established avenues, people living in prioritized communities can also book appointments at Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre (181 Higgins Ave.) and Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre (363 McGregor St.). with files from Katie May danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca The delicate French Haviland china, with its dainty pink floral border and elegant gold accents, is back right where it belongs thanks to a Flyer friendship forged on the steps of 311 Kiefaber St. more than 40 years ago. Illustration by Dan Zettwoch The story begins close to a century ago when relatives of Mary Connie Conway 77 gifted the china to Monsignor John Shields, the parish priest in their town of Aledo in northwest Illinois. It ends with the dishes now resting in Conways china cabinet. Conway and Mary McGinnis 77 were classmates, friends and neighbors on Kiefaber Street in the mid-1970s. The fellow social work majors discovered another connection while sitting on the porch steps one afternoon. My great uncle was the parish priest in Aledo, where Connies family was from, McGinnis said. Many years ago, her family gifted him a set of china. While he moved on to different parishes in Illinois, he always took the set with him. Shields had become the pastor of St. Catherines Catholic Church in the rural Mercer County, Illinois, town in 1927. The close-knit community was where Grandpa Patrick Conway raised his nine children. Aunt Virgie, as Conway called her, was one of the older Conway kids and well known as a woman who couldnt pass up a sale or auction. The family was quite fond of the personable monsignor, so it was no surprise that Virgie and her father agreed the china set she purchased needed to go to the rectory. The family was quite fond of the personable monsignor, so it was no surprise that Virgie and her father agreed the china set she purchased needed to go to the rectory. Monsignor Shields was very central to the Conway familys religious life, so I absolutely knew who he was, Conway said. I went to his 50th anniversary celebration when I was in the eighth grade. Mary was there, too, something else we later discovered. When Conway and McGinnis graduated from UD, they both pursued careers in social work. McGinnis went on to work in hospital administration and recently retired from her position in the insurance industry. Conway was a hospital social worker and now works in real estate. Both now live in the Chicago area McGinnis in the city and Conway in nearby Arlington Heights. They kept in touch over the years, but the dishes didnt really get a second thought until Shields passed away, leaving the china to McGinniss mother, Joan Whalen McGinnis. McGinnis knew exactly where the elegant set of china needed to be, and she picked up the phone to call Conway. Its lovely, lovely china, but my mom and I agreed that it belonged with Connies family, McGinnis said. Connie has a son and three daughters, so it would get plenty of use. The china comes out when they are celebrating as a family, and Connie will send me a message, Thinking about your mom today. Without Joan, the history would have been lost, Conway said. It speaks to her generosity of spirit. When not in use, the delicate china set more than 80 pieces in all, from dainty teacups and saucers to pitchers and platters is displayed in a cabinet that came from Grandpa Conways Aledo farmhouse. Theres so much symmetry, she said. We love the full circle of this story and how a chance meeting and friendship brought it back to the Conway family. We love the full circle of this story and how a chance meeting and friendship brought it back to the Conway family. The generosity of spirit goes both ways. Its a story about enduring friendships and family connections that were based on faith, community and sharing, McGinnis said. The fact that the gifted china circulated through two families over the course of many decades and is still being used today for family celebrations is a tribute to the original act of kindness from the Conway family. Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net Chemical plants and refineries near the Houston Ship Channel are seen next to the Manchester neighborhood in the industrial east end of Houston, (Photo : REUTERS/Loren Elliott) The United States and other countries hiked their targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions at a global climate summit hosted by President Joe Biden, an event meant to resurrect U.S. leadership in the fight against global warming. Biden unveiled the goal to cut emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels at the start of a two-day climate summit kicked off on Earth Day and attended virtually by leaders of 40 countries including big emitters China, India and Russia. Advertisement The United States, the world's second-leading emitter after China, seeks to reclaim global leadership in the fight against global warming after former President Donald Trump withdrew the country from international efforts to cut emissions. "This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis," Biden, a Democrat, said at the White House. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the new U.S. goal "game changing" as two other countries made new pledges. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who visited Biden at the White House this month, raised Japan's target for cutting emissions to 46% by 2030, up from 26%. Environmentalists wanted a pledge of at least 50% while Japan's powerful business lobby has pushed for national policies that favor coal. Canada's Prime Minster Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, raised his country's goal to a cut of 40%-45% by 2030 below 2005 levels, up from 30%. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro announced his most ambitious environmental goal yet, saying the country would reach emissions neutrality by 2050, 10 years earlier than the previous goal. Greenpeace UK's head of climate, Kate Blagojevic, said the summit had more targets than an archery competition. "Targets, on their own, won't lead to emissions cuts," she said. "That takes real policy and money. And that's where the whole world is still way off course." PUTIN SAYS PROBLEMS GO WAY BACK Most of the countries did not offer new emissions goals. Chinese President Xi Jinping said China expects its carbon emissions to peak before 2030 and the country will achieve net zero emissions by 2060. Xi said China will gradually reduce its coal use from 2025 to 2030. China, a leader in producing technology for renewable energy like solar panels, burns large amounts of coal for electricity generation. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed giving preferential treatment for foreign investment in clean energy projects, but also made an apparent reference to the United States being historically the world's top greenhouse gas polluter. "It is no secret that the conditions that facilitated global warming and associated problems go way back," Putin said. The U.S. climate goal marks a milestone in Biden's broader plan to decarbonize the U.S. economy entirely by 2050 - an agenda he says can create millions of good-paying jobs but which many Republicans say will damage the economy. The U.S. emissions cuts are expected to come from power plants, automobiles, and other sectors across the economy. Sector-specific goals will be laid out later this year. The new U.S. target nearly doubles former President Barack Obama's pledge of an emissions cut of 26%-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. CEMENTING CREDIBILITY How Washington intends to reach its climate goals will be crucial to cementing U.S. credibility on global warming, amid international concerns that America's commitment to a clean energy economy can shift drastically from one administration to the next. Biden's recently introduced $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan contains numerous measures that could deliver some of the emissions cuts needed this decade, including a clean energy standard to achieve net zero emissions in the power sector by 2035 and moves to electrify the vehicle fleet. But the measures need to be passed by Congress before becoming reality. The American Petroleum Institute, the top U.S. oil and gas lobbying group, cautiously welcomed Biden's pledge but said it must come with policies including a price on carbon, which is a tough sell among some lawmakers. 'THE U.S. IS BACK' The summit is the first in a string of meetings of world leaders - including the G7 and G20 - ahead of annual UN climate talks in November in Scotland. That serves as the deadline for nearly 200 countries to update their climate pledges under the Paris agreement, an international accord set in 2015. Leaders of small island nations vulnerable to rising seas, like Antigua and Barbuda and the Marshall Islands, also spoke at the summit. World leaders aim to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a threshold scientists say can prevent the worst impacts of climate change. A Biden administration official said with the new U.S. target, enhanced commitments from Japan and Canada, and prior targets from the European Union and Britain, countries accounting for more than half the world's economy were now committed to reductions to achieve the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal. European leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed delight that the United States was back in the climate fight. "The importance of this day in my judgment is the world came together," Biden's climate envoy John Kerry told reporters at the White House. Newark cops will temporarily stop arresting people for non-indictable warrants worth $500 or less excluding those for domestic violence as the nation begins to reevaluate cops interactions with the public. The new policy comes on the heels of a police officer in Minnesota fatally shooting Daunte Wright earlier this month when he was pulled over. Police there have said Wright was initially stopped because his vehicle registration was expired and then learned he had an outstanding warrant for a gross misdemeanor weapons charge. Police in Newark may still continue to stop people with an outstanding traffic or bench warrant, even if its $500 or less, but cops will only document the encounter. An officer will advise the person of the warrant and what they need to do to resolve it, then let them go on their way, said Newark Public Safety Director Brian OHara. This will allow the officers to remain on the streets, in the neighborhoods where their presence is needed, OHara said in a statement. The last thing people need right now is to lose time from their jobs and families for these minor offenses. Mayor Ras Baraka said the decision was also made due to financial setbacks people are facing during the coronavirus pandemic. The aim, the mayor said, is to lessen their burdens, not make them worse. Were not excusing those outstanding warrants; were simply extending the appropriate courtesy called for during this pandemic, Baraka said. And I believe it is especially critical that we reduce the possibility of people having negative encounters with police over such minor offenses. Non-indictable offenses in New Jersey are handled by municipal court judges and are considered misdemeanors. They include traffic and parking offenses or disorderly persons charges like simple assault. OHara said the policy will stay in place until further notice. Newark police will still complete a report, including the outstanding warrant number, criminal charge, date issued, municipality of the warrant, bail amount and updated address and contact number of the wanted person. The reports will be forwarded to the Newark municipal court. The release did not state what would happen if the person has a warrant from outside of Newark. The state Attorney Generals Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Newarks new policy. Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter. Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. YEREVAN. There is currently no dialogue between Armenia and Turkey. Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts on Saturday told this to reporters at the Armenian Genocide Memorial, adding that Armenia is ready to start a dialogue with Turkey without preconditions. "Our message to Turkey today is that, yes, of course, please [lets have] dialogue, but no preconditions are acceptable to us," he said. Asked whether Ankara responded at all to Yerevan's position of starting a dialogue without preconditions, Adonts answered: "It responded with preconditions; they were right after the borders were closed. There are primarily two preconditions [by Turkey]: one refers to the Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] conflict, the secondto the [Armenian] Genocide. Today there are zero-level and quality relations with Turkey and the official circles of Turkey. I have not heard any preconditions regarding the [recent] 44-day [Artsakh] war. Nevertheless, the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains a precondition by Turkey." As for the avenues for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the deputy FM said that Armenia is not discussing any respective format other than that of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. "There are activities; I want to believe that they will soon become visible. We do what we do. In particular, the agenda of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [of Armenia] is open and transparent. Of course, there are segments that refer to classic diplomacy, and do not go beyond the internal framework," Avet Adonts added. 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. KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. Casey's Restaurant in Klamath Falls faces almost $28,000 in fines from Oregon OSHA after the agency said it fell "well short of workplace safety standards" for coronavirus. According to OSHA, Casey's "willfully" remained open for indoor dining while the county was under Extreme Risk restrictions. The agency said that this is the second time that the restaurant has been cited for a similar violation of public health orders, having been fined $8,900 after an inspection in December. Since the pandemic began, we have focused our efforts on engaging and educating employers about expectations. In the vast majority of cases, we have not had to conduct formal enforcement visits, because most employers are choosing to do the right thing, said Michael Wood, administrator for Oregon OSHA. Yet, a critical part of Oregon OSHAs longstanding mission is to enforce workplace health and safety standards. And we will continue to fulfill that mission when employers refuse to address credible complaints or continue to insist on ignoring reasonable safeguards for their employees. RELATED: Casey's Restaurant reopens for dine-in against Extreme Risk guidelines (Roseburg) OSHA said that the most recent citation stemmed from an inspection prompted by complaints and a referral from Klamath County Public Health. The inspection found that the restaurant allowed indoor dining from December 17 through February 11. Wood imposed a $26,700 for the penalty three times the minimum for this kind of violation. "The decision reflects the need to ensure a more appropriate deterrent effect where employers insist on disregarding health and safety standards," OSHA said. "Such willful behavior puts employees at risk and enables the employer to achieve a competitive advantage over businesses that comply with the requirements." Employers have 30 days to appeal an OSHA citation. The agency said that Casey's citation from December remains in the appeals process. Cancel culture is at again and cant take yes for an answer. This is evident in the reaction to an official report, issued as a response to the BLM movement, by the British Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (BCRED), a body of ten experts drawn from a variety of fields including science, education broadcasting, medicine, and policing, and all of whom except one came from ethnic minority backgrounds. Published on March 31, 2021 the 258-page independent report points out that the dominant narrative on race tends to emphasize abuse rather than progress concerning ethnic minorities in Britain, and that social media, with their large user base, enormously amplifies racist views. The report painted a complex picture of the issue of race in the UK, and among other matters tries to explain why some minority groups do better than others, indicating that in the educational system black African, Indian, and Bangladeshi students do better than white British ones. The commission was given the task of reviewing inequality in the UK, and focused on the issues of education, employment, crime and policing, and health. Contrary to cancel culture critics who argue that the official report ignored the role of structural racism. BCRED demonstrated that disparities persist, that racism and discrimination affect peoples life, and that racist attitudes exist in society and in institutions, and that action is necessary to tackle these attitudes. But the BCRED report also argues that although disparities exist between ethnic groups many factors other than racism may be the root cause. The report did not deny that institutional racism exists in the UK but did not find conclusive evidence of it in the specific areas, that it examined. It concluded for example that the increased risk of infection and death from COVID-19 was explained by socioeconomic factors, living in deprived areas, crowded housing, and exposure to the virus at work, and that the outcomes were driven more by risk of infection than by ethnicity. The crucial argument of the report is that, while disparities between minority groups exist in many areas, factors other than racism are often the root cause. Among the factors are geography, family structure, and socioeconomic background. The report challenges the fatalistic and pessimistic accounts that nothing concerning racial matters has changed and that seek to explain all minority disadvantage through the prism of discrimination by whites. Racism, it holds, is too often used as a catchall explanation for disparities and inequalities that affect people from minority groups. Critics of this conclusion will argue that the factors mentioned are themselves the result of structural racism and longstanding inequalities, but this is a circuitous argument. The problem is indeed complex. People will disagree on how to address ethnic minority inequalities but it is irresponsible to characterize those who challenge orthodoxy and want an informed debate as racism deniers, rather than analysts seeking accurate evaluation of the evidence. Why are the social outcomes of health unequally distributed between different racial and ethnic groups? Why do some ethnic minority groups have higher life expectancies and lower risks of many diseases than the white majority population, despite higher levels of deprivation? One last question, why do ethnic minority students, except those from black Caribbean backgrounds, have higher aspirations at age 14 than white students? The issue of race as the explanatory factor for socioeconomic inequalities deserves vigorous debate, but analysis should be one based on nuanced understanding of the existing acts and reality of conditions. Not surprisingly, there has been deliberate misrepresentation of the BCRED report, especially claims that the report denies that racism exists. This is a false charge. The report in fact makes clear that the UK is not a post-racial society, and that racism is a real force that can deny opportunity. The commission recommends government action to end practices that cause unjustified racial disadvantage or arise from racial discrimination. A fulsome attack of the BCRED report came on April 19, 2021 from a group of so-called United Nations human rights experts. This UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent categorically rejects and condemns the analysis and findings of the report. The problem is that it flagrantly misstates the arguments, conclusions, and recommendations of the report. It falsely states that the report distorts history, upholds white supremacy, and shifts the blame for the impacts of racism to the people most impacted by it. The Working Group holds that the BCRED report repackages racist tropes and stereotypes, misapplies statistics, which lead to attacks on peoples of African descent. It says the BCRED ignores the pervasive role that the social construction of race plays in the inequalities in society and blames identity politics. It is critical of the BCREDs call for a more responsible use of statistics. It is helpful to examine both the Working Group of experts and the organization from which it originated. It is a body of five, chaired by U.S. attorney Dominique Day. The UN World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, in September 2001 adopted the Durban declaration. Among other matters, it requested the UN Commission on Human Rights to consider establishing a working group or other mechanism of the UN to study the problems of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent living in the African diaspora. A year later the WG of experts was established by the Commission on Human Rights. It is composed of five independent experts appointed on the basis of equitable geographic representation. Member are chosen for a three-year term and can be renewed for an additional three year mandate. The commission changed its name in June 2006 and became the UN Human Rights Council. However, far from being an organization concerned with human rights in the countries of the world, the UNHRC has been fixated on the issue of the State of Israel. The obsession has meant that Israel has been criticized on more occasions than the rest of the world combined. The animosity against Israel began at the beginning with the creation of the council which voted to make a review of alleged human right abuses by Israel a permanent feature of every council session is compounded by the rule that Israel is the only country which by item 7 is listed on the permanent agenda, the only country that is always investigated annually. The UNHRC is composed of 47 states, of whom 15 were elected in 2021. Among the guardians of human rights are China, Cuba, Russia, Gabon, Senegal, and Bolivia. It is an organization that has been focused on anti-Israeli resolutions, obsessively biased against any action on the part of Israel. The WG is a group of independent lawyers but its statements and conclusions ought to be seen in the context of the UNHRC. It was set up to investigate and report on the situation of people of African descent globally. Its five members come from Jamaica, Poland, South Africa, Philippines, and the U.S. Chairman Dominque Day is also executive director of a body called Daylight and for a year a former teacher and researcher at Al Quds in the West Bank. The Working Group of Experts categorically rejected and condemned the analysis and findings of the BCRED. Yet it remains a matter of objective analysis to assess whether the UK suffers from what the experts call legacy mindsets of racial hierarchy and from institutional racism and structural invisibility. The bias and lack of objectivity of the experts is fully on display with its assertion that the BCRED report fails to acknowledge how the legacies of enslavement continue to shape wealth disparities, social stratification, and the experiences of people of African descent in Britain. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye. Image: UN.org To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here. Gaylord Nelson was a relatively unknown American senator when an oil spill off the coast of California polluted vast swathes of the Pacific Ocean, killing thousands of sea creatures and coating beaches with black slime. It was 1969 and the scale of the disaster gave Nelson an idea. A year later, he led the first Earth Day, when 20 million Americans took to the streets to protest against environmental damage to their country. Last Thursday, Earth Day celebrated its 51st anniversary, as more than a billion people around the world participated in climate and environment-related events. Wind of change: Foresight Group is poised to benefit from action on climate change fuelled by Earth Day last week. US President Joe Biden was one of them, launching his first Leaders Summit on Climate, to show his commitment to a greener world. Like it or loathe it, the climate action movement is gaining momentum and Foresight Group is well placed to benefit. Founded in 1984, the group listed on the market in February at 4.20. Today the shares are 4.25, but should move substantially higher over time. Chairman Bernard Fairman is highly ambitious, determined to succeed and has decades of experience behind him. Now 71, Fairman co-founded Foresight in 1984, as an asset management business specialising in technology. Fairman spotted the green trend early on and shifted towards renewable energy almost 15 years ago. Foresight now operates 33 funds, including Foresight Solar, Foresight Global Real Infrastructure and a host of others. These funds own around 300 infrastructure projects, capable of powering nearly two million homes with renewable energy. Most of the funds focus on wind and solar but there are other areas too, including forestry, energy from food waste and battery storage. Alongside all these green assets, a number of Foresight funds invest in small businesses in the regions. Often run by a single person or family, these firms can face problems when the founder wants to retire and senior managers cannot afford to buy him or her out. Foresight steps in with money and advice, helping these businesses to grow and develop. Fairman sees this as an integral part of the group, a way of supporting entrepreneurs, as he once was. Firms are many and varied. Lancashire-based Hedges Direct supplies shrubs and hedging online. Hertfordshire-based Equus Products offers specialist clothing for horse-riding enthusiasts. Manchester-based DA Languages offers interpreting and translation services and is currently helping to deliver the NHS Track and Trace system for people who cannot speak English. Foresight has been making strides over the past year. A trading update earlier this month revealed that assets under management increased by 60 per cent to 7.2billion in the year to March 31. Fairman is keen to increase that by another 1.5billion in the current year and brokers expect the business to reach 10billion of assets under management in the next two to three years. The group makes most of its money from annual management fees and brokers predict sales of 64million for the year to March 2021, rising to 76million next year. Profits are likely to rise from 19.5million to 25.2million over the same period. Foresight is expected to become a decent dividend stock too. The payout is likely to be a nominal 1p for the year just ended, as the business floated just a few weeks previously. However, a payment of 10p is expected in the year to next March, rising to around 16p in 2023. Fairman made more than 90million from the flotation but he still owns 29 per cent of the shares. Around 200 staff have participated in a share scheme so they are also motivated to make the listing a success. Top managers hope that the flotation itself will turbocharge growth, raising Foresight's profile, so the group can develop new funds, attract more customers to existing funds and make selective acquisitions. Midas verdict: Many 71-year-olds with 90million in the bank might decide to hang up their hat. Not Fairman. Having built Foresight into a successful private business, he is determined to do even better in the public arena. The signs are encouraging. Green energy is all the rage among big institutional investors so demand for Foresight funds should be strong. And the group's support for small businesses has widespread appeal as well. At 4.25, the shares are an attractive long-term buy. Traded on: Main market Ticker: FSG Contact: foresightgroup.eu or 020 3667 8100 A Wall Street sign is pictured outside the New York Stock Exchange amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. (Photo : REUTERS/Carlo Allegri) U.S. stocks rebounded on Friday from a day-earlier swoon as investors digested the implications of a planned capital gains tax hike, with many pointing to reasons why such a policy alone would be unlikely to threaten the rally in equities. The S&P 500 was up more than 1% in afternoon trading, recouping losses from Thursday, when stocks fell after reports that President Joe Biden would seek to nearly double the capital gains tax to 39.6% for wealthy individuals. Advertisement That would be the highest tax rate on investment gains, mostly paid by the wealthiest Americans, since the 1920s. The rate has not exceeded 33.8% in the post-World War Two era. But investors pointed to a broad range of reasons why the markets are likely to take the proposal in stride, including the limited effect of such proposals on equities in the past and expectations that any hike would be much lower than anticipated. Analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management found "no relationship" historically between capital gains tax rate changes and stock market performance. "While we can't rule out some additional modest equity market volatility as investors react to this proposal, we think it will be very short-lived," the UBS analysts said in a report. In the case of past capital gains tax hikes, the key to the market response was the state of the broader economy, said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial. Six months hikes in 2013 and 1987 the S&P 500 was significantly higher, while six months after hikes in 1976 and 1969, the index was lower, Detrick noted. This time around, "the economy continues to bounce back faster than anyone thinks" from the coronavirus pandemic, he said. Economists at Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, predicted that a 28% rate "looks most likely, in our view, as it is roughly halfway between the current rate and Biden's likely proposal". Any hike would need to go through Congress, where Biden's Democratic Party holds narrow majorities and is unlikely to win support from Republicans. It could require the unanimous backing of Democrats in the Senate where each party holds 50 seats. In the six months ahead of the 2013 capital gains hike, investors pulled $38 billion out of U.S. equity funds and ETFs, according to an analysis of Morningstar data by Matthew Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. Over the next six months, such funds saw $58 billion in inflows, according to Miskin, as the S&P 500 rose 18% over that 12-month period. "It shows that investors likely turned over portfolios and potentially missed out on an accelerating stock market and they probably would have been better off just staying the course," Miskin said. This time, Miskin said, stocks "may be due for a pullback after such a strong run, but this is not in our opinion a top risk to derail this market." Investors also said Biden had long telegraphed his plans, so many market participants probably had already braced for them. While the prospect of higher taxes may cause jitters, "the stock market has probably priced it in," Detrick said. With reporting a record number of single-day COVID-19 fatalities and cases on Saturday, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat held an all-party meeting here virtually to discuss the situation. After the meeting that was attended by state Congress chief Pritam Singh and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Indira Hridayesh among others, the chief minister said their suggestions to control the situation will be implemented. The opposition leaders also assured the chief minister of supporting all his endeavours in fighting the pandemic. Rawat said he will continue to take their suggestions to deal with the pandemic in the future as well. He said all those who attended the meeting came up with valuable suggestions and a collective effort is needed to overcome the challenge posed by the second wave of the pandemic. Rawat said there is no shortage of oxygen and additional beds have been put up in various hospitals and COVID care centres to deal with the rising number of cases. Five hundred beds have been added to the COVID Care Centre at the stadium in Raipur and another 100 at the Coronation Hospital here, he said. Seventy-five per cent of beds have been reserved in five private hospitals, apart from the Haldwani Medical college, to grapple with the situation, the chief minister said. Several steps such as weekend curfews in all districts and a closure of all government offices for sanitisation till Wednesday have been taken to break the chain of the virus, he said. All the political parties welcomed the state government's decision to inoculate everyone in the 18-45 age group against the viral disease for free from May 1. recorded its highest single-day rise in COVID fatalities with 81 deaths on Saturday as well as the highest surge in cases with 5,084 people testing positive for the disease. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) During the long history of human development, farmers and herdsmen across the world have created unique agricultural skill systems and accumulated abundant management experiences over the long course of production, establishing particular agricultural systems and farming landscapes. Such agricultural heritage systems embody the value orientations, experiences, traditions and folks cultures of mankind. According to the core values of their protection and exploitation, agricultural heritage can be divided into four major types, including compound ecology, crop resources, livestock and poultry resources and traditional skills. As a traditional agricultural country, China possesses the most complete agricultural heritage types, the richest animal and plant resources, the most abundant traditional knowledge system, and the longest history of agricultural heritage. As of the end of 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations had designated 62 systems across the world as agricultural heritage sites. China is home to 15 of these sites, ranking the first in the world. China is one of the first countries responding to the initiative for the conservation and adaptive management of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). In 2012, it initiated the program of China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems. As of today, 118 agricultural heritage sites across the country have been approved in five batches. In May 2005, five sites around the world were selected by the GIAHS, including the 1,200-year-old rice-fish culture system in Qingtian County, east China's Zhejiang Province. Whats unique about the system is that fish are kept in paddies. They not only soften the soil, but also eat plant hoppers and weeds in the fields. Besides, their excrement also serve as fertilizers. As reciprocity, rice plants provide shades for fish. Such a compound ecological system mirrors a philosophy of sustainable development, and shall be inherited and further exploited. The rice-fish culture system has been promoted by the FAO in many countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. Six years ago, the GIAHS Secretariat launched a training program in Qingtian about the rice-fish culture system, after which the system was promoted in Uganda, Kenya, Madagascar and countries in West Africa. The Chinese agricultural heritage system has become an important way for these countries to eliminate poverty and develop economy. Hani Rice Terraces, located in Yuanyang, Honghe, Lvchun and Jinping of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, cover a total area of 820,000 mu, or 54,666 hectares. Over 200,000 mu of the terraces are distributed along the south part of the Ailao Mountain that stretches across the above four counties, enjoying a history of more than 1,300 years. Hani Rice Terraces are both a GIAHS site and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Yuanyang red rice is a traditional variety that has been planted in the region for hundreds of years. As it contains unique resistance gene against rice blast, rice diseases hardly occurred there. Scientific achievements deriving from the plantation in Hani Rice Terraces are expected to benefit the world. If the resistance gene in the rice can be effectively used to nurture new varieties, rice fertilizers would be a thing in the past, which reduces pesticide residue and cut environmental pollution. Besides, the studies on the resistance gene would also inspire the studies on the insect-resistant gene, hardiness gene, aroma gene and high protein gene of crops. The U.S. President warns of a less fun July 4th celebration without gatherings if COVID vaccinations don't go smoothly in May and June. President Joe Biden on Wednesday spoke out on the country's COVID-19 response and state of vaccinations, warning Americans that July 4 celebrations may just get cancelled if vaccination hesitancy continues to thrive. While the president said that the country is on track for the goal of a fourth of July that is "much closer to normal life that we left behind more than a year ago," he said that more work has to be done in the next two months. "To celebrate our independence from this virus on July 4th with family and friends in small groups, we still have more to do in the months of May and June," President Biden said. According to the New York Post, up to 51% of American adults have received at least one COVID vaccine dose, which means that the country is closer to achieving herd immunity. However, Biden is not yet convinced that citizens can hold small July 4 celebrations outdoors. Retired Admiral Brett Giroir, who previously served as assistant secretary of health, criticized President Biden's warnings to cancel July 4 celebrations unless everyone obeys COVID restrictions. "I don't know what reality he's talking about. It seemed very disconnected from the reality and where we are and what the science says," Giroir argued. "Science says small gatherings outdoors is fine." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican representative of Kentucky, said that President Biden's warnings are "far out of step with what's already happening across the country" and that the president's advice was for an "alternate universe." Rep. McConnell argued that Americans are already socially gathering in "small groups outdoors" in both Democratic and Republican states and in places both big and small. He even advised the president and his advisers to "get out more" to get a better feel of the real situation of America today. He said, "The country is not locked down waiting for July 4." Biden argued that if citizens of the United States "let up now and stop being vigilant," the progress in eradicating the virus in the country would be "erased." He ordered citizens to continue to wear masks until the number of COVID cases decrease and until everyone becomes eligible to get a vaccine. He called for more COVID restrictions such as continued social distancing and wearing of face masks and said that the country will need to comply with more COVID restrictions for longer if its citizens don't remain vigilant. This is despite recent findings proving that masks bring more harm to people than actually help keep them safe from the virus that first spread in Wuhan, China. The Western Journal's Taylor Penley argued in an op-ed that such language that President Biden is using to threaten to cancel July 4 celebrations unless everyone obeys COVID restrictions is indicative of his real intentions, which is to "treat individual freedoms as 'reward' for compliance." Penley argued that "Basic autonomy and fundamental freedoms are not rewards for 'good' behavior." Instead, Americans should mindfully make health-related decisions with COVID restrictions in mind, not blindly follow a government mandate that is driven by fear. Exercising precaution does not necessarily have to be government mandated, instead it should be a personal, informed choice. FONDA A Johnstown man was found guilty Friday afternoon by a Montgomery County jury of criminally negligent homicide in a crash that killed Trooper Jeremy VanNostrand more than two years ago near the State Police barracks in the town of Glen, prosecutors said. Aaron M. Munise, 34, was found guilty after a nine-day trial. He will be sentenced July 9 on the charge, according to Saratoga County District Attorney Karen A. Heggen, whose office handled the case due to a conflict in the Montgomery County District Attorney's office. On Nov. 27, 2018, VanNostrand was on his way to work at the barracks on Route 5S in his personal vehicle. Munise was driving a Ryder Freightliner box truck directly behind VanNostrand and as VanNostrand slowed to pull into the barracks, Munise failed to stop and, without applying the brakes at all, crashed into the back of VanNostrand's Nissan Altima, prosecutors said. The crash forced the Altima into the path of an oncoming pick-up truck. VanNostrand's vehicle was struck head-on. He was attended to immediately by State Police, who responded to the scene from the barracks, and was taken to Albany Medical Center, where he died from the severe injuries sustained in the crash, Heggen's office said. "The jury's verdict today holds Mr. Munise responsible for his criminally negligent conduct that resulted in the tragic death of Trooper VanNostrand," Heggen said in a news release. VanNostrand became a trooper in 2012 after working as a state correction officer for eight years. Hundreds of troopers and other law enforcement officers turned out for his funeral at Saint Gabriel the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Rotterdam. VanNostrand was posthumously promoted to sergeant. Saratoga County Assistant District Attorneys Robert Logan and Samuel Maxwell were special district attorneys prosecuting the case because the recently elected Montgomery County District Attorney, Lorraine C. Diamond, had a conflict, Heggen said. Munise will be sentenced this summer by Acting Montgomery County Court Judge Traci DiMezza, who presided over the trial. A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life And Epic Journey Of The World's Smartest Bird Of Prey Jonathan Meiburg Bodley Head 25 Rating: With the spectre of mass extinction looming ever larger, nature writing, for all its elegiac transcendence, can make for punishing reading. All too often, theres a villain hovering in the wings: us. The subject of indie rocker and twitcher Jonathan Meiburgs intrepid debut is the striated caracara. An obscure bird of prey that lives in the Falkland Islands, where its better known as the Johnny rook, it has many appealing traits. Orange-faced and silver-beaked, its darkly feathered form suggests a hawk-raven hybrid. Its clever, clownish and astonishingly charismatic. Perhaps most winningly, it seems fearless where we homo sapiens are concerned. The subject of indie rocker and twitcher Jonathan Meiburgs intrepid debut is the striated caracara (above). An obscure bird of prey that lives in the Falkland Islands Not that these brave birds havent suffered terribly at our hands. No more than a few thousand remain and yet, as Meiburg observes, They refuse to behave like a species on the verge of extinction. Theyll pluck the cap from your head, tug at the zippers of your backpack, and meet your eye with a forthright, impish gaze. He first encountered them 25 years ago and has been obsessed ever since. They seem, he says, disarmingly conscious. What makes them still more unusual is their refusal to follow the raptor playbook. It was this that flummoxed Charles Darwin when he came upon them in 1833. How to account for their game-loving, gregarious, curious ways? Meiburg adds some questions of his own before setting off in search of answers, travelling deep into Guyanas rainforests, up into the Andes, and back in time with the help of palaeontologists and a Victorian naturalist. Along the way, he stops in Florida, the Antarctic, and Devon, where he meets Evita, a scruffy young striated caracara with a shrill cry, an unnerving stare, and a desk in her aviary. Its captivating stuff, full of insights into not only our planets evolutionary past but also its future. Because, as Meiburg puts it, if any creature can be said to know a thing or two about surviving in a world primed for upheaval, its the birds that sailors once dubbed flying monkeys. How To Love Animals: In A Human-Shaped World Henry Mance Jonathan Cape 20 Rating: Weve long had an odd relationship with animals. In the 17th Century, the great rationalist philosopher Spinoza feared that if humans got friendly with beasts, people would start seeing themselves as animals and so put all civilisation at risk. But, as Henry Mance painfully documents in his book about the way in which we co-exist with other species, living without sympathy for creatures has brought civilisation to a crisis Spinoza couldnt have dreamt of. As he begins his research, Mance is a vegetarian tipped into the practice by a few pages in Yuval Noah Hararis book Sapiens that conclude modern industrial agriculture is the greatest crime in human history and by questions from his two young children whove been immersed in animal worlds from an early age through their toys and books. Could he honestly explain to them what happens to chickens and rabbits and cows in the real world? Mance addresses their questions seriously and allows them to take him to some uncomfortable places such as a slaughterhouse. The first thing he learns about slaughterhouses is that its easy to get a job in one. No questions, no papers, no training, just put on the white coverall and wellies and there he was on the line, pulling skins from sheep, scooping out pigs insides. After that, theres work as a stockman on a free-range pig farm one of the 25 per cent in the UK that meet RSPCA standards where he discovers how inadequate in practice are the famous five freedoms that British scientists came up with: freedom from pain, injury, disease and distress, plus the freedom to express normal behaviour. Inadequate as they are, those UK freedoms are light years away from the torture that passes for farming in Chinese and American animal factories where cost is the only value that matters. But for Mance, learning to love animals goes beyond decisions about eating them. Animals are not machines and we now know that most have some form of consciousness. What does that mean for us, and what damage has it done when we dont take those insights seriously? One example is our disregard for the rights of orangutans that has laid waste to thousands of square miles of rainforest to produce palm oil, used by the food industry to create the ultra- high-processed foods that are a big part of creating the non-communicable diseases which are now killing more people than any infections, including Covid-19. So how, as Mance puts it, can we take the experiences of the animals, birds, fish and insects of the world into account, as we relentlessly develop our own society? His answer? Either face the reality he documents so well or carry on as we are and destroy our planet. Sheila Dillon Looking for more beauty tips, trends and editor-approved tricks and recommendations? Sign up for Yahoo Lifestyle Canadas newsletter! Sustainable and ethical? Yes, please. Last year, even the most fashion-forward folks embraced a love for loungewear. As the pandemic hit and forced us all to stay home, we looked to brands that helped us stay comfortable, while also looking cute. Now, you can shop loungewear sustainably, too. While fast fashion is definitely the more accessible choice when it comes to size-inclusion and affordability, there are a number of ethical brands on the market that are doing their best to provide. From the more budget-friendly, Canadian-born Kuwalla Tee to the bigger-budget, luxury fabric andean-born The Peruvian Alps, there's a little something for everyone looking to make an impact with their dollars. Read more: 14 of the best sustainable, plus size-friendly brands to shop for spring The Yahoo! Lifestyle team has done the heavy lifting of rounding up some of the best in sustainable loungewear. Scroll through out top 8 picks when it comes to trendy, Earth-first brands. This Andean brand is the epitome of sustainable at every corner of their business practice. Their garments are made out of Alpaca fur, which is one the more sustainable fabrics. Alpacas require regular shearing, and the practice provides job opportunities in local communities. They also use natural dyes. Our pick: Sama Shirt Sama Shirt (Photo via The Peruvian Alps) This V-neck long-sleeve tee adds a touch of elegance to one of their collection staples. Made of 100% baby alpaca fur, this top is perfect for every day wear. SHOP IT: The Peruvian Alps, $170 (originally $190) Refined basics and elevated essentials are what this Canadian streetwear brand is all about. They pride themselves on being eco-friendly and minimizing waste, without compromising style and affordability. Their packaging is made with recyclable and biodegradable material, and are a proud partner of 1% for the planet. Story continues Our Pick: Tie Dye Sweatpants Tie Dye Sweatpants (Photo via Kuwalla Tee) We know that tie dye is super in right now, so why not pick yourself up a pair of these? Equal parts cute and comfortable, these sweats are described as "softer than a thousand clouds." SHOP IT: Kuwalla Tee, $80 This online store is all about honouring Mother Earth. Christy Dawn has been sustainable since day one, but have been pushing for innovation. They pride themselves on fostering reciprocal relationships with all of the people and ecosystems they work with, from the farmers in India to the photographers in Los Angeles. Christy Dawn repurposes dead-stock fabric left behind by other fashion companies. Our Pick: The Sonny Sweater The Sonny Sweater (Photo via Christy Dawn) Stay warm and cozy in this perfectly lived-in sweater. It's stylish enough to take to the streets, toowhenever we can do that safely again. SHOP IT: Christy Dawn, $145 Kotn is a Canadian staple basics brand, that honours "the people who make them and the places they're made," their website says. Their mission is in conscious creation and consumption, with a goal of creating products that give back to our people and the planet. Operating out of Portugal and Egypt, Kotn works with family-run farms to pick the best fibres, ensuring sustainable and ethical practices. Our Pick: Ribbed Lounge Pant Ribbed Lounge Pant (Photo via Kotn) The perfect pant that can be worn on the sofa or dressed-up to feel a bit more put together. The pant, featuring a breezy flared leg, comes in black, natural and muted clay. SHOP IT: Kotn, $65 Ganni is a British-born brand with a commitment to becoming the most responsible version of themselves. While they don't identify as sustainable, they use many recycled resources and have sustainability targets to meet every year. Click here to sign up for Yahoo Canada's lifestyle newsletter. Our Pick: Software Isoli Drawstring Shorts Software Isoli Drawstring Shorts (Photo via Ganni) Summer is coming, and so is shorts weather! These shorts are made from 30% recycled polyester and 70% organic cotton. Side slits make these bottoms comfortable and easy to move in. SHOP IT: Ganni, $167 (95) Hara is on a mission to create pieces that are soft and beautiful with sustainable and ethical practices at the core. They want to bring change and awareness about issues within the fashion industry, while also keeping their customers looking stylish. Our Pick: Yoko Classic T-Shirt Yoko Classic T-Shirt (Photo via Hara) Available in a variety of bold and neutral colours, and in up to size 5XL, this T-shirt is bound to become a staple in your wardrobe. SHOP IT: Hara, $60 At the core of Tentrees mission is being earth-first. For every item purchased, 10 trees are planted, making big change accessible to everyone who chooses to shop with them. A Tentree sweater uses on average 75% less water to make than other sweatshirts. Our Pick: Cropped TreeFleece Hoodie Cropped TreeFleece Hoodie (Photo via Tentree) Meet your new favourite cropped hoodie, that fights to cut down carbon emissions while keeping you warm and comfy. SHOP IT: Tentree, $68 Every piece of clothing made by Free Label is cut and sewn in Canada, supporting the local economy. Many of their fabrics are organic and custom-milled locally in Toronto. Even their labels and tags are made in Canada. Last year, they switched all of their packaging materials to be 100% home compostable. Our Pick: Black Isabel Wrap Black Isabel Wrap (Photo via Free Label) This striking top can be worn in four different ways: forward, backward, wrapped one, or twice. It's ethically made in Vancouver from tencel, linen and cupro blend fabric. SHOP IT: Free Label, $118 Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram and sign up for our newsletter. New Delhi: As several hospitals in the national capital have been flagging oxygen shortage, Delhis Saroj Super Speciality Hospital on Saturday (April 24) stated that they have stopped admitting new patients due to lack of oxygen supply. Facing acute shortage of oxygen, the hospital, situated in Rohini, has also started discharging all old patients. We are closing the admissions because of an oxygen shortage. We are discharging the patients," the COVID-19 in-charge of Saroj Hospital told ANI. The in-charge informed that the hospital has 70 critical COVID-19 infected patients and need oxygen immediately. We haven't received backup oxygen supply yet. We have 70 patients who are in critical condition and need oxygen. If we don't get oxygen supply there could be a big disaster. We have started discharging patients, he added. On Friday, Saroj Super Speciality Hospital had filed a plea at the Delhi High Court seeking urgent directions to the Centre and Delhi government to facilitate an urgent critical oxygen supply to it. "The supply of Liquid Medical Oxygen has been very erratic and irregular with only 4 - 6 hours supply being made by the Vendor, i.e. INOX, which also reaches the Hospital only when the Oxygen in the tank is at the brink," the petition read. Earlier, at least twenty critically ill patients died overnight at Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi due to oxygen crisis. Moolchand Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH), Batra Hospital and Jaipur Golden hospital put out SOS calls on Saturday morning and urged the government to arrange the oxygen supply at the earliest. (With inputs from ANI) Live TV Islamabad: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday expressed support to the people of India in the wake of a massive surge in Covid cases in the country and extended his sympathies to the affected families. Qureshi said the Covid crisis is yet another reminder that humanitarian issues require responses beyond political consideration. We express our support to the people of India in the wake of the current wave of #COVID19 infections, that has hit our region hard. On behalf of the people of Pakistan, I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the affected families in #India. Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) April 24, 2021 "We express our support to the people of India in the wake of the current wave of #COVID19 infections that has hit our region hard. On behalf of the people of Pakistan, I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the affected families in #India," Qureshi tweeted. Pakistan continues to work with the SAARC countries to foster cooperation to tackle the pandemic, he said. A record single-day rise of 3,46,786 coronavirus cases pushed India's tally of infection to 1,66,10,481, while active cases crossed the 25-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll rose to 1,89,544 with a record 2,624 more fatalities in a day, according to the data. Coronavirus Pakistan has reported 157 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest since last year, while the new number of cases recorded was 5,908, the health ministry said on Saturday. Qureshi's tweets came amidst signs of rapprochement in the relations between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue. Columbia, MO (65201) Today Some early morning breaks in the overcast, otherwise cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Mallorca faces stiff competition this summer as more countries open to British tourists more bargains are on offer to entice holidaymakers. Turkey has just lifted its ban on British tourists and announced that they wont have to show a vaccination certificate on arrival, but they will have to submit a negative PCR test on entry and on return to the UK. Bulgaria has also said it's ready to welcome back British tourists. Bookings for the Greek Islands, Turkey and Portugal have increased dramatically in the last couple of weeks and people are opting for longer trips and taking their laptops with them so they can work while theyre on holiday. Downing Street says everything is on track for the ban international travel to be lifted on May 17, but the important question is which countries will be on the coveted 'Green' List. Mallorca has hundreds of loyal tourists who come back to the Island year after year to soak up the sun on the Island's beautiful beaches. Ukraine receives second batch of COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX Xinhua) 11:31, April 24, 2021 KIEV, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The second batch of COVID-19 vaccines, namely 367,200 doses from AstraZeneca, arrived in Ukraine on Friday as part of the global COVAX initiative, the press service of Ukrainian Health Ministry said on Friday. Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko said that this batch of vaccines will be mostly used for people aged over 65. On April 16, Ukraine received its first 117,000 doses of vaccines from the COVAX Facility. As of Friday, a total of 2,004,630 COVID-19 cases and 41,700 deaths have been registered in Ukraine, while 1,552,267 patients have recovered, said the ministry. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 16:03:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said on Saturday that Pakistan will continue to follow the development of the incident of an acid attack on a Pakistani-American student in the U.S. state of New York. According to media reports, a man threw caustic liquid on the face of Nafiah Ikram, 21, outside her home in the Long Island on March 17 and fled after the incident. The liquid reportedly caused severe burning on Ikram's eyes, face, chest and arms. In response to media queries on the attack, Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, spokesperson of the Pakistani foreign ministry, said the Consul General of Pakistan in New York is in contact with the Ikram family and has offered every possible help. Chaudhri said Ikram is an American citizen of Pakistani descent and is residing along with her parents in Long Island. "The local police department has deputed a 12-member team to investigate the incident. We should wait for completion of the investigations to ascertain the nature of the crime and the motive behind it," the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the Pakistani embassy in Washington D.C. and the Consulate General in New York will continue to follow-up the developments and will provide every possible assistance to the family, Chaudhri added. Enditem Even the most well-intentioned individual who has his heart set on keeping our planet from warming can do only so much by himself. He walks and rides a bicycle rather than driving a car. Hes got a fully solar-powered home. And hes a vegan, eschewing the consumption and use of animal-based products because of the impact that raising animals for slaughter has on the climate. What hes doing is something, of course, but it doesnt add up to a whole heck of a lot. Because the problem is global, and needs a global solution. This is why Thursday and Fridays virtual climate conference, attended by 40 heads of state, was potentially so important. Getting a handle on climate change doesnt take a village, but the whole of the planet. There were lots of positive statements made at the climate conference. And pledges of reductions in emissions going forward. All of this is better than nothing, but a promise to do better by 2030, and to do much better still by 2050, doesnt add up to a hill of beans unless the government making the promise follows through. Saying youll change is the easy part; actually behaving differently is what matters. Just ask the town drunk how last nights promise to stay dry today has been working out. President Joe Biden, looking to set the stage for other nations even as he returned ours to the Paris climate agreement, pledged that the U.S. would cut emissions by 50% by decades end. Soon thereafter, Japan, Canada, Britain and the European Union made pledges of their own. Sounds good, no? Well, not when China, Russia and India effectively twiddled their thumbs. What Biden did was laudable, but given our recent history, other nations cannot be sure that well stick with the program and see it through. Consider the Kyoto protocol, the late-1990s international treaty meant to curb carbon emissions. Though President Bill Clinton was on board, the treaty was never ratified by the Senate, and Clintons successor, George W. Bush, was opposed. A brief history of whats happened since: Barack Obama signed onto the Paris climate accord, Donald Trump pulled us out, and now Biden has us in again. Will the next Republican in the White House reverse course? Probably. Its difficult to expect others to follow when we keep on changing course. To reach me for collaborations, sponsorships, and event invitations, I am contactable at the-ice-angel@hotmail.com India on Saturday reported a net increase of 124,324 in active cases to take its count to 2,552,940. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 13.59 per cent (one in 7). The country is second among the most affected countries by active cases. On Saturday, it added 346,786 cases, the highest in a day so far, to take its total caseload to 16,610,481. And, with 2,624 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 189,544, or 1.14 per cent of total confirmed infections. 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 Washington, April 25 : US President Joe Biden discussed bilateral relations in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the White House said. Biden conveyed "his interest in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements," the White House said in a statement on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. The leaders agreed to hold a bilateral meeting on the margins of the NATO Summit in June to discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues, the statement added. The phone call came as multiple reports said Biden on Saturday will officially recognize the mass killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a century ago as a "genocide". Turkey, the Ottoman Empire's successor state, has claimed the mass killings did not constitute genocide. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a local media earlier this week that Biden's statements are not legal-binding and would only harm bilateral relations. "If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs," he said. The move could further complicate the already strained relations between Washington and Ankara. The two NATO allies have been at odds over Turkey's acquisition of the Russian S-400 air-defence systems and other regional issues, such as the Syria conflict and the dispute in the eastern Mediterranean. VANCOUVER, Wash., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardone Ventures announces a new partnership with Trion Solutions, a nationally leading Professional Employer Organization (PEO). This partnership will radically innovate and transform HR administration by fusing together Cardone Ventures' growth and scaling strategies with Trion Solutions' exceptional and tailored HR administration services. "Not satisfied with mediocre or average, our clients demand remarkability and excellence. Trion Solutions is the most highly qualified, technically skilled, and truly remarkable PEO in the nation," says Brandon Dawson, co-founder and CEO of Cardone Ventures. "So many businesses drift and eventually die out because the owner is drowning in the day-to-day. The owners work in the business instead of on the business. Trion Solutions enables thousands of business owners and entrepreneurs to scale and grow their business through efficient and bespoke HR administration. This partnership affords our 10X community the ability to leverage economies of scale to deliver Health, Dental, Vision and Life coverage to their employees at lower costs than many companies would not have access to." "Everyone at Trion Solutions is thrilled about the partnership with such a world-class enterprise as Cardone Ventures," says David L. Stone, Trion President and co-founder. "We have an exceptionally high regard for its product and service offerings to businesses of all sizes, and we appreciate that the feeling is mutual about Trion Solutions. We look forward to helping Cardone's clients enhance the effectiveness and efficiencies in managing their payroll processing and other important HR services." About Cardone Ventures: Cardone Ventures helps individuals and business owners attain their personal, professional, and financial goals. Cardone Ventures is a business consulting company founded by Grant Cardone and Brandon Dawson. Together, they help business owners experience their company from a 360-degree perspective, including operations, marketing, finance, and people. Cardone Ventures' focus is to help entrepreneurs grow from $2 million to $50 million+ and 10X all aspects of their business. About Trion Solutions: Trion Solutions helps business owners and entrepreneurs get back to the one thing that really matters: growing the business. Its team of highly trained, experienced specialists helps small- to midsize companies relieve the stress and burden of payroll and HR administration, so they can remain focused on their core business. For large corporations, Trion serves as an extension of internal HR staffs to handle time-consuming tasks like payroll and taxes, benefits administration, workers' compensation, regulatory compliance and other HR issues. Cardone Ventures (503) 536-0997 [email protected] Related Images trion-solutions-logo.jpg Trion Solutions Logo SOURCE Cardon Ventures Syracuse, NY Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway said in a Syracuse.com article published Friday morning that he had no plans to outfit sheriffs deputies with body cameras, echoing a stance hes held for at least four years. In an extraordinary 9 1/2 hours after Syracuse.coms story published at 6 a.m., the county went from no plans for body cameras to a pledge to pay for the cameras with a possible rollout in the next year. Heres how it unfolded: At 6 a.m., Syracuse.com published a story about the sheriffs inaction on cameras. Conway called a 10 a.m. news conference to complain about the story, but said hed start planning a body camera program right away if given the money. At 3:30 p.m., County Executive Ryan McMahon held his own news conference to promise money for the program. Lets strike while the iron is hot, McMahon said. If all goes as planned, it will still be up to Conway to implement a program that he hadnt planned on having before Friday mornings article. Conway has been sheriff since 2015. The article reported Onondaga County is the only county among Upstates most populous counties to not equip its deputies with the cameras. It also reported at least 10 of the countys 15 police departments including the Syracuse Police Department use the cameras. Conway said in the article Friday that cameras, while important, were not a priority. He said they are expensive and instead money needs to be spent on other things such as bulletproof vests, stun guns and patrol cars as well as filling empty positions. McMahon and David Knapp, chairman of county legislature, can work together to win the legislatures approval of money to purchase the body cameras and deliver them to the sheriffs office doorstep. But it will take Conways action to get body cams on deputies. Sheriff is an elected position in New York state and no one else can order him to use the cameras if he chooses not to do so. It would be up to the sheriff to implement the program, as the elected sheriff of the county, McMahon said. Conway said Friday morning that he would use money dedicated to body cameras to implement a program, but only if the county fully funded the program to his satisfaction. He did not know how much money that would take and did not have plans specifying what would satisfy him for a program. Conway said at his hour-long news conference that he would welcome the money next week if it was provided. Could not wait to get started. But it will be money that fully funds a body camera program for the Onondaga County Sheriffs Office, he said. McMahon said hed take care of figuring out how much money it would cost to buy the cameras. The county did the same homework when the city of Syracuse began purchasing body cameras about five years ago, he said. The sheriff said Friday that he didnt know McMahon was willing to advocate for money for body cameras until reading about it Friday morning on Syracuse.com. But McMahon says the sheriffs office knew -- or should have known -- about his willingness to spend money on them two months ago. McMahon released a letter from his office to Conway on Feb. 25 in which McMahon expressed to support -- to the fullest extent -- the aggressive implementation of body cameras on patrol deputies. The letter was emailed directly to Conway and marked as received, McMahon said. As for whether the sheriff actually read it, McMahon said he couldnt say. Whether he read the letter, I dont read the sheriffs email, he said. On Friday morning, the sheriff had said he didnt know about the letter until reading about it on Syracuse.com. Conway did not respond for comment Friday afternoon following McMahons release of the February letter showing the county executive advocating for body cameras. Equipping body cameras was one of three primary recommendations to the sheriffs office from the countys criminal justice reform initiative, launched at the states behest after George Floyds murder by cop in Minneapolis, McMahon said. The initiative included participation by the district attorney, county executive and Syracuse mayor; its findings were passed unanimously by the county legislature earlier this year. Conway did not directly participate in the police reform process, though his command staff did, McMahon said. The sheriffs office was well aware that body cameras were among the chief interests, the county executive said. Conway pointed out Friday morning that he had asked for limited funding for a pilot program for body cameras in 2017. He had previously told Syracuse.com he requested $50,000 to $75,000 for the pilot program. McMahon, who was chairman of the legislature at the time, confirmed the sheriffs request, but noted that it was buried inside a list of more general priorities that the legislature declined to fund. McMahon said that he suggested at the time that Conway use at least $1 million collected from forfeitures to fund a pilot body-camera program. The sheriff did not do that. Conway said Friday morning that body cameras were one of a list of priorities, which also included funding more new deputies, ballistic vests and vehicles. The money promised by McMahon Friday will be earmarked only for a body-camera program, McMahon said. He promised to consider the sheriffs request for a new class of deputies, but suggested that the sheriffs office had gotten more new vehicles in recent years than before. Its important to get this done, McMahon said of body cameras, adding: Its a necessity now with whats going on. After McMahons news conference, Conway did not respond to a request for comment on the announcement that money would be provided for the cameras. On Friday morning, the sheriff had promised to publicly release his plans for a body-camera program once one was formulated. The two men did not speak to each other Friday, McMahon said. I havent spoken to the sheriff in a little while, the county executive said. Despite the drama, though, McMahon cast the outcome Friday as a victory. Im very happy today, appreciate Sheriff Conway agreeing with us that we need to get going on this, McMahon said, adding later: He kind of threw the ball in my court, so lets get it done. Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070. The Beauty Of Living Twice Sharon Stone Allen & Unwin 18.99 Rating: For decades, Sharon Stone has had a reputation for being difficult. In 2007, the screenwriter of Basic Instinct, Joe Eszterhas, published a book in which he recalled: On the set of one of her earlier movies, Sharon Stones prima donna act p***ed off the crew so badly that they p***ed into a bathtub before Sharon got into it for her scene. Eszterhas also claimed that Sharon Stone had approached the Basic Instinct cinematographer with a gun in hand and waved it in his face. If I see one ounce of cellulite on screen, she said, youre a dead motherf*****. In much of her new memoir, Sharon Stone seems to go along with this punchy view of herself. Early on, she says she comes from kitchen-sink Irish stock, meaning: If you have four kids and one bathroom, you p*** in the sink. Sharon Stone on the set of the 1990 film Total Recall (above), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. I kicked the c*** out of poor Arnold, she says. He was just covered in bruises She was brought up on a farm in Pennsylvania. They killed what they ate. We ate deer all winter, rabbit and turkey and trout in spring and fall. From an early age, little Sharon would make concrete and lay stone walls. One of her grandmothers taught Sharon all she knew about pickpocketing. Her kitchen had hotel china from all over the place. Her Uncle Gene had the word SWEET tattooed over one nipple and SOUR over the other, and of course there was a dirty word on his knuckles. Uncle Gene once held a gun to his head and threatened to shoot himself. But he failed to elicit any sympathy from young Sharon. This killing-oneself business is a very time-consuming situation and, I have found, somewhat boring I guess thats why my mom says, People who threaten to kill themselves... should. So the Family Stone were a far cry from the Brady Bunch. Sharons elder brother Mike started dealing cocaine, protecting himself with a variety of shotguns and a rottweiler called Saber. Eventually, the FBI arrested him on live television, and he was sent to prison for ten years. Her grandfather Clarence used to molest Sharons five-year-old sister Kelly, forcing Sharon to be present. Their grandmother would block the exit. Grandpa Clarence died when Sharon was 14. At his funeral she and Kelly went to see him in his casket. Kelly told Sharon to check that he was really dead. So I poked him, and the bizarre satisfaction that he was at last dead hit me like a ton of ice. It is, she reflects, a very weird thing when youre a kid and the first experience you have of death is glee and relief. Sharons father was no saint, either. He used to whack her with his belt. She used to take her beating without complaint, until one day she decided to stand up to him. I walked up to him and said, Whats the matter do you need to hit me some more to feel like a man? I was 14. He started to cry. I told him I didnt love him. That I had never loved him. That I would never love him. I was so cold, so still. He was so heartbroken. He never hit any one of us again. From an early age, Sharon learned to give as good as she got. When she was in first grade at school, a little boy leapt out from behind a staircase and grabbed her and kissed her before running out to the playground. After a few moments of feeling stunned and confused, suddenly I was overcome with rage. She went out to the playground, grabbed his arm, bit him as hard as she could and walked away. As a young woman she worked in McDonalds, before transferring to another restaurant, Bobs Big Boy, where she worked her way up to night-time manager. But like the actress in Peter Sarstedts Where Do You Go To My Lovely?, Sharon was determined to shake off her lowly-borne tags. She used to enter beauty queen pageants, and then managed to sign up with Fords modelling agency in Manhattan. From there she moved into taking small parts in what the film critic David Thomson calls in The New Biographical Dictionary Of Film a series of wretched films, but was finally cast in Total Recall opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. IT'S A FACT Never knowingly short of a sharp put-down, Sharon Stone said that kissing country star Dwight Yoakam was like 'eating a dirt sandwich'. Advertisement Arnie made the mistake of goading her before their big fight scene. This got her going. I kicked the c*** out of poor Arnold. He was covered in bruises. She was 32 years old, with minor parts in 18 movies, before she landed her role in Basic Instinct. Twelve other actresses had turned down the part, presumably because they preferred playing goody-goodies: Sharon was choice number 13. Basic Instinct is a dreadful film, observes David Thomson, but Stone is triumphant in it she is so funny, so smart and so quick. And, he might have added, so sexy, though nowadays she is rightly, I think irritated by those who wrote her off as a sex star. As if. Try playing a serial killer, a sociopath, with a great director and a superstar like Michael Douglas and make it work, and then tell me it was all because you showed your body, she harrumphs. Before I read it, I had been hoping that this memoir would be full to bursting with juicy tales of Hollywood Babylon. Alas, such tales are few and far between, and she has told the best ones many times before, in countless interviews. For instance, back in 2006 she spoke of how she was conned by the director into removing her pants for Basic Instincts notorious leg-uncrossing scene. Fifteen years on, she dutifully repeats the same old story (Id been told, We cant see anything I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light ) as though for the very first time. She also suggests, for the umpteenth time, that she was traumatised I had hideous nightmares by the part she had to play, and that, in her frenzy, she thought she had actually killed the actor with her ice-pick. I got up, woozy, sure I would pass out. But, back in 2006, Eszterhas told a very different tale. Sharon Stone told the English press that she was so traumatised by having to do killing scenes in Basic Instinct that during these scenes she asked that paramedics be near with a tank of oxygen and a mask in case she passed out. It was a complete crock. She was as ruthlessly efficient in her killing scenes as she was in her sex scenes. The few showbiz stories that are new have a dusty, barrel-scraping air about them. For instance, I wonder if this might qualify as the most boring story about Mick Jagger ever told? He told me that in order to get any decent sleep, when he got to a new town, he bought multiple rolls of aluminium foil and masking tape and then put the foil all over the windows in the hotel bedrooms. The book opens in 2001 with Stone suffering a major stroke as if Zeus himself hurled a bolt of lightning directly under the back right-hand side of my head. At least half of the rest of the book is devoted to what it cost her. Yes, I lost many things: my career, my savings, my residential custody of my son, my so-called marriage, my place in line in regaining my career, my former ability to simply look at any page of dialogue for two minutes and have instant recall, and a kind of luminous beauty that I hadnt even realised that Id had. There is much about her recovery from the stroke, and the easier, kinder, more enlightened person she became as a result of it. An element of narcissism creeps into the narrative at this point, and increases when she tumbles into a bitter dispute over her adopted son, Roan. I lost track of myself, she writes. All of the self that I had worked so hard to build. The self-educated woman, the individual thinker, the worldly philanthropist, the movie star, the good friend, the devoted client, the respected professional, the consistent daughter, the good sister, the world traveller Most of the rest of the book is all to do with learning to forgive herself and learning to face my own truths, and live a life of service. At one point she even apologises to the universe. Now she has my story, my truth, which will not be true for everyone who stood next to me. Having named and shamed those who treated her badly, she solemnly declares that, these days, I have learnt to forgive the unforgivable. My hope is that as I share my journey, you too will learn to do the same. Closing the book, it occurred to me that it wont be long before Sharon Stone is nominated Life President of Harry and Meghans Archewell Foundation. Flash The Chinese side expresses its strong condemnation of a motion related to Xinjiang passed by the British House of Commons, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Britain said Thursday. "A handful of British MPs (Members of Parliament) cooked up this motion on Xinjiang in disregard of facts and common sense with a view to discrediting and attacking China. This move gravely violates international law and the basic norms governing international relations and grossly interferes in China's internal affairs. The Chinese side firmly opposes this and expresses its strong condemnation," said the spokesperson in a statement. The spokesperson stressed that the so-called "genocide" against Uygurs in Xinjiang is a flat-out lie which violates international law. "No country, organization, or individual is qualified or entitled to determine arbitrarily that another country has committed 'genocide'. In international relations, no country should use this accusation in a political game of rumor-mongering and malicious manipulation," said the spokesperson. The so-called "genocide" is an outrageous smear against the development achievements of Xinjiang and China's Xinjiang-related policies, said the spokesperson. The Xinjiang-related issues are in essence about countering violent terrorism, radicalization and separatism, and they bear on China's sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security, said the spokesperson. Thanks to the concerted efforts of people of all ethnic groups, there has been no violent terrorist case in Xinjiang for over four years in a run. The spokesperson noted that the population of Uygurs in Xinjiang has kept growing in recent years. People of all ethnic groups in the region fully enjoy the rights to life and development, said the spokesperson, adding that the spoken and written languages, traditional cultures and customs of all ethnic groups are well protected and carried forward. "It is a fact that there is no 'genocide' in Xinjiang and China has never committed the so-called 'crimes against humanity'. The 'genocide' smear campaign against Xinjiang is sheer political manipulation in the name of human rights," said the spokesperson. China strongly opposes Britain's blatant interference in China's internal affairs and remains unwavering in its determination to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, said the spokesperson. "For those British MPs making groundless accusation of "genocide" against Xinjiang, it is rather the grave domestic violation of human rights here in the UK that calls for deep reflection and rectification," said the spokesperson. The spokesperson noted that a few days ago, the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent strongly condemned the report by Britain's Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, pointing out that the report distorted and falsified the historical and current facts of racism in Britain. "Whitewashing domestic human rights issues while at the same time staging human rights farces concerning other countries smack of sheer hypocrisy and double standards," said the spokesperson. "We urge the UK side to recognize the development of Xinjiang, have a right understanding on Xinjiang-related issues, take concrete measures to respect China's core interests and major concerns and immediately right its wrong moves," said the spokesperson. In court, Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty to new charges View Photo NEW YORK (AP) Ghislaine Maxwell faced her trial judge in person for the first time Friday as lawyers squabbled over exactly when she should be tried on sex trafficking charges that allege that she procured teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse at his posh residences. Maxwell, a British socialite and one-time girlfriend of the financier, pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking conspiracy and an additional sex trafficking charge that were added in a rewritten indictment released last month by a Manhattan federal court grand jury. The new indictment stretched the timespan of the charges from three years to a decade. Wearing a prison blue short-sleeved smock, Maxwell sat with her lawyers before U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan took the bench in a courtroom where everyone wore masks and sat apart from one another to protect against the coronavirus. Members of the media were in the jury box. Maxwell answered Yes, your honor when she was asked if she had seen the indictment and I have, your honor when asked if she had ample opportunity to review it. Her lawyers maintain they need months of additional preparation because of the new charges, making it impossible to keep a July 12 trial date. Prosecutors have said the new charges should not require substantial additional work because they add a single victim to the three already described in the indictment. The judge didnt make an immediate decision on a possible new date for the trial, but told lawyers she wants to avoid a long delay. As Maxwell was led out of court by deputy marshals, she kissed two of her lawyers on the cheek through her mask and waved to two spectators, including her sister. Epstein and Maxwell accuser Danielle Bensky, a client of high-profile attorney David Boies, sat among several spectators directly behind the black-haired Maxwell. Her view of the defendant was partially obscured by a man whose black jacket was emblazoned with US Marshal. I think its incredibly vindicating to see her sit there, Benksy said outside court. I do think that its hard to do and its painful, but its good too. The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, as Bensky has. Her accusations are not part of the indictment. Outside court, Boies said he hoped to have at least one of over a dozen Epstein accusers he represents at every court hearing involving Maxwell prior to her trial. One of his clients is among the four women whose claims are outlined in the indictment. I think its important they have access to whats going on and that the court knows this case is important to them, he said. Epstein took his own life at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 while awaiting a sex-trafficking trial. Maxwell, 59, has been in custody at a federal lockup in Brooklyn since her arrest last July at a $1 million New Hampshire estate where her lawyers say she went to live to avoid the spotlight of media attention and to remain safe from threats. Prosecutors, though, say she took steps to hide her whereabouts and movements. Outside court, Maxwell attorney David Markus called his client courageous and tough. He said it was difficult for Maxwells sister, Isabel, to be in court as well. The lawyer said two of Maxwells brothers wanted to be there, too, but were unable to come from England because of COVID-19 restrictions. But they are behind their sister 1,000%, he said. Maxwell has failed three times in her bid to be granted bail, despite offering a $28.5 million package and agreeing to live with electronic monitoring and armed guards who would ensure she does not leave a New York City residence. The U.S. citizen also has offered to give up citizenship in the United Kingdom and France. A bail appeal hearing is scheduled next week before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In court documents, prosecutors say Maxwell recruited at least three teenage girls, including a 14-year-old, between 1994 and 1997 for Epstein to sexually abuse. The superseding indictment says another teenage girl was recruited in the early 2000s, when she was 14. The indictment alleges Maxwell sometimes joined in the abuse. A lawyer for Maxwell requested the in-person arraignment Friday, citing media coverage and a debacle that occurred during a remote hearing in a related civil case before another judge, when members of the public clogged up a line provided by the court for people outside the courthouse to listen in. By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS Associated Press Federal Judge David O. Carter issued a ruling on Tuesday ordering the city and county of Los Angeles to carry out the removal of all homeless people from downtowns Skid Row neighborhood by October. Skid Row, infamous for hosting one of the largest concentrations of homeless people in the United States, is plagued by all the attendant miseries that come with living on the streets. Those in the area report rampant drug abuse, and sanitation has been so poor as to see the reemergence of diseases like Typhus. A man covers his face with a mask as he walks past tents on skid row, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) Official surveys have largely been suspended since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic last year, but it is certain that under such conditions the virus has ripped through the homeless population. There are just short of 5,000 homeless people living in Skid Row, with about half of them unable to find any form of shelter and sleeping outdoors on any given night. The order comes on the heels of the forced eviction of the homeless encampment in Los Angeles Echo Park at the end of March. Echo Park, previously home to several hundred people was cleared out overnight. When enforcing the eviction, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested journalists and National Lawyers Guild observers and beat protesters, breaking several peoples bones. As for the homeless themselves, the citys answer has been to place them in temporary shelters, taking advantage of some programs made available during the pandemic. However, such relocations are always temporary. The experience of all efforts to alleviate the homeless crisis in the last decade has followed roughly the same formula. The homeless population concentrated in a given areausually a wealthy one or one that could otherwise be prime real estateare rounded up and taken to remote shelters. In the process, any sort of community that would have been built up is torn apart as people are taken to different centers. Then, after a time, when whatever funds were made available dry up, or voucher programs expire, a portion of them find themselves on the streets again, only in a new area, typically a much poorer one, where they will be less of a burden on property values. This was the case with the removal of the homeless encampment in Anaheim several years ago, and more or less the same could be expected today. Whatever number of people manage to find some stability afterwardsacquiring and maintaining a steady income, securing whatever healthcare they might need, and so onare offset by those newly homeless people who have not been able to afford shelter, who have been evicted, or otherwise. A new twist being promoted today is the creation of Tiny Homes Villages, which are essentially city sponsored Hoovervilles. In North Hollywoods Alexandria Park, the city has opened a small village of ultra-tiny homes, each of which is a single room of about 50 square feet. The clearance of Skid Row by October will necessarily mean a major police crackdown in the area. The neighborhood has a homeless population an order of magnitude greater than that which until recently existed in Echo Park. The police operations will be correspondingly greater. While the media and parts of the Democratic Party have hailed the ruling as a legal mandate to meaningfully address the crisis, the suit was brought against the city by the LA Alliance for Human Rights. That organizationone would not guess from the nameis an alliance of landlords and business owners who are concerned about how the homeless crisis is impacting commerce and property values. The have themselves extolled the clearing of Echo Park, and have pointed to it as a model for further cleanups. Home to Hollywood and Beverly Hills, the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area is, after New York Citys, the wealthiest in the country. California, moreover, is the wealthiest state in the nation, and yet it is consistently the epicenter of Americas homeless crisis. The presence of massive wealth by itself is clearly insufficient to preclude homelessness. In fact, the piling up such unprecedented fortunes in a few hands necessitates the immiseration of a significant section of the population. The reality is that any progressive resolution to the homeless crisis is impossible without the implementation of a massive social program, replete with billions being put into public relief funds, or without dealing with the high cost of living in the city and the state. In other words, the homeless crisis cannot be solved in any real sense without reckoning with capitalism, the social and economic system that created it, and expropriating the wealth of the ruling elite. YEREVAN. Pavel Shperov, a member of the Russian State Duma, and Tatiana Kusaiko and Yuri Arkharov, members of the Russian Federation Council, accompanied by MP Aleksey Sandikov of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, on Saturday visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, on the 106th anniversary of this tragedy. The Russian parliamentarians laid flowers at the eternal flame commemorating the victims of this genocide, the NA informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. Also, the Russian lawmakers visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, toured its exhibits documenting the Genocide, and made a note in its book of honored guests. Tatiana Kusaiko stated that she agrees with Russian President Vladimir Putin that he considers the killing of Armenians a personal pain of Russia. "The visit to the [genocide] museum left a deep impression on me (...). I realized how important friendship and peace are for the whole world so that such a crime against humanity is not repeated. What happened to Armenians is a very difficult lesson that we must overcome and learn from," she said. Separately, the Russian parliamentarians attendedat the Yerevan citythe official opening of the exhibition, entitled "Heritage in danger: Artsakh." Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images Joe Biden has become the first US president declare formal recognition of the Armenian genocide, more than a century after the mass killings by Ottoman troops and opening a rift between the new US administration and Ankara. Related: Biden vows US will work with Russia on climate The American people honour all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today, Biden said in a statement on Saturday. Beginning on 24 April 1915 with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination. Biden called the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Friday, to inform him that the US would make the designation on the 106th anniversary of the genocide. The conversation was reported to be tense and the issue was not mentioned in official accounts of the exchange. Bidens statement was immediately denounced by Ankara. Words cannot change or rewrite history, the foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said on Twitter. We have nothing to learn from anybody on our own past. Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal to peace and justice. We entirely reject this statement based solely on populism. A statement from the foreign ministry said: It is clear that the said statement does not have a scholarly and legal basis, nor is it supported by any evidence. This statement will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship. We call on the US president to correct this grave mistake The American people honour all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today Joe Biden A senior US administration official said Biden would have made the declaration no matter what the state of bilateral relations with Turkey. This is something thats been a deeply held conviction of President Biden for a very long time going back to when he was in the Senate and it was a position that he made very clear during the campaign, the official said. Story continues The official also made a connection to the upsurge of issues of identity around the Black Lives Matter movement and attacks on Asian Americans. I would say were also at a moment, including here in the United States, where people are grappling with their histories, and the impact of of those those histories and so I think even just historically it is the right moment to do this. Turkeys status as a Nato member and longtime regional ally has prevented US presidents from making a formal designation. But relations between Washington and Ankara have soured dramatically in recent years. The declaration marked the culmination of decades of lobbying by Armenian American organisations. This is a critically important moment in the defence of human rights, said Bryan Ardouny, head of the Armenian Assembly of America. Its been a long journey. President Biden is standing firm against a century of denial, and is charting a course for human rights everywhere. Words cannot change or rewrite history. We have nothing to learn from anybody on our own past Mevlut Cavusoglu The killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians was carried out as the Ottoman empire was collapsing and the modern state of Turkey was being born. Many victims died in death marches into the Syrian desert. The slaughter is widely viewed as a crime on a monumental scale and a grim precursor to the Nazi Holocaust. Ronald Reagan referred the Armenian genocide in passing in a statement on the Holocaust in 1981, but it was not followed by a formal recognition. Barack Obama promised Armenian Americans he would take that step but reneged once in office, unwilling to upset an ally. In 2019, both chambers of Congress declared their own recognition, despite Donald Trumps efforts to stop them. Soner Cagaptay, a Turkish political scientist, said the Biden declaration would be a seminal moment in relations between Ankara and Washington, but said economic considerations may force Erdogan to downplay the impact of an issue he previously considered an attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the modern state. Its not the first time that a US president comes to office pledging to recommend the Armenian genocide, said Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research program at the Washington Institute. A gathering in remembrance of the 1915 genocide at the Armenian Martyrs Monument in Montebello, California, on Saturday. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters What happened in the past was as soon as these presidents took office, departments of government would brief them. Thats not happening now and this is linked to changing US views inside Washington. Now Turkey is one of the most disliked countries, especially at the Pentagon. He said the Turkish decision to purchase the Russian S-400 air defence system was the main reason for the change in attitude. Policy disputes over the Kurds and Islamic State have also played a role. Related: Biden to visit UK in June for first overseas trip as president Administration officials noted that Biden had sought to soften the impact on relations with Ankara, emphasising that the genocide was carried out before modern Turkey was born and that the focus was not on blame but remembrance. The statement makes very clear that the point of this was was not to place blame, the senior official said. It talks about the Ottoman-era atrocities. And I think this this really was done in a very principled way to focus on the legacy of these atrocities and is very much forward looking as well, in the hope that we are able to prevent such atrocities from happening again in the future. Samantha Power, a former US envoy to the United Nations and now Bidens nominee to run the US Agency for International Development, tried and failed at the last hurdle to persuade Obama to recognise the genocide. She said on Twitter it was sad to think of all those who worked so hard for recognition but didnt see it happen. First and foremost, the community of survivors nearly all of whom have passed away. Genocide denial caused them and their families immense pain. Australia is fast becoming Hollywood 2.0 with a handful of stars in the country filming. And according to The Daily Telegraph, the next big A-lister set to come Down Under is American actor Nicolas Cage, 57. The renowned star, who is known for films including Face/Off, will reportedly soon be filming his adaption of the popular Netflix series Tiger King in Queensland. He will star in a new Amazon TV series as Joe Exotic. Will Nicolas Cage be the next star to move to Australia? Actor is 'set to film his Tiger King adaptation Down Under' as the country transforms into Hollywood 2.0 The publication reports that 'extras and crew' are 'being finalised' for his upcoming scripted TV series, which is being produced by the actor's company for Amazon. The Daily Telegraph reported that filming will take place in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast. In his role as Joe Exotic, the movie star will be sporting a very different look, possibly donning a long-blonde wig to mirror the man made famous in the original Netflix show. New role: In his role as Joe Exotic (pictured), the movie star will be sporting a very different look, possibly donning a long-blonde wig to mirror the man made famous in the original Netflix show Daily Mail Australia has contacted a representative of Nicolas for comment, in relation to this story. If Nicolas does come to Australia, he will be in very good company. Earlier this week Scott Eastwood, the son of iconic actor Clint Eastwood, gushed about how much he loves Australia when asked if he will be working on a project in the country anytime soon. Will he also come to Australia? If Nicolas does come to Australia, he will be in very good company. Earlier this week Scott Eastwood, the son of iconic actor Clint Eastwood , gushed about how much he loves Australia when asked if he will be working on a project in the country anytime soon During a chat with KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O, the American actor hinted he too was moving Down Under. 'I'm trying to get back asap,' Scott said, as he promoted his new film, Wrath of Man. 'I was in Australia March 5 and then I flew home to America to go to [a film festival] and when I landed back home they said, "the world is shutting down, that festival isn't happening".' As a result, Scott said he was disappointed that he had to leave. 'I was like, "you made me leave Australia, do you know how much I love it there?"' 'Do you know how much I love it there?' Scott has previously enjoyed trips to Australia and previously visited the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, in NSW Last month, it was reported by The Courier Mail that Viggo Mortensen and Colin Farrell were also completing mandatory hotel quarantine in Sydney ahead of filming Ron Howard's Thirteen Lives in Queensland. Colin, 44, was spotted on the Gold Coast on Thursday making his way to a chauffeured car. The Daily Telegraph reported that Jennifer Lawrence is expected to travel soon to Australia to film the latest Fantastic Four. Currently in production in Sydney meanwhile is the new Thor: Love and Thunder film, starring Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Matt Damon and Chris Pratt. Star-studded: Currently in production in Sydney is the new Thor: Love and Thunder film, starring Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Matt Damon and Chris Pratt A-lister: It also comes on the back of news that Julia Roberts and Sean Penn are expected to film a new political thriller in Sydney, with Julia arriving earlier last month It also comes on the back of news that Julia Roberts and Sean Penn are expected to film a new political thriller in Sydney, with Julia arriving earlier last month. Zac Efron was also recently in South Australia to film the Stan original movie Gold and is currently filming his Netflix series Down To Earth in Australia. Other stars in Australia include Melissa McCarthy, Isla Fisher and husband Sacha Baron Cohen, Rita Ora, Russell Crowe and Sam Worthington and wife Lara Bingle. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, issued a statement on Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, also known as Medz Yeghern. ARMENPRESS reports, citing the official website of the Canadian PM, Trudeau particularly said in his statement, Today on Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, we join Armenian communities in Canada and around the world to remember those who lost their lives and who suffered from the senseless acts wrought upon the Armenian people. We also honour their descendants and all those who continue to live with the pain, trauma, and loss from this tragedy. The Armenian genocide showed the world the unconscionable cost of division, exclusion, and hatred. Canada vigorously opposes and condemns hate, intolerance, and xenophobia. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to the fundamental rights and dignity of all human beings, and commit to continue working with our partners to make sure atrocities like these never happen again. We continue to be inspired by the strength and spirit of the Armenian people in the face of unimaginable hardship, and look forward with hope to a more peaceful, just tomorrow. On this sombre anniversary, I invite all Canadians to pause to remember the victims and those who survived the horrors of the Armenian genocide. We will continue to honour them by fighting hate, protecting the most vulnerable, and working to make our world a better one. Regarding the notice in the paper of Pottsvilles $5 million bond for the Mahantongo parking lot, a $5 million lot for a handful of businesses? A $5 million lot built on the side of a mountain, again, that is constantly shifting? Five million dollars would have paved a lot of streets where taxpayers live. What about us? Pottsville Congratulations, Ed Schreppel, for an article well-written on Shenandoah Heights. It brought back so many good memories. Wish we could go back to those times. Life was so much simpler then. Shenandoah Heights All you liberals that believed everything CNN has said over the last four years is a lie. You find out they have been using propaganda just to get Trump from being elected. And you guys call CNN the truth. Pottsville Hey, Shenandoah. Just because someone alleges that somebody did something to them doesnt mean that it has to be true. Maybe someday someone will say something that you did to them, and I guess that means that is true as well. On the other hand, your boy Trump said he did things to women and numerous ones accused him of it. In fact, even one of them accused him of rape. So, I am sure that makes him guilty as well? Klingerstown Smokers, will you please stop throwing your cigarette butts on properties on East Main Street and Earl Street in Schuylkill Haven? We are not your personal ash tray. Schuylkill Haven With all these young people involved in police shootings, maybe it is time to investigate the parents. What is a 13-year-old doing prowling the streets at 2:30 in the morning with a gun? Looking for lightning bugs? I think not. Gordon As far as term limits are concerned, when I see a name I recognize, I vote for the next person. If they are running by themselves with no challengers, fill in a name, somebody else. Frackville I have the answer for the caller from Frackville wanting to know what David Argall has done for the people in Schuylkill County. The answer is absolutely nothing. Frackville Has anybody noticed Congress is ignoring the homeless and the people that need help that are citizens of the United States in favor of illegal immigrants? Think about it. All the money they are wasting on those people. They have no jobs, nothing. They come here for a free hand, which is understood, because we give it to them, but Congress ignores our own people. Tamaqua I agree with the Frackville caller about Fox News. They are causing a lot of harm with their biased coverage. Tucker Carlson is a fool, along with Hannity, Jesse Watters, Jeanine Pirro and the biggest fool of all, Greg Gutfeld. Now, Carlson is discouraging people from getting the vaccine. They should all be taken off the air and replaced with reasonable people. Shenandoah Today, I got a bill from Primary Health. I got the corona shot, both of them. I was never told when I got set up for it or when I went for the shot that there is a $40 bill that goes with it. I doubt if I am going to pay that bill. I cant afford $40. Minersville Now that there is $5.5 million to distribute, do you think the district could spare about $100 for some ground cover for the ugly hill behind Clarke Elementary School. It is a terrible eyesore and it can be dangerous, too. Pottsville This is to the Pottsville school board. We need new faces. Stop spending money we dont have. Stop raising taxes. Solar panels, didnt need them. Business manager in Florida? Thats a joke. Have one in school. Superintendent, acting superintendent doing a great job, liked by all. Didnt need to hire one for $130,000. Where is all the money coming from? Stop voting for all these behind closed doors. Cumbola Mahanoy City, I agree with your call about Mr. Magnani and his big mouth when it comes to guns. I dont enjoy hunting as much as I did most of my life because of the need to worry about what kind of gun nuts are in the woods near me. Us old-time hunters do have a serious and proper respect for guns and prefer that stronger checks are made on who can own and use them. We want to hunt safely. It makes me sick when I see people openly carry military-type weapons. I am disgusted at how my country looks. Mahanoy City A very interesting letter from state Rep. Tim Twardzik concerning trust in our election process. My question is: Would he have the same concerns about our election process if Donald J. Trump won Pennsylvania? Shenandoah Now, lets look at this for a second. Congresswoman Maxine Waters flies from California to Minnesota to fire up a crowd, incite violence. She requests police protection while she is there and then she says how she wont apologize for this and will not be bullied by the Republicans. What is wrong with this woman? Minersville Minersville, are you saying it is OK for a cop to execute a suspect who has committed a minor offense? The bible says, An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Can punishment exceed whatever a criminal has done? Mahanoy City To the person from Frackville who said the virus didnt come from a lab in Wuhan because studies proved it, the Chinese have not allowed access to the lab without Chinese people supervising what they were allowed to look at. A Chinese scientist, a female, was threatened with death because she said it did come from a lab. She had to flee China. Frackville If NASA is so smart to put a helicopter on Mars, why cant they come up with a cure for glaucoma and macular degeneration? Cressona To the person from Pottsville who said registering guns would not hurt anybody, registering your guns means they can come later, change the law saying that one of your guns is now illegal and they can come to your house and take it. Tremont Sharon Osbourne received support from her former The Talk cohosts after revealing on Friday that her cat Momo had been missing for three days. Though her exit from the daytime talk show seemed to stir up much drama on set, Carrie Ann Inaba and Amanda Kloots led with their hearts, as they sent 'Mrs. O' words of encouragement, later rejoicing when the cat was found. 'Momo my precious Scottish Fold cat has been missing for 3 days. If anyone near the Larchmont area has seen her or know someone that has, please DM me. There will be a reward. Praying my baby Momo is safe and ok,' the now ex-CBS host wrote. Supportive bunch: Sharon Osbourne received support from her former Talk cohosts over her missing cat Momo (who has since been recovered) as Carrie Ann Inaba and Amanda Kloots reach out Plea for help: 'Momo my precious Scottish Fold cat has been missing for 3 days. If anyone near the Larchmont area has seen her or know someone that has, please DM me. There will be a reward. Praying my baby Momo is safe and ok,' the now ex-CBS host wrote After Sharon reached out to her Instagram community for any leads and asked them to 'repost' her plea to assist in the cat's safe return, Inaba and Kloots jumped right in. 'Oh! I have a friend near the area too I will alert her! So sorry Mrs!!,' the newest host and widow of Nick Cordero wrote. And the Dancing With The Stars judge who is rumored to be exiting the show gave some sage advice. 'Do not give up. My moms cat was hiding from her for months.. and she was nearby... we eventually found her. Leave out food and water.... and call out to her on evening walks. Sending you so much love.... I'm so sorry...keep the faith.' Reaching out: 'Oh! I have a friend near the area too I will alert her! So sorry Mrs!!,' the newest host and widow of Nick Cordero wrote Swift response: 'Mrs. O' reached out to her Instagram community for any leads and asked them to 'repost' her plea to assist in the cat's safe return, Inaba and Kloots jumped right in Helping hand: And the Dancing With The Stars judge who is rumored to be exiting the CBS show soon gave some sage advice to Sharon And once the quick witted Brit shared that the cat was back home, they also showed their support for the situation publicly. 'Omg YAY!!!! So happy for you!' wrote Amanda, and Carrie Ann followed up with a similar cry of joy, adding 'That's great news!!!!. Sharon's exit came after she defended her longtime pal Piers Morgan over racially tinged comments about Meghan Markle on the Oprah Winfrey interview. She and Sheryl Underwood got into a heated back and forth where she defended him for voicing his opinions, and later got defensive and raised her voice when she felt she was being called racist herself. Exit plan: Sharon's exit came after she defended her longtime pal Piers Morgan over racially tinged comments about Meghan Markle And once it was claimed by Osbourne that she was blind sighted when the topic was sprung on her without prior knowledge as the show went live, CBS launched an internal investigation and the program went on hiatus for several weeks. The network announced that they had parted ways with the host after 11 seasons on the show and Sharon recently spoke out for the first time over the situation on Real Time With Bill Maher. 'I've been called so many things in my life, I am so used to being called names, but a racist is one I will not take.' She added, 'I'm going to be just fine, I'm fine, as I said I'm a fighter, I'm fine,' while maintaining that she was in no way 'racist.' Statehouse Reporter Danny Jin is the Eagle's Statehouse reporter. A graduate of Williams College, he previously interned at the Eagle and The Christian Science Monitor. Danny can be reached at djin@berkshireeagle.com or on Twitter at @djinreports. Denis Brunetti, president of Ericsson in Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos As the fastest and most reliable connectivity enabler, 5G will deliver an array of innovative use cases to increase factory capabilities and boost agility, freeing operations from wire-dependency. For the average factory, a large part of 5Gs wireless value will come from the fact that attaching cables to every machine and sensor in a factory is just not viable. This is where 5G will prove to be a game changer. A wireless environment will also make processes smarter and less static, which is increasingly critical in todays factories. Intelligent collaboration Tomorrows factory environments will see autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) operating on shop floors, fetching components, removing pieces of scrap, and freeing up workers for more important tasks by taking over less-critical work. Meanwhile, 5G-enabled facilities will benefit from sensors placed throughout, monitoring production processes and collecting data to feed back to machines and production managers. This will greatly enhance the speed of operations, improve maintenance capabilities, and increase safety. In fact, the extremely low latency and reliability of 5G will mean that, someday soon, many of the machines critical to future factories will become something like non-human colleagues, working closely and seamlessly alongside their human coworkers to assist them throughout their day-to-day processes. Essentially, this means that the era of collaborative robots is just on the horizon. And from there, the possibilities will only increase. Making critical connections Today, we are already seeing a range of companies opting for cellular connectivity. One such example, Atlas Copco the world-leading manufacturer of vacuum solutions, generators, power tools, and the like made a similar step last year, collaborating with us and Orange to bring wireless connectivity and intelligent manufacturing to its Atlas Copco Airpower factory in Wilrijk, Belgium. Several big-name car brands have also joined in, like Mercedes-Benz, whose new, fully networked Factory 5G site near Stuttgart sets new standards in terms of digitalisation, automation and climate efficiency. These companies and others like them recognise the value of seamless communication (both indoors and out, through local and global networks) for enhanced capabilities and greater flexibility. Our own 5G Smart Factory in Lewisville, Texas, has been recognised by the World Economic Forum as a global front-runner in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Forum has awarded the site with its prestigious Global Lighthouse designation in recognition of Ericssons deployment of next-generation technology at the site and its subsequent impact including an impressive 2.2 times improved output per employee when compared to a similar site without the automation and Fourth Industrial Revolution improvements. When compared to a similar site without its automation and 4.0 improvements, the 5G automated factory with connected robots has delivered 120 per cent improved output per employee and 65 per cent reduction in manual material handling. In fact, nearly all the initial training at the 5G Smart Factory was carried out with our teams with almost no face-to-face interaction. They used VR to connect with their colleagues in our other smart factory in Tallinn, over 8,000km away, to receive all the knowledge they have gained since opening their smart factory in 2019. A research study we carried out together with KPMG reveals that a factory utilising wireless communication has the potential to reap a value equal to an extra $1 per square metre every single day. Assuming a floor of 10,000sq.m (the smallest that can typically support a factory today), that means nearly $4 million a year in added value. Monitoring production processes will be much smoother with 5G, improving maintenance capabilities and enabling any failures or problems to be rectified quicker. Leveraging AR for Smart Manufacturing 5G for the future Leveraging 5G, we could marry remote expertise with virtual collaboration in a single place (an XR canvas) to expand our teamworking capabilities. In the case of manufacturing, for example, 5G could be used in factories to create digital twins (or virtual replicas duplicating real physical entities), enabling the simulation of various scenarios and testing processes. Now imagine, simultaneously working on the same complex product with colleagues in multiple distant locations while everyone sees the result of the work right before their eyes. That is exactly what Ericsson-powered 5G will deliver for UK vehicle battery manufacturer Hyperbat in a proof-of-concept virtual reality digital twin partnership with communications service provider BT and other technology leaders. Here 5G technology will allow design, engineering, and manufacturing experts to cooperate on a 3D engineering blueprint from various locations to impact physical products at the companys Coventry production complex. Going forward, this means that with 5G companies would be able to leverage help from experts, for example, without requiring their presence on site something that would not only reduce travel (and its associated financial and environmental costs) but also accelerate solutions and problem solving while fostering smarter operations overall. 5G will be leveraged by Vietnam, making its factories more flexible and more efficient than ever before. Both now and in the future, the boost in agility and enhancement of operations that advanced wireless connectivity will bring is going to be a critical component in Vietnams journey to realise its Industry 4.0 journey. Global leaders must act now and put the planet on a green path because "we are at the verge of the abyss", UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday (April 22) in his address to the virtual climate summit convened by US President Joseph Biden. "Mother Nature is not waiting," the UN chief warned, as the past decade was the hottest on record, and the world continues to see rising sea-levels, scorching temperatures, devastating tropical cyclones and epic wildfires," he noted. "We need a green planet but the world is on red alert," he said. "We are at the verge of the abyss. We must make sure the next step is in the right direction. Leaders everywhere must take action," he added. The Secretary-General thanked Biden for hosting the two-day Leaders Summit on Climate, and applauded US commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In his introductory remarks, the US President announced the country would slash emissions in half, by 2030. He spoke of the "extraordinary job creation and economic opportunity" that climate response provides, proposing investments in sectors such as energy, transportation, construction and farming. Biden also acknowledged that no nation can solve the climate emergency alone, and he called for leaders of the worlds largest economies to "step up" in the race to a sustainable future. "Scientists tell us that this is the decisive decade. This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis," he added. Guterres used the summit to amplify his call for a global coalition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and for countries to ramp up their commitments under the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change. The 2015 treaty aims to limit global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and requires governments to commit to increasingly ambitious climate action through plans known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). "All countries starting with major emitters should submit new and more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions for mitigation, adaptation and finance, laying out actions and policies for the next 10 years aligned with a 2050 net-zero pathway," he added. These commitments also must be translated into "concrete, immediate action," he added, as it is estimated that less than a quarter of pandemic recovery spending will go towards mitigating emissions, reducing air pollution or strengthening natural capital. "The trillions of dollars needed for Covid-19 recovery is money we are borrowing from future generations. We cannot use these resources to lock in policies that burden them with a mountain of debt on a broken planet." The UN chief appealed for leaders to "put a price on carbon" through taxation. He called for ending subsidies for fossil fuels and instead, ramping up investment in renewable energy and green infrastructure. Building the global net zero coalition will require a breakthrough in both finance and adaption, the Secretary-General said. He urged donors, as well as banks, to move from 20 to 50 per cent in all climate finance flows to resilience and adaptation. "Before the United Nations climate conference in November in Glasgow, we need concrete proposals that ease access to greater finance and technological support for the most vulnerable countries," he stated. "Developed states must deliver on public climate finance, including the long-promised $100 billion for climate action in developing countries, at the G7 Summit in June," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Alex Radcliffe from Below Deck Mediterranean opened up on Instagram about the overwhelming anxiety he experienced when his gut told him to ditch a flight to Florida. Radcliffe shared on his Instagram story that he was about to board a flight to Florida from Boston. The plane was having mechanical issues so the flight was delayed. Radcliffe admitted he hated flying and has a fear of flying, so hearing about the mechanical issues put him on high alert. His gut reaction was to abandon the flight. So he left Logan Airport but then later discussed what happened, sharing why he chose to leave rather than have a drink and go through with the flight. Alex Radcliffe from Below Deck Mediterranean on WWHL |Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank Alex Radcliffe decided not to fly when he had a bad feeling about the flight Radcliffe posted a video to Instagram after receiving a slew of messages from his Instagram story. Fans and friends offered advice to Radcliffe on how he could address his anxiety and still make his flight. But he said he needed to go with what felt right at the time and wasnt going to try to mask his anxiety with a substance. Its [an] everyday struggle we as humans all deal with but just wanted to post this to show that I deal with my own anxiety on a daily basis and its okay to be upfront about it because thats what makes all of us unique people, he wrote on his post along with the video. Dont be shy to message me about your own stories because me going to Costa Rica in 2 weeks is to hopefully help with what I want to conquer. RELATED: Below Deck Med: Bugsy Drake Has a New Boyfriend and Its Not Alex Radcliffe Friends like chef Tom Checketts and Rob Westergaard from Below Deck Med wrote words of encouragement on Radcliffes thread, supporting his decision to share his experience. We all have our fears, Alex Radcliffe shares Radcliffe shared in his video that he wanted to add more context to his Instagram story where he is seen leaving Logan Airport. I was just saying I was at the airport and I was getting all these signs that I shouldnt fly today, he said. Because Im petrified of flying. Thats where the majority of my anxiety comes from because of the fear of death. So anything that puts me in the situation that Im afraid to do, I get super scared, he said. I wanna find an excuse not to do something. He added that he finally decided not to fly and he shared it on his Instagram story. RELATED: Below Deck Franchise Grows Like the Housewives and Adds 2 More Series So many of you guys are messaging me, telling me like oh take a Xanax, you know, go drink, he continued. No, I like being in control of my brain. I never took a Xanax, I dont do any drugs. And me drinking is not gonna help me, I feel like its gonna make me more anxious. But I wanna say we all have our anxiety. We all have our fears. MeMed Key Wins Red Dot Award for High Design Quality HAIFA, April 22, 2021- frog, a leading global design and strategy consultancy, part of Capgemini Invent, and MeMed, a pioneer in the field of host immune response technology are proud to announce that MeMed Key has received the Red Dot Award for Product Design 2021. MeMed Key is a cutting-edge technology platform that allows highly sensitive and rapid measurements of multiple proteins at the point of need, empowering physicians to better diagnose and manage their patients in multiple medical conditions with precision and actionability, that was so far limited to the central labs. frog designed the device architecture, industrial design, user interface and branding to bring MeMeds first test that differentiates bacterial from viral infections and assisting physicians to decide whether their patients require antibiotics. The device was uniquely designed to reduce the time of analysis from two hours to 15 minutes using a simple and user-friendly workflow. According to CDC data, one in three antibiotics prescriptions in the United States are unnecessary, with the majority prescribed to patients affected by viral infections which do not respond to antibiotics. Such overuse of antibiotics is the major driver of antimicrobial resistance, one of the most daunting threats on modern medicine. We are thrilled that MeMed Key has been recognised by Red Dot for its superior design. The team worked relentlessly to turn the engineering complexity which provides superb accuracy and control that is similar to large central lab platforms, into an easy to use, miniaturized, point-of-need platform, said Kfir Oved, Co-Founder, CTO & Chairman of MeMed. MeMed is a global leader in the emerging field of advanced host response technologies and the MeMed Key is the trailblazer in providing solutions that have the potential to profoundly improve patient management. Here at frog, our mission is to advance the human experience through innovative design, so when MeMed asked us to create a device to address the mounting problem of overprescription of antibiotics, we couldnt wait to get started, said James Luther, Design Director at frog. Its incredibly rewarding to design a product that is helping make the lives of healthcare practitioners and patients easier and more accurate, especially during a time when patients may feel vulnerable and uncertain. Red Dot CEO Professor Dr. Peter Zec on the laureates The winners of the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2021 were particularly impressive this year. The design of their products is excellent, in terms of both the aesthetic and the functionality. Its not easy to prevail in such a strong field of competitors and to win over our jury. Consequently, I want to congratulate the laureates very sincerely on their success, said Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder and CEO of Red Dot. Evaluation platform for good design The Red Dot Award: Product Design dates back as far as 1955 and recognises the best products for a given year. The roughly 50 jurors were once again true to the motto In search of good design and innovation in the 2021 competition. The international panel of experts comprises specialists from a wide variety of sectors. They scrutinised the products entered in the competition in a process that spanned several days and were guided by assessment criteria such as the products formal quality, ergonomics and longevity. MeMed Key in exhibitions, online and in the yearbook MeMed Key can be seen in the online exhibition on the Red Dot website beginning on June 21. That date also marks the beginning of the Red Dot Design Week, during which this years award winners will be celebrated online. MeMed Key will also be included in the exhibition Design on Stage in the Red Dot Design Museum Essen, where all of the award-winning products will be showcased. Visitors to the museum can experience the quality of the designs in a space that features contemporary design solutions and historical industrial architecture. The Red Dot Design Yearbook 2021/2022 comes out in August. The publication provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art and trends in product design. About frog: frog is a leading global design and strategy consultancy. For more than five decades, frog has collaborated with passionate leaders and visionary entrepreneurs to launch new businesses, win on customer experience and bring bold ideas to life. We help our clients define and implement new business models and strategies to seize market opportunities, build the products and services that their customers love, and strengthen their capabilities and organizations. Applying a focused, interdisciplinary approach, frog helps large organizations, growth-oriented companies and innovative startups make their mark on the world. frog is part of Capgemini Invent. www.frogdesign.com About MeMed: Our mission is to translate the immune system's complex signals into simple insights that transform the way diseases are diagnosed and treated, profoundly benefiting patients and society. For additional information on MeMed, please visit http://www.me-med.com. About the Red Dot Design Award: In order to appraise the diversity in the field of design in a professional manner, the Red Dot Design Award breaks down into the three disciplines of Red Dot Award: Product Design, Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design and Red Dot Award: Design Concept. With more than 18,000 entries, the Red Dot Award is one of the worlds largest design competitions. In 1955, a jury convened for the first time to assess the best designs of the day. In the 1990s, Red Dot CEO Professor Dr. Peter Zec developed the name and brand of the award. Ever since, the sought-after distinction Red Dot has been the revered international seal of outstanding design quality. The award winners are presented in the yearbooks, museums and online. More information is available at www.red-dot.de. MeMed Contacts: Media: Adee Mor, VP Marketing, MeMed pr@me-med.com IR: Kfir Emmer, VP Finance, MeMed kfir.emmer@me-med.com Phone: +972-4-8500302 Press contact at frog: Ivanna Garcia frogdesign@5wpr.com Press contact at Red Dot: Julia Hesse Senior Manager PR & Communications Red Dot GmbH & Co. KG Martin-Kremmer-Strae 14-16 45327 Essen Germany Phone: +49 201 83888558 j.hesse@red-dot.de www.red-dot.org/press Dignitaries cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony of the "Kapyong 70: A Tribute to the Canadian Veterans of the Korean War" photo exhibition at the War Memorial of Korea in central Seoul, Wednesday. From left are Captain Jill Marrack of Canadian Defense Attache; Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Hwang Ki-chul; Canadian Ambassador to Korea Michael Danagher; War Memorial of Korea President Lee Sang-chul; and Vice Admiral Stuart Campbell Mayer, Deputy Commander of United Nations Command in Korea. Courtesy of Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Son of veteran remembers war stories By Kwon Mee-yoo The Battle of Kapyong is considered to be one of the most significant during the Korean War. A British Commonwealth Infantry Brigade, including the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), fought against the Chinese army in Gapyeong Valley in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province from April 23 to 25, 1951, and prevented the Chinese from advancing into Seoul. The United Nations troops were considerably outnumbered by the Red Army onslaught, but fought hard to stop the Chinese force's intention to capture Seoul, turning the tide of the war decisively. On the 70th anniversary of the battle, the Embassy of Canada in Korea has published a photo book called, "Kapyong 70: A Tribute to the Canadian Veterans of the Korean War," and has been holding an exhibition to honor the sacrifice and courage of these Canadian veterans. The cover of "Kapyong 70: A Tribute to the Canadian Veterans of the Korean War" / Courtesy of Canadian Embassy to Korea "Speaking for the Canadian troops at Gapyeong, they did not have an official photographer with them in those terrible days on Hill 677. So the photos in this book have been collected from different sources in Canada, Korea and the United Kingdom," Canadian Ambassador to Korea Michael Danagher said Wednesday during a book launch ceremony at the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul, where the exhibition is held. "The magic of photography is its ability to capture images that, however distant in time and place, retain their emotional power and immediacy. They remind us never to forget." Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Hwang Ki-chul appreciated the publication of the book and its significance. "'Kapyong 70' will be a meaningful record where readers will remember the sacrifice and contributions of the veterans and remind us of the value of peace," Hwang said. Danagher expressed gratitude for the Korean authorities who invited foreign Korean War veterans to visit the battlegrounds to remind them of how their sacrifices contributed to the modern, prosperous and democratic Korea today. "With the pandemic, that opportunity has not been available to us. While we regret the absence of these honored visitors, we meet today to recall their valor and their sacrifice. ... We are joined today by Gregory Matthew Chrysler. He is one of the 30,000 Canadians who now call Korea home and he is himself the son of a Korean War veteran," Danagher said. Lance Corporal William J. Chrysler, right, helps Private Morris J. Piche, both of the PPCLI, to an aid station behind the front lines in the Gapyeong Valley during the Korean War. Courtesy of Imperial War Museum London Gregory Matthew Chrysler's father, William J. Chrysler, is featured in a famous Korean War photo, helping his injured colleague Morris J. Piche during the Battle of Kapyong. "Many people tell my dad that it's too bad you didn't look up at the camera. My dad replies that he did and as soon as he saw the camera, he was sure to put his head back down. He was afraid that somehow if his mother saw it, she'd be worried to death because he never actually told her he was going out to war," the junior Chrysler said. "The other reason was that he had already gotten in trouble a couple of times for wearing things he shouldn't have been wearing. If you look closely at his hat and gloves for example, you will see they're not exactly standard issue." William J. Chrysler visits Korea often through the veterans program as well as to spend some family time, though he couldn't come this year. "He always looks forward to coming to Korea, of course to see me, his daughter-in-law and grandson, just as much to see how much Korea has changed. Every time he arrives, he can't stop talking about how tall the buildings are and how everything is so modern and organized. This is because when he sees Korea today, he can't help but vividly recall the poorly constructed huts and the cold mud where children played when he first set foot here in 1951. My father is a proud soldier," Chrysler said. The senior Chrysler has another special tie with Korea. He came back to the country as an engineer in the 1970s and participated in various infrastructure projects, including a nuclear power plant in Busan, and trained young Koreans. "More importantly, he met my mother, Kyoung-ja Chrysler, who also happened to be working at the company, overseeing the construction projects. Eventually they settled back in Canada where I was born. And to continue this unique, long-lasting connection my father had with Korea, as you can see, his son has chosen Korea to settle down with his family," Chrysler said. "As a young man, he came to a war-stricken country and invested his life for the idea he believed in and now it has become a safe home for the next generation of Chryslers." Chrysler said he is glad that the awareness of the hard-fought U.N. forces during the Korean War, including the Canadian veterans, is increasing. "When I was young, there was no recognition of the Korean War in Canada, so this is very meaningful for the Canadian veterans, because now they have this sense of their sacrifices being recognized. Events like this are very meaningful to him and other veterans," Chrysler said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 03:03:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Video: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on April 23, 2021 calls for strong multilateral action to address the common crises and threats that the international community is facing. "We need strong multilateral action now, to emerge from the pandemic safely, to address the climate crisis, and to build stronger, safer communities and societies," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. UNITED NATIONS, April 23 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for strong multilateral action to address the common crises and threats that the international community is facing. "We need strong multilateral action now, to emerge from the pandemic safely, to address the climate crisis, and to build stronger, safer communities and societies," the UN chief said in his video message marking the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, which falls on April 24 annually. "The COVID-19 pandemic is a tragic reminder of how deeply connected we are," said the top UN official. "There is a clear and urgent need for concrete multilateral solutions, based on common action across borders for the good of all humanity, starting with the equitable distribution of vaccines as a global public good." Guterres noted that this need "goes far beyond the pandemic." "It applies to all the transnational threats we face: the climate crisis; air and water pollution; the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; the development of new technologies in the absence of agreed principles and norms." Photo taken on March 29, 2021 shows a view of a high-level event on debt and liquidity at the UN headquarters in New York. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) "We need a more networked multilateralism, with stronger coordination between regional and international organizations, international financial institutions and public/private alliances," the secretary-general said. "We need an inclusive multilateralism, that draws on civil society, business, local and regional authorities and others, and shares power more broadly and fairly," he added. "Today, as we mark the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, let's renew our commitment to global multilateral solutions that deliver for people and planet," concluded the secretary-general. The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was established on Dec. 12, 2018 through a UN resolution and was first observed on April 24, 2019. Preserving the values of multilateralism and international cooperation, which underpin the UN Charter and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is fundamental for promoting and supporting the three pillars of the UN - peace and security, development and human rights. Here is what we know so far about the new PR streams launching May 6. FAQ: New PR streams for essential workers, international student graduates in Canada Here is what we know so far about the new PR streams launching May 6. FAQ: New PR streams for essential workers, international student graduates in Canada Here is what we know so far about the new PR streams launching May 6. FAQ: New PR streams for essential workers, international student graduates in Canada Here is what we know so far about the new PR streams launching May 6. Shelby Thevenot Kareem El-Assal Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A As part of an initiative to meet immigration targets amid travel restrictions, Canada is launching six new limited-time immigration programs to essential workers and international student graduates who are working in Canada. There has been much interest in the new programs, as they are open to a wide range of candidates. Generally speaking, to apply you need to be working in an eligible occupation in Canada or have recently graduated from an eligible educational program, meet language requirements, among other criteria. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will release a guide on what information candidates will need to submit. What we know about the programs now, is based on the public policies on the IRCC webpage, as well as briefing notes from an April 21 meeting between IRCC and three associations representing immigration lawyers and consultants. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions on the new programs for essential workers and international graduates. CIC News will update this story as more information comes available. How can I apply? Applications will be done online. The application process will be based on a first in first out principle. The first step is to check your eligibility. There are different requirements for each of the programs for essential workers, graduates, as well as French-speaking essential workers, and graduates. At the time of applying, you will have to submit a completed application in its entirety, with all fees paid in order to be approved for permanent residence. This includes language test documents. You will also have to be working at the time of your application, and you cannot be on leave for medical, maternity, or otherwise. Do you live in Canada? Apply for PR under these news pathways! What documents will I need? For these programs, IRCC can only refuse or approve applications. This is why you have to submit everything at once, because the department may not be able to give you a second chance to send in a completed application. There may be situations where IRCC will request additional documents. There may also be a possibility to submit documents that are more difficult to obtain at a later date, such as police certificates, as long as you can prove you have made a reasonable effort to get them. The documents required for the new programs will be published in the application guide. IRCC says to look at the Canadian Experience Class application guide for hints. There is going to be a How to Apply Tool which will help you decide which stream to apply for. Then you will be led to create an account. You will see a document checklist. The first required document will be a generic immigration application form called an IMM 0008 (IRCC will release a new version of this document for the new streams). You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to fill out and validate the form. IRCC says it is important that these forms are validated and submitted with 2D barcodes. The subsequent documents will include proof of eligibility criteria, such as proof of studies in Canada, or a study permit for example. Language test documents that have been taken within the past two years must be uploaded at the time of submission. You will also need to upload copies of your education credential if you are applying for the international graduate streams. There will be an acknowledgement and consent form, a privacy statement, then you will land on a page which confirms your submission. You will be able to view what you uploaded after you have submitted your application How long is the processing time? IRCC is aiming to process these new streams in six months, but has not set a processing standard yet. How will the intakes be counted if people are eligible for more than one stream? You choose up front which program you are applying for. Intake caps will be counted by the number of times the Submission Button is pressed. IRCC is planning to have a counter on the main page to track the number of submissions. Can I apply to multiple streams? Yes, but then you will have to pay the fees twice. Do you live in Canada? Apply for PR under these news pathways! How much are the fees? Fees are not yet confirmed, but they could range between $1,050 and $1,325. All fees must be paid up front. Can I apply if I have not graduated? Yes. For the essential worker streams, current employment in any occupation is eligible and it does not have to be full time. Students can apply under these streams as long as they have eligible work experience that meets the 1,560 hour requirement within the three years leading up to the application date. Can I apply if I live in Quebec? Part of the eligibility for the new pathways is that applicants must intend to immigrate to any province other than Quebec. This is part of an effort to increase French immigration outside of Quebec. Also, Quebec has a special agreement with Canada, which prohibits the federal government from implementing new immigration programs to the province. However, Quebec education and work experience are still eligible as far as these new programs are concerned. Quebec-based applicants can still qualify, but they may have to answer questions about how they will move, their settlement plan, what they have done to actively look for a job outside the province, or if they have a job offer elsewhere. Quebec-based applicants may be eligible for one of the provinces own immigration streams. Do I have to be employed in an eligible occupation at the time of my application? No. At the time of your application you can be employed in any occupation. You just have to have met the work requirement of 1,560 hours in an eligible occupation within the past three years. There are two streams of eligible essential occupations. Healthcare occupations are listed under Stream A, and other essential occupations are listed under Stream B. If you are applying as a healthcare worker you cannot use Stream B occupations toward your eligibility, but if you are applying as an other essential worker you can count Stream A work experience. Are medicals required upfront with the application system? IRCC is currently trying to extend medicals as much as possible during COVID-19 for those in Canada. For this group, they will be dividing people into two groups: people who have never done medical and people who have done medical. Those who have done medical should provide proof. It is not yet known how old the medical can be. If you can access an Upfront Medical, you may wish to do so nonetheless. Do you live in Canada? Apply for PR under these news pathways! CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has addressed a message on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the PMs Office told Armenpress. The message reads: Dear compatriots, As for many decades now, today we are commemorating the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide. We pay respect to the 1.5 million martyrs who fell victim to the criminal policies of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. 106 years ago, the first genocide of the 20th century was perpetrated by the Young Turk government in the Ottoman Empire. What happened in those days was described by the great powers as a crime against mankind and human civilization. Millennia will pass, but we, the Armenians, will continue to commemorate the Genocide; we will not let the world forget that on April 24, 1915, the brass of the Armenian intelligentsia was arrested and sentenced to death in the Ottoman Empire. Top intellectuals, clergy and the cultural elite were beheaded at one stroke. The Armenians were deprived of their legitimate right to live in their historic cradle. They were subjected to massacres, expelled from their homeland suffering unprecedented losses. The damage inflicted on our peoples cultural and religious heritage is beyond any estimate. The Pontus Greeks, Assyrians and Yezidis were deprived of their homeland together with us. Those brotherly peoples were massacred and deprived of the right to live on their native lands. Whos to blame for, whos to be held responsible for those appalling crimes? The answer is unequivocal: The Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire with the ideology of Turkism-Pan-Turkism, one of the key goals of which was to establish a mono-ethnic and expansionist Turkish state, which in turn gave birth to Armenophobia and to the idea of getting rid of ethnic and religious minorities. During World War II, the genocide of the Jewish people was carried out in Germany under the leadership of Nazis. Six million Jews fell victim to the Holocaust. After the war, the perpetrators were brought to justice and were given a deserved punishment. The ideology behind genocide was condemned, too. Nazism was rightfully labeled a criminal ideology; today no one in the world dares to say anything in defense of it. However, historical factors prevented the Armenian Genocide to get the same worldwide response. First, in the first half of the last century, human civilization lacked such mechanisms of justice that would make it possible to hold a state accountable for mass atrocities; the term genocide did not even exist ay that time. Moreover, the Armenian people did not have the opportunity to pursue their cause. In the first decades following the Genocide, the Armenian Diaspora could not make its voice heard in the international arena as it was busy healing the injuries and rehabilitating the national structures. Soviet Armenia had been deprived of the opportunity to pursue the cause before the Great Patriotic War was over. The Armenian Diaspora managed to make the issue of Genocide recognition audible over the decades following World War II. However, at a time when the world was bipolar, Pan-Turkism was considered to be a historical past. The Armenian Genocide and the ideology behind it went unpunished. We know that crimes that go unpunished and the ideologies that feed them have the habit of recurring and reappearing. The Second Karabakh War, the Azeri-Turkish aggression which sought to annihilate the Armenian trace in Artsakh, Turkeys expansionist foreign policy, and the territorial aspirations towards Armenia came to evidence the revival of their genocidal ideology. Armenophobia is in the essence of Pan-Turkism, and today we can see its most disgusting manifestations in Azerbaijan as fostered by the authorities of that country. How can we defy the neo-Pan-Turkic threat: only by building a modern country strong with powerful allies; a country based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law? At the same time, it is undeniable that only the condemnation of a crime may prevent such crimes from recurring in the future. We highly appreciate the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by different countries of the world. This, however, can in no way be interpreted as a denial of regional dialogue. We are open for dialogue. However, the dialogue we imagine cannot be engaged from a position of strength. It can only succeed if underpinned by the principle of equality. We will never question the fact of the Armenian Genocide; let no one think that any Armenian, any political entity in both Armenia and the Diaspora will ever abandon the memory of our innocent victims and will become an accomplice of the Armenian Genocide. Acknowledgement and condemnation is the only way to preventing new genocides. Dear compatriots, April 24 evokes the imperative to think about the past and the future of our nation; it is the most suitable time to get to know ourselves, evaluating our strengths and actions. The most important conclusion is as follows: The challenges faced by our people at the outset of the last century still exist today. The second Karabakh war was a vivid proof of that. We cannot face these challenges, unless we build a country with an advanced economy and a modern security and political system - an Armenia that will unite all Armenians around it. US President Joe Biden on Saturday recognized the 1915 killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide, a watershed moment for descendants of the hundreds of thousands of dead as he defied decades of pressure by Turkey. Biden became the first US president to use the word genocide in a statement on the anniversary, a day after informing Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the decision and seeking to limit the furor from the NATO ally. We remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring, Biden said. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated. The statement is a massive victory for Armenia and its extensive diaspora. Starting with Uruguay in 1965, nations including France, Germany, Canada and Russia have recognized the genocide, but a US statement has been a paramount goal that proved elusive under previous presidents. Erdogan, in a statement to the Armenian patriarch in Istanbul, said debates should be held by historians and not politicized by third parties. Words cannot change or rewrite history, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted moments after Bidens statement. We will not take lessons from anyone on our history. Explaining Bidens thinking, an administration official pointed to the Democratic presidents vows to put a new priority on human rights and highlighted his outspokenness on systemic racism in the United States. Across the world, people are beginning to acknowledge and address and grapple with the painful historical facts in their own countries. Its certainly something that we are doing here in the United States, the official said. A century of waiting As many as 1.5 million Armenians are estimated to have been killed from 1915 to 1917 during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, which suspected the Christian minority of conspiring with adversary Russia in World War I. Armenian populations were rounded up and deported into the desert of Syria on death marches in which many were shot, poisoned or fell victim to disease, according to accounts at the time by foreign diplomats. Turkey, which emerged as a secular republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, acknowledges that 300,000 Armenians may have died but strongly rejects that it was genocide, saying they perished in strife and famine in which many Turks also died. Recognition has been a top priority for Armenia and Armenian-Americans, with calls for compensation and property restoration over what they call Meds Yeghern the Great Crime and appeals for more support against Turkish-backed neighbor Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani foreign ministry said Bidens statement distorted the historical facts about the events of 1915 and echoed Turkeys call for the killings to be studied by historians, not politicians. Azerbaijan defeated Armenia last year in a war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, in which Ankara backed its ally Baku and which left Armenia traumatized. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan thanked Biden for his powerful step towards justice and invaluable support to the heirs of the Armenian genocide victims. In the Armenian capital Yerevan, Taline Nourian, 41, said her people have been waiting for this moment for years. We wanted it before Biden, she told AFP. I think Turkey will be afraid now because all countries are going to start recognizing (the genocide). Biden, whose call to Erdogan to inform him of the genocide recognition was their first conversation since the US leader took office three months ago, signaled he hoped to contain the fallout. They agreed in their call to meet in June on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels, officials said. Beyond statements, Turkey did not immediately announce any retaliatory steps in contrast to angry measures taken over previous Western moves to recognize the genocide. Tensions have risen sharply with Turkey in recent years over its purchase of a major air defense system from NATO adversary Russia, and its incursions against pro-US Kurdish fighters in Syria. Turbulent alliance The US Congress in 2019 voted overwhelmingly to recognize the Armenian genocide, but the Trump administration made clear that the official US line had not changed. Alan Makovsky, an expert on Turkey at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said that the 2019 congressional resolution had no discernible impact on US-Turkey relations and paved the way for Biden to go ahead. At a pro-Armenia rally in New York on Saturday, the crowd of several hundred included Aram Bowen, 33, whose great-great-grandfather was beheaded by the Ottomans during the massacres. Turkey is never going to recognize it as genocide, he said. So for us on so many levels, the closest thing to that actually becoming official worldwide, it was when the United States and the president himself acknowledged the genocide. SOURCE. AFP Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 12:17:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MEXICO CITY, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Latin American leaders attending the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate on Thursday pledged to join the global efforts to address climate change with their countries' respective contributions. During the summit hosted by the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico agreed to recognize the importance of maintaining a healthy environment and the urgent need to stop the destruction of the planet, resonating with China's proposal that the world needs to build "a community of life for man and nature" through "unprecedented ambition and action." Argentine President Alberto Fernandez reaffirmed the South American country's commitment to the Paris Agreement and vowed to promote renewable energy to tackle climate change. "Argentina has put climate and environmental action at the center of its convictions," Fernandez said in his virtual speech to the summit. Argentina is committed to "developing 30 percent of its national energy matrix through renewable energy," and to promoting "efficiency measures for industry, transportation and construction," he said. His Chilean counterpart Sebastian Pinera said that Chile, though a small country, is determined to make a relevant contribution to the fight against climate change. "The COVID-19 pandemic is not the only threat facing humanity today. Climate change has not been quarantined, but has continued to advance at a speed that urges us to take action today, so that humanity can have a future," Pinera said. Chile aims to contribute to the cause with green hydrogen, which can be produced from water and renewable energy, with the goal of becoming the world's leading producer of the fuel by 2050, and even seeing it overtake copper, currently the export product that sustains the Chilean economy. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro pledged to adopt measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, saying Brazil has "one of the cleanest power matrixes, with renewed investments in solar, wind, hydraulic and biomass energy." Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador unveiled his country's plan to address environmental degradation in Central America as a way to improve the lives of local communities there and stem mass immigration. In his speech, Lopez Obrador proposed U.S. President Joe Biden finance the plan, known as "Sembrando Vida" or "Planting Life," in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, saying it requires an annual investment of 1.4 billion U.S. dollars. "Sembrando Vida" essentially entails offering small farmers the resources to plant fruit and timber trees to earn a livelihood, enabling them to remain in their place of origin instead of migrating northwards in search of work. "The migratory phenomenon ... is not resolved with coercive measures, but with justice and well-being," said Lopez Obrador. Enditem His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain has issued a Royal Decree appointing the National Security Advisor and Secretary-General of the Supreme Defence Council, HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oil and Gas Holding Company (Nogaholding). The Prime Minister and ministers - each in their capacity - shall implement the decree, which takes immediate effect and will be published in the Official Gazette, said a Bahrain News Agency report. Shaikh Nasser has extended deepest thanks and appreciation to His Majesty following the issuance of the decree. Shaikh Nasser stressed that the precious royal trust bestowed upon him will motivate him to spare no effort in order to implement HM the Kings vision on increasing Bahrains investments in the oil and gas, as well as on further developing the sector, in accordance with a modern and scientific approach that copes with the global developments in this field. He said many pioneering projects have been implemented to develop investments and infrastructure of the oil and gas sector, as well as to increase the sectors role in serving the national economy, stressing keenness to maintain the landmark oil and gas achievements and optimise them, in accordance with the royal vision. Shaikh Nasser pledged to carry on implementing HM the Kings vision on developing the oil and gas sector so as to contribute to achieving the Economic Vision for Bahrain 2030. Today, across this land, we will gather to reflect, remember, give thanks and draw strength. This time last year, we faced a defining moment as a nation. A moment of danger, when the future was veiled in uncertainty. We couldnt gather then, and for many today this will be true again. But we held candles in driveways, and on balconies; and we played the Last Post on our radios and iPhones. Jenny Morrison and Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Anzac Day 2020. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen We gathered together in any way we could to light up our dawn. And in doing so, we rediscovered a deep truth about who we are: that our strength is found in each other. Man sentenced to 29 years in connection with murder of pastors wife Amanda Blackburn Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A man who pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Indianapolis Pastor Davey Blackburns 28-year-old pregnant wife six years ago has been sentenced to 29 years in prison and asked to cooperate with the state in the prosecutions of two other men charged in the robbery and murder case. Jalen E. Watson, 27, has been sentenced to 29 years for robbery leading to serious bodily injury and 10 years each for two counts of burglary, IndyStar reported, adding that the sentences will be served concurrently. The court dismissed seven other charges, including murder and auto theft, as part of his guilty plea which requires him to cooperate with the state in the prosecutions of the other two men, Larry Taylor Jr. and Diano Gordon, who were also charged in connection to the murder. The court might consider reducing" Watson's sentence after he completes his cooperation and if he maintains a clean conduct report, the newspaper said. Davey Blackburn hasnt publicly responded to the sentencing. On Friday, he wrote the lyrics of a song by the band Sleeping At Last on his Facebook page: Darkness exists to make light truly count, with the remarks, One of my favorite lines in a song. After walking through the darkness of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I have a deeper appreciation for life and Light. The darker things get, friends, the brighter our light can shine. Dont let Satan whooh it out. On the morning of Nov. 10, 2015, while Davey Blackburn was away at the gym, his wife was shot three times, including once in the head during a home invasion. She had been at home with the couples 15-month-old son when three young men, Taylor Jr., 18 at the time; Watson, who was 21; and Gordon, 24 at the time, entered through an unlocked door in a robbery attempt. She succumbed to her injuries the following day, along with their unborn daughter, Everette Evie Grace Blackburn. The late Amanda Blackburn had moved with Davey from South Carolina in 2012 to start Resonate Church in Indiana. Months later, Davey Blackburn recalled that when he first returned home on that morning, he thought something had gone terribly wrong with Amandas pregnancy, as he found her in a pool of blood. It wasn't until he got her to the hospital that he was told about her three gunshot wounds. Honestly, I dont really know how to describe emotions that go through you in that moment, Davey Blackburn said of the early moments of finding out what happened, saying he felt a lot of shock and adrenaline. I didnt know what had happened and I think that was kind of the grace of God in that moment, he said, adding that a Bible verse that stuck out in his head during that time was 2 Chronicles 20:12, which reads: We don't know what to do but our eyes are on you. Hours before she was shot, Amanda Blackburn had expressed her adoration for Jesus in a heartbreaking journal entry, highlighting the lyrics of Helen H. Lemmels 1922 hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, also known as The Heavenly Vision. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of his glory and grace, she wrote. What an amazing Sunday yesterday that filled my heart to see so many people in your church. Learning, growing, meeting you and taking next steps. Thank you for letting me get to see all of this [with] my own eyes. I love you Lord. Glory and praise to you. What I will say is that if evidence shows that any of my deputies violate the law or policies, they will be held accountable, Sheriff Wooten said earlier this week. On Friday, Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said the body-camera footage should be released. Initial reports of the shooting in Elizabeth City and death of Andrew Brown, Jr. this week are tragic and extremely concerning, Mr. Cooper wrote on Twitter. The body camera footage should be made public as quickly as possible and the S.B.I. should investigate thoroughly to ensure accountability. The Elizabeth City Council voted unanimously on Friday to send a letter to the sheriff, the district attorney and the State Bureau of Investigation asking that the body-camera footage be released. If the request is denied, the measure calls for the Council to petition a court to release the footage. Keith Rivers, a local N.A.A.C.P. leader, called the release of the body-camera footage a must to build the transparency that is needed in our community. Andrew Womble, the Pasquotank County district attorney, said on Wednesday that he had asked the State Bureau of Investigation to take primary responsibility for the inquiry. What we are looking for at this time will be accurate answers and not fast answers, Mr. Womble said. This will not be a rush to judgment. Were going to wait for that investigation, as were duty bound to do. Harry Daniels, a lawyer for Mr. Browns family, said that based on witnesses statements, it appeared that Mr. Brown had been shot while driving away from sheriffs deputies. 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. Democrats have a way of revealing themselves and their agenda, any time one of their truisms are just a tiny bit challenged. So no surprise, they opposed a hand-recount of the 2020 voting ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes large or at least well known cities such as Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler, and Mesa. The vote went to Joe Biden. Somehow, they didn't want them recounted. According to the Washington Post: Earlier this week, Senate Republicans exercised a subpoena to move voting equipment and ballots from county storage to the floor of the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where they have said a team of private companies will spend the next four weeks conducting a hand recount of ballots and a forensic audit of voting machines. Senate leaders have said the process is intended only to explore ways to improve the states elections, rather than to cast doubt on Biden's 10,457-vote victory in Arizona over Donald Trump. But the recount has come under sharp criticism from election observers, voting rights advocates and Democrats, who have said it lacks independent oversight and could be used to further baseless claims about the 2020 election. Yeah, and what if the recount does show fraud, as the Washington Post assures it does not? How is it that the in-the-tank paper of record for the Democratic Party would actually know how the recount would come out unless they already knew the fix was in? Gotcha. Revealed your hand, lapdogs, and among Democrats themselves, the reveal was even worse: According to AZCentral: Just before the Arizona Senate Republicans' hand count of all Maricopa County ballots cast in the November presidential election begins, Democrats are suing to try to stop it. The Arizona Democratic Party and Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday saying that the audit is unlawful and asking a judge to stop it from proceeding. The complaint alleges the Senate's audit, which is set to begin Friday, is violating state election law in numerous ways, including by not setting up proper security to protect ballots, voting machines and voter information. Since when do Democrats care about election security, or identification for participants (which was part of the lawsuit), or valid voter information? Up until now, all we have heard is that those things are Republican plots. The judge, however, agreed with their election security concerns (AZCentral describes several of them, and yes, some seem valid) but explained to them that his role was as part of the interpret-the-law Judicial Branch, not the legislative one, which they didn't seem to know. Citing the Senate's authority to do the recount, he asked the Democrats in objection to post a $1-million bond to cover for any losses should their suit not succeed and their delay add costs. It made sense, because any Senate maneuver could be subject to just such junk suits effectively halting the work of the elected legislators and subjecting representative democracy itself to the desires of left-wing lawyers. They curiously refused, saying they didn't like the law. That left the process open to the recount. Why was their objection so vehement? It seems they want to hold on to that "narrative" that there is no such thing as election fraud and can't allow any room for questioning that, for one. Why might that be? This being politics, one can surmise that they benefited from such fraud, if there was any. There really isn't any other explanation. Certain things amplify that thesis considerably. Number one, the Republicans said it wouldn't change the outcome of the election. In fact, they said, truly or not, that they only wanted to find ways to make the system better, and, yes, a forensic audit might be a good place to start. So in theory, even if there was fraud, Democrats should have nothing to worry about. Yet they are worried, and that raises questions as to why. After all, a Republican outcome in the recount is highly unlikely, given that Phoenix is a big city that's full of leftists. It's not as bad as other places, but if the recount showed a blue result, nobody would be surprised. So Democrats would have plenty of reason not to worry. Yet worry they do. You'd think they'd like to celebrate the vote recount, as it would prove their claims that the 2020 election had no fraud. But they don't. If the recount in fact showed what they feared a red result, then look out: the fraud was probably there if the result recorded was blue, and there might have been fraud in other places when Arizona as a state unexpectedly went blue for Joe Biden. The fix could have been in, particularly since some of the news media appeared to be in on it. Remember: a huge conspiracy to "fortify" the 2020 election was described by Time magazine involving hundreds of elitist players involved in various means of rigging. All of that could come tumbling down if the recount didn't match the reported result. I agree with the Dems and the judge that there should be strong transparency in this, with everyone who wants to permitted to watch. But Democrats refused to put their money where their mouth is on this argument. They couldn't cough up $1 million for a short period of time to comply with the judge's order? This sounds as though this isn't a matter of transparency. A normal entity concerned about fraud in the recount would shell that cash out fast to make sure the recount was halted if security grounds were that important. These guys didn't. That signals that something else is going on, something else we can't tell. All we know now is that they don't want a recount, and the Washington Post says they fear any fueling of talk that the election did have fraud. Well, did it? All we know for now is that they don't even want us to ask. And that says more than anything they could say about election fraud charges being "baseless." Anyone who wanted to show that would pay for the recount himself. Image: User: Huebi, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here. President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the killing of three students of a private university in Kaduna by bandits. He also directed the deployment of fiercest show of legitimate force against perpetrators of the dastardly act. Three of the students of Greenfield University in Kaduna State kidnapped on Tuesday were found dead on Friday, according to the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan. In an act of mindlessness, evil and sheer wickedness, the armed bandits who kidnapped students of Greenfield University, have shot dead three of the abducted students, Mr Aruwan said. In a statement on Saturday by the presidents media aide, Garba Shehu, Mr Buhari described the students as bright youngsters who were cut down by evil people in their prime. My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief. May their souls rest in peace, said the President. He extended his condolences and that of the federal government to the relatives, associates of the murdered students and the Kaduna State government. Read the full text of the statement below: STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE PRESIDENT BUHARI DENOUNCES THE KILLING OF KADUNA STUDENTS AS BARBARIC TERROR ATTACK -Directs the deployment of fiercest show of legitimate force against perpetrators. President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday strongly condemned the killing of three of the students kidnapped at Greenfield University, Kaduna State. The President described the students as bright youngsters who were cut down by evil people in their prime. ALSO READ: Three of the abducted Kaduna university students killed My thoughts are with their families in this time of grief. May their souls rest in peace, said the President. He extended his condolences and that of the Federal Government to the relatives, associates of the murdered students and the Kaduna State government. On the recurring incidents of kidnappings and killings in Kaduna State in particular, the President condemned them as barbaric terror attacks, and described as unfortunate the tenor of some political and religious leaders that seem to further incite and stoke the pain and anguish of mourning families who are forced to confront these tragedies. Addressing this scourge, requires great show of empathy and coming together as a society to squarely confront these elements and the danger it poses to our democracy and peaceful life in the country. He gave strong assurances that those who think that profits can be made, either from money paid as ransom or in politics, will suffer with equal measure of recompense under the full weight of the law for their wickedness and brutality. Banditry, kidnapping and the politics of murders will be fought with all the resources available to our country, declared the President. Garba Shehu. ADVERTISEMENT Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) April 24, 2021 The New Jersey Department of Agriculture said Friday it has quarantined a Morris County property after two horses developed the highly infectious equine herpes myeloencephalopathy, marking the states first reported cases this year of the fast-spreading virus. The horses 17-year-old and 20-year-old Quarter Horse geldings showed clinical signs of the illness April 18, according to state officials. The horses received medical treatment and were reported to be improving. The Department took swift action in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading to other horses by enacting a quarantine, which stops movement of horses in and out of the properties and puts in place preventive measures to contain the virus, New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher said in a statement. The agriculture department did not disclose the specific location of the infected horses. A department spokesman did not immediately return a message Friday. Other horses on the premises are under quarantine as temperatures are also being taken twice daily on all quarantined horses to monitor for sickness, the departments statement said. The NJDA is tracing and notifying the appropriate parties regarding recent horse movement. The Equine Herpes Virus, called EHV-1, spreads quickly between horses and can cause respiratory problems, more in younger horses as well as spontaneous abortions in pregnant mares and the neurologic form of the virus can kill horses, according to officials. Signs of the virus include respiratory disease, fever, nasal discharge, depression, cough, lack of appetite, and/or enlarged lymph nodes. Horses infected with the neurologic strain of the virus often show mild incoordination, hind end weakness/paralysis, loss of bladder and tail function and loss of sensation to the skin in the hind end, according to the agriculture department. The virus easily spreads through direct contact with infected materials, according to the state agency. It does not stay in the environment for an extended period and can be killed with hand soap, alcohol-based hand sanitizers and sunlight. Officials said the virus does not infect humans and other domestic animals except for llamas and alpacas. Concerned owners should consult with their veterinarian prior to taking any action as the clinical signs of infection with the neurological form of EHV-1 (EHM) are common to many other diseases, the agriculture department said. EHM is a reportable disease in New Jersey. If an owner has a horse exhibiting neurologic signs or suspects Equine Herpes, they are directed to call their veterinarian immediately. More information about testing for the virus is available at www.jerseyvetlab.nj.gov. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Its ethics provisions go beyond the executive branch. It would require the entire federal judiciary, including Supreme Court justices, to create a code of ethics within a year of the bills enactment. It would tighten reporting and other rules governing lobbying on behalf of foreign governments. For Congress, the bill would impose fuller disclosure of lawmakers outside income, require congressional candidates to disclose whether individual campaign donors are lobbyists, prohibit House members from serving on the boards of for-profit companies, and bar House and Senate members and their staff aides from working to advance legislation that would benefit their or their families personal financial interests. It would also bar lawmakers from using taxpayer money to pay damages awarded in discrimination and sexual misconduct cases. Its critically important that the For the People Act remain big, bold and together, said Aaron Scherb, the director of legislative affairs for Common Cause, one of several groups working with Democrats on the bill, adding, People dont want piecemeal solutions to comprehensive problems. But insisting on it all, at this point, could mean getting nothing, and talk is percolating that the ethics measures should not be allowed to die with the broader bill. Danielle Brian, the executive director at the Project on Government Oversight, says the group has been working on salvaging some of the bills ethics proposals, some which might not need Congress at all. We are focusing on pushing those ethics reforms that are in the bill that the Biden administration could be implementing without legislation, right away, she said. For example, the group has been pressing for the creation of a centralized records database on the Office of Government Ethics public website that would open financial and other disclosures filed by executive branch nominees to greater scrutiny. Mr. Stier said the Partnership for Public Service had thrown its weight behind another Trump corrective, the Accountability for Acting Officials Act, which would prohibit acting agency chiefs from serving more than 120 days, and would require acting inspectors general to possess relevant qualifications. Ms. Brians group has advocated several ethics proposals contained in a separate, expansive ethics bill, the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which is being updated in the House. It, too, would require candidates for president to release 10 years of tax returns, while beefing up protections for whistle-blowers and inspectors general, barring presidents from pardoning themselves and prohibiting presidents and vice presidents from receiving gifts, called emoluments in the Constitution, from foreign nations without congressional consent. The bill defines emoluments to include payments arising from commercial transactions, clarifying vague constitutional language that Mr. Trump and his family ignored as they profited from his presidency. As many as 384 persons have been rescued so far while six of them are critical and currently under medical treatment, a day after a glacier burst incident took place in Sumna, Neeti Valley near the India-China border in Chamoli district. Eight bodies have been recovered, said the Indian Army on Saturday. "384 persons have been rescued so far. Six of them are critical and currently under medical treatment. Eight bodies have been recovered. Rescue operation is in progress," thr Indian Army said. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Saturday conducted an aerial survey of Sumna area of Joshimath Sector in Chamoli district. "Home Minister Amit Shah called us up last night. NDRF and District Administration are on the job. ITBP and BRO were informed. Rescue was done quickly. I did an aerial survey today. BRO is carrying out the operation but the connectivity remains affected," said Rawat. The Indian Army informed, "A BRO (Border Roads Organisation) Camp came under an avalanche in the afternoon of 23 Apr during heavy snowfall in Sumna area of Joshimath Sector in Chamoli district of While 55 BRO persons could be mustered at first count, blizzard conditions kept rescue operations at bay till late evening." It further stated another 150 General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) personnel trapped in the BRO Camp have been rescued and brought to safety during the rescue operation that was undertaken by the Army at night. Rescue operations are still in progress to search for the persons still trapped under snow or stranded at worksites since late evening. Two bodies have been recovered so far. Mountaineering rescue teams and air efforts are at stand by for further rescue operations, said the Indian Army. At around 1600 hours on April 23, 2021, an avalanche hit a location about 4 km ahead of Sumna on Sumna - Rimkhim road in This is on Joshimath - Malari- Girthidobla - Sumna- Rimkhim axis. A BRO detachment and two labour camps have been there nearby for road construction work along this axis. An Army camp is located 3 kms from Sumna (approximately 1 Km short of BRO Sumna detachment). The area continues to experience heavy rains and snow that it has been witnessing for the last five days. The road access has been cut off at four to five locations due to multiple landslides. Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) teams from Joshimath are working to clear the area en route from Bhapkund to Sumna since last evening. It is expected to take another six to eight hours to clear this complete axis. In February, a glacier burst incident had taken place at Joshimath in Chamoli district, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and causing large-scale devastation. Over 50 bodies were recovered and hundreds were declared missing. (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.) If tickets were sold to enjoy Chattanoogas scenic beauty, Point Park on the northern end of Lookout Mountain would have to be the VIP section. The front-of-the-balcony-like view offers panoramic scenes of not only the various other mountains and valleys, but also the Tennessee River, Moccasin Bend and constantly evolving downtown Chattanooga. In fact, I have decided this would be the perfect spot if a person were able to enjoy only one constant view at least in Hamilton County. While Signal Point and parts of the other area mountaintops also offer breathtaking views, Point Park more perfectly captures the man-versus-nature experiment that is Chattanooga. And in contrast to other green spaces in Hamilton County, one would not need to walk more than a few feet to enjoy an aesthetically exhilarating setting here. But the park itself, with its expansive grass and old trees and the nice New York Peace Monument commemorating the local Civil War battle, is quite attractive even exclusive of its view. In fact, every time I am there, I want to sit down in the grass and relax for a spell when the weather is nice and I have already looked off the mountain or become a little tired walking down to the Ochs Memorial Museum. I sometimes want to imagine this is my front yard. Actually, it is all of Chattanoogas front yard due to its public accessibility! My only complaint with Point Park is that there is an admission charge due to the fact it is under the operation of the National Park Service. As one who remembers when there was no charge up until about the 1990s or later, that bothers me, although I certainly understand the Park Services financial struggles to meet upkeep needs on all their parks. But I avoided having to pay that last Saturday when I went there, due to the fact admission was being waived at parks around the country due to the start of National Park Week. So, after lunch, I got in my car and left my home near Northgate Mall and was there in roughly 30-35 minutes. I found a parking place on the street 50 yards from the park entrance, but realized the Town of Lookout Mountain, Tn., was charging $3 for an hour of parking, so I reluctantly paid it after seeing a few signs about cars being booted. But the beautiful spring weather that was obviously a little cooler than the valley below put me back in a good mood, and I quickly hustled into the park through the handsome stone entrance gate patterned after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers insignia. Within a few feet of being inside, I noticed that the familiar and beautiful old view of the Chattanooga valley below came into range, a scene I never seem to get tired of seeing. Point Park and I are actually old friends dating back more than 50 years to when I used to walk down to it after riding the Incline Railway with my mother, Velma Shearer, as a young boy. Although the Battle of Lookout Mountain was primarily fought just below Point Park, and Civil War information can be found there, including an inconspicuous plaque to Gen. Edmund Pettus of Selma, Al., bridge fame, I went there Saturday to find peace instead of to learn about war. After taking a few pictures while walking along the right part of the circular path, I soon made my way down the narrow steps toward the Ochs Museum. I realized the steps were narrower than I realized because I was passing people closely with a COVID-19 awareness I did not have during my last visit more than a year ago. After noticing old Umbrella Rock behind a fence, which is to keep people from climbing it and falling off, I almost started thinking the poor old stone formation is in rock prison, but understandably so. The old photos of Babe Ruth and maybe Civil War soldiers standing on top of it are just a part of the past in this era of increased liability concerns. The beauty of the spring day and nice views in all directions quickly came back to mind as I continued. I loved looking off toward the west and north, as well as down the nicely constructed steps leading down to the trails that circle around the mountain below. I had been on some of these trails before in my younger and more vigorous years, including toward Sunset Rock a few yards away on the west bluff, a place popular for rappelling. But I did not go on the paths Saturday due to my usual and unfortunate shortage of time and desire not to pay for another hour of parking. So, I went back up the steps, closely passed a few other visitors while holding my breath, and took in the seemingly newer lookout observation point toward the west. The otherwise beautiful view in this direction had one small glitch a rock quarry in the Lookout Valley area that has been slowly growing in recent decades. I then headed up into the grass to sit for a spell. Believe it or not, that was almost as fun as looking at the valley below. It was a wonderful day, and I was at a wonderful place. Now, if some kind philanthropist or foundation would come forward and work out a deal with the Park Service if that is bureaucratically possible so that Point Park could be visited for free every day or maybe just operate on donations. If that could happen, that would make a visit to this handsome place even more wonderful! After all, it is a priceless treasure of Chattanooga. * * * * * After this story was first posted, Tricia K. Mims, the executive director of the local National Park Partners, emailed to say that visitors can purchase an annual pass to Point Park that is economical for those wishing to visit multiple times. "For $35 a year, you can get an annual pass that allows up to four adults entry at any time, she said. "The pass basically pays for itself in less than one visit, as normally four adults entering would be $40 total." For those interested, here is the link to purchase an annual pass to Point Park: https://www.recreation.gov/ sitepass/2627 * * * * * To see the previous story in this series, read here: https://www.chattanoogan.com/ 2021/3/29/425720/John-Shearer- Exploring-And-Searching.aspx * * * * * Jcshearer2@comcast.net President Xi Jinping addresses the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing on Thursday. Xi delivered an important speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together" at the two-day event hosted by the United States. [Photo/Xinhua] President Xi Jinping's speech on Thursday at the Leaders Summit on Climate, where he set out China's ambitious pledges, has won praise from world leaders and experts. In the speech, Xi talked about how man and nature should build a community of life together and vowed the country will take aggressive measures to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, including to begin phasing out coal. "I think what President Xi had to say about the harmony with nature was absolutely vital," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a speech shortly after Xi's. "If we're going to tackle climate change sustainably, we have to deal with the disaster of habitat loss and species loss across our planet and we want to see even more examples of government and private industry working hand in hand as with the newly launched LEAF Coalition to reduce deforestation and the multitrillion dollar Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero," said Johnson, referring to global initiatives to protect tropical forests and speed up net zero transition. The United Kingdom will host COP26 in Glasgow in November while China will host the UN Biodiversity Conference in October. In his speech, Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, praised China and the US for their pledges at the virtual meeting, which was hosted by the US and drew 40 world leaders. "We are grateful that the United States and China have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and we look forward to swift action in their transitioning into carbon neutral economies," Browne said. Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said that Xi repeated China's commitment to peak its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, but also added for the first time that China will strictly limit the increase in coal consumption during the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and will phase down coal during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30). "This suggests that China could reach its peak emissions by 2025, or soon after, which would be a significant advance in ambition," said Stern, a British economist. Hege Fjellheim, head of Norway-based Carbon Research at Refinitiv, said that Xi's speech "adds to the positive momentum for global climate change mitigation in the year of COP26". "The reference to some regions and sectors to peak emissions earlier could hint towards an aim of China achieving carbon peak ahead of 2030," Fjellheim said. Anri Sharapov, a professor at the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies in Uzbekistan, said that Xi's speech demonstrated that China is always an active participant in facing global climate change. "As a major power with responsibility, Xi's remarks showed the world the determination by China to protect the environment and solve climate change problems, which will definitely increase the confidence of the international community to jointly face the challenges of climate change," Sharapov said. Hiroshi Onishi, an economics professor at Keio University in Tokyo, said it is of crucial significance to see that China and the US work together to tackle climate change. "By doing so, it sends a clear signal to the world that we do need to worry about climate change and sometimes take harsh measures to fix it," Onishi said. Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Delovoy Kazakhstan, said that it was remarkable that in the recent years China was following the new development philosophy and adhering to the path of green and low-carbon development. Kelly Gallagher, professor of energy and environment at The Fletcher School of Tufts University based in Massachusetts, US, said Xi "essentially confirms that China will stay the course, continuing to reduce coal as a percentage of primary energy through 2030". She noted that China's newly added capacity in renewables dwarfs its newly added coal capacity. "China's added capacity in renewables in 2020 was almost twice as large as US added capacity," she said on social media on Thursday. Xi's vision of a community with a shared future for mankind has climate action at its core. But the building of this common future must also be a shared responsibility, by all countries and all sectors, to keep the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees, said Renato Redentor Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities. The European Super League caused an enormous reaction across the continent through the week, but the proposed competition had all but disappeared within 48 hours of its announcement. One thing it did appear to do in its short life, though, was to unite fans across rivalries and borders. According to an El Mundo survey, 58 percent of fans are opposed to the Super League, particularly the younger age bracket that Florentino Perez had been so keen to target. The survey showed that as many 65 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 were against the short-lived tournament. Perhaps the most striking statistic to emerge from the survey was that 71 percent of people believe that the whole ordeal has damaged Florentino Perez's reputation, with him being the face and chairman of the flopped competition. What the survey appears to do is dismiss the validity of the survey the founding clubs apparently conducted, showing that the Super League had the support of 76 percent of Spanish fans. The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday on a California law requiring charitable groups to disclose to the state the names of their largest donors, a law challenged by a conservative organization that also spent at least $1 million in last years campaign to confirm Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett will apparently take part in the case, despite a request by Democrats that she step aside. Americans for Prosperity, a political advocacy group run by billionaire Charles Koch, played a significant and disproportionate role campaigning for your confirmation to the Supreme Court while its corporate siblings case was pending on a challenge to the California law, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Ct., and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said in an April 16 letter to Barrett . The circumstances pose a serious risk of actual bias, they said, quoting the Supreme Courts language in a 2009 judicial conflict-of-interest case. Whitehouse first asked Barrett about the case during her confirmation hearings last fall after then-President Donald Trump nominated her to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She declined to answer, noting that the court had not yet decided whether to take up the case, which it did shortly afterward. She has not responded to the letter and is expected to take part in Mondays hearing. The California law, similar to laws in a number of other states, requires charitable organizations to provide the state attorney generals office with the names of their largest tax-deductible contributors, those donating at least 2% of a foundations total funds in a year. The state uses the records for enforcement purposes and is legally obliged to withhold them from the public. But opponents of the law, on the left as well as the right, say the donors names have often been disclosed in a court filing, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation said state employees had improperly posted 1,800 donors names on a state website. In a lawsuit by the foundation and another conservative organization, the Thomas More Law Center, a federal judge said the disclosure requirement was unconstitutional because it would discourage potential donors by subjecting them to threats and harassment if their names were disclosed. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco disagreed in 2018 and said the law served an important government purpose, allowing the state to determine the legitimacy of a charitys work and revenue sources, outweighing any likelihood of improper disclosure. But the Supreme Court granted review of the charities appeal Jan. 8 and is due to rule in the case by early this summer. The foundations case has drawn support from free-speech groups across the political spectrum. A court filing by the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and other organizations said that if the compelled-disclosure law was upheld, the ability of citizens to organize to defend values out of favor with the majority would be seriously diminished ... in light of Californias record of inadvertently publicizing these sensitive documents. Whitehouse, Blumenthal and Johnson expressed a different view in their letter to Barrett, saying the case involves the power of big special interests to exercise their influence from behind veils of secrecy. If Barrett will not step down from the case, the Democratic lawmakers said, she should at least issue a public explanation. Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor and scholar on issues of legal ethics, said Thursday that Barrett should not take part in the case because of the public perception of her role. Koch obviously believed that Barrett would vote to overturn the California law when he provided $1 million to support the justices confirmation, Gillers said, and a fair-minded member of the public knowing these facts might question Barretts impartiality. But he noted that the justices make those decisions for themselves, with no ethical or disciplinary agency reviewing their conduct. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko Influenza rates have been exceptionally low this year across the country, including in New York, due to the COVID-19 pandemic which required people to socially distance, wash their hands frequently and wear masks. The relatively flu-less winter followed one of the worst seasons in decades. Last year, 22,269 people were hospitalized for the flu in New York, according to the state Department of Health flu tracker. This year, the number of hospitalizations for the flu is at 692, according to the department's most recent flu report. Last year, 14 children in New York died from the flu. This year, no children died. The state doesn't report flu deaths in adults. The low flu rates have taken some pressure off of the healthcare system in a year marked by the coronavirus crisis, according to Dr. Daniel Pauze, medical director at Albany Medical Center. "Over 4,000 flu tests have had zero positives in our hospital. Of course, some people with the flu have been transferred in, but the numbers are typically much, much higher. We are just not seeing it this year, which is a good thing," Pauze said. In addition to pandemic-related behavior changes, the closure of offices and schools, decreased travel and widespread precautionary quarantining all played a significant role in preventing flu spread, according to Pauze. "The incubation period of the flu appears to be much shorter than that of COVID-19," he said. "So people get symptoms, they can isolate for a much shorter duration than for COVID-19." Samaritan Hospital in Troy has seen less than a dozen flu-related admissions this year, according to Dr. Arthur Gran, the infectious disease physician at the hospital "I definitely think there are some lessons we can take from this pandemic. We are going apply what we've learned to other viral infections and influenza is definitely one of them," Gran said. "But the flu isn't going anywhere, we are going to be dealing with this next year and the following year, because there will always be more aggressive strains." Flu activity typically peaks between December and February, but the uptick typically begins in November and can last as late as May, according to health officials. Statewide there were 4,554 total lab positives during the 2020-2021 flu season. During the previous flu season, there were close to 160,000 cases in the state. In Albany County, just 30 positive flu cases were detected on lab tests this winter, according to the state's tracker. Schenectady County had 29 cases. Rensselaer and Saratoga counties each saw around 50 cases. Doctors recommend people continue to wash their hands regularly, get their flu shots, and isolate when they have symptoms even when COVID-19 subsides. Eili Klein, Ph.D., associate professor of emergency medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said though this flu season is shaping up to be less severe than usual, it could affect the severity of the next flu season. Because of the current restrictions and precautions everyone is taking this season, far fewer people will be infected or exposed to the flu virus, and therefore wont become immune to certain strains of the virus, he said. So the number of people who may have more severe infections next year is likely to be greater because immunity will be lower. Gandhinagar, April 24 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the central government has sanctioned 11 new PSA oxygen plants to be set up in Gujarat and they will be operational shortly. Shah was speaking in Gandhinagar while inaugurating a 280-litre PSA oxygen plant in Gandhinagar in an Ayurvedic hospital at Kolawada. "This plant will facilitate the 66 patients being treated here at the hospital and provide oxygen. The plant will provide 280 litre of oxygen per minute. Not only that, in case of emergency, we have also provided the hospital with oxygen cylinders, so that the patients do not suffer," the minister said. "Under the far-sighted leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his planning, we have started a special campaign to provide oxygen in the country through the PMCare Fund. "As a part of that, the central government has sanctioned 11 new PSA oxygen plants to be set up in Gujarat. All of them will be operational within a short time. Moreover, the surplus oxygen production volume will be provided to other states," said Shah. "Gujarat is an industrial state and so oxygen production is also more which will also be helpful to others," Shah added. The union minister lauded the efforts by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and his deputy Nitin Patel in availing government schemes to the rural citizens of his constituency in Gandhinagar. "The way Vijaybhai and Nitinbhai have carried out works during the first wave of Corona in Gujarat, the same way they have continued for the second wave also. I believe that we will defeat Corona even in the second wave and come out victorious and bring out Gujarat people and make them safe," said Shah. Shah, while briefing the media on Saturday said that a 1,200-bed hospital is being planned for covid patients in Gandhinagar at a helipad ground. This hospital, which will come up in cooperation with Tata Trust, will have 600 ICU beds. It will be set up by the DRDO, while the whole expense will be born by the Tata Trust. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text STRATFORD The newly created Stratford Veterans Museum in Boothe Park will be open from 10 a.m. to noon every Saturday to collect donated items from local veterans and stories from the veterans themselves. The project is being led by a committee of volunteers headed by Army veteran and former Bunnell High School football coach Bob Mastroni, who also chairs the Veterans Monument Preservation Commission for Academy Hill. Mastroni and fellow committee members and Marine veterans George Grom and Bill OBrien, who is also a Town Council member, were at the museum earlier this week readying the building. We realized that Academy Hill has the monuments which represent the fallen soldier, Mastroni said. We want to now tell the story of the fallen soldier. This is the place were going to tell the story. And the place for those who served and are still in the area to get their stories to a larger audience, the men said. Mastroni thanked the town for supporting the groups vision. Mayor (Laura) Hoydick has been instrumental in helping us, he said. Weve been talking about it for two years, trying to get a location in town, OBrien said. The two-story building at 5952 Main St., aka the summer cottage, was once occupied by a family who took care of the property, he said, and then functioned as a genealogy center, but more recently had been sitting unused. The story is this was moved from somewhere else on the property, but no one knows where it was originally, OBrien said. Costs thus far have been minimal, he said, supported mainly by donations, but the committee may ramp up fundraising efforts if operating expenses necessitate it. Planned exhibits include a wall memorializing the nearly 150 Stratford residents who died from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam, as well as a picture exhibit of every veteran from town that the committee can track down. Committee member Chuck Lindbergh contributed several dioramas to the museum. Progress updates, with a planned public opening by Veterans Day in November, are being shared on the museums Facebook page. Grom said the museum wants to serve as a place where kids can learn about military service, with an interactive exhibit simulating trench warfare from World War I and a flight simulator using the cockpit of a Corsair, thousands of which were built in Stratford during World War II. With a hands-on exhibit like that, he said, with luck well get a couple pilots a year out of it. At the same time, the museum will be a place first and foremost to tell veterans stories. A second-floor interview room will serve as a place for them to record testimonials that will be shared with later generations. Were not a war museum. Were a veterans museum, Mastroni said. We dont know if theres any other museum in Connecticut that has anything quite like this. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. After laying flowers at the Eternal Flame in Tsitsernakaberd Memorial, the President of the Central American Parliament Carolina Fernandez and her delegation toured the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute where they viewed the documents and exhibits on the Armenian Genocide. I believe that if we remember and commemorate, it would help that such events never happen again. The photographs, written memoirs at the museum are facts which cant be denied, she said. Afterwards Fernandez and her delegation visited Yerevan City Hall to participate in the opening of the Heritage in Danger: Artsakh exhibition. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan SEVEN people have been charged with a multitude of drug and weapons offences after police took down a ring that trafficked coke, meth and fentanyl in western Manitoba. SEVEN people have been charged with a multitude of drug and weapons offences after police took down a ring that trafficked coke, meth and fentanyl in western Manitoba. A seven-month probe, called Project Debris culminated on Tuesday with the seizure of controlled substances, 14 firearms and $17,000 from locations in Brandon and Rivers. Five additional subjects have warrants out for their arrest. Police also seized a stolen Honda Goldwing motorcycle from British Columbia and several motorcycles, including two Harley Davidsons, which are considered proceeds of crime. Mounties were aided by Brandon and Rivers police. At least eight workers were killed and hundreds were rescued after an avalanche struck a remote Himalayan region near the China border in northern India, officials said Saturday. Six people were in critical condition in hospital after authorities used helicopters to retrieve trapped workers in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand state. The avalanche is believed to have been triggered by glacier collapse in the Himalayas late Friday, two months after a devastating glacial burst in the same region left more than 200 dead. The Chamoli district chief said rescue and relief operations were continuing in the remote Niti Valley, close to the China border. Hundreds of workers are building roads in the region to beef up India's military infrastructure along the boundary. "So far eight bodies have been recovered from the incident site," Swati S. Bhadoriya, Chamoli district magistrate, told AFP. The officer said more than 385 workers had been moved to safety. Rescue efforts were halted late Friday because of heavy rain and snowfall battering the region since Monday. Video footage released by state authorities showed the aftermath of a huge snowslide in a canyon that had completely buried a large portion of one road on a mountain slope. India is undertaking massive infrastructure development, including roads in the challenging mountainous terrain, to improve connectivity to its Himalayan border with China. Experts blame the construction for landslides and avalanches. The ecologically sensitive Himalayan region is also severely affected by global warming and climate change, with hundreds of glaciers in the area melting at an alarming rate. At least 202 people were killed in February after a glacier burst sent rocks and soil down a valley in the same district. The deluge swept away roads, bridges and two hydroelectric power projects, burying scores of workers. ja/tw/axn YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Secretary General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro calls for not forgetting the victims of the Armenian Genocide and keeping their memory bright. 2020 was a difficult year for Armenians. Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, 2020 was a year of great sorrow. Just as that fateful year of 1915, that marked the beginning of a sad episode in world history, in which 1.5 million innocent Armenian lives were taken in their native land and in which the story of the Armenian Diaspora began, he said in a video address to ARMENPRESS. The OAS Secretary General said he joins in commemorating the Armenian Genocide, remembering each and every one of those lives systematically taken. Today I ask that we never forget them because they remind us every day of the responsibility we have to protect those whose rights and lives are threatened and are at risk of being eliminated as peoples. My friends, the facts of the Armenian Genocide are horrific, undisputed by historians and the international community. Their days bring us deep sadness, however, it was from their days that an independent Armenia was born. Thus, the Genocide also reminds us the strength of the Armenian character and the resilience of an ancient nation rich in history and culture, a nation that more than a hundred years later, even the midst of the pandemic and the military threat of neighbors, still thrives, still grows and is still alive, the OAS Secretary General said, adding: As Armenian-American novelist William Saroyan once said no matter the challenge, no matter the threat, no matter the attempts to destroy the Armenian nation, this will be an impossible task because when two of them meet anywhere in the world, they will create a new Armenia, Luis Almagro said. Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan French police officials block off a street after a female police employee was stabbed to death by a Tunisian man at a police station in Rambouillet, southwest of Paris, on April 23, 2021. (Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images) French Leaders Condemn Terrorist Attack After Policewoman Stabbed to Death PARISThe killing of a female police employee in a Paris commuter town on Friday was an attack on the French Republic, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Saturday. The attacker, a French resident of Tunisian origin, stabbed the police administrative worker, a mother of two, at a police station in Rambouillet, just south of Paris. The attacker was shot dead by police. Authorities have not given a motive for the killing. President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday France had been the victim of a terrorist attack. Once again, the Republic has been attacked. Once again, the French state has been threatened. We will not let this go by, Castex said on Saturday, speaking to reporters from the southern city of Toulouse. BFM TV said Castex would hold a meeting later on Saturday in Paris with other government ministers. Frances anti-terrorism prosecutor said he was leading the investigation because the assailant had previously scouted out the site and because of what he said during the attack. A judicial source close to the investigation said the attacker had shouted Allahu Akbar, or God is greatest. There have been several attacks by Islamist militants in recent years in France On Nov. 13, 2015, bombings and shootings at the Bataclan theatre and other sites around Paris killed 130 people, and in July 2016 an Islamist militant drove a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86. Last October, a French schoolteacher was beheaded in Conflans, another commuter suburb near Paris, by a Chechen teenager who was then shot dead by police. By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Caroline Pailliez Over 4,000 Boko Haram fighters have deserted the extremist group, signalling a huge shrink in the rank of the terrorists, a report by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has said. According to the report, the deserters from the four Lake Chad Basin countries (Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria) are leaving for various reasons which include safety concerns. Boko Haram and other terror groups have terrorised the Lake Chad Basin countries for over 10 years. The unending terror war has displaced thousands of nationals of the four countries. The crisis has also crippled economic activities in the once booming fish market in the region. Thousands of people have been kidnapped by the terrorists and many killed. Why fighters are deserting According to the 28-page report, while some of the insurgents joined willingly, others were conscripted or abducted and held captive in Boko Haram strongholds. The report said although accurate figures were difficult to find, their data suggests at least 2,400 desertions in Chad, 1,000 in Nigeria, 584 in Cameroon and 243 in Niger. Motives for leaving Boko Haram include individual circumstances, safety concerns and the groups internal dynamics, among others. On the individual level, some people disengage because their expectations based on religious ideals or economic opportunities have not been met. For others, poor living conditions in the camps are a factor. The exposure to intensifying military offensives such as air strikes by Lake Chad Basin countries and the effective deployment of the Multinational Joint Task Force make the situation untenable, the report partly read. It also said the terrorists also impose harsh restrictions on members, along with permanent surveillance and corporal punishment for those suspected or convicted of deviating from the groups rules. These rules include immorality, stealing, drug abuse, etc. Within the group, the uneven application of rules fosters a sense of injustice. In some cases, the death penalty is applied. Inter-faction rivalries and violence have also caused people to leave. It further revealed that the uncertainty surrounding the fate of people who leave Boko Haram discourages others from making the same decision. The third problem is that communities arent centrally involved in reintegration processes even though they facilitate disengagement and are the first point of contact for ex-Boko Haram associates, the report stated Part of what the report recommended was that desertions need to be effectively managed. The way in which ex-Boko Haram associates are received and screened must be predictable and based on standard reception-screening-profiling mechanisms, it said. Regional standards and protocols along with enabling legislation should guide demobilisation in the four Lake Chad Basin countries. ADVERTISEMENT Specific policies on the role of women and children in violent extremism are also needed. To build societal resilience to groups like Boko Haram, community participation should be prioritised throughout the rehabilitation process, including design, implementation and evaluation. Through cooperation and sharing lessons, countries in the Lake Chad Basin region can develop national and regional strategies that work. ISS Speaks The ISS describes itself as a research-focussed African organisation committed to human security on the continent. Teniola Tayo, a researcher at the Lake Chad Basin Institute for Security Studies, while commenting on the report via sms, said the various countries concerned have welcomed the report. Yes we had a closed dissemination webinar with stakeholders engaged in DDR in the four countries. They all welcomed the findings, she said. She said her organisation will be exploring ways to follow up with the countries individually. When asked about the accuracy of their figures, another official of the organisation, Malik Samuel, stated that they (figures) were official. The figures of deserters quoted in the report were obtained from government authorities in the region. For instance, the figures from Nigeria were obtained from Operation Safe Corridors, he said. He said the major problem identified during the research was the difficulty of accurate figures of deserters because there were some who tried to leave the group and re-join the society without government intervention. In these cases, you see that it is difficult to get the actual numbers of deserters, he said. Shattering all previous records, on Saturday reported a record single-day spike of 14,097 new Covid-19 cases, taking its overall tally to 4,81,737, while 152 deaths in the past 24 hours mounted its 6,171. The state has reported as many as 1,74,039 Covid cases in April so far, at an average of 7,251 cases per day. Ahmedabad reported the maximum number of cases on Saturday at 5,683, followed by Surat (2,686), Vadodara (701), Jamnagar (639), Rajkot (500), Mehsana (430), Bhavnagar (310), Banaskantha (291), Gandhinagar (286), Junagadh (248), Patan (212), Kutch (190), Bharuch (154), Kheda (146), Sabarkantha (144), Navsari (143), Dahod (126), Mahisagar (110), Gir-Somnath (107), Panchmahals and Valsad (105 each), Tapi (104), Amreli and Surendranagar (98 each), Anand (88), Narmada (71), Aravalli (67), Morbi (65), Porbandar (49), Devbhumi Dwarka (44), Dangs (39), Botad (33) and Chotta Udepur (25). Of the 152 fatalities reported from across the state on Saturday, Surat led the chart with 28 deaths, followed by Ahmedabad (26), Jamnagar (15), Vadodara (14), Rajkot (12), Bhavnagar (8), Sabarkantha and Gandhinagar (6 each), Morbi (5), Junagadh and Mehsana (4 each), Dangs and Banaskantha (3 each), Patan, Mahisagar, Aravalli, Amreli, Devbhumi Dwarka and Valsad (2 each), and Tapi, Anand, Porbandar and Botad (1 each). Gujarat's mortality rate presently stands at 1.28 per cent. The state presently has 1,07,594 active cases, of which the condition of 1,07,198 persons is stated to be stable, while 396 patients are on ventilator support. Gujarat's rate of recovery rate fell slightly to 76.38 per cent on Saturday. Around 93 lakh people in have been administered the first dose of Covid vaccine, while 18.71 lakh people have received the second shot, as per the state health department. --IANS amc/arm (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Mayor of Portland says he is determined to reclaim the city from the 'anarchistic mob' that has inflicted 'criminal intimidation and violence' on its streets over the past year. Mayor Ted Wheeler called on the pubic to help him identify the people responsible for the rioting and destruction Portland so he could 'unmask them, arrest them and prosecute them.' In a news conference on Friday addressing continuing violence in the city, Wheeler praised BLM leaders for showing 'the courage to stand up to this mob' and said that all Portland residents should do the same. 'Together we can make a stand and take our city back,' he added. Police chase demonstrators after a riot was declared during a protest against the killing of Daunte Wright on April 12. The Mayor of Portland says he is determined to reclaim the city from the 'anarchistic mob' that has inflicted 'criminal intimidation and violence' on its streets Mayor Ted Wheeler called on the pubic to help him identify the people responsible for the rioting and destruction Portland so he could 'unmask them, arrest them and prosecute them' The city has announced that it will extend its state of emergency through Monday amid fears of continuing violence over the weekend. The mayor said that the community needs to resume their lives but 'self-described anarchists who engage in regular criminal destruction don't want things to open up, to recover.' 'They want to burn, they want to bash... they want to intimidate, they want to assault,' he continued, referencing the nearly $20,000 worth of damage caused to a local Boys and Girls Club in the north east of the city. Portland has been the site of frequent protests, many involving violent clashes between officers and demonstrators, since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. As well as images showing peaceful protest in the city, photos also have emerged showing officers emerging from clouds of tear gas, dozens of people dressed in all black and throwing fireworks at officers and rows of businesses with plywood covering windows. Activists march towards the Multnomah County Sheriff's office during a protest against the killing of Daunte Wright on April 12. Protests over the police killing in Minneapolis soon spiraled out of control in the city's downtown Federal officers arrest a demonstrator during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland in July 2020. Portland has been the site of frequent protests since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020 Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler has previously decried what he described as a segment of violent agitators who detract from the message of police accountability. In the news conference on Friday, he said that he supported police using all legal strategies including kettling, in which officers surround a crowd to keep it in a particular area. Last month, police used the controversial containment tactic during a protest that turned violent in the city Pearl District. About 100 people marched through the area, smashing windows and blocking the street using chairs and tables from outdoor dining areas. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler speaks to Black Lives Matter protesters in July 2020. Wheeler praised BLM leaders for showing 'the courage to stand up' against rioters and said that all Portland residents should do the same Some threw rocks at officers and one person threw a full can of beer. Officers discovered numerous items left behind by the group including a crowbar, hammers, bear spray, slugging weapon with rocks, high impact slingshot and knives. At least 13 people were charged with crimes. Over the summer, there were demonstrations for more than 100 straight days. On April 13 this year, a crowd set a fire outside the city's police union headquarters following recent fatal police shootings. Protests over the police killings of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago and Daunte Wright in Minneapolis soon spiraled out of control in the city's downtown, with rioters lighting fires and vandalizing businesses. Ewan McGregor looked suave as he transformed into the iconic designer Halston in the first images of the upcoming series about his life. Ryan Murphy's Netflix show will chart the rise of the 70s fashion icon who lived a wild life as part of the New York party scene before tragically dying in 1990 two years after testing positive for AIDS. On Friday - which would have been Halston's 89th birthday - the streaming service announced that the limited series will premiere on May 14. Exciting: Ewan McGregor looked suave as he transformed into the iconic designer Halston in the first images of the upcoming series In the new shots Ewan, 49, donned a white suit and huge sunglasses as he smoked a cigarette in the back of a limousine alongside a host of glamorous friends. In another image he looked suave in a black roll neck with slicked back hair as he posed beside actress Krysta Rodriguez who plays his close friend Liza Minnelli in the series. Netflix also released a set of polaroid photos of the rest of the cast including Rebecca Dayan as Elsa Peretti, Bill Pullman as David Mahoney and Gian Franco Rodriguez as Victor Hugo. New series: In another image he looked suave in a black roll neck with slicked back hair as he posed beside actress Krysta Rodriguez who plays his close friend Liza Minnelli in the show In February Ewan revealed he made his own trousers while getting into character for his new role. Admitting that it 'was a great challenge', Ewan said he completely embraced the task by trying to 'embodying him' and 'loved' portraying Halston's 'fascinating' life. Ewan told VMAN: 'There are so many sides to somebody, aren't there? I felt like I just had to embody him, feel like him, like Halston. Icon: Ryan Murphy's Netflix show will chart the life of the 70s fashion icon who lived a wild life as part of the New York party scene before tragically dying in 1990 two years after testing positive for AIDS 'There was his physicality, his accent, and his voice. All of which were sort of far away from me. And I loved that about it, as an actor, I thought that was a great challenge.' Chatting about his experience of getting into character, Ewan said: 'I spent time in the wardrobe workrooms with different tailors and different people. 'And I was shown how Halston made a dress from a piece of fabric. He was a genius. Glam: Netflix also released a set of polaroid photos of the rest of the cast including Rebecca Dayan as Elsa Peretti 'I had a sewing machine and bought all these threads and fabrics and materials. I made a pair of trousers for myself; I'm very proud of them.' The actor continued to gush over the iconic designer's style of design, saying that when he started wearing similar he began to feel like the character. Ewan said: 'I've never worn clothes like that. He was so specific. In the '60s, he wore suits and ties and colored shirts and stuff, then in the 1970s, he started wearing turtlenecks and bronzer and pulling his hair back. The party scene: Gian Franco Rodriguez will play the part of Victor Hugo in the upcoming series 'All of that certainly made me feel transformed into him.' Ewan added that he loved telling the dramatic story of Halston's life, which saw the fashion star throw wild parties and become friends with society's elite. He said: 'But the storyline is what I love about it. There's something poetic about his story, what happened to him. And it's so fascinating. I don't need to see somebody murdered in a piece of drama to be engaged in it.' Ewan first began filming the Netflix show earlier this year, but filming was delayed due to the coronavirus crisis. Stylish: Krysta Rodriguez (pictured) will play Halston's close friend Liza Minnelli in the show Famous faces: The life of American fashion illustrator Joe Eula will also be followed in the Netflix show Halston, real name Roy Halston Frowick, enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame in the 70s as he became the designer of choice, and confidante, to some of the most famous women in Hollywood. The designer began his career in Chicago, and designed the pillbox hat that Jackie Kennedy wore during her husband's inauguration in 1960. Moving to New York in 1966, the designer made his first ready-to-wear line, which led to him becoming one of the country's most influential fashion designers. Creatives: Joel Schumacher was an American film director and producer and his life will be part of the series His shirt dress designs and beaded kaftans were a hit so he became the poster child for the minimally opulent fashion of the disco-scene, and prolific artist Andy Warhol even called his work the 'the art form of the '70s'. In 1973 he signed off his fashion empire for $12 million, and the opening of Studio 54 helped boost his success as he was regularly seen with starlets like Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli or Bianca Jagger on his arm when they went out to the venue. Of his inspiration for designs, he told Vogue in 1980: 'What we did, perhaps more than anybody else in the business, was to relax fashion and to create an American point of view that wasn't there on that level before.' The real designer: Halston, real name Roy Halston Frowick, tragically died from complications with AIDs in 1990 (pictured in 1970) Iconic: Halston's shirt dress designs and beaded kaftans were a hit, and prolific artist Andy Warhol even called his work the 'the art form of the 70s' (pictured with Liza Minnelli in 1975) Thanks to his success Halston embarked on a life of debauchery, which saw him host sex parties, sleep with male prostitutes and serve them steak as a form of foreplay, as well as watch Moroccan sex shows that featured bestiality, according to author Steven Gaines. Gaines, who wrote the book Simply Halston that the show is based on, said of the designer's wild sex life: 'Being trash was venerated. The trashier you could be, the more you could get laid, the more drugs you could take.' The author went on to detail how Studio 54 co-owner Steve Rubell would hand out quaaludes during Halston's wild parties in his lavish New York pad, and how the designer would host man-on-man orgies alongside his on-again-off-again partner Victor Hugo. Life of fame: Halston was regularly seen with starlets like Elizabeth Taylor (pictured in 1977), Liza Minnelli or Bianca Jagger on his arm when they went out to Studio 54 Warhol even took photos of the sex parties from the side, while publicist R. Couri Hay claimed that 'Victor had the keys to the safe with the cocaine.' Going on to detail his affair with Halston when he was 17-years-old, Hay revealed: 'He looked at me like I was a really yummy ice cream cone. It took a year before I succumbed and slept with him.' However, Halston's life of excess soon took its toll, as he tested positive for AIDS in 1988 and tragically died in 1990, in San Francisco. The new Netflix show, created by American Horror Story's Murphy, is a limited series. Offering transcription services of mint quality, ScriVi is an initiative led by visually-impaired youth that strives to provide decent-paying work for disabled people in Vietnam, who are struggling in a job market rigged against them from the start. ScriVi is currently a collective of 19 blind and visually impaired transcriptionists who take on assignments from reporters, writers and research initiatives all over the world. Fateful encounter ScriVis story started two years ago from a series of encounters between Bui Thi Thanh Tuyen, a PhD candidate in social work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Illinois, United States, and aspiring youths with disabilities in Vietnam. In 2018, as she interviewed some 30 students with disabilities to collect material for her PhD dissertation, Tuyen was struck by multiple stories of unjust recruitment. Despite proving sufficient competency, disabled youth in Vietnam can still be booted from the recruitment process as soon as the employers see their conditions stated on the health certificates. They told me that all they want is two months to try out for the job. Had they had that chance and failed it, they would not feel indignant, Tuyen recalled. Fast forward to 2020, Tuyen was allotted a US$600 fund to transcribe her 2018 interview tapes. She immediately thought of commissioning Nghi, a part-time transcriptionist with visual impairment that she once met in Hanoi. Nghi took the job and turned in excellent work, which gave Tuyen all the more confidence in her vision of a new project: Researchers can have their transcription work done, while disabled youths get fair compensation for their expertise. In November 2020, ScriVi was officially set in motion, with Tuyen as the mentor, while Nguyen Thanh Vinh, 27, and Nguyen Phuong Anh, 23, two youths with visual impairment, serve as the coordinators. Making it work As the team is dispersed in various locations in Vietnam, Vinh and Phuong Anh found a way to get the whole structure working on digital platforms. According to Vinh, new commissions are announced in a messaging group for transcriptionists to sign up. Subsequently, members will get listen-only access to the tapes via Google Drive, and their completed transcript, once done, must be sent to Tuyen or Anh for review before handing in to customers. Each hour of tape in Vietnamese would take a member of ScriVi around 7-8 hours to unravel, or even more if the sounds get muzzled from noise, overlapping speeches or inconsistent volume. For conversations in Vietnamese that use English words, members are required to note the timestamps down and refer them to Tuyen or Vinh the most experienced transcriptionists in the group for answers. However, the most challenging obstacle part of the work lies in the proofreading. Normally, the job proves a piece of cake for Tuyen, as she, a sighted person, can simply use the built-in tool in Microsoft Word to find the errors. Yet, a person with visual impairment like Anh has to go extra lengths, using screen reading software as of VoiceOver on MacOS or NVDA on Windows to hear every character in the text before correcting errors. Bookkeeping is also deemed a conundrum for ScriVi, as spreadsheets have never been a strong suit of workers with visual impairment - even for the most adept with Microsoft Excel like Vinh. Most of this work falls on Vinh and Anh, but the two decided to take zero management fees in order to give their transcriptionists better compensation for their hard work. As young workers with disabilities themselves, Vinh and Anh see their work at ScriVi as a means to help their community get fair treatment in a job market that often works against them. Khanh Van, a ScriVi member, joins a training session via Zoom in this supplied photo. Self-empowerment Within just a few months from their launch, ScriVi has already made themselves known for a level of professionalism and thoroughness that is matched by none other on the market. Customers coming in contact with the team would receive details on all the nooks and crannies of the process, including post-service support and information and security. Otherwise, they can just leave a comment on ScriVi's Facebook page to get their inquiries diligently answered by team members. Vinh talks about ScriVi with lots of zeal as he believes that the project is an opportunity for persons with disabilities to self-empower. The scope of this project might stay small, but it must operate with sustainability so members with disabilities can equip themselves with new skills, which in turn increases their self-confidence and reinforces the position of the community in the eyes of potential employers. ScriVi leaders therefore are organizing regular training to increase members capacity from transcription skills, assistive technology to professionalism. For their future plan, ScriVi is working to extend their service to transcribing audio in English and translation. The demand is there but due to the lack of human resources with high capacity, ScriVi could not provide it just yet. The group did consider the lightning-speed development of artificial intelligence (AI) too. While many key players such as Google or Microsoft (for English) and FPT (for Vietnamese) have entered the race of speech-to-text solutions with products of high accuracy, ScriVi believes that they can still develop in their own niches, namely transcription of local Vietnamese accents which are very diverse and do not receive as much research and investment. With their commitment to a high service standard, ScriVi is earning for themselves a group of loyal customers, one of them is Hanoi-based journalist Le Giang Lam. It is essential for those working in journalism like myself that I can capture the speakers emotion and attitude expressed through words like umm, uh, even swearwords and they can do it all. They can also transcribe other sounds from the environment like sounds of doors opening or the sound of plates clanking. Looking at what ScriVi has been achieving so far, Tuyen couldnt hide her pride in Vinh, whom she entrusted with the leadership position right from the early days. In the time that I am busy with my thesis, Vinh has taken the lead to get things done from planning to contacting every single member. I only need to put things forward, he would know how to get them done. For Tuyen, the story of Vinh and of ScriVi are solid examples, proving how brightly persons with disabilities can shine in the labor market provided that they are judged fairly and accurately. The only thing they need is an opportunity. Vinh holds a firm belief that communities of people with disabilities need to be more decisive to prove their real personal values in the labor market. Vinh holds a firm belief that communities of people with disabilities need to be more decisive to prove their real personal values in the labor market. At ScriVi, we understand that the lack of opportunities for people with visual impairment is not necessarily the intention of anyone in particular, but sometimes it is only a result of the hesitance caused by inadequate relationships or those relationships between people with visual impairments and sighted ones are not close enough, preventing deep understanding between the two from growing. So we believe that instead of complaint, we better build the foundation of such healthy relationships to develop by proving our true capacity. Vinh wrote in his first post on ScriVi Facebook page. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Bill Maher has been accused of 'transphobia' after he mocked Caitlyn Jenner's run for California governor saying her slogan is to 'take the 'sack' out of Sacramento'. Jenner, 71, filed paperwork to launch her campaign and formally announced her run on social media Friday under the slogan 'Caitlyn For California' - in a move that sparked an instant backlash from the likes of celebrities and LGBTQ+ activists online. Maher waded into the drama on his 'Real Time with Bill Maher' show Friday night, with Jenner bearing the brunt of the comedian's jokes. Bill Maher has been accused of 'transphobia' after he mocked Caitlyn Jenner's run for California governor saying her slogan is to 'take the 'sack' out of Sacramento' Jenner (above) filed paperwork to launch her campaign and formally announced her run on social media Friday under the slogan 'Caitlyn For California' 'How about this for news: Caitlyn Jenner is running for governor,' he said. 'I know you think of her as a reality show star, but come on, people change. She is trans, rested and ready.' Maher then made a cruel jibe at the reality star, who revealed in 2015 that she was transgender. 'She's got a great slogan: take the 'sack' out of Sacramento,' he said, as the audience laughed. He continued with his segment poking fun at her Republican views. Jenner voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and has filled her campaign team with former Trump aides. 'But Caitlyn Jenner is a very lifelong Republican. I love that about her,' he joked. 'Wasn't always sure about the man-woman thing, but low capital-gains taxes, born that way!' Maher continued: 'And a lot of people, of course, are saying, 'Isn't it strange for a trans woman to be in a party that is passing anti-trans laws all over the country?' Maher's comments sparked uproar on social media as people hit out at his 'transphobia' and 'bigotry and hate' 'And Caitlyn said, 'Yeah, I get that. It's just something about being in a party that doesn't respect me that makes me feel like I'm home with the Kardashians.' Maher's comments sparked uproar on social media as people hit out at his 'transphobia' and 'bigotry and hate.' 'There is no limit to Bill Maher's appalling bigotry and hate. @HBO should be ashamed to continue his presence on the air,' one person wrote. 'As a gay man who can't stand the self-serving egomania of @Caitlyn_Jenner, I'm fully behind the #SayNoToJenner movement. But there are ways to oppose her without being transphobic. Looking at you, @billmaher. #LGBTQ,' added another person. This isn't the first time Maher has hit out at Jenner. He also mocked her in the past saying: 'Bruce Jenner is an idiot. Adding t**s didn't make him a genius.' Jenner first became famous as Bruce Jenner, a Team USA gold medal-winning decathlete, then stepped back into the spotlight as Kim Kardashian's step-father on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Caitlyn's announcement on Friday on Instagram that she is running for governor While she is yet to confirm if she is running as a Republican or as an Independent, Jenner has surrounded herself with a team of former Donald Trump aides including his ex-campaign manager Brad Parscale and Tony Fabrizio - who worked for Trump in 2016 and 2020 as a pollster She revealed in 2015 that she was transgender and had started living as Caitlyn. Jenner announced her run Friday on social media vowing to 'turn this state around and finally clean up the damage Newsom has done' if she is elected in the recall election. While she is yet to confirm if she is running as a Republican or as an Independent, Jenner has surrounded herself with a team of former Donald Trump aides including his ex-campaign manager Brad Parscale and Caroline Wren - one of the organizers of the Stop The Steal rally on January 6 that escalated into the Capitol riot. Jenner used to be a vocal Trump supporter and was once spotted sporting a MAGA cap. She later sought to distance herself from his administration due to his policies discriminating against transgender people. The confirmation of her run sparked an instant backlash among the American public, celebrities and even the LGBTQ+ community. Many people took to social media to say it is a 'hard pass' that they would vote for her while the phrase 'HELL NO' began trending. Passengers have returned to Charleston International and so have plans to expand the airport. A year after the 96 percent plunge in travelers last spring forced deep spending cuts and halted preliminary engineering work to expand the terminal, officials have decided to go ahead with those plans. The reason: They said they don't won't to be caught off guard when passenger growth returns to pre-pandemic levels within a couple of years. A freeze on spending and hiring has been lifted as well. For the next budget year beginning in July, though, officials aren't projecting a full return of air travelers. Next year's revenue projections are based on 75 percent of pre-COVID flying patterns. "We took a conservative approach," airport CEO Elliott Summey said. "We think we can beat that." Officials believe the passenger tally before the virus outbreak was roughly equally divided between tourist and business travelers. Locked down for a year, travel-starved vacationers are starting to fly again, according to most major airlines. It's less clear whether business travelers will book the same number of flights now that so many of them have learned to work remotely. "We had to make our best presumptions," said Doug Boston, the airport's retiring finance director. "Everything looks great now, and there is a lot of pent-up demand. ... But business travel may never come back like it was." 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! The proposed budget for the new fiscal year is $64 million, up by $7 million over the current spending plan, which was slashed by $25 million because of the sudden air-travel slowdown that began about 13 months ago. In January 2020, the airport projected the number of passengers would surpass 5 million for the entire calendar year. The actual number came in at less than 2 million, a 10-year low. The airport hasn't made traffic projections for 2021, but for the next fiscal year it's expecting to handle about 3.6 million passengers, which should will help boost the bottom line. The budget resumes engineering work tied to a proposed terminal expansion to accommodate more airlines and a future third concourse for international flights. "We are still preserving our cash and keeping an eye on our expenses," Boston said. "But we don't want to be caught flat-footed. We want to be ready when the growth comes." The budget also includes about $12 million for paying down debt from the $200 million terminal expansion completed in 2016 and an $88 million parking deck that opened in November. The garage has sat mostly empty for the past six months, though part of the structure has been used for COVID-19 testing. "It's nice to see cars in the new deck," said Helen Hill, chairwoman of the Charleston County Aviation Authority and CEO of tourism agency Explore Charleston. (Adds background, health minister comment) By Joori Roh SEOUL, April 24 (Reuters) - South Korea said on Saturday it signed a contract with Pfizer Inc to purchase an additional 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine amid fears of spiking infections at home. That brings the current amount of Pfizer vaccines to 66 million doses, it said in a statement. It added that it had secured a total 192 million doses of vaccines, including those from Moderna Inc, AstraZeneca PLC, Johnson & Johnson's and Novavax. "The government has acquired COVID-19 vaccines large enough to vaccinate approximately 100 million people...(which) is double the entire population of South Korea," Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol told a briefing. "(The government) will make all out efforts to achieve its promise to vaccinate 12 million people by end of June and achieve herd immunity by November," he said. The deal comes a week after Pfizer agreed to supply additional vaccines to Japan by the end of September, which would be enough to inoculate all people over 16. Nearly 2.2 million South Koreans out of a population of 52 million have received their first vaccine dose, bringing the vaccination rate to just above 4%. The government's goal is to reach 70% by November. The low rate compares with a 41% rate in the United States, according to Reuters data. A Gallup Korea survey on Friday showed for the first time negative views outweighing positive views over the government's handling of the pandemic and vaccinations - 43% had positive views versus 85% last May, when daily infections were in the single digits. The country reported 785 new cases as of Friday midnight, bringing the total tally to 118,243 and 1,812 deaths. (Reporting by Joori Roh; Additional reporting by Sangmi Cha; Editing by Jacqueline Wong) YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn has addressed a video message on the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, stating that everything possible should be done to prevent the repetition of history. The minister said this year he cannot physically attend the commemoration events in Armenia for known reasons, but assured that the Armenian people are in his souls today. He remembered his visit paid to Armenia three years ago. When three years ago in March 2018 I visited the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, I could feel the intense emotional pain this monument had. I also recall feeling deeply moved by some of the pictures on display at the Memorial Museum. The experience made a lasting impression on me. We must not and we will not forget the hundreds of thousands of lives that were lost. They remind us of the atrocities humans are capable of in their darkest moments. They remind us of the need to do what is in our power to prevent history from repeating itself, the Luxembourg FM said. He regretted that 106th years after the Armenian Genocide the mass murders and genocides still continue. Jean Asselborn expressed his solidarity to the Armenian people, stating that the recent war in Nagorno Karabakh has brought new hardships to many families. At this moment when Armenian citizens unite in their consciousness of their common painful history, it is my hope that your nation will find the strength to come together and to build its own future, a future of peace, democracy and prosperity, the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg said. Editing by Aneta Harutyunyan This year our dine and drink business locations throughout the Gorge have suffered with closures. You can help support your favorites by purchasing take out and gift cards. Many of these business will offer curb-side delivery and some will deliver to your home. Lets keep the Gorge going strong! Google will join forces with tech rivals this week to try to block a 750million claim that could trigger a raft of class action cases against social media giants. The company will appear in the Supreme Court to argue that former Which? director Richard Lloyd should not be allowed to sue it for allegedly illegally tracking the internet habits of 4.4 million iPhone users in 2011 and 2012. Facebook, YouTube and TikTok are facing similar court cases over the alleged misuse of personal data. Lloyd launched a class action case against Google in 2017 in an attempt to win damages for every iPhone user allegedly affected. He claims Google bypassed privacy settings to track users' internet histories. Battle: Google has drafted in powerful tech lobbyists that also represent companies including Facebook and Twitter Google has tried to stop the case by arguing that each iPhone user should have to bring an individual claim. Google succeeded in the High Court, but the Court of Appeal allowed the case to go forward. The company has now drafted in powerful tech lobbyists that also represent companies including Facebook and Twitter. The court will hear statements from both Tech UK and the Internet Association an influential group working for the tech giants in Washington. Lloyd's team will be supported by statements from UK data regulator the Information Commissioner and charities that promote children's rights and access to justice. 'I've rarely seen such a big opportunity to hold one of the world's most powerful companies to account,' said Lloyd. 'The law is there to stop businesses misusing millions of consumers' personal data, but we need the means to exercise our legal rights.' Tech giants face paying out hundreds of millions of pounds in damages in similar claims if the Supreme Court allows class action cases to go ahead. There are at least five class action cases resting on the judgment. Facebook faces two cases over its Cambridge Analytica data scandal in 2015. Lawyers have also filed cases against YouTube, TikTok and Marriott hotels. Emily Cox, head of media disputes at Stewarts law firm, said: 'We don't have a class action system in the UK like there is in the US. People have to issue their own claim. This situation is exciting because it might change that.' A Google spokesman said: 'These claims relate to events that took place a decade ago and that we addressed at the time. We look forward to making our case in court.' It comes after the owner of The Mail on Sunday launched a legal action against Google over claims it exploits its dominance in digital advertising. The parent company of MailOnline and DailyMail.com said the tech giant 'manipulates' search results to 'punish publishers'. Google called the claims 'completely inaccurate'. LONDON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese side expresses its strong condemnation of a motion related to Xinjiang passed by the British House of Commons, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Britain said Thursday. "A handful of British MPs (Members of Parliament) cooked up this motion on Xinjiang in disregard of facts and common sense with a view to discrediting and attacking China. This move gravely violates international law and the basic norms governing international relations and grossly interferes in China's internal affairs. The Chinese side firmly opposes this and expresses its strong condemnation," said the spokesperson in a statement. The spokesperson stressed that the so-called "genocide" against Uygurs in Xinjiang is a flat-out lie which violates international law. "No country, organization, or individual is qualified or entitled to determine arbitrarily that another country has committed 'genocide'. In international relations, no country should use this accusation in a political game of rumor-mongering and malicious manipulation," said the spokesperson. The so-called "genocide" is an outrageous smear against the development achievements of Xinjiang and China's Xinjiang-related policies, said the spokesperson. The Xinjiang-related issues are in essence about countering violent terrorism, radicalization and separatism, and they bear on China's sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security, said the spokesperson. Thanks to the concerted efforts of people of all ethnic groups, there has been no violent terrorist case in Xinjiang for over four years in a run. The spokesperson noted that the population of Uygurs in Xinjiang has kept growing in recent years. People of all ethnic groups in the region fully enjoy the rights to life and development, said the spokesperson, adding that the spoken and written languages, traditional cultures and customs of all ethnic groups are well protected and carried forward. "It is a fact that there is no 'genocide' in Xinjiang and China has never committed the so-called 'crimes against humanity'. The 'genocide' smear campaign against Xinjiang is sheer political manipulation in the name of human rights," said the spokesperson. China strongly opposes Britain's blatant interference in China's internal affairs and remains unwavering in its determination to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests, said the spokesperson. "For those British MPs making groundless accusation of "genocide" against Xinjiang, it is rather the grave domestic violation of human rights here in the UK that calls for deep reflection and rectification," said the spokesperson. The spokesperson noted that a few days ago, the United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent strongly condemned the report by Britain's Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, pointing out that the report distorted and falsified the historical and current facts of racism in Britain. "Whitewashing domestic human rights issues while at the same time staging human rights farces concerning other countries smack of sheer hypocrisy and double standards," said the spokesperson. "We urge the UK side to recognize the development of Xinjiang, have a right understanding on Xinjiang-related issues, take concrete measures to respect China's core interests and major concerns and immediately right its wrong moves," said the spokesperson. Here's a preview of culture war returning to Kansas City as the deadline for the new American dress codes loom. The latest . . . KCTV5: New Clay County emergency order doesn't require social distancing, but masks still required indoors Even better . . . Check this quick and easy guide to pandemic precautions throughout the metro area as JoCo reaches a decision next week and the KCMO deadline for renewal is May 1st. Fox4: KC metro emergency orders - See new guidance on masks, distancing and occupancy limits Quick take for Friday . . . Elected officials across the metro seem to prefer keeping masks and social distancing orders. They cite health data and numbers. Also, whilst rebuking any conspiracy and realizing that COVID is real, we would remiss if we didn't mention that pandemic protocols effectively work at preventing participation in local government, allow voters to be easily muted and keep the plebs at a safe distance . . . That luxury has been enjoyed by elected officials from BOTH sides of the aisle for more than a year. Developing . . . Antonia Rubio is the president and founder of Ayfem, the Association of People with Multiple Sclerosis and their Families, of Alhaurin de la Torre. It was created in 2017 to raise awareness of the illness. Antonia says people are often afraid to admit that they have it after they have been diagnosed, especially young people, because they are scared they will miss out on job opportunities. How did the association start? I started Ayfem in 2017, after many years in which I had turned my back on the illness. When I was 40 I had a very serious episode. That's when I started to meet other people with the same problem, and I worked with associations in Madrid. We even did the Camino de Santiago. I saw there was a way of keeping the spirit alive and being able to help other people who were like me. That's when I created this association, to bring together those in the same situation. We now have a bigger network, although there are people who still don't want to admit that they have this illness. It's hard to do that, especially if you're young, which is when most people are diagnosed. They are afraid they won't be given job opportunities. The association is there to encourage them and their families, because that is something very important. I suffer from this illness, but so do my husband and my children. They have to modify their life in order to look after me when I am ill. What did it mean to you, being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis? I was diagnosed with this illness when I was 25. I didn't accept it. I didn't want to tell anybody. At that time, nobody knew anything about multiple sclerosis. I was told that I wouldn't be able to have children, that I would have to live in a bubble, but I said I was going to be stronger than the illness was. I withdrew into myself and went for 17 years with no treatment. I only went to the hospital when I was having a bad episode. When I was 40 I had a very serious one, and that's when I started to take medication. What projects does the association have at the moment? Many of our members don't leave their home, because they are afraid of catching the coronavirus as we are autoimmune. As we can't organise any events for people to attend, we have created a series of online meetings each month, where we talk to experts on neurology, nutrition, psychology... it is really helpful for us. Coexistence with others is very important so nobody feels alone. Next year, we want to organise a photography workshop. Is there still a lack of awareness about multiple sclerosis? Yes, there is. The first thing people think is that it is an illness 'of the bones'. Someone with multiple sclerosis needs to know that they are not alone and they don't have to be afraid. You have to carry on. It's really important for them to find support and I always invite anyone I meet with multiple sclerosis to join our association. The only condition is that you need to be positive. It's also important to find an activity you like: flamenco has helped me a great deal. A year ago my legs were shaking and I couldn't coordinate my hands. Now I have taken part in a competition and passed through to the Andalusian stage. It is very hard to take that step, you have to be really strong to do it, but you can overcome everything when you try. What are Ayfem's objectives for the future? We want people to know more about us. We are preparing a short documentary with all our members, to raise awareness. We have a lot of energy and are very keen to do things. Our biggest project for the future is without a doubt to do the Camino de Santiago, with financial help so we can adapt the trip to the needs of our members. We're always on the prowl for new sugary confections popping up around the Bay Area, whether it's a laid-off chef selling pastries out of his friend's apartment or a couple of friends who decided to launch an ice cream brand named after their food-loving dog. From Nutter Butter-inspired shortbread cookies to dulce de leche doughnuts, we've got your sweet tooth covered. Here are four new dessert pop-ups to try around San Francisco and Oakland. Drool When Nick Muncy dove headfirst into his pop-up business, Drool, he knew that he wanted to foster his 10 years of culinary experience as a pastry chef and offer a dessert box that combined high-end sweets with a healthy dose of nostalgia. Muncy launched Drool in February. With his first box, he shared a creative set of desserts that included a peanut-butter shortbread cookie inspired by the childhood favorite, Nutter Butter. This month, a new batch of treats are available, with another spin on a timeless snack: thin mint cookies. Drools version is called a thick mint and its a chocolate-dipped fudge brownie combined with a shortbread cookie. Muncy says hes not here to reinvent childhood snacks, but he does want to play with strong flavor references to bring something new to the table. Whether you're taking a classic dessert or a classic childhood sweet and putting it into a tart or a cake, its always a fun way to mess with people's heads, Muncy said. I think it's fun to have flavor references that you don't see. Before Muncy launched Drool, he had stints at Michelin-starred restaurants Coi, Saison and Michael Mina, but after the pandemic reconfigured fine dining, Muncy took time to reflect on where he wanted to take his career next. Now, as a business owner, he spends most of his time inside a commercial kitchen in the Dogpatch, where he bakes from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Each week, he makes about 50 dessert boxes, with a few extra on hand just in case. Its been a lot of work as the only chef on staff, but Muncy doesnt mind the long hours. Drool Since we had time to think it through, we wanted to make [this] take-home box as thoughtful as possible, said Muncy who runs the business with his partner and Drools creative producer, Jenny Kondrasky. I try to think of it as a dessert-tasting menu in a box. Starting Drool has also given Muncy a platform to show off his talents in a way he couldnt at fine dining restaurants. Previously, his pastries would be at the tail end of a long meal, but at Drool, customers are coming exclusively for him. It's really great to be able to give people my creations, Muncy said. The pickup location is definitely a little weird being in a loading dock, but I think there's a fun charm with that. I get to meet people and they get to talk to me. Its a lot more intimate. Muncy isnt sure whether he wants to take Drool to the next level and open a brick and mortar, especially with San Francisco rents but hes not ruling it out either. For now, hell continue to make seasonally focused dessert boxes and let his fans enjoy them in the comfort of their own home. Drool offers seasonal dessert boxes in San Francisco for $45 and you can follow along on their Instagram or business website for updates. Visit Tock to order a dessert box for delivery or pickup. Lalito Courtesy of Alan Garcia Up until just a few months ago, chef Alan Garcia had never made a doughnut. But after being laid off from Central Kitchen in San Francisco and moving back in with his family in Los Angeles, he woke up one day craving doughnuts so he decided to try making them. Baking is really my weakness, said Garcia, who has worked in restaurants for 11 years as a savory chef. So it was basically trial and error But my family loved [the doughnuts]. I was pretty surprised. I was like, OK, well, let me work with the recipe a little bit and see what I can come up with. He began experimenting with flavors inspired by his Mexican American background, from mole to churro, and incorporating corn masa into the dough. Soon, a doughnut business was born: Lalito. Hed used the same name for a taco pop-up at Central Kitchen last fall, but it quickly became clear that he was onto something special with the doughnuts. I wasn't expecting too much out of it because it's doughnuts, said Garcia. I feel like people, you know, can just go to Dunkin around the corner and grab a dozen. But I wanted to do something different, something people haven't really seen. Courtesy of Alan Garcia After his first pop-up in Los Angeles sold out, Garcia brought Lalito up to San Francisco for a weekend in early April, selling half-dozen boxes of dulce de leche, mole and De La Rosa mazapan doughnuts for $15. It was a hit. People told him they loved that he was making flavors they hadnt ever seen in doughnuts before. A lot of the doughnuts were inspired by things that I grew up with, or that I've tried through my travels in Mexico, he said. ... I just want to be able to highlight the flavors of what Mexico has to offer and show people different things and not just tacos and burritos and super burritos. With the success of Lalito, Garcia hopes to eventually open his very own doughnut shop, where hell also sell savory Mexican breakfast items like chilaquiles and molletes. I just want to have a small little fun environment, and not stress out so much like I used to in the kitchen, he said. Just have fun with doughnuts, really. Lalito's next pop-up will be in mid-May, as Garcia is currently in the process of moving back to San Francisco. Check the Lalito Instagram for updates. Sunday Bakeshop Courtesy Sunday Bakeshop When you open a box of pastries from Sunday Bakeshop, whats most likely to happen is that youll be hit with a wave of nostalgia for Asian bakeries, candies and sweets. Chef Elaine Lau is leaning into her love for Asian desserts and pastries, and placing her own French-inspired twist on it, from strawberry Pocky cruffins and matcha White Rabbit cookies to or mango coconut sticky rice pudding. The result is intoxicating for those eager to relive the sweetest parts of their childhood. Definitely when we think about what to put in the boxes and what to put on the menu, we're basically thinking about how we make pastries as adults but it's definitely planned out around what we would have wanted to eat as a kid, Lau said. But now that we're adults and we know how to make all this stuff, we're basically just running with it and having fun with it. Lau is finally getting to play around with her takes on dessert on her own terms, following culinary school and stints at places like French bistro Nico in San Francisco. Her experience leaned more on the savory side of things, but she is more recently embracing the sweet side of food. She initially considered running a wedding-cake business, but instead wound up with the Sunday Family group, developing the pastry program for the group's desserts-focused arm, Sunday Bakeshop. Lau's desserts, however, arent just sweet; shes also including a number of savory items on her menu, such as a Seoul sausage bun or pineapple sausage croissants that landed in recent boxes. Chef Deuki Hong, who founded Sunday Family, said he appreciates how Lau manages to work in both types of flavors. I think having a pastry chef that understands salt, and not just sugar and sweet applications, I think that's what really differentiates Chef Elaine's pastries, Hong said. ... Asian bakeries are really known for, yes, their sweets, but also their savory pastries are ridiculous. Chef Elaine really leans into that. Courtesy Sunday Family Sunday Bakeshop has primarily been operating as a pop-up since November, but they are just weeks away from opening up a brick and mortar shop in Rockridge. Their next dessert box drops May 1 and 2, and is a sneak peek at the upcoming menu for the shop. Its a homecoming of sorts for Lau, who was born and raised in Oakland, and a chance to open up a neighborhood bakery packed with the pastries that she and others grew up loving. A few people were talking about how they felt like a kid again [with our pastries], Lau said. After they got it, they were just thinking about when they were young and on the playground, [how] that's the kind of food they would eat and it kinda helps you get to know your customers a little bit because you guys actually share a lot of the same upbringing with some people. Hong agreed, saying Lau's desserts "touches a special place in my heart, outside of it just being delicious." She really does touch on childhood and nostalgia, Hong said. And if we make people giggle, smile or feel warm inside through our pastries, I think we're doing something right. Sunday Bakeshop can be found on Instagram at @thesunday.bakeshop and online at thesunday.family/sunday-bakeshop. Their bakery location is set to open soon at 5931 College Ave. in Oakland. Whack Donuts! Ivy Chen Most likely, if you mention that a dessert is vegan, youll get some raised eyebrows. Theres a stigma (of sorts) that comes with making a pastry or sweet without animal products, like eggs, but Vandor Hill is trying to change all that. Hill is the baker behind Whack Donuts, a San Francisco-based doughnut operation, where he bakes vegan doughnuts of all sorts and even the vegan food-averse are impressed. "Originally, my goal was to just kinda make an Impossible doughnut, with the whole rage of [the] Impossible Burger and all that. I kinda got inspired by that," Hill said. "... A lot of people were like, 'Oh, I had something vegan and it was disgusting' and so I'm trying to kill that trope as well, because once people find out [my doughnuts are] vegan and they're like, 'Wait, these are vegan?' I'm like, yeah. And theyre like, 'I honestly couldn't tell the difference.'" Hills first experience with making doughnuts came from a mentor-internship at Galileo High School, when he worked at a local doughnut shop as a student and learned the ins and outs of the pastry. He grew up in a household that valued cooking, and baking became Hills go-to hobby. Hill worked as a graphic designer in the meantime, but when he recently experienced some tragic family deaths, he began to pour more of his time into baking. After a friend heard Hill was making desserts, they asked if he ever thought about making doughnuts, which he wasnt at the time. From there, he began creating his own baked version first without dairy and then he began experimenting with vegan recipes. I just started making all these doughnuts so I just started giving them to friends, Hill said. And my friend Fernando was like, 'Dude, I think you're onto something here. You should sell these.' Courtesy Whack Donuts! Now Hills offerings are fully vegan, with a gluten-free option, and hes always tinkering with the recipes, such as trying different flours or sweeteners like agave, or maple syrup. He officially launched his business in June 2020 after designing a logo and purchasing some pastry boxes, then advertised his treats through Instagram. Hill went with Whack Donuts for the name, saying hes had the nickname Whacko since he was a young kid, in dancing. When you say something was whack in hip hop, you know, it sucks, he explained. [Whackos] the opposite. Hes made a wide assortment of flavors that rotate regularly, including Thai tea, horchata, chocolate glaze, mixed berry, orange glaze, fudge mint, and Oreo. "I definitely wanted to have the traditional flavors, but at the same time do nontraditional flavors, Hill said. Looking at my competition, so to speak but also just me being the eccentric person that I am I just try to do different things. Hill now has pop-ups at Speakeasy Brewery three days a week, and Soapbox Cafe, and does special orders during the week. He hopes to open a brick-and-mortar at some point, if the right opportunity comes along, or perhaps even a doughnut-centric food truck, but hes keeping his options open. I definitely want to see what happens, he said. Whack Donuts! can be found on Instagram at @whackdonuts for the latest information on pop-ups and flavors of the week. At first blush, they look like regular coffee cups, stowed in neat stacks. There are thousands of them, and they are all different some have roses climbing the sides, others are stark white evoking kitchens and cafe tables, and the intimate conversations, connections and rituals those spaces allow. At first blush, they look like regular coffee cups, stowed in neat stacks. There are thousands of them, and they are all different some have roses climbing the sides, others are stark white evoking kitchens and cafe tables, and the intimate conversations, connections and rituals those spaces allow. For well over a decade, Bosnian-American artist Aida Sehovic has been collecting fildzani, the little porcelain cups traditionally used for coffee service in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Exhibition Preview Click to Expand Artivism Canadian Museum for Human Rights April 30-Jan. 16, 2022 Her goal: a cup for every one of the 8,372 Bosnian Muslim men and boys who were killed in the genocide in Srebrenica in July 1995. Sehovics installation, STO TE NEMA ("Why are you not here?"), is part of Artivism, an exhibition opening at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights that highlights the work of six different artists and art collectives, from six different regions in the world, whose artworks are both a response to identity-based mass atrocity as well as a tool of activism to prevent it. photos by MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Project manager Anja Studer takes a look at Aida Sehovics STO TE NEMA (Why Are You Not Here), an installation made in response to the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The exhibition, which made its premiere at the 2019 Venice Biennale, was developed by the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities. Artivism makes its Canadian debut at the CMHR on April 30 and will be on view until Jan. 16, 2022. This version was adapted by the CMHR in collaboration with the Auschwitz Institute. Kerry Whigham is the director of research and online education at the New York City-based Auschwitz Institute. He first curated Artivism, along with Francesca Giubilei and Luca Berta. Blanket a witness to history Click to Expand MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Visitors to the museum will be able to learn how conservators care for The Witness Blanket. Posted: 3:00 AM Apr. 24, 2021 In many cultures, blankets are a symbol of comfort and protection. We wrap our babies in blankets; we wrap our dead in blankets, too. In Indigenous cultures, blankets hold powerful significance, used in ceremony and storytelling. When Indigenous artist and master carver Carey Newman set about creating a large-scale work that honoured the children forced into Canadas residential school system, a blanket came to mind. Called The Witness Blanket, its a striking, 12-metre cedar blanket that contains more than 800 pieces of residential school history from across the country. Read Full Story The idea originated in 2017, when Whigham and his team began discussing what would it look like to have a pavilion at the Venice Biennale that focused on the connections between art, human rights and genocide prevention. Whigham is also an academic, studying and working with artists around the world "who have developed these really creative ways of responding to that history of violence in each given country," he says over the phone from his home office in New York. "So thats where I had the idea that we could focus on highlighting the really exceptional creative work of artists in different countries around the world to show how art has been used as a form of activism to respond to these histories of violence and transform societies in the present." The works that compose Artivism are striking examples of the transformative power of art, each work giving voice and humanity to those who have had theirs taken away through force and violence. In addition to Sehovics installation, theres Argentinas Grupo de Arte Callejero (GAC), whose street signs were posted all over Buenos Aires in the 1990s, highlighting human rights abuses committed during the 1976 coup detat and ensuing military dictatorship, and pointing out where perpetrators were living with impunity. Indonesian-born, Belgium-based artist Elisabeth Ida Mulyanis Oleh-oleh (Souvenir) is a sculptural and sound installation of 13 golden ears, each one representing an activist punished for speaking out against the dictatorial regime that began in a period of violence in 1965; the black umbrellas suspended above represent the mothers of these activists, who protested in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta each Thursday. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Conservation technician Stephanie Chipilski dusts the plexiglass on Elisabith Ida Mulyanis piece, Oleh-oleh (Souvenir), an installation made up of 13 gold ears comemmorating 13 activists kidnapped for speaking out against the Indonesian dictatorial regime. Supervivere, meanwhile, is a photo series featuring Indonesian exiles whose citizenship was revoked in 1965. For Masks of Yazidi Women, Iraqi-Kurdish artist Rebin Chalak created casts of the faces of women and girls who were captured, kept in cages and forced into sexual slavery by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant during its genocidal campaign against the Yazidi religious minority in northern Iraq. The masks displayed in Artivism are from survivors who escaped. The Intuthuko Embroidery Project was created by a group of South African women who turned to stitchery to tell their stories of life during and after apartheid, as well as to build community. For nearly a century, residential schools operated across Canada, systematically robbing generations of Indigenous children of their identities, languages, cultures, and families. The art that tells the story of that system comes from the the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Art and objects were donated to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by school survivors as part of their testimonies. Linda Young, 70, is a Plains Cree artist who lives in Saskatoon. A residential school survivor, her works appear in Artivism. Youngs great-grandmother gathered medicines, and Young has memories of seeing those bags of tradition, healing and care around her home. Young herself had medicine bags shed been collecting, and she thought about her great-grandmother when it came time to tell her story of her decade in residential school. "I decided to take my story and preserve it in a way that looked after it and protected it and honoured it," she says via Zoom. Her story is now held by medicine bag squares, each one secured with prayer ties. "And I did that until the story was done," she says. More than 200 pouches make up the long strings that form a swing or a cradle when hung up. A poem, printed on a quilt made from onion skin and red wax seals, speaks to intergenerational trauma. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Conservation technician Stephanie Chipilski unpacks medicine bags filled with Linda Youngs memories of residential school. The ties will be hung up to form a wewipison, or baby swing. In 2012, when the commission came to Saskatoon, Young was invited to place her story into a sacred bentwood box. She didnt think her story, as shed preserved it, would fit. "It was really amazing because when they put it in there, its almost like this block just expanded to accept whatever you put in it," she says. "It was such a magical feeling. I was so impressed. Like, I just I never forgot that experience of the story being accepted no matter what it was, or the size of it." Jeremy Maron, a researcher-curator at the CMHR, says Artivism offers an accessible and emotional entry point for viewers to learn about not only the atrocities themselves but also the work of these artists to, as Maron says, "make sure these atrocities are not forgotten, theyre not covered up, the victims agency and their dignity is respected." At the CMHR, Artivism has more space to stretch out than it did in Venice. The pandemic also changed certain elements of the installation, for which the artists had to give directions via video chat. The hand crank used to view the South African embroidery, for example, needed to be replaced with a motion-activated conveyor belt. Narrowing the exhibition down to six wasnt an easy task for the original curatorial team to that end, there is the potential for an Artivism 2 or Artivism 3. Narrowing the exhibition down to six wasnt an easy task for the original curatorial team to that end, there is the potential for an Artivism 2 or Artivism 3 but Whigham wanted to shed light on atrocities that perhaps havent received as much attention. He says that Canadas residential school system, for example, was a "big point of discovery" for the audience in Venice. "They just had no idea about this history in Canada." (Many Canadians also had no idea about this history in Canada.) Its a big exhibition tackling big issues, but its the smaller details of the artworks the coffee cups, the ears, the umbrellas, the masks, even the tiny embroidery stitches that help bring these atrocities back down to the individual level, and remind the viewer of the actual people who make up the staggering statistics. These intimate stories cannot be told in numbers alone. "Those numbers are so large, that its hard to understand that actually what that represents is not just six million people, but one person, after another person, after another person six million individuals," Whigham says, referring to the number of Jewish people systemically murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust as an example. "Thats why, if we understand these things not as just this big, mass violence that takes control of an entire society, but as one persons rights being denied, then another person, then another person, that helps us to see where we can intervene and where our intervention matters." One of the goals of Artivism is to get people thinking about what they, as individuals, can do. "When people hear the term genocide prevention, they think of governments and their responsibility, oftentimes to intervene with the military in the midst of mass crisis or mass killing thats happening somewhere else in the world and we really try to push against that," Whigham says. "So there are things that we all can do to respond to identitybased violence thats happening in our own communities to make sure that the groups who are most at risk because of their identity are protected." Kerry Whigham, Auschwitz Institute director of research and online education "We think of atrocity prevention as a much more long-term process that involves all actors at every level of society. So there are things that we all can do to respond to identity-based violence thats happening in our own communities to make sure that the groups who are most at risk because of their identity are protected, that their rights are respected. Ultimately, for the rights of people to be protected, it requires all of us working together." Thats why Artivism will invite visitors to participate in the 60/60/60 Challenge, which was created in collaboration with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Ga. Visitors will identify a human rights issue that they feel passionate about, and then commit to taking action for 60 seconds, 60 minutes, or 60 days. "The emphasis of the exhibit is on response and action," Maron says. "We wanted to make sure and the Auschwitz Institute wanted to make sure that visitors have an opportunity to reflect on steps that they can take. Even if theyre small, small steps are still more important than no steps." jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @JenZoratti The Chief of Staff, Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, has charged regional coordinating councils (RCCs) to respond promptly to early warning signals and other issues that have the potential to undermine peace and security in their respective regions. She mentioned chieftaincy and land disputes, illegal mining, armed robbery, invasion of farms by herdsmen and the influx of 'questionable' foreigners as some of the issues of national interest that needed prompt action. "It is expected that regional security coordinating committees (RSCCs) will pursue such matters with urgency to ensure sustained peace, a key ingredient in the march towards the accelerated development of the country," she added. Conference Mrs. Osei-Opare was speaking at the Conference of Regional Ministers and Regional Coordinating Directors organised by the Office of the Head of the Local Government Service (OHLGS), in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, in Accra yesterday. It was on the theme: Developing decentralisation and local governance for accelerated development in Ghana: The role of key stakeholders. The conference was attended by major stakeholders in the decentralisation and local governance sector, as well as representatives of both national and sub-national institutions who discussed issues pertinent to local governance. Evaluating performance Mrs. Osei-Opare urged RCCs to take seriously the responsibility of monitoring, coordinating and evaluating the performance of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) as mandated by the Local Government Act, 2016. She also asked RCCs to conduct quarterly assessment of MMDAs to put them on their toes and cause them to perform diligently to deepen the decentralisation process, adding: A very important office such as the RCC must show leadership in public service and move away from business-as-usual practices to professional business models and customer-service regiments. She further entreated regional ministers to build cordial relations with chiefs and opinion leaders in their various regions to elicit support in pursuit of their developmental agenda. The government is aware of the need for more logistical support to run your offices, including vehicles, the renovation of residences, among others. I assure you of the Presidents commitment to improve the working and living conditions of our staff, she said. Human resource The Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Mr. Dan Botwe, said the LGS possessed rich human resource which could be leveraged to make decentralisation work. He urged stakeholders to support the efforts of the President to ensure an effective local government structure that would deliver quality services to the people. For his part, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr. Henry Quartey, called for a review of the mandate of the RCCs to correspond to modern-day dynamics of local government administration. He expressed concern over the fact that in spite of an increase in the number of MMDAs and their operational responsibilities, funding for our activities has been dwindling. Our office buildings are collapsing and our residences nothing to write home about. Something needs to be done quickly to avert any danger to lives and properties, the minister 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 The Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyn political party has issued a statement welcoming the US Presidents recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In its statement, the Bureau states the following: April 24, 2020 is a historic day for Armenians since the US government, namely President Joe Biden, officially reaffirmed the fact of the Armenian Genocide. With this, the US joined the several countries, the legislatures and governments of which have recognized the Armenian Genocide. The US Presidents use of the word Genocide is also very important these days because it is an actual assessment of the genocidal acts that Turkey directly and overtly committed during the recent 44-day war and has been committing for over a century. This success is the result of the unwavering struggle that the US chapters of the ARF-D, the Armenian National Committees and Offices and thousands of dedicated individuals have led for decades. The ARF-D Bureau expresses its gratitude to all those who struggled for this success. This statement by the US government is unequivocal the struggle continues until Turkey acknowledges its historical responsibility and makes fair reparations. The violated rights of Armenians must be restored. Armenia and Armenians must have their worthy place in the global family of nations. Armenians must have the opportunity to live and create in safety in their cradle. Lets achieve more success and more victories. Fastmarkets calculated its steel scrap, shredded, index, import, cfr Nhava Sheva, India , at $456.50 per tonne on Friday, compared with $457.22 per tonne one week earlier.No deals were heard on the market this week, with buyers not receptive to offers even as low as $450 per tonne, compared with deals concluded last week at $455-460 per tonne.Market participants expressed concern about the spread of Covid-19 within the country and the effect this would have on steel production, and on demand for scrap metal. There is absolutely... Many people say they couldnt work with their mum but we love it: Lifesavers Maisie and Nicky As a paramedic, Nicky Broszeks working day often involves traumatic scenes. So she felt a strange mix of pride and anxiety when her daughter Maisie wanted to follow in her footsteps Nickys story Paramedic Nicky Broszek, 52, lives near Sevenoaks in Kent with husband Steve, 54, and their daughters Ashley, 26, and Maisie, 21 When Maisie told me she was thinking of joining me at the London Ambulance Service three years ago, I wasnt surprised. Shes always loved looking after people and making things better and I knew driving on the wrong side of the road would appeal to her. Ever since she was a child Maisie has had all the qualities you need for this job; shes very mature, capable and caring in everything she does. Even so, I still had mixed feelings about her joining the service. I knew she would be brilliant she has the right level-headedness that you need to keep calm in volatile situations but I didnt want her seeing some of the sad things that we deal with. I also didnt want her subjected to the physical and verbal abuse that comes on a very regular basis, or to be in a really dangerous situation. Your job as a mum is to protect them. But she took to the role like a duck to water. At 18, she joined the London Ambulance Service as Emergency Ambulance Crew, who support paramedics like me, and she loved it. Nicky with Maisie, 1999 We dont get to choose who we work with but Maisie and I were paired together 15 to 20 times over a few years before she was sent to a different station base. She was a dream to work with she looked after me and wouldnt let me lift the heavy equipment. We were together when we were sent to the Orpington bus crash in 2019. A car and two buses had collided, a bus driver died and a lot of people were injured. When Maisie read out the call, we knew straight from the off it was going to be a big job with a lot of trauma and high emotions. And I knew Maisie would never have seen anything like it as its the kind of thing you only see once or twice in your career, and I was worried she was going to be overwhelmed. When we got to the crash, it looked like a war zone with debris and cars everywhere. I was pleased I could be with Maisie I felt like I could protect her but quickly I was needed for my paramedic skills and taken to the Major Trauma Centre, leaving her on the scene. We were being filmed for BBC Ones Ambulance programme that day, and I later saw on TV just how sensible and caring she was as she dealt with the less seriously injured and the bus driver who survived. I was proud of her and in awe of how capable she was for her age, as I wouldnt have been as confident. Maisie has had years of me telling her stories when I come home from work, so she had a totally realistic view of the job even before she joined. Sometimes you just need to make someone a cup of tea or hold their hand. Id always wanted to be a paramedic, but at school they put me off saying I was too small at five foot two. So from the age of 20, I was self-employed running a beauty salon then working from home when the girls came along. But I was still interested in health and used to do first-aid courses until I became a community responder, carrying a defibrillator and being told where to go to help people. I got the bug aged 40 after I did my first cardiac arrest and soon joined the London Ambulance Service as emergency ambulance crew. I then qualified as a paramedic. Nicky, husband Steve and daughters Maisie and Ashley, 2000 When Maisie joined, it didnt change our relationship. Weve always got on well, but it was nice to spend more time with her. We know instinctively how the other will be feeling about certain situations. Weve been to traumatic stabbings and mental health incidents together, and Ive seen how Maisie deals with elderly people she is so kind, caring and gets quite emotional for those who are lonely. I was worried about her when Covid first happened. Ive never seen that many unwell people in my life and I thought: Am I going to take the virus home? Is Maisie going to look like that? Thankfully, neither of us has had it. Maisie and I do talk about the job at home, but not constantly, and our friends and family arent surprised how well we get on when we work together were very close. Maisies story Maisie Broszek, 21, is an emergency ambulance crew member for the London Ambulance Service A lot of people have said, How do you work with your mum? My mum and I couldnt spend that much time together! but we love it. Its fun and we get on so well. My first memories are of her running her beauty business from home and being a community responder. Shes incredibly caring and will give everything shes got. Then, about ten years ago, Mum joined the London Ambulance Service. She would come home with stories of arriving at a scene where someone was in cardiac arrest and how she would help them. You could see she was so proud and would never forget it. I was in absolute awe of what she did. Id always known I wanted to do something in medicine so, at 18, I applied to join the London Ambulance Service and its the best thing Ive ever done. You see some pretty bad stuff but also do things that are ten times better than any other job, such as delivering babies in weird and wonderful places, helping the elderly back into bed in the middle of the night, making someone a cup of tea when they are feeling unwell and helping patients in pain and discomfort. I remember walking into mums workplace which was now my own for the first time and it was surreal. I was overwhelmed with how welcoming all her friends and colleagues were. We get on with each others work friends and often all meet up. I was lucky enough to do a lot of training with Mum everyone had told me what a good medic she is and that when they work with her its always exciting because they go to big jobs with her. Maisie as a baby with big sister Ashley, 1999 Its with complex medical jobs that Mum really shines. Shes incredibly knowledgeable and I feel very proud watching her treat patients as shes switched-on and figures out whats wrong quickly. I remember once we saw an elderly patient with a slow heart rate and Mum had treated him by the time I had come back from the ambulance with the trolley bed. My first cardiac arrest was with her. I started resuscitation and was quite nervous but Mum told me to crack on and it worked. It was the best thing and it was amazing to see how much she trusted my clinical judgment. We were together again on the day of the Orpington bus crash. It would have been tense anyway but that day we had a camera crew with us. I was apprehensive about what Id be seeing, but my main concern was going through my training in my head. We were split up as soon as we got there but it didnt worry me. I had a small part to play as I treated a patient with minor injuries but it was more about providing emotional support. It wasnt hard Mum has always encouraged me to think about others feelings and be there for them. Weve seen a lot of Covid and it was a worry for me that Mum would become unwell. Ive never seen anyone as ill as people with the virus and I didnt want to see anyone I cared about have it. Its been difficult for everyone in the NHS and it still is. Im definitely still scared for Mum but over time were getting more used to it. Working with Mum means I can relate to her a lot more. Were often spotted as being mum and daughter when were on jobs patients are always delighted and find it comforting. ROCHESTER, Minn. - The chances of your mail carrier being attacked by your dog when delivering your mail is more common than you think. There have been 15 dog bite incidents involving postal carriers reported in Minnesota this year alone and 40 in Iowa. Postal carriers are therefore urging dog owners to take extra precautions to keep mail carriers safe. The U.S. Postal Service asks that you keep dogs inside during delivery hours - or leashed away from your mailbox. While customers would like to tell us that their dog is really sweet - and I have no doubt that their animals are very sweet - they're territorial. So when our carriers come up into their houses, and into their yards, dogs have a sense of needing to protect what's theirs, says Rochester USPS Postmaster, Haley White. White also adds if there is a loose dog outside, carriers tend to hold mail delivery to that house - or sometimes that entire neighborhood to keep things safe for carriers. White says, You don't know what kind of thing is gonna happen when the dog reaches you, you don't know if they're going to be nice, if they're not going to be nice - so it's kind of an unknown, it's very scary for them. That's why we have preventative measures like the satchel and the dog spray for them to use to keep themselves safe. She says the repellent is dog-approved - and not meant to irritate the dog. It just gives them a quick stun long enough to allow carriers time to get away. USPS also reports there were 73 dog- postal carrier incidents in Minnesota last year and 80 in Iowa. Right: A Boots consultant demonstrating make-up, 1956. Left: By the end of the 19th century, Florence had launched the shops first perfumery departments Its been our favourite high-street chemist for more than a century and all thanks to one pioneering woman. Edwina Ings-Chambers looks back at Boots original influencer The beauty world is full of much-trumpeted women trailblazers Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein But one of their number seems to have gone largely unheralded, and that is Florence Boot. Thats Boot as in Boots stores, a sight so essential to our high streets that John Betjeman mentioned them in a poem (Think of what our Nation stands for, Books from Boots and country lanes) and that is so plentiful that apparently 85.5 per cent of this sceptred isles population is never more than ten minutes from one. To be fair, Florence Boots contribution to the beauty business was less showy than those aforementioned names, but in its own way it was seismic. For although it was her husband Jesse the son of Boots founder John who was the head of the business, it was Florences contribution that was crucial to how Boots developed. The couple appear to have been a bit of a love match. He had grown up in Nottingham, where Boots is still based today; she in Jersey, the daughter of a shopkeeper and bookseller. Jesses father had died when he was just ten years old, and he left school aged 13 to help his mother, eventually taking up the reins of the business. But Jesse suffered from ill health and as he reached his early 30s his plan was to retire, get a backpack and travel the Derbyshire Peaks until his sister Jane decided to play matchmaker and suggested he wait and take a holiday in Jersey first. A portrait of Florence in 1917 the year she was made a director of the firm Jane knew that he would meet Florence there and had already decided that she would make a good wife for her brother. That was in 1885, and within a year the two were wed, despite her mothers misgivings that she would find herself merely a nurse to an ageing man; she was just 23 at the time. It seems that marriage gave Jesse a renewed vigour and he shelved those travel plans. Boots thrived with his approach, making it a chemist with a difference, since Jesse was all about making healthcare affordable to everyone. So his operation was based more on a model of discounting prices often buying directly from the manufacturers instead of the wholesalers but relying on volume of sales to make money. But Florence was not to be a stay-at-home wife she got involved in the business too. Her most important contribution would be huge and is still very much in place today. For it was Florence who, in 1897, said they should start to sell beauty and to sell it proudly. In those days beauty was a hidden thing it was under the counter, explains Boots archivist Sophie Clapp. But Florence was having no truck with such thinking and put it firmly on display. Nor was the beauty offering treated as some frivolous addition; it was a proper part of the business and had its own dedicated department, called the No 2 Department. Though legend has it that initially its inclusion involved a bit of a tussle with Jesse. Theres a really lovely anecdote of someone seeing them arguing over who should get the best space [in the first store]. They were both explaining why they should have it, and Jesse was saying, Well, its healthcare so obviously that needs the best space. And Florence was saying, But if you need healthcare then youll come in anyway. Its the beauty that needs the promotion, recounts Clapp. I think Jesse won out, but she had this massive mirror put in place that would shine light on her beauty products. So she had the last word. And obviously in terms of revenue it wasnt anywhere near as successful [as healthcare], but it gave people another reason to come in, and obviously over time earned its place. As more Boots stores opened, often in the less affluent areas of towns, beauty was a given part of its offering. In those early days it was very much a fragrance focus (though fine goods such as silver hairbrushes were also Florences domain), often comprising florals and single-note interpretations of English flowers harnessed in a perfume. These were housed in cut-glass bottles, beautifully beribboned, with colourful labels made in France to bring them to life and it brought beauty into an affordable and everyday arena. The idea was that women would have something beautiful to look at while they were waiting for their medicine, says Clapp, for then as is still the case now the majority of Boots customers are women. (In the 1920s it sat at 80 per cent and today 90 per cent of its Advantage Card holders are women.) So Florence was a lover of a good beauty display and championed it at least a decade before Harry Gordon Selfridge (founder of Selfridges) was credited for revolutionising the department store beauty hall by putting it on the ground floor. Her retail diversification didnt stop there. In 1898, and no doubt inspired by her own father, she introduced the Booklovers Library, a subscription book service to make literature more accessible predominantly to women. Some people, says Clapp, wouldnt go to the public library because you didnt know what you might catch there. But Boots was acceptable. Two years later Florence oversaw the introduction of cafes in a number of the stores. These were run by women for women at a time, says Clapp, when there were no urban spaces for women to meet. Beautifully furnished, they were a respectable place to socialise. Florence was also a proud champion of women in the workplace. In September 1913, three months after Suffragette Emily Davison threw herself in front of the kings horse at the Derby and 15 years before women got the vote on the same footing as men, Florence wrote a letter to the Daily Mail in support of a womans right to work and the self-worth they could find in working in a shop. Posters for No7 (or Number Seven as it was first known), from the 30s to the 70s, show what a beauty trailblazer the range has been The letter began: To think that in this practical England of ours any bright, intelligent, healthy, active college girl could be called a superfluity is ridiculous. Let her just pocket her pride, brave the disapproval of her friends, and even of her parents if need be, and start on a business career Surely it is time the modern girl realised that for her there are great possibilities in the business world of today. She is the product we all need for the future development of this nation of shopkeepers. Yes it is nothing more romantic than the shop that I am advocating for her to become one of the hitherto despised shop-girls It is true she will not find much scope in this field for her Greek and Latin but if there is no demand for these elsewhere that is little to the point. The healthy-minded, attractive, alert and intelligent college girl would, in a number of cases, not need more than three months training as a shop assistant to enable her to earn her own living: six months ought to see her getting more than merely her bread and butter, and in a twelvemonth she could be absolutely independent. But it was more than mere posturing; Florence created 50 positions for such college girls and ends her letter calling for applications and offering training. This was nothing out of the ordinary for Florence (and, it must be said, for Jesse too): they were dedicated to helping women and all workers better themselves. She introduced free hot cocoa in the morning, realising that many girls were turning up for work without being able to afford breakfast, and a hot meal was given to employees each day. They arranged excursions for staff to visit exhibitions or landmarks, with Florence writing personally to parents to tell them that the best care would be taken of their charges, advising about the weather and the clothes to wear, and giving everyone a lie-in the next day if a late return home was scheduled. More than that, they established schools for their staff, had a gymnasium on site and were one of the first British companies to establish a five-day working week. And long before cheering quotes on Instagram existed, Florence would give the girls under her charge inspirational poems written on scrolls. In recognition of her work for the firm she was made a director in 1917 one of the first women in the country to be given such a role. By 1921 she and Jesse had sold up and retired to Jersey. But Florences advocacy for women was far from over: while as a couple they donated funds to establish the University of Nottingham, Florence personally funded a hall of residence there for women, opening up the opportunity for a higher education to those who lived further afield; today it is affectionately known by residents as FloBo House. Heritage Images to Boots Archives A police officer in California has been caught on camera throwing a teenager with autism to the ground and punching him in the face. The incident was caught on camera by a neighbor's security camera in Vacaville, California, on Wednesday. The video from across the street shows an officer speaking to Preston Wolf, 17, as he sits down on the side of the street. The officer then throws a scooter away from Preston and appears to yell at him. Preston slides backwards a bit, then gets up and starts to run, leading the officer to pick up Preston and body slam him to the street. Scroll down for video A video shows a Vacaville police officer throwing a teen with autism to the ground Another video from the same camera shows Preston struggling with the officer as the cop demands Preston put his hands behind his back. The police officer then punches Preston in the face as the two continue to struggle. Adam Wolf, Preston's father, shared the footage of the incident on Facebook on Thursday. He says his son has both autism and ADHD, and as someone who acts younger than his age. Police say the officer was unaware of Preston's special needs. The video, which was recorded by a neighbor, starts with the officer approaching Preston Wolf Wolf then sits down, seemingly complying with an order from the police officer Adam wrote: 'On April 21st at approximately 2:30 pm Preston was Aggressively approached by a Vacaville, California police officer 'The officer screamed at him to sit down which he did. The officer then moved Aggressively toward my son, threw his scooter and got in his face. 'My son became fearful, as would any child with Autism. The officer went to touch Preston, at which point Preston moves away. At this point, Preston was confused and afraid and moves away from the officer even more. 'At that point the officer felt it was a good idea to THROW Preston to the ground. 'Once on the ground, the officer climbed on top of Preston and PUNCHED him in the face.' Preston's father added that Preston implored the officers to call his parents during the incident and may never trust a police officer again. 'I am pro police, but I am not pro ABUSE! This individual and department must be held accountable for their actions,' Adam added. Preston then begins to run away from the cop, which leads to the body slam and punch The Vacaville Police Department filled in details after the incident about what led to the officer's actions. They said the officer arrived around 2:30pm in response to an alleged assault with a pipe, according to a statement given to the Vacaville Reporter. They first found a 16-year-old boy suffering from minor injuries who refused medical treatment. Police say they then came across Preston, who sat when asked, but then resisted when being cuffed, which led to him being thrown to the ground. Preston was detained for about an hour before being cited for suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. The 16-year-old involved in the incident and his family chose not to press charges against Preston. Wolf told KTXL that the other boy was attempting to pick a fight with Preston while he was playing by a nearby creek. Preston then attempted to defend himself. 'My son picked up a piece of metal or a metal pole off of the ground to defend himself and I was told that an older gentleman intervene,' Wolf said. Preston then allegedly went to go play with a neighbor, completely unaware that police were searching for him. The arresting officer, who has not been identified remains on-duty as an investigation into the incident takes place. It's not clear yet if the police officer in the incident will face disciplinary action To All my Friends and Family, I need your help. Some of you know and some of you don't, but my 17 year year old son,... Posted by Adam Wolf on Thursday, April 22, 2021 'We understand the video posted on social media can appear very disturbing,' said Acting Police Chief Ian Schmutzler. 'When we receive a 911 call involving an assault with a deadly weapon and potential stabbing, we respond immediately to ensure we keep those in the vicinity safe.' In another statement released via Facebook on Friday, the Vacaville Police Department said they were still investigating the incident. 'We are scouring the dispatch recordings, body-worn camera video, Ring camera video, and any other visual or audio evidence we can find,' the statement from Schmutzler said. 'I'm working with the leadership within the City of Vacaville and there will be more information provided very soon.' Schmutzler also shared that members of the police department visited the Wolf family on Thursday to discuss the incident. Josh Bartholomew, the neighbor who recorded the incident on his Ring camera, criticized the police when speaking to KTXL. 'Yeah, it was the most horrendous thing Ive ever witnessed from a police officer in my city,' Bartholomew said. He says he tried to intervene by telling officers about Preston's special needs, to no avail. As for Wolf, he's concerned about the treatment of other children like his son in the future. 'NO child, disability or not, deserves to be treated like this,' he wrote on Facebook. A woman whose family was injured in a 2015 fatal car crash in Malibu involving Caitlyn Jenner has not ruled out backing her bid for California governor. Lea Wolf-Millesi was a passenger in the passenger seat of a Hummer H2 that was involved in a four-car pileup with Jenner's Cadillac Escalade - and multiple members of her family claimed injuries after the fatal wreck. 'I don't know yet! I'm still digesting it,' Wolf-Millesi laughed when asked by Daily Beast if she would support Jenner. Jenner, 71, was never criminally charged but the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department determined she was driving at an 'unsafe speed' and intended to recommend manslaughter charges, KTLA reported a the time. Lea Wolf-Millesi, center, has indicated that she might vote for Caitlyn Jenner even after her family sued Jenner for a fatal accident in 2015 Kim Howe, right, died at the scene of a fatal chain-reaction crash in Southern California that involved Caitlyn Jenner, left Wolf-Millesi and her husband Peter were seen at then-President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in January 2020 supporting the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA The Olympian was driving her Escalade when she rear-ended Kim Howe, a 69-year-old widow, pushing her into oncoming traffic. Howe's Lexus was then hit by the Hummer that Wolf-Millesi and her family were in. Howe died at the scene and Wolf-Millesi's infant son was 'not responding to stimuli at the scene.' The young boy was rushed to a local hospital by ambulance. He was ultimately determined to have not suffered a physical injury. After the accident, both the Howe and Wolf-Millesi families filed civil lawsuits against Jenner. Lea Wolf-Millesi was with her husband Peter and two sons, as well as Wolf-Millesi's mother, Elga Maurer, who suffered the worst of the injuries in the family. Maurer suffered a cervical spine fracture, according to the lawsuit, while Wolf-Millesi claimed she had pain in her neck and pack and that both of her legs were hurt. Her husband said that the nerves in his hands and wrists were damaged. Peter said in a statement at the time: 'We were shocked and terrified we were all going to die.' Jenner ultimately agreed to pay a total of $800,000 to the Wolf-Millesi family with Maurer getting a $500,000 of it. Jenner, who may run as either a Republican or an Independent, announced her run for governor on Friday in a bid to claim the seat from Gavin Newsom less than a year after Kanye West lost his presidential bid - before Kim Kardashian ultimately filed for divorce from him. Her campaign team includes controversial Trump aides such as Tony Fabrizio, a pollster who worked on both of Trump's campaigns, and Brad Parscale. Steven Cheung has also been tapped as a campaign adviser. Wolf-Millesi and her husband Peter were seen at then-President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in January 2020 supporting the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA, a photo posted to Facebook shows. Not a single member of the Kardashian clan has spoken out about Jenner's run for governor more than 24 hours after she first announced her campaign. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy investigates the scene of a collision involving three vehicles in Malibu, California on February 7, 2015 Caitlyn Jenner's Escalade is seen after a fatal accident in Malibu in 2015 Caitlyn Jenner recently announced her bid to run for governor of California The echo chamber coming from the reality stars over Jenner's political venture became deafening Saturday as the family still found the time to push a new fragrance line, lifestyle platform and their Kardashian Kloset clothing site through their social media accounts. A source close to the family told TMZ the Kardashians won't be making an appearance on Jenner's campaign trail and won't be publicly endorsing her. The outlet reported that although the family was given a heads up ahead of Jenner's 'Caitlyn for California' announcement, they aren't keen to play politics and don't agree with her more right-leaning views. It has been said that Kim, Kourtney and Khloe will not publicly endorse anyone else, including sitting Governor Gavin Newsom, who could be removed in a recall. Meanwhile, questions are being asked around whether Jenner will reveal some of her famous family's finances when she discloses five years worth of tax returns - a requirement of the race. Jenner is a registered Republican and voted for Trump in 2016 but not in 2020, in protest against his position on transgender issues. The recall election for California governor comes amid growing calls by Republicans to oust Governor Gavin Newsom. If a Republican wins, it will be the first time they have held the state since 2003, when Arnold Schwarzenegger won. Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose and businessman John Cox, who lost to Newsom in the 2018 governors race, are also running. Nacogdoches, TX (75965) Today Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially during the morning hours. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will give way to occasional showers overnight. Low 73F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Since public schools had become a breeding ground for a mix of ideologies, it is the rightful decision of Christian parents to seek alternatives. But what happens when they are also deprived of this freedom? The American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) continues to battle in court in defense of "school choice," a program that empowers parents to have their children educated in private institutions including religious schools. The catch is, public education funds would follow students to their or parent's school of choice According to Walter M. Weber, Senior Counsel for ACLJ, school choice would give parents a "real leverage when opposing programs (e.g., explicit sex ed or anti-American civics) that their children might otherwise face." "Letting parents choose their own program neutralizes the pressure from all sides to make the government schools the instrument of particular ideologies. If families can freely take their children elsewhere, public schools will have an incentive to teach what will attract students, rather than what they can get away with forcing on captive children," he reiterated from his op-ed in the Christian Post. Weber summed ACLJ's efforts to bring "school choice" for review at the Supreme Court from representing a litigating party or as a friend-of-the-court to filing an amicus brief in support of parents. He also pointed out the legitimacy of the parents' appeal to qualify religious schools for federal funding. "In our amicus brief in support of the petition for Supreme Court review, we hammer the blatantly discriminatory - and therefore unconstitutional - exclusion of otherwise eligible high schools just because they are religious," said Weber. ACLJ's Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow also echoed this in his review of the program. "Parents are paying into a state education system through their tax dollars but are being given no say in their child's education," he wrote. Associate Justice Samuel Alito supported ACLJ's arguments while adding that the program will tremendously help "parents of modest means to do what more affluent parents can do: send their children to a school of their choice." Why School Choice is a Win for All Taxpayers (Parents Included) According to the Heritage Foundation, school choice had led to higher graduation rates particularly among students from low-income families. This is due to the tailored approaches provided by private institutions to suit each student's educational need. Realistically speaking, this type of customization could not simply be provided in public schools. While it worked for some, the one size fits all approach had been a deterrent to several students' learning abilities. The improvement in students' performance through school choice have also put a competitive pressure on local schools. In fact, a research found that there had been significant improvement of student performance from public schools in both Florida and Milwaukee following the launch of school choice. Aside from raising the bar of education for American children, taxpayers will also benefit through school choice. Under the program, vouchers, tax credit scholarships, and educational savings accounts have produced at least $2 return. That's on top of the fact that these only "cost a fraction of what is spent in the public system," added the Heritage Foundation. LANE COUNTY, Ore. -- Lane County is set to host a mass vaccination clinic aimed at 16 and 17-year-olds this weekend. The clinic, which will be at Lane Community College, is expected to give out about 3,000 Pfizer shots. As of right now, health officials say people havent scheduled enough appointments to keep up with the amount of doses they plan to give out. Jason Davis with Lane County Public Health said he thinks the main issue with people is the lack of knowledge about the event. "We need parents' help. We need loved ones, friends," Davis said. "Help get your 16 or 17-year-old get signed up." The process to schedule an appointment is the same as the previous mass vaccination clinics. Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Getty/Brandon Laufenberg As soon as the United States authorized the use of the first COVID-19 vaccine in mid-December, a small but vocal group of skeptics and conspiracy theorists, baselessly convinced that the jabs were lethal, started hunting for dead people. At first their efforts were relatively small-bore and haphazardalthough far from innocuous. But as the scale and sophistication of Americas vaccine rollout have exponentially ramped up over the last three months, so have efforts to hunt down alleged vaccine fatalities. Starting in mid-January, several social media channels and websites emerged as hubs for stories, generated by admins and users pulling together snippets from across the internet and crafting them into cohesive narratives and brief posts, linking reported deaths to COVID vaccinations. Several of these platforms have grown notably, and become more formalized, in recent weeks. Unsurprisingly, given the robust safety profile of the vaccines in use in the United States, they rarely detail how a vaccination supposedly caused a given death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not found a causal connection between COVID vaccines and virtually any post-vaccination deathsalthough the agency recently announced it is investigating three deaths linked to a rare blood-clotting disorder a few individuals developed after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Medical authorities shelved that vaccine temporarily because sensitive monitoring systems picked up on this issue quickly. However, anti-vaxxers often take this less as a sign that safety systems are working and more as a sign that they were right all along and many more dangers must remain hidden. But even if the narratives these hubs string together are weak and not supported by extant research on vaccine risks, some evidence suggests seeing these sorts of stories repeated ad nauseam may turn otherwise open people away from vaccines. This is a problem, as experts warn that skeptics, especially in far-right strongholds, are holding us back from herd immunity. Story continues And death-hunting hubs are overflowing with dubious stories about vaccine death. Is This the Most Incendiary COVID Conspiracy Freakout of All? People from all over the world send us the leads, Brian A. Wilkins, a freelance writer who runs a site called The COVID Blog, which publishes pandemic misinformation and conspiracy theories, told The Daily Beast. (The blog has a Vaccine Deaths category, but Wilkins insists he only uses the term for SEO purposes; he, like many skeptics, falsely insists coronavirus vaccines are not real vaccines, and should properly be called experimental genetic therapies.) I cannot even keep up, he added. Im at least 70 stories behind. Some of these leads are local media reports that provocatively note someone got vaccinated and died days or weeks laterbut never establish a firm causal link between the two. Others are social media posts describing people getting vaccinated, then dying suddenly or after an illness, either right after getting their shots or weeks later. Some are little more than loose digital chatter and speculation. Wilkins says that he vets all leads with full journalistic rigor. He specifically noted that the blog didnt act on a lead claiming rapper DMX actually died because he got a COVID jab because they could not independently verify he received a shot. But he still ran a Vaccine Deaths post connecting legal analyst Midwin Charles recent passing to her COVID vaccination, received 37 days prior. The post speculates amply over changes in her Twitter behavior in the days before her death was announced, and features the sub-heading, Mainstream media censors cause of death. (The Daily Beast was not able to reach Charles family or anyone representing them prior to publication.) However, most other vaccine death-hunt hubs ran the DMX story, despite his death clearly being tied to heart issues with no conceivable connection to the vaccine. An admin on one of the most active platforms, a Telegram channel with almost 75,000 subscribers, which usually publishes one or more accounts of supposed vaccine deaths every day, explicitly stated in a post: Any stories I find online or via other channels I will post. They then urged people to spread their posts far and wide: The more people who share these stories the better. (The channels admins did not respond to a request for comment.) Most of these outlets openly stress that they collect these stories to dissuade people from getting vaccinated. A recent post on The COVID Blog warned, falsely: There are no safe COVID-19 shots. Take your chances catching COVID-19 and rely on the 99.99% survival rate for anyone under age 70. This call to inaction wildly misrepresents the risks associated with the coronavirus, and the fact that while an extreme minority may have notable but typically manageable adverse reactions to the vaccines, they are, overall, safe and effective. This sort of mass-sourcing and reporting has not been a key focus for most modern anti-vaxxer campaigns, experts on the subject told The Daily Beast. There are far easier, and arguably more effective, ways to spin narratives about the supposed lethality of vaccines. Scraping the internet for every story that sounds like it meets your criteria takes a lot of time and energy, noted Jennifer Reich, a University of Colorado-Denver sociologist who studies vaccine-hesitant populations. But within the context of this late pandemic moment, scouring the internet for brief accounts that spuriously connect vaccines and deaths may seem like the only viable approach to sowing doubts about Americas thus-far wildly successful COVID vaccination drive. While people have argued that vaccines can be fatal since the 19th century, death is not usually the focus of anti-vaxxer rhetoric. But deaths all too often occur without clear antecedents or immediately discernible causes. In the space created by that shock or uncertainty, its easy to fuel suspicions that one notable and novel recent event, like receiving a new vaccine, could have played some role. As Wilkins, the blogrunner and COVID vaccine skeptic, put it in a statement rooted in some truth that ultimately rings of sensationalist fear-mongering, Otherwise healthy people are dying hours or days after receiving experimental mRNA and viral vector shots. He insisted that many cases show similar specific symptoms before dying. (In the dozens of narratives The Daily Beast read for this story, claimed post-jab symptoms were rarely specific and often quite diverse.) Apply Occams razor and mute the mainstream media, government, and big tech narratives, he added. If you drink drain cleaner and die hours or days later, you died because you drank drain cleaner. (This is, of course, a fallacious paralleland even this is not necessarily always true.) Bernice Hausman of Penn State Universitys Vaccination Research Group noted that reporting on the effects of COVID-19 also tends to focus on death rates, even though death is hardly the diseases only possible negative outcome. So, she suspects creating death narratives may feel like an especially useful counterbalance to anti-vaxxers, who are losing their bid to ward off mass vaccination. They can say, Hey, the vaccine isnt innocent. Theres also a lot of death going on over here, she told The Daily Beast. Of course, rather than go on convoluted death hunts for individual stories, anti-vaxxers could easily just misconstrue data in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a tool co-run by two federal agencies to help monitor the risks associated with vaccines in active use. After all, theyve been cherry-picking figures from the system for over three decadesand for the last decade, citing a study arguing that only one percent of vaccine injuries get reported. Many anti-vaxxer groups have cited data from the system over the past few weeks to advance dubious vaccine lethality narratives as the coronavirus pandemic blares on. The system registered 3,486 reported deaths following the receipt of a vaccine as COVID-19 vaccines rolled out from Dec. 14, 2020, to April 19, 2021; usually, over the course of a non-pandemic year, VAERS registers between 100 and 200 reports of deaths following vaccinations. But Wilkins argues that such data is too abstract, and case entries are too light on details, to really reach people where they live. The public needs to see faces on these deaths, not just a VAERS case number, for said deaths to have an impact on a very important public health issue, he told The Daily Beast. People relate when they see faces that look like their own and stories behind each of these deaths. Its also incredibly easy to poke holes in this big, flashy figure. Anyone can file a report to the system, which opens it to secondhand or hearsay, repetitious, or even clearly spurious accounts of adverse reactions. (In the past, pro-vaccine advocates have successfully filed reports that a vaccine turned a man into The Hulk and another gave a baby Wonder Woman powers to prove this point.) Health-care providers are also required to report any death they are aware of that occurs soon after a patient receives a vaccine, which at times translates into reports of patently unrelated deaths. The system specifically warns that it was not designed to collect or indicate causal relationships. Researchers just want as much data as possible; they worry about sorting signal from noise later. And there is a lot of noise in the system, even at the best of times. One study found that only 3 percent of a sample of reactions reported to the system were definitively caused by vaccines, and over half were almost certainly unrelated. Although certain vaccines can in theory be lethal in specific contexts for specific people (e.g., if someone has an untreated anaphylactic reaction to a jab), past studies of death reports did not find causal connections to vaccinations. With the rollout of COVID vaccines specifically, Daniel Salmon, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Vaccine Safety told The Daily Beast, Weve vaccinated roughly a third of the population. That means about a third of all deaths in that period were temporally linked to the vaccination. Whats more, the elderly and ill populations who received priority access to vaccines early on already had disproportionately high incidental mortality risks post-vaccination compared to the general population. So, many experts werent surprised or worried by the apparent spike in death reports in the system that anti-vaxxers have ginned up as proof of a clear and present danger. It is worth noting that COVID-19 deaths have plummeted in recent months in large part because older Americans, usually the majority of fatalities, have been vaccinated safely and effectively. In other words, the vaccines are working. Jonathan Berman, a New York Institute of Technology researcher who has studied anti-vaxxer communities, also noted that, when he analyzed a sample of death reports, he saw a fairly recent jump in short and apparently amateur death claims, including: shoulder injury death, Constipation Shortness of Breath Death, and DizzineS. This run of terse, non-medical descriptions of few mild symptoms, then death, as well as the inconsistency of effects reported prior to claimed deaths, he said, suggests to me that people may be deliberately entering misleading records. Salmon stressed that he and other doctors still encourage widespread reporting to the federal database. It is a powerful tool for generating hypotheses about and informing the evolution of guidances on vaccine safetywhen used with caution. But he pointed out that flooding it with repeated, secondhand, or dubious reports can cause more harm than good. The CDC says it investigates every case of death reported, for example. If it has to siphon off limited manpower to chasing down misinformation and noise over and over, the overall pace of investigations may suffer. Rather than draw exclusively on reports to the government, anti-vaxxers have also solicited direct accounts from their ranks for years to build up curated collections of injury and death narratives. Take the group Circle of Mamas, which opposes mandatory vaccinations. One member, who identified herself to The Daily Beast only by the name Courtney, noted that theyve just been adding COVID vaccine death stories to a pre-existing Vaccine Injury Stories page on their site that collects accounts posted on peoples own [social media] pages, or shared to a vaccine injury group. Before the pandemic, David Gorski, a doctor who has been monitoring anti-vaxxer communities and their activities for around two decades, said groups often ultimately focused on a handful of evocative injury or death claims, especially those in which victims or their families are willing to step up and become strong anti-vax advocates. These death stories are very effective, he explained, because they are so difficult to counter without appearing to be attacking a grieving parent, or even saying that they are lying. The Terrorgram Plot by Neo-Nazis to Seduce Anti-Vaxxers No such vocal focal figure has emerged for the COVID vaccine death narrative, though some death-hunting groups appear to be intent on finding one. Admins on the large Telegram channel have said they are trying to form a group of loved ones of supposed vaccine victims to discuss advocacy, and to make a video of direct, personal accounts of deaths. Hausman suspects that this may mean COVID vaccine skeptics and opponents are struggling to find people with strong and cogent narratives of loss willing to speak out. In the absence of these figures, time-consuming hunts for and compilations of uneven and often sparse accounts of people dying hours-to-weeks after getting COVID shots are the best skeptics and denialists can do. As lame as the effort it is, it may be having an impact. Some research suggests that encountering a barrage of brief and loose narratives about death and injury following vaccination, like those on death-hunting hubs, can decrease peoples confidence in vaccineseven when they dont fully buy the accounts. Reich told The Daily Beast that when she researches vaccine injury narratives, sometimes the repetition of claims of heartbreak and tragedy wears on her to the point that even she starts to feel doubt and concern. She has to stop and reconsider whether what I know is real about vaccines is really real. Some death narrative compilers have expressly noted that they believe or hope repeatedly listing these narratives may lead readers to see a pattern between COVID vaccinations and instances of illness and death. All I do is present the direct words, photos, and stories of the victimsor foreign media accounts, Wilkins told The Daily Beast when asked about his assertion that connecting COVID vaccines and deaths is common sense, and let people draw their own conclusions. Most of our readers / subscribers put together these repeated incidents. One thing is for sure: There is a substantial and important potential audience for this persuasion push. There are a lot of fence-sitters right now, Salmon, the Johns Hopkins epidemiologist, added. Research shows that 30 to 40 percent of the population is unsure about COVID vaccines. The type of arguments or detail that move fence-sitters one way or the other vary highly from group to group, he added, so its hard to say how many can or would be swayed by the stories on death-hunting hubs. But in general, we know news stories temporally linking vaccination and death often go viralwhich is likely why so many outlets irresponsibly report them. Reich suspects that the isolation of the pandemic makes it easier for people to fall into silos filled with death narratives, as well, and to accept them more easily without more diverse voices and sources of information in their lives to challenge or balance them. A couple of local news reports also suggest these hubs have played a role in some peoples decisions to protest vaccination policies. That is a worrying sign, as Americas quest to vaccinate a critical mass of citizens against COVID-19 slows into a grind against a wall of vaccine hesitancy and outright opposition. I get emails daily, Wilkins claimed in a message to The Daily Beast, from people thanking me for showing and telling them the truth, with many telling me I saved them from getting the shots. 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. After a federal review granted clearance, the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will be administered again in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The health departments in both states announced Friday evening that providers were notified of the change in the vaccines status. Its use was paused this month as the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration reviewed the cases of rare but potentially serious blood clots. The side effect was seen in six patients, including a Pennsylvania woman, out of the nearly 7 million who had received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the time of the pause. The CDC and FDA said the vaccine is safe and effective in preventing COVID-19 and monitoring will continue. State health officials said the time taken to review the cases should be seen as a sign the system works. After a thorough review, federal experts have determined that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe for all individuals, Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said in a statement Friday. We continue to urge individuals to get vaccinated as soon as possible with any of the three vaccines available to them. Getting vaccinated is essential as we work to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and also of serious and fatal complications due to the virus. The two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were administered during the third vaccines hiatus. Pennsylvania used the single-shot vaccine for its educator-vaccination initiative. It is also expected to be most useful for inoculating hard-to-reach populations, like shut-ins, the homeless or people who travel for work and may not know where they will be in a few weeks to schedule a follow-up appointment, said Melissa Miranda, CEO of Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley, after the nonprofit received a $1.6 million federal grant to expand vaccine access. (See the vaccine provider map from the Pa. DOH) Anyone 16 and older is eligible to schedule a vaccine appointment. In the Lehigh Valley, they can be scheduled through hospital chains LVHN and St. Lukes University Health Network, the Allentown and Bethlehem health bureaus, and a number of local pharmacies including CVS, Rite Aid, Wegmans and Weis. As of Friday, 45% of Pennsylvanias 12.8 million people have received at least one shot, and more than a quarter have received all required doses, according to state health department data. (Cant see the map? Click here.) MORE: LVHN plans another mass-vaccination drive-through at NCC. How to get an appointment. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Russias President Vladimir Putin is starting to feel the heat of new U.S. sanctions, as Washington is putting some additional bite into its confrontation with Moscow. At the same time, new sanctions or even a full-out (proxy) confrontation are looming on the horizon, looking at the tensions at the Russian-Ukrainian border. Putins reactions are straightforward, threatening asymmetric responses to any Western pressure or military interference in the coming months. The still fledgling or outright weak reactions of Western governments, especially in Europe, are received in Russia as a sign of weakness. Even though current US-EU sanctions on Russian institutions and oligarchs are taking their toll, the larger picture hasnt changed much. Russias military buildup on the eastern Ukrainian border, the unilateral decision to block the Black Sea for international shipping and naval forces, in breach with the Montreux Convention, and the threat of increased US sanctions on the NordStream 2 involved parties, doesnt seem to have changed Putins strategic considerations. The global critique about the Russian treatment of Navalny is seen by Moscow as external interference in an internal issue, not to be discussed even during Putins yearly State of Union address to the Russian people. US President Biden, however, seems not to be satisfied at all with the effects of current sanctions on Russia. New, harsher measures are already planned, even after last weeks Washington decision to expel Russian diplomats and bar US banks from buying Russias sovereign bonds on the primary market. Until now, most US sanctions have been linked to Russian interference in US elections, cyber-attacks and its appalling treatment of the political opposition. Moscows reaction until now has been rather icy, the Bear doesnt seem to be impressed by the threat of new sanctions. This reasonably soft Russian approach could, however, change very quickly, as Putins State of the Union address issues asymmetric reactions on all levels if so-called red-lines are crossed. Related Video: Guess What? Offshore Oil Is Cleanest Producer For the outside world, however, its not really clear what those red lines exactly are. Moscow already has indicated that additional Western sanctions or a military build-up in the Ukraine-Black Sea arena are a red-line. Analysts are now speculating what the Russian reaction to such actions could be. Western analysts mainly fear a military reaction, looking at the Ukrainian issue at present. The immense military buildup on Ukrainian borders could lead to a direct open involvement of Russian troops under the pretext of protecting Russian citizens and interests in the region, as has been done before in Georgia and other places. This full out Cold-War approach is an option not to diminish straight away, as Russian aggressive maneuvering has been building up since the Arab Spring, with its involvement in Syria and Libya being the clearest examples. Others are wondering if a possible Russian retaliation could be through blocking oil and gas supplies to Europe and and or the U.S. Increased energy supply dependency of the EU and the US increases Moscows geopolitical leverage. This situation has divided the leading European powers. Germany, for example, is hinting at opening up to Moscow, while France and the UK are taking the opposite approach. Then theres the largely undiscussed nuclear option. Another oil price war. While it may seem counterintuitive to some, Moscow could decide to push down prices in order to hurt international oil and gas companies, and independent US shale companies in specific. By taking on the U.S. oil industry, Bidens economic recovery could be dealt some serious damage. Another oil price war could destabilize the entire U.S. shale patch, which is still recovering from last years oil price implosion. During 2020 Russia has grown to be the third-largest oil supplier to the United States, overtaking even Saudi Arabia. Oil analysts have noticed it, but US politicians have turned a blind eye. The power of oil suppliers should not be undervalued, especially not when its in the hands of a rival world power. An aggressive move by Moscow doesnt necessarily have to be at the expense of others in the OPEC+ alliance. In fact, other OPEC members could actually benefit from a direct assault on US oil and gas export markets. Asian economies such as China or India will not be unhappy with lower oil prices, and Beijing even could be a supporter as it will hurt the US at a time that Washington is expanding its sphere of influence in the South China Sea. By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Between 2011 and 2021 West Bengal was dominated by the personality of Mamata Banerjee and the period can be described as the Mamata era. She destroyed the power of both the Maoists and Left Front after coming to power, introduced several populist schemes and appeared to be the undisputed ruler of the state by 2016. However, she committed a same-side goal in the panchayat election of 2018 and gave a fresh lease of life to the opposition. Ironically, it was not the left but the right that capitalised on it. In 2011, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M])-led Left Front government in West Bengal fell after 34 years of power, to a well-coordinated movement which brought Mamata Banerjee at the helm of affairs as chief minister. In 2021, with the Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) government completing a decade in power, a discussion on this period of West Bengals history is necessary. What has been the experience of parivartan, the slogan with which Banerjee came to power? Transition to the Mamata Era The multi-millionaire owner of a Brisbane mansion has won a court order against his neighbours, temporarily stopping construction on their dream home on one of the city's most exclusive streets. Steven John Baxter, founder of digital signage company Mandoe Media, successfully obtained the order against his Paddington neighbours who were building massive retaining walls next to his property to support a swimming pool and outdoor entertaining area. Homeowners Anthony Steven Preston and Kylie Anne Preston, and builder Graya Construction, were on Wednesday ordered by Planning and Environment Court Judge William Everson to suspend work on the home until a court hearing this week. Mr Baxter was not the only neighbours to complain, with the owners of the property to the rear of the Prestons also lodging a submission to Brisbane City Council objecting to the build. Artists rendition of the planned design of the Prestons' home overlooking Mr Baxter's property Pictured: Image shown to the court of the Prestons' new home under construction in Paddington, Brisbane Mr Baxter paid $5.35million for his six-bedroom, four-bathroom mansion in 2014. The Prestons bought their property, which adjoins Mr Baxter's home on a steep slope, for $3million in 2018 and demolished it to begin construction on a new home. Lawyer David Hood filed the injunction against the Prestons and Graya of behalf of Mr Baxter, claiming his client was concerned for the safety of his property from the retaining wall, the earthworks, and the construction equipment. In letters written to the Prestons sent before the court hearing Mr Hood demanded construction cease and claimed a truck on the site 'slid downhill in the mud', striking a fence and coming within half a metre of Mr Baxter's house. One letter from Mr Hood alleged the wall as 'hastily constructed', and asked for proof of insurance and a safety plan to protect Baxter's home in event of a catastrophic situation. The court was also provided with photographs showing the Preston home in various stages of construction, including CCTV camera images. The Baxters claim the Prestons' construction isn't safe and could damage their home An architect's drawing from the Preston's development application showing the building from the perspective of the rear neighbours The case is expected to continue on Wednesday where both Mr Baxter and the Prestons are set to appear. Barrister for Mr Baxter Andrew Skoien sought in an application to the planning court declarations that much of the construction was done without Brisbane City Council approval and was a development offence. Mr Skoien says the Prestons only sought 'retrospective approval' after work was implemented to build the pool area. The Prestons filed a retrospective development application on March 16 for the outdoor area, but they have not yet been approved, court documents show. The construction of the Prestons' new home as seen from another neighbour's property According to court documents, the Prestons had approval for the partial demolition of the pre-WWII home and its relocation and extension, but didn't have approval for extensive earthworks or retaining walls, which were at the center of Baxter's complaints. The Prestons' home has uninterrupted views of Brisbane's skyline which they were looking to extend with the above-ground pool. The retaining walls that already exist are allegedly 'higher' and 'in different form' to those shown on the approval developments, according to Mr Baxter's lawyers, and are 'out of keeping with the character' of the Paddington area. They say the retaining wall is within 2.5 metres of Mr Baxter's property, rather than the 6.5metres specified in plans. Mr Baxter's lawyers said they have attempted to make contact with the Prestons on several occasions but have received no reply. The owners of the Prestons' rear neighbours have also submitted a complaint against the Prestons' and Graya Construction, claiming the building was started 'unlawfully' and create a 'clear impact to privacy and amenity' of their home. 'At this stage, we understand no engineering drawings have been provided to Council to demonstrate the design of the retaining walls including but not limited to footings, surface drainage or any subsoil drainage,' the owners said in a planning submission to the council. 'In the absence of detailed engineering drawings, there is insufficient material provided for Council to reasonably assess this Operational Works application and confirm the associated impacts beyond the obvious impacts to privacy and amenity. 'The purpose of this submission is to reiterate areas of non-compliance relating to the retaining walls which in the current form will result in an extreme adverse impact on the amenity of 30 Wilden Street.' Graya Constructions were involved in 12 different properties last year amounting for more than $20.5million worth of building costs. Like ageing Second World War Japanese soldiers they came, emerging from the jungle seemingly unaware that the Brexit conflict was over an army of arch-Remainers looking to take potshots at the hated enemy. Under the cover of protesting against sleaze, Dominic Grieve led a 'Remoaner Revenge' against Boris Johnson with his Dyson-inspired jibe about a 'vacuum of integrity'. And in support, other veterans of the failed anti-Brexit campaign lined up to blast the Prime Minister. Under the cover of protesting against sleaze, Dominic Grieve led a 'Remoaner Revenge' against Boris Johnson with his Dyson-inspired jibe about a 'vacuum of integrity' Grieve, who was expelled by Mr Johnson from the Tory parliamentary party over his Brexit rebellion, appeared to relish his chance to hit back, accusing the PM of 'smoke and mirrors' over how the refit of his Downing Street flat was paid for. In what sounded like a well rehearsed jibe, he added that the scandal was 'just one illustration of the chaos Mr Johnson seems to bring in his wake and the reason for that is because he is a vacuum of integrity'. Anna Soubry, another ex-Tory MP Remainer, took to Twitter to rage that Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings 'deserve each other back-stabbing, two-faced egotistical liars'. And former Tory MP Phillip Lee drew a direct link to Brexit, declaring the 'grubby and incompetent little cabal' now running the country were 'the same people who began by lying their way to Brexit.' Anna Soubry, another ex-Tory MP Remainer, took to Twitter to rage that Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings 'deserve each other back-stabbing, two-faced egotistical liars' Tony Blair's former spin doctor and hardcore Remainer Alastair Campbell added: 'I hope it ends with a Labour government getting rid of these sleazebags and getting this cesspit cleared out.' Fervent Brexiteer Mark Francois hit back, saying: 'In the eyes of die-hard Remainers, Boris's unforgivable sin was to fulfil the democratic mandate to take us out of the EU.' But Dr Lee rejected the idea his condemnation was simply rooted in Brexit, saying his criticism also included Mr Johnson's handling of Covid, branding him 'incompetent, untrustworthy and totally unsuitable to be PM'. (Newser) Ghislaine Maxwell hasn't appeared before a judge in person since last July, when she was arrested. That changed when the British socialite and former girlfriend of the late Jeffrey Epstein showed up Friday in federal court, where she pleaded not guilty via an attorney to two new sex-trafficking charges filed last month, reports Reuters. With the additional charges, which include sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor (said to involve a 14-year-old girl), the 59-year-old now faces eight charges in total. In the March 29 indictment, not only was the timeline when Maxwell allegedly took part in Epstein's abuse of minor girls expandedoriginally it was 1994 to 1997; now it's 1994 to 2004but the new accuser was added, bringing the number of "minor victims" to four, per the Guardian. story continues below Maxwell, who's been denied bail three times and complained about her conditions in the Brooklyn prison where she's housed, "shuffled into court" looking "frailer" than she usually does, with her short black hair now gray and falling past her shoulders, reports the Guardian. The Washington Post notes that Maxwell also "appears to have lost a significant amount of weight." The only words she spoke during the proceedings were "Yes, your honor" when asked by US District Judge Alison Nathan if she was aware of the latest charges against her. Maxwell had previously pleaded not guilty to the initial charges against her. Maxwell's trial on most of them is so far set for July 12, though COVID restrictions may delay that; her lawyers are also seeking up to a six-month delay. A second trial will deal with two counts of perjury against her. "She's looking forward to fighting and she will fight," one of her representatives said after Friday's arraignment, per Reuters. (Read more Ghislaine Maxwell stories.) The United States has called on Russia to stop its military build-up in the temporarily occupied Crimea, stop its provocations on its border with Ukraine, and withdraw its troops from eastern Ukraine, Acting Deputy Chief of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE Elisabeth Rosenstock-Siller has said. According to an Ukrinform correspondent, she said this during an online meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council on Thursday, April 22. "The United States condemns Russia's occupation and its militarization of Crimea; we call on Moscow to reverse its military buildup there and fulfill its commitments to transparency under the Vienna Document. We further call on Russia to cease its provocations along its border with Ukraine and remove all its military forces and equipment/materiel from eastern Ukraine," she said. She also noted that the United States regrets that the Special Monitoring Mission, despite having a mandate to monitor throughout all of Ukraine, is prevented by Russia from freely operating in Russia-occupied Crimea. At the same time, Rosenstock-Siller said that "despite Moscow's efforts to hide its mistreatment of Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups," the international community is fully aware of the abuses endured by these communities at the hands of Russia's occupation authorities. She also welcomed the Department of Treasury's April 15 announcement of sanctions against five individuals and three entities related to Russia's occupation of Crimea and the egregious human rights abuses it commits there. op Bodycam video and 911 audio have been released of the moment a Virginia sheriff's deputy shot an unarmed black man multiple times while he was on the phone to a 911 dispatcher, after the officer apparently mistook the phone for a gun. Isaiah Brown, 32, was walking down the street outside of his Spotsylvania County home in the early hours of Wednesday morning and talking on the phone to a 911 operator when the deputy got to the scene around 3:18am. Just moments before police arrived, he had told a 911 dispatcher he was going to kill his brother. The officer can be heard shouting in both the bodycam footage and the 911 audio 'Show me your hands' and 'Drop the gun' several times, before opening fire. Less than an hour earlier, the same deputy had given Brown a ride home after his car broke down near a gas station several miles away. Spotsylvania County Sheriff's office released body camera footage and a recording of the 911 call late Friday night after public outrage over the shooting. Brown survived the shooting, but is in critical condition in a Fredericksburg hospital. The officer has not yet been identified by officials. Scroll down for video Isaiah Brown, 32, was heard on a 911 call, which was released Friday, saying he wanted to kill his brother. He went out for a walk outside his Virginia home, still on the phone with 911, when a deputy in the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's office responded and seemingly mistook the phone for a gun before shooting him multiple times. Spotsylvania County Sheriff's office released body camera footage and a recording of the 911 call late Saturday after public outrage over the shooting Transcript of the 911 recording Brown: 'Can you send somebody down here?' 911: 'What is going on, Isaiah? Why don't you just, what is the problem?' Brown: 'I'm about to kill my brother,' Isaiah Brown responded. 911 : 'Don't kill your brother.' Brown: 'Someone needs to come here real quick.' (at this point Brown leaves his house) 911: 'Do you understand that you just threatened to kill your brother on a recorded line on 911?' Brown: 'Mmhmm.' 911: 'So why would you say something like that?' Brown 'Because I need to get to my s**t' 911: 'Do you have a gun?' Brown: 'Yup' 911: 'Do you have a gun on you?' Brown: 'Nope.' 911: 'Do you have any weapons on you?' Brown: 'Nope.' (Sirens are heard in the background.) 911: 'You need to hold your hands up. Hold your hands up.' 911: 'Isaiah, are you holding your hands up?' Deputy: 'Show me your hands. Show me your hands now.: Dispatch: 'Are you holding your hands up?' Deputy: 'Show me your hands. Drop the gun. Drop the gun now. Stop walking towards me. Stop walking towards me. Stop. Stop.' (Sound of at least seven shots goes off.) (About one minute passes) Deputy: 'Several gunshots to the abdomen. One gunshot to the left eye. Two gunshots to the side. I got you, man. I'll pray for you, man.' (The deputy tells Brown's brother to get the medical kit from his squad car and works to keep Brown alive. The 911 audio continues for about four more minutes) Advertisement The incident started at around 2:30am Wednesday, when the deputy gave Brown a ride home from a gas station after his car broke down. When the deputy dropped him off, he spoke to Brown's brother Tazmon and said Brown wasn't in trouble; he just needed a ride home. The deputy then left. But less than an hour later, Brown called 911 during an argument with his brother. In the recording of the call with a dispatcher, Brown can be heard asking his brother for a gun, and his brother can be heard telling him he wasn't going to give it to him. Brown can be heard threatening to kill his brother because he wouldn't let him in their mom's room. The dispatcher asks 'What is going on, Isaiah? What is the problem?' Brown responds: 'I'm about to kill my brother.' He then tells the operator: 'Somebody needs to come here real quick.' The dispatcher asks: 'Do you understand that you just threatened to kill your brother on a recorded line on 911?' The 911 dispatcher asked Brown if he had a gun, which Brown first answered, 'Yup'. But he later says that he is not carrying one. At some point it appear Brown walks outside the property. Sirens can soon be heard in the background, and Brown was still on the call with the 911 dispatcher when the deputy arrived. Less than 30 seconds before the deputy shot Brown, he again tells the dispatcher he does not have a gun. But it's unclear whether the responding deputy had been made aware. The 911 operator can be heard telling Brown that he needs to put his hands up, but it is unclear if her responded. She says: 'You need to hold your hands up. Hold your hands up.' In the background, the officer can be heard shouting for Isaiah to put his hands in the air. In the bodycam footage it appears that the deputy mistakes the phone for a weapon. 'He's got a gun to his head,' the deputy was heard saying on the radio. He then shouts at Brown, 'Stop walking towards me. Stop walking towards me. Stop. Stop,' before firing at least seven times. The deputy, who isn't named, can be heard saying Brown was shot multiple times in the abdomen, one shot to the left eye and two to his side. 'Performing life saving measures,' the deputy said before the bodycam footage ends. The 911 audio continues beyond that moment, and the deputy can be heard trying to keep Brown alive and instructing Brown's brother to get a first aid kit out of his patrol car. 'I got you, man. I'll pray for you man,' the deputy was heard telling Brown. 'Hey, man, stay with me. Don't leave me.' The officer can be heard shouting 'Show me your hands' and 'Drop the gun' several times, before opening fire Brown's family says he suffers from a mental illness, and that the officer had no reason to shoot him The 911 audio ends with the deputy telling Brown that the medics are on their way and asking, 'Where is the gun?' Brown's family says he suffers from a mental illness, and that the officer had no reason to shoot him, Fox 5 Washington DC reported. Tazmon told NBC 4 Washington on Friday that he thinks his brother called 911 because he wanted a ride back to his car so that it wouldn't be towed. 'The officer just started shooting at him for no reason. I didnt hear a warning shot. All I heard was 'Hands up!' one time. And all he had was his phone, so I know he put his hands up,' Tazmon told NBC 4. The deputy was placed on administrative leave while the investigation, which is being handled by the Virginia State Police, proceeds, the Spotsylvania sheriff said in a video statement on Friday. The shooting sparked a protest Friday evening outside the Spotsylvania courthouse in Fredericksburg. Isiah Brown's family, including his brother and sister Tazmon and Yolanda, said Isaiah suffers from mental illness, and the officer had no reason to shoot him, Fox 5 Washington DC reported. The protesters marched from the county administration building to the sheriff's office, The Free Lance Star reported. Before making the march, they had a verbal exchange with a couple counterprotesters, who were led by Nick Ignacio, a candidate for the Board of Supervisors in Spotsylvania, according to The Free Lance Star. 'We want answers for a young man fighting for his life right now,' said Anthony Foote, one of the protest organizers, according to The Free Lance Star. 'Isaiah needs to survive. It's hard to know a story when there's only one side.' Spotsylvania Sheriff Roger Harris briefly addressed the protest, saying: 'I support you. I support the cause. When you see the video, the deputy actually saved this gentlemans life.' The shooting sparked a protest Friday evening outside the Spotsylvania courthouse in Fredericksburg Spotsylvania Sheriff Roger Harris briefly addressed the protest, saying: 'I support you. I support the cause. When you see the video, the deputy actually saved this gentlemans life' Brown's attorney David Hynes said in a statement to Fox 5 Washington DC that the released bodycam footage shows the shooting 'was completely avoidable.' Hynes said: 'In the 911 call, Isaiah clearly told dispatch that he did not have a weapon more than 90 seconds before the deputy arrived. 'He told dispatch that he was walking away from the house and away from anyone else and was on the roadway by himself. 'Isaiah was on the phone with 911 at the time of the shooting and the officer mistook a cordless house phone for a gun. 'There is no indication that Isaiah did anything other than comply with dispatch's orders and raised his hands with the phone in his hand as instructed.' Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 22:10:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presents People's Liberation Army (PLA) flag and the naming certificate to the captain and political commissar of the Changzheng-18 in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, April 23, 2021. Xi attended the commissioning ceremony of three naval vessels, the Changzheng-18, the Dalian, and the Hainan, and boarded the vessels after the ceremony. The vessels were delivered to the PLA Navy and placed in active service on Friday at a naval port in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Li Gang) SANYA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), attended the commissioning ceremony of three naval vessels, the Changzheng-18, the Dalian, and the Hainan. The vessels were delivered to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy and placed in active service on Friday at a naval port in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province. The ceremony started at around 3:30 p.m. and was attended by about 2,400 people. Xi presented PLA flags and the naming certificates to the captain and political commissar of each of the three vessels, and posed for group photos with them. After the ceremony, Xi boarded the vessels and reviewed the guards of honor. He also inspected the onboard weapons and equipment, greeted the officers and soldiers, and signed his name in the logs. At the dock, Xi met with representatives of vessel researchers and naval officers and soldiers. Approved by the CMC, the Changzheng-18 received the hull number 421, the Dalian 105, and the Hainan 31. William C. Radley Jr., 86, Mountain Top, formerly of White Haven, died April 17 at Mountain Top Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, Mountain Top. Born July 25, 1934, in Hazleton, he was the son of the late William C. Radley Sr. and Alvernia Remaley Radley. He attended White Haven schools and East Stroudsburg State Teachers College, where he was drum major of the college marching band and the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity. He was also a graduate of the National Training Schools, Boy Scouts of America. He served for 17 years in the capacity of District Scout Executive in Cape May Court House, N.J., and Doylestown. His outstanding record of scouting service promoted him to the National Executive Staff serving scouting from Maine to Florida. He directed two wilderness camps, five National Jamborees and taught at National Camping schools during that time. He retired in January 1980 when the National Council relocated in Dallas, Texas. William accepted a sales/marketing position with Bankers Systems Inc., St. Cloud, Minn., serving the financial industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He worked his way to sales manager and earned trips to Europe and Hawaii. He worked for Bankers for 17 years, which, during that time, he relocated to his family home in White Haven from Levittown. While living in White Haven, he stayed active in Scouting, took special training in New Mexico, served for more than 20 years on the White Haven Municipal Authority, served two two-year terms as president of the Lions Club and was elected twice to serve as an elected Borough Council member. Bill served as Trustee and public relations chair of the White Haven United Methodist Church, an EMT with the White Haven Rescue Squad and gave leadership to many other organizations and committees in his community and church. His dedication will truly be missed. He leaves his wife, Edna L. Feist Moyer Radley; three sons, Chris Charles Radley, Mark Charles Radley and Matthew Radley; and grandchildren. A graveside funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Laurel Cemetery, White Haven, with Pastor David Botzer officiating. Arrangements are by Lehman Family Funeral Service Inc., 403 Berwick St., White Haven, www .LehmanFuneralHome .com. HDFC Bank has finally deployed mobile ATMs across India to assist customers who are not willing to step outside during the lockdown. "At restricted, sealed areas, the `Mobile ATMs` will eliminate the need for the general public to move out of their locality to withdraw cash," the bank said in a statement. "During the lockdown last year, HDFC Bank successfully deployed mobile ATMs in over 50 cities and facilitated lakhs of customers in availing cash to meet their exigencies." Accordingly, customers can conduct over 15 types of transactions using the `Mobile ATM`, which will be operational at each location for a specific period. The `Mobile ATM` will cover 3-4 stops in a day. "We hope our mobile ATM will provide great support for people who want to avail basic financial services without having to venture far from their neighbourhood," said S. Sampathkumar, Group Head - Liability Products, Third Party Products and Non-Resident Business at HDFC Bank. "This service will also be of great help to all the healthcare workers, and other essential service providers who have been working tirelessly to combat the pandemic." Live TV #mute CAIRO (Reuters) - Kuwait's directorate general of civil aviation said early on Saturday in a tweet that it had suspended all direct commercial flights coming from India, effective April 24 and until further notice. The move was on the instructions of health authorities after an evaluation of the global coronavirus status. All passengers arriving from India either directly or via another country will be banned from entering unless they have spent at least 14 days out of India, the statement said. Kuwaiti citizens, their first degree relatives and their domestic workers will be allowed to enter. Cargo is unaffected. (Reporting by Alaa Swilam, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-25 01:01:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Mangoush discussed on Saturday ways to boost bilateral relations. During a phone conversation, the two officials exchanged visions on the latest developments in Libya, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. They also tackled efforts exerted to fully implement the outcomes of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolution, in a manner that guarantees the stability and prosperity of Libya and its people, according to the statement. Shoukry also invited al-Mangoush to visit Egypt at the earliest opportunity so as to resume consultations and coordination aimed at strengthening stability in Libya. Libya had been politically divided between eastern and western governments for years before the Government of National Unity was approved recently by the House of Representatives, or the parliament. The new government's main task is to prepare for the upcoming general elections in Libya on Dec. 24, as agreed by the UN-sponsored LPDF. Enditem An exceptionally insightful column about the future of an iconic local institution offers insider perspective into a corporate takeover and the increasingly likely bust up threat that would rip apart a Kansas City business that helped to build this nation . . . Check it: Could Canadian Pacific and Canadian National split Kansas City Southern? For now, here's a look at regulatory moves that govern the eventual demise of one of this town's greatest companies . . . .IE Digital Town Awards to recognise local community projects and everyday champions that demonstrate digital thinking and innovation for the betterment of local people, towns and communities The awards will now accept applications until Friday, 30 April at 5.00pm .IE comment: Based on the positive reaction across the country, we have decided to extend the deadline by another week to ensure that all groups and projects have had the chance to make their entries. .IE, the company that manages and maintains Irelands country domain name, has issued a final call for Longford applicants in the inaugural .IE Digital Town Awards. Longford community groups and projects are being invited to submit final entries for the .IE Digital Town Awards, following a decision to extend the application deadline by a week to facilitate the recent demand in submissions. The awards, which opened for entries on 22 March, will now accept applications until Friday, 30 April at 5.00pm giving community groups and projects an additional week to submit their entries. Commenting on the decision to extend the deadline, Oonagh McCutcheon, Corporate Communications Manager at .IE said, we are delighted to announce an extension to the deadline for applications to the .IE Digital Town Awards this year. Since opening the application portal for the awards in March, we have received a wide variety of applications from community groups and local towns across Ireland. We have been really impressed with the responses so far and based on the positive reaction across the country, we have decided to extend the deadline by another week to ensure that all groups and projects have had the chance to submit their entries. For those who have already made an application, the online portal will remain open for any last-minute changes or additions that they might like to make to their submission. And for those who are just starting the process, we would encourage you to start your application early, so that it is ready and finalised ahead of the revised deadline. The .IE Digital Town Awards The .IE Digital Town Awards has a total prize fund of 100,000 across 14 categories, which have been designed to recognise local community initiatives, town projects and people that have shown how digital projects have contributed to enhancements in areas such as health, tourism, education, public services, employment opportunities, citizen empowerment, and social entrepreneurship. Eleven of the awards will be shining a light on digital projects, with a further three special awards recognising a Digital Changemaker, Digital Rising Star, and a Digital Hero all of which will be decided on by independent judging panel. For the Digital Changemaker, the judges want to see a town that demonstrates that they have taken creative digital action to create change and new ways of doing things to effect positive impacts for the community. For the Digital Rising Star, the judges will be looking for a town that is an emerging talent in digital and will demonstrate the potential to be a future digital leader. The Digital Hero, meanwhile, will be someone in the community who is an unsung hero, working tirelessly on initiatives to promote the digital enhancement of the town or a group in the town. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong, left, speaks during a press conference at Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, April 24, in which the government said it will import additional Pfizer vaccine doses for 20 million people. Yonhap South Korea said Saturday it has signed a deal with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. to import additional Pfizer vaccine doses for 20 million people in a move that could ease public concerns about a vaccine shortage. The deal came after South Korean health minister Kwon Deok-cheol held two video conferences with his Pfizer counterpart on April 9 and 23. "The additional deal would allow South Korea to receive coronavirus vaccines more stably," Kwon said in a news conference at the government complex building in Seoul. South Korea is set to receive Pfizer vaccine doses for 3.5 million people by the end of June. Among them, Pfizer vaccine doses for 875,000 people have already been delivered to South Korea. Additional Pfizer vaccines for 29.5 million people are scheduled to be supplied to South Korea in phases, beginning in July. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The Duke of Edinburgh staged an extraordinary boardroom coup to save a charity founded by his former headmaster at Gordonstoun, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Having learned that The Outward Bound Trust was on the brink of going bust, he arrived unexpectedly at an emergency board meeting in Oxford. Furious at the prospect of a charity of which he was patron being wound up, Prince Philip removed the chairman and took on the role himself. He then sacked the chief executive and many of the trustees before telling the stunned meeting: Our mission is clear. We must proceed with rescuing this tremendous organisation. Within weeks, the Duke had invited senior figures from the business world to a fundraising dinner in the Chinese Dining Room at Buckingham Palace. The Duke of Edinburgh throws a javelin during a visit to the Outward Bound Sea School, in Wales, watched by some of the boys in July 1949 According to several of those present, the Prince joked to his guests: This is like a high-class shearing shed and we are here to fleece you. The charity, which provides adventure expeditions for youngsters, not only survived, but thrived. Today, it welcomes 25,000 young people a year through the doors of its activity centres. Recalling the Dukes intervention at the meeting in 1993, Lord Kirkham, owner of the DFS furniture empire and a trustee at the time, said: It was almost like a comedy script. We had these three accountants who one after another delivered all these reports and charts and forecasts that said the charity could not survive. I remember the last accountant told us, Without any caveat or ambiguity I recommend that the organisation be pared back or preferably closed. Prince Philip thanked them and they left the meeting. Then he said, Thats settled that, hasnt it? Everyone looked downcast and serious. Then he said, Thats settled that. Weve got to save The Outward Bound Trust. The Duke asked the charitys then chairman, Jim Swaffield, who was director-general of the Greater London Council, to step down and appointed retired Army Major-General Sir Michael Hobbs as the new chief executive. Mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington, who is the charitys deputy patron, said: I had just been appointed and saw him in action. He was the best chair I have ever come across. The rescue was a personal mission for the Duke, who died earlier this month, aged 99. The charity had been co-founded in 1941 by Kurt Hahn, headmaster at Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland, and a major influence on the young Philips life. The Duke of Edinburgh shares a joke with Bruce Forsyth at the 1993 Outward Bound Awards Crucial to the plan was fundraising, with the Duke organising a series of high-profile dinners. Lord Kirkham said the Duke made clear to guests that a sizeable tip would be required at the end of the meal. He never made any bones about it, he added. He was very straightforward. He didnt gild things. He was upfront about what he wanted. It felt like a great privilege to go along and he would tell you how important the charitys work is and how you would be fulfilled by supporting it and you did feel great about it. Theres no doubt he saved the charity. By the time the Duke stood down as chairman in 1999, the charity had not only cleared its 3 million of debts but had also paid off mortgages on its activity centres in Wales, the Lake District and the Highlands. Prince Philip then resumed his role as patron until his retirement in 2019. Nick Barrett, the charitys current chief executive, said: Without his intervention, Outward Bound would not be here today and for that alone we owe him a huge debt of gratitude. Do you have a news tip? Want to share good news story, or do you have information that should see the light of day? Then we want to hear from you. More here The first graduation of servicemen took place on the basis of the Maritime Guard Training Center, who were trained at specialized courses for the language and professional training of the crews of the Ukrainian-French project for updating the ship-and-boat personnel of the Maritime Guard with boats of the OCEA FPB 98 type. "For three months, twenty sailors-border guards from Odesa, Mariupol and Izmail detachments of the Maritime Guard of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine have been mastering one of the languages of international communication of seafarers for further promotion and implementation of a unique, bold, ambitious Ukrainian-French project of updating the ship and boat personnel of the Maritime Guard," the press service of the regional department of the Maritime Guard of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported. The training program was developed on the basis of modern international methods and is focused on the specifics of the service activities of the border agency in accordance with the leading EU and NATO standards. In addition to language training, military personnel also took a refresher course in their main field of study. It is noted that in the next few days another working group of specialists from the State Border Guard Service will go to France to control the construction of special-purpose Maritime Guard ships of the OCEA FPB 98 MKI type. Earlier, in February, the reception of the first hull of the main ship took place. The rest of the units will be serial. On June 29, 2019, the press service of the Ukrainian government reported that the Cabinet of Ministers was negotiating a joint Ukrainian-French production of 20 patrol boats OCEA FPB 98 in Ukraine, which will be handed over to the Sea Guard of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. On September 20, it was reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs was considering the possibility of updating the fleet of patrol boats of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and one of the most acceptable proposals is cooperation with the French company OCEA. "The main requirement is to localize the construction and involvement of Ukrainian manufacturers in the project to upgrade the fleet of patrol boats," the ministry reported then. OCEA FPB 98 boats have a length of 32 meters, at the request of the customer can be equipped with various combat modules and an inspection boat. They provide for a crew of 13 people, a maximum speed of 35 knots, a cruising range of 1,200 miles at a speed of 12 knots. Five people were injured after a shooting on New Orleans Bourbon Street. No arrests have been made hours after the incident took place, police said. The shooting was reported to law enforcement at 2:16am ET on Saturday morning on the street that draws tourists to the city for its vibrant nightlife. Authorities said the shooting took place on the edge of the French Quarter, close to Canal street. Two of the victims wounded by the gunfire arrived at the hospital by private vehicle, while two others were taken by ambulance. The fifth victim received treatment at the scene, NOLA reported. None of the injuries are thought to be life-threatening, spokesman Aaron Looney said. Information on what led to the shooting was not immediately available, but detectives are investigating, the spokesman said. A video from the street, posted shortly after police arrived, shows law enforcement vehicles blocking the area from Bienville street in the direction of the Mississippi River, which runs through the city. Diversified group on Saturday said it has tied up with Ltd to import 24 cryogenic containers to transport medical The company also said it is airlifting large numbers of concentrators for distribution, while its paperboards unit in Bhadrachalam has started supply of to neighbouring areas. " Ltd has tied up with Ltd to airfreight 24 cryogenic containers of 20 tons each from Asian countries for use by them to transport medical oxygen across the country," the company said in a statement. The initiative is aimed at easing the bottleneck of transporting medical oxygen, and to support the government's efforts, it added. Many hospitals in different parts of the country are facing an acute shortage of oxygen as the devastating second wave of the pandemic sweeps across India. "With the unprecedented emergency caused by the second wave of COVID-19, there has been an exponential rise in demand for medical oxygen, which is the most critical need at this hour to save valuable lives," the company said. In addition, is airlifting large numbers of oxygen concentrators for distribution. The company's paperboards unit in Bhadrachalam has commenced supply of oxygen to neighbouring areas, it informed. Stating that it is committed to support the government in its fight against the pandemic, ITC said it will "continue to explore other avenues to help address the challenges emerging during these trying times". (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 lawyer investigating David Cameron's lobbying attempts on behalf of loans firm Greensill has been urged to widen his probe to cover the former Prime Minister's role in torpedoing proposed curbs on online taxi company Uber. Steve McNamara, head of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association, which represents London's 24,000 black cab drivers, has asked Nigel Boardman to expand his inquiry to include Mr Cameron's 'undue influence' as Prime Minister. Four years ago, an investigation by the Daily Mail claimed Mr Cameron and the then Chancellor George Osborne told aides to lobby Boris Johnson, who was London Mayor at the time, against proposed curbs on Uber, a smartphone app that lets users hail minicabs. The lawyer investigating David Cameron's lobbying attempts on behalf of loans firm Greensill has been urged to widen his probe to cover the former Prime Minister's role in torpedoing proposed curbs on online taxi company Uber Mr Johnson's planned crackdown followed fears that Uber was putting traditional taxis out of business and adding to traffic, air pollution, illegal parking and accidents. In September 2015, Mr Johnson said Transport for London (TfL) was considering 25 measures, including making Uber and other private hire firms wait at least five minutes between taking a booking and picking up a customer. It was hoped this would curb the proliferation of minicabs, but the Mayor and his aides began receiving angry messages from Downing Street and 'forthright texts' from Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne. At the time, Mr Cameron had close personal relationships with Rachel Whetstone, Uber's then senior vice-president of policy and communications, and her husband Steve Hilton, who was his director of strategy from 2010 to 2012. Daniel Korski, deputy head of Cameron's policy unit, led secret crisis talks between Ministers and the Mayor and his staff. In January 2016, the Mayor decided to drop almost all the curbs Uber disliked. Mr Johnson's planned crackdown followed fears that Uber was putting traditional taxis out of business and adding to traffic, air pollution, illegal parking and accidents In his letter to Mr Boardman, Mr McNamara wrote: 'The unprecedented interventions included direct text messages believed to have been sent by Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne to the Mayor, as well as Number 10 officials, special advisers and Cabinet Ministersdispatched to send a clear message that the proposed changes were unwelcome even reportedly shouting at City Hall officials.' He claimed the lobbying by Mr Cameron, Mr Osborne and other No 10 officials amounted to an 'embrace of Uber' and an effort 'to protect its position in the market'. In March 2017, Downing Street was accused of a cover-up for failing to divulge details of the lobbying operation following a Freedom of Information request. Emails between Mr Korski and the Mayor's staff were released by TfL. The Information Commissioner's Office investigated, but The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the Government was cleared due to Cabinet Office rules that let officials destroy 'trivial information', including emails, within three months. Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat London Assembly member, also wants the inquiry to be broadened beyond Mr Cameron's lobbying for Greensill Capital to issue Government-backed loans to firms during the pandemic. She said it had to 'address the lax lobbying culture.' Greensill adviser Mr Cameron who did not respond to a request to comment last night stood to make a fortune if it floated, but it collapsed in March. Uber declined to comment. A source said more than 200,000 signed a petition in autumn 2015 against curbs on the firm. Cast: Jaideep Alhawat, Fatima Sana Sheikh, Nushrat Bharucha, Abhishek Banerjee, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditi Rao Hydari, Shefali Shah and Manav Kaul. Directors: Kayoze Irani, Neeraj Ghaywan, Shashank Khaitan A four-part anthology series, Netflixs Ajeeb Dastaans is part Ajeeb (weird) and part Dastaans (stories). To me, this film actually felt as a continuation of Paava Kadhaigal (Sin Stories), a Tamil anthology film that explored themes of honour, love and pride. You see a lot of similar themes being explored in Ajeeb Dastaans, however, the first two short stories Majnu and Khilauna sacrifice any deeper character building for the sake of the plot, while the latter two Geeli Pucchi and Ankahi found the right balance between character performances and storytelling. I do appreciate the films commitment to telling offbeat stories without stretching it out to be a feature length film. None of the stories are any longer than they need to be and allow you to experience a gamut of emotions within the 142 minutes of running time. Obviously, depending on the audience, some of the films are a hit and some a miss, but there is something for everyone. The most refreshing aspect of the film was its cast of actors. Each of them delivered good performances that held the stories together and kept me gripped. Youre so used to seeing a Khan, Kapoor or Khanna romance on screen that seeing new permutation and combinations of actors play off one another creates a sense of exciting possibilities. I do believe that the film and content on Netflix in general is veering towards certain tropes like depicting the underbelly of Indian culture, sex, discrimination (ableism, sexual orientation, feminism, caste), but any real thematic exploration of these issues is missing, so it feels like they are just adding a pinch of woke-ness to cater to certain audiences. The film overall was OK, and I would recommend everyone to watch it once and make up their own minds. When Tara Latil heard that two men were killed by a malfunctioning crane in Jefferson County Thursday evening, she was taken back to 2015. Her son was killed in a crane accident at the port of Beaumont, and since then, his story has been used by safety managers to show employees what can happen and encourage them to take the tasks more seriously, she said. I feel for the families because I know how tough the road ahead of them is, she told The Enterprise. That road, Latil said, is full of questions with few answers. Honestly, the first days are a complete blur, she said. I remember being told my son didn't make it, and after that I don't remember much of the first few days. It was a lot of confusion and questioning why. The questions in this weeks case started not long after it was first reported around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Initial calls said a piece of heavy equipment was dropped from a commercial truck before hitting a vehicle that was westbound on Interstate 10. That story changed slightly a few hours later, when the Texas Department of Public Safety reported that the crane collapsed, crushing the cab of a 2013 Toyota pickup truck traveling west on the interstate. However, much later in the evening, DPS said construction crews were operating a heavy crane when it malfunctioned, hitting the pickup truck. Driver Sarfaraz Karowadia, 37, and passenger Altaf Kasowadia, 37, were pronounced dead at the scene by Justice of the Peace Travis McCall. Both men were reported as residents of Friendswood and were on their way back home at the time of the accident. The incident closed that section of I-10 for several hours. With Thursdays malfunction just the latest involving a crane Latil said it is time for harsher penalties and increased training. Unfortunately, most of these companies have insurance, she said. So, the company itself really doesn't suffer a true penalty. There should definitely be more supervision and safety mechanisms in place. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 297 crane-related deaths were reported from 2011 to 2017. Fifty of those deaths happened in Texas. Florida and New York are the next-highest represented states with 16 deaths each. The report says half of all the fatal crane injuries involved a worker being hit by an object or equipment. However, only 8% of the deaths occurred at road construction sites. And Beaumont has a history of them, including a recent crash eerily similar to Thursdays accident. In 2016, crews were working on U.S. 69, just south of Lucas Drive in Beaumont, when a mobile crane truck lifting a sign fell into moving traffic and hit two cars, crushing one of the vehicles roofs and injuring two people. It was later discovered that the crane operator had been lifting the sign without engaging the equipments outriggers beams that extend out from the bottom of a crane to increase its stability. No one died in that event, but the victims eventually were awarded a $4.8 million settlement in 2018 after a court determined that their severe injuries were a direct result of operational mistakes from the crane driver and a lack of supervision. Paul Chip Ferguson, principal partner of Beaumonts The Ferguson Law firm, said it is too early to say what exactly caused the crane on I-10 to collapse, but past cases show these accidents often can be complicated and far-reaching. In the aftermath of a catastrophe like this, there are facts that need to be uncovered quickly, he said. Our experience teaches us there is usually a multi-factor cause, not just human error from the crane operator. Sometimes the money you try to save with equipment is what causes people to die. Fergusons firm represented the victims in the 2015 crash on U.S. 69, as well as families impacted by similar incidents around the citys numerous highways. Like with the fatal accident on Thursday and most cases involving roadwork, according to Ferguson the incident on U.S. 69 involved a subcontractor working under a company that was completing a larger-scope project on the highway. Due to the multiple decision makers involved in every choice that led up to a tragedy like Thursdays fatality, firms usually investigate contractors, subcontractors and sometimes even equipment-rental companies to get a wider picture of culpability. The main contractors on the lane-widening projects Johnson Brothers Construction and its parent company, Southland Holdings have a range of experience working on public highway jobs in Texas. TxDOT Beaumont District spokeswoman Sarah Dupre said in a statement that the agencys contract with the company runs from Farm Road 365 to Walden Road. TxDOT is saddened by this accident and loss of life, and we offer our most sincere condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of those involved, she said in the statement. In a statement, Johnson Brothers said it was working with TxDOT to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident. In response to the incident which occurred on the construction site located along I-10, involving subcontractor Hemphill Construction, our thoughts and prayers are with all involved in this incident, the statement said. A representative from Hemphill Construction could not be reached for comment. Latil, who settled with four companies after her sons death, said she understands that the work needs to be done. However, she thinks there should be an alternative route for drivers to take to avoid the construction area altogether or construction should only take place when there is a lighter flow of traffic. TxDOT does not have any work-related road closures for the area planned at this time. Kaitlin Bain contributed to this report. isaac.windes@hearstnp.com jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com Jerusalem, April 24 : Israel's military said Saturday that it struck military sites in the Gaza Strip after at least 36 rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave into southern Israel over the past two days. On Friday night, amid recent tensions between Palestinians and the Israeli police in east Jerusalem, militants in Gaza fired three rockets towards southern Israel. Overnight, Israel retaliated with airstrikes on sites belonging to Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian group that runs Gaza, which was followed by more rockets fired at southern Israel, the Xinhua news agency reported. "Fighter jets and attack helicopters struck a number of Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip, including an underground infrastructure and rocket launchers belonging to Hamas," an Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement. Between Friday night and early Saturday, at least 36 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. Israel's Iron Dome Aerial Defense System intercepted six of the rockets, while the other rockets fell near the fence separating Gaza and Israel or in open fields in Israel, without causing damage or injury. The violence was the worst flare-up in the region in months. The rockets were not fired by Hamas but by two smaller groups in Gaza, one affiliated with the Fatah and the other with the Popular Front, which are both Palestinian parties. The groups assumed responsibility for the rocket strikes and said it was a retaliation to tensions in east Jerusalem, where violent clashes erupted on Thursday night, with scores of injuries and arrests. Haiti - Environment : Already 2 million trees planted in the North The 5-year reforestation project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID-Haiti) which concerns Cap-Haitien, Grande Riviere du Nord, Milot, Limonade, Sainte Suzanne, Terrier Rouge, Trou du Nord, Ferrier, Ouanaminthe and Perches, has set up 45 nurseries to supply local farmers with tree seedlings. These plants include high-value crops like cocoa, fruit trees and shade trees like oak and moringa, are transplanted to farmers' lands to protect vulnerable soils such as those near rivers and on critical watersheds and will improve the resilience of communities to the risks of climate change, especially in the face of floods, erosion and drought. At the same time, the project supports sustainable agroforestry systems that generate more income for local farmers and further reduce deforestation. On the occasion of this Earth Day, USAID as part of its reforestation project launched in 2018 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23217-haiti-usa-important-reforestation-project-in-the-north-and-northeast-departments.html , in partnership with Chemonics and local communities, more than 2 million new trees have already been planted and will plant two million more in over the next 18 months. Simultaneously, USAID provided training to 24,000 local farmers in modern agroforestry and land management techniques and helped them create thriving farms that include fruit trees, valuable crops like cocoa and coffee, woodlots that are sustainably harvested for charcoal and timber production, beekeeping for honey production and hay production to feed livestock, especially during the dry season. Read also on regforestation and deforestation in Haiti : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32142-haiti-environment-nou-pral-plante-dlo-attacking-deforestration.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28027-haiti-grand-anse-one-of-the-regions-most-affected-by-land-degradation-and-deforestation.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-25087-icihaiti-environment-workshops-on-reforestation-in-jacmel-and-les-cayes.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-24034-icihaiti-environment-towards-the-construction-of-the-7th-plant-propagation-center.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-22074-haiti-environment-historic-bilateral-agreement-to-reforest-areas-in-haiti.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-21256-icihaiti-environment-launch-of-a-reforestation-campaign-in-the-grand-anse.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-15306-haiti-environment-common-front-with-france-for-the-reforestation-of-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-15995-haiti-environment-cop21-haiti-reforestation-project-project-led-by-sean-penn.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-8722-haiti-environment-launch-of-the-reforestation-campaign-of-the-island.html HL/ HaitiLibre Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on April 24 that they had dismantled a "terrorist" cell linked to the Islamic republics enemies and killed three of its members in the country's southeast. The IRGC mounted a "successful operation" in Irans southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province and ambushed the "terrorist cell linked to the global arrogance," an IRGC statement published on Iranian news sites, said. RFE/RL could not independently verify the claim. Iran generally uses the term "global arrogance" to refer to the United States or its allies. "Three of the terrorists were killed and their weapons, ammunition and communications equipment were seized," the statement added. The IRGC said the group had "entered the area some time ago for sabotage and terrorist operations," without providing further details or evidence. Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Irans poorest provinces, is a volatile area near Iran's borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan where drug smugglers and militant groups operate. With reporting by AFP and Tasnim Drugmakers must work towards making Germany and Europe self-sufficient in terms of vaccine production as there are international setbacks in procuring foreign supplies that make EU less resilient, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She added, however, that the manufacturing industry has held up very well in spite of the crisis. The most important weapon in the fight against COVID-19 is vaccination, said the Chancellor. The continued that testing helps build a bridge until the impact of vaccinations is felt, at the same time, vaccinations are needed in order to fight the pandemic. Theres a need to rapidly raise vaccine production in Germany and Europe, Merkel said, indicating the need for self sufficiency in drug sector. Her remarks came as Marburg started operation at a new plant to produce the BioNTech vaccine. German vaccine-maker IDT Biologika and AstraZeneca announced that it was expanding production capacity for the British-Swedish company's jabs [nearly 10 million doses] by establishing a new plant in German town of Dessau by 2022. The pandemic has shown us how vulnerable international supply chains are, Germanys leader said, adding that when too few alternative suppliers are available, Germany and Europe must strengthen their strategic drug independence. Merkel had also earlier insisted that EU must develop "self-sufficiency" in manufacturing key medicine products such as the masks. This market is presently installed in Asia, we need a certain self-sufficiency, the German leader told a press conference in Berlin. Manufacturing to rise by 8% German Chancellor stressed that developing EUs own capacities and sovereignty means that the bloc would also be more resilient when international supply chains are hit. Germany and Europe are working in a number of areas to become more independent, including supplies of raw materials, technology for critical infrastructure and digitalisation, she added. She informed, that her countrys manufacturing is set to rise strongly by 8 percent, and exports are forecast to increase by 8.5 percent. "Priority needs to be given to boosting domestic production of essential and strategic medicines as currently 40 percent medicines marketed in the EU are imported from the non-EU countries, while 60 - 80 percent pharmaceutical products are manufactured in China and India", German MPS told the EU parliament. Germanys leader has, from time to time, emphasised on the EU to be more self-sufficient when it comes to medicines and medical equipment to make the affordable treatment amid the pandemic available for the EU citizens as healthcare exacerbated due to the COVID-19 crisis. Germany also urged the bloc to use pharmaceutical strategy to ensure that safe medicines in Europe can be made available, accessible and affordable by increasing foreign direct investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, which are part of Europes critical health infrastructure. I love Dani and I was dreading that they were gonna kill her off, so Im so glad she was the reason the handshake happened. Also LOL at Ed and Sally pulling guns on each other. I thought he was gonna fuck it up and lose it like when he first found out Kelly wanted to go to Annapolis. Or like felt like had something to prove because he let the cosmonaut in who bugged Jamestown or wanted to act out because of Karen admitting she slept with someone. So glad they showed some change in him. Also, I was beginning to wonder what the point of Piscotty (forgot his name and had to Google) was, and it took up until the finale to not reveal much. Seeing Tracy and Gordo that way was so devastating. When I saw that the light was red at the top of the door, my heart just dropped. Gordo was an ass, but he came a long way. Tracy too. I feel like even in their dark moments they were kind of the light, comedic relief of the show. They genuinely loved each other and I guess having them die that way, but together was good closure for them. It was nice to see a relationship that was dysfunctional but still somehow made sense compared to the others that just dont work (Ed and Karen), cant work (Pam and Ellen). So I hope they can focus more on Molly and Wayne in the next season to fill that void. Also, would love them to show more of Kelly especially at Annapolis. And do more with Karen that makes sense. I know they wanted to make her more than just a housewife waiting around, but sleeping with a kid she practically raised was not it. I wouldnt be surprised though if like, the writers have him and Kelly end up together because he wants to be close to Karen and play out the whole unrequited bs. I cant wait for all the Mars stuff! And more Aleida becoming the next Margo. Speaking of Margo, I hope she catches on to the whole Sergei thing immediately, but Im sure theyre not gonna let that happen :/ A man who pulled down his mask and shouted coronavirus at a security guard he also threatened to kill during a knife-point robbery has been jailed for three years. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Kevin Brosnan (40) capitalised on the fears and anxieties of the general public during a pandemic by mentioning the virus during the robbery. Brosnan of Ardmore Park, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to robbery at Centra, Old Bawn Shopping Centre, Tallaght, on April 2, 2020. His 82 previous convictions include convictions for burglary, theft, possession of knives and affray. Passing sentence on Thursday, Judge Karen O'Connor said Brosnan appeared to have escalated the nature of his offending. Judge O'Connor said the case was mitigated by his difficult background, his chronic addiction and his long period of homelessness. She said it appears at this time in his life he is endeavouring to make improvements. She sentenced Brosnan to four-and-a-half years imprisonment, but suspended the final 18 months on strict conditions, including that he co-operate with any programme dealing with racist behaviour as directed by the Probation Service. At a previous sentencing hearing, Garda Dillon O'Malley told Dara Hayes BL, prosecuting, that Brosnan entered the Centra shop armed with a knife, pulled down his mask and shouted Coronavirus at a security guard working there. He threatened the security guard and referred to him with a racial slur. He then approached the counter and demanded a shop assistant open the till, telling him that he was HIV positive when the shop assistant initially could not get the till open. As the shop assistant was putting money in a shopping bag for the accused, Brosnan repeatedly told the security guard he would kill him each time the guard attempted to approach. The guard made an attempt to block him as he left the store, but Brosnan pointed the knife at him and again threatened to kill him. Brosnan was spotted by a member of the public shortly after the robbery and contacted gardai, who arrived and arrested the accused. He was found to be in possession of 630 which was returned to the shop. Gda O'Malley agreed with Sarah-Jane O'Callaghan BL, defending, that her client capitalised on the fears and anxieties of the general public during a pandemic by mentioning Coronavirus. He agreed with counsel that her client had employed a shocking racial slur towards the victim. The garda agreed that Brosnan is disgusted with his actions and has expressed genuine remorse. Additional evidence The court heard that Brosnan had been released by gardai without charge following a separate knife-point robbery the previous year. Brosnan also pleaded guilty to robbery at Mace, Killinarden Way, Tallaght, on October 3, 2019. Garda Gary Duffy told Mr Hayes that on the date in October 2019, Brosnan entered the Mace shop along with an accomplice who was holding a knife. This accomplice put the knife to the neck of a shop assistant and demanded that the till be opened. Gda Duffy said the man with the knife threatened to stab and kill the shop assistant unless the till was opened. Brosnan and his accomplice grabbed money and ran from the shop. Brosnan was identified by gardai on CCTV footage obtained from the shop. He was arrested and interviewed, but was ultimately released without charge. Gda Duffy agreed with Ms O'Callaghan that there was a huge juxtaposition between her client's demeanour when he is sober and his actions during the offence. HGTV stars Drew and Jonathan Scott have mostly kept their love lives out of the spotlight. However, fans have grown to love Drew Scotts wife, Linda Phan, and people were also thrilled to learn Jonathan Scott had begun dating actor Zooey Deschanel. But it turns out that, before Deschanel, Scott was actually once married but there is a reason why things didnt work out. Jonathan Scott (right) with his brother Drew Scott in Toronto, Canada in 2019 | George Pimentel/Getty Images Jonathan Scott has tried to keep his love life private through the years Scott and his brother, Drew Scott, first became notable a decade ago. The brothers, who are originally from Canada, landed a contract with HGTV to star in a series known as Property Brothers. The two would help families purchase their new home, then remodel that home to meet the familys needs. Though the brothers quickly rose to fame on TV, they tried to keep their personal lives a bit quieter. Jonathan Scott was married to a woman named Kelsy Ully for the first two years of the show, but fans never heard him speak one word about her and thats because the two were separated that entire time. Plus, when the show first started, it was all business. It wasnt until several years and a few spinoffs later that people became interested in the brothers personal lives. Jonathan Scott and Zooey Deschanel in 2019 | Eric McCandless/ABC/Getty Images RELATED: How Did Zooey Deschanel And Jonathan Scott Meet? Jonathan Scotts marriage to his first wife was rushed and he didnt like her job Fans have heard a bit about Jonathan Scotts personal life, including his previous relationship with Canadian radio host Jacinta Kuznetsov. Scott and Kuznetsov dated for about three years, but complications with both of their schedules caused them to split. Though the world grew to know Scotts relationship with Kuznetsov quite well, he was actually married to someone when Property Brothers first aired in 2011: A woman named Kelsy Ully. The two were married back in 2007; they separated in 2010 and were divorced in 2013. Scott hasnt spoken much about their relationship, but he has hinted at why they split. The couple dated for five years, but Scott has since said that their marriage was rushed. Despite dating for so long, they were both still young when they wed. And according to Distractify, Scott later penned in his memoir that Ullys job as a waitress-model at a club hurt their relationship. She worked long days and into the night at a Las Vegas pool club, which only left room for concern on Scotts end. Jonathan Scott in 2016 in New York City | Brad Barket/Getty Images Jonathan Scott has been dating Zooey Deschanel since 2019 Though Scotts past loves didnt work out, he seems to have found true happiness with actor Zooey Deschanel. The two met while filming an episode of Carpool Karaoke with James Corden. Corden invited the Scott brothers, along with Deschanel and her sister, Emily Deschanel, onto the show to do a siblings episode. Scott and Deschanel announced their relationship only one week after Deschanel announced that she and her then-husband Jacob Pechenik were getting divorced. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian received Charalambos Petrides, Minister of Defense of Cyprus, and his delegation, the Presidential office told Armenpress. During the meeting the Cypriot defense minister said its an honor for him to be in Armenia on this important day for the Armenian people and to have an opportunity to pay tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims. We have visited the Genocide Memorial and are impressed. We share the grief of the friendly Armenian people and express our support, the Cypriot defense minister said. In his turn President Sarkissian thanked the defense minister of Cyprus and his delegation for visiting Armenia on this important day and for standing by the Armenian people. This is the day of the remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, a great tragedy for our people. You are the nation who understands us at best. We not only must support each other, but also must deepen our partnership. President Sarkissian welcomed the steps on developing the cooperation between the Armenian and Cypriot defense ministries, stating that in order to resist the challenges it is necessary to be ready for a daily hard work. Armen Sarkissian has also touched upon the recent war unleashed by Azerbaijan with the support of Turkey against Artsakh and its consequences. Talking about the humanitarian problems, he said that months after the war Azerbaijan is still holding the Armenian prisoners of war and civilians in captivity, by violating all norms of the international law. The Armenian President and the Cypriot defense minister also discussed regional security-related issues. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh arrived in Indonesia on Friday, ahead of the Asean Summit meeting in Jakarta on Saturday. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is holding a special summit to discuss the ongoing situation in Myanmar, and is expected to include the general who led the February coup ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Opponents of the junta are furious that ASEAN is welcoming its chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to its meeting in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, arguing that because he seized power by force, he is not Myanmar's legitimate leader. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Dhaka, April 25 : Funded by Islamic forces, militant outfits Hefazat-e-Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami wanted to turn Bangladesh into a Taliban state like Afghanistan if they came to power, top Hefazat leaders, including Mamunul Haque who was arrested recently, have confessed to the police. A top detective official said that Hefajat leaders had formed an organisation called 'Rabetatul Waizin Bangladesh' with leaders from across the country. They used to control 'Waz Mahfils' (spreading militancy in the name of preaching Islam) by forcing organisers from Pakistan to invite their militant leaders as speakers in them. Mahbub Alam, Joint Commissioner of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), confirmed to IANS on Saturday evening that the leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami were also involved in the arson in Dhaka in 2013 and the violent protests during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh last march. A group of Hefazat leaders are involved in propagating extremism and the police are trying to identify them by scrutinising video footages. The search and arrest operations will continue until all the accused involved in the arson are arrested, Mahbub Alam said. Fourteen top-ranked Hefazat leaders, along with several leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan and BNP have been arrested since April 4. The police are investigating at least 65 cases filed in connection with the mayhem carried out by the Hefazat supporters in 2013 and in March this year. Most of the arrested leaders have confessed that they thought that by using madrasa students as shields to vandalise and set government properties on fire, Hefazat was the only effective platform to oust the Awami League from power in Bangladesh, the police said after interrogating the arrested militant leaders. These militant outfits had hatched conspiracies to topple the government in 2013 and again in March this year, the police said. The interrogate the arrested persons, three teams have been formed involving the investigating officers who have knowledge of Quran and Hadith, Mahbub Alam said, as he ruled out any possibility of torturing the Hefazat leaders. About Hefazat's joint secretary general Mamunul Haque, the DB official said that Haque has told the investigating officers that his first marriage was conducted according to the Islamic rule and the country's law. Alam also said that Haque did not have any marriage registration certificate of his two other wives, saying those were "contract marriages". As per the contract, they will be treated as wives but will not get social recognition. A naval officer displays parts of the torpedo system found in the search operation for the Navys KRI Nanggala (402) submarine that went missing on April 21 during a training exercise off the coast of Bali, at a press conference in Denpasar, April 24, 2021. Updated at 6:21 p.m. ET on 2021-04-24 Hopes for the survival of 53 sailors aboard a missing Indonesian Navy submarine dimmed Saturday when the military announced that the vessel sank and may have cracked and disintegrated in deep water off Bali as it went down. Senior armed forces officials pointed to debris and objects from the submarine that were recovered in the ongoing search for the KRI Nanggala-402 as evidence of cracks that caused it to sink hundreds of meters below the surface of the Bali Sea. The submersible boat lost radio contact after being cleared to dive during a torpedo training exercise early Wednesday morning. The search has shifted to the sub sunk phase, from the sub miss phase, Navy Chief Adm. Yudo Margono told reporters in Bali, using a military term for a missing submarine. The recovered items included a part used in the submarines torpedo system, a heat insulator and a bottle of lubricant for greasing the periscope, officials said as they displayed the recovered objects during a press conference at a military base on Bali. A Muslim prayer rug from the submarine was also recovered, they said. These objects would have never slipped out of the submarine unless there was pressure or cracks, said Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, the chief of the armed forces. Yudo indicated that the crews chances of survival were slim, but he and other military officials declined to say out right whether all the sailors on the submarine had perished, when reporters pressed them on this question. It did not explode, but there was a crack due to the depth of 700 meters [2,296 feet]. The pressure was so high that there could have been cracks in the submarine, the Navy chief said. Water might have flooded the submarine because of cracks but part of the submarines cabin could be compartmentalized to prevent more seawater from coming in provided that the hatches were closed, Yudo said. Seventy-two hours is the maximum limit in the event of an electrical blackout, but it can last up to five days if the electricity is on. But we suspect that there was a blackout, he said, referring to the submarines oxygen supply, which had been expected to run out early Saturday. We have tried our best to find the KRI Nanggala, but this morning was the deadline for oxygen life support to run out. Oil spills and debris have become authentic evidence of Nanggalas sinking, Air Marshal Hadi said. No bodies have been found so far, according to Yudo. We are still carrying out the search ... the depth of the sea we have detected is at 850 meters (2,790 feet), which is very tricky and presents many difficulties, Reuters quoted the admiral as saying. The announcement came as an Australian frigate, the HMAS Ballarat, and a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft arrived in Bali to join dozens of Indonesian vessels that have scoured the sea to locate the submarine during the past few days. Singapores submarine-rescue ship, the MV Swift Rescue, was expected to arrive later on Saturday, the Navy said. Malaysia and India are also sending ships to support the search effort. The Indonesian military believes that the submarine sank to between 600 and 700 meters below the surface far deeper than the German-made vessel was designed to dive. Yudo said Singapores MV Swift Rescue ship and a similar vessel from Malaysia had remotely operated vehicles that could reach depths of 900 to 1000 meters. The Ballarat is equipped with sonar technology that could detect underwater objects, he said. Together, all teams will work hard because the depth of the sea is 850 meters and it will be extremely hard to do lifting and evacuation work, Yudo said. The KRI Nanggala-402 was built by German company Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in 1977 and came into service in 1981, the Indonesian military said. From 2009 to 2012, the submarine was retrofitted by South Koreas Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, officials said. Indonesia has five submarines, including the missing one. Former Rear Adm. Soleman Ponto said the Nanggala might have broken up because the hull could no longer withstand the pressure. It is unlikely that they will survive, he told BenarNews, referring to the crew. When pressure is high, the submarine will crumble like a squeezed tin flattened. CORRECTION: An earlier version misattributed the quote about the "sub miss phase" to Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto. As India is rocked with the crippling second wave of COVID-19, Bhutans Foreign Affairs Minister Tandi Dorji offered deepest prayers and pledged complete solidarity with the Indian government. As per news agency ANI, he also noted that India is currently facing the most difficult phase of the pandemic and prayed for a speedy recovery. Dorjis remarks came on April 24 when India recorded 3.46 lakh new COVID-19 cases which is the worlds highest one-day surge in coronavirus infections for the third consecutive day. Our deepest prayers and complete solidarity to the government and people of India in this most difficult period of the pandemic. Praying and hoping for quick relief and recovery, said Tandi Dorji. At present, the total cases in India have mounted to 1.66 crores with active cases being 25.52 lakh. To date, India has recorded at least 1.89 lakh with 1.38 crore recoveries. Meanwhile, the total number of people who have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is 13.83 crores. On Saturday, Delhi High Court also asked the Centre about the preparedness to deal with the expected COVID-19 second wave peak amid the oxygen crisis and shortage of drugs and hospital beds in several states. The Delhi HC bench termed the massive rise of COVID-19 cases as a tsunami. 20 COVID-19 Patients Die Due To Low Oxygen Pressure As India battles the disastrous situation, 20 critical COVID-19 patients lost their lives on Friday night as they did not receive oxygen in Delhi's Jaipur Golden hospital in Rohini. Over 200 more lives are at risk due to lack of oxygen supply. The Medical doctor D K Baluja informed that only half an hour of more oxygen was left. The doctor also said that the reason behind the unfortunate incident is that on Friday oxygen was not re-filled in the 3.5 metric tonne oxygen supply allotted by the government. "Last night, only 1500 litres of oxygen was given, and as it is not enough, we were left with no oxygen resulting in death of 20 people," added doctor D K Baluja. Image credits: ANI/PTI Belarusian state media say Alyaksandr Lukashenka has said he will sign a decree that would vest presidential powers in the country's Security Council if he is unable to function as president. Many governments already consider Lukashenka's claim to the presidency illegitimate since a disputed reelection in August 2020 and with a brutal crackdown continuing against opposition protests eight months after the vote. His critics have dismissed previous pledges by Lukashenka for future constitutional changes and elections as stalling tactics. As Western sanctions and calls for a new election and Lukashenka's exit have mounted, the authoritarian five-term president has increasingly looked to Moscow for support. Crisis In Belarus Read our coverage as Belarusians continue to demand the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka amid a brutal crackdown on protesters. The West refuses to recognize him as the country's legitimate leader after an August 9 election considered fraudulent. No details were disclosed of a meeting between Lukashenka and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who recognized Lukashenka's claim of electoral victory, on April 22 in Moscow. Our teams are continuing to work to develop the legislation for the union state, Putin said during the talks, in reference to a decades-old bilateral agreement that envisages a union with closer political, economic, and security ties. The Belarusian Security Council is made up of hand-picked Lukashenka backers. In his April 24 announcement, state news agency Belta reported, Lukashenka said the prime minister would head the Security Council in his absence. Much of the leadership of the already hounded Belarusian political opposition has been jailed or forced to leave the country. Lukashenka's clampdown has included thousands of detentions and a massive security presence to dissuade protests, as well as strictures and expulsions to hinder journalists trying to report on the unprecedented movement to oust Lukashenka from leadership of the post-Soviet republic of more than 9 million people. Meeting the new U.S. ambassador to Belarus in neighboring Lithuania on April 21, exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she wanted to see Belarus "independent, free, and building friendly and mutually beneficial relations with all countries, first and foremost with our neighbors, but with other ones, too." Tsikhanouskaya, who ran after her husband was jailed after announcing his own candidacy for president, left Belarus under pressure from the authorities shortly after the August 2020 vote. The Moscow summit with Putin came in the wake of a purported plot to remove Lukashenka that allegedly involved a blockade of Minsk, power cuts, cyberattacks, and an assassination attempt against Lukashenka. Security forces in Moscow claimed to have arrested several alleged coup plotters in Moscow earlier this month. The embattled opposition Coordination Council and other pro-democracy forces this week published a memorandum criticizing Lukashenka's efforts to "deepen integration" with Russia at this juncture. With reporting by Reuters YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Emphasizing the role of the media in raising awareness about the ongoing genocides in the world and strengthening the memory of generations, Armenpress, as the state news agency of the Republic of Armenia, calls on all mass media in the world to form a coalition. Aram Ananyan,director of "Armenpress" news agency, said in an interview dedicated to the dissemination of information on crimes against humanity and the importance of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. "The World Media Coalition will provide an opportunity to discuss what needs to be done, coordinate activities and move forth by contributing to the prevention of genocides, raising awareness about them and strengthening the historical memory of generations about crimes against humanity," Aram Ananyan highlighted. Q- Mr. Ananyan, what is the significance of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide not only for the Armenian people, but also for the international community? A - The Armenian Genocide is not just a historical issue, but, from the international legal point of view, it is a crime committed against humanity. A crime that has no statute of limitations, the victims of which are one and a half million of our compatriots. The denial is the continuation of this crime today, which in fact continues the genocidal policy of Turkey. As there is no recognition, there is no relief for the heirs of the victims of the genocide, while recognition is the minimum part of the process, which must be followed by the elimination of the consequences of the genocide. The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is more than relevant today, because Turkey's policy has not changed in any way during these 106 years. Besides, the unrecognized Armenian Genocide seems to be untying Turkeys hands in pursuing a far more daring and cynical policy towards Armenia and the region. Its obvious that one of the reasons for Turkey's aggressive behavior in the region is Ankara's policy of Armenian Genocide denial and countering international recognition. The Turkish involvement in the war in Artsakh once again attests that Turkey has not changed its genocidal policy towards Armenia. Turkey, by showing extremely aggressive behavior, arming Azerbaijan to the teeth and literally supplying it with representatives of the most dangerous international terrorist groups, showed that it has not dropped genocidal aspirations from the agenda. Ankara attempts to capitalize on its military-political capabilities through threats, armed attacks and proxy groups. Without shying away from utilizing any kind of means and completely ignoring the norms, principles and structures of international law, Turkey is trying to create the impression that the opinion of the world community is of no value to it. In this case, the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is an additional straitjacket against Turkey's aggressive regional aspirations. Q- In that case, what can explain the silence of the international community? A- I do not think that the international community is silent. On the contrary, these issues are stand high on the international agenda. However, Turkey, so to speak, is not strong enough to sit at the same table with the world superpowers, at the same time, it is not sufficiently weak to be on the menu. Through a filthy geopolitical game, Turkey manages to somehow satisfy its ambitions in the region. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is also necessary to curb Ankara's appetite. Q- What will the US recognition of the Armenian Genocide bring? A- First, the United States has already recognized the Armenian Genocide, and President Biden's use of the term "genocide" will pave way for new opportunities for international recognition. For instance, the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by UK and Israel is also important. The UK, which was among the Entente countries during the World War I, was one of the first to react to the Turkish atrocities, but today it is delaying its official recognition for political reasons. In the case of Israel, which survived the genocide and faced the same crime, the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is also of a moral significance. In case of wide international recognition, the reference to this issue will intensify in the Turkish society, as well. Of course, this is a difficult process; we should not cherish unnecessary illusions, but we should do everything possible and impossible for the Turkish society to embark on the path of repentance. Q- What should the Armenian and world mass media do for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and preventing genocides? A - If we are talking about the Armenian Genocide in particular, then, figuratively speaking, a significant part of the fact-finding mission, both during and after the World War I, was carried out by the media. It is difficult to overestimate the work done by many media outlets around the world for the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Today, humanity has entered a unique stage of development. On the one hand, events taking place in different parts of the world can instantaneously become public property, on the other hand, genocides and other crimes against humanity are not diminishing. They occur in the eyes of humanity, often influenced by news agendas, political expediencies, or editorial policies. As the State News Agency of the Republic of Armenia, we call on all mass media in the world to form a coalition to prevent crimes against humanity and protect historical memory. It is important to raise the level of information and awareness of the international community about such crimes against humanity through the joint and coordinated work of the world media. The World Media Coalition will provide an opportunity to discuss what needs to be done, coordinate activities, and move forth by raising awareness about the genocides, strengthening the historical memory of generations of crimes against humanity, and contributing to the prevention of new genocides. Interview by Van Novikov Six patients died at a private hospital here on Saturday due to the shortage of oxygen, hospital authorities said. Five of the six patients were infected with COVID-19, they said. "Despite the district administration being repeatedly asked to extend help, no one turned up to do the needful," Sunil Devgan, the chairman and managing director of Neelkant hospital, alleged. "Six patients, including two women, died due to the shortage of oxygen," he said. After the death of patients, merely five cylinders were supplied to the hospital, Devgan said. Despite repeated attempts, no district official could be reached for comment. The hospital chairman claimed that three main suppliers have said that government hospitals are being prioritised in terms of supply. Heavy police force has been deployed outside the oxygen units to prevent oxygen supply to private hospitals, Devgan alleged. Of the six patients who died at the hospital on Saturday, two were from Gurdaspur, one from Tarn Taran district and the remaining three were from Amritsar. (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 corporate world is quickly embracing the effectiveness and sophistication of these systems after governments such as China, the UK, Germany, Japan, and the US have used AI surveillance to track their citizens and non-nationals for years. "Were never going to compromise our clients privacy," Dominguez said. "Were getting off to an early start on technology already used in other parts of the world and that is rapidly coming to the American banking network." As early as 2019, JPMorgan began evaluating the potential of AI surveillance systems to analyze archived footage from Chase branches in New York and Ohio. "Testing facial recognition to identify clients as they walk into a Chase bank, if they consented to it, has been another possibility considered to enhance their experience," a current employee involved in the project told Reuters. Another source said a Midwestern credit union last year tested facial recognition for client identification at four locations before terminating the program over cost concerns. City Nationals Dominguez said the banks branches use computer vision to detect suspicious activity outside. Given the current state of AI surveillance and the speed of development, top banks are already testing these surveillance tools in various forms. Despite a potential backlash from the public, an Orwellian dystopia via AI surveillance will be fully embraced by corporate America in the coming years. It was the virus pandemic that allowed the surveillance state to expand across the government and corporations rapidly. Were being tracked more than ever. A woman who rented a copy of Sabrina the Teenage Witch in 1999 has now been charged with a felony for never returning the VHS, according to a report. Caron McBride rented the VHS from a store in Norman, Oklahoma, according to Fox 25. Fast forward more than two decades, McBride received quite the surprise while trying to change her name on her drivers license after getting married in Texas, the report said. I sent them an email (and) they sent me an email and they told me...that I had an issue in Oklahoma and this was the reference number for me to call this number and I did, McBride told the news station. As it turns out, McBride was charged with felony embezzlement of rented property for the long overdue VHS. Today, the store the video was rented from is no longer in business, but officials would still technically able to prosecute McBride for the tape, the report said. In this case, the Cleveland County District Attorneys is reportedly not pursuing charges. However, McBride said that over the last 20 years, she has been let go from several jobs without being given a reason why, the report said. Shes now blaming this felony charge. McBride said she was living with a man with two kids at the time and thinks he rented the movie and never returned it. She told the news outlet that she has never even seen the movie. The problem of a 'disgusting' sewage problem in an Offaly housing estate was raised during last week's meeting of Birr Municipal District. Cllr Clare Claffey told the zoom meeting that there's a 'serious problem' with sewage discharge in Portavolla housing estate in Banagher. The councillor said this is an old problem and it's 'disgusting'. She said the responsibility for dealing with the issue is kicked between Irish Water and the County Council with neither organisation taking it on board. When we complain to Irish Water they say it is a Council problem. When we approach the Council they say it is Irish Water who should be dealing with it. The Councillor said the issue is particularly bad during winter and periods of flooding. The residents are asking us to please deal with the matter before the return of winter and its associated flooding events which always results in nasty sewage discharges in the estate. Cllr Claffey previously raised this issue in February 2020 when flooding occurred in Portavolla resulting in a sewage discharge. The matter was described at the time as being 'very serious' and the Area Engineer and his staff attended the scene. Cllr Claffey discussed the problem with the Chief Executive of Offaly County Council, Anna Marie Delaney, and requested that emergency plans be put in place. An emergency meeting of Birr MD was also called. However the source of the problem hasn't been adequately dealt with and threatens to re-erupt. Mary Hussey of the County Council's Environment Section told the meeting that the Council carried out a survey of area and identified the source of the problem which was an inappropriate interaction between the surface water network and the sewage network. Unfortunately, Portavolla is located on a flood plain. Therefore, we have to separate the two systems, the surface water network and the sewage network, from one another. There is funding in place to do that and a will to tackle the problem. More than 5000 New Zealand soldiers lost their lives during World War I in Belgium between 1917 and 1918. Known as one of the horrors of the Great War, the Battle of Passchendaele, staged in Flanders Field, Belgium, saw many New Zealand soldiers never return home, and many never properly laid to rest. Some of the casualties are buried in France or the UK. It is known that 4633 Kiwi servicemen still lie in Flanders Field, and there are around 80 cemeteries and memorials that commemorate these fallen soldiers 2261 of these have a named gravestone and 2372 are still missing and are listed on the Memorials for the Missing. Nine hundred and forty four unknown Kiwi soldiers have a gravestone that simply states: a New Zealand soldier of the Great War, known unto God. However, just recently, one was identified, thanks to research by New Zealand Pilgrimage Trust founding director Freddy Declerck, a former Belgian Navy Officer. There are 1439 burials and commemorations to soldiers that fell during World War One at Dochy Farm New British Cemetery in Zonnebekestraat, Belgium. Forty six identified New Zealand soldiers were put to rest there, but the cemetery also houses 953 unidentified casualties, 52 of which are suspected Kiwis. The cemetery lies opposite Dochy Farm an area that had become a German strong point during the war; one that was taken by the second/fifth Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment on September 26, 1917, and the staging area for the Battle of Broodseinde on October 4, 1917. Freddy has spent years researching soldiers who died in Belgium and believes he has narrowed the final resting place of an unknown captain down to one possibility. Six captains went missing during October 1917, according to the Memorial of the Missing Tyne Cot Cemetery. After tracing all six of the captains, their dates of death and proximity to the original burial place of the unknown captain, Freddy believes this unknown captains gravesite is the final resting place of Captain Ernest C. Parry, of Paeroa. The unknown captain was originally buried on the battlefield on the same spot and together with Sgt Donald McLean, says Freddy. After the war, they were found together and brought over to Dochy Farm Cemetery. Sgt McLean is buried only seven places apart in the same row on Dochy Farm Cemetery. Captain E. C. Parry. Photo:Supplied. Captain Parry, 1st Auckland Battalion, was killed in action on October 6, 1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele. An extract from the official history of the Auckland Regiment suggests Captain Parry was killed on October 4, 1917, but Freddy says the date of Captain Parrys death is less important than the possible re-dedication of an unknown grave. After exhaustive research, Freddy believes he has linked a grave site dedicated to an unknown captain at Dochy Farm New British Cemetery to Captain Parry. Grave sites are partially identified there is no name but other facts, as rank, regiment and more, says Freddy. We estimate that about 50 per cent of the missing have a grave marked for an unknown soldier and that about 1130 are still on the battlefields, buried under the farm land. But Freddy says it hasnt been an easy road getting his hard-earned research accepted. This research was sent to the New Zealand Embassy on July 30, 2020 who send it to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, says Freddy. On August 21, 2020, I got a reply from the CWGC that the submission has been rejected and the report send to the New Zealand Defence Force. On April 2, 2021, I had an e-mail from the New Zealand Embassy with a letter from NZDF to thank me for the research and to say the submission was accepted. From there, Freddy says, more supporting evidence was found. The NZDF had found more evidence: an article from the Ohinemuri Gazette and an extract from the diary of the commanding officer of the battalion saying Captain Parry was killed on October 6 at 1am. The article gives evidence that Captain Parry died together with Sergeant McLean when they came out the line. Due to Covid restrictions, Freddy says there will be a re-dedication of the gravestone once it is safe to do so. Freddy says this find is significant as it has never been done before for a Kiwi soldier. There is a lot of research going on by historians, but according to the CWGC, it has never lead to the identification of an unknown soldier. More than 100 years ago it was not possible to identify the soldier, so he was buried in a grave without a name. He says this research and research like it is important to continue. You know that you are doing something very important for the family. Even after 100 years, some descendants of the nearest family can come to mourn over the grave of someone their family loved so much. Freddy who lives in Belgium says hes had an interest in New Zealand since 2003 and decided to pursue it due to lack of available information. When I started, almost nobody did this. There was nothing to find online and you hardly could find a book with some history of their deeds on the Western Front. Here the people ware telling stories about British and German soldiers, sometimes about Canadians, French and Belgian soldiers but not so much and almost never about Australians and New Zealanders. He started an Anzac Day Dawn Service in Belgium in 2008 and was the chairman of the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 and founding director and chairman of the volunteer organisation Passchendaele Society 1917 after his retirement. Freddys work has been recognised by New Zealand in the form of a New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM). Hes also been made an Honorary Captain by the Royal New Zealand Navy. The New Zealand Pilgrimage Trust is a not-for-profit organisation set up in Belgium with the purpose of assisting New Zealand schools, groups and individuals with planning and research around the Western Front battlefields. Freddys research is available to read for yourself on his blog: www.thebelgianshavenotforgotten.blogspot.com Tenali Rama Actor Krishna Bharadwaj Hospitalised After Testing Positive For COVID-19, Aniruddh Dave Isolates In His Hotel The state of Indian healthcare is witnessing a grim phase as COVID-19 cases are on a steep spike and people all across the nation are literally gasping for breath with a shortage of oxygen supply. Not just the aam janta, but celebs are equally affected. Now, two more TV celebs have tested positive for the novel virus, and one has even been admitted to a hospital. We are talking about Tenali Rama actor Krishna Bharadwaj and Patiala Babes actor Aniruddh Dave. Talking to Spotboye, Krishna said, "Currently, I am at my hometown Ranchi but not having the best of time as me and my entire family tested positive for Coronavirus two weeks back. We had some major symptoms and we all were admitted to the hospital. However, all of them have been discharged after testing negative and are in better health now. But I am still recovering in the hospital as I am not feeling well completely. Hoping to get a discharged soon." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Krishna Bharadwaj (@kriish_bhardwaj) Aniruddh Dave has also tested positive for COVID-19 and he is under home quarantine. In a social media post, he revealed the news to his well-wishers and followers. The actor had been shooting in a small village near Bhopal for a web series when he experienced some symptoms. He got himself tested and the report came positive. He is now quarantining in a hotel in Bhopal. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ANIRUDH V DAVE (@aniruddh_dave) We are praying for the speedy recovery of the affected. TVs Mahadev, Mohit Raina had also been hospitalised due to Covid infection. Just a day back, Shravan Rathod breathed his last due to multiple organ failure induced by Covid related complications and Titli actor Lalit Behl also breathed his last yesterday after testing positive for the virus. Caitlyn Jenner has urged Joy Behar not to 'sweat it' after The View co-host apologized for misgendering her while discussing the transgender reality star's run for California governor. Jenner, 71, tweeted early Saturday morning to say 'California has bigger issues than pronouns' and that she is 'not about cancel culture' following Behar's mishap on Friday's episode of daytime show. 'Don't sweat it, @JoyVBehar. I'm not about cancel culture,' she wrote. 'I know where your heart is. California has bigger issues than pronouns.' Behar incorrectly referred to Jenner as 'he' and 'his campaign' before correcting herself and apologizing saying she had 'no intention of mixing them up.' Caitlyn Jenner tweeted telling Joy Behar not to 'sweat it' after The View co-host apologized for misgendering her while discussing the transgender reality star's run for California governor Jenner, 71, filed paperwork to launch her campaign and formally announced her run for governor of California on social media Friday under the slogan 'Caitlyn For California'. The announcement became a hot topic on The View with co-host Joy Behar asking co-host Sunny Hostin: 'He's got this guy Brad Parscale running his campaign. What do you think about that?' Behar misgendered Jenner again, saying: 'I mean, that guy was accused of using campaign funds to enrich himself. 'That's who is running his campaign - or her campaign, rather,' she added, correcting herself. Behar then apologized for the mishap after the ad break blaming it on a lack of sleep. 'So first of all, let me apologize for my pronoun mix-up. I think I just didn't get enough sleep last night,' she said. 'I had no intention of mixing them up and I tried to correct it immediately but, whatever, it just came out. So I'm sorry if anybody was upset by that.' Behar incorrectly referred to Jenner as 'he' and 'his campaign' during Friday's episode of The View before correcting herself and apologizing saying she had 'no intention of mixing them up' Jenner, 71, tweeted early Saturday morning to say she accepts Behar's apology But, despite her apology, many people took to social media to blast Behar. Journalist Yashar Ali slammed Behar and said people should use the right pronouns for people 'even if we don't like their politics.' 'Joy Behar misgendered Caitlyn Jenner at least four times on the View this morning. Caitlyn transitioned over six years ago,' he tweeted. 'I don't know why Joy misgendered her but it's an important reminder that we don't misgender people even if we don't like their politics.' He later added: '2. Joy has apologized.' The mother of a transgender daughter hit out at Behar saying this is the 'reason my daughter struggles to leave the house' and lambasted the host's 'half a**ed, disingenuous apology.' 'Watching today, as a mother of a Trans daughter seeing Joy Behar repeatedly misgender Caitlyn Jenner is completely devastating. But ther half a**ed, disingenuous apology?' they wrote. Despite her apology, many people took to social media to blast Behar with Journalist Yashar Ali saying people should use the right pronouns for people 'even if we don't like their politics' 'Wow! P**ses me off! People like this are the reason my daughter struggles to leave the house.' Another person suggested misgendered Jenner 'intentionally' for political reasons. 'Joy Behar misgendered Caitlyn Jenner continuously on The View. She did it intentionally to dehumanize Ms. Jenner because Jenner is a Republican & therefore a political threat,' they tweeted. 'Everything Democrats say & do is focused on the power to dominate you & control your life.' However an insider told Page Six Behar's use of the wrong pronouns was 'an honest mistake' with no malice behind it. 'This was not political or her taking a dig. She didn't say it pointedly. She kept making the mistake. She corrected herself, and then accidentally did it again. She was not being malicious by any means,' the source said. Jenner first became famous as Bruce Jenner, a Team USA gold medal-winning decathlete, then stepped back into the spotlight as Kim Kardashian's step-father on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Caitlyn's announcement on Friday on Instagram. She has not yet indicated if she'll run as a Republican or Independent While she is yet to confirm if she is running as a Republican or as an Independent, Jenner has surrounded herself with a team of former Donald Trump aides including his ex-campaign manager Brad Parscale and Tony Fabrizio - who worked for Trump in 2016 and 2020 as a pollster She revealed in 2015 that she was transgender and had started living as Caitlyn. Jenner announced her run Friday on social media vowing to 'turn this state around and finally clean up the damage Newsom has done' if she is elected in the recall election. While she is yet to confirm if she is running as a Republican or as an Independent, Jenner has surrounded herself with a team of former Donald Trump aides including his ex-campaign manager Brad Parscale, pollster Tony Fabrizio, and Caroline Wren - one of the organizers of the Stop The Steal rally on January 6 that escalated into the Capitol riot. Jenner used to be a vocal Trump supporter and was once spotted sporting a MAGA caps. She later sought to distance herself from his administration due to his policies discriminating against transgender people. The confirmation of her run sparked an instant backlash among the American public, celebrities and even the LGBTQ+ community. Many people took to social media to say it is a 'hard pass' that they would vote for her while the phrase 'HELL NO' began trending. Twenty coronavirus patients died at Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi due to shortage of oxygen. The news was confirmed by MD D K Baluja. The hospital had run out of its oxygen stock leading to the deaths of patients. Most of the 20 patients were admitted to the critical care unit of the hospital in Rohini. They died as the oxygen pressure dropped and the stock ran dry. "We lost 20 patients, almost all of whom were in critical care unit and on a high flow of oxygen. Our liquid medical oxygen was over by about 10 pm and then we switched over to the oxygen cylinders. There was a drop in pressure and the patients could not survive," said Dr Depp Baluja, medical director of the hospital. The hospital was scheduled to receive its quota of oxygen at 5:30 pm but the consignment did not arrive till midnight. Even when the hospital received the oxygen, it only got 40 per cent of the allocated quota. The doctor said that they have been pushed back into the crisis. "We are again in a situation of crisis, 200 lives are on the line. Last night we were at least able to save most patients. We will not be able to do that today. We have exhausted our backup," said Dr Baluja. The hospital does not have oxygen left for long. This is yet another case of a hospital running out of oxygen. Multiple hospitals including Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Max Hospital appealed to the government for oxygen. Director-Medical at Ganga Ram said on Friday, "Twenty-five of the sickest patients have died in the last 24 hrs at the hospital. Oxygen will last another 2 hours. Ventilators and Bipap are not working effectively. Need oxygen to be airlifted urgently. Lives of another 60 sickest patients are in peril." "We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi NCR till oxygen supplies stabilise," Max Hospital had tweeted and deleting it in a few minutes. Moolchand hospital on Saturday appealed to the Delhi government to supply oxygen, adding that 135 patients are on life support. "Urgent sos help. We have less than 2 hours of oxygen supply. We are desperate have tried all the nodal officer numbers but unable to connect. Have over 135 COVID pts with many on life support," it said. Also read: Oxygen crisis in Delhi: Ganga Ram Hospital cries for help, Max Hospital sends SOS to Kejriwal govt A link has been found between gum bacteria and Alzheimers disease, according to new research. A team from the New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry and Weill Cornell Medicine say that they have found evidence of amyloid beta, a key biomarker for Alzheimers disease, in older peoples cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). However, another Alzheimers biomarker called tau was not found in their oral bacteria. This recent finding adds to the body of growing evidence that there is an association between gum disease and Alzheimers. Otherwise known as periodontal disease, gum disease is thought to affect 70 per cent of adults aged 65 and older. The studys lead author Dr Angela Kamer, associate professor of periodontology and implant dentistry at NYU College of Dentistry, said: To our knowledge, this is the first study showing an association between the imbalanced bacterial community found under the gumline and a CSF biomarker of Alzheimers disease in cognitively normal older adults. The mouth is home to both harmful bacteria that promote inflammation and healthy, protective bacteria. We found that having evidence for brain amyloid was associated with increased harmful and decreased beneficial bacteria. The trial involved 48 healthy adults aged 65 and over who all underwent an oral examination where bacterial samples from under the gumline were collected. The research team compared the samples and found the participants who had a bacteria were more likely to have the Alzheimers signature of reduced CSF amyloid levels. The studys senior author Dr Mony J. de Leon, professor of neuroscience in radiology and director of the Brain Health Imaging Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine, added: The mechanisms by which levels of brain amyloid accumulate and are associated with Alzheimers pathology are complex and only partially understood. The present study adds support to the understanding that proinflammatory diseases disrupt the clearance of amyloid from the brain, as retention of amyloid in the brain can be estimated from CSF levels. Amyloid changes are often observed decades before tau pathology or the symptoms of Alzheimers disease are detected. The study has been published in the journal Alzheimers & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. Click here to read the full article. All products and services featured by Variety are independently selected by Variety editors. However, Variety may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Pop the champagne and take a shot anytime someone thanks their agent in an acceptance speech! Welcome to drinking at the Oscars. Here, Variety gives you a look at what youll find behind the bar at the 93rd Academy Awards and how you can enjoy the same drink as your favorite stars while watching the big show from the comfort of your own home. Champagne For the seventh year, Piper-Heidsieck is the official bubbly of the Academy Awards. The French champagne houses history with Hollywood dates back to 1933 when a bottle of Piper appeared in Laurel and Hardys debut film Sons of the Desert in 1933. This year, the stars will receive a magnum featuring Piper-Heidsiecks signature Cuvee Brut. The bottle actually lights up with a press of a button at the base of the bubbly. Piper-Heidsieck Brut $44.99 Buy It Wine The Francis Ford Coppola Winery teams up with the Academy for the fifth year. For 2021, the winery has created two limited edition gold bottles featuring a Chardonnay at $69 and a Cabernet Sauvignon for $79, both reserve 2019 vintages from Sonoma County. You can also try Gia Red Bend for $29, a red wine from Francis director daughter Gia Coppola. And if youre feeling spendy, you can get all the wines together in the Coppola Awards Season Collection. Coppola Awards Season Collection $199.99 Buy It Tequila If youre looking for something stronger than wine of champagne, try the Cara-jito, created for Tequila Don Julio by Mica Rousseau of Mexico City. And provided is the Oscar cocktail theyve prepared for guests that you can make at home! Ingredients: 1 1/2 oz. Tequila Don Julio 1942 1/2 Spanish liqueur 1 shot espresso 1/3 oz. natural syrup 2 dashes chocolate bitters Coffee bean shavings for garnish Preparation: 1. Combine Tequila Don Julio 1942, Spanish liqueur, espresso, natural syrup, and chocolate bitters into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well. 2. Strain contents into a coupe glass rimmed with coffee bean shavings. Don Julio $199 Buy It Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Sri Lanka police officers on April 24 arrested Rishad Bathiudeen, a top Muslim leader and former member of the parliament over his connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks that took the lives of over 250 people. As pressure on authorities mounted to expedite its investigation into the 2019 suicide bombings that sent shock waves across the globe, detectives took the leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Party into custody along with his brother Riyaaj under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). As per reports, Sri Lankan police spokesperson Ajith Rohana said that they were detained in pre-dawn raids on their homes in Colombo. "They were arrested under the PTA based on circumstantial and scientific evidence that they had connections with the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks," Rohana said in a statement. The arrests came just three days after the head of Sri Lankas Roman Catholic Church Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith accused the government of allowing the inquiry in Easter Attacks stall for such a long time and demanded access to reports. Even though the authorities arrested hundreds of people just days after the suicide attacks on hotels and churches by local extremists took place on Easter Sunday in 2019, no one has yet been charged. Bathiudeen also took to Twitter ahead of his arrest and called it "unjust." The CID has been standing outside my house in Boudhaloka Mawatha since 1.30 am today attempting to arrest me without a charge. They have already arrested my brother. I have been in Parliament, and have cooperated with all lawful authorities until now. This is unjust. Rishad Bathiudeen (@rbathiudeen) April 23, 2021 Meanwhile, Ranjith who led the recommendations on the second anniversary of the Easter attacks, reportedly said on April 21 that he was deeply saddened by the lack of progress on the inquiry. He also reaffirmed his call for swift action against the perpetrators of the attacks that as per the Associated Press report, killed 269 people. He noted that political posturing and the need to safeguard alliances" was hindering the probe. Archbishop seeks access to Easter bombings report Ranjith, a senior Sri Lankan church official has asked President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to provide him with the access to presidential commissions report on the Easter Sunday bombings that also killed several churchgoers. His spokesperson, the Rev. Camillus Fernando, said on April 19 that Ranjith has written to Sri Lankan President to make his request. The presidential commission report on the gruesome attacks has not yet been made public. Rajapaksa in his Independence Day speech earlier this month said that it has been referred to relevant officials to go ahead with the prosecution. However, it still remains unclear if the report will be released. As per the Associated Press, two local Muslim extremist groups that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group have been blamed for the coordinated suicide bombings on six locations on April 21, 2019. Image credits: PTI/AP Burma Myanmar Junta Forces Abduct and Torture Three More in Tamu A barricade set up by civilians in Tamu. / Khampat Times Junta forces abducted and tortured three young people in Sagaing Regions Tamu, a town in northwest Myanmar at the border with India, on Thursday. One of those abducted is in critical condition, according to local residents. The man in critical condition is a member of local neighborhood watch group. He was severely beaten after junta forces found four walkie-talkies in his possession, said local sources. Three were abducted on Thursday. One of them is in critical condition. They beat him so badly that his arm was broken and [the bone] protrudes [through the skin]. Despite pleas from the people, they took him to a creek and cut his body with knife before they took him to the police station, said a Tamu resident. The man was denied medical treatment, and his family members have also been not allowed to visit him. As of Thursday, more than 20 young people have been detained in Tamu by junta forces. None of the detainees has been released. Most of the detainees are young people. Security forces have detained even those who deliver water and lunch boxes as well as those who have Indian SIM cards in their mobile phones, said a Tamu resident. Junta forces have used excessive force to attack Tamu since April 16. The escalation of violence came after some of the regimes troops were killed and wounded when local residents repulsed the security forces crackdowns on anti-regime protesters. Some civilians were killed, some were detained and some have fled into India. According to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 739 people have died nationwide in junta forces crackdowns from Feb. 1 to April 22. A total of 3,370 have been detained and 1,099 people have gone into hiding after the junta issued arrest warrants for them during the same period. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Regime Troops Ordered to Annihilate Protesters, Internal Memos Show Myanmar Military Troops Killed as KNLA Protects Protesters in Mon State Female Detainee Sexually Assaulted, Tortured During Interrogation: Former Cellmate Vice premier meets with HK, Macao SAR chief executives Xinhua) 15:17, April 24, 2021 Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the leading group for developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, meets with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam who comes to attend a meeting of the group in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) GUANGZHOU, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Vice Premier Han Zheng on Thursday afternoon met with Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Carrie Lam and Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region Ho Iat Seng in Guangzhou. Lam and Ho traveled to Guangzhou, capital city of southern Guangdong Province, to attend a meeting of the leading group for developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, spoke highly of the recent work of both SARs. Han urged the Hong Kong SAR to step up local legislation related to its electoral reform and ensure local elections in 2021 and 2022 are properly organized. Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the leading group for developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, meets with Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region Ho Iat Seng who comes to attend a meeting of the group in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) Han also asked the Macao SAR to make all-out efforts to organize the election of its seventh Legislative Assembly. Both SARs should prioritize COVID-19 prevention and control in reviving their economies and improving their people's livelihoods, Han said, adding that the central government would continue offering its full support as always. Han urged joint efforts to develop the Greater Bay Area and maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, thus pushing forward the sustained, successful practice of "one country, two systems." Lam and Ho both pledged to actively participate in the development of the Greater Bay Area and carry out relevant work. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) ADVERTISEMENT The widow of the late spokesperson of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Joe Okei-Odumakin, has said death did not allow her husband to pen down his medical challenges as planned. Yinka Odumakin died of COVID-19 complications on April 3, 2021. On Thursday, Mr Odumakins Lying-in-State, Service of Songs and Tributes was held at the Police College in Lagos His remains got to Asejire, in Osun around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, where he was transported to his hometown, Moro, Ife north, local government area of the state. Speaking with journalists at the event ahead of his interment on Saturday, Mrs Odumakin said her husband spoke on his love for the press. Right from the time he went for three meetings and as the time that his physiotherapist told him that his oxygen was low even in the ambulance before going to the hospital, he was there as a prolific writer writing an article, he was there as a committed patriot dishing out leaflets, he also put up different releases. She disclosed that her husband may be no more, but his legacies remain in the human right community. He said when he comes he will write his story, hes no longer here with us but he will never die, his legacies will live on. After 54 years of sojourn on earth. He was for non corrupt society. I salute him. He loves the media, without the media his work would have been very difficult because nobody will help him disseminate his messages. He was against massive killings; he was for true federalism and a restructured Nigeria. He was for Nigeria that works, he was for the protection of human rights, he was after doing things right. This is the heaviest part of my life to speak about this comrade after knowing him for over three decades. One thing is certain that his ideas are going to live forever. What he stood for will never die and the moment that his physical body will be interred we want to plead that people should rededicate their lives for a better Nigeria for a race that works. This newspaper earlier reported how Osun State Government received the remains of the deceased. He would be laid to rest today. Nearly a year after the boards at three major South Carolina universities asked the General Assembly to change building names associated with racist periods in the state's past, nothing has been done. And there is little chance of anything changing any time soon. The schools' decisions simply expressed their wishes to lawmakers, who under the state law known as the Heritage Act have the final say on changes to historic names and monuments on public property. "We further seek the authority to rename the building," the University of South Carolina board chairman asked General Assembly leaders in a June 2020 letter. Problem is that no lawmaker has introduced proposals to change any of the names. The colleges have made no significant moves to find bill sponsors, and no lawmakers have expressed interest publicly in introducing bills that, based on recent history, have no chance of reaching the governor's desk. House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, stands by what he said in 2015 after the Legislature voted to remove the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse dome that while he's speaker he will not allow votes to change any more historic names and monuments. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said he would be "surprised if anything happens" even in 2022. "No, nobodys talked to me about filing legislation to do that," he said. The lack of movement leaves unwanted names on campus buildings and means current concerted efforts to change more names, like the University of South Carolina's Strom Thurmond wellness center, will face very long odds. Three S.C. colleges all voted in June 2020, a month into social justice protests in the wake of George Floyd's killing, to change building names. USC trustees voted to remove the name of J. Marion Sims, a Lancaster native who became the mastermind of modern gynecology by performing surgery on slaves, from a women's dorm. Clemson University and Winthrop University boards voted to remove the name of Ben Tillman, an avowed racist who was governor from 1890-94 and U.S. senator until his death in 1918, from iconic campus buildings. Tillman helped found both colleges. But his white supremacy policies also made him the father of Jim Crow laws across the South. But without bills in the Statehouse, the names remain. There have been several broader proposals introduced to do away with the Heritage Act. And like similar efforts in previous years, their proposals have gotten little traction. There also are bills that would exclude colleges, schools, counties and cities from the Heritage Act. Again, those proposals have not moved forward. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Clemson University said it is watching bills to change the Heritage Act and "should the General Assembly determine to move forward with one of these bills, the University will request consideration of our language." The closest step to what colleges need to do has came from Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, who introduced a bill in March to remove the Confederate Naval Jack flag from The Citadel chapel. The Citadel Board of Visitors voted to remove the flag six years ago in the wake of the Charleston church mass shooting. A House bill introduced in 2016 went nowhere. So far, Harpootlian's bill has not had a hearing, though he expects some movement soon. Harpootlian said he thinks colleges should go to court to change the names or "just change the names and let the attorney general sue them." The colleges, whose trustees are approved by the lawmakers, show no indication of going to court or changing the names without permission. So the responsibility falls to the Legislature. "You have to keep in mind that we are in a Republican-dominated General Assembly, who has not shown an appetite for taking up any of these bills," said Rep. Kambrell Garvin, a Columbia Democrat who has introduced multiple bills to change the Heritage Act. Massey said he thinks some lawmakers don't want to stir racial tensions right now. "The other part of it is, people dont want to be part of the woke cancel culture and part of it is, when you start coming after Strom Thurmond, its a different game at that point, said Massey, a Republican from Thurmond's hometown of Edgefield. Another reason Massey offered: "I think some people are waiting to see what happens with the lawsuit thats out there." So there is a wild card for colleges and other public places in South Carolina wanting to change historical names and monuments. A lawsuit, filed by the widow of a Charleston church shooting victim that seeks to overturn the Heritage Act, has a hearing before the S.C. Supreme Court on May 25. One of the key arguments is that the law passed in 2000 as part of the compromise that took the Confederate battle flag off the Statehouse dome takes away decision-making by local governments and agencies. If the Supreme Court nixes the law, then the colleges can changes the building names. And if the Heritage Act remains, as many expect, the colleges are back to where they are now with nothing happening. Seanna Adcox contributed from Columbia. Over 1,700 doses of Covid-19 vaccine that were stolen from a hospital in the north Indian state of Haryana were returned on Thursday with a note saying the thief did not know they were coronavirus jabs. A total of 1,270 doses of Covishield Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and 440 doses of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin were stolen from Civil Hospital in Jind district of Haryana, police official Rajender Singh said. He told news agency PTI that the theft came to light when a hospital sanitation worker saw that the lock of the store and the deep freezer was broken. The accused did not touch any other vaccine, medicine or cash in the store, he said. Police said that the thief left the vaccines at a tea stall outside the Civil Lines police station in the district. The thief told a man at the tea stall that it was food for a police official. Sorry, I didn't know it was medicines for corona, the thief wrote in Hindi in a note that was found with the bag of vaccines. Mr Singh said it is possible that the thief wanted to steal some other drug or vaccine. Police said all the doses taken from the hospital were recovered and they are trying to find the thief as soon as possible. A case has been registered, and police are examining the CCTV footage for evidence. India has administered more than 135 million coronavirus vaccine doses to date and announced plans to expand its vaccination drive. The government has said that vaccination will be open for all adults starting 1 May. Lora de la Cruz, superintendent of the Lake Oswego School District, announced Friday that she will step down from her post June 30. De la Cruz cited her desire to care for her ailing mother as the reason for her resignation. Anyone who knows me knows that my mother has been my hero and a model of the power of education, and that my lifes work has been built from this significant example, de la Cruz said in a statement issued by the school district. So it is poignant that the very person who inspired me to become an educator and leader has now become the compelling reason why I am choosing to leave my current leadership post. De la Cruz started as Lake Oswego superintendent in 2019. She handled the first positive coronavirus case in Oregon when one of her employees contracted the disease. She also was among the first school superintendents to lead a Portland-area district back to in-person schooling this year. -- The Oregonian/OregonLive Berlin: Germany has announced temporary limitations on the passenger traffic with India as the country is witnessing a record rise in coronavirus infections amid the second wave. "In order not to jeopardise our vaccination campaign, we need to significantly limit our passenger traffic with India," German Health Minister Jens Spahn, as quoted by Sputnik. Only German citizens will be able to cross into Germany from India, starting Sunday evening. According to the Russian news agency, Germany will soon add India to its list of high-risk countries. Several countries around the world including Kuwait, UK, Canada, Hong Kong, and the UAE have suspended passenger flights from India. India on Saturday recorded 3,46,786 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic broke out last year. According to the official data issued by the government, the country recorded 2,624 new deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.So far, 1,66,10,481 COVID-19 cases have been reported in India while 1,89,544 people have succumbed to the infection. Live TV Blake Ashby, a 23-year-old from the Lakeview neighborhood who wrote the latter message, said he came up with the words while thinking of the progress that has yet to be made almost one year after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a former Minneapolis cop and the mass social justice movement that followed. Ashby added that he felt both a sense of relief and sharp remorse while participating in the vigil, which provided him a channel for his pain over the events. MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Relief, even if fleeting and momentary, is a feeling that Black Americans have rarely known in America: From slavery to Jim Crow segregation to enduring punishments for living while Black, a breath of fresh air untainted by oppression has long been hard to come by. Nonetheless, the conviction of ex-cop Derek Chauvin for murdering George Floyd nearly a year ago allowed many across this city and the nation to exhale pent-up anxiety and to inhale a sense of hope. But what might they feel hope for? OPINION: The Chauvin verdict makes it clear that abolition is mandatory The fate of Chauvin found guilty of murder and manslaughter for holding a knee to Floyds neck, choking off his breathing until he went limp last May showed Black Americans and their compatriots once again that the legal system is capable of valuing Black lives. Or at least it can hold one white police officer in Minnesota accountable for what many declared an unambiguous act of murder months ago. This may be the beginning of the restoration of believing that a justice system can work, said civil rights leader Martin Luther King III, echoing a sentiment that many expressed Tuesday. But we have to constantly stay on the battlefield in a peaceful and nonviolent way and make demands, he said. This has been going on for years and one case, one verdict, does not change how systematic racism has worked in our system. Alexandria De La Cruz, a Minneapolis mother, brought her 7-year-old daughter to the intersection near where Floyd was murdered, now dubbed George Floyd Square. Along with the hundreds who gathered there Black, white and otherwise De La Cruz erupted in cheers after it was announced Chauvin was guilty on all three counts. I feel relief that the justice system is working its working today, De La Cruz said. Her daughter, Jazelle, sported a hooded sweatshirt that read, Stop killing Black people. Perhaps thats a reminder, her mom said, that theres still work to do to ensure the feeling of relief isnt so fleeting this time. Its important to bring her (to the square), so she can see whats happening to our people, so that she can see what this country really is, De La Cruz said. Black Americans have seen similar moments before. In recent years, they followed the convictions of the officers who killed Oscar Grant, Laquan McDonald and Walter Scott. Still, some of these victims families continue to press for broader accountability from a policing culture they say has never proved it is meaningfully changed or reformed after the convictions of police officers. PROGRESS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION: Texas officials say murder conviction for George Floyd's death 'is only one step' in police reform And even as the Chauvin trial moved into its final days, the Twin Cities region and the nation were rocked by yet another police killing of an unarmed Black man. This time it was 20-year-old Daunte Wright, in Brooklyn Center, roughly 10 miles north of Minneapolis. Keith Ellison, Minnesotas first Black attorney general, said the jurys decision was a reminder of how difficult it has been to enact enduring change and prevent the kind of upheaval and civil unrest that ignited the nation and the world last summer. Furthermore, Ellison pointed out, America has known about and largely ignored the root causes of the upheaval and uneasiness in Black communities. More than a half-century ago, the Kerner and McComb commissions empaneled to study racial unrest warned of the dangers of doing just that. Here we are in 2021 still addressing the same problem, Ellison said. This has to end. We need true justice. Thats not one case. That is a social transformation that says that nobodys beneath the law, and no one is above it. Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, an online racial justice group, echoed the attorney general. We cannot, every single time, have uprisings to deliver justice nor should we have to be in a conversation about holding police officers accountable when they go around killing us, Robinson said. So again, what might Black Americans hope for after the outcome of Chauvins trial? It cant be about simply getting more police in front of a judge and jury, or about locking more of them up, said Miski Noor, an activist with the Twin Cities-based Black Visions Collective. That doesnt actually stop the murders of Black people, said Noor. Were trying to get into a world where lives are not lost, when Black people actually get to live. Thats the hope. As relieved as Floyd's family members are by the guilty verdicts, none see this as a bookend to the pursuit for justice. And three other former Minneapolis police officers face trial for the role they played in the case. Brandon Williams, a nephew of Floyds, called the verdicts a pivotal moment for America. Its something this country has needed for a long time now, he said. We need each and every officer to be held accountable. And until then, its still scary to be a Black man and woman in America encountering police. ___ Stafford reported from Detroit. AP writer Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed. ___ Morrison and Stafford are members of the AP's Race and Ethnicity team. Follow Morrison on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison. Follow Stafford on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kat__stafford. ___ Find APs full coverage of the death of George Floyd at: https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd Mobile phone giant Xiaomi Corp. is among investors considering joining a funding round of at least 1.5 billion yuan ($231 million) for Black Sesame Technologies Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The fundraising would value the Shanghai-headquartered artificial intelligence and autonomous driving chipmaker at as much as $1.5 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. Black Sesames backers in its previous funding round included Tencent Holdings Ltd., one of the people said. Black Sesame is considering an initial public offering on Chinas technology-focused Shanghai Star board as soon as next year, according to the people. At least one more round of investment is planned before any potential IPO, they said. Xiaomi has invested billions in scores of startups to build out its smartphone and online ecosystem, but a deal with Black Sesame would mark the companys latest bet on the automotive arena since announcing a $10 billion plan to build electric vehicles. The startup, which designs AI chips and systems for cars, counts major auto industry firms including Robert Bosch GmbH, SAIC Motor Corp. and BYD Co. among its clients, according to its website. Details of the fundraising such as size and valuation could change, the people said, while discussions of the IPO are at an early stage and the company could decide not to pursue a listing. Representatives for Black Sesame, Tencent and Xiaomi declined to comment. The investment talks come as Xiaomi plans to invest $10 billion over the next decade into manufacturing EVs, its billionaire co-founder Lei Jun announced last month. The Chinese smartphone maker joins tech giants from Apple Inc. to Huawei Technologies Co. in targeting the vehicle industry, betting future cars will grow increasingly autonomous and connected. Xiaomi will outsource car assembly to contract manufacturers, a model it uses for its smartphones, a person familiar with the matter has said. Founded in 2016, Black Sesame is an artificial intelligence company focused on image processing, perception algorithms and system-on-a-chip design, according to the website. It has about 300 employees, 80% of whom work in research and development, the site shows. The startup is one of a growing number of Chinese chipmakers and tech giants seeking capital to develop semiconductors used to train AI algorithms. Artificial intelligence chip companies in China such as Horizon Robotics Inc. and Enflame raised $1.2 billion in the first quarter alone, BNEF estimates. China has pledged to grow its domestic semiconductor industry and reduce its reliance on American technology. Demand for semiconductors capable of handling AI tasks such as machine learning has sharply increased in recent years, fueled by a boom in data-intensive applications including high-resolution video games and cryptocurrency mining. The global AI chip market is currently led by Nvidia Corp., while the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.s Google have also invested in their own bespoke server silicon. Apr. 24TIFTON The Tiftarea YMCA recently donated a portion of its proceeds from the 11th annual Tour de Tifton and Ilse Boyette Memorial Ride to the Tift Regional Medical Center Foundation. Tour de Tifton was held on March 27 with 161 cyclists participating in the ride. There were different scenic routes of south Georgia ranging from beginner to experienced riders, with 11 miles to 100 miles in length. A portion of the funds from the Tour de Tifton and Ilse Boyette Memorial Ride will benefit the Ilse Boyette Book Scholarship made possible through the TRMC Foundation. Two $500 scholarships are awarded on a yearly basis to non-traditional students who need assistance with books. Boyette is remembered for giving back, and her family established this scholarship in an effort to help students obtain a college education. She was an avid bicyclist who helped organize, volunteer and participate in the first Tour de Tifton in 2009. She was also a dedicated Registered Nurse at Tift Regional, where she spent over 20 years making a significant impact in the lives of others. To learn more, visit www.trmcf.com or call (229) 391-3310. Youre teaching right now, Harris said Vice President Kamala Harris offered words of encouragement to a worker who nervously delivered remarks during her visit to the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative in Plymouth. On Friday, Harris visited the business to promote President Joe Bidens infrastructure proposal which is a part of the American Rescue Plan. She spoke to various leaders and workers including Jeff Bird, a line design technician. Bird delivered remarks about expanding broadband, but got lost, saying, Excuse me, Im just really nervous. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Read More: NC official gets the boot after refusing to refer to Black woman as doctor We need to know what you know, so you just tell us. Because we dont know what you know. Youre teaching right now, Harris said, encouraging Bird. As Bird began to lose his train of thought during his delivery, Harris walked over to him to ease his nerves. She motioned towards the press, saying, So all these guys, they may or may not understand what you do, but they need to understand what you do because what you do is so important. You are building up our country. You hear me? Im serious. You are building up our country. So teach them what you know, cuz they dont know, and they need to understand it. Bird could be heard telling Harris, I appreciate that. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Last fall I was tasked with assisting our sub-contractors with building what we call a backbone for our infrastructure. Specifically, we are attaching fiber to our existing utility poles and theres currently an increasing demand for the high-speed internet in our rural areas, Bird said. This mostly due to demands relative to the past year where we did most of our work and education from home. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. At the end of the event, Harris walked over to Bird who said: Thank you for talking me off the ledge. You were so good. You were so good, Harris told Bird, as she offered him an elbow bump. He admitted, Public speaking is not my forte. Story continues Read More: Recordings show chaos leading to MaKhia Bryant shooting Bidens infrastructure plan is an effort to reenergize Americas power infrastructure. The plan referenced the recent power outages in Texas which prove that our aging electric grid needs urgent modernization, according to a statement from The White House. The plan includes a $100 billion proposal to create high-speed broadband across the country, according to Harris. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks about the Biden administrations decision to the release of $39 billion of American Rescue Plan funds to address the child care crisis caused by COVID-19 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 15, 2021 in Washington, DC. According to the White House, about 2 million women left the labor force due to caregiving needs since the start of the coronavirus pandemic started in early 2020. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Now, you have to have access to the internet, Harris said during the visit. We knew that before the pandemic, and it became an absolute necessity during the pandemic. GOP members criticized the visit because Harris didnt visit the southern border which has been marred with controversy and an influx of migrants. Harris was greeted by protestors urging her to visit the US-Mexico border with one sign reading, Hey Kamala / Stop the illegal invasion / Go visit Mexico, according to the New York Post. 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 Kamala Harris encourages a nervous worker during his speech appeared first on TheGrio. Speaking from Chicago, in remarks that can be viewed here, Rush also said, If we were giving away Chicken McNuggets here tonight, the hall would be overflowing. And most of you who would be there dont know what is in that Chicken McNugget. You trust McDonalds. You ought to trust our doctors who are telling you that the only way we can meet this pandemic and stop our loved ones and neighbors, our loved ones from dying from this dreaded disease is that you and I get our vaccine. New York, April 24 : US President Joe Biden has said that the climate partnership with India will be "a core pillar" of relations between the two countries. Speaking at the conclusion of the two-day, 40-nation Leaders Summit on Climate, Biden said on Friday that he was "looking forward to working with India's Prime Minister Modi's new partnership to achieve our climate and energy goals, making this a core pillar of our bilateral cooperation". Modi announced the US-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership when he addressed the opening session of the summit on Thursday. He said that "together we will help mobilise investments, demonstrate clean technology and enable green collaboration". The key element of the partnership is enabling India to reach its goal of generating 450 gigawatts of clean, renewable energy by 2030. Listing the various action pledges made at the summit, Biden said, "The commitments we've made must become real commitment without us doing a lot of hot air. No pun intended". Biden said that "we need to limit warming to 1.5 degrees" centigrade or "all of us could be in a point of no return". Scientists consider that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees centigrade is essential to prevent the devastating effects of climate change. US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John explained on Thursday that if the partnership can enable India to reach its target of 450 gigawatts of clean energy, India would be on track to meet its commitment to helping hold down the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. A joint statement by India and the US that they "aim to demonstrate how the world can align swift climate action with inclusive and resilient economic development, taking into account national circumstances and sustainable development priorities". Outlining the partnership's agenda the statement said it "will aim to mobilize finance and speed clean energy deployment; demonstrate and scale innovative clean technologies needed to decarbonise sectors including industry, transportation, power, and buildings; and build capacity to measure, manage, and adapt to the risks of climate-related impacts". (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Here are the complexities of climate change. In 2020, there was record low sea ice in the Arctic. In 2021, a breach of polar cold from the Arctic into the United States nearly brought Texas to its knees. The lessons: Pay attention to the science and prepare for it, even if it seems contradictory. Heed warnings before a crisis strikes, said Western Connecticut State University student James Cantafio at a lecture on climate change at the university. It will happen. The lecture series Climate and Humans Civilization is sponsored by the universitys Jane Goodall Center. Its been an annual event at Western since 2016. It was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, there are two lectures, presented online. The first, held last week, was on global warming and the Arctic. The second The Urgency of the Ethics of Greening features talks by Anna Malavisi, assistant professor of philosophy and Western junior Gabrielle Johnson. It will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday. To participate, go to: https://wcsu.webex.com/wcsu/j.php?MTID=me1b2eb1e73ee153d530ccb315ec5eb5d Mitch Wagener, the professor of biology at Western who organizes the series, said concentrating on the Arctic allows people to see the consequences of climate change writ large. Its happening there twice as much as the rest of the world, he said. It also involves pronounced feedback loops. As warming melts the Arctic ice, theres less ice to reflect sunlight and heat back into the atmosphere. Instead the exposed land and ocean water absorb the heat. That makes things warmer. More ice melts. Likewise, warming temperatures are thawing the permafrost the deeply frozen ground of the Arctic. For centuries, that permafrost has captured carbon dioxide and methane from decaying plants. As it thaws, it releases that carbon dioxide and methane. Those greenhouse gases are a primary cause of global warming. As temperatures rise, more permafrost gets thawed. This warming could bring profound changes to the Arctic landscape and biodiversity. Wagener said that a century from now, parts of the tundra could be replaced by boreal forest. That would mean more trees capturing some of the CO2 in the atmosphere. Thats the long term, Wagener said. The short-term will be more warming. Cantafio, a meteorology student at Western, spoke of how climate change may be causing irregularities in the huge, swirling air mass above the North Pole known as the Polar Vortex. We dont know if it will be happening more frequently, Cantafio said. Theres a hypothesis that it might. But there is no consensus. But thats what happened in February, as a huge mass of cold air poured into the United States as far south as Texas. The severe cold essentially froze the Texas power grid the state was four minutes and 37 seconds from having its grid shut down. In the end, the cold snap affected 4.5 million people who went days without electricity or potable water. It caused $195 billion in damages. Cantafio said the Texas utilities had been warming for several years that a disaster like this could happen.. But there were no incentives to change, he said. So they didnt do it. These changes will in some ways form a basis for Malavisis talk on Tuesday about the ethics of environmentalism. Ill be talking about our place on the earth, she said. Malavisi said she wants people to rethink their place in the worlds ecology. Rather than seeing human endeavor as dominating the environment, it would be better, she said, to see ourselves as inside the complexity, rather than outside. We need to think about ecosystems as a whole she said. We love the trees, the water, the oceans. We need to see that we are part of the environment. Likewise, Western junior Gabrielle Johnson will talk in the second half of the lecture on Tuesday about capitalism and how its emphasis on materialism and constant growth may not create a sustainable, environmentally ethical economy for the 21st century. Im leaning toward a steady-state economy, Johnson said, of a model that de-emphasizes constant growth and instead supports less consumer spending and a conservation of natural resources. Wagener said at last weeks lecture that there are things people can do as individuals to reduce their carbon footprints some things as basic as eating less meat or thinking about family planning and having fewer children. But he also said people need to think and act collectively. Vote, he said. Speak up. Stay active. Contact Robert Miller at earthmattersrgm@gmail.com She has been balancing her busy work schedule and healthy lifestyle commitments, after recently shedding over 4.5st. And Rebel Wilson showed off her sensational figure on Saturday, including her ample assets in a taupe bra, as she sunbathed on grass during her UK stay. The Australian actress, 41, who is currently in Great Britain shooting a new film, posed up a storm on her Instagram account as she made the most of the glorious weather. 'Have to get that vitamin D': Rebel Wilson showed off her 4.5 st weight loss on Saturday, as she put on a busty display in a taupe bra and sunbathed on grass during her UK stay Rebel styled her blonde tresses in tousled loose curls while framing her visage with chic cat-eye shades. She captioned the uploads: 'Have to get that vitamin D any way you can in the UK'. Rebel underwent a dramatic transformation which included a 30kg weight loss transformation last year. She looked to have lost even more weight when she took a walking tour around Liverpool, England on Sunday. Stunning selfie: The Australian actress, 41, who is currently in Great Britain shooting a new film, posed up a storm on her Instagram account as she made the most of the glorious weather Shielded: Rebel styled her blonde tresses in tousled loose curls while framing her visage with chic cat-eye shades The TV star shared a series of photos to Instagram of her and a friend Deb going past Paul McCartney's childhood home. 'Deb took me on a Beatles tour across Liverpool today,' she captioned a photo of the two women. 'This is us outside Paul McCartney's childhood home.' Rebel shared another photo of herself just wearing a jumper leaning up against the fence of the property, Strawberry Field. The name of the home became famous in 1967 with the release of The Beatles song, 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. Changes: Rebel lost 30kg last year. She looked to have lost even more weight when she took a walking tour around Liverpool on Sunday (left, right in 2019) Transformation: Rebel posed outside of 'Paul McCartney's childhood home' in Liverpool on Sunday with her friend Deb Rebel is filming The Almond and the Sea Horse with Charlotte Gainsbourg in Wales, and is also hosting Pitch Perfect for the ABC network in America. The star announced in November she had reached her goal weight of 75kg (165lbs or 11.7st), and topped off her year of health by appearing on Ant Middleton's adventure show. Sydney native Rebel lost 30kg (66.1lbs or 4.7st) as she overhauled her lifestyle in an incredibly impressive feat. Since then, she has showed off her body transformation by posting photos of her trim physique in workout gear and stylish ensembles. Montana Gov. Gianforte Signs Law Prohibiting Federal Ban on Gun Ownership Montana passed a new law on April 23 that will prevent the federal government from placing prohibitions on gun ownership in the state, whether by new federal law, executive order, rules, regulation, or any new interpretations of existing law. Today, I proudly signed Rep. [Jedediah] Hinkles law prohibiting federal overreach into our Second Amendment-protected rights, including any federal ban on firearms, Gov. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) wrote on Twitter on April 24. I will always protect our [Second Amendement] right to keep and bear arms. Today, I proudly signed Rep. Hinkles law prohibiting federal overreach into our Second Amendment-protected rights, including any federal ban on firearms. I will always protect our #2A right to keep and bear arms. pic.twitter.com/2xY8DeEtqf Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) April 23, 2021 House Bill No. 258 (pdf) titled Montana Federal Firearm, Magazine, and Ammunition Ban Enforcement Prohibition Act was passed under the authority of the second and tenth amendments of the U.S. constitution, as well as the Montana constitution, and Montanas compact with the United States. The new law, which passed 3020, means that no subnational government agency or official may cooperate in the enforcement of any federal ban on firearms, magazines, or ammunition. Montana lawmakers passed the law amid President Joe Bidens calls for gun reform after a deadly shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis on April 16. Biden said at the time that it was up to Congress to act on gun laws, including several bills that have already been passed in the House of Representatives. I also urged Congress to hear the call of the American peopleincluding the vast majority of gun ownersto enact commonsense gun violence prevention legislation, like universal background checks and a ban of weapons of war and high-capacity magazines, Biden said. Montanas move comes after Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed similar legislation on April 6 that would prohibit police and sheriffs in the state from enforcing new federal gun laws that may violate the Constitutions Second Amendment. The state of Arizona and its political subdivisions are prohibited from utilizing any financial resources or state personnel to administer, cooperate with or enforce any law, act, order, rule, treaty or regulation of the federal government that is inconsistent with any law of this state regarding the regulation of firearms, that legislation read. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed a similar bill on April 23 after the state Senate voted 287 to approve the measure. Hutchinson said the law, which would prevent state police from enforcing a federal ban, would jeopardize law enforcement and the public. The Senate may overrule Hutchinsons veto with a simple majority vote. Jack Phillips contributed to this report. What Are The Best Features of the partypoker Mobile App? April 24, 2021 Matthew Pitt Modern smartphones are much more than just mobile phones. They are essentially miniature handheld PCs that have a wealth of features installed. They also make it possible to play poker on the go with excellent mobile poker app, like the one created by partypoker. Just like mobile phone technology has come on in leaps and bounds over the years, mobile poker apps have too. Online poker sites invest countless hours and dollars into creating the perfect mobile app for their customers, partypoker included. The partypoker mobile app is almost unrecognizable from a couple of years ago. You can tell from the second you fire it up that so much thought has gone into the latest incarnation. These are our favorite partypoker mobile app features. Download the partypoker mobile app for iOS and Android and get started with up to 40 of tournament tickets! It Is Designed For Portrait Mode There was a time when mobile phone companies did everything in their power to build the smallest device. Those of you old enough to remember the Nokia 8210 will know exactly what is meant here. Phones have bucked that trend and now bigger is better. My own phone has a 6.7" screen, which is definitely on the larger side. Larger phones require two hands to use them horizontally; plus who ever uses their phone in this orientation? The partypoker mobile app works in portrait, allowing you to play poker while using your phone in the most natural way possible. Playing in portrait instead of horizontal frees up one hand to do other tasks, making the partypoker mobile app a true mobile experience. Win Up To $500 Extra With partypoker's Hot Tables The boffins behind the app have thought of everything when it comes to playing in this mode. The betting buttons are within a thumb's reach, while the bet slider can be increased and decreases with a slide of your thumb or finger. Everything is designed around being able to play one-handed, and that makes it stand out from the crowd. just setting up my twttr jack (@jack) A Full Suite Of Poker Products Not only can you play poker from your mobile in the most natural way, but the partypoker mobile app also has a full suite of poker products to enjoy. Cash games are there, so are fastforward cash games, both of which feature the new Hot Tables feature. SNG players can get their grind on while on the move, and it is possible to hit the jackpot, literally, by firing up some SPINS tournaments. Multi-table tournaments are also present and correct, so you need never miss a scheduled tournament ever again. The layout of all of the poker games available on the partypoker mobile app have been redesigned in order to make them playable one-handed. We reckon once you have played mobile poker like this, you will never want to go back to holding your phone in two hands ever again! You Don't Need a Huge Bankroll to Become partypoker's Legend of the Week The Special Gamification Features You have almost certainly heard of the term "gamification" at some point in your lives. Basically, gamification is adding game-like elements and principles into products to enhance the user's experience. Fitness tracker company Fitbit does this through badges and trophies, partypoker does this on its mobile app with some fun additions. Throwables are a thing on the partypoker mobile app. You can make your feelings known about how your opponent played a hand by throwing an object at them, in the virtual sense of course! Tomatoes, kisses, even emoji poops are available to sling across the table as you see fit. It is also possible to peak at what cards would have come next thanks to the "Rabbit Hunt" feature. Once you have collected enough diamonds you earn them as you play at the tables you will sometimes see a rabbit appear on your screen as a hand concludes. Tap it and it reveals what community cards would have come out had you stayed in the hand! Do not sit stewing wondering if you would have hit your flush, let the rabbit show you! just setting up my twttr jack (@jack) Download the partypoker Mobile App Today The excellent, feature-rich partypoker mobile app is available for Android and iOS-powered devices. Head to the Google Play Store for Android devices, the Apple App Store for iOS devices, or alternatively, visit partypoker's website using your favorite mobile device to be redirected to the mobile app download. Do not forget that if you download partypoker via PokerNews, you are entitled to up to 40 worth of SPINS and MTT tickets. Deposit $10 to receive $10 in tickets over the course of a week: Day 1: 2x $1 SPINS tickets + 1x $3.30 MTT ticket Day 2: 4x $0.25 SPINS tickets Day 4: 1x $3.30 MTT ticket Day 6: 4x $0.25 SPINS tickets Deposit $20 and receive $30 worth of tickets over the course of a week: Tony Stark is undoubtedly the most beloved character among the Avengers. Thus, it is not surprising to see fans wish for his comeback. However, Robert Downey Jr.'s power seemingly took over their lives completely as the fans ask Marvel Studios to bring his character back to life in the most unbelievable way. Tony Stark Billboard: Fans Want Robert Downey Jr. Back This week, a photo of a massive Tony Stark billboard took over the spotlight and invited attention from other fans all over the globe. On Lights Camera Pod's Twitter account, a photo of the billboard in question became the talk of the town for days. An anonymous group of fans reportedly paid an undetermined amount to put up the billboard in Los Angeles. "A new billboard has been put up by fans in Los Angeles and asks Marvel Studios to bring the Iron Man, Tony Stark, back to life," the caption says. A new billboard has been put up by fans in Los Angeles, and asks Marvel Studios to bring the Iron Man, Tony Stark, back to life. pic.twitter.com/JtG2GvdzmL Lights, Camera, Pod (@LightsCameraPod) April 22, 2021 The material shows a specially designed poster with the text "For our beloved hero, please bring back Tony Stark." It also has a hashtag #BringBackTonyStarkToLife and a date "04.24.21." The post reached thousands of fans, with most of them expressed their disagreement over the idea. One fan said, "I love RDJ and Iron Man.... but his death was perfect. Resurrecting him would cheapen Endgame." "Tony's arc is done though. His suit changed the world. His last words are the same as his last words of his first movie, which was the very first movie of the modern MCU," another one added. "There's no point in undoing his death with so many new interesting ripples that absence of his life opens up." Another one penned, "As a Marvel fan from LA. I don't claim any responsibility for anyone posting that billboard. I'm satisfied with Ironman's ending in Avengers: Endgame." Even the Marvel executives debunked the idea of bringing back RDJ to the franchise - at least, for now. Marvel Studios EVP Victoria Alonso told Clarin that resurrecting the character seems so impossible to do. She also believed that the superhero already left his legacy, as seen in "Spider-Man: Far From Home." Meanwhile, Joe and Anthony Russo said during a live watch party of "Avengers: Endgame" that bringing back Iron Man would require him a reasonable plot. Still, recasting the role is a hundred percent disagreeable, as well, especially since Chris Evans himself claimed that there is no other actor who could be Iron Man except for RDJ. See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles BRITISH Chief of Defence Staff Nick Carter stated that we could face a world war as a result of the economic crisis associated with the pandemic in recent months and added that 30,000 robot soldiers could join the British army in 2030. It is necessary to take seriously these statements made at the highest level in England. Global policy makers seem to be at a serious loss of mind. Also, on March 16, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who presented a strategy paper to the House of Commons entitled 'Global Britain in a Competitive Era', does not give good signals about the future of the world. From this perspective, Britain had committed to reduce the number of nuclear warheads to 180, on the contrary we see it was increased to 260. Britain, which came out of the European Union, gives strong messages that it will return to its colonial codes. It is clear that such adventures threaten the future of the world. Black clouds gathering in the Black Sea and military activity in the east of Europe do not only threaten that region. All NATO countries are trying to take a role here in some way. Turkey is located in the centre of this crisis. Turkey is geographically one of the key points in terms of opening the Black Sea. Turkey, getting away from the Republican values and the historical perspective of 1923 is going towards the cliff. The country is completely detached from Mustafa Kemal's contemporary and secular vision during the 20 years of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule. In the direction of this new ideology, the Neo-Ottomanist Erdogan regime's attack on neighbouring countries and their efforts to open space for the colonial policies in these regions caused many deaths in Syria and Libya. Intellectuals, journalists and opponents in Turkey are under pressure of this regime. The opponents have experienced a great slaughter in front of the eyes of Europe Now, Erdogan and the AKP government, which has experienced a major economic collapse due to the coronavirus pandemic, are very stuck. Recently Turkey, playing an active role in the war of Azerbaijan- Armenia in Karabakh, grabbed the opportunity to demonstrate the success of its weapons technology to countries in the region. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, who seems to be affected by this success, often visits Ankara. Ankara has maximized military cooperation and agreements with Ukraine. In 2019 Turkey sold six Bayraktar TB2 (Armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) to Ukraine. In 2021, five more Bayraktar TB2 will be sold. The Erdogan government is trying to use all these issues happening in the Black Sea as an advantage. Another subject of discussion continues over the Treaty of Montreux Straits. Erdogan's plan to build an alternative waterway to the north of Istanbul that would bypass the Bosporus also sparked a debate over the Montreux treaty. This contract, signed in Montreux, Switzerland on 20 July 1936, is an insurance of world peace and regulates the passage through the straits, and other international treaties. It regulates the law of the countries on the straits of the Black Sea. According to this contract, countries that do not have a coast on the Black Sea cannot bring warships over a certain tonnage into the region. In addition, these ships have to leave the Black Sea within 21 days after entering the Black Sea. The Montreux treaty is a broad consensus that controls the Dardanelles and Istanbul Bosporus, and all regulations to be made on it. Breaching it will endanger world peace. The only goal for Erdogan is to stay longer in power in Turkey. Along with all these latest news, on midnight April 4 a declaration on Montreux has been published by 104 retired Admirals and the Erdogan regime has been warned because of the Istanbul Canal project. Their statement also contained several criticisms regarding the political direction of Turkey. The Erdogan regime, allergic to all kinds of opposition, reacted harshly to this declaration by detaining 10 former admirals. Government officials said the midnight statement evoked Turkeys history of military coups. The AKP government will darken more to win the sympathy of America and NATO. A deterrent force against Russia, the Very High Readiness Level Joint Task Force (VJTF), has been commanded by Turkey since January 1. The force, known as the 'spearhead of NATO', consists of 6,400 soldiers, with 4,200 soldiers provided by Turkey. In addition, Defender Europe is preparing for 2021 for a major exercise planned to be held in June in NATO, Baltics and Black Sea region. We cannot interpret all these experiences from a single point of view. The adventure undertaken for the sake of narrowing Russia's sphere of influence can have severe consequences for the whole world. Some Russian experts think that Canal Istanbul cannot damage the Montreux convention. I personally think this approach is too optimistic. In addition, the canal to be built is not only limited to the Bosphorus, but also is expected to include the Dardanelles. Europe is experiencing a great intellectual collapse. You can easily see this collapse by looking at the people who rule the countries. All over the world, the mind has left its place to a madness. Every military intervention in the Middle East and the Caucasus has caused deep humanitarian crises. Economic, sociological and humanitarian results were not obtained for the benefit of anyone. Yet stubbornly considering military options will only lead us to greater disasters. The European Union, which has fearful dreams every day due to the refugee crisis and makes unreasonable concessions to the Erdogan regime because of this crisis, must end the tension immediately if it wants to be rational. A new war in Ukraine will displace millions of people and cause new humanitarian crises. Also, if we look at the Georgian experience in the past, NATO's move to Ukraine could backfire. Russia can regain the sphere of influence it had during the Soviet Union era. Humanity is approaching a major crossroads: either we will find rational solutions or we will completely disappear from the stage of history in the shadow of this endless war. Cagdas Gokbel is a Turkish journalist currently living in the direct provision centre in Tullamore. The Orleans Parish School Board has formally agreed to rename 21 school buildings, a decision that will impact more than a quarter of the district's 76 schools, the vast majority of which are operated by non-profit charter organizations. That means that while the school buildings will get new names, the charters don't necessarily have to call themselves the new name. In New Orleans, charters can name their own schools, while the School Board has authority over the names on the buildings. About half of schools have different names than the historic buildings they're in. The board's vote Thursday came as some alumni at McDonogh 35, which became the first public high school for Black students when it opened in 1917, publicly joined a growing sector who disapprove of renaming their former school buildings. Public feedback period for renaming New Orleans schools extended as alumni push back After NOLA Public Schools solicited the public's input in the district's process to rename those schools and buildings that honored "racist le The renaming committee for NOLA Public Schools published the following list of school facilities slated to get new names, along with the reason behind it: Henry W. Allen Elementary - Confederate Official/ Segregation Supporter Audubon School - Slave Owner Martin Behrman - Segregation Supporter Alcee Fortier - Segregation Supporter Benjamin Franklin Elementary - Slave Owner Benjamin Franklin High - Slave Owner Paul Habans - Segregation Supporter Andrew Jackson - Slave Owner Marquis de Lafayette - Slave Owner Edward Livingston - Segregation Supporter Robert Mills Lusher - Segregation Supporter John McDonogh - Slave Owner McDonogh 07 - Slave Owner McDonogh 15 - Slave Owner McDonogh 28 - Slave Owner McDonogh 32 - Slave Owner McDonogh 35 (Kerlerec Street) - Slave Owner McDonogh 35 (Cadillac Street) - Slave Owner McDonogh 42 - Slave Owner O. Perry Walker High - Segregation Supporter Sophie B. Wright - Segregation Supporter Two of those names -- Paul Habans and Edward Livingston -- had been added since last month, when the district first publicized a preliminary list identified by a volunteer historian review team. Livingston was a U.S. senator and was appointed to Secretary of State under President Andrew Jackson in 1831. Historians said he was an aide-de-camp to Jackson during the Battle of New Orleans and helped lead the charge to protect local control of slavery. The district didn't have a biography on Habans, but noted he was a segregation supporter. The School Board's 6-1 vote moves these schools forward in the district's renaming process, which kicked off earnest over the summer when the former board approved a policy that property owned by the OPSB could not be named after slave owners, segregation supporters and/or Confederate figures. School Board member Carlos Zervigon, who voted against the measure, said he wanted to give community members more time to weigh in, especially since the district had extended a public comment period to April 30. The district had asked the public to identify schools to be renamed, and then asked who those buildings should be named after instead. Final recommendations are scheduled to be sent to NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. by May 28. 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 During the meeting, two members of McDonogh 35 Senior High School community spoke against the renaming process, which would affect the McDonogh 35 school building on Cadillac Street. Wanda Romaine, a McDonogh 35 historian and alumna, said the high school has "long epitomized the essence of welcoming, being inclusive and inspiring scholars." "The students, families, teacher, alumni, stakeholders who wear and promote the names and legacies of these schools every day in a highly-visible identification -- it should be their call to make about whether these names stay or be changed," she said. She joined other alumni, the school's student government association and current staff who had written letters of opposition forwarded to the School Board and the media by the charter school's CEO, Jamar McNeely. Taylor Pittman, a 12th-grader who is McDonogh 35's student government president, said "there must be a clear understanding that McD 35 does not have a positive or negative connection or reflection to the late John McDonogh," and listed notable alumni of the locally famous high school. How can New Orleans public schools improve? The district wants you to answer that question What are the most pressing challenges New Orleans schools face? Is it that schools lack socioeconomic or racial diversity? That they don't ade They included Mack J. Spears, the first African American elected to School Board; Joan Bernard Armstrong, the first female judge elected in Louisiana and first African American chief judge of the Louisiana 4th Circuit of Appeals; Israel Augustine, the first elected African American judge of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court; and former Mayor Dutch Morial, first African American to hold that post. "To discredit and overshadow the achievements of this great institution is more heinous of an injustice than any act or deed that could have been committed during Mr. McDonoghs life (seventy years) prior to his self-awakening and subsequent steps to self and public reform," she wrote. John McDonogh, a slave owner, made a fortune in real estate and shipping and left money to build schools in New Orleans and Baltimore. The McDonogh 35 community members join those from Benjamin Franklin High School, who had argued that their building should also be exempt from renaming because while Franklin had owned slaves he eventually became an abolitionist. Patrick Widhalm, Ben Franklin's head of school, said he understood the clear-line policy adopted by the board. "While we believe that there are important distinctions in the inspiring life of Benjamin Franklin, there is also the fact that he enslaved others for personal service throughout much of his life," he said, adding that he will also have a "thorough conversation" with Franklin community about potentially changing the program's name. Texas Senate Passes Resolution to Curb Chinas Forced Organ Harvesting: There Needs to Be a Global Outcry Texas Senate lawmakers have unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the Chinese regimes vile practice of forcibly removing human organs for transplant while urging the United States to take a more aggressive stance on the issue. We want to go on record as saying, No, this is happening, and we condemn it, state Sen. Angela Paxton, the primary author of the resolution, told NTD, an affiliate of The Epoch Times, on April 21. Part of the motivation for Paxton, who has spent at least two years advancing the cause, was the lack of public attention on the organ transplant abuse, which had led many people to dismiss it as rumors. We know this is true, we know it is wrong, and that it again goes to the very heart of destroying the dignity of every human being, she said. People around the world have flocked to China to seek transplant surgeries upon learning that they could get a critical organ in as little as two weeks. Yet such speed comes at a cost of innocent lives, the resolution passed through the Texas Senate on April 15 warns. In 2019, the independent China Tribunal concluded that prisoners of consciencea majority of whom are adherents of the persecuted spiritual discipline Falun Gongare being killed on a significant scale for their organs. Dr. Howard Monsour, who was among the first doctors involved in liver transplantation after its approval in 1984, recalled one of his patients from 10 years ago who developed liver cancer that had spread too far for him to have transplant surgery. After multiple U.S. hospitals turned him down, the desperate man took a trip to China and got a liver for $88,000, even though Monsour advised him against it, cautioning that late-stage surgery could accelerate the progression of cancer cells. The patient went ahead with the surgery and died eight months later. Think it of as a person trapped underwater. They will do almost anything to obtain a breath of air that gives them life, said Monsour, now a gastroenterology specialist at Granbury-based Lakeside Physicians Express Care, in testimony to the state senators. The surgery in China was a disservice to this Texas citizen, and especially to the donor if it came from a prisoner, he said. On the state Senate floor, Falun Gong practitioners who survived torture in China for their faith recalled being subjected to unexplained forced blood draws and witnessing horrifying disappearances of inmates, which they later linked to organ harvesting. The Masanjia Labor Camp in northeastern China, which was the site of numerous severe abuses against practitioners of Falun Gong, as documented by human rights groups, in this file photo. (Minghui.org) At Masanjia Labor Camp, where Houston resident Wang Haiying was once detained, Wang saw the guards drawing a large tube of blood from a female practitioner in the same cell, while the woman was physically restrained, she said. We lived in terror every day, she told the state senators. Some practitioners were beaten to death and were seen carried away. Others were taken by police and then went missing. Yu Xinhui, who now lives in Austin, remembered seeing as many as dozens of prisoners taken out of Sihui Prison in Guangdong, where he was held from 2001 to 2007. These people were never seen again, he said. One night in 2006, he watched as several buses, military cars, and an ambulance arrived at midnight. Armed policemen then told the detainees to lie on their beds facing the wall, and come out when your name is called, and dont bring anything with you. Everyone was terrified, he said. Three people were taken away from my cell. Their belongings were left in the cell. None of those people ever came back. While imprisoned, Yu met a doctor from his hometown who confirmed to him that live organ harvesting was happening. You Falun Gong practitioners have the best body, and the organs are of course the best. Other prisoners organs might not be good to use because they abuse drugs, alcohol, or engage in other bad habits, he recalled the doctor saying. A woman adjusts banners in support of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline, which is persecuted in mainland China, in Tung Chung, an area popular with tourists from the mainland, in Hong Kong on April 25, 2019. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images) The doctor suggested that Yu pretend to give up practicing Falun Gong to save his life. Otherwise, who knows what would happen to your heart, liver, spleen, and lungs? The doctor said. State Sen. Donna Campbell, a joint author and one of 12 sponsors of the bill, said the hearing was eye-opening. I saw the sadness, the profound sadness that comes with such an atrocity, she told NTD. She hoped the resolution could be the start of a broad movement to stop the abuse. There needs to be a global outcry that this is wrong. Nations need to sanction China for this kind of behavior. As an emergency room physician, she also appealed to Chinese doctors to walk away and say no to such practices. Its against any moral conscience they could possibly have, she said. They need to work for lives, not to take lives away. Brenda Chen contributed to this report. A homeless man was once sitting outside an Outback Steakhouse in Fort Worth, Texas, not knowing how his life was about to change because of the generosity of his community. Kenneth Smith, a man who found himself living on the streets was surprised to find kindhearted people who helped him get back on his feet. It all began when a woman approached him as he was sitting outside the Outback Steakhouse and asked he was alright. Smith told the woman that he was "not OK at this time," as he recounted to WFAA-TV, as per Faithwire. She then gave him a $100 gift card to the steakhouse so he could have a warm meal. He did and later found himself in a conversation with the restaurant's managing partner, Laura Hodges. She later recounted to WFAA-TV how she gave him her business card and offered him food "any time" he needed it, telling the homeless Texas man, "I want you to always have somewhere that you can get a warm meal." The homeless Texas man was not one to turn down a blessing, so he came by once in a while over the span of five months until he mustered up enough courage to ask if he could have a job at the Outback Steakhouse. Hodges gave him one and the homeless Texas man quickly went to work cleaning and and bussing tables at the Outback on Bryant Irving Road for about a month. It was then he realized he needed an actual place to stay. Hodges went online and got in touch with Fort Worth Foodies, a local Facebook group in which she asked around for any recommendations on nearby motels with affordable nightly rates, so that Smith could have a place to stay in. The homeless Texas man got more than just recommendations, however, According to FOX News, the Fort Worth Foodies raised up to $2,200, booked him a six-week stay at a nearby hotel, and even gathered donations in kind for Smith. He then received clothing, kitchen items, groceries, and a bicycle that he could use to get to and from work. "I think it's so much of a good blessing," Smith said, marveling at the compassion from complete strangers. "And it's wonderful just to have people these days that'll do things for you." Hodges was also surprised at the compassion Smith received from complete strangers. She admitted that she had "no idea that people were going to latch onto that." She said that like her, these complete strangers "[threw] assistance out there and resources in any way that they possibly could." Hodges is also hopeful that they could find the woman who first gave Smith the $100 gift card, as she was the reason why generosity had snowballed into something this big, bringing the community together. Hodges said that the woman "blessed" both Smith and herself and that she was truly "blown away by the generosity of people." "This is a whole new beginning that God has blessed me with," Smith said of the compassion he experienced from complete strangers. "So I'm trying to get on this right, good track that He wants me to stay on." The German word Schadenfreude refers to taking pleasure in another person's suffering. That is absolutely not what here for today. Instead, a more apt German word to invoke would be Feuermausefallegenitalien, which means a burning mousetrap has somehow attached itself to one's genitals. Because that's the sort of awful thing experienced by the people you're about to read about. 1. Adolph Beck Beck spent five years in jail, misidentified as a thief. Finally, he was set free -- detectives learned Beck's lookalike was circumcised, while he was not. But then this lookalike, Wilhelm Meyer, stole again, Beck was again wrongly convicted, and he spent five more years in prison. Continue Reading Below Advertisement 2. Joseph Swain After a colostomy, Joseph Swain had surgery to reattach his colon. The doctors made a mistake and attached it to his bladder. The result: Joseph started farting then pooping out of his penis. 3. The Pennsylvanian A woman was in a hospital in Pennsylvania, then a bullet entered the abdomen. Not from a shooter in the hospital. From some unknown origin an unknown distance away. 4. Paul Trinder Paul thought there was something strange about the passenger who British Airways had sat beside him on his London flight. It took a while to realize they had partnered him with a corpse. Continue Reading Below Advertisement 5. Jason and Jenny Cairns-Lawrence This couple happened to be in New York on 9/11. Then they were in London on 7/7, the biggest terrorist attack in that city's history. Then in Mumbai for 26/11, that city's biggest terrorist attack. (The couple were not responsible for any of the attacks.) 6. Joao Maria de Souza For details, read 4 People Who Just Suffered from Freakishly Bad Luck 7. Aikichi Kobayama In 1954, Aikichi and a couple dozen other fishermen went to sea aboard a boat called Lucky Dragon 5. It was not an accurate name. The boat got showered in radioactive coral from a hydrogen bomb the US tested. Everyone got sick, and Aikichi died. With the mayor casting the tie-breaking vote, the Point Pleasant Beach Borough Council censured one of its members this week, an uncommon rebuke linked to the boroughs ongoing effort to acquire a problem-plagued motel and replace it with parking. The councils 4-3 vote to censure Councilman Bob Santanello for talking publicly about closed session discussions took place during the same Tuesday night meeting as a similarly-divided vote authorizing acquisition of the Amethyst Beach Motel, either through voluntary negotiations or condemnation under the boroughs power of eminent domain. The Amethyst, whose owner says he wants to redevelop the 1.5-acre property into a more upscale hotel, drew more than 200 police calls in 2020, when it was the subject of at least three lawsuits involving accusations of harassment against the owner and his counterclaims of non-payment of rent against extended-stay guests lodged there during the ongoing coronavirus-related moratorium on evictions. Santanello, a registered Libertarian who opposes the motels condemnation, has been defiant of municipal colleagues and norms before and after the censure vote. In response to warnings from the borough attorney and a special counsel not to discuss the confidential matters, he wrote in an April 5 email, I will not be bullied, intimidated or silenced by a couple of bottom feeding ambulance chasers. Santanello said he will retire this fall from his sales job with a medical education business, will not seek re-election to a third three-year term, and may move out of town. Thats why they want to keep me quiet, he said. They know Ive got nothing to lose. Santanellos censure, an official condemnation of his conduct without any other penalty, asserts that he spoke publicly during council meetings on March 2 and March 16 about discussions the council held related to the motels acquisition during a closed session on January 19. Minutes of the closed session, which the council has made public, referred to the frequent police calls to the motel, a 40-room structure on Arnold Avenue, three blocks from the beach in the Ocean County boroughs downtown commercial district. The minutes also describe discussion of the need for more parking in the area, as well as the 1.5-acre propertys $3.3 million assessment. Point Pleasant Beach Councilman Bob Santanello, a registered Libertarian on the otherwise all-Republican council.Courtesy of Bob Santanello The minutes also reflect discussion of likely lack of political opposition to the condemnation, particularly in light of Toms Rivers success acquiring and demolishing the rundown and disreputable Red Roof Inn, also to create more parking. The censure also involved Santanellos threat to disclose a harassment complaint by a former borough employee, mainly directed against Mayor Paul Kanitra, who had ousted a Santanello ally, former Mayor Stephen Reid, in the 2019 mayoral race. Kanitra said Santanello has never gotten over Reids defeat, or the election of Kanitras two running mates, who have enabled the new administration to make various reforms. My hope is that this serves as a stern rebuke of his actions and sets s strong precedent for how council members now and in the future must conduct themselves, Kanitra said in an interview Wednesday following the censure vote. And I hope that last nights rebuke sends the message that this wont be tolerated and puts to bed the situation completely. The 4-3 vote was taken following a motion by Councilman Douglas Vitale, to formally censure Councilman Santanello for violating the law relating to Closed Session confidentiality, for compromising the Boroughs legal position, for conspiring with a former employee, and ignoring demands from the Borough Administrator and multiple independent legal counsels regarding a harassment suit he is named in, according to draft minutes from the April 20 council meeting provided by the borough clerks office. Vitale and fellow council members Arlene Testa and Caryn Byrnes voted in favor, while Santanello, Andy Cortes and Tom Migut voted no, with Kanitra voting in favor to break the 3-3 deadlock. Kanitra, who only votes when the council is evenly split, likewise cast the tiebreaker in a vote adopting an ordinance introduced on March 16 to acquire the motel property. In a matter not directly related to the motel, the employee referred to in the censure is the boroughs former acting zoning and code enforcement officer, Gina Tumolo, who had been named to the post in 2019 under Reid. Tumolo remained in the acting position for more than a year under Kanitra, then worked for a few months in a non-supervisory role starting in December 2020, before being let go entirely by the borough last month, she told NJ Advance Media in an interview. Tumolo, who lives in Toms River, then filed the harassment complaint with the borough administrator, asserting that Kanitra had created a hostile work environment by repeatedly disparaging her, directly and in remarks to other employees, for much of the year she had worked in his administration. She said the borough has ignored a ruling by the state Civil Service Commission finding that she was eligible for the enforcement officer job after she appealed the commissions initial ruling that she wasnt. And she said her union, Teamsters Local 469, has filed a grievance thats now pending. Kanitra declined to comment on the harassment complaint. But regarding Tumulos dismissal, he said, she was a holdover from a previous administration unqualified and incapable of doing the job. Santanello sought a copy of the complaint from the administration, and warned that he would address it publicly during a council meeting if he didnt get one, according to an April 1 letter denying the request, sent to him from a special counsel for the borough in the matter, Tim Cunningham. It was Cunningham, along with Borough Attorney Kevin Riordan, whom Santanello referred to as ambulance chasers. More recently, Santanello was warned in an April 14 letter from another borough lawyer, Sean Gertner, that talking publicly about the closed session motel discussions violated the law and jeopardized the boroughs bargaining position. Such conduct is especially egregious if it is intended to, or has the effect of, aiding third parties working to disrupt the Boroughs goal: in this case expeditious property acquisition for fair market value, Gerntner wrote. In addition to disciplinary action by the Governing Body, there is also the potential for criminal penalties for Official Misconduct. N.J.S.A. 2C:30-2. Finally, as the Borough does not have a local ethics board, such matters could be referred to New Jerseys Local Finance Board for investigation by the State. The motels owner, John Fernicola, said Friday that he was continuing to renovate the Amethyst Beach in advance of the coming summer season as an interim step while he continues to plan for redevelopment of the property as a larger, newly-constructed hotel with 69 rooms, consistent with a revitalization of the surrounding downtown neighborhood that Fernicola credited Kanitra with leading. He said he supported Santanello, who he believed was only trying to enhance transparency. And he said all three council members who voted against the motels acquisition, did the right thing. One of the other two, Cortez, echoed Santanellos state position on condemnation, asserting that government seizure of private property, even in return for fair market value, should be reserved for more compelling public benefits than parking. Councilman Santanello may get loud, he may say things that some people dont agree with, he may be harsh at times, Cortez said. But he has no reason to lie. Testa said in an email Friday that she was convinced on Tuesday that Santanello had broken confidentiality rules, and may have compromised the boroughs position. When the integrity of a closed session is compromised, it is no longer a safe place to discuss certain matters of town business, she said. The Point Pleasant Beach Borough Council voted 4-3 on Tuesday to acquire, by condemnation if necessary, a 1.5-acre property that includes the Amethyst Beach Motel on Arnold Avenue and a parking lot just south of the motel across Baltimore Avenue.Google Nobody knows Jersey better than N.J.com. Sign up to get breaking news alerts straight to your inbox. Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Amaravati, April 24 : Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas said the state government is expected to spend Rs 1,600 crore on free vaccination for all people in the age group of 18 to 45 years. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took the decision on Friday after a meeting with Reddy. The state government has also decided to impose night curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting Saturday. Reddy directed officials to ramp up Coronavirus testing to full capacity and focus on supplying oxygen and Remdesivir injection, besides preventing them from being black marketed. The chief minister has also instructed the officials to take strict action against overcharging private hospitals as complaints have been received. Reddy has directed officials to fully functionalise the 104 call centre, responding to each and every call and providing information on the availability of beds. A Joint Collector will be assigned to each of the 104 call centre in each district to monitor calls. He told officials to conduct Class 10, intermediate, degree and engineering examinations as per schedule without causing any inconvenience to students. Reddy said the examinations should be conducted keeping in view the health of students and complying with Coronavirus rules. On the supply of oxygen, officials informed Reddy that that the life supporting gas is getting delayed because of lack of proper transportation. They said only 64 vehicles were allotted for the supply of oxygen while at least 100 to 120 vehicles were needed to meet the current demand. Andhra Pradesh will require as much as 515 MT of oxygen if all the oxygen beds are occupied in the state while an average of 284 MT of the gas is currently being used in government and private hospitals. Officials informed Reddy that they have requested the central government to supply 100 MT of oxygen manufactured in RINL, Visakhapatnam to Andhra Pradesh and also ensure supply of the gas from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Tara ONeill / Hearst Connecticut Media NEW HAVEN A person is in stable condition at a local hospital after being shot Thursday night, police said. The call came in around 8:30 p.m. for a gunshot wound victim who had been transported by private car to a local hospital for treatment, according to Sgt. Shayna Kendall. Athens, GA (30605) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Cloudy with showers. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%. Myanmar anti-junta protesters watch as a video showing Dr. Sasa is projected on a screen during a nighttime demonstration in Yangon, March 13, 2021. A cabinet minister from Myanmars parallel government has publicly apologized to all Rohingya Muslims in a pre-taped video for ignoring the suffering of the persecuted minority group during the past five years of civilian-led government that was overthrown on Feb. 1 in a military coup. Susana Hla Hla Soe, minister for women, youth, and childrens affairs under the week-old National Unity Government (NUG) acknowledged failings by the civilian government under national leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi with ignoring human rights in ethnic minority areas, including the Rohingya Muslims. I myself personally apologize for that, she said Thursday, adding that while she had been a member of parliament for five years she did not raise a voice for our brothers and sisters from the ethnic areas, including Rohingya brothers and sisters. Im really sorry for that, Hla Hla Soe said during a press conference organized by the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) and the Altsean-Burma (Alternative Asean Network on Burma) NGO advocacy group. Hla Hla Soe also urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a regional political, economic, and security grouping of 10 Southeast Asian nations, and other international players to recognize the parallel civilian government over Myanmars ruling junta. ASEAN leaders are meeting on Saturday in Jakarta to discuss the post-coup situation in Myanmar and will likely raise the possibility of appointing a special envoy to mediate the crisis, which has claimed more than 730 lives mostly civilian protesters gunned down by battle-hardened soldiers. Hla Hla Soes words echoed those of Dr. Sasa, who was appointed to serve as minister of international cooperation and government spokesman when the NUG was former on April 16. In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to work on bringing all ethnic nationalities into our National Unity Government so that it represents the great diversity and strength of this great nation of Myanmar, he said in a statement issued that day. We will deliver justice for our Rohingya brothers, sisters, and for all, said Dr. Sasa, who also serves as the special envoy of the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group lawmakers ousted in the coup, to the United Nations. The Rohingya have suffered state-sanctioned persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for decades, with officials during the previous civilian-led government refusing to use the word Rohingya and some referring to members of the group as Bengalis. A Myanmar military-led crackdown on the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship because they are considered illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh, left thousands dead in August 2017 and drove 745,000 others out of Rakhine state. They have lived in sprawling displacement camps in southeastern Bangladeshs Cox Bazar district for nearly four years. Aung San Suu Kyis government denied that the military had committed any wrongdoing and she defended its actions during a hearing at the International Court of Justice in December 2019, despite a U.N. investigation finding the previous year that the crackdown was carried out with genocidal intent. Students issue apology The comments by the two parallel government officials came as security forces continue brutal crackdowns on anti-junta protests nationwide in the wake of the coup, giving many majority Bamars, two-thirds of the population, a taste of the same violence and rights violations the Rohingya and others have suffered. The multiethnic nation of 54 million people in a territory slightly bigger than France has been riven with ethnic wars for the seven decades since it won independence from colonial ruler Britain in 1948. Some of the ethnic armies have joined hands with the anti-coup movement and given protesters safe haven. Ethnic Rakhine people in Myanmars western-most state have also borne the brunt of military forces in the northern part of Rakhine state for more than two years amid clashes with the rebel Arakan Army (AA), fighting for greater determination for the Rakhine people. Officials and ordinary citizens alike have indicated that their views of the Rohingya changed after the coup, and some have apologized for doubting the horrific violence the Muslims experienced during the militarys clearance operations in 2017 and the targeting of ethnic Rakhines during the army's counteroffensive against the AA in 2019 and 2020. Hundreds of ethnic Rakhines were killed, and more than 200,000 were displaced by the fighting and by attacks on their villages. Student activists in Yangons Thanlyin township issued a public apology to the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhines in four languages on March 27. We are standing by the Rakhine people, Rohingya, Muslims, against any injustice [towards] them starting from today, said the letter by the Thanlyin Technological University Students Union. We sincerely apologize for our ignorance and silence in the past, it said. Dr. Phio Thiha, a well-known medical doctor turned writer with 550,000 Facebook followers, wrote a social media post in February apologizing to the Rohingya and ethnic Rakhines for not sympathizing their struggle and believing the militarys propaganda against them. I am ashamed now, he wrote. Those people were suffering from helplessness, hopelessness, bullies, and violence for many years just like we are experiencing right now. They are not as strong as we are. They did not have phones like us to record the abuses. Like us, they were not allowed to communicate with the world. The same day, another writer, Moe Shinn IMT, who has 1.6 million followers on Facebook, wrote a similar mea culpa to the Rohingya and Rakhines. I do not expect forgiveness, but I apologize, he wrote in a social media post. I apologize for not speaking out on ethnic issues and Rohingya issues in the past. I do not know what the future holds, so I apologize for the moment for that I was ignorant about those issues. We had been in the dark Such attitudes are a volte-face from the outright distain that most Myanmar citizens used to have for the Rohingya. Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, said when the military attacked the Rohingya, most people in other parts of the country were skeptical about their accounts of the brutality, recorded by rights groups. When there was this genocide against the Rohingya, many people in the country thought it could not be true, he said. People had believed the lies of the military. Tun Khin, who was in Bangladesh as Rohingya escaped Myanmar said that every day he saw thousands of people with gunshot wounds, missing limbs, and serious burns crossing the border. Now people in big cities like Yangon and Mandalay are facing the same atrocities [at the hands] of the military like the Rohingya did in 2017, he said. We also feel sorry for them. A Yangon resident said it was only after witnessing atrocities in large cities following the military coup that people there realized they had misunderstood the Rohingya crisis. These Rohingya were said to have set fire to their own homes and cried bitterly when U.N. officials came to see them, she said. That was what we learned from the government. We were skeptical about reports of persecution of the Rohingya and other ethnic nationalities by the military. Following the Feb. 1 coup, we saw the brutality and violence in our streets which we thought could not happen, and only then did we realize that we had been in the dark when other ethnic people were suffering at the hands of the military, she said. Social media posts by Myanmar netizens about the Rohingya usually littered with hate speech now contain words of compassion. Very bitter experiences As for the ethnic Rakhines, Nyo Aye, chairwoman of the Rakhine Womens Network, said it was not yet known if any of those abducted or tortured by the military in recent years were still alive. We have very bitter experiences from this suffering, she said, recalling a viral video of male villagers detained by Myanmar forces being beaten and kicked by military men dressed in plainclothes as they traveled on a navy boat. As many as 314 civilians were killed and 719 were injured in the fighting in northern Rakhine state and in next-door Paletwa township of Chin state from Dec. 2018 to this April, according to an RFA tally. A university student who declined to give his name said that he had heard about the militarys alleged human rights abuses in ethnic areas, but only now has he become more sympathetic. When internet service was shut down in Rakhine state, we understood that it was shut down to cut ties with the AA, he said. Wed thought it wasnt a big deal because there has been a shutdown in Rakhine for a long time now. But now that we are facing the same situation, we understand their anguish, he said. Min Ko Naing, a Myanmar democracy activist and former 88 Generation Students Group leader, called the junta bloodthirsty, but said that the countrys ethnic groups now were more united because of the coup. The junta is still threatening, still sowing dissent, still killing innocents, but we are still united, he said in a statement on Apr. 16. We in the cities are experiencing the same brutality and wickedness of the military like our brethren in ethnic areas, he said. We have gradually come to understand each other more and more and feel more sympathy for one another. Reported by the Myanmar Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews. Australians desperate to return to lives and loved ones overseas are using the New Zealand travel bubble to defy the outward travel ban, despite threats of hefty fines or even jail time. Art teacher Tim Byrnes is one of the first Australians to make it out via this route, flying to Auckland last week and then to Istanbul on Friday night. He is travelling on to Russia, where he had been living since 2016 and is eligible for residency. Ive escaped! he said. I get to go back to my life. Australian Tim Byrnes at Auckland Airport before travelling on to Russia. Credit:Becki Moss The travel bubble opened on Monday, allowing people to travel freely between Australia and New Zealand without quarantine. The deal does not involve New Zealand stopping Australians from onward travel and The Sun-Herald and The Age have spoken to many Australians keen to exploit this loophole. Rank-and-file workers at the Faurecia Gladstone auto parts plant in Columbus, Indiana erupted in anger on Tuesday as word spread of a serious outbreak of COVID-19 at the factory. Vital information had been kept from all those who had been exposed so that the company could maintain production to push profits at the expense of safety. Faurecia Gladstone (Credit: Google/Aaron Mayberry) A mid-level manager tested positive last week and disappeared without telling any of the men and women on the shop floor that he may have exposed them to the coronavirus. In response to these latest revelations, the Faurecia Gladstone Rank-and-File Safety Committee issued the following statement calling for an emergency four-week shutdown of the auto industry, with full compensation for workers. The committee was launched by workers last August as part of the national Autoworker Rank-and-File Safety Committee Network. ** Brothers and Sisters at Faurecia Gladstone: It was leaked out on Tuesday that a manager in Commercial Vehicle Exhaust tested positive last week for COVID-19. There is no excuse for the company and the union to cover this up for five days, leaving those of us who may have contracted the deadly contagion to continue to spread it. They kept their mouths shut because pushing production and boosting company profits are more important to them than the health, safety and welfare of ourselves, our family members and the community at large. The fact that we have coworkers of all ages who continue to come down with COVID-19 and are forced into quarantine from different sections of the plant is proof that the virus is out of control. Moreover, the forced overtime and chaotic pace of production imposed on us by the parts shortages and shifting from line to line increases the stress and strain wearing us down, making us more susceptible to infection. If we take the virus home, we may survive; but a loved one, or a friend, may die or suffer permanent damage from the disease. We do not even know the long-term effects to those who do survive falling ill. A new study in the scientific journal Nature found that people whose coronavirus infections did not require hospitalization still had a significantly greater risk of death60 percent higherthan people who had not been infected with the virus. As many of you at Gladstone know, this manager works all over the plant. On a regular day he is in contact with everybody in CVE as well as with many others on LVE side. It is very likely that before his test results came back, he was spreading the virus throughout the building, while we were kept in the dark. The company says that he was already vaccinated when he came down with it. That is known to occur in a small but significant percentage of cases. There is no excuse for the companys cover up. It just goes to show that Bidens policy, no less than Trumps and the campaign in the media that the pandemic is almost over, is based on a lie: that it is safe to fully reopen the economy and stop public health measures while vaccinations are still being rolled out. As long as the virus is allowed to spread uncontrolled, the possibility exists that it can mutate into a more virulent and deadly form, such as the B.1.1.7 variant, which is spreading like wildfire throughout Michigan. On Wednesday, Indiana COVID-19 Update reported 1,166 new cases and 14 deaths. Since March last year, 12,840 Indiana residents have died from it and 710,607 have contracted the disease. To stop the pandemic requires a knock-out punch. That means shutting down all non-essential production, reverting to online learning instead of in-person schools, and conducting universal testing and contact tracing. Massive funds are needed for medical services, hiring the necessary healthcare staff, and for new hospital space, as well as mass vaccinations. These measures must be combined, organized and funded to be implemented worldwide. The virus does not need a passport to cross borders and has no respect for nationality or ethnic background. As if to demonstrate how reckless and ruthless Faurecia is, before he tested positive, the manager said that as soon as he gets everybody vaccinated in the plant, hes going to do away with masks, social distancing and every other precaution against the spread. In other words, our situation is going from bad to worse. Some of you have asked us how the manager got his vaccination before anybody else. The answer is both simple and disgusting. They put him in front of the line because they want him healthy, to push production and company profits whether we get sick or not. Most workers are in favor of shutting down to bring the virus under control, but we cannot live without a paycheck. The money that was handed over to the corporations in the CARES Act amounts to more than $4 trillion dollars. That is more than enough to compensate everyone who would have to be off work to bring the contagion under control. The Democrats and Republicans dont want to do shut down because it will hurt the oligarchs financially. We have to prioritize human life above company profits. Some of you are discussing bringing a class action lawsuit against the company and the manager because they endangered us and our families. The legal system may pretend to represent an impartial body of laws that treat everyone equally, but in reality it is a system which defends the property rights of the corporations and the banks against the working class which they exploit. The class action that needs to be taken is the working class organizing in rank-and-file committees to shut down the schools and non-essential production until the virus is under control, as determined by independent scientists and medical experts. We urge you to read the World Socialist Web Site and think about what is happening in the working class around the world. Truckers on the docks, coal miners in Alabama and nurses in Massachusetts are joining farmers in India, teachers and medical workers in many parts of the world in struggles for better wages and working conditions and a halt to the spread of COVID-19. Our 1025 line, which produces exhaust systems for Volvo Trucks and John Deere, has been shut down for two days this week. Nearly 3,000 workers at Volvos New River Valley (NRV) assembly plant have been on strike since April 17 for improved wages and working conditions. And our Dodge truck line, which supplies the Warren Truck plant outside Detroit, will be down for two weeks. We are short key materials throughout the plant. 1025 is lacking the catalytic converter bricks at the core of the system, as well as steel from China, insulation, temperature sensors, oxygen sensors and other electronic components. Because of the chaos in the global supply chain, we are being bumped around throughout the plant. When one line shuts down for lack of materials, you have to move somewhere else, creating perfect conditions for the virus to spread. Coworkers are reporting medical diagnoses of excessive stress, a direct product of the regime at the plant. Remember that Damian Jones, a young worker in PC & L at Faurecia in Saline, Michigan, died last July of a seizure when he was working 12-hour days, seven days a week. Yesterday the company started scanning badges when we enter the factory. The recent shootings at FedEx in Indianapolis may be related. The company hires workers from 18 different agencies because of the high turnover due to the brutal conditions we work under. Management is fearful of a disgruntled employee returning to the factory. We endorse and call for our brothers and sisters to support the following demands that the Autoworker Rank-and-File Safety Committee Network put forward at meetings last Saturday and Monday: Given the dangerous conditions with the unchecked spread of COVID-19, all auto plants must be shut down for four weeks until vaccinations become available and the pandemic is under control as determined by independent health experts. All workers on layoff must receive full income while shutdowns continue, without red tape and delays. We call for the expansion of independent rank-and-file safety committees, independent of the pro-company UAW, to organize the fight to save lives. Unite autoworkers with teachers, Amazon workers, logistics and health care workers to demand a science-based approach to fight the pandemic, including the shutdown of nonessential production. Organize a collective struggle to prioritize human life over corporate profit. To get involved with the fight for these demands and for workers lives and safety, join the rank-and-file safety committee at Faurecia Gladstone or at your plant, or learn more about starting one today by visting wsws.org/workers. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 10:10:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Friday reported nine new COVID-19 cases, all of which were imported, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Saturday. Of them, three were reported in Shanghai, and one each in Jiangsu, Guangdong, Chongqing, Sichuan, Yunnan and Shaanxi. Three new suspected cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported in Shanghai, the commission said. No new deaths related to COVID-19 were reported Friday, it added. A total of 5,577 imported cases had been reported on the mainland by the end of Friday. Among them, 5,320 had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, and 257 remained hospitalized. No deaths had been reported among the imported cases. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the mainland reached 90,575 by Friday, including 305 patients still receiving treatment, four of whom were in severe conditions. A total of 85,634 patients had been discharged following recovery on the mainland, and 4,636 had died as a result of the virus. There were five suspected COVID-19 cases on the mainland on Friday. Twelve asymptomatic cases were newly reported, all arriving from outside the mainland. There were a total of 324 asymptomatic cases, of whom 313 were imported, under medical observation on Friday. By the end of Friday, 11,727 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 209 deaths, had been reported in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), while 49 cases had been reported in the Macao SAR, and 1,090 cases, including 11 deaths, had been reported in Taiwan. A total of 11,325 COVID-19 patients in the Hong Kong SAR had been discharged from hospitals following recovery, while 49 had been discharged in the Macao SAR, and 1,044 had been discharged in Taiwan. Enditem New Delhi: The veteran music composer Shravan Rathod of Nadeem-Shravan duo fame died due to COVID-19 complications on Thursday, April 22, 2021. The 66-year-old noted composer's sudden death sent a shock wave across his family, fans and friends. Amid this crisis, reports surfaced online about the hospital withholding his mortal remains over a hefty bill amount of Rs 10 lakh. However, soon after this, SL Raheja Hospital, Mahim - a Fortis Associate released an official statement denying all such claims and calling them false. Here's what the statement reads: "With profound grief, we share the news of the passing of music composer Shravan Rathod, of the Nadeem-Shravan fame. As we offer our condolences to the bereaved family, we remain in touch with the family to offer support that may be required in these difficult times. In conjunction with the family, we refute all false claims about holding back the deceased for payments; unverified stories based on hearsay further aggravates the pained family. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family." The ace music composer was admitted to SL Raheja hospital in a 'critical' condition after testing positive for COVID-19 recently. He breathed his last in the hospital. "He passed away around 10:15 PM tonight. Please pray for his soul," his son, musician Sanjeev Rathod, told PTI. The musician had been under observation at the hospital for a few days. Nadeem-Shravan were among the most popular music composers in the 90s, giving chartbuster soundtracks in films like Aashiqui, Saajan, Pardes and Raja Hindustani amongst others. After their split in the mid-2000s, the duo reunited to compose for David Dhawan's Do Knot Disturb in 2009. Bollywood celebrities including the music fraternity mourned Shravan Rathod'd demise with a heavy heart. Press Release April 24, 2021 Drilon to introduce resolution to censure Parlade over 'stupid' remarks on senators Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon on Saturday said he will introduce a resolution to censure Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., the controversial and foul-mouthed spokesman of National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), for calling some senators "stupid" for proposing to realign the P19-billion anti-insurgency funds to most urgent COVID-19 pandemic response. "Ngayon lang ako nakarinig ng isang opisyal ng armed forces na sinasabing istupido ang mga senador. That is very disrespectful at uncalled for," Drilon said in an interview with radio DWIZ on Saturday. Drilon added that Parlade's "stupid" remark has no place in healthy debates. In a television interview on last April 22, Lt. Gen. Parlade made disrespectful, derogatory and demeaning remarks against the members of the Senate for pushing to defund NTF-ELCAC amid a series of serious, if not dangerous and deadly, red-tagging of community pantry organizers by its officials including Lt. Gen. Parlade, Drilon said. In the interview, Lt. Gen. Parlade was quoted to have said: "'ll tell you, sila ang stupid kung ito ay binabawi nila. "Pinirmahan nila 'yung batas na 'yan para maging serbisyo, ipagpatuloy ang programa ng gobyerno. Ngayon sasabihin nila na ide-defund nila 'yung NTF-ELCAC." "Such a display of arrogance beneath contempt should be censured," Drilon added in a statement. "Sa aking tingin, talagang dapat ipakita ng senado ang kanilang displeasure. It is a behavior that we can censure," he said in the interview. Drilon said that differences on several issues between the Senate and the executive cannot be avoided but one should not go down to the level such as calling the duly-elected representatives of the people "stupid." The minority leader defended the call made by senators, including himself, to realign the P19 billion anti-insurgency to much-needed social amelioration program or ayuda. "We are not stupid for calling for a realignment of their fund. We are not stupid for proposing to defund NTF-ELCAC because it is within the power of Congress to allocated funds," Drilon said. "Lt. Gen. Parlade's arrogance showed his lack of respect to senators and the institution of the Senate. The Senate should censure him. Hindi dapat palampasin ito. Otherwise, masasanay at hindi na rerespetuhin ang senado, he added. Last March 10, the Senate adopted the recommendation of the Senate Committee on Defense to remove Parlade as spokesman of the NTF-ELCAC, as his appointment violates the Constitution. Article 16, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution states that "No member of the armed forces in the active service shall, at any time, be appointed or designated in any capacity to a civilian position in the government, including government-owned or controlled corporations or any of their subsidiaries." Scott Distler: Finding a way out of 'the cave' The Kansas City Police Department is investigating after a person was critically injured during a shooting on Friday afternoon in the Santa Fe neighborhood. Around 3:15 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 2900 block of Lockridge Avenue for a welfare check, said Officer Donna Drake, a spokeswoman for KCPD. Arriving officers and members of the Kansas City Fire Department entered an apartment and found a person suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim was taken to the hospital with injuries described as serious and life-threatening, police said. Anyone with information regarding the shooting may call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477. On March 20, 2012, a decree signed by Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov was published by the Russian government. The decree set out a system of payments to military servicemen for special achievements in the service. Section 4 of the order, which was first highlighted by RFE/RLs Russian Service, stated that "servicemen of military units 99450, 74455, and the structural unit of military unit 29155 are paid a monthly supplement. At the time, little attention was paid to the decree: Little was known about the units, which fell under the umbrella of the feared-and-respected military intelligence agency known as the GRU. In the years that followed, however, these units burst into the public eye appearing in indictments, sanctions announcements, and political statements from Washington D.C. to the Black Sea. Unit 29155 in particular has grabbed outsized attention, having been linked by 2018 to an alleged coup plot in Montenegro and the near-fatal poisonings of a former Russian military intelligence officer in England and an arms dealer in Bulgaria. Now, Czech government allegations that the units members were behind a 2014 explosion at a Czech ammunition depot have blown up relations between Prague and Moscow, with both sides expelling diplomats and exchanging angry rhetoric. These are the guys you send in because you want to break stuff, said Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian security services. Heres a look at the Russian military intelligence unit that has captured the attention of Western intelligence. Evolution of An Intelligence Unit The GRU -- whose official name is the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation -- is not a new entity. Its been around for decades, operating first in parallel with the KGB and then, after the Soviet breakup, with the KGB successor agencies: the Federal Security Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service. In addition to providing more traditional tactical battlefield intelligence for Russian commanders, the agency also oversees several special forces units known as spetsnaz, some of which are charged with sabotage-type operations. It engages in electronic surveillance and recruitment of foreign spies, and, more noteworthy, cyberespionage and offensive cyberoperations -- hacking into adversaries computers, and possibly even inserting destructive code into computer systems. GRU spetsnaz units played a prominent role in the Soviet and Warsaw Pact invasions of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. And they played an instrumental role in the 1979 coup in Afghanistan, that led to a disastrous decade of intervention by Soviet troops. The 2008 war with Georgia, in which the GRU also played a leading role, was considered a victory by the Kremlin but exposed major problems in Russian forces. The Kremlin undertook major reforms, including with the GRU. Unit 29155 and similar units were likely established during these reforms, Galeotti and other experts said. Since 2018, the overall agency has been headed by a naval officer, Admiral Igor Kostyukov, whose direct line of authority is to the chief of the general staff, General Valery Gerasimov, and the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, a close confidant of President Vladimir Putin. That means major operations that could have significant political consequences -- like using a Soviet-era military-grade nerve agent that was developed in contravention to international law -- likely get top-level Kremlin approval, or at least a heads-up. A Wedding Near Moscow The highly secretive nature of intelligence operations, in Russia or anywhere, means there is scant verifiable information about Unit 29155: its budget or its staffing. However, journalists, open-source researchers, and law enforcement agencies in Western countries have been able to compile a substantial amount of information about the unit. 29155 is reportedly connected to Special Operations Forces Command, whose headquarters is based in Senezh, north of Moscow. Its commander is believed to be Major General Andrei Averyanov, whose daughter was married at a site near Senezh in 2017. Averyanov became publicly prominent in late 2019, when The New York Times, RFE/RL, and other media uncovered photographs and video from the wedding that showed Averyanovs presence, as well as that of a man named Anatoly Chepiga, who is also believed to be a member of Unit 29155. At the time of the wedding in 2017, Chepiga was not publicly known. But his face and a pseudonym -- Ruslan Boshirov -- became front-page news about nine months later, when the former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia nearly died in Salisbury, England. British officials said the Skripals were poisoned with a secret nerve agent called Novichok, and they alleged two GRU officers were the culprits. The open-source research organization Bellingcat later published evidence identifying the men under their true names: Chepiga and Aleksandr Mishkin. Eight months later, in November 2018, the GRU observed its 100th anniversary in Moscow, in a ceremony attended by Putin himself. As commander-in-chief, I of course know, and this is no exaggeration, about your unique abilities including in conducting special operations, he said. A Flood Of Revelations In addition to resulting in the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats from Britain, Germany, the United States, and elsewhere, the Skripal case prompted intelligence agencies throughout Europe to reexamine old cases. That included the near-fatal poisoning in April and May 2015, in Sofia, of a Bulgarian arms dealer named Emilian Gebrev. Bulgarian prosecutors made little public headway in the case until four years later -- and more than a year after the Skripal poisoning -- when they announced they were reopening their investigation, partly because of information from British authorities. That December, Bulgarian officials said their investigation was focusing on five alleged GRU agents, including a top officer who purportedly oversaw the team that targeted Skripal. The next month, Bulgarian prosecutors announced charges against three Russians. In a joint report with Der Spiegel and The Insider, Bellingcat, utilizing flight tracking information, leaked databases, and cell phone records, said as many as eight GRU officers from the same unit -- 29155 -- may have traveled to Bulgaria in the weeks surrounding the poisoning. In a new analysis published on April 22, utilizing some of Bellingcats travel data, RFE/RLs Bulgarian Service tracked the travels of some of the known GRU officers in and out of Bulgaria, and found the visits occurred around the times of a series of unexplained explosions that occurred at Bulgarian weapons and armaments facilities in the country in 2014 and 2015. At least one Bulgarian official, former Defense Minister Todor Tagarev, called on authorities to reopen their investigations into the explosions. Galeotti said the year 2014 appears to be pivotal in GRU operations -- the year the agency, and 29155 in particular, became more aggressive and far-reaching in its operations. Why 2014? Thats when the months-long Maidan protests in Ukraine culminated in violence against the demonstrators and the ouster of Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych. Russia reacted by seizing Ukraines Crimean Peninsula, and fomenting a war in eastern Ukraine that continues today. What we didnt quite realize, which is what makes the Czech case really interesting, is that 2014 marks the beginning of the process, a reaction to what was seen as the continuation of [the] Maidan, and this belief [in Moscow] that the West is trying to steal Ukraine from us, Galeotti said. Russia considered itself at political war with the West and from that point was willing to wage that war on Western soil, he said. They were willing to conduct fairly dangerous operations as far back as 2014, he told RFE/RL. Montenegro Plot, Ukraine Weapons? Unit 29155 is not widely known for cyberattacks and hacking activities. Those have been spearheaded by other GRU divisions -- Unit 26165 and Unit 74455, which have been indicted by U.S. authorities on charges of election-related hacking -- and the Foreign Intelligence Service. But 29155 has been linked to at least one attempted cyberintrusion. In October 2018, Dutch officials said that GRU agents allegedly tried to hack into the computers at the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague. The organization was deeply involved in the investigation of the substance used in the Skripal poisoning. Two years earlier, in October 2016, Montenegrin authorities claimed they thwarted a plot to take over the countrys parliament building and assassinate the prime minister in a bid to block Montenegro from joining NATO. In the investigation and trial that followed, 14 people were charged, including Serbian and Russian citizens. Prosecutors charged two Russian military intelligence operatives, Eduard Shishmakov and Vladimir Popov. Shishmakov and Popov were among those convicted -- in absentia in their case -- in May 2019. But a Montenegrin court overturned the verdicts in February 2021, citing significant violations of criminal procedure, and asked the High Court to retry the case. Popov is a pseudonym of a man tentatively identified as Vladimir Moiseyev, who also traveled back and forth to Bulgaria at least four times in 2014, all around the same time as four separate explosions at Bulgarian arms manufacturers. On October 16, 2014, meanwhile, an arms depot near the eastern Czech town of Vrbetice exploded under mysterious circumstances; the bodies of two Czech men were later recovered. Its unclear how far the initial Czech investigation into that blast, and another one nearby two months later, proceeded. But on April 17, at an unusual evening news conference, Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced that Czech intelligence had determined that Unit 29155 was to blame for at least the first explosion. Czech police said they were seeking the same two men wanted in Britain for the Skripal poisoning for questioning. Other revelations have come out since Babiss announcement. Bellingcat reported that Averyanov was in Vienna in October 2014, just before the Vrbetice explosion, and that one of the two Russians now linked to the blasts posted a photograph of Pragues Old Town on October 11. In another twist, initial reports said the ammunition at the depot that detonated was collected and owned by Gebrev, the Bulgarian arms dealer, and may have been destined for Ukraine as it fought Russian-backed fighters in eastern Ukraine, something partly corroborated by top Ukrainian security officials. Gebrev has denied the arms were his, or that they were destined for export to Ukraine. Tor Bukkvoll, a researcher who specializes in Russian security at the Norwegian Defense Ministrys Defense Research Establishment, said the Czech revelations, while not revolutionary, add further detail suggesting how early and aggressively the GRU was in deploying this unit. This demonstration, showing the [Russian] willingness to engage in these kinds of missions, and go into other countries -- and perform these kinds of operations -- this is really scary, he said. RFE/RL Russian Service correspondents Mark Krutov and Sergei Dobrynin contributed to this report Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 19:39:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BUDAPEST, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC)'s leadership and its upholding of socialism with Chinese characteristics are key to China's success, former Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently. As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Medgyessy explained the main reasons behind the party's long-term success. "Every society is looking for a social order that best suits its own history, its own cultural traditions and the character of its people," Medgyessy said. China's success is closely intertwined with the success of the CPC, he said. "The success of the party is based on two things, one is that it has represented a stable set of values that can be maintained in the long run, and the other is its very good ability to renew itself," Medgyessy said. An economic boom, poverty alleviation, advanced high technology like 5G networks, artificial intelligence (AI) and space exploration are very impressive achievements, Medgyessy said. "The quality of life in China has also changed a lot, and this is perhaps even more important than technical progress," he noted. Medgyessy stressed that China has set an example for developing countries, as China has shown that everything is possible if one works together, makes a lot of efforts and has a good leadership. He noted that China's fast development has also created opportunities for markets and investments on a global scale, and China's impact on the world has been "very significant." Medgyessy also spoke highly of China for its successful fight against the pandemic, saying that the CPC's "people first" approach was a key factor in successfully controlling the pandemic. The global changes needed to be dealt with using international cooperation and multilateralism, he said. "The ideal to build a community with a shared future for humanity is very right and important," he added. (Video reporter: Yuan Liang; video editor: Peng Ying) Interview: UN expert says Japan's discharge of contaminated water brings great uncertainty to global environment Xinhua) 15:16, April 24, 2021 GENEVA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Marcos Orellana, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, has said that the disposal of contaminated Fukushima waters into the Pacific Ocean will bring enormous uncertainty regarding the move's potential impact on the global environment. The prejudicial decision of Japanese Prime Minister Suga's cabinet to dump over 1.23 million tons of contaminated Fukushima Daiichi waters has drawn widespread condemnation from environmental organizations, civil societies, China, South Korea, and the UN. "At this time, scientists are warning that risks of certain radioactive substances, such as tritium, that are present in the Fukushima waters have been underestimated," the UN expert told Xinhua on Thursday, this year's Earth Day. "There is still significant uncertainty regarding the potential impact." Although the Japanese government has collaborated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Orellana stressed that the support of IAEA alone "does not mean that Japan is discharged from its other international legal obligations." "Modern public international law establishes a keystone obligation to prevent environmental harm to other countries or to the marine environment," he noted. "This obligation requires due diligence on behalf of Japan, which means Japan must do everything within its ability and capability to prevent damage to other countries and to the marine environment." The UN expert warned that the existing technical standards of IAEA "may not offer adequate protection." "The so-called Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) applied by Japan does not remove certain radioactive substances, such as tritium and carbon-14," he said. "Organic tritium is tritium that binds in the molecules of species, plants, and then fish, and then goes up the food chain, and can eventually harm humans," the expert added. "The United Nations Convention of the Law of the Seas requires state parties to protect the marine environment and to prevent pollution," Orellana said. "Regional conventions in the Pacific reiterate the duty to prevent transboundary environment harm... It is clear that high and low radioactive wastes can pose significant transboundary threat to the marine environment," he said. The expert also mentioned that states need to carry out an environmental impact assessment study that will look at risks in detail, potential alternatives in detail, and will enable consultations in detail. However, no such information has been shared by the Japanese government. "To my knowledge, the Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights has not received information regarding the carrying out of an environmental impact assessment in this case," he said. The expert also emphasized the duties of consultation between nations, which are stipulated by international environmental law, when plans, projects, or decisions threaten to cause environmental harm. "These consultations are very important, because they enable and inform the exchange of views regarding possible risks and alternatives," he noted. "At the same time, international human rights law establishes a duty on states to consult people, communities that may be potentially affected by their decisions," he added. Orellana also mentioned the triple crisis the Earth has been facing -- toxic pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. "If we continue to pollute the planet, we are putting human existence in jeopardy." "I would also like to say that human rights require a clean and healthy safe environment. A healthy life is not possible where the environment is polluted," he said. "That's why governments have a duty to prevent exposure to toxic substances. Everyone has the right to live in a healthy environment." (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) It turned out that Springfield Republican Rep. Mike Murphy was already on the case, having introduced a bill earlier in 2019 that said lawmakers should be paid only for the days when theyre serving in office. You know, like how most employees are paid. No exploiting the calendar to secure exit bonuses. But Murphys bill had attracted only Republican co-sponsors and been consigned to legislative purgatory. Four Victorian household contacts of the man in his 50s who tested positive to coronavirus on Friday have now tested negative. The man had travelled from Perth to Melbourne on Wednesday, after the virus spread on the same floor of the Mercure Hotel in Perth where he had been quarantined. Victorias COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said the family had isolated after the man had received notification from WA health authorities. One household member made one trip after the notification came, but all four have since tested negative. Victorias COVID-19 Commander, Jeroen Weimar, providing an update on coronavirus in Victoria. Credit:Scott McNaughton Mr Weimar said that the priority was now testing fellow passengers of the Burwood man to ensure they didnt have the virus. Pretty much all authors have the same goal: to write a perfect book that makes To Kill a Mockingbird look like it was written in crayon by a kindergartner. If youre an author, you imagine publishing your groundbreaking work. Once it releases, people will line up at your doorstep to hand you huge bags of cash in exchange for your once-in-a-generation work of award-winning literature. Is that too much to ask? I can guarantee you that you will not achieve your noble, Pulitzer-worthy goal unless your grammar is on point. If you leave modifiers dangling or misspell obvious words, your books arent likely to land on any bestseller lists. A part of me dies a little whenever I find an error or typo in a book. After a certain number of syntactic strikes, I begin to question if the author accidentally sent the file of the books rough draft to the printer. Although internally I am incredibly judgmental, I dont think Im alone in this harsh manner of reading a new book. The fact is, a book riddled with grammatical gaffes usually indicates an overall lower-quality final product. Because I know you want your books to be the best they can possibly be, Id like to share five ways to help ensure that your book gets an A+ for grammar. Let the robots take the first pass I write a weekly column called Grammar Guy that appears in newspapers across the U.S. Most of my editors make changes here and there, and occasionally Ill receive a report of an error in one of my articles. This is fine when it comes from an editor and prior to the newspapers printing; its embarrassing when a reader informs me of an error in my writing. Im the Grammar Guy, for goodness sake! After a few readers found alleged mistakes in my articles, I decided that it was time to turn to the robots. I ran my columns through a free version of Grammarly before I sent them out, but the algorithms at Grammarly werent catching some of the more nuanced grammar transgressions. I upgraded to the paid annual version and noticed a major improvement. Using an error catcher such as Grammarly is like having the option of buying a filter for your homes air conditioner that catches 80% of the germs in the air or one that catches 99.5% of them. Youre going to go with the filter that catches more germs. While there are other competing products out there, I prefer Grammarly; it integrates into Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and even text messages on my iPhone. Find an editor and pay well There are dozens of ways to approach finding the right editor for your project; the bottom line is that you need to do it. And, once you do, you need to pay your editor well. For my book, Good Grammar Is the Life of the Party: Tips for a Wildly Successful Life, I contracted my retired AP English teacher in Oklahoma to make my manuscript bleed. I printed the pages of my manuscript and secured them with a fat binder clip and stuffed them into a large manila envelope before mailing my project to my teacher. I also included a Starbucks gift card and a pack of red pens in the package. For the record, she used both to their greatest potential. Sure, it was awkward to discuss payment with someone whose first name youre uncomfortable using 20 years after high school, but I wanted to pay her in a way that made editing my book worth her valuable time. This rate will differ based on the length of your project and the extent to which you want your editor to dig into your book (proofreading, copyediting, line editing, or developmental editing). Use beta readers to catch the rest While writers use beta readers in various capacities, I found that the most valuable way my beta reader team helped me was by sending me errors that fell through the cracks. I had a prepublication version of my book printed through IngramSpark and mailed or delivered the copies to a team of around 25 early readers. Just as with my editor, I treated my local beta reading team to coffee treats and asked them to send me any mistakes that they noticed. I found that giving out my phone number and having my readers text me photos of the errors they found was the most efficient way for them to communicate with me. This group found a few dozen mistakes that Im grateful never made it into publication. Read the book aloud You may find it uncomfortable to read your own stuff aloud, but the biggest things youll catch with this method are awkward sentences and phrases. After all, youve been staring at your document to the point where the letters no longer resemble recognizable words. When you read your book out loud, youll find the kind of wonky word woes that you didnt catch before. For instance, youll realize if youre using a certain word over and over. Youll highlight entire pages that may have survived several rounds of edits that now sound like word barf. If youre feeling particularly brave, I dare you to ask a partner or friend to read your manuscript aloud to you. Look at your book in a different format Have you been staring at your project in a Word window? Print it out. Is your book printed out from your home printer in blue ink because you ran out of black ink? Convert the file to an e-book format and send it to your e-reader. For details on how to do this, consult Dr. Google. By looking at your book in a different format, youll notice even more ways in which your text can be improved. While this may seem over the top, ask yourself this: Have you actually read your book? Have you sat down to experience your book from beginning to end? Perfection? At this point, have you achieved novel nirvana? Is your copy clean enough to eat off of? Ill make a confession: after my book was out in the world, I noticed two or three typos that ate my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I couldnt believe that I had gone through all of these book purification steps only to find flaws in my final version. The good news is, you can always fix your mistakes and upload a new version. Because you are an indie author, you have control over your book files. Make your edits and then upload your final final files. If you take typos seriously, youre much more apt to have flawless grammar in your book projects. And that means youll need a sturdy golden rake to gather up the piles of royalty money that come rolling in. Curtis Honeycutt is a syndicated humor columnist and the author of Good Grammar Is the Life of the Party: Tips for a Wildly Successful Life, which was a semifinalist for the 2020 BookLife Prize Nonfiction Contest. Haiti - NOTICE UEH : Research support fund (2021-2022), Call for expressions of interest The Office of the Vice-Rector for Research of the State University of Haiti (UEH) announces the launch of the 2021-2022 call for expressions of interest for the UEH Research Support Fund . Context : The vast majority of the activities of the Office of the Vice-Rector for Research are carried out through partnerships and university cooperation. And for good reason, the share of the University's financial resources devoted to the research sector was decreasing over the years until the 2018-2019 academic year. In this context, the VRR, aware of the challenge of scientific research, created a number of mechanisms to support research and proposed to the University Council via the Research Council, a resolution on the Research Support Fund (FAR). Justification : In accordance with this resolution of the University Council dated August 5, 2017, the UEH has set up a Research Support Fund (FAR) which pursues "the aim of ensuring an effective promotion of research at the UEH" (art. 1) on the basis of allocations funded by the Public Treasury (art. 2). Thus, the Office of the Vice-Rector for Research, which has supported research projects for 4 years, intends to continue this activity for the 2021-2022 academic year. The aim is to allow the UEH to take its full place in the universe of national and international scientific production in the service of the country's development. Project admissibility criteria : Teacher-researcher status, UEH employee with at least a master's degree or equivalent. UEH professor, holder of at least a master's degree or equivalent; Belonging to a research laboratory of the project leader; Available for submitted activities; Guarantee of stable remuneration; Minimum duration 6 months, maximum 1 year, renewable if necessary; Funding request form duly completed and signed; Submit the required documents in the application form: a) professional CV; b) Letter of attachment to an entity duly signed by a member of the Dean's Office, or of the Board of Directors or of Management; c) Submission of technical and financial reports for any funding previously granted to the laboratory or to the project leader by the rectorate; d) Proof of compliance with previously made commitments: supervision of memoranda or doctoral students, submission of articles; e) Compliance with the deadline for submitting files. Duration of funding : One year renewable once Selection : The classification of projects will be made by the Scientific Council of the UEH and the number to be retained depends on the criteria retained (2) in the methods of management of the FAR and their weight on the availability of the budget line provided for this purpose. The wearer may be invited by the CS to make a timed presentation. (2) Scientific quality, inter-establishment dimension and pooling of resources, budgetary relevance, originality and innovative character, balance between the 2 major disciplinary fields: pure and applied sciences, human and social sciences, publication, integration of students in dissertation or in thesis . Disbursement method : Disbursement is made in two installments (3) (3) Details of the funding method are indicated in the funding request form. Receipt of files : Applications must be submitted in paper and electronic version (PDF) from April to June 2021, to the following address : UEH General Secretariat, #21 rue Riviere, Port-au-Prince, Haiti or by email: secretariat.general@ueh.edu.ht For more information and to request the form : secretariat.general@ueh.edu.ht HL/ HaitiLibre ADVERTISEMENT Suspected Boko Haram terrorists on Friday attacked Geidam, the headquarters of Geidam Local Government Area of Yobe State and hometown of the acting Inspector-General of the Police, Baba Alkali. Premium Timess correspondent could hear sounds of heavy gunfire as he spoke on the phone with a source in the town on the development. I cannot talk now, I am sure you are hearing the sound of gunshots. Lets talk when the situation is calm, the frightened resident of the town said. The last time the insurgents attacked Geidam was on February 9, barely 24 hours after the new Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, visited troops after his appointment. Premium Times reported that three customs officers were abducted by the insurgents during that attack. A source revealed that a Nigerian Air Force jet had been deployed to the town to dislodge the attackers. Full details of the attack are still sketchy as people are indoors for their safety. The police spokesperson in the state, Dungus Abdulkarim, said he needed to get across to his people on ground in Geidam before responding to press inquiries. Foiled However, PRNigeria, an online publication that circulates security information, reported that the attack has been foiled by army troops assisted by fighter helicopters from the Nigerian Airforce ( NAF). It said Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter and attack jets were swiftly scrambled to repel the terrorists. According to a military intelligence officer who spoke with PRNigeria, over a dozen insurgents were killed by the aggressive bombardments of the military aircraft. The source added that though the ground troops pursued some terrorists who fled after the attack was foiled, he could not give the exact figure of the casualty suffered by the Boko Haram. The board of the state agency that certifies police in Oregon has voted to begin the process of revoking the certification of a Clackamas County sheriffs deputy who flouted state wildlife rules. The police policy committee of the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training earlier this year recommended the revocation of Deputy Brian Listers certification, saying he violated the agencys moral fitness standard when he ignored state regulations on trapping the big cats. That recommendation was affirmed Thursday by the Board on Public Safety Standards and Training. Linsay Hale, director of the state agencys professional standards division, said Lister is entitled to due process rights, which include the right to a hearing before an administrative law judge. She said his rights must be exhausted before the revocation takes effect. She said Lister has requested the hearing and that his certification will remain in good standing through the process, which can take months or even years. A spokesman for the Sheriffs Office said Lister will remain on paid administrative leave until a final determination has been made about his certification. Lister was placed on leave in February. His annual salary is $80,802. Listers lawyer, Anil Karia, said the decision by the board was frustrating. He said the board failed to undertake an independent review of the matter and instead appears to have rubber-stamped the revocation of Deputy Listers certifications. He said Lister has already received discipline from the Sheriffs Office in the form of an unpaid suspension. We are confident that an independent review will result in the correct outcome: that Deputy Lister should retain his DPPST police certifications so he can continue to serve the public as he has faithfully done for over 20 years, Karia said. Lister, an avid bobcat trapper, was convicted in 2020 in Clackamas County Circuit Court of a misdemeanor wildlife offense related to his handling of bobcat pelts. Last spring, he missed the deadline to have his pelts tagged by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, as required by the rules. He was supposed to surrender the pelts as a result. Police and court records show he told authorities he didnt have the pelts with him when he went to report them and that he told officials that turning them in wasnt a high priority. The flap over Listers handling of bobcat pelts wasnt his first run-in with authorities over wildlife. Police and court records show that in 2017, he violated the check-in requirements for black bear and in 1998 he was convicted of a wildlife violation in Columbia County. The details of that incident are unknown; the records were destroyed in 2011. -- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie Biden administration officials are coming under increasing pressure to lift restrictions on exports of supplies that vaccine makers in India say they need to expand production amid a devastating surge in Covid-19 deaths there. Funeral pyres have lit up the night sky in the worst affected cities, and the country has set a new global record of 350,000 new infections a day, which experts say could be a vast undercount. The State Department spokesman, Ned Price, said in response to questions about the export ban that the United States first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people. The export restrictions fall under the Defense Production Act, which former President Donald J. Trump invoked in the early days of the pandemic and President Biden has used since February to boost vaccine production in the United States. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan had a telephone conversation with President of Russia Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin press service reports. The phone talk took place at the initiative of the Armenian side. The sides continued discussions over the current situation around Nagorno Karabakh. They praised the fact that the situation in the region is stable and calm thanks to the efforts of the Russian peacekeepers. Views were exchanged also on the relevant issues of the bilateral cooperation, including over the energy sector. Pashinyan introduced the ongoing domestic political situation in Armenia connected with the expected snap parliamentary elections in June, the Kremlin reported. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan There are not many doctors who visit patients in a flowing long white dress with a big red sash tied around their waist and surrounded by a swarm of photographers. But Anastasia Vasilyeva is no ordinary doctor. For this brave and media-savvy medic has become a thorn in Russian President Vladimir Putin's side as she fought to save the life of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny during his hunger strike inside a penal colony hospital. Two weeks ago, Vasilyeva dressed flamboyantly like a figure of Liberty to draw attention to her friend's plight. Pictures of the leader of a medical union being arrested by burly officers spread around the world, driving home the message that doctors in Putin's Russia are detained by police when trying to treat a sickly dissident patient Last week, she returned to the prison gate with three other doctors in a desperate bid to see Navalny as his health deteriorated. Once again, they were denied entry after waiting for hours outside the prison in the city of Vladimir, almost four hours from Moscow. 'It's a show of disrespect and mockery of the doctors,' she tweeted later. Her stand has made her a potent symbol of the fight for freedom in Russia. For like Navalny who lost more than 40 lb before ending his 24-day hunger strike on Friday amid dire concerns that his life was in danger Vasilyeva knows the power of publicity as a weapon against dictatorship. Pictures of the leader of a medical union being arrested by burly officers spread around the world, driving home the message that doctors in Putin's Russia are detained by police when trying to treat a sickly dissident patient. Earlier this year, a video of Vasilyeva went viral after it showed her calmly playing Beethoven on a white piano as security forces entered her Moscow flat with an arrest warrant. She carried on with her rendition of Fur Elise, ignoring officials as they read out demands to seize her computer and phone, then imperiously suggested to the goons that they might care to applaud when she concluded her performance. Little wonder this ophthalmologist has become a symbol of resistance to Putin's regime. For like Navalny who lost more than 40 lb before ending his 24-day hunger strike on Friday amid dire concerns that his life was in danger Vasilyeva knows the power of publicity as a weapon against dictatorship 'She is another one of our heroes,' says Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion turned human-rights activist. 'Who knows if it will help Navalny, since his life is in grave danger? Dictators simply cannot tolerate any opposition.' Navalny was jailed following his return to Russia in January after recovering from a near-fatal poisoning suspected to have been carried out by people close to Putin. On Wednesday, hundreds of people were arrested in protests across the country after the Kremlin moved to outlaw groups linked to Navalny and round up allies. Vasilyeva, a 36-year-old single mother-of-two, became one of the highest-profile figures defying Putin after exposing his government's chronic failures to protect frontline staff during the pandemic and accusing him of covering up the scale of deaths and illnesses in Russia. Yet her activism began almost by accident three years ago. 'I was not interested in politics at all,' she said. 'I thought Putin was a great president.' But then her mother also an ophthalmologist and colleagues were suddenly fired from their posts at a leading medical research university and offered low-paid jobs as cleaners or laboratory assistants instead. Vasilyeva launched a fight for their rights and reached out for help from her patients. The only one to support her was Navalny she had treated him the previous year when his eye was injured after assailants threw green antiseptic dye in his face. Their success in winning back her mother's job inspired Vasilyeva to set up a union to help other medical workers which placed her in the spotlight when Russia's government responded badly to the pandemic. 'It's hard not to be political when you see what's happening with our healthcare system,' she said. Putin initially claimed 'enemies of the state' were spreading 'fake news' about Covid's dangers in Russia, then acknowledged the gravity of the situation but insisted that the nation's medical system could cope. But while the president retreated into his virus-free bubble, with visitors made to quarantine for up to two weeks before meetings, desperate doctors pleaded for basic protective gear and exposed the decrepit state of hospitals. Vasilyeva quickly became the leading medical critic as head of the Alliance of Doctors. As part of her campaign, she was videoed walking through an empty, rundown hospital. 'If you think I'm in a war zone, in Syria or Somalia, you are mistaken,' she said. 'I'm in Hospital No 6 in the very centre of Moscow.' She soon became a Kremlin target. Driving with colleagues to deliver supplies of gloves and masks to a provincial hospital, she was stopped by Novgorod police, arrested, beaten, dragged along the ground and put in a cell overnight. Vasilyeva has, with grim inevitability, been targeted by Putin's propaganda machinery. She has been accused of spreading lies, while her medical union was branded a foreign front organisation With the government still seemingly downplaying the impact of the pandemic, doctors are in the middle of an increasingly bitter battle between the president and his political opponents. 'There is a growing paranoia in the Kremlin,' says Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian security. 'You are either for or against the president and the medical profession is caught in this.' Galeotti pointed to events at the Siberian hospital where Navalny was taken last summer after his poisoning, saying it was made clear to staff who refused to participate in the state cover-up that they had no future there. A senior physician who claimed Navalny's pain was merely caused by a 'metabolic disorder' was promoted to health minister for the region, while his deputy, who briefed reporters on the possibility of poisoning, has moved to a private hospital. Vasilyeva has, with grim inevitability, been targeted by Putin's propaganda machinery. She has been accused of spreading lies, while her medical union was branded a foreign front organisation. She was detained by police for several days in January in a crackdown on the eve of mass rallies against Navalny's arrest. Yet she vows to carry on her fight in what is a life-and-death struggle for both her patient and her nation. President Donald Trump meets with Arizona's Gov. Doug Ducey in the Oval Office, in Washington, on Aug. 5, 2020. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via Getty Images) Trump Asks Arizonas Governor to Provide Large-Scale Security for 2020 Election Audit Former President Donald Trump has asked Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to provide security for a 2020 election audit taking place in the states largest county. The Republican Party is demanding that Gov. Ducey of Arizona immediately provide large-scale security for the brave American Patriots doing the Forensic Audit of the 2020 Presidential Election, Trump wrote in a statement on April 24. Gov. Ducey will be held fully responsible for the safety of those involved. State police or National Guard must be immediately sent out for protection. The Democrats do not want to have this information revealed, and they will do anything to stop it. Gov. Ducey must finally act! Duceys office didnt respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment by press time. The audit started on April 19 in Maricopa County. Companies hired by the state Senate are examining 2.1 million ballots, testing voting machines, looking for IT breaches, and performing a hand count. The state-issued subpoenas that were needed to execute the audit were ruled as valid on Feb. 25. Arizona Democrats filed an emergency request to block the audit on April 22. A judge granted the request the following day, but only if the party would post a $1 million bond. Democrats refused, so the audit was not paused. In the lawsuit, Democrats alleged that workers set to perform the audit werent properly trained and that the companies havent adopted or implemented security procedures, including ballot handling rules, required by state law. Roopali Desai, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said during the hearing that reports suggested there had been illegal access to ballots this week. A lawyer for the state Senate, Kory Langhofer, said Democrats provided no evidence for their claims. The audit is being conducted by four out-of-state companiesWake Technology Services, CyFIR, Digital Discovery, and Cyber Ninjas. Florida-based cybersecurity company Cyber Ninjas will be leading the audit, the Senate said, adding that they focus on computer application security for financial services and government clients. A report is expected to be released on the audits findings in about two months. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat who has expressed concern about audit security, asked Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, on April 23 to investigate reports that the Senate failed to secure the equipment and ballots its contractors are auditing, resulting in unauthorized and unmonitored access to both. Brnovich told Hobbs in a response letter that her vague reference to reports does not meet the standard of a credible allegationit is speculation insufficient to support the request for an official investigation. Zachary Stieber contributed to this report. A year ago when Michigan was being ravaged by COVID-19, the big problem was a novel virus that had no vaccine and no effective treatments, and scientists were still trying to figure out exactly how the virus was transmitted. Today, Michigan is being ravaged in a surge thats even worse than a year ago. But theres some big difference this time: Vaccines are now available and we know the strategies that best stymie transmission. It really is mostly a preventable disease, said Dr. Joel Fishbain, an infectious disease specialist for Beaumont Hospital Grosse Pointe. So the fact that Michigan emergency departments and COVID-19 inpatient units are overflowing with patients is a huge source of frustration for many health professionals, who say we now have the tools to end the pandemic. The big missing piece at this point: Widespread public cooperation, both in getting all adults vaccinated as soon as possible and in following mitigation strategies, such as masking and avoiding large gatherings, until that happens. The good news is that we have enough science at this point to know what works, Fishbain said. I dont want to get involved with the politics of it, but individuals really can prevent the spread of this. ... It is frustrating for us to keep seeing people sick with COVID who have not been vaccinated and certainly could be. Still, he said, were not going to shame people. Thats not the way to go about it. Its not about shaming and refusal; its about individual decision-making. But the more people who get (the vaccine), the better off everybodys going to be. Vaccinations are key The most important step that individuals can take: If you havent already, get vaccinated ASAP. The vaccines have been wildly successful at preventing hospitalizations and deaths, and they also appear to significantly reduce transmission of COVID-19, although more data is needed on the latter, said Dr. Liam Sullivan, infectious disease specialist for Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids. The vaccines effectiveness is evident in the huge, dramatic drop in cases in Michigans nursing homes and prisons, the two hardest-hit settings in 2020. Michigans long-term care facilities currently are averaging 15 new COVID-19 cases a day compared to 192 at the height of the fall surge, even as current case numbers are matching fall levels in the general public. Meanwhile, Michigans prison system -- where 60% of inmates have agreed to be vaccinated to date -- is now averaging three new cases a day compared to 361 during the first week of December. And the seven-day average positivity rate on coronavirus diagnostic tests has dropped to 0.4% for the corrections system, a stark contrast to the 13.4% statewide average. Vaccinations serve multiple purposes, doctors say. They not only protect the individual but also the people around him or her. The more people who get vaccinated, the fewer opportunities for the virus to spread. If and when enough people are inoculated, the virus could fizzle out -- which is what happened to once-common diseases such as measles and polio. Vaccines also limit the development and spread of COVID-19 variants. Fastest path to ending the pandemic? Vaccinations, doctor say. Sullivan noted theres never been a contagious disease thats been eliminated through natural immunity. He pointed to smallpox and measles as examples, saying there were regular epidemics of both for centuries until mandatory vaccines were implemented for each. (The ability of health officials to mandate vaccines was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1905 landmark case, Jacobson vs. Massachusetts.) Were not going to achieve herd immunity with COVID-19 by natural infection, Sullivan said. Its not going to happen. Its a pipe dream and people need to realize thats a pipe dream. The only way were going to get to herd immunity is through vaccination. Other mitigation strategies still needed That said, vaccinations have their limits. While they significantly reduce risk, they dont eliminate it, and Michigan has reported about 400 break-though cases of COVID-19 among the 1.8 million residents who are two weeks past their final vaccine dose. In addition, it takes about five to six weeks from the time that someone gets their first shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine until they are considered fully immunized. For the Johnson & Johnson shot, the process takes about two weeks. That means less than a fifth of Michigans population is considered fully immunized now, which is far below herd immunity. That helps explains why Michigan is seeing a current surge in cases even as thousands more people get vaccinated each day. But coronavirus is largely preventable even for people who are unvaccinated if they follow the protocols strongly advised for the past year -- wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, especially if theyre indoors, Fishbain said. Vaccines are a great place to start, but everybody still needs to continue doing the basics -- do not congregate, wear masks, avoid gatherings, etc. etc., he said. The science around the value of masking to prevent COVID-19 transmission has gotten stronger over the past year, experts say. And not only does masking reduce the risk of catching coronavirus, but masks also appear to reduce the severity of the disease if an individual is infected, since the person is inhaling less of the virus. Theyre finding out there is direct correlation between viral load and disease severity, Entler said. Thats especially significant now as the B.1.1.7. variant has become much more prevalent in Michigan, and that variant is both more contagious and more lethal. That variant is a big reason that Michigans current surge is so problematic. Even as the proportion of coronavirus cases has dropped among senior citizens, thanks to vaccinations, theres been a spike in hospitalizations among younger adults who were much less likely to become severely ill during the first year of the pandemic. Its like, you take what we were seeing before and shift it down by one or two decades, Fishbain said. Weve got 20-year-olds who are getting admitted, and 30-year-olds requiring oxygen, which we never saw before, and needing as much treatment as we can give them. Weve got 40- and 50-year-olds ending up on ventilators. Getting public buy-in Even for people not at risk for serious illness, there are a surprising number who experience long COVID, where patients have symptoms that linger for weeks or months. While most COVID patients under age 50 dont get severely ill, there are a growing number of people have have long-haul COVID symptoms, Sullivan said. They have problems with smelling, with taste, with concentration, with memory, with fatigue, with night sweats. So even though they had a mild illness the first time around, theyre still dealing with these things month and months later, and thats not something you want to deal with when youre 25 or 35, he said. Of course, you dont want to deal with it at any age, but especially when youre in the prime of your life. For that reason, prevention is the best strategy when it comes to COVID-19, and that starts with the vaccination, Sullivan said. And when it comes to weighing potential risks of the vaccines vs. risks of getting COVID, its a no-brainer, he said. The challenge at this point, he said, is convincing the fence sitters -- those who arent opposed to vaccines in general but are hesitant about COVID vaccines because they are so new. Probably the best way to get people who are hesitant to get vaccinated is to have their friends and family members who are vaccinated talk to them about it -- talk about why its important and their own experience with the vaccine, Sullivan said. I think theyre probably in the best position to convince the fence sitters. Entler said it benefits everybody to get as many people vaccinated as fast as possible. I wholeheartedly believe the longer it takes to get enough people vaccinated to get to herd immunity, the longer were going to be in this pandemic, he said. Fishbain said that he understands the hesitation about COVID vaccine. Is it frustrating? Yes. But do I understand it? Of course, he said. Have we ever produced the vaccine in six months and released it to the public? No. Have we ever used a messenger RNA vaccine for vaccination? No. Do we have a history of releasing vaccines too early with complications? Yes. That said, if you dont get vaccinated, realize that youre highly susceptible to catching the virus, which means you need to do what youre supposed to do to protect yourself from getting infected -- such as masking and avoiding large gatherings, he said. Fishbain said hes frustrated by people who refuse to take precautions such as masking but also refuse to be vaccinated. You cant have it both ways, he said. Obviously, we have our individual freedoms and we have our autonomy where we get to make our own choices. But try to make the right choices. More on MLive: One public Michigan university is requiring COVID-19 vaccination for students. Will others do the same? Michigan high schools look to build on lessons as prep sports enter widespread testing for spring What to do, and not do, with your COVID-19 vaccine card Delayed care and surge in coronavirus cases overwhelms Michigan hospitals for a third round RTHK: Missing Indonesian submarine believed sunk as debris Search teams have recovered debris believed to be from an Indonesian submarine missing for days in the Bali Sea, defence officials said on Saturday, as hopes dwindled for the 53 crew who were expected to have run out of oxygen in the early hours. Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said the exact location of the 44-year-old submarine was unknown but its presence had been detected and the search would continue. The KRI Nanggala-402 lost contact on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill. "We are still carrying out the search ... the depth of the sea we have detected is at 850 metres, which is very tricky and presents many difficulties," he told reporters, adding that he expected the dive in depth taken by the vessel had led to cracks. "We have found debris floating around the submarine's last location," Yudo said. Rescuers have sent more than a dozen search helicopters and ships to the area where contact was lost, with the United States, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and India providing assistance. According to Yudo, the submarine had only enough air to last until around dawn on Saturday if it had lost power, but that this could be stretched for five days if the vessel had retained electricity. But even that assessment on oxygen was optimistic, according to experts, because it assumed the submarine had not been crushed by water pressure. "Now it'll be up to the investigators to establish the chronology of events and determine the cause. At the same time, plans would have been made to assess the feasibility of retrieving the sub at such extreme depth," said Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. "It's technically possible to do it, though I believe Indonesia will have to engage foreign assistance in this." Indonesia's navy has said it is investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 metres, well beyond its survivable limits. Indonesian navy retired rear admiral Frans Wuwung, who had previously headed the submarine's machinery room, told news channel MetroTV that he believed a blackout was likely and could have caused the crew to panic. "A blackout means the vessel's equipment cannot be moved," said the admiral, who told reporters he had experienced a blackout on the same submarine in 1985. One of the people on board was the commander of the Indonesian submarine fleet, Harry Setiawan. Indonesia operates five submarines two German-built Type 209s including Nanggala and three newer South Korean vessels. It has been seeking to modernise its defence capabilities but some of its equipment is old and there have been fatal accidents in recent years.(Reuters) This story has been published on: 2021-04-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. It's a script Manitobans have seen played out before rising COVID-19 case counts, doctors sounding the alarm, and pressure mounting on the government to take action. It's a script Manitobans have seen played out before rising COVID-19 case counts, doctors sounding the alarm, and pressure mounting on the government to take action. In late October, a group of physicians wrote an open letter to Premier Brian Pallister and then-health minister Cameron Friesen, in which they urged them to institute a provincewide lockdown. That was followed days later by a letter signed by 200 doctors and scientists who warned that the pandemic was spiralling out of control. Friesen questioned the motivation of the latter group at the time, saying their timing seemed motivated to have the "maximum effect in causing chaos in the system." The Pallister government would not institute a provincewide lockdown until Nov. 12. Manitoba would go on to suffer some of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the country, if not the continent. Now, there is again alarm among doctors and community leaders about what's in store during the third wave. They're worried that a reluctance on the part of the Pallister government to take swift action will cause needless deaths. So far, the government is following the old script of attacking the messenger. Pallister remarked this week that health-care workers who called for strict new measures don't have to worry about losing their jobs. "It's coming all too often from people who wouldn't be affected adversely by a shutdown," he said of his critics. Rather than taking bold action, the government is "rolling the dice," some say, hoping case counts level off and hospitals and their ICU units aren't again swamped. Case counts have risen by an average of 40 per cent per week over the past three weeks, while ICU numbers have jumped by eight per cent per week. On Thursday, the number of new COVID-19 cases climbed to 261 the highest since Jan. 14. That was followed by 181 new cases on Friday. Modelling released Friday by the Public Health Agency of Canada predicts a dramatic rise in Manitoba cases if the province doesn't drastically reduce contacts between people. It warned that daily case counts could jump to 400 by mid-May if adequate measures aren't taken. The modelling, by the health agency and McMaster University in Hamilton, takes into consideration vaccination rates and the rise of more infectious variants. The agency said Manitobans must reduce their contacts by 30 per cent to drive down case counts to below 100 by mid-May. The Progressive Conservatives and their senior health advisers say they are monitoring the situation, but so far they've resisted calls for a lockdown. WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Acting deputy chief provincial public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files) Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer, urged Manitobans Friday to "buckle down" and change their behaviour to avoid such actions. He recommended individuals and businesses, in fact, go beyond the demands of public health orders. "Just because you can do something, maybe you shouldn't," he said. When pressed repeatedly as to why the province wasn't instituting a lockdown, he brought up the negative effects of such a move. "It really impacts economic recovery, which impacts jobs, which impacts mental health, which impacts families as well," Atwal said. "There's a lot at play here." On Oct. 30, a day doctors drew public attention to the potential consequences of the second wave of infections, Manitoba announced 480 new cases and a test positivity rate of 8.6 per cent. At that time, the provincial COVID-19 death toll stood at 65. On Friday, the provincial test positivity rate was 6.5 per cent and the death toll had climbed to 964. In an op-ed piece for the Saturday Free Press, Dr. Anand Kumar, a Winnipeg intensive care unit physician, writes that had Manitoba adopted a "maximum suppression strategy" comparable to that of Atlantic Canada, "there would likely be 900 more Manitobans alive today." He questioned the government's implied policy of instituting lockdowns only when hospitals and ICUs are at a breaking point. On Thursday, a group of prominent Manitobans and former Manitobans also urged swift action on the part of the government. "Just because you can do something, maybe you shouldn't." Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer "The attempts to stall the inevitable broader scale provincial shutdown for as long as possible, appears to amount to a calculated decision to allow an increased number of Manitobans to become sick or die, in order to keep a number of non-essential services operational," the group wrote. Now that cases are rising again, theres no sense of urgency to deal with it, said Dr. Philippe Lagace-Wiens, who was among the first physicians to share their concerns publicly last fall. Hoping people go above and beyond the health orders "is not a strategy," he said. "We still need to see a plan presented, otherwise were going to see a sense of despair," said Lagace-Wiens, a St. Boniface Hospital microbiologist. "Nows the time to start to talk to your health-care workforce about what the health care plan is for the next three or four weeks," he said. Manitoba is ramping up its vaccination program but, even with close to 30 per cent of people having received a single dose, it won't be enough to hold back a third deadly wave, said Lagace-Wiens. Its time for another lockdown, he said. While the coronavirus situation grows more dire as the days go by, Pallister and his health minister, Heather Stefanson, continue to refer reporters to their officials to answer the tough questions about the government's COVID-19 policies. For the past two Thursdays (normally the last sitting day of the legislature in a given week), the premier has been absent from question period. On April 15, according to his Twitter account, he toured a Portage la Prairie potato processing plant instead of facing the Opposition in the legislature. This past Thursday, he was absent because he was giving an interview to Bloomberg News, his spokeswoman said. NDP Leader Wab Kinew said it's time Pallister and Stefanson step up to the plate and make difficult decisions. "Nobody wants to be the one calling for a lockdown. But at the end of the day, it's doubly concerning with this premier who doesn't show up for work on the most important days asked of him in his job as leader of this province," he said. Kinew said there would be much more public buy-in on any new restrictions if the government were more forthcoming with information on the location of virus hot spots. "There's still some time to change how this story ends, but it is going to require better performance from government. Right now, the strategy seems to be, 'Well, let's just wait and hopefully, the case counts start to go down,'" Kinew said. "That's rolling the dice." Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said "it's incredibly confusing" for the government to tell Manitobans they should go above and beyond following public health orders to keep COVID-19 at bay, as Atwal suggested on Friday. "I often hear from people saying, If its not safe, shut it down," Lamont said. "They want clear messaging, not, Were going to open all the malls and let you go to restaurants, but dont go. Thats the messaging right now. Thats a terrible message. People are relying on authorities, on the people who are the experts, to tell them if its safe or not." Lamont said the premier is in charge, and he's not making decisions that prioritize public health. "This is a complete repeat of the second wave, where the government refused to do what it needed to do to put public health first. It looks to me, again, like Pallister is running the show and overriding and blocking public health from making the decisions they need to make to keep Manitobans safe," he said Friday. with files from Dylan Robertson larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca Carol Sanders Legislature reporter After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020. Read full biography For Subscribers Is Washington County as Republican as everyone thinks? Maybe A few local voters have converted to Democrats so far this year. Several have left the GOP. Big winners? The unaffiliated. NEW YORK, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm rated Top 50 in the 2018 and 2019 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report and headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating Sterling Bancorp ("STL" or the "Company") (STL) relating to its proposed acquisition by Webster Financial Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, STL shareholders are expected to receive 0.463 shares of Webster per share they own. The investigation focuses on whether Sterling Bancorp and its Board of Directors violated securities laws and/or breached their fiduciary duties to the Company by 1) failing to conduct a fair process, and 2) whether the transaction is properly valued. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/sterling-bancorp. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. About Monteverde & Associates PC We are a national class action securities litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders from corporate wrongdoing. We were listed in the Top 50 in the 2018-2020 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. Our lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions. Mr. Monteverde is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017-2019, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017-2020 Top Rated Lawyer. Our firm's recent successes include changing the law in a significant victory that lowered the standard of liability under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act in the Ninth Circuit. Thereafter, our firm successfully preserved this victory by obtaining dismissal of a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted at the United States Supreme Court. Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019). Also, in 2019 we recovered or secured six cash common funds for shareholders in mergers & acquisitions class action cases. If you own common stock in Sterling Bancorp and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341. Contact: Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC The Empire State Building 350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405 New York, NY 10118 United States of America [email protected] Tel: (212) 971-1341 Attorney Advertising. (C) 2021 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC Related Links http://www.monteverdelaw.com While the bulk of New Jerseys counties saw their rate of new coronavirus cases drop this week, the state as a whole saw only an incremental decline thanks to significant growth in a small number of counties. On the positive side, 15 of the 21 counties in New Jersey added fewer new cases during the week of April 15-21 than the week prior. Statewide, there were 23.1 new COVID-19 cases per 10,000 residents, a slight decline from last weeks 23.7 new cases per 10,000. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage Thats a drop of just 2%, which is surprising given the total number of counties that declined. The counties where cases did not drop saw their rates spike to such a degree that it erased the gains made by the rest of the state. Passaic County had the most new cases per capita this week at 39.3 new cases per 10,000 residents, far and away the most in the state. Just one other county Essex County at 31.7 had a rate over 30. New cases in Passaic skyrocketed this week, exceeded last weeks total by 37%. Is the map not displaying? Click here. Salem County saw significant growth as well, jumping by nearly 30% from 22.4 new cases per 10,000 residents last week to 29.1 this week. This biggest growth, however, actually came in the county with the fewest cases per capita. Cape May County, for the sixth week in a row, had the states fewest new cases. That may have led to a sense of complacency among residents, however, judging by the 61% spike in new cases, from 7.7 per 10,000 people last week to 12.4 this week. Of those counties where cases fell, seven had a drop of 10% or more. The biggest decline came in Ocean County, where cases dropped by 26%. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Nick Devlin is a reporter on the data & investigations team. He can be reached at ndevlin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @nickdevlin. The head of a private Episcopal school in Manhattan has denied that he ever acknowledged that his school has adopted a curriculum demonizing white people for being born. The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism, a new organization formed this past Martin Luther King Jr. Day, made public a March 2 conversation between Grace Church School Head George P. Davison and Paul Rossi, a teacher at the school who has since been relieved from his position after writing an op-ed criticizing the schools new curriculum, which he described as a repressive ideology. The conversation was made public after Davison informed the Grace Church School community of Rossi's dismissal. He also denied making comments that Rossi had attributed to him in an email. Davison disputed quotes Rossi attributed to him in an email he sent to the head of the school earlier in the day after he circulated a letter announcing Rossis dismissal. According to the New York Post, Davison told Rossi in a Monday email that You misquoted me and attributed to me things that I had never said nor would never say to the press. Source:The Christian Post The youngest any Anzac soldier in World War I was supposed to be 18 years old - but hundreds much younger lost their lives in the bloody war from 1914-18. Boys aged between 14 and 17 could enlist, but only as buglers, trumpeters and musicians - so many lied about their age because they wanted to join the fight as soldiers. Their exact numbers are impossible to determine. Farmhand James Charles Martin was desperate to fight after his father was rejected for service - and his mother reluctantly told authorities he was 18, even though he was actually 14 Among them was James 'Jim' Charles Martin, who became known as 'the youngest Anzac'. 'While he may not have been the youngest Australian to serve during the First World War, James Martin is considered the youngest to have died on active service,' according to the Australian War Memorial. Martin, a strapping farm hand from Tocumwal near the Victoria-New South Wales border, was desperate to enlist after his father was rejected for service. His parents initially refused his request to enlist so he threatened to run away and join the Australian Army under a fake name. Seeing how desperate her boy was to fight for his country and represent the family, his mother reluctantly agreed - and falsely told authorities he was 18. In reality, he was only three months past his 14th birthday. Martin was deployed to Egypt aboard the HMAT Berrima, which was diverted to Gallipoli and torpedoed offshore. James Martin, from Tocumwal, New South Wales, pictured with his mother and sisters John Auguste Emile Harris, from Waverley, Sydney, also claimed to be 18 when he enlisted. But one look at his baby-faced portrait shows that was a stretch - he was 15 when he died at Lone Pine He spent several hours in the water until he was rescued and went ashore at Gallipoli on September 7, 1915 - surviving his initial landing. 'In the following few months casualties from enemy action were slight, but the front-line work, short rations, sickness, flies, lice, and mosquitoes took their toll on the unit,' the Australian War Memorial wrote. Martin contracted typhoid fever in late October, 1915, and suffered rapid weight loss, eventually dying of heart failure. He was buried at sea. John Auguste Emile Harris, from Waverley, Sydney, also claimed to be 18 when he enlisted. But one look at his baby-faced portrait shows that was a stretch. Regardless of his youth, John Harris impressed everyone around him and was promoted to lance-corporal after just two months of service. Stowaway Reginald Garth longed to join his brothers and father as a soldier. But Reginald - a slight boy - couldn't convince anyone he was old enough to fight Sadly, he was killed in action at Lone Pine, Gallipoli, on August 8, 1915 and was buried in Lone Pine Cemetery. After the war his father wrote that John was only 15. So desperate were young boys to join the war - especially if they had brothers enlisted - that some even stowed away on troop transportation ships in the hopes they'd be allowed to fight. One such case was Reginald Garth, a 12 year old Perth boy who stowed away on the transport ship RMS Mooltan. Garth's three older brothers and father enlisted for World War I and he wanted be part of what he thought might be an adventure. Reginald - a slight boy - couldn't convince anyone he was old enough to fight. But many others could, and didn't make it home. Tenant farmers in the Peak District raised concern with Boris Johnson over the current lack of information on the government's post-Brexit plan for farming. The Prime Minister saw first-hand the high standards British farmers adhere to when he visited livestock farmers in the Peak District National Park. He visited Stuart and Leanne Fairfax on Friday (23 April), who are are tenant farmers who recently took on the Derbyshire farm. It is predominantly a sheep farm, with some cattle, and over 200 acres entered into an agri-environment scheme. Stuart said it was 'quite surreal' to have the Prime Minister visit, but that it was 'great for him to get on farm and see what we do'. "Were right in the middle of lambing season, so its an incredibly busy time," he explained. Were pleased that we could show him how farming and food production works hand-in-hand with our work for the environment, particularly as part of the iconic landscape in the Peak District. "This relationship is something youll see on family farms like ours across the country." But Stuart said it was also important to talk to Mr Johnson about the uncertainty many farmers were facing at the moment. "We dont know the full details of what will take over from the Basic Payment Scheme payments that many farmers rely on, he explained. Business confidence remains low among farmers for the third year running, with a key concern being the phasing out of BPS, NFU's annual confidence survey shows. Both short and mid-term confidence among British farmers has again stayed negative, the survey, which questioned 662 farmers, says. Farmers will start seeing payment rates being reduced this year, without any new schemes to replace this income and a lack of detail about the interim and future schemes. NFU President Minette Batters joined the Prime Minister on the farm visit, who echoed concerns over the the current lack of information available to farmers. I did stress to the Prime Minister the importance of the governments new agricultural policy supporting British food production," she said. I did raise my concerns about the current lack of information available to farmers about his governments agricultural transition plan. "Farming is a long-term business and farmers will be making decisions now for many years down the line." She said the ongoing uncertainty about how the government would replace income under the Basic Payment Scheme was 'damaging business confidence'. "I urged the Prime Minister to provide more clarity on his future agricultural policy as soon as possible," Mrs Batters added. OTTAWA First Nations leaders are urging people to stop travelling within Manitoba, after the number of highly contagious variant cases on reserves doubled in three days. OTTAWA First Nations leaders are urging people to stop travelling within Manitoba, after the number of highly contagious variant cases on reserves doubled in three days. "There's more travelling happening right now, and we really need to see that slow down to reduce our caseload," said Dr. Marcia Anderson, a medical officer with the First Nations pandemic response team. She noted that on Tuesday, 14 cases involving variants of concern were reported on reserves; 26 were reported on Friday. Similarly, off-reserve First Nations reported 45 variant cases Tuesday and then 91 new cases among First Nations off-reserve on Friday. "That's a very quick doubling time. We're really concerned," said Anderson, especially because First Nations people have more severe outcomes from COVID-19 than members of the general population. On Friday, the province reported that someone infected with a more infectious variant had travelled from a church on the Sioux Valley reserve near Brandon, to the community hall at Skownan, 250 kilometres north. First Nations COVID-19 cases had been clustered in the north, but have popped up in the Prairie Mountain and Interlake-Eastern health regions. "When we see COVID spreading like this, we know it's because people are travelling, either for shopping or for visiting," Anderson said. First Nations response teams are running thin, said Melanie MacKinnon, a nurse who is co-leading the First Nations pandemic response. There are currently four teams, one of which is trying to recover from back-to-back work to conduct tests and containment work on multiple reserves. "It would be really challenging for us to stand up a fourth team, given our capacity at this time, and it would be nearly impossible to stand up a fifth team," said MacKinnon. "We need to do everything we can in our collective, community power, to try to stop and slow the spread of COVID-19, and certainly the variants of concern," she said. MacKinnon is co-leading the effort to fully vaccinate adults who live on Manitoba's 63 First Nations, plus 21 adjacent communities, with logistical help from the military. About 38,000 Moderna doses were shipped to communities from March 20 to April 20. All but two of the 63 reserves have got their first shots, with the last pair having asked to delay the arrival of doses until next week. MacKinnon said 28,000 doses have been administered and 3,000 have been scheduled. There is uncertainty about Moderna shipments in May, but MacKinnon said shes confident the goal of getting 50,000 people both doses by Canada Day will be met. "At this point, we do not anticipate a significant supply issue," she said. Federal ministers mused Friday that Ottawa could shuffle allocations among provinces if the Moderna supply suddenly dried up. "We've had a number of discussions internally, and with our trilateral (federal-provincial-Indigenous) tables, to ensure that if and when there is that challenge, we'll be able to supplement and continue that prioritization," Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca It began quietly, on that first Anzac Day in 1916. As up to 60,000 people bowed their heads in Sydneys Domain to remember the terrible toll exacted from Australia for its service to the empire one year earlier, the subdued strains of the hymn Abide With Me gently broke the silence. The hymn was not part of the official service. It seemed to creep out into the vast crowd, the Herald reported at the time, to be taken up from lip to lip and faintly murmured while the hour for the start of the service drew nearer. The first Anzac Day commemoration in Sydney. Credit:Staff One can only imagine the sheer grief of those gathered in the Domain that day, after a year of fear, loss and uncertainty, with hundreds of thousands of Australians still fighting away from home, and how the strains of that hymn may have brought them comfort. An official who was there later said it was one of the most emotional moments of his life. This time last year, we faced our own era of uncertainty, effectively restricted to our homes as NSW authorities sought to rein in COVID-19. Anzac Day fell in the midst of this lockdown. Traditional marches and services were cancelled. The public were told to stay away. Controls Integration Engineer Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) , California , United States Hardware Summary Posted: Apr 22, 2021 Role Number: 200241900 We're a diverse collective of thinkers and doers, continually reimagining what's possible to help us all do what we love in new ways. And the same innovation that goes into our products also applies to our practices - strengthening our commitment to leave the world better than we found it. This is where your work can make a difference in people's lives. Including your own! Apple's Special Projects Group (SPG) is seeking a full-time engineer to join our Controls Engineering group. The candidate will be responsible for development and integration of control and estimation algorithms for complex electromechanical systems. Key Qualifications Practical knowledge of systems theory and control systems design, including classical and modern control methodologies. Practical knowledge of sensor and actuator physics. Experience integrating real-time safety-critical control algorithms and embedded control software on microcontroller platforms. Experience with electromechanical integration of mechatronic systems. Serial communications: Ethernet, CAN, LIN, UART, SPI Low voltage and high voltage power systems and I/O Basic mechanical component assembly Experience with commercial rapid controls prototyping systems, e.g. dSPACE. I/O configuration, model configuration, test automation, fault injection Runtime operation, data visualization, collection, and analysis Experience testing controllers on Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) systems. Proficiency in MathWorks tools: MATLAB/Simulink is a must. Simulink-RT preferred. Proficiency in Python is a must. C/C++ preferred. Proficiency in modern software development workflows and practices, including version control, build and test systems, and peer review. Description We are seeking a highly motivated controls integration engineer to support the development of controls for complex dynamical systems. Collaborate in highly cross-functional environment and work closely with control design engineers, software engineers, systems integration engineers, and sensor and actuator design engineers. Lead the planning and execution of control integration milestones, from simulation-based testing to verification on real hardware in broad operating conditions. Work with software team to ensure robust controller implementation on embedded microcontrollers. Work with modeling team to integrate models and controllers into simulation environment for rapid development and validation. Education & Experience BS or MS degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or Mechatronics Engineering. Matt Gallagher just wanted to grow out his hair. By 2009, Gallagher was still a member of the 25th Infantry Division and back home in Hawaii after a tour of duty leading a scout platoon in Iraq. The military service commitment incurred as part of his ROTC training at Wake Forest University had ended, and Gallagher was ready to begin the next phase of life. So, he decided to move to New York City and make a go of it as a writer. First, he published Kaboom: A Soldiers War Journal (Da Capo Press, 2010), which chronicled his experiences in Iraq, and later, after earning a masters degree at Columbia, the novel Youngblood (Simon and Schuster, 2016) about a lieutenant who investigates a soldiers disappearance while leading his infantry platoon through a complicated mission in Iraq. Both books achieved critical and commercial success. His latest book is Empire City (Atria, 2020), a novel set in an alternate United States that shares much in common with present-day America. I spoke to the author by telephone about his books, inspiration, and what he misses about the military. Your latest book is different from your Iraq War novel, Youngblood. Do you call this new book a work of science fiction or speculative fiction? This is speculative fiction in the tradition of Philip K. Dicks The Man in the High Castle. There is an overlap between speculative and science fiction, but science fiction is geared toward futurism. My book is set in a type of contemporary America, and I'm not super focused on different technologies or things that could be. I'm exploring an alternate world, an alternate America that won the Vietnam war, to distort the reality for readers. I hope that readers enjoy learning about a different world but also seeing things they recognize inside of it. There is a funhouse mirror for readers to see themselves and their own reality. The idea is that matters of war and peace in our current era are still divisive, and maybe by creating this alternate world, people can focus on the story enough to bring out those ideas in a different way because it is still based on what has been happening in America, and that is the relationship between the military and civilian populace in a large republic. Where did the book come from? I'm the type of writer who doesn't know the answer to that question until I start to write. Empire City was much more experimental for me than other types of fiction, but there are some parallels. I wanted to know if I could make sense of political strife in America through storytelling. Political strife is something I put in that bucket. I'm comfortable writing moral ambiguities, the inherent conflict between practical execution and the ideals we hold inside ourselves. I'm comfortable writing about people who use an institution for upward mobility and then have to determine where and how the institution is using them back -- tension between individuality and a large institution. The driving force for writing this book was answering the question: if we go down this military-civilian divide long enough, what will the world look like? But after everything, what gets me up in the morning to write is imagination, that I can take the loose and wild thoughts in my head and give form to them. There is a necessity to destroy and tear down the things you've made into something that coheres, but the act overall is building and crafting into something that someone else can make sense of, and that makes me think of revision.' A quote I like to use with my writing students is that good creative writing is not expression but communication; I use that with revision specifically, fashioning language into something coherent and united. You're wrestling with yourself. What Hemingway said about killing your darlings. Do you like Hemingway? I have a conflicted relationship with Hemingway. I joined the Army partly because of his novel of the Spanish Civil War, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and because idealism is important for a young person in the military. But that is not Hemingway's finest book. I think it gets a little precious in how the American protagonist, Robert Jordan, reconciles that war and his purpose in that war. But that is something relevant for Afghanistan and Iraq veterans in that we join for grand, idealistic notions, but then were confronted with the realities and impossibilities of war. Can you find justice? Can you find one good thing you can do or improve in a sea of terrible choices? Those points resonate in For Whom the Bell Tolls. I grapple with Jordan's clarity on that because there is so little second-guessing from him. He is Hemingway's perfect type of hero, but the man Hemingway based him off of was a man from Reno, and he was much more questioning of the cause and the justice of the war. The real man had much more trouble. You are from Reno, Nevada. Tell me a little about your upbringing. How did religion and education shape your outlook as a writer and soldier? My dad is Catholic, but I was raised Presbyterian. There is something there [in Catholicism] in terms of being a person of knowledge and of action, which Catholic education pushes on people. To be a person of knowledge and a person of the world, learning how to blend those two things. Having a faith that goes above and beyond worldly experience. The Army was appealing for those reasons. There is an idealism there, in faith and in religious school, that permeates our work, and I saw that during the Iraq war in desiring to serve my country. I know that participating in a warlike the Iraq War can change not only the morality of a person but the moral trajectory of the Nation, but still I see young people joining the military with a similar and idealistic outlook to what I had. They've joined an American military that has always had its guard up. Yes, I'm from Reno, and returning home to Reno has always been a possibility, but I saved some money, and I wanted to live in [New York City] and make a run at writing as a profession when I got out of the military. Why is it difficult for soldiers to become civilians again? I think civilian life is very isolating. Everything in the military is about the squad or unit, and there's always someone nearby to watch over you and take care of you. The transition out is lonely. The military's job is to try and retain people. A number of my old guys went back home or someplace new, and they lost their safety net, and it's hard for folks who joined the service fresh out of high school because there is no life experience to fall back on. I think about my own blunders and mistakes, and the things that saved me were my family and my girlfriend, who knew how to save me. The military is socialist; it's about the community and the greater good. Coming into a Machiavellian free-market right away is an icy plunge. Name one thing you miss about being in the military. I miss the real physical rush after finishing a long ruck march with your unit, there's so much going on at once. The physical rush, of course, the pain in your calves, feet, all of it. Then theres the banter of soldiers together having accomplished something. We would do things like that on Fridays, so there's a sense of freedom after accomplishing something challenging and physical. There is a sense of group power that's not invincibility because there's plenty of awareness of death, but still, it's not something you come by very often in ordinary life. John Waters is a writer in Nebraska. Alabama law enforcement officers receiving routine training in using tasers, and there are no known instances in which a case of so-called weapons confusion has resulted in tragedy within the state. But mistakes, while rare, have occurred elsewhere the U.S. in which a police officer mistakenly grabs his or her gun instead of a stun gun. When they happen, tragedy is sometimes the result. That was the case on April 11, when 20-year-old Daunte Wright, an unarmed Black man, was shot and killed by Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, who was white, sparking the latest round of protests against police shootings in the U.S. involving white police officers and Black victims. Potter, a 26-year veteran of policing, reportedly shouted threats that she would shoot Wright with a taser during the altercation but ended up firing one round from her Glock 9mm into Wrights left side, killing him. I believe weapons confusion, particularly confusing a taser with a firearm, is quite rare indeed, said Joe Kuhns, a professor in the Criminal Justice and Criminology Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. But rare is not the same as non-existent. It happens, and it has resulted in accident deaths. The incident in Minnesota is placing added attention on policings use of stun guns, commonly referred to as tasers named after the company, TASER International now known as Axon that began selling them to law enforcement agencies in 1999. The tasers are shaped like handguns, but they are lighter in weight and often stand out because of their odd designs and bright yellow colors. Axon currently sells different models under its line of tasers. Tasers are considered an effective and safe crime-fighting tool that temporarily stuns an unruly suspect. The devices are equipped with two-pronged darts that are connected to thin wires that deliver 50,000 volts electricity into the body of a suspect they strike. The electricity temporarily paralyzes a persons muscles, allowing police to subdue a suspect and make an arrest without causing bodily harm. Officers are instructed to carry the taser on their non-dominate side. In other words, a police officer who is right-handed will place their service gun in their right holster, while the taser will go on the left side. Most officers place the taser on their weak side, non-drawing hand or non-shooting hand side, said Patrick Farris, instructor at the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of Alabama. The taser holster Is placed backwards on the weakside allowing for a cross draw with the strong hand. This makes the taser weapon system unmistakable. Farris, a former law enforcement officer in Tuscaloosa, said another common placement for the taser is on the front of an officers outer vest. Again, the placement demands a cross draw with the strong hand across the chest to unholster the weapon system again making it unmistakable, said Farris. If an officer places the taser on the strong side or shooting hand they could be subject to confusion. Alabama training Training is aimed at preventing weapons confusion, and to promote the proper handling of tasers. Alabama law enforcements are required at a minimum to have 12 hours of training each year, including firearms proficiency. The training program is established by the Alabama Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission. In many cases, local agencies require additional training for their officers. Mobile, for instance, requires 40 hours of in-service training in addition to the qualifications for firearms usage. The 40 hours includes various training disciplines including the use of tasers and other police tactics, according to a city spokesman. Huntsville police receive at least 24 hours of in-service training each year, but many officers compete closer to 40 hours, according to Huntsville Police Department spokesman Lt. Jesse Sumlin. All specialized units, he said, have in-service weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, equating up to 384 hours of additional training each year. Sumlin said every Huntsville police officer is issued a taser after completing a 12-hour certification course conducted by a certified electronic controlled device (ECD) trainer. (The taser) is a safe, immobilizing tool for Huntsville police, Sumlin said. He said officers are required to test their tasers twice weekly to make sure they are functional and up today. Huntsville police also must complete a four-hour ECD recertification class yearly. Those classes, Sumlin said, are incorporated into multiple police classes offered during the year. In Montgomery County, Sheriff Derrick Cunningham said his deputies partake in probably an hour, up to two hours of taser training each year. All of Montgomery Countys sheriffs deputies have a taser assigned to them. Taser training is important because its a weak side mount so if you pull your taser you have to cross over to retrieve it from the holster, Cunningham said. This is something you have to train on to get your mind used to removing it from the holster. Baldwin County Sheriff Huey Hoss Mack said his deputies are issued a taser upon completion of eight hours of classroom instruction with the device as well as practical usage of the taser. He said every deputy is required to complete two hours of continuing education once a year with the taser itself. As part of the use of force continuum, tasers are also included in various other situation training such as firearms, crowd control, and other law enforcement situations where the tasers might be deployed, said Mack. Possible but rare Farris said the training is important because it allows law enforcement officers to develop muscle memory during critical situations, in which a taser might be used. Kuhns said that most police officers in the U.S. are trained to use tasers, but inconsistencies in training occurs. The U.S. has nearly 18,000 police departments employing an estimated 800,000 law enforcement officers, he said. But states differ and some departmental training different, within and outside of a state, said Kuhns. Published reports since Wrights death are unclear on the amount of training Potter received to prevent weapons confusion or how to use a taser. She has since been charged with second-degree manslaughter. Both Potter and the police chief resigned after the shooting. Media outlet analysis indicates few incidences of weapons confusion since 2001. According to a New York Times analysis, 15 cases of expected weapons confusion occurred over the past 20 years in addition to the Potter incident. The publication found that five officers had been indicted for their roles in each incident, but that only three including two cases in which people were killed were eventually found guilty. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, which ran its own analysis, found that most cases of weapons confusion resulted in injuries and not deaths. Wrights emotional funeral occurred on Thursday, two days after the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd, a Black man. Civil rights activists like the Rev. Al Sharpton and Ben Crump, attorney for both the Floyd and Wright families were in attendance. Also in attendance was the family of Oscar Grant, killed in 2009 in Oakland, California, by a police officer who also mistook his service weapon for a stun gun. Taser placement is the key to misidentification, said Farris. An officer cannot simply rely on feel during a critical confrontation. I believe weapon misidentification is possible but rare. James Ellroy doesnt do technology, so the crime fiction writer and self-described demon dog of American literature is on the phonea landlinefrom his apartment in downtown Denver. Ive never used a computer for anything, he says. I dont have a cell phone. I dont know how to text message. I write my books by hand, and I write historical novels, and it all works. Its worked for 40 years. In June, Knopf will release Widespread Panic, the latest in the 73-year-old authors more-than-20-book oeuvre. That includes the L.A. Quartet, which spans 1946 to 1958 in Los Angeles and incorporates two of Ellroys most famous novels, The Black Dahliahis breakout book in 1987and L.A. Confidential; the Underworld U.S.A. trilogy, which starts with American Tabloid and covers the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.; and the Second L.A. Quartet, set during World War II, beginning with 2014s Perfidia. According to Knopf, his books have sold a combined 2.5 million copies. Ellroy has also written the 1997 memoir My Dark Places, reckoning with the still-unsolved murder of his mother, Geneva Hilliker Ellroy, which took place when he was 10 years old, and the 2010 memoir The Hilliker Curse, about his childhood and his complex relationship with women. (On a related note, he got back together with his second ex-wife, author Helen Knode, in 2015, which is how the L.A.-born and -raised Ellroy ended up in Denver. We figured out the smart thing to do was have two pads on the same floor, he says. Shes in 200, Im in 208.) Ellroy came up with the idea for his first novel, Browns Requiem, in which an ex-LAPD cop turned private detective is hired by a caddy to keep tabs on his sister, in 1979 while working as a caddy at Bel Air Country Club. My great love was crime fiction, he says. I was 30, not quite 31. I could tell you the date: It was Jan. 29, 1979. I said, Hey God, please let me start this book tonight, and I did. I had a cheap hotel, the Westwood Hotel on Westwood Boulevard, and I had no desk, and I had pen and paper, and there you go. I never stopped. What surprised me at the get-go was that I had the sure feel for the craft that I had. I knew that I would succeed. I swear this is not a revised memory of any kind. Ellroy recalls that he used a Writers Market reference guide to find an agent, went with the guy who sounded the most aggressive, and sold the book to Avon for $3,500 minus commissions. I paid back-rent, bought a cashmere sweater, bought a cheap car. I had a girlfriend, and we drove to Santa Barbara for the weekend. Then I was broke. Times may be differentat the very least, the advances have gone upbut in many ways, Ellroy is not. He gets around using email with the help of an assistant and a fax machine. He remains fascinated by the actor Lois Nettleton, who appeared in episodes of Naked City and The Fugitive that he watched at 13 and was the pure voice of my adolescent loneliness transposed to an adult female. (Nettleton appears in Widespread Panic, which is dedicated to her, and Ellroy has flowers sent to her grave each year on her birthday.) Ellroy loves old cars and midcentury modern furniture and will watch any crummy film noir on TV just to see shots of L.A. as it really looked in 1951the architecture, the clothes, everything else, he says. I live in the past. One can make the pointits been made before, Ive made it myselfthat my life is freeze-framed at the time of my mothers death, which was 1958. In Widespread Panic, Ellroy again returns to that time, spinning a fictionalized story about the real-life Fred Otash, a former L.A. police officer who became a private investigator and the head strong-armed goon for Confidential magazine, a celebrity scandal rag that he helped fill with gossip. There is a brief glance at 2020, though: Otash, stuck in purgatory for 28 years since his death in 1992, has been offered a way out by telling all. Theres Heaven for the good folks, Hell for the beastfully baaaaaad, Otash explains. Theres Purgatory for guys like mecaustic cads that capitalized on a sicko system and caused catastrophe.... Baby, its time to CONFESS. Whether he succeeds or not ends up less a focus than what landed him in purgatory and the demons he continues to struggle with. In 2012, the online publisher Byliner released the novella Shakedown, the original version of the first section of what became Widespread Panic. I realized I could compress, paradoxically expand, enhance, delete the action of Shakedown... and follow it up with two longer novellashence, I would have a novel, Ellroy says. He wrote the remaining two parts, Perv Dog and Gonesville, last summer, giving Otash and real-life characters such as James Dean, John F. Kennedy, and Rebel Without a Cause director Nick Ray the classic Ellroy treatmenta kind of hyper-stylization combining myth and truth. Its a wiiiiild riiiiide full of laffs, as Ellroy might write, as well as darkness and despair and sex and murder; its a commentary about love, women and men, and the troubled essence of human nature. Otash is just ripped in half by his desire to do good and his desire to roll around in the dirt of the human condition, says Ellroy, who describes the novel as satire, parody, a big riff on this male figure at midcentury. If you look at the rhythm of it, its just rollicking. Its my fondest book: Otash and his ridiculous adventures with these various women, with the imposition of violence in the middle of it. I just laughed my ass off when I wrote it. But going back and revising history fulfills a very deep need, Ellroy says, growing more serious. Memory lives and relives. It incubates. It re-incubates. It mutates. It assumes different forms continually in my mind. In the wake of his mothers death, Ellroy remembers thinking that there was some other world that adults werent telling him about. That this crime, my mothers death, went unsolved, and in every fictional depiction of the time, movies, television, books, you always get the killer... No, not really. Yet in his books, Ellroy gets what he wants. So in Widespread Panic, Otash becomes a great detective: He knows how to go into a place and roll fingerprints. Give him an evidence kit, he can go and he can run this test and that test. He even gets a soul. Whether Otash can be saved remains to be seenIf worst comes to worst, hell just hit you over the head with a phone bookbut Ellroy is already working on another book about him. Jen Doll is the author of the YA novel Unclaimed Baggage (FSG) and the memoir Save the Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest (Riverhead). He was like, you would do this if you loved me, you would meet me if you loved me. I was like, stupid me thinking someone is paying attention to me, someone actually likes me. When the youth arrived at an eastern suburbs platform, Jamie realised he was much older than she had been led to believe. Within five minutes, he guided Jamie into a toilet cubicle, stood between Jamie and the door and allegedly raped her multiple times as she remained terrified and frozen. The police told me it would come to his word against hers, and their hands were tied. Jamies mother, Grace I felt trapped, I couldn't escape ... I didnt run away, scream, push him away. I didnt attack him or make any noise, said Jamie. It was almost like I was submitting because I was like I just want to get through this, what if I try to push back at him, what if I try to get to the door, whats he going to do? I just remember my whole body hurting. The youth stopped during the alleged attack to take photographs. He knew exactly what he wanted, exactly how to do it and how to make it happen, Grace says. The young man, whose name the family does still not know, effectively succeeded in going from Snapchat hello to rape in five days. And, Grace fears, getting away with it due to Victorias consent laws and Snapchats lack of retention of communication. Loading Grace says she was told by forensic staff who performed the rape kit examination on Jamie at the Monash Childrens Hospital that the prevalence and regularity which theyre doing rape kits [after such incidents] is startling, growing in number, and is scary. However, police who found and interviewed the alleged perpetrator told her they did not believe there was sufficient evidence the youth knew he did not have Jamies consent. Grace says she was told the man was found relatively quickly using CCTV and myki data, and information Jamie provided. He confessed to all acts Jamie said had been done to her but insisted he had no reason to believe any of it was non-consensual because Jamie did not fight or try to run away. Due to Snapchats default setting to delete conversations, there is no evidence of manipulation or coercion. The police told me it would come to his word against hers, and their hands were tied, Grace says. They dont have the evidence to prove either way, and they dont have enough because the bar [for proving there was no consent] is beyond reasonable doubt and that bar is very high. Also, weve got this whole mode [of communication] where Snapchat becomes a weapon to facilitate rape. Its outside the law because it leaves no trace. A spokesman for Snapchat said: We are horrified to learn of this situation. There is nothing more important than the safety and wellbeing of our Snapchat community, and this type of activity is firmly against our guidelines. Loading We are committed to working together with law enforcement in this case and in all instances where Snapchat is used for illegal purposes; especially when it involves a minor. Grace says she was told by investigating officers that Snapchat did not return attempts to contact it. Victoria Police on Friday confirmed a report of alleged sexual offending that occurred at a train platform in Melbournes east was received in October 2020 and that the Transit Safety Division of the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team had investigated. The matter has been referred to the Office of Public Prosecutions after Grace wrote to Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes asking for a review. On Wednesday, Grace wrote to Ms Symes a second time, asking that Victorias consent laws be revised because the burden of proof lies with the victim to prove there was no consent. Therefore, putting the victim on trial. She asked that Tasmanian-style laws, where the burden of proof lies with the accused to prove the steps and actions they took to gain consent at the beginning and during and sexual encounter, be introduced in Victoria. Victims should not be the ones put on trial ... Victoria also has the opportunity to go further and include that the consent needs to be proven by the perpetrator as enthusiastic consent, and therefore lead the way in Australia in this area, she wrote. Ms Symes told The Sunday Age on Friday, no family should have to go through what this family has experienced my thoughts are with them. All forms of sexual violence are unacceptable, she said. We want to make sure our laws respond effectively to sexual offending, so victim-survivors feel supported in coming forward to report their experience and confident in obtaining justice. Thats why weve asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission to review our laws relating to rape, sexual assault and associated adult and child sexual offences including the issue of consent. Swinburne University law lecturer and executive director of Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy, Dr Rachael Burgin, said her group had approached the Victorian Law Reform Commission regarding the inclusion of affirmative consent laws in the commissions proposed reforms. We need a mandatory requirement that a person who is seeking to have sex with another person takes reasonable active steps to make sure the other person is consenting that is where Victoria falls down. A Law Reform Commission spokesman said recommendations were at draft stage and would be delivered to the Attorney-General at the end of August. The commission was looking forward to delivering some recommendations that will bring about very positive change. Cyber safety expert and former Victorian policewoman Susan McLean said there was a large increase in grooming of young people online while Australian children were locked down in 2020, the evidence of which is starting to emerge. I am being inundated by parents wanting advice about grooming and overtly sexualised behaviour, mainly of their daughters, online. Cyber safety expert and former Victoria Policewoman, Susan McLean I am being inundated by parents wanting advice about grooming and overtly sexualised behaviour, mainly of their daughters, online. She said young people must be helped to understand the difference between friends and people they meet online: A friend is someone you meet up with in real life and then hang out with online, a stranger you have been contacted by online is never, ever a friend. The perception grooming takes a lot of time, so parents would get wind of it was also often wrong. Loading Jamie is hopeful her mothers campaign will result in changes that could prevent other young people having their lives affected as dramatically as hers has been. I have lots of trauma, every time I go out of the house my brain automatically comes to what would I do if I did see him, he knows where I live, what would I do if he tried to approach me? ... I just go over and over that in my head, she says. I cant catch public transport without wanting to break down. If this has happened to me, how many other people has this happened to? If this can happen so easily, how many other people are getting away with it? Graces and Jamies names were changed due to Victorian laws regarding identification of minors who are victims of alleged sexual assault. Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732). The office of the eSafety Commissiner provides safety information for parents here. A Queens mom charged with murdering her six-week-old twins had initially tried to kill them by feeding the infants poisoned milk and may have spent up to four days with their corpses, according to prosecutors. Danezja Kilpatrick, 23, was arraigned on Saturday morning, two days after she was arrested for allegedly murdering baby son Dakota and daughter Dallas. Police first found the infant boy inside a bedroom crib at Kilpatrick's Woodside apartment with a blade still inside his skull. When asked about the second child, the young mother indicated that the girl was under the sink, where police found her body wrapped in a pink blanket. During Saturday's arraignment, prosecutors revealed Kilpatrick, who is reportedly mentally ill, had confessed to police that she 'didn't want' her babies 'anymore' and had originally tried poisoning them, The New York Daily News reported. Danezja Kilpatrick, 23, pictured being escorted out of the 114th Precinct on Friday evening The 23-year-old is being held on two counts of murder after her baby twins were found dead Twins Dallas and Dakota Kilpatrick were found dead at their mom's apartment Reading from the mom's chilling account, Queens Assistant District Attorney Adarna DeFrietas said Kilpatrick at first tried to kill the babies by mixing household cleaner Pine-Sol into their milk. When that attempt was unsuccessful, she then put Dakota face down in the bathtub and ran scalding hot water over his back until he stopped crying, according to the paper. Kilpatrick then allegedly killed Dallas by placing him in his bassinet where she plunged a knife into the back of his head. She then covered his body with a blanket. The babies' bodies were found on Thursday after Kilpatrick's sister called the police and requested a wellness check at the apartment, however prosecutors now say it is possible the twins had died four days earlier. After her arrest, Kilpatrick had reportedly complained to officers that the infants 'wouldn't let me sleep.' 'I just gave up and stopped caring. I didn't care about the babies, that's why I poisoned them,' she said, according to prosecutors. She also allegedly told cops that she didn't know the twins' father and she had been trying to care for them on her own. Kilpatrick's sister had posted pictures of the babies when they were born in March Police wheeled a gurney out of the housing complex; it's unclear if both infants were wrapped in the black cover; their mother has been taken into custody The New York City's Medical Examiner unit rolled a gurney out of the apartment on Thursday afternoon after a grisly discovery of two infant twins were found in a housing complex Kilpatrick's sister, Quanteya, 39, however, disputed such claims, telling officers she had been going to visit her younger sibling to help her look after the infants, according to the Daily News. On Friday night Kilpatrick was pictured in a white hazmat suit and blue surgical face mask as she was taken out of the NYPD's 114th Precinct in Astoria. She was seen giving a wide-eyed stare to cameras as she was taken to jail, less than 24 hours after her arrest. Kilpatrick has been charged with two counts of murder, two counts of acting in a manner injurious to a child and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. Pictures of the two babies have since emerged on social media. Kilpatrick's sister had posted a picture of the babies when they were born in March with the caption: 'Huge congratulations to my Sister Danezja on her newborn twins Dallas and Dakota Kilpatrick. I'm so happy for her'. A relative had requested a wellness check to the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) building in Woodside after the 23-year-old mother gave evasive answers when asked about the babies' whereabouts, according to a police source. The Woodside Houses in Queens is a low-income community run by NYC's Housing Authority 'I do not want them,' the young mother reportedly told arriving officers 'I do not want them,' she reportedly told arriving officers, according to the New York Daily News. 'I can't take it anymore,' she told police, according to the Post. An EMS paramedic pronounced both the both and the girl dead. Police recovered a knife at the scene and brought Kilpatrick in for questioning. The Administration for Children's Services is also investigating the death of the twins. Neighbors said the woman had just moved into the apartment last month, according to the Post. 'I'm so sad. I'm shook. I'm heartbroken,' Janelis Perez, 31, told the New York Post. A neighbor said she hadn't heard anything she considered suspicious. Austin Calls Climate Crisis a Profoundly Destabilizing Force in the World April 23 , 2021 (EIRNS)U.S. military operations, influenced and informed by the intentional misdirection of British intelligence, have directly killed 1-2 million peoplemaybe morein Southwest Asia and North Africa over the last 30 years, and millions more indirectly, through simultaneously driving several of these countries into complete chaos and misery. Now, updating the older PNAC (Project for a New American Century) post-1989/91 global hegemon rationale for full spectrum dominance through perpetual war, is the use of the phony climate change as the pretext for war in the service of the right to protect the planet. Now, if something is not China/Russias fault, its the fault of climate change. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stood up in front of the Climate Change Summit on April 22 and declared: Today, no nation can find lasting security without addressing the climate crisis. We face all kinds of threats in our line of work, but few of them truly deserve to be called existential. The climate crisis does. ... Climate change is making the world more unsafe and we need to act. The climate crisis is a profoundly destabilizing force for our world. As the Arctic melts, competition for resources and influence in the region increases. Closer to the Equator, rising temperatures and more frequent and intense extreme weather events in Africa and Central America threaten millions with drought, hunger, and displacement. Its a neat cover for the combined effects of U.S./NATO military campaigns and 50 years of neoliberal economics that have denied these countries their sovereign rights to economic development. But the climate change hysteria is not separate from geopolitics. A separate story on the Department of Defenses Climate Action Team, published by the DOD newsroom earlier in the day, makes that clear. Joe Bryan, the DOD senior climate advisor, said that these impacts of climate change affect training and installations and are one of the driving factors for humanitarian crises globally, the DOD story reports. Climate change also factors into geopolitical and economic issues, Bryan said. With the ice in the Arctic Ocean melting, for example, China and Russia are looking to exploit the area both economically and militarily, and the Pentagon must develop a sound plan for how it responds. The National Defense Strategy recognizes that the U.S. is under a variety of threats, including climate change, he said. Bryan, a special assistant to Austin, is a long time clean energy and decarbonization advocate. At least 10 thousand people marched through the streets of the capital. The crowd, holding torches and candles, gathered around the memorial to the victims. Turkish and Azerbaijani flags burned. Waiting for Biden's possible recognition of the genocide. A move that on the Turkish front would lead to the "irreparable" destruction of relations. Yerevan (AsiaNews) - At least 10,000 people marched through the streets of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, last night to commemorate the 1915 genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The crowd, holding candles or torches lit to symbolize the victims, gathered in the city center around the memorial built in memory of the massacre. Some demonstrators sang patriotic songs, others still played drums. The march is held each year on the eve of April 24, a date that symbolizes the beginning of the genocide. Militants of the nationalist party and the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (FRA), at the head of the march, burned flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan, against which a war has been fought in recent months in Nagorno-Karabakh. This years commemoration is marked by anticipation for the possible announcement by US President Joe Biden of the recognition as "genocide" of the massacre of Armenians during the "great war". Yesterday, a spokesman for the State Department said an announcement is expected for the day today according to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Asked about the issue, retired diplomat Sukru Elekdag, ambassador to the US from 1979 to 1989, stresses that any "recognition" by the White House "has the potential to" undermine and destroy Turkish-American relations in an irreparable way. " The Armenian genocide is already recognized by about thirty nations and by the community of historians. It is estimated that between 1.2 and 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire during that controversial period. Ankara rejects the use of the term "genocide" and rejects the accusations of extermination, speaking of mutual massacres in a context of war and famine. Any recognition by Washington would risk further complicating relations within NATO, an Atlantic alliance to which both the United States and Turkey are part. For years, Yerevan has been asking Turkey for financial compensation and the restoration of the property rights of the descendants of the victims of the massacres, known in Armenian as Meds Yeghern ("the great crime"). In this undated file photo provided by the Polk County, Iowa, Jail is Nicole Poole Franklin. Polk County Jail via AP, File An Iowa woman pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges for hitting 2 kids with her car in 2019. Nicole Franklin admitted she ran over the kids because of their race, the Justice Department said. Franklin also pleaded guilty to state attempted murder charges. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. An Iowa woman pleaded guilty to hate crime charges for attempting to kill two children because she thought they were of Middle Eastern, African, or Mexican descent. Nicole Franklin, 43, admitted to the charges on Wednesday, the Justice Department said in a statement. "Nicole Poole Franklin attempted to kill two children because she thought they came from another country," Pamela S. Karlan, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the department's civil rights division, said in the statement. "All people in the United States, regardless where they come from, have the right to be free from fear of violence because of who they are." In the first encounter, Franklin was driving her SUV in Des Moines, Iowa on Dec. 9, 2019, when she saw two kids walking along the sidewalk. She believed one of the kids was of Middle Eastern or African descent and "drove her vehicle over the curb towards both children, striking one of them." She then drove away. The Des Moines Register reported Franklin thought the 12-year-old boy was a member of the Islamic State terrorist group. Around half an hour later, Franklin was driving and saw a child who she presumed was Mexican walking on the sidewalk near Indian Hills Junior High School in Clive, Iowa. She again drove her car over the curb and struck the child. She fled the scene but was caught later that day. The first child suffered cuts, bruising, and swelling. The Associated Press reported in 2019 that the second victim, 14-year-old Natalia Miranda, suffered a concussion and severe bruising and was hospitalized for two days. "I don't remember the impact," Miranda told the KCCI. "I just remember the car coming toward me." Story continues Franklin also yelled derogatory statements about Latinos during her interview with police, according to the AP. The Des Moines Register also reported that after these incidents, Poole allegedly drove to a Conoco gas station and began both stealing items and hurling others at an employee and customers while calling them Middle Eastern racial and ethnic slurs. The president of the League of United Latin American Citizens as well as the Des Moines chapter of the group also called on prosecutors to charge Franklin with a hate crime at the time. If Franklin pleads guilty to the federal hate crime charges she could face a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the charged offenses. Her federal sentencing date is set for Aug. 19. The Des Moines Register added that Franklin has also pleaded guilty in Iowa District Court to two counts of attempted murder over the incidents. Read the original article on Insider Mark Huffman edits copy and occasionally writes some, too. He's been a journalist since newspapers had typewriters and darkrooms. Britain has again outflanked the EU to secure a huge priority order of vaccines this time from a French manufacturer, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Brussels chiefs are still furious at AstraZeneca for promising the UK first deliveries of its vaccine supplies and remain engaged in a bitter legal battle with the Anglo-Swedish firm, claiming it has reneged on its deal with the bloc. The dispute appears to have prompted another vaccine maker, Frances Valneva, to make it clear to Eurocrats that its contract will put the UK at the head of the queue for their jabs too. Europes vaccination rollout is in danger of being over-reliant on the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, the ambassadorial meeting notes also reveal An initial British deal for 60 million Valneva doses was struck last September, with the order raised to 100 million at the start of February. By contrast, the EU was still in advanced discussions about buying 60 million doses in January The clash clears the way for the UK to start receiving its 100 million shots of the two-dose vaccine which is made in West Lothian, Scotland later this year. Details of the row between Valneva, based in Nantes in western France, and Brussels are laid bare in official notes of an internal meeting of EU ambassadors, seen by this newspaper. The minutes state that the deal proposed by Valneva so far remains below expectations for [EU] Member States, in part because the firms contract is explicitly giving priority to the UK over the EU. The European Commission has also received no commitment from the company on delivery schedules, the ambassadors complained. Both matters prioritising the UK and delivery schedules have been bones of contention between EU leaders and AstraZeneca. European officials have repeatedly accused AstraZeneca of breaching the terms of its contract with the bloc by supplying Britain first even though the UK contract was signed first. According to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, AstraZenecas contract with the UK is an exclusivity deal while its contract with the EU is a best efforts arrangement. Our contract trumps theirs, the Health Secretary quipped in March. Similarly, Valneva signed agreements to supply the UK with vaccine supplies months ago, but has not yet put pen to paper with the EU. An initial British deal for 60 million Valneva doses was struck last September, with the order raised to 100 million at the start of February. By contrast, the EU was still in advanced discussions about buying 60 million doses in January. Signs of the rift emerged last Tuesday when Valneva said it would be discussing deals on a country by country basis and was consequently de-prioritising centralised discussions with the European Commission. Two days later, in what appeared to be an attempt at saving face, the Commission said Valneva had not, at this stage, succeeded to meet contractual conditions demanded by Europe. When companies want their vaccines to be integrated in our vaccines portfolio, a certain set of conditions has to be respected, a spokesman said. Europes vaccination rollout is in danger of being over-reliant on the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, the ambassadorial meeting notes also reveal. Several member states cautioned against the risks of relying too much on Pfizer-BioNTech and called to develop a broad portfolio of vaccines, they say. EU states have now administered 120 million vaccine doses, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, of which 83.8 million more than two-thirds have been Pfizer. South Korea has signed a contract with Pfizer to purchase an additional 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2021) South Korea has signed a contract with Pfizer to purchase an additional 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday. "On April 24, a purchase contract for additional 40 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was signed. It brings the total number of Pfizer vaccines [that the country has bought] to 66 million," the agency said in a statement. According to KDCA, South Korea should receive a total of 192 million doses of various COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 including AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, Janssen and Novavax. This amount should be enough to vaccinate 99 million people, which is almost twice the population of the country. The latest purchases are aiming to make vaccination available to a wider age range including those under 18 and will also give the country's government the opportunity to inoculate its citizens with a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine, KDCA said. South Korea, which started its vaccination campaign in February, aims to achieve herd immunity by November. The Pfizer and BioNTech pharmaceutical companies started trials examining the efficiency of the third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine. The Prime Minister's new Director of Communications Jack Doyle, at the PM's request, has made a number of false accusations to the media. 1. Re Dyson. I do have some WhatsApp messages between the PM/Dyson forwarded to me by the PM. I have not found the ones that were leaked to Laura Kuenssberg on my phone nor am I aware of being sent them last year. I was not directly or indirectly a/the source for the BBC/Kuenssberg story on the PM/Dyson texts. Yesterday some No10 officials told me that No10 would make this accusation and told me what they believe actually happened that Dyson's office emailed a number of officials, including HMT officials, and included screenshots of the PM/Dyson texts, and that this correspondence, from roughly a year ago, was passed to the BBC. I do not know if this is correct. Officials told me yesterday that I was not copied in on this correspondence and I do not remember it (I no longer have access to my official email so cannot check this). I am happy to meet with the Cabinet Secretary and for him to search my phone for Dyson messages. If the PM did send them to me, as he is claiming, then he will be able to show the Cabinet Secretary on his own phone when they were sent to me. It will therefore be easy to establish at least if I was ever sent these messages. I am also happy to publish or give to the Cabinet Secretary the PM/Dyson messages that I do have, which concerned ventilators, bureaucracy and covid policy not tax issues. 2. Re lockdown. Last year there was a meeting between the PM, Cabinet Secretary, the Director of Communications and me regarding the leak of the decision for a further lockdown on the Friday evening immediately after the meeting in the Cabinet Room that made the decision (known in the media as 'the chatty rat story'). The Cabinet Secretary told the PM that the leak was neither me nor the then Director of Communications and that 'all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman and others in that office, I'm just trying to get the communications data to prove it'. The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards, 'If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends [pause] perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?' I told him that this was 'mad' and totally unethical, that he had ordered the inquiry himself and authorised the Cabinet Secretary to use more invasive methods than are usually applied to leak inquiries because of the seriousness of the leak. I told him that he could not possibly cancel an inquiry about a leak that affected millions of people, just because it might implicate his girlfriend's friends. I refused to try to persuade the Cabinet Secretary to stop the inquiry and instead I encouraged the Cabinet Secretary to conduct the inquiry without any concern for political ramifications. I told the Cabinet Secretary that I would support him regardless of where the inquiry led. I warned some officials that the PM was thinking about cancelling the inquiry. They would give evidence to this effect under oath to any inquiry. I also have WhatsApp messages with very senior officials about this matter which are definitive. Shortly afterwards the Cabinet Secretary authorised the PM's then Official Spokesman to tell the media that his inquiry had shown that neither I nor the then Director of Communications were the 'lockdown leakers' and he confirmed to me in writing that he had so instructed the PM's then Official Spokesman (who subsequently left). The PM himself also confirmed in writing that the leak inquiry had shown that neither I nor the then Director of Communications was the leaker, describing rumours to this effect as 'total bullshit'. The PM therefore knows that I was not the source of the leak and that the Cabinet Secretary authorised the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman to tell the media this, yet he has now authorised his DOC to make this accusation. The Cabinet Secretary knows the above is true and obviously can see our messages regarding this on his own phone. He behaved with complete integrity during this difficult incident. These events contributed to my decision to stick to my plan to leave No10 by 18 December, which I had communicated to the PM in July the day before my long-delayed operation. 3. Re the flat. The Prime Minister's DOC has also made accusations regarding me and leaks concerning the PM's renovation of his flat. The PM stopped speaking to me about this matter in 2020 as I told him I thought his plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended. I refused to help him organise these payments. My knowledge about them is therefore limited. I would be happy to tell the Cabinet Secretary or Electoral Commission what I know concerning this matter. 4. I have made the offer to hand over some private text messages, even though I am under no legal obligation to do so, because of the seriousness of the claims being made officially by No10 today, particularly the covid leak that caused serious harm to millions. This does not mean that I will answer every allegation made by No10. The proper way for such issues to be handled is via an urgent Parliamentary inquiry into the government's conduct over the covid crisis which ought to take evidence from all key players under oath and have access to documents. Issues concerning covid and/or the PM's conduct should not be handled as No10 has handled them over the past 24 hours. I will cooperate fully with any such inquiry and am happy to give evidence under oath. I am happy for No10 to publish every email I received and sent July 2019-November 2020 (with no exceptions other than, obviously, some national security / intelligence issues). It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves. I will not engage in media briefing regarding these issues but will answer questions about any of these issues to Parliament on 26 May for as long as the MPs want. The global war against the coronavirus pandemic is far from over despite mass vaccination programs being rolled out worldwide, as evidenced by a huge spike in cases in India where the single largest daily number of infections to date almost 315,000 in a 24-hour period - was reported earlier this week. In the United States, the national vaccination program has been largely successful with President Joe Biden making good on his promise to oversee the delivery of 200 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days after assuming office. However, the US faces a very different front in the battle to contain the virus within its own borders with large numbers of Americans stating they have no intention of getting a vaccine. And in this struggle Biden is looking to an unlikely ally to give his administrations vaccine rollout another shot in the arm: Donald Trump. According to a Monmouth University poll published on 14 April, 43 percent of Republican voters said they would not be lining up to receive a vaccine. Across the political spectrum of Republicans, Democrats and Independents, 21 percent of US citizens have stated they will avoid the vaccine altogether if they are not obliged to get one. This creates a serious problem for the Biden administration, the Centers for Disease Control and the FDA: if one in five Americans refuse to be vaccinated, herd immunity may be impossible to achieve. Estimates of what percentage of a population need to be immunized to achieve herd immunity vary from 60-70 percent to 70-85 percent, but the reality is nobody is entirely sure: The World Health Organization states herd immunity against measles requires about 95 percent of a population to be vaccinated. For polio, the threshold is about 80 percent. US unlikely to enforce covid vaccination Full screen Joe Biden delivers remarks on the COVID-19 response and the state of vaccinations at the South Court Auditorium of Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 21, 2021 in Washington, DC. ALEX WONG (AFP) While some countries are exploring the possibility of making vaccination mandatory, any move to do likewise in the US would be met with a flurry of legal action that would likely end up in the Supreme Court. There is a precedent for state law to enforce vaccination on its populace a 1905 Supreme Court ruling on mandatory vaccination in Massachusetts following a smallpox outbreak. But despite the will on healthcare grounds to get the entire population vaccinated, Biden is unlikely to risk the political storm enforcing such a mandate on Americans would reap. As such, the president will look toward the carrot rather than the stick and the White House has already announced tax credits to businesses that provide paid time off for some people to get covid-19 shots as Biden seeks to get corporate America more involved in the vaccination campaign. Biden administration officials said the government plans to reimburse businesses for the cost of giving workers as many as 80 hours paid time off to get their shots or recover from any vaccination side effects. The tax credit of up to $511 per day through September for each worker would be given to businesses with fewer than 500 employees, officials said. Businesses of that size employ roughly half of the country's private sector workers. The tax credits were authorized under Democratic-backed covid-19 pandemic relief legislation passed by Congress and signed by Biden. The president also plans to make a televised appeal for all businesses to help convince people to get their shots, officials said. J&J vaccine halt dents confidence However, the halting of the J&J vaccine rollout following several reported cases of blood clotting has only added to vaccine hesitancy in the US. The United States has expanded vaccination eligibility to most American adults, and more than half that population has had at least one vaccine dose, according to the CDC. A third of US adults are fully vaccinated, as well as 26% of the population overall, it said. The FDA on Friday recommended the J&J vaccine be put back into circulation in the US but the damage done to confidence in vaccines overall may be harder to restore. This is where Donald Trump comes in. Trump could hold key to vaccine hesitancy The former president has been vaccinated but unlike other ex-White House incumbents and other public figures, he did not do so on camera. During an interview on Fox News, Trump said he encouraged people to get vaccinated but he has also previously stated that he appreciates peoples right to choose whether or not to receive one. An open Republican endorsement of the vaccine program could be vital in shifting public opinion among those reluctant to roll up their sleeves, whether it be from Trump or other prominent Republican sympathizers. The number of people who have been skittish about the vaccine has dropped as more Americans line up for the shot, but the hardcore group who want to avoid it at all costs has barely budged. The recent news about J&J vaccines is probably not going to help that situation. On the other hand, it might not make it all that much worse since much of this reluctance is really ingrained in partisan identity, said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, which carried out the survey before the halting of the J&J rollout earlier in April. SAN FRANCISCO, April 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Holberton, the software engineering education company, announced today that it has partnered with SAYNA, an online education company in Madagascar, to offer affordable, high-quality tech education in the country. Holberton will work with SAYNA to create three, tailored, full-stack web curricula using Holbertons OS of education, a set of tools that enable organizations to quickly create courses or curricula on their own. We are delighted to work with such an innovative education company in deploying our OS of education to create opportunities for students to join the digital revolution that is sweeping the world, said Julien Barbier, Holbertons CEO. The Republic of Madagascar is the worlds second-largest island country, located in the Indian Ocean about 250 miles West of Africa. With a population of nearly 30 million, per capita annual income of $450 and GDP of $13 billion, Madagascar has been a surprising hotbed of recent technology innovations, with high local demand for software engineering talent. The worlds first 3D-printed school is being built in Madagascar. The Holberton-SAYNA curricula in Madagascar include: The Fighter program: a 12-month, flexible, part-time program to become a web developer; The Student program: a 24-month, full-time program to become a software engineer; The Executive program: a 9-month program for developers to specialize in new technologies. SAYNA gives its students the opportunity for real-world work experience through micro projects sponsored by companies such as Capgemini (global systems integration firm), Generali Group (finanial services), Societe Generale (banking) and Orange (telecommunications). Students not only learn through these projects but earn money as well. The better students perform in their studies, the more access they have to these micro projects and future employment. As elsewhere in 2020, online education boomed In Madagascar as many people lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic and sought retraining. Meanwhile, Madagascars demand for software developers has exploded. With this partnership, Sayna expects to train 500 new software developers this year alone and hopes for exponential growth from there. Giving everyone in Madagascar access to high-quality software engineering training will help Madagascars economy, says Matina Razafimahefa, CEO of SAYNA. That growth will also develop the local startup ecosystem. Are you in Madagascar and interested in becoming a software developer and participating in creating the future? Apply here! About HolbertonFounded in Silicon Valley in 2015, Holbertons innovative and flexible delivery of the OS of Education provides a unique portfolio of tools, auto-graded tailored curricula and teaching methods to help its customers - education institutions, universities, corporations and franchisees - successfully train the next generation of digital talent at scale. Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Twitter About SAYNA Founded in Madagascar in 2018, SAYNA, which means intelligence in Malagasy, is Africas first technology education and micro job platform. SAYNA links a community of developers it has trained with IT projects that have been broken down into micro tasks. SAYNA has already trained more than 200 students, and works with more than 150 qualified freelancers and more than 60 companies, including Groupe AXIAN, Orange Madagascar, World Bank, Access Bank and others. Editorial ContactLonn Johnston for Holbertonlonn@flak42.com+1 650.219.7764 Source: Holberton The VinFast Global Showroom Design Competition organized by Vietnam Design Association - Ho Chi Minh City (VDAS) and VinFast from January 25 th to February 25 th , received approximately 1000 entries from 90 countries across 5 continents. Accordingly, VFDC 2021 greatly attracted designer contestants from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Vietnam, which are key markets in VinFast's global strategy. Mr. Ho Tan Duong, President of VDAS, member of the panel of judges at VFDC 2021 said, "New to the market, but with global vision and quality customers experiences, VinFast has been a strong inspiration for design community. It's difficult to choose the best works as they are of almost equal quality. Outstanding contestants contributed works that are not only breakthroughs in presentation of lines, blocks, and layout, but also demonstrations of their ability to diversify building substance and structures in devising extremely creative, new and modern space for VinFast showrooms." The best entries at VFDC 2021 had to feature the following criterias: best design concept, sharpest rendition of VinFast's spirit, and feasibility. After a rigorous 3-round evaluation, the panel of judges comprised of leading designers and Vingroup's high-ranking leaders selected nine best entries, namely one First Prize for designer Vicky Daroca (USA) at 30.000 USD, and eight Second Prizes for other designers at 1.750 USD. Ms. Thai Thanh Hai, CEO of VinFast said, "We are very happy that VFDC has attracted designers from all over the world, those who have a similarity with VinFast about the strong creativity and the desire to go boundless together, to create the best outcomes. That encourages VinFast to have more confidence on the way to win global customers' hearts." Winning over 1000 entries, the entry of designer Vicky Daroca from the US successfully impressed the panel of judges by not only a very distinctive design concept, but also a vivid and exquisite presentation of VinFast's "Boundless Together" spirit. "There are almost no boundaries in designer Vicky Daroca's work of VinFast showroom. Inspired by VinFast's logo, Vicky Daroca's approach clearly shows a strong state of freedom and consistency in creative interpretation. Such a spatial arrangement that brings contentment experiences to customers every time they visit "- said Mr. Patrick Fong, President of the Asia Pacific Design Awards. Mr.Tung Ching Yew, SODA's Managing Director, Vice President of Society of Interior Designers Singapore, stated: "Designing is a global language. We do feel the distinctiveness, the uniqueness in designers' creativity. They really impressed us by the immaculateness, devotion, and enthusiasm imbued in their entries. VFDC 2021 is one of very few showroom design competitions that have such quality entries!" As for globally connecting people, growing talents, and honoring VinFast's intelligence, nine best VinFast showroom designs were honored at Times Square (New York, USA) on April 22 - on the occasion of Earth Day. As earlier pledged by VinFast, the best contestants will have the opportunity to cooperate with the company in its global projects and programs in 2021. For more information, please visit website: vinfastcompetition.com About the Organizer - VDAS Vietnam Design Association - Ho Chi Minh City (VDAS) is one of the most prestigious organizations in the field of creative design and architecture in Vietnam. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1495662/Image_1.jpg Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykDuRxZJ3oU SOURCE VDAS Design Association HCM, VN Bolat Duisenov, chairman of Coteccons, seen at the company's headquarter in Ho Chi Minh City on April 20, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. The new head of Vietnamese construction giant Coteccons has downplayed foreign takeover rumors, saying the company is restructuring towards reclaiming its big cap reputation on the stock market. "The last six months were not easy for me personally and for the board as well as all Coteccons employees," chairman Bolat Duisenov told VnExpress. "But we have renewed our vision, and made every decision by answering one question: how will this help the company grow in the long run." Duisenov, a Kazakhstani, took over the construction giant in October last year from founder Nguyen Ba Duong who left the company after 17 years. The company was recovering from a spate of conflicts with Singapore-based construction firm Kustocem at that time. Kustocem owns an 18.23 percent stake in Coteccons. The leadership of Coteccons had accused the Singaporean firm of launching a hostile takeover bid, then. After Duisenov took over, the board deployed a major restructuring of the company, focusing on the four key areas of human resource development, operations, customers and finances. "What we are most proud of is being able to retain talents and attract new ones while helping them work well with each other." It was a challenging task as over 600 employees had left Coteccons last year. Duisenov said those who left were not able to adjust to the changes, while those who stayed proved that they were willing to tackle new obstacles. Commenting on the talk around town that Coteccons is being taken over by foreigners. Duisenov asserted that the company continued to be "very Vietnamese." Its erstwhile leaders left for personal reasons and there was no takeover agenda, he said, adding that although there were some foreigners on the management board, most of the staff were Vietnamese and working to build up a Vietnamese brand that will have a place in the global market. The dispute between Coteccons and Kustocem had sent its CTD shares plunging in recent years. It was down 70 percent from its November 2017 value at VND67,000 ($2.9) Friday. Duisenov attributed the fall to months of not being able to sign new contracts, adding that the CTD shares were being undervalued, considering its improved financial figures. In December last year, the company had targeted VND4 trillion worth of new contracts, but managed VND6 trillion and this has risen to VND10 trillion now, he added. The company, which had been operating without debt for years, plans to break the tradition by issuing VND500 billion worth of shares. Duisenov said although the company still has over VND3 trillion in cash, it plans to expand into more infrastructure projects in the future, which requires large amounts capital. Therefore, it is looking to raise money early, he added. The chairman also said that he hopes to steer the company in new directions. Coteccons has always been known as a builder of office and apartment buildings, which makes it dependent on the fluctuations in the real estate market, he said. Duisenov noted that construction giants all over the world have diverse growth pillars, like infrastructure, airports and other types of real estate. Therefore, he said, he plans to diversify the company into more areas and once again make CTD a blue chip ticker on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange. Apple has been discovered to have a fatal flaw with one of its wireless data transferring features known as the AirDrop, as a vulnerability was found by German security researchers linking to numerous users. Most people have been leaving their AirDrop turned on for either "Everyone," or "Contacts Only," which leaves their devices open for a possible hack. AirDrop is one of the most convenient features for Apple users as devices equipped with it can transfer files to each other, even without an internet connection, the cloud, or connecting the devices to a computer. Data including those from the "Files" folder, Notes, and Photos are among the many applications where AirDrop is most likely to be utilized. A lot has tried to copy the AirDrop, and the different versions out there have been something to check, but heavy Apple users and fanboys that utilize the company's innovations are blessed to have an all-in-one service. Amidst the April 20-concluded Spring-loaded event, Apple has released a lot of new tech for their lineup and it has brought a great deal for the Cupertino giant. Read Also: Newly-Launched 12.9-inch iPad Pro Does Not Work With Older Magic Keyboards Apple AirDrop Vulnerability: Leads to Hack? According to security researchers from Technische Universitat Darmstadt in Germany, "Apple AirDrops shares more than files," and the team has explained how it happens even when not using the feature. As simple as leaving it turned on for "Everyone" to send users any file, it can be vulnerable to the attack. Currently, there are 1.5 billion users of devices wirh AirDrop, and researchers said that those are also the numbers of vulnerable AirDrop users for the hack to take place. The security researchers have also claimed that Apple has not yet "closed" this privacy vulnerability that it has, leaving these users exposed as of the moment. The simple process of leaving the AirDrop on can lead to vulnerabilities as it can lead experienced people into tapping into a user's data even when the phone is not actively used but has the AirDrop turned on in the background. The "Contacts Only" feature is not exactly as dangerous compared to "Everyone," but it does not make it safe for a head-on attack from threat actors. How to Be Safe and Protect Data from This Hack? The answer is simple and easy, and it is through turning off the AirDrop or toggling the "Receiving Off" setting whenever the feature is not in use. It is great to have this habit by leaving it turned off and using it whenever it is required or needed. How to Turn AirDrop Off via Control Center Swipe from the bottom (iPhone 8 and below, SE) or Swipe down from the top right corner (iPhone X and above) to toggle Control Center Long press the pane where connections are grouped (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) Long press the AirDrop setting to toggle its mode Click "Receiving Off" How to Turn AirDrop Off via Settings Go to Settings > General > AirDrop Click "Receiving Off" Apple has been discovered to have a ransomware attack in the previous days, and the Cupertino giant is faced with massive security problems with its AirDrop, so it is best to stay safe and vigilant with one's data. Related Article: Apple Hit With Lawsuit Over Misleading 'Buy' and 'Rent' Tags, Federal Judge Rejects Appeal This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Richard 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. "Law School" cast Kim Bum and Ryu Hye Young spoke about their friendship on the set of the JTBC drama. After debuting last April 14, the mystery-crime series instantly became the talk of the town with the show's star-studded cast and intriguing storyline. Over social media, fans can't help but express their amusement with unexpected turns of events that piqued the interest of the viewers. They even compared the Korean drama to ABC's legal thriller series "How to Get Away with Murder," starring Viola Davis. "Law School" Leads Kim Bum and Ryu Hye Young Spill the Tea Now, the lead stars Kim Bum and Ryu Hye Young share their insights about their roles and reveal what it's like working together. View this post on Instagram A post shared by JTBC (@jtbcdrama) The 30-year-old actress plays the role of a first-year law student, Kang Sol A, who managed to enter the elite Hankuk University despite being underprivileged. On the other hand, his groupmate Han Joon Hwi, portrayed by the "Boys Over Flowers" actor, is the top student of his class but lives a mysterious life. To make things worse, he was named as one of the prime suspects of his uncle and law professor Seo Byeong Joo's death inside the university. In a new report, Ryu Hye Young shares how she carries out the role of the high-spirited Kang Sol A. The "Dear my Room" star revealed that she sympathizes with the character and "continue to take a fair and fair move with a passionate heart." Meanwhile, his co-star went to describe the actress as someone who is more "passionate" than Sol A, adding "she is a friend who approaches acting more seriously than anyone else and runs very sincerely on what he is in charge of." As for Kim Bum, he mentioned that just like Han Joon Hwi, he takes "truth and justice very seriously" but also described himself as someone who can "empathize with the pain and conflict" by his motives. When it comes to his colleagues, the "Padam Padam" star shares that he likes to take care of the people around him - whether he is with his co-actors or the "Law School" team. Ryu Hye Young Feels Comfortable Working with the "Law School" Cast This is why Ryu Hye Young mentioned that she is comfortable working with Kim Bum, as well as the whole "Law School" cast. In a previous report, the "Love, Lies" actress revealed that she is thrilled and honored to be acting alongside respected and well-known stars and for portraying Kang Sol A's role. Aside from the duo, the JTBC drama cast also includes Kim Myung Min, who plays the former prosecutor turned professor Yang Jong Hoon. The student dubbed him as professor "Yangcrates" because of his strict and authoritarian way of teaching. Capping off the lead stars is Lee Jung Eun as Kim Eun Sook. Just like Yang Jong Hoon, she is also a former prosecutor who chose to teach law in a prestigious university. KDramastars owns this article. Written by Geca Wills The creator of Vietnams ST25 rice, which was honored as the worlds best rice in 2019, is proceeding with the trademark protection registration for the variety in the U.S., a move after several American firms reportedly made such registration last year. Procedures for the ST25 rice trademark protection in the U.S. are underway, Ho Quang Cua, the variety creator, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday. Cua made the statement following the news that five American firms reportedly submitted their applications for ST25 rice trademark registration in July 2020. We are not capable of exporting rice and knowledgeable about legal issues relating to overseas trademark protection, so we have yet to make such registration in the U.S. as well as other key markets, the scientist explained. The ST25 rice won the Worlds Best Rice title in 2019, and the rice is highly trusted by consumers because of its outstanding quality, Cua said. It is rated better than the famous seasonal rice varieties of other countries, he added. With an aim to gain advantages in trade, many American firms made their trademark protection registration for the ST25 variety in the U.S. at the points of time when the rice had yet to be consumed abroad, the father of the rice said. Such a move by American enterprises is in compliance with the U.S. laws, but it can cause damage to related parties such as consumers, Cua said. With support from the media, the rices creator said he will endeavor to apply for the ST25 rice trademark protection in the U.S., for the prestige of the Vietnamese brand and the sake of consumers. Cua said he has been deeply moved when a Vietnamese business giant with operations in the U.S. offered to assist him in getting through the trademark registration procedures. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everybody for consultation and support, especially to the enterprise for its love for Vietnam, said Cua. The agricultural engineer has spent over 20 years inventing and improving Vietnams ST rice varieties. In 2017, his ST24 rice won the second prize at the Worlds Best Rice contest in Macau, China. In a talk with Tuoi Tre on Wednesday, Vu Ba Phu, director of the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said local enterprises should proceed with necessary steps on trademark protection when they ship goods overseas, especially in their key markets. When exporting any products to any markets, Vietnamese enterprises must register for intellectual property protection of their goods in those markets, said Hoang Minh Chien, deputy director of the Trade Promotion Agency, in a recent interview with Lao Dong (Labor) online newspaper. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on migration flows in the EU. Movement restrictions put in place in light of the coronavirus pandemic have led to a reduction in migration, both legal and illegal, as countries have closed borders, restricted routes for legal migration and scaled back programmes to take in refugees. However, the flaws in the EU's asylum system exposed by the arrival of more than one million asylum seekers and migrants in 2015 remain. Parliament has been working on proposals to create a fairer, more effective European asylum policy. As EUreporter writes, below you will find all the relevant data about migration in Europe, who migrants are, what the EU is doing to get to grips with the situation, and what financial implications there have been. Definitions: What is a refugee? What is an asylum seeker? Asylum seekers are people who make a formal request for asylum in another country because they fear their life is at risk in their home country. Refugees are people with a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, politics or membership of a particular social group who have been accepted and recognised as such in their host country. In the EU, the qualification directive sets guidelines for assigning international protection to those who need it. Currently people from outside the EU must apply for protection in the first EU country they enter. Filing a claim means that they become asylum applicants (or asylum seekers). They receive refugee status or a different form of international protection only once a positive decision has been made by national authorities. Asylum decisions in the EU In the first 10 months of 2020, there were 390,000 asylum applications in the EU, 33% less than the same period of 2019. In 2018, there were 634,700 applications, significantly lower than the more than one million applications registered in 2015 and 2016. Particularly large declines were seen in Germany, France and Italy in the first seven months of 2020. There were fewer first-time applications from Syria (135,000 fewer than the average for 2018 and 2019, down 52%), Iraq (down 55%) and Nigeria (down 58%). However, numbers were up in Spain and Romania, partly due to an increase in applications from South American countries, including Colombia (up 102% on the average of the previous two years) and Peru (76% higher). A six-year low in irregular border crossings The European Border and Coast Guard Agency collects data on illegal crossings of the EU's external borders registered by national authorities. In 2015 and 2016, more than 2.3 million illegal crossings were detected. The total number of illegal crossings in January-November 2020 dropped to 114,300, the lowest level in the last six years and a decrease of 10% compared to the same period in 2019. Despite a 55% drop, Afghanistan remains one of the main countries of origin of people detected making an irregular border crossing, along with Syria, Tunisia and Algeria. The Mediterranean crossing remained deadly, with 1,754 people reported dead or missing in 2020 compared to 2,095 people in 2019. Irregular arrivals via the Central Mediterranean Route (to Italy and Malta) increased by 154% in January-November 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. There were more than 34,100 such arrivals in 2020, compared to nearly 11,500 in 2019, with the majority of people arriving in Lampedusa. Arrivals in Spain, and in particular the Canary Islands, increased by 46% (35,800) in 2020 compared to 2019. Many new arrivals originate from countries suffering from an economic downturn rather than conflict. A decline in global remittances is also likely to contribute to this trend. Until the pandemic is contained and economic recovery is underway, poor employment and healthcare prospects will remain an incentive for people to come to the EU. What Europeans are thinking Migration has been an EU priority for years. Several measures have been taken to manage migration flows as well as to improve the asylum system. Even though the Eurobarometer survey from June 2019 shows that migration was the fifth biggest issue that influenced Europeans voting decisions for that years EU elections, a Parlemeter 2020 survey registered a drop in importance. It is considered as the main area of disagreement between the EU and national governments by nearly half (47%) of respondents. The EU significantly increased its funding for migration, asylum and integration policies in the wake of the increased inflow of asylum seekers in 2015. 22.7 billion goes to migration and border management in the EUs budget for 2021-2027, compared with 10bn for migration and asylum in 2014-2020. Refugees in the world Around the world, the number of people fleeing persecution, conflict and violence has reached 80 million. That is equivalent to almost every man, woman and child in Germany being forced from their homes. Children account for about 40% of the worlds refugee population. The countries hosting the largest number of refugees are Turkey, Colombia, Pakistan, Uganda and Germany. Only 14% of the worlds refugees are hosted by developed countries. One of Boris Johnson's top aides caught Covid during a trip to India to secure vaccine supplies sparking fears that he inadvertently exposed Cabinet Ministers and senior civil servants to a mutant strain of the virus. David Quarrey, the Prime Minister's foreign policy adviser, tested positive a week after returning from India as part of a failed Government bid to secure millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Mr Quarrey, the Deputy National Security Adviser, and Lord Lister, Mr Johnson's then fixer and ally, last month visited the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine manufacturer and a producer of the AstraZeneca jab, in an attempt to secure more doses for the UK. David Quarrey, the Prime Minister's foreign policy adviser, tested positive a week after returning from India The SII delivered five million vaccine doses to the UK in early March, but the Indian government has allegedly held back a further five million as the country battles a terrifying new wave of coronavirus. It is understood the British delegation was rebuffed and left empty-handed. As a Government official engaged on 'essential state business outside of the UK', Mr Quarrey was exempt from having to quarantine for ten days when he returned to Britain. The Mail on Sunday understands that he flew back to the UK on March 25 and went back to work in Whitehall. A week later on April 1 he received a message from NHS Test and Trace that someone on the same flight from India had tested positive for Covid. )Mr Quarrey, the Deputy National Security Adviser, and Lord Lister, Mr Johnson's then fixer and ally, last month visited the Serum Institute of India (SII He took a coronavirus test that day, which came back positive triggering an astonishing health alert in Whitehall as officials scrambled to trace who he had been in contact with since his return from India. Mr Quarrey self-isolated for ten days and a source said all his close contacts followed the correct procedure and also self-isolated. The incident sparked fears of Covid ripping through the heart of the Government as it did last March when Mr Johnson, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty contracted the virus in quick succession. Mr Johnson spent seven nights in hospital, three of them in intensive care. It later emerged that Sir Mark Sedwill, the then Cabinet Secretary, also had coronavirus at the same time. A Government spokesman last night stressed that Mr Quarrey followed the correct procedures on his return to the UK. He is understood to have tested negative during a pre-departure test before travelling back, and had no symptoms when he arrived home. A highly experienced diplomat, Mr Quarrey joined the Foreign Office in 1994 and was the UK's ambassador to Israel between 2015 and 2019. FBI Releases Documents on Probe Into Death of DNC Staffer Seth Rich The FBI has produced 68 pages relating to a Democratic National Committee (DNC) worker who was shot dead in 2016 in Washington, including an investigative summary that appears to suggest that someone could have paid for his death. Seth Rich, who had been the DNCs voter expansion data director, was shot dead in the early morning hours on July 16, 2016, near his home in the nations capital. The slaying, which remains unsolved, fueled widespread media coverage, especially after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange suggested that Rich was the WikiLeaks source for the leaked 2016 presidential campaign DNC emails. Richs family has called that notion a conspiracy theory. The newly released files show that top Department of Justice officials met in 2018 and discussed Richs murder. They reviewed Richs financial records and didnt identify any unusual deposits or withdrawals. Additionally, none of the witnesses interviewed during the investigation reported to authorities anything unusual about Richs life prior to the homicide. One witness saw an individual walking away from the location where Rich was killed but thought Rich was merely drunk so they didnt alert officials. They realized something bad had happened when they saw a bloodstain on the ground in the same place the following day, as well as police tape surrounding the scene. A person whose name was redacted took Richs personal laptop to his house, according to one of the newly released documents. The page also indicates that authorities didnt know whether the person deleted or changed anything on the laptop. The FBI came into possession of Richs work laptop, the bureau previously revealed. On another page, it was said that given [redacted] it is conceivable that an individual or group would want to pay for his death. That doesnt sound like a random street robbery, Ty Clevenger, a lawyer, told The Epoch Times. Law enforcement officials have suggested that Rich was the victim of an attempted robbery, according to news reports, although none of his belongings were stolen. They have said no evidence links the shooting to Richs employment by the DNC. A Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email on Sunday that the case is still active and being investigated. The documents were released this week in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Texas resident Brian Huddleston, whom Clevenger represents. Seth Rich, the voter expansion data director for the Democratic National Committee, in a file photograph. (LinkedIn) Huddleston sued the FBI after it told him it would take eight to 10 months in June 2020 to respond to his Freedom of Information Act request. Huddleston had asked the FBI to produce all data, documents, records, or communications that reference Seth Rich or his brother, Aaron Rich. A federal judge earlier this year ordered the FBI to produce documents concerning Rich by April 23. The FBI identified 576 relevant documents, but only produced 68 of them to Huddleston. The FBI has declined to speak about the lawsuit. Attorneys for Richs parents didnt immediately respond to requests by The Epoch Times for comment. Clevenger said he found it concerning that the government apparently doesnt know whether anything was deleted from Richs personal laptop. The documents were largely redacted, but the information that did get through shows that their whole narrative is falling apart, he said. Its a step in the right direction. The attorney plans to ask U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant, an Obama nominee, to produce unredacted copies for his perusal. The judge could rule that some redactions were improper. Responding parties could also face repercussions, including fines, for not producing all of the documents they have concerning Rich. U.S. Attorney Andrea Parker, who is representing the FBI, told the judge in a court filing this week that the bureau can only process 500 pages per month for each Freedom of Information Act request. She asked the court to give the bureau additional time to produce all of the relevant records. Clevenger told the judge in a separate filing that the private sector routinely processes 500 pages or more per day and that the government should be afforded no more than two weeks to produce the remaining 1,063 pages. The ground-breaking ceremony The company is a manufacturer of complex electronic and electromechanical devices for commercial aerospace, defence, space, instrumentation and control, life sciences, and medical device applications. Located in the vicinity of Ho Chi Minh City, the new factory is expected to officially go into operation in March 2022. The 27,000-square-metre factory will be equipped with a rooftop solar power system, four times larger than the current factory of the company and located near major airports and seaports. This new factory will enhance its advanced electronics manufacturing and machining capabilities. The entire value chain is to be placed in Vietnam, including the provision of engineering services, sample production, manufacturing, supply chain management, and after-sales services. "Vietnam takes an important position in our company," said Paul Fraipont, chairman cum general director of Spartronics LLC and explained that Vietnam is not only a fast-developing country in the region but also a key position in the development strategy of the group. "The new factory proves our commitment to long-term investment in Vietnam, meeting customers' high expectations for product and service quality, as well as contributing to our growth," said Paul Fraipont. Spartronics Vietnam is invested by the US-based Spartronics LLC. The first Spartronics Vietnam factory was built in 2005 in Binh Duong. According to PGTech, a distributor for Spartronics Vietnam factory, some of the group's customers are aiming to expand production in Asia and this is the reason why Spartronics LLC boosts investment and production in Vietnam. Page Content While California has announced tentative plans to lift COVID-19 restrictions by June 15, the difficulties for employers are not over. For much of the COVID-19 pandemic, California struggled to get infection rates under control, and businesses grappled with compliance with a multitude of COVID-19-specific statutes and regulations. Employers also were tasked with navigating existing California employment laws, which did not contemplate a worldwide pandemic. Workplace Safety In November 2020, California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (known as Cal/OSHA) passed the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The ETS imposed certain minimum requirements for covered workplaces, including: Implementation of written COVID-19 prevention programs and measures. Reporting and record-keeping requirements. Worker exclusion when employees have COVID-19 or been exposed. Management of COVID-19 infections and outbreaks. Investigation of COVID-19 cases and outbreaks. Though COVID-19 rates are decreasing in California, the requirements of the ETS remain in place for employers. The overlapping state and county health orders on health and safety in the workplace is another issue. California's Labor & Workforce Development Agency, in conjunction with the Department of Industrial Relations has an employer portal that allows employers to locate county and industry-specific guidance for COVID-19 workplace protocols and requirements. Leave and Accommodation While the federal government's Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) granting emergency COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave expired December 31, 2020, a tax credit remains for the voluntary continuance of the Emergency Paid Sick Leave. Initially, California allowed its 2020 COVID-19 supplemental sick leave law to expire, which resulted in many local supplemental sick leave laws being extended into 2021. Then, on March 29, 2021, California passed an expanded statewide supplemental paid sick leave requirement under SB 95. The expanded paid-sick-leave law applies to employers with more than 25 employees and requires additional time off in 2021 for COVID-19-related reasons beyond the prior law's covered reasons (e.g., vaccine-related absences). The 2020 law applied to employers with at least 500 employees, but the new law applies to small employers and created an added complexity for employers that have been providing FFCRA sick leave and taking advantage of the federal tax credits. The California labor commissioner has released an FAQ and required poster for the new supplemental paid sick leave. The paid leave requirements under the supplemental paid sick leave remain in place until the end of September 2021. In conjunction with the ETS issued by Cal OSHA, employers must maintain an employee's compensation when they are excluded due to a work-related COVID-19 exposure or possible work-related exposure and remain available to work. However, the California labor commissioner has indicated an employer may require an employee to use supplemental paid sick leave before providing Cal OSHA exclusion pay. DFEH Guidance The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), the agency charged with administering the state's employment discrimination statute and regulations, has issued updated COVID-19 guidance. The new guidance includes how employers should handle: COVID-19 inquiries and protective equipment. Employees with COVID-19 symptoms or infection. Job-protected leave. Reasonable accommodations for employees with disability and vulnerable populations. Vaccination The vaccination guidance from the DFEH indicates that an employer may require employees to receive an FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine if certain criteria are met, including: The employer may not discriminate against or harass employees or job applicants based on protected characteristics. The employer must provide reasonable accommodations as required by applicable law. The employer may not retaliate against anyone for engaging in protected activity, such as requesting a reasonable accommodation. The employer properly handles any medical information obtained from employees. California's new COVID-19 supplemental sick leave law provides paid time off to attend a vaccine appointment or if an employee cannot work or telework because of vaccine-related symptoms. Wage and Hour California has been at the forefront of providing premium pay to employees, especially grocery workers and other industries in 2021. This new "hero pay" development has spread across California with more than 20 localities implementing their own ordinances and still more under consideration. Typically, the ordinances require a wage increase of $3 to $5 above the minimum wage for covered employees for a specific period. Employers must review if any of their locations are affected by hero pay ordinances. While there has been no statewide statute mandating additional pay, the Health Care Workers Recognition and Retention Act is pending in the state senate. If passed, it would mandate additional premium pay for healthcare workers. Return to Work Employers will be faced with a number of compliance issues as offices and other worksites open or expand capacity. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring compliance with all state and local guidelines, returning employees from furlough, work-from-home arrangements, reduced schedule, or other employment actions, as well as the proper handling of accommodation requests. Though California does not have a statewide right of re-employment, several cities have such reemployment requirements in place. The local ordinances require employers to offer positions to employees who were laid off due to COVID-19 closures first before hiring new employees. Usually, the ordinance requires that employees with more seniority be given priority in rehiring. Regardless of whether any such ordinance applies, employers should establish an objective process for making decisions about returning employees to the workplace. Jonathan A. Siegel is an attorney with Jackson Lewis in Orange County, Calif. Benjamin A. Tulis, and Cecilie E. Read are attorneys with Jackson Lewis in Los Angeles. Kate L. Brown is an attorney with Jackson Lewis in San Francisco. 2021 Jackson Lewis. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission. The Kingman Project was mined for high grade gold and silver from the 1880s until the early 1940s which coincided with the outbreak of WWII. ( ) is earning into the Kingman Gold and Silver Project, an advanced high-grade gold and silver exploration project in Arizona, US. The current announcement that was released on the 19th April 2021 is a clear sign that the mineralisation in the Kingman project is not localised. As described by the company, this shows that the 1.8km anomaly exists and there are exciting times ahead of us. When Michael Bohm, Chairman of Riedel Resources Limited ( ) approached me to make the first Coffee with Samso, I was very impressed with what I saw from their previous exploration. With the current exploration results, I am convinced that with careful management of exploration funds, there is an interesting mineralising system here to be discovered. Since the previous chat with Michael Bohm on Kingman and New World Resources Limited (ASX: NWC) about the Antler Project, I am now fairly bullish on this region. Both projects have great results and the polymetallic nature is encouraging. In this Rooster Talk with Michael Bohm, Chairman of Riedel Resources Limited ( ), Michael talks to us about the recent drilling results from the Kingman Project. Michael shares his insights on how this mineralising environment has historical results and adjacent projects that have been mined historically. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:20 What the company make of the results. 02:36 Could this be a VMS? 04:25 Market Reaction 05:53 Why Jims is an "Interesting" project. 07:22 Numerous Drill Targets at Kingman. 08:25 Revealing the 18km Anomaly 09:39 News coming up 10:38 The Riedel Team 13:18 Cooking Spot for Mineralisation 13: 42 Conclusion PODCAST About Michael Bohm Chairman BAppSc (Mining Engineering) Appointed: 12 December 2020 Mr. Bohm is a qualified mining professional with extensive Corporate & Operations experience. Michael has extensive minerals industry experience in Australia, South East Asia, Africa, Chile, Canada and Europe. A graduate of WA School of Mines, Michael has worked as a mining engineer, mine manager, study manager, project manager, project director and managing director and has been directly involved in a number of mine developments in the gold, nickel and diamond sectors. Michael is a current Director of a number of ASX-listed companies and sits on their Audit & Risk and Remuneration Committees. Michael has had previous directorships at Argyle Diamonds Mines, Sally Malay Mining Limited and Ashton Mining of Canada. About Riedel Resources Riedel Resources ( ) is an ASX-listed mineral exploration company earning into an advanced high-grade gold exploration project in north-west Arizona. The Kingman Project comprises approximately 200 contiguous mining claims located approximately 30km from the town of Kingman Arizona. The area was mined for high-grade gold and silver from the 1880s to the early 1940s and since then very little modern exploration has ever been carried out on the property. The Riedel board has extensive experience in minerals and mineral exploration in Australia, the US and Canada, amongst others. Kingman Gold Project The Kingman Gold Project is located near Kingman Arizona and only 90 minutes drive from downtown Las Vegas. The project was mined for high grade gold and silver from the 1880s until the early 1940s which coincided with the outbreak of WWII. Following drilling in the 1990s, 11 diamond holes were drilled on the property in late 2019 and which intersected multiple zones of high grade gold, silver and lead from shallow depths and confirmed the extensive mineralisation potential of the area. Riedel plans to aggressively drill and explore the project area during 2021. Kingman Gold Project Map Please let know your thoughts and send any comments to info@Samso.com.au. Remember to Subscribe to the YouTube Channel, Samso Media and the mail list to stay informed and make comments where appropriate. Other than that, also feel free to provide a Review on Google. For further information about Coffee with and Rooster Talks visit: www.samso.com.au About Samso Samso is a renowned resource among the investment community for keen market analysis and insights into the companies and business trends that matter. Investors seek out Samso for knowledgeable evaluations of current industry developments across a variety of business sectors and considered forecasts of future performances. With a compelling format of relaxed online video interviews, Samso provides clear answers to questions they may not have the opportunity to ask and lays out the big picture to help them complete their investment research. And in doing so, Samso also enables companies featured in interviews to build valuable engagement with their investment communities and customers. Headed by industry veteran Noel Ong and based in Perth, Western Australia, Samsos Coffee with Samso and Rooster Talk interviews both feature friendly conversations with business figures that give insights into Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) companies, related concepts and industry trends. Noel Ong is a geologist with nearly 30 years of industry experience and a strong background in capital markets, corporate finance and the mineral resource sector. He was founder and managing director of ASX-listed company from 2009-2017 and has also been involved in several other ASX listings, providing advice, procuring projects and helping to raise capital. He brings all this experience and expertise to the Samso interviews, where his engaging conversation style creates a relaxed dialogue, revealing insights that can pique investor interest. Noel Ong travels across Australia to record the interviews, only requiring a coffee shop environment where they can be set up. The interviews are posted on Samsos website and podcasts, YouTube and other relevant online environments where they can be shared among investment communities. Samso also has a track record of developing successful business concepts in the Australasia region and provides bespoke research and counsel to businesses seeking to raise capital and procuring projects for ASX listings. Disclaimer The information contained in this article is the writers personal opinion and is provided for information only and is not intended to or nor will it create/induce the creation of any binding legal relations. Read full disclaimer. Protesters are demanding the resignation of Sabia Akram (pictured), deputy leader of Slough Borough Council, after she said she would be happy to welcome the Yorkshire teacher now in hiding with his family to the Berkshire town A Muslim council chief is being targeted by pickets for backing the teacher at the centre of the Prophet Mohammed cartoon controversy. Protesters are demanding the resignation of Sabia Akram, deputy leader of Slough Borough Council, after she said she would be happy to welcome the Yorkshire teacher now in hiding with his family to the Berkshire town. Ms Akram has reportedly also received death threats. The original row erupted after the Batley Grammar School teacher described as a rugby-loving 'burly Yorkshire lad' showed images of the Prophet from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to teenage pupils during a religious education class about blasphemy. Ms Akram, a Labour councillor, posted a message on Facebook in the wake of the furore last month to say she was 'shocked and saddened' that the teacher was forced to go into hiding. She added: 'To the teacher, if you need to leave Batley which I wouldn't blame you! Come to Slough. We'll welcome you and your family.' The post triggered a wave of anger, with some in the local Muslim community claiming Ms Akram was disrespecting the Prophet. The original row erupted after the Batley Grammar School teacher described as a rugby-loving 'burly Yorkshire lad' showed images of the Prophet from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to teenage pupils during a religious education class about blasphemy A petition with more than 1,300 signatures described the councillor as 'evil' and demanded her resignation. It added: 'Anyone who disrespects our Prophet has no position in our lives.' On Friday, protesters picketed the offices of Slough Borough Council for a third week. About 50 demonstrators brandished placards declaring 'Sabia Akram Out', 'Sabia Akram: Shame On You' and 'Stop Islamophobia.' Sam Armstrong, communications director at the Henry Jackson Society think-tank, said: 'The good people of Slough should have no truck with this hate-driven campaign and will no doubt show their support for their deputy council leader in the face of this clear intimidation. 'This row is, in fact, about whether fanatics should be deciding what our children are taught in their schools.' Slough Borough Council declined to comment on the protests against Ms Akram. PM Urged to Explain Funding of No 10 Flat Renovation After Cummings Allegations British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come under pressure to explain how the expensive refurbishment of his Downing Street flat was paid for, after his former chief advisor Dominic Cummings criticised his unethical handling of the matter. In a blog post published on Friday, Cummings said Johnson had planned to have donors secretly pay for the renovation. Dominic Cummings, then Number 10 special advisor, leaves his residence in London on Nov. 13, 2020. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images) Cummings said he told the prime minister at the time that he thought the plans were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended. Cummings said he refused to help Johnson organise these payments and, as a result, the prime minister stopped speaking to him about this matter in 2020. My knowledge about them is therefore limited. I would be happy to tell the Cabinet Secretary or Electoral Commission what I know concerning this matter, he wrote. In response to the allegation, the government said that the prime minister paid for the revamp out of his own pocket. In a statement, No 10 said: At all times, the Government and ministers have acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law. Cabinet Office officials have been engaged and informed throughout and official advice has been followed. All reportable donations are transparently declared to and publishedeither by the Electoral Commission or the House of Commons registrar, in line with the requirements set out in electoral law. Gifts and benefits received in a ministerial capacity are, and will continue to be, declared in transparency returns. But the main opposition Labour party questioned why the government had been repeatedly evasive about who had been paying for the refurbishment, and called for a full investigation. It is about integrity, it is about taxpayers money. Every day there is more evidence of this sleaze. Frankly, it stinks, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told BBC News on Saturday. If there is nothing to see here, whether it is the refurb of No 10, whether it is the dodgy contracts, whether it is the privileged access, if there is nothing to see, publish everything, have a full inquiry. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, he said. Cummings was Johnsons closest advisor but left Downing Street last year. He said his blog post was in response to allegations No 10 sources made to several newspapers that he was the source of a number of damaging leaksincluding text messages exchanged between the Johnson and the entrepreneur Sir James Dyson over tax matters. PA contributed to this report. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) (C) speaks during a news conference with, from left, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) following the passage of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act in the Mansfield Room at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., April 22. AFP-Yonhap President Joe Biden welcomed Friday the Senate's passage of a ground-breaking anti-hate crimes bill, noting Asian Americans have faced injustice and inequality for too long. "Too often throughout our history, acts of hate and violence directed at Asian Americans have been met with silence," Biden said in a statement. "Our nation must stand together to speak out against hate, and declare unequivocally: These acts are wrong. They are un-American. And they must stop." The statement came one day after the Senate overwhelmingly passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act by a 94-1 vote. The bill, if enacted, would allow expedited federal government investigation into hate incidents targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. "I applaud the United States Senate and the leadership of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) for passing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act by an overwhelming margin," the president said in his statement. The bill was introduced by U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and U.S. Rep. Grace Meng of New York, both Democrats. "This critical legislation will bring our nation one step closer to achieving justice and equality for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities," Biden added. Anti-Asian crimes have been surging since the outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States, with 3,800 incidents reported in 2020 alone, according to Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris has partly attributed the increase to former President Donald Trump, who had frequently called COVID-119 a "China virus" or "kung flu." "They have been scapegoated, harassed, and assaulted; some have even been killed," Biden said of Asian Americans. "It has been over a year of living in fear for their lives, as acts of anti-Asian bias and violence have accelerated from coast to coast an unconscionable burden our fellow Americans have been forced to bear, even as so many Asian Americans serve their communities and our nation tirelessly on the front lines of the pandemic." The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill early next month. (Yonhap) Kudos, NC GOP State Senate leader Phil Bergers April 22 op-ed could not have drawn the contrast between Republican and Democratic agendas more clearly. Republicans have lowered personal income taxes for all citizens, particularly for the poor, so the poorest of families can buy more groceries and gas and escape poverty. Republicans want to pay for improvements to bridges and roads in cash instead of more debt, and to allow families more choices for education and more dollars to support public education. Good job by Berger and Republican state lawmakers. Joe Biden could learn from North Carolina on how to tax and spend. Richard Robertson, Charlotte Bergers vision? Regarding Sen. Phil Bergers Republican vision for North Carolina... It is now clear why North Carolina is where it is 41st in unemployment compensation, 38th in Medicaid coverage, 30th in average teacher pay. And then theres HB2, which Forbes said cost North Carolina at least $630 million in business. The New York Times, NBC and CNBC reported a predicted loss of $3-4 billion in the 10 to 12 years after it passed due to corporations no longer considering relocating or expanding in the state, let alone all the jobs that could have been created. Thats some vision. Michael Shinder, Charlotte Speaker Moore Thanks for Kevin Siers cartoon and the April 22 article on Rep. Julia Howards courageous act. N.C. Republican House Speaker, Tim Moore, pushed through legislation from which hell benefit financially. That is not ethical. Howard, a fellow Republican, called Moore and others on their conflict of interest. Her reward was to be removed from her committee. Howard served North Carolina well. The Speaker seemed more self-motivated. Keith Wilson, Charlotte Keith Wilson Kids in a sandbox Have our elected officials forgotten their obligation of fiduciary duty? Have they forgotten to whom they owe this duty? Members of Congress take an oath to defend and support our Constitution. Recently, it appears that the only oath politicians take is that of loyalty to their own party. Many put their obligation on a shelf and blindly follow whatever position their party leadership espouses Story continues I am appalled to watch elected officials from both parties act like children with a disagreement in a sandbox. But children can usually work out their differences. Republicans and Democrats, please remember that your duty is to the nation and its people, not the party. Start acting like adults and work collaboratively. Remember your fiduciary duty and to whom it is owed. Roger Robertson, Davidson Vaccine hesitancy I saw a headline online that said: Medical debt is engulfing more people as pandemic takes its toll. That headline that should be in all newspapers and on TV every hour. COVID vaccine shots are free. Testing is free. Help in preventing the virus is free. Hospital stays are not! If people do not care to protect themselves or others, then they are likely to pay a big price for their neglect. E.T. Shafer, Charlotte Trans athletes Most men tend to be bigger, stronger and faster than women. So I find it rather hard to believe that anyone would think it is alright for people who were biologically male at birth to compete against women in any sport. How fair is that to young women who have worked hard to become great in their sport only to have to compete against a transgender person? Why not simply have transgender men compete against other transgender men. Have we now lost all common sense in this world? Dick Meyer, Charlotte End the hatred America, America, beautiful America, colorful America we live and die here. The legacy that each of us will leave travels down through the annals of history that will have a profound impact on history. We the People have accomplished so much together, but there is a thread of discontent that is allowing many of us to forget the part of the Declaration of Independence that says all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain rights. The only way out of the quagmire we find ourselves in is love. We must learn to love. We all arrived the same way and we all will leave the same way when our last breath is spent. Hatred has no value. Gwendolyn McGowens, Charlotte SAVE Act Due to outdated regulations, as a nurse practitioner in North Carolina I am required to have a supervising physician. Out of the 23 states that have granted full practice authority to nurse practitioners, none have rescinded it. Studies show that patients served by nurse practitioners, as opposed to physicians, show comparable or superior outcomes and higher patient satisfaction. I work with low-income patients who would lose their healthcare if I lost my supervising physician, who has been increasingly unable to work this past year. It has also been difficult for me to find a second supervising physician for my private practice. North Carolinas SAVE Act would give more independence to some of the states most skilled nurses, providing greater access and more diversity of choices for patients. Holly Satvika, Asheville Yes, no matter what Yes, but it depends on variety No, for medical reasons, uncertainty No, principle Vote View Results Alameda city officials have launched an independent investigation into the death of Mario Arenales Gonzalez, an Oakland man who died Monday in Alameda police custody, city officials said Friday. City officials have hired Louise Renne, of Renne Public Law Group in San Francisco, to lead the investigation, which city officials said will provide an independent analysis into what may have occurred the day Mr. Gonzalez tragically lost his life. Gonzalez died Monday after suffering a medical emergency while Alameda police officers tried arresting him and putting his hands behind his back, police said Wednesday. The 26-year-old mans family have questioned the police departments account of what happened that morning, saying that he was healthy and had no known medical conditions. The City is committed to full transparency and accountability in the tragic death of Mario Gonzalez, city officials said on Friday in a statement. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his loved ones. Alameda police said officers detained Gonzalez on the 800 block of Oak Street around 10:45 a.m. Monday after responding to reports of an intoxicated person suspected of theft. After what authorities described as a scuffle, Gonzalez was taken to an Oakland hospital, where police said he died. The Alameda County coroners office is investigating his cause of death. Gonzalezs brother, Gerardo Gonzalez, said the police departments description of events that day does not make any sense. He described his brother as a perfectly healthy man and loving father to a 4-year-old boy, and the primary caretaker of his 22-year-old brother, Efrain, who has autism. On Wednesday, near the site of the Gonzalezs attempted arrest, more than 100 community members gathered to pray, light candles, and ask for accountability in Gonzalezs death. Gonzalezs family is demanding an independent autopsy, the release of audio and video footage of the incident, and the release of the names and personnel records of the three involved officers. The three officers whose names have not been released by authorities are on paid administrative leave pending separate investigations by the Alameda County sheriffs office and district attorneys office. Alameda police said on Friday that they are committed to full transparency and accountability, releasing the body worn camera video, and getting answers to the public, but said everyone involved in the incident must be interviewed before the body camera footage can be released to ensure the integrity of the investigations. City officials said they expect the video to be published on the citys website next week. We understand the communitys frustration and are doing everything possible to provide this information to the family first and then the public as quickly as possible, Alameda police said. Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez An advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday recommended that the U.S. resume use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, saying the benefits of the shot outweigh the risk of a rare blood clot disorder. Why it matters: The move likely paves the way for the U.S. to lift its recommended pause on the one-shot vaccine. The Biden administration has said it will take the panel's recommendations into account as it makes a determination on the vaccine's use. The panel's vote on Friday was 10-4 in favor of recommending the use of J&J's vaccine for "persons 18 years of age and older in the U.S. population under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization." One member abstained. Johnson & Johnson said it supported adding a warning label to its shot. The language for the label has been agreed upon with the Food and Drug Administration, the company noted. The big picture: The FDA on April 13 recommended an immediate halt to the use of the J&J vaccine, citing cases of a rare blood clot disorder that six women developed within two weeks of receiving the shot. All 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico paused or recommended a halt on the use of that vaccine. The CDC said Friday that at least nine additional women have developed blood clots, but that the chances of people developing the disorder remains extremely low. Three women have died of the rare blood clots, and seven remain hospitalized, the CDC told the advisory panel Friday. About 8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered so far, per the CDC. What to watch: The FDA is expected to soon make its decision on Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause. BAY CITY, MI - Bay Citys Feet on the Street outdoor dining initiative is returning for 2021 after a successful first year. The program was originally launched in 2020 to allow businesses to expand their seating areas outdoors into selected streets while redirecting vehicle traffic, with the ultimate goal oh helping boost local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. It turned out good, the community response - everyone was rallied around us. People loved the outside stuff, it was just a good vibe. They created a completely different downtown Bay City for the summer, it was different, it was cool, said Kurt Busard, chief operating officer at DRI. DRI operates Tavern 101 and City Hall in Bay City, both of which had outdoor dining setups during Feet on the Streets first debut. For restaurants like those owned by DRI, the sidewalk cafe setups and the Feet on the Street program was a lifeline throughout a summer filled with indoor dining restrictions. It helped stabilize what we had going, Busard said. Theres no way we could have financially supported ourselves without it.' Busard credited the city for stepping up to make the program happen. The Bay City government was very crucial in making things happen for us, they shut the roads down, Dana Muscott has been amazing to work with and the things that she does for us you cant quantify that kind of person, shes just very into making things happen, Busard said. The Bay City commission unanimously approved two measures to help local businesses get the ball rolling on setting up outdoor venues this spring. An ordinance amendment that expanded the start of the sidewalk cafe season and a resolution that allows for social districts, which allow patrons to consume alcoholic beverages sold by specially licensed vendors, to continue existing in 2021, were both approved during the Monday, March 15 regular commission meeting. Busard said that he would like to see the program return each year to Bay City, even after the COVID-19 pandemic is gone. I think it is a thing that we found success in and we found that its beneficial for our business to have that. Its an attraction, its more than just seating, Busard said. It turns Bay City into a destination and we have this beautiful riverfront on both sides, Midland Street and Downtown lets take advantage of what we have, lets promote it and lets do the right stuff and make it a true destination and people coming from all over the area. To make the Feet on the Street program a reality and to keep patrons safe, city crews will soon be installing barricades to block off selected streets to allow local businesses to install their outdoor dining setups. On the east side, portions of Center Avenue and Saginaw St. will close beginning Monday, April 26. This area includes Center Avenue between Saginaw St. and Washington Avenue, as well as Saginaw St. between 5th St. and Center Avenue, according to the city. The city is also planning on closing 3rd St. between N. Water St. and Saginaw St. and Adams St. from Center Avenue north to just beyond the City Market from Memorial Day to Labor Day as a part of the Feet on the Street program. On the west side, portions of three different streets will close in the Midland Street Business District. According to the city, Linn St. between East Vermont St. and East Midland St. and the 600 block of East Midland St. between Henry and Linn streets) will close on May 1. The closure of the 500 block of E. Midland St. between Catherine and Henry streets will take place on weekends only, from 2:30 p.m. Friday until 7:00 a.m. Monday, according to the city, but Henry St. will remain open to vehicular traffic during the Feet on the Street closures. The Midland Street Business District closures are permitted by the city to last through end of November. Last year, crews installed removable bollards and cement barriers, some of which were decorated by local artists, to restrict traffic and block vehicles from driving down the closed roadways. According to a statement from the city, Bay City is currently examining the addition of more bollards this year based on need, location, and the wishes of the individual areas. Locations without the bollards will be closed to vehicular traffic using standard barriers, said the city. According to the city, the businesses taking part in this effort have applied for and received proper licensing through Bay City and the State of Michigans Liquor Control Commission and those businesses have to adhere to guidelines regulating where alcohol can be served and consumed. Please ask if you have questions and be supportive of businesses adhering to these rules. For example, an alcoholic drink purchased at one business can be consumed at the business or common area but the drink can not then be taken into a second business. Only alcoholic drinks purchased at a participating business can be consumed in common areas, said a statement from the city. All State of Michigan and Bay City laws apply, including but not limited to those prohibiting public intoxication, impaired driving, open containers and serving alcohol to minors, said the city. A map of parking options can be accessed online at https://www.downtownbaycity.com/downtown-map/. More from MLive Bay City Commission approves early start of sidewalk cafe season Bay City OKs temporarily closing some roads to traffic to boost local bars and restaurants Artists add a splash of color to Downtown Bay Citys road-closure barricades Wilkinson Minerals to triple its investment in Bay City salt brine mining operation Part of Bay Citys Wenona Street closing for first phase of reconstruction project Bay City approves agreement for Princess Wenonah and Islander boats to moor at Wenonah Park Bay City approves $132K contract for City Hall window repair project Most adults who test positive for the coronavirus dont require hospitalization but tend to seek medical care in subsequent months, and two-thirds of those who do are told they have a health condition they did not have before. These are the findings of a study conducted by investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente, which included some 3,171 members of the Kaiser Permanente Georgia integrated health care system. More than half were Black. The message for patients is that even for those who have had only mild Covid-19, its possible you may experience new or persistent symptoms months after the initial diagnosis, said Dr. Alfonso C. Hernandez-Romieu, an infectious disease specialist with the C.D.C. and the studys lead author. And its important for people to make sure theyre going to their clinicians, he said, to express their concerns. Its equally important, he added, for clinicians to acknowledge that there may be these long-term effects and to really make sure theyre validating patients, treating them with empathy and trying to help them in the best way possible. I've long been on mission to collect science-based parenting advice, and share it both here here in my column on Inc.com and in my continuously updated (free) e-book, How to Raise Successful Kids, which is now in its 7th edition. Here's a short list of just a few of the most interesting and useful studies that I've found, and the habits they suggest for successful parents: 1. Don't let up on them. This is a difficult one, and it goes right to the core of many parents' frustration. But, in short: Set high expectations, and be consistent in your messaging, even when you get eye-rolling (or worse) in reply. It's based on a study out of Great Britain that looked at 15,000 young women over 10 years, which found that kids whose parents "habitually reminded them of their high expectations," were: less likely to be unemployed for long periods of time as adults; less likely to wind up working in low-wage, dead-end jobs that they hated; more likely to obtain a college education; and less likely to become pregnant while they're still teenagers. As a colleague of mine put it after reading this article: "Sure, having a healthy sense of self-esteem and believing that you have options is great, but not getting pregnant just because you 'don't want to hear it' is fine with us, too. Whatever. Just make it not be so." 2. Praise them like this. Parents often praise their kids, quite naturally, for their talents. You're so smart (or talented, etc.)! You're so kind and good to people. You're really strong (or fast or agile)! In short, don't do that. Or, at least, don't only do that. The work of Stanford University psychology professor Carol Dweck has shown that it's far more effective over time to praise kids for the effort they put into things, as opposted to their innate abilities. Study after study shows why. But for purposes of this summary, just remember: Not something like: "You're such a good painter!" But instead, "I am so impressed by the effort you put into that painting, and it turned out so beautifully!" 3. Do it more often than you might think. A study out of Brigham Young University looked at praise and criticism in elementary school classes. Researchers sat in on 20-minute classroom sessions over and over again for three years, tracking how teachers interacted with 2,536 students between kindergarten and first grade. In short, the more thoughtful praise teachers gave the students, the better they performed, regardless of other factors. While the researchers said teachers have traditionally been encouraged to aim for a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of praise to criticism, as lead study author Paul Caldarella put it: "There is no particular ratio. The higher the praise the better the results." Of course, this is in the classroom, not the home. But ask yourself: Do I respond better over time to thoughtful praise, or to criticism? 4. Make them do chores. This one combines two studies, to reach a fascinating result. In short, the Harvard Grant Study, which is the longest running longitudinal study in history, found two keys that people need in order to be happy and successful: 1. Love. 2. Work ethic. That's it. We'll focus here on the second one, because the consensus from the study about how to develop work ethic is to form a "pitch-in mindset" as a kid. And the key, structured way to develop that mindset is to be required as a child to do household chores. (Julie Lythcott-Haims, the former dean of freshmen at Stanford University, made this point memorably in her 2016 TED talk.) The drawback? Kids, especially young kids, don't always do chores well. I'll bet you could sweep the floor more easily and faster, right? Insist that they do it anyway. It's not just about having a clean floor. It's about learning to have a happy life. 5. Rush to their side. This study solves a dilemma that I think a lot of parents face at times. It goes like this: If my child gets hurt, or makes a mistake, or faces a big challenge, should I? a. Rush to his or her side, offering consolation? b. Maintain a bit of distance, so as to help them learn to be self-reliant? A survey of several studies leads to a single conclusion: rush to their side and offer consolation. This doesn't mean "solve all their problems for them," but it means express empathy, and let them know clearly that you care. Across the studies, researchers found that adults who remembered their parents as more aligned with the first reaction were usually "more socially well-adjusted." 6. Pay attention to their social abilities. You're probably going to do this anyway, if you can, but a fascinating study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics correlated the degree to which kindergarteners were qualifiably rated as "prosocial" with their financial success 30 years later. Kindergarten teachers in Montreal were asked to track their students in areas like, inattention, hyperactivity, oppositional behavior, physical aggression, and finally prosociality. This was Canada, not the United States, and so the researchers were able to get access to the students' tax returns 30 years later, for scientific purposes. The result? Those who were rated highest for prosociality as kindergartners made an average of $12,000 a year more than those who had been rated low, three decades earlier. This is all more of a diagnosis than a cure, but I talked with one of the researchers, who strongly believed that working with young kids who were not "prosocial," whether it was through providing quality day care, special attention at school, or other strategies, would likely pay off in terms of future economic stability. Whatever else we want for our kids, I think we all want that. 7. The role of money A study published in the journal American Sociological Review looked at how very wealthy families, who could theoretically give their kids any advantage money can buy, choose to spend their wealth. The number one thing they did to give their kids a big advantage? Move to a neighborhood with other wealthy people. It's not the only factor, of course, but it's important to acknowledge the crucial role that money, class and race plays in raising kids. Turkey on Saturday accused the United States of trying to rewrite history, resoundingly rejecting US President Joe Bidens decision to formally recognise the Armenian genocide. Words cannot change or rewrite history, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted moments after Biden announced his decision. We will not take lessons from anyone on our history. Biden became the first US president to use the word genocide in a customary statement on the anniversary, a day after informing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he would go ahead with this step and seeking to limit the expected furor from the NATO ally. Erdogan has spent his 18 years in power trying to fight the US decision, which has been backed by France, Germany, Canada, Russia and other countries across the world. In a message to the Armenian patriarch in Istanbul, Erdogan accused third parties of trying to politicise the century-old debate. Nobody benefits from the debates which should be held by historians being politicised by third parties and becoming an instrument of interference in our country, Erdogan wrote. But on a more conciliatory note, Erdogan said Turkey was ready to develop our relations with Armenia based on good neighbourhood and mutual respect. Cavusoglus foreign ministry struck a more strident tone. We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the president of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups on 24 April, the foreign ministry said in a separate statement. It is clear that the said statement does not have a scholarly and legal basis, nor is it supported by any evidence, it said. With regards to the events of 1915, none of the conditions required for the use of the term genocide that is strictly defined in international law are met. The Armenians, supported by many historians and scholars, say 1.5 million of their people died in a genocide committed under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917. Turkey accepts that both Armenians and Turks died in huge numbers during World War I, but vehemently denies there was a deliberate policy of genocide a term that had not been legally defined at the time. Turkey puts the Armenian death toll at around 300,000. No one in India is safe. This infection has seeped so deeply into the community that it is impossible to avoid the virus with its new, seemingly more infectious mutations, spreading through entire families like wildfire. Yesterday, India recorded a record coronavirus death toll for the third day running. Since Wednesday, there have been more than one million infections in what has now been described as the most deadly outbreak in the world. The worst affected areas, including New Delhi, Mumbai and the state of Maharashtra, have run out of hospital beds and oxygen, the lifesaver that Covid sufferers most desperately need. And patients are suffocating to death because of the shortage 21 in a single hospital, it was reported yesterday. The government is now deploying military planes and trains to rush oxygen to the capital while the High Court has ruled anyone found obstructing supplies will face the death penalty. The first wave, which struck six months ago, proved to be manageable. Younger people were hardly affected. Now, the under-40s are sick too. Two-month-old babies are becoming infected. Pregnant women are dying. Hospitals have largely stopped taking patients. Ambulances are taking a whole day to reach some victims. I've visited the Covid wards in several of New Delhi's biggest state-run hospitals. One, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, turned its car park into an intensive care ward. Patients are on stretchers in the corridors. Each bed contains as many as three or four patients, all sharing a single cylinder of oxygen. RELENTLESS: Funeral pyres burning yesterday in a makeshift crematorium set up in New Delhi as coronavirus rips through India like wildfire. Since Wednesday, there have been more than one million infections in what has been described as the most deadly outbreak in the world Even the most seriously ill, those on ventilators, are having the amount of oxygen in their blood capped at 94 per cent. Normal levels are 95 per cent. Even being admitted is no guarantee they'll be treated. Families are being forced to bring in their own food, medicines and oxygen. There are fights on the streets as relatives desperately battle for any supplies. People call the virus India's great leveller. No amount of money can secure a bed, or an oxygen cylinder, for dying loved ones. State and private hospitals alike have been hit equally hard. In the absence of any real government action, as India's officials squabble among themselves over who is to blame for the spiralling crisis, social media is the closest thing anyone has to aid. The smaller hospitals say their oxygen supply is being diverted to bigger units. Some are simply telling patients to go home, that they can't be treated. The doctors and nurses say they haven't witnessed an emergency on this scale in their lifetimes. Some are working three or four shifts in a row as colleagues increasingly contract the virus themselves. They are exhausted. On one ward, they had been making their rounds once an hour to check up on everyone. Now, because of the sheer numbers, that's only happening once or twice a day. The patient care is a shambles. There are huge queues outside the gates as people, some desperately ill, await Covid tests. To be admitted, you need a test to prove you are positive. But the laboratories are overwhelmed. Huge numbers of their own staff have fallen sick with the virus or are in isolation at home. Labs that were processing 5,000 tests a day are now being sent 35,000 a day. It's taking days to obtain a result. Yesterday I saw three people who had died outside one large hospital because there was no one to attend to them. Their families were crying out for help, pleading for doctors rushing through the gates to take a look at them. Pictured: Covid victims are wheeled out of a New Delhi Hospital. The worst affected areas, including New Delhi, Mumbai and the state of Maharashtra, have run out of hospital beds and oxygen, the lifesaver that Covid sufferers most desperately need Shayam Narayan, a father-of-five, died without being admitted to hospital. His brothers had hauled him on to a rickshaw to take him back to hospital, after being told ten hours earlier he was not ill enough to be admitted. By the time he arrived, he was dead. 'The system is broken,' his younger brother, Raj, said. Yesterday, the official death toll from Covid during the previous 24 hours in India was 2,263, more than 300 in Delhi alone. But such figures are a huge underestimation. Narayan's death is unlikely to be counted, for example, as he technically died in the community. There have never been so many cremations. The electric furnaces in crematoriums have started to melt because of the continuous burning. They are shut for hours to cool so they don't break down. The graveyards are full. So bodies just pile up. The failure of leadership is staggering. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked people to take precautions, to wear a mask, to practise social distancing. And yet, hours later, he appeared in a televised political rally attended by a crowd of thousands not wearing a mask. India had one of the world's strictest lockdowns and, in March, the health minister declared India was in the 'endgame' of the pandemic. Vaccines intended for Indians were exported. Today, just 1.5 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated. 'THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN': Desperately needed oxygen being transported in New Dheli. Patients are suffocating to death because of the shortage The government allowed vast crowds to gather in markets, at religious festivals and political rallies. Even though the rest of the world was experiencing second and third waves of the virus, India thought it would not happen. Yet everyone working in healthcare knew differently. People's faith in government has been lost. They have watched their loved ones die. And it will get worse yet. Millions of pilgrims gathered for the Kumbh Mela festival earlier this month. We wait to see the effect. Millions of migrant workers are heading back to villages some as yet untouched ahead of a potential lockdown. Today is the festival of Mahavir Jayanti, when six million Jains will flock to temples to commemorate the birth of their spiritual leader, Lord Mahavira. It will take more than a miracle to save India today. Coronavirus second wave is set to kill 5,700 people a DAY in India: Swamped hospitals turn away patients away while victims suffocate to death on wards amid oxygen shortage - and anyone who delays supplies is threatened with the DEATH penalty By Faith Ridler For Mailonline and Ap Medics fear Covid-19 infections in India could climb to 500,000 per day before the virus-stricken nation reaches the peak of its second wave - as those who delay oxygen deliveries to New Delhi were today threatened with the death penalty. Another 2,624 deaths and 346,786 cases were reported in India on Saturday, although limited testing means this is likely to significantly underestimate the total. The infection total again marked the highest one-day tally of any nation since the start of the pandemic - the third time in as many days India has broken this record. However, leading virologist Shahid Jameel today warned that India has still yet to hit the peak of its second wave, with studies suggesting it may record 500,000 cases per day in the first week of May. India's current fatality rate per 100,000 cases is 1.14 per cent, meaning if the nation reaches this anticipated peak there is the potential for 5,700 deaths per day. Overwhelmed hospitals have continued to beg for supplies today as Covid-19 infections soared overnight in a 'tsunami' of disease, with medics warning: 'Every hospital is running out [of oxygen]. We are running out'. At least 20 coronavirus patients died overnight at New Delhi's Jaipur Golden Hospital on Friday as the 'oxygen pressure was low,' the hospital's medical superintendent Dr Baluja said. He added: 'Our supply was delayed by seven-eight hours on Friday night and the stock we received last night is only 40 per cent of the required supply.' Elsewhere, at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, some 25 Covid-19 patients died on Thursday with reports suggesting low oxygen supplies were again the cause of the fatalities. As overburdened hospitals were forced to turn away patients, Indian Air Force planes and designated Oxygen Express trains were deployed in a bid to speed up the supply of this crucial medical gas. Harrowing images from a makeshift crematorium in New Delhi today illustrated the extent of the pandemic in India, with Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford describing the situation as the 'tip of an iceberg' to a much larger crisis. The crematorium was set up outside a hospital in the capital by desperate people who 'cannot cope' with the number of dead - and were forced to say goodbye to their loved ones in mass services at ad hoc sites. As she spoke, men pulled firewood into the site, with Ms Crawford explaining the dead had been arriving at the crematorium 'virtually every second' amid what she described as a 'slightly chaotic' vaccine roll-out. A man performs the last rites of his relative who died of the Covid-19 coronavirus disease as other funeral pyres are seen burning during a mass cremation in New Delhi Medical staff and relatives help a Covid-19 coronavirus patient to get in a car at a hospital in New Delhi Harrowing images from a makeshift crematorium in New Delhi today illustrated the extent of the pandemic in India, with Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford describing the situation as the 'tip of an iceberg' to a much larger crisis The crematorium was set up outside a hospital in the capital by desperate people who 'cannot cope' with the number of dead - and were forced to say goodbye to their loved ones in mass services at ad hoc sites India's current fatality rate per 100,000 cases is 1.14 per cent, meaning if the nation reaches this anticipated peak there is the potential for 5,700 deaths per day It comes as the High Court in New Delhi, which is home to some 30million people, today met to impose a strict ruling that if anyone is found to be restricting oxygen supplies to hospitals they 'will be hanged'. Delhi Chief Arvind Kejriwal had complained that desperately needed supplies were being obstructed on state borders before entering New Delhi, crucially delaying delivery to beleaguered hospitals. Several medics have appealed for help on social media in recent days as the shortage worsened, with Max Healthcare and Fortis Hospital at one point both warning they could run out of supplies within an hour. Max, which runs hospitals in northern and western India, said on Twitter: 'We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi until oxygen supplies stabilise.' Delhi needs at least 480 metric tonnes of oxygen to affectively treat its Covid-19 patients, according to the Hindustan Times. On Friday, the capital received only 297 metric tonnes of the medical gas. Dr Jameel, who is the director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University, today told Radio 4 that India desperately needs to contain the sudden surge by 'treating as many people as possible at home.' He added the government needs to do 'everything possible' to speed up the supply of oxygen and medicine to those in need, revealing the harrowing plight of families desperately searching for supplies. People have been begging for oxygen or medical help on social media, and crowds have gathered outside hospitals, with some dying on stretchers as they wait. On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a hospital in Maharashtra when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. Yesterday 13 Covid patients died when a fire broke out at a Mumbai hospital. 'My family has gone through a harrowing experience in the past week, we had a cousin into hospital who passed away two days back and every 24 hours there was a threat of cut-off of oxygen,' Dr Jameel said. A Covid-19 patient gets oxygen on the spot provided by Sikh Organization at Gurdwara in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, today A son looks for the last time to his mother who died due to COVID-19 disease duirng her last rites in Guwahati Assam today A man mourns the death of his father due to Covid-19 at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, today People wait to refill their medical oxygen cylinders for Covid-19 patients at an oxygen refilling station in Allahabad today Health workers carry bodies of people who were suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside the Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, in New Delhi, today Hospitals across India are buckling under the strain of a ferocious second wave, with some running out of oxygen and turning away patients due to overcrowding. Pictured: New Delhi today A family member of a Covid-19 victim is seen carrying an oxygen cylinder in West Bengal Desperate families wait at an oxygen refilling shop in India as they attempt to secure supplies Medics carry Covid patients outside the ICU at Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, in New Delhi, India A health worker takes a nasal swab sample to test for Covid-19 in Jammu, India, today Daily infections hit 332,730 on Friday, up from 314,835 the previous day when India set a new record, surpassing one set by the United States in January of 297,430 new cases The daily death toll also jumped to a record 2,263 yesterday, though these fatalities could be at least ten times under-reported amid a second wave more than three times the size of the first 'In the end he didn't make it, but the mental torture of relatives searching for oxygen was just unbearable. Unfortunately the situation is very bad, we let down our guard and that's why we're in this situation.' India is recording one in three of all worldwide Covid-19 cases, despite its Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying in February that the nation was 'inspiring the world' with its Covid fight. Pictured: Dr Shahid Jameel, the director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University 'In a country which is home to 18 per cent of the world population, that country has saved humanity from a big disaster by containing corona effectively,' he said. Ministers had declared a victory when there were around 11,000 cases a day. But health experts say a downward trend in infections late last year lulled authorities into complacency, as they failed to plug the holes in the ailing health care system that had become evident during the first wave. They also blame politicians and government authorities for allowing super-spreader events, including religious festivals and election rallies, to take place as recently as this month. 'It's not the virus variants and mutations which are a key cause of the current rise in infections,' Dr. Anant Bhan, a bioethics and global health expert, said. 'It's the variants of ineptitude and abdication of public health thinking by our decision makers.' The surge has also been fuelled by a 'double mutant' variant, thought to be more infectious, but Dr Jameel agrees 'too much' has been made of the mutation. Instead, he claims the spiralling infection rates were impacted by the lack of messaging for people to take vaccinations in January and February when case numbers were down. He added: 'In all the euphoria, in all the patting of our backs that we have done so well, we are out of it, we weren't. We were just as susceptible as anybody else. 'So if there is a lesson here to be learned, it's that you have to be on your guard. You have to prepare. We should have been stocking up on oxygen. 'We should have been messaging clearly for people to take vaccines in the months of January and February when the cases were down. 'If that happened at scale at that time, then we wouldn't be facing this situation today. A person walks past funeral fires of those who died from Covid-19 at a crematorium in New Delhi on Saturday A Covid-19 patient gets oxygen on the spot provided by Sikh Organization at Gurdwara in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, today A man performs the last rites of his relative who died of the Covid-19 coronavirus disease as other funeral pyres are seen burning during a mass cremation A priest who helps performing last rites, runs while covering his face amid the multiple burning funeral pyres of patients who died of the Covid-19 'So many things have gone wrong but instead of crying over spilled milk I think it's important to learn some lessons, get some good data, and plan for the future because this is not the end of it.'' Last week, the Supreme Court told the Indian government to produce a national plan for the supply of oxygen and essential drugs for the treatment of coronavirus patients. Ministers said today they would exempt vaccines, oxygen and other oxygen-related equipment from customs duty for three months, in a bid to boost availability. In addition, Modi's emergency assistance fund, dubbed PM CARES, in January allocated some 19million ($27million) to set up 162 oxygen generation plants inside public health facilities in the country. But three months on, only 33 have been created, according to the federal Health Ministry. Despite this, the Defense Ministry is set to fly 23 mobile oxygen generating plants into India from Germany within a week to be deployed at army-run hospitals catering to Covid-19 patients. Each plant will be able to produce 2,400 litres of oxygen per hour, a government statement said yesterday. The percentage change in daily Covid infections by Indian state today compared to at their peak, most of which were recorded last year Workers check medical oxygen cylinders to be transported to hospitals amid the Covid-19 pandemic at a facility on the outskirts of Chennai today A man carries an oxygen canister to his car in West Bengal, India, amid the crisis today The latest comes as Boris Johnson last night pledged to support India in its battle against the devastating Covid surge which has brought the country to its knees. The UK is 'looking at what we can do to help' after India reported a record-breaking number of new cases in a single day for three days in a row. Mr Johnson said: 'We're looking at what we can do to help and support the people of India, possibly with ventilators. 'Thanks to the ventilator challenge, the huge efforts of British manufacturers, we're better able now to deliver ventilators to other countries. 'But also possibly with therapeutics, dexamethasone, other things, we'll look at what we can do to help.' So far 132 cases of the Indian variant have been detected in Britain, around half of which are in London. People wait to receive the Covid-19 vaccine outside a vaccination centre In Mumbai, India Men transport a Covid-19 patient on a stretcher as they leave a hospital in New Delhi today Health workers are seen outside the casualty ward at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, in New Delhi People wearing personal protective equipment console the relative of a person who died due to the coronavirus disease The variant contains two mutations in the virus's spike protein, which could help it spread more easily and evade vaccines. India was added to the UK's travel 'red list' yesterday, prompting a last-minute scramble for flights to Heathrow. The Prime Minister has also cancelled a trip to New Delhi this weekend where he had hoped to secure millions of vaccine doses. Yesterday Government scientists said border measures are not enough to prevent the spread of new variants, but they can delay it. One senior source said there were likely to be 'many more' cases of the Indian variant in the UK than the 132 detected so far. They added: 'It does look like it's more transmissible but we don't know if it is more transmissible than the Kent variant and we don't have any data on vaccine efficacy.' INDIA'S GROWING OXYGEN PROBLEMS Are hospitals running out of oxygen? The main problem is that medical oxygen is not reaching hospital beds in time. This delay is a product of where production units are located, a stretched distribution network, and what critics have said is bad planning. Several hospitals in Delhi, which has no significant oxygen production capacity, made frantic public calls this week seeking emergency supplies. With COVID-19 cases also swamping its neighbouring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, oxygen facilities there are over-stretched attempting to meet local demand. To fulfill Delhi's current needs, additional medical oxygen now has to be trucked in from industrial zones in eastern India. Why are oxygen deliveries getting delayed? The facilities from where Delhi will now receive oxygen are spread across seven states, some more than 625 miles (1,000km) away, according to a court document. Given the hazardous nature of the substance, all liquid oxygen must be transported in a limited number of specialised tankers, requiring advance planning to ensure deliveries are made on time, a gas industry source told Reuters. In recent days, as a scramble for oxygen among states worsened, local officials in some regions disrupted movement of tankers in a bid to keep supplies for themselves. In part due to such blockades, Delhi only received about 177 tonnes of oxygen on Wednesday against its allocation of 378 tonnes, an official said. But the industry source said that Delhi had also dragged its feet on planning ahead, without factoring in the time it takes to move oxygen cross-country by road. 'This problem wouldn't have happened if they had acted 2-3 weeks ago,' the source said. Delhi's government did not respond to questions about the planning. Does India have enough oxygen? India has a daily production capacity of at least 7,100 tonnes of oxygen, including for industrial use, which appears to be enough to meet current demand. This week, the government allocated 6,822 tonnes of liquid oxygen per day to 20 of the country's worst-affected states, compared to their combined demand of 6,785 tonnes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office said on Thursday. India's total medical oxygen demand was just 3,842 tonnes as of April 12, as the surge in cases really took hold. States are typically allocated supplies by an inter-ministerial group of bureaucrats mandated to monitor and facilitate the flow of essential medical kit during the pandemic. Modi's office has noted that the availability of liquid medical oxygen had increased by about 3,300 tonnes in the past few days, with steel plants and other industrial units diverting their production. What is India doing to solve the crisis? The federal government has activated the Indian railways to move multiple tankers from refilling plants to where it is most needed. Working with industrial gas major Linde India and others, the government is also using the Air Force's cargo planes to fly empty tankers to production hubs. Refilled oxygen tankers will then move back by road. The armed forces are importing 23 mobile oxygen generation plants from Germany. Several other industries are offering oxygen to hospitals, while salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is importing 24 specialised containers to transport liquid oxygen. The government has issued orders to convert argon and nitrogen tankers into oxygen ones. But as some experts predict a trebling of daily infections in a few weeks, India will have to dramatically ramp up both oxygen production and distribution systems. Advertisement Dr Chris Brown has revealed that he could be dropping the 'doctor' title from his name. The trained veterinarian, 42, explained in a column for Stellar Magazine that he isn't 'legally allowed' to treat humans, and the name causes confusion. He had the revelation when he witnessed an accident involving a woman crossing the road, who was clipped by a cyclist. Confusion? Dr Chris Brown (pictured) has revealed that he could be dropping the 'doctor' title from his name. The trained veterinarian, 42, explained in a column for Stellar Magazine that he isn't 'legally allowed' to treat humans, and the name causes confusion Chris rushed in to help, but stepped aside when a medical doctor arrived at the scene. He wrote that it was, 'a reminder of how those two letters can put me in some awkward situations.' Chris recounted a similar situation when he was called upon by flight attendants to assist a pregnant woman with high blood pressure on a plane. thoughts: He had the revelation when he witnessed an accident - a woman crossing the road was clipped by a cyclist. Chris rushed in to help, but stepped aside when a medical doctor arrived at the scene. The experience led him to consider using a different prefix or title Those experiences led him to 'rethink' his tile and consider using a different prefix more in line with his profession. He wrote: 'I only see two options here. We either really let the balloon go and legally unleash vets on humans as a kind of 'alternative' health professional... or come up with a clearer prefix to remove any potential confusion.' It comes after Dr Chris attended the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! wrap party in Sydney with his rarely-seen girlfriend, model Brooke Meredith, in February. Love: It comes after Dr Chris attended the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! wrap party in Sydney with his rarely-seen girlfriend, model Brooke Meredith (pictured) in February Reports first surfaced Chris was dating the model in May last year. According to Woman's Day magazine, the couple all-but-confirmed their romance when they were busted packing on the PDA while shopping for cleaning supplies at Bunnings Warehouse in Randwick, Sydney, in April 2020. Chris and Brooke, who reportedly met through mutual celebrity friends, stayed in his Clovelly home during Sydney's lockdowns. Not only is Brooke's a successful model, she is also the creator of health and wellness magazine, A Conscious Collection. India set a global record in daily infections for a second straight day Friday as it struggles to provide oxygen and other emergency supplies to a growing number of COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breath. The South Asian nation's health ministry said it counted 332,730 new infections in the previous 24-hour period, surpassing Thursday's record daily toll of 314,835. In western India, a fire at the Vijay Vallabh Hospital killed at least 13 COVID-19 patients, while at least six hospitals in the capital of New Delhi either depleted their oxygen supplies or came dangerously close to running out. The oxygen shortage is so acute that the high court ordered the national government to divert oxygen from industrial use to hospitals, prompting authorities to transport oxygen tanks on special express trains. The Biden administration's top medical adviser on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said Friday the U.S. is attempting to help India contain its coronavirus surge by providing technical support and assistance. "It is a dire situation that we're trying to help in any way we can," Fauci said at the regularly held White House coronavirus briefing. "They have a situation there where there are variants that have arisen. We have not yet fully characterized the variants and the relationship between the ability of the vaccines to protect. But we're assuming, clearly, that they need vaccines." To the editor: I am outraged that Gov. Whitmer traveled to Florida to visit her sick father during Spring Break while at the same time blaming Michiganders who travel to Florida for the surge in COVID cases in Michigan. At no time did Gov. Whitmer make any exception for visiting sick relatives or for those who have been vaccinated. How many times were we told that traveling to visit an immune-compromised relative (e.g. grandma) for holidays might contribute to her death? How many Michiganders have missed spending time with a loved one because of Gov. Whitmer while she ignores her own commands? This happens as MIOSHA, a department under the governors control, announces steps to make her COVID restrictions over businesses permanent without any legislative oversight. As the saying goes: absolute power corrupts absolutely and we now have more evidence of this truth. When we trust in an individual and give them all the power to decide what is best for us, they will inevitably abuse that power for their own benefit. They will allow themselves to live by different standards than they set for everyone else. Every time. Without fail. Gov. Whitmer has once again demonstrated that she cannot be trusted with the power she holds. It is long overdue to return the power, lives, and freedom back to the people of Michigan to decide for themselves what is best for them. Our governor clearly does not have our best interests at heart. AARON MAJORANA Midland During this 20th anniversary year of the 9/11 attacks, childrens publishers are releasing at least a dozen fiction and nonfiction books that deal with the events, in contrast with previous milestone years that saw only a handful of titles. On the 10th anniversary, the events were still so fresh, says Scholastic senior editor Katie Woehr. We have some perspective now. Woehr edited I Survived: The Attacks of September 11, 2001 (Aug.) by Lauren Tarshis, illustrated by Corey Egbert, about a boy visiting his New York City firefighter uncle just as planes hit the World Trade Center. Its a graphic novel adaptation of Tarshiss 2012 middle grade chapter book in the publishers popular I Survived series. Its a book about resilience, Woehr says. It moves from tragedy to hope pretty quickly. Still, she and other editors acknowledge that publishing a book for children about a subject that elicits strong emotions in adults even two decades later presents certain challenges. How do you make a traumatic event accessible to children without softening it or further traumatizing anyone? asks Deirdre Jones, senior editor at Little, Brown. One answer: by focusing on the Callery pear tree discovered at Ground Zero, which became a symbol of resilience and rebirth. Little, Browns August release Survivor Tree by Marcie Colleen, illustrated by Aaron Becker, follows two May titles on the same subject: Branches of Hope (Charlesbridge) by Ann Magee, illustrated by Nicole Wong, and This Very Tree by Sean Rubin (Holt). Though Survivor Tree never mentions 9/11 by name, Jones says, Beckers illustrations show the towers and then the rubble. This evokes in an accessible way for kids any moment that causes grief or fear, like this past year, she explains. Difficult moments are part of our lives, but the greenery will always come back. Other publishers are targeting the school and library market with big-picture accounts. Capstone hired content consultants and a sensitivity reader to help staffers vet The 9/11 Attacks by Amy Maranville (Aug.), explains editor Stephanie Miller, in order to make the events real for middle grade readers without sensationalizing it. The goal, she adds, was to convey in an age-appropriate and respectful way how a day started one way, and by the end of that day, the world had changed. Bearport Publishing is debuting a middle grade graphic narrative series about 9/11 in August. Each of the six volumes tells the story of a hero or group of heroes, such as first responders. Bearport consulted with a licensed child therapist on the content and is working with that therapist to develop a series readers guide for parents and educators. Another work of graphic nonfiction, Don Browns In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers, is intended for YA readers and due out from HMHs Etch imprint in August. Brown is the author and illustrator of numerous works of graphic nonfiction for children and teens, including 2011s America Is Under Attack (ages six to 10). Words plus pictures create the most immersive narratives, says Kate OSullivan, senior executive editor at HMH Books for Young Readers. Don knows when a well-placed quote or description works and when the art can do more of the legwork. The graphic novel format really allows the source material to come to life. Characters look out directly at the reader and the dialogue is captured in speech bubbles, which creates a sense of immediacy and connection to these real events and people. Novelistic approaches Several authors are educating children about 9/11 through fiction, including in books inspired by real-life encounters with xenophobia and Islamophobia after the attacks. Priya Huqs Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrins Hijab (Amulet, Sept.), a middle grade graphic novel, depicts a Bangladeshi American teenager in Oregon who becomes the victim of a hate crime. Forthcoming YA novels from HarperCollins include An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi (June), in which a Muslim teen in post-9/11 America copes with a family tragedy, and Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero by Saadia Faruqi (Quill Tree, Sept.), about a Muslim boy in contemporary small-town Texas, where the locals cite 9/11 in their opposition to the building of a mosque. Saadia Faruqi deals with the subject in a way that children will be able to understand and relate to, says Quill Tree editorial director Rosemary Brosnan. She never deviates from seeing the event through a childs eyes. I hope that readers will relate to Yusuf, sympathize with him, and see themselves in him and his family. Other works of fiction center on New York City. Alan Gratzs Ground Zero is a middle grade page-turner about a boy visiting his father on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11; a second story line follows a girl in 2019 Afghanistan. Scholastic Press published the book in February in order to give educators time to familiarize themselves with the title before adding it to their fall curricula. Gratz is so good at writing about the darker stuffits never gratuitous, says Scholastic editorial director Aimee Friedman. Because Ground Zero also delves into the U.S. war in Afghanistan, she says, it shows the ripple effect of that day. Where we are now is heavily influenced by 9/11. Another middle grade title, Big Apple Diaries (Roaring Brook, Aug.), is based on the journals kept by author Alyssa Bermudez and her friends in 2001, when they were New York City middle schoolers. The book follows a girl splitting her time between her father in Manhattan and her mother in Queens when 9/11 upends her life. Big Apple Diaries is about a teenager living a normal life amid national trauma, says Roaring Brook editorial director Connie Hsu. Kids are allowed to care about mundane thingsto take the moment and be happy even if everyone else is in mourning. The middle grade novel Elvis and the World as It Stands (Amulet, Sept.) by Lisa Frenkel Riddiough, illustrated by Olivia Chin Mueller, maintains distance from the horrors of 9/11 by setting the story in the present and placing a kitten at the center of the narrative. A rescue animal named Elvis watches her familys 10-year-old girl deal with her parents separation by building Lego skyscrapers, including representations of the Twin Towers. The challenge in discussing 9/11 was to not shy away from the trauma but to allow space for that loss and to honor it, says Abrams senior editor Erica Finkel. We wanted to show that some things that are lost will never come back, and that will always be sad; its okay to be sad about them. While loss is not within our control, what we do next is, and we can choose to move forward and rebuild. Below, more on children's books about 9/11. PW Talks with Jewell Parker Rhodes In Jewell Parker Rhodess 2016 novel Towers Falling, 10-year-old Deja learns about the 9/11 terrorist attack in school, not realizing its catastrophic impact on her own family; we spoke with Rhodes about the books enduring resonance. Thank you for Reading. As a community service, our obituaries are always free to view. In order to better know our audience, we ask that you register to continuing viewing. Management of a gay nightclub in Fitzroy has apologised following backlash over its decision to honour the memory of Glen Humphris and the three other police officers killed in last years Eastern Freeway tragedy. Sircuit Bar on Smith Street was bathed in blue at 5.36pm on Thursday to mark the one-year anniversary of the four officers deaths. The venue posted that Constable Humphris was a regular at the bar and was missed by staff and management. But online activists soon bombarded the bars Facebook page with criticism it was siding with police in the midst of a campaign to end Aboriginal deaths in custody. Sircuit bar in Fitzroy was bathed in blue on Thursday to pay tribute to the four police officers killed in the Eastern Freeway tragedy. Credit:Facebook Absolutely abhorrent statement to make, one of the comments read. Why not stand in the fight to stop black deaths in custody instead of supporting oppressors? The queer community will never stand with cops. As oil majors around the world solidify their positions in the hydrogen industry, the IEA has highlighted Latin America as a clear area of opportunity for the production of what many expect to be the energy source of the future. Latin America could become a key contributor to the global push towards low carbon hydrogen, the IEA stated in a 2020 report. Hydrogen fuel is forming part of the long-term global energy transition as Big Oil strives to decarbonize its energy production over the next decades. Hydrogen provides a carbon-free base for synthetic fuels to power transportation and manufacturing, making it an ideal energy source. At present, hydrogen production across Latin America is limited in scope, however, pilot programs are steadily being developed to trial hydrogen use as an energy carrier. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia have all released strategies to develop their hydrogen industries, all expecting to become low-carbon hydrogen exporters in the coming years. Mexico, Paraguay, and Uruguay are also looking to use hydrogen energy to decarbonize industry and transportation, but have yet to establish political strategies to develop the sector. As around 120 countries around the world have announced plans to achieve net-zero within the next few decades, Latin America could position itself to be a hydrogen market leader, with Chile taking the regional lead, if it invests in the industry now. Related: The Era Of Lithium Is Only Just Beginning Chile was in the first dozen countries globally to push forward a national hydrogen strategy in 2020, with the country planning to use hydrogen energy to become carbon-neutral by 2050. H2 Chile, the Chilean Association of Hydrogen, is a public-private organization focused on the research, development, and use of hydrogen for industry, commerce, and transportation. According to a 2020 study, Chile could produce 25 million tonnes per year of green hydrogen, earning around $30 billion annually in liquified exports. In addition, the country could capture as much as 50 percent of the Japanese and South Korean markets and 20 percent of the Chinese market. Chiles anticipated production for 2030 could represent around 5 percent of the global green hydrogen market if the government strategy is achieved. While transportation costs are expected to be high, due to its geographical situation, this would balance out thanks to low production costs. In 2020, there were around 20 pilot projects already in operation across the country, highlighting the optimism around investment in hydrogen in Chile. Not far behind, in Argentina, the H2Ar Consortium has been launched for the development of the countrys hydrogen economy. H2Ar is a space for oil and gas companies, renewable energy producers, and transportation companies to explore and develop Argentinas hydrogen potential. State-owned Integracion Energetica Argentina (Ieasa) is also expected to participate in the countrys hydrogen production. Just recently, Mexico has also appeared on the regional hydrogen stage. While there is no clear state-level policy for the development of hydrogen, at the local level there is a significant push to get involved in the industry. The Mexican hydrogen group Asociacion Mexicana de Hidrogeno (AMH) was formed in February, bringing together over 30 energy companies across various Mexican states to develop a national hydrogen plan in collaboration with authorities. Earlier this year, the Mexican Energy Ministry also mentioned hydrogen as a potential replacement for fossil fuels in the future, in the national development plan. Oil supermajors around the world, including Total, Equinor, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, and Chevron have all announced the development of hydrogen plans as the industry seeks to decarbonize its practices. As hydrogen grows more popular, it seems inevitable that Latin America will establish its role in the industry within the next few years to ensure its stake in global energy. By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The annual daylong procession began with an official wreath-laying ceremony led by President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. For the first time in many years, the countrys political leaders were not joined by Catholicos Garegin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church at odds with Pashinians government. Garegin and other high-ranking clergymen visited Tsitsernakabert separately to hold a traditional prayer service by its eternal fire. The pain of the immense human and territorial loss suffered by the Armenian people more than one hundred years ago still echoes in our hearts, Sarkissian said in a statement issued on the occasion. Sarkissian and Pashinian called for greater international recognition of the genocide, which had begun with mass arrests on April 24, 1915 of Armenian intellectuals and activists in Constantinople. An estimated 1.5 million Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire were massacred or starved to death in the following months and years. Both Armenian leaders linked the genocide to last years war in Nagorno-Karabakh described by Yerevan as a Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression. Pashinian spoke of an existential pan-Turkic threat facing Armenia and Karabakh. The second Karabakh war, the Azeri-Turkish aggression aimed at annihilating the Armenians of Artsakh (Karabakh), Turkeys expansionist foreign policy, and territorial aspirations towards Armenia testify to the revival of a genocidal ideology, read a statement released by the prime minister. Armenophobia is in the essence of pan-Turkism, and today we can see its most disgusting manifestations in Azerbaijan as fostered by the authorities of that country. Pashinian stressed at the same time that Armenia is open to a regional dialogue with Turkey and Azerbaijan. However, the dialogue we imagine cannot be engaged from a position of strength, he said. It can only succeed if underpinned by the principle of equality. We will never question the fact of the Armenian Genocide, added Pashinian. Ankara continues to deny a premeditated government effort to exterminate Ottoman Turkeys Armenian population. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that Armenians themselves massacred Muslim civilians and that their mass deportations to a Syrian desert was the most reasonable action that could be taken by the Ottoman government. The vehement Turkish denials are dismissed by most scholars outside Turkey. The historical record on the Armenian Genocide is unambiguous and documented by overwhelming evidence, the International Association of Genocide Scholars said in 2007. Pope Francis and his predecessor John Paul II prayed at the Tsitsernakabert memorial when they visited Armenia in 2016 and 2001 respectively. They both officially recognized the genocide, as have the governments and/or parliaments of more than two dozen nations, including France, Germany, Russia and the United States. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Beirut, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2021 ) :At least three people were killed in an attack Saturday on an Iranian fuel tanker off the Syrian coast, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "At least three people died, including two members of the crew," in the attack, which sparked a fire, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based war monitor. 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. Click here to read the full article. With COVID-19 infections still a major factor in Toronto, CBS Studios Star Trek: Discovery has paused production due to a possible exposure, Variety has confirmed. During the shooting of its fourth season, a Zone A individual came in contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19, so the decision was made to halt production as a precaution. Zone A refers to key cast members and production crew in close contact with them. Starring Sonequa Martin-Green, the series has been shooting at Torontos Pinewood studios for several months. According to Deadline, which first reported the shutdown, the infected individual was not a crew member and the potential contact with a Discovery cast or crew member was detected through Ontarios contact tracing system. That person never returned to the set and is now quarantining for the recommended 14 days. Ontario is under a stay-at-home order with many businesses closed and limited shopping in stores. Star Trek: Discovery is set to premiere on Paramount Plus later in 2021. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Following each decennial Census, the Legislature redraws the districts for New Mexicos delegation to the United States House of Representatives, the state House of Representatives, the state Senate and other state bodies requiring districting. In this redistricting cycle, New Mexico is trying something new: an independent public body tasked to draw fair maps and to recommend those maps to the Legislature. The newly created Citizen Redistricting Committee was established earlier this year through the Legislatures enactment of the Redistricting Act. This committee will independently develop electoral district maps and propose those maps to the Legislature for adoption at an upcoming special legislative session for redistricting. To this end, the Citizen Redistricting Committee must hold meetings across New Mexico to receive public input on fair maps. The committee then will draw district maps without considering either partisan advantage or the protection of incumbents considerations that, in the publics view, might influence legislatively controlled redistricting and unfairly affect the outcome of the resulting elections. When drawing district maps, for example, the committee may not use data about New Mexicans voting history or party registration unless to ensure that district maps comply with federal law. The seven-member Citizen Redistricting Committee must be comprised of major-party and non-major-party members. The legislative leadership of both major parties will each appoint two members to the committee. Two seats on the committee are reserved for independents, or decline-to-state voters, or members of minor parties, for example Greens, Libertarians, Working Families. These two non-major-party members are appointed by the State Ethics Commission, which also appoints the committees chair, who must be a retired justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court or a retired New Mexico Court of Appeals judge. Members are eligible for per diem and shall serve until the committee submits district maps to the Legislature. The State Ethics Commission is now seeking applications from New Mexican voters who are interested in redistricting and are either independents or members of minor parties. The commission is also seeking applications for the chair position. The State Ethics Commission will accept applications until May 21. On June 4, at a public meeting, the state ethics commissioners will interview the applicants and, following the interviews, vote to appoint three members to the new redistricting committee. For more information on the Citizen Redistricting Committee or to apply for either a non-major-party position or the chair position, please visit the commissions website: www.sec.state.nm.us. Individuals with questions about applying may also contact State Ethics Commission staff at ethics.commission@state.nm.us.>href=http://ethics.com>ethics.commission@state.nm.us. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Creating common keywords for your blog posts will not put you on a higher Google rank since several websites have done it before you. Your keywords should be unique, at the same time engaging to have an advantage from the competition to create a short and eye-catching piece. To help small businesses jump over the lead competitors, using SEO Tools is beneficial because it will improve blog content and make it optimized for the web. It can also show how far you are in the ranking and your mistakes. Several SEO tools are available online to help small businesses get the most online traffic and be one of the top sites readers search for. With that said, here are seven SEO Tools that you and your business can use for free to get higher Google rankings (via Moz and Ahrefs). 7. Ubersuggest Ubersuggest provides long-tail keywords to boost online traffic and suggests other keywords that are related to your blog post. The long-tail terms usually have five to six words keywords that people are searching online. Integrating it into your report will boost the site's ranking and traffic. The SEO Tool also offers SEO capabilities like basic link metrics and top competitor pages. 6. Answer The Public Most keyword research tools get their data from Google Keyword planner, which is the same place everybody is using. However, Answer the Public is different. It suggests keywords from people asking questions from forums, Quora, Reddit, blogs, and social media and turns those questions into keywords that small businesses can use for the site. Answer The Public also has a section dedicated to "versus" keywords, which is excellent because the keyword is not usually seen in other web pages and online sites. It is important to note that the people who search for the "versus" keyword are close to buying something, and they want to compare other products to the ones they are accustomed to. Read Also: SEO Dos And Don'ts For 2020 5. MOZ It is the original SERP tracker tool and is also one of the to-go algorithm trackers others use to check if there are significant updates on news or not. MOZ gives you a quick overview of how authoritative your site is or a competitor's site, or you want to analyze how authoritative publication might be. 4. Buzzsumo Buzzsumo gives you ideas on what people might like. The site recommends news articles that have done well with the public and have extensive social shares, showing businesses what type of angle you want to create on your webpage. Typing a keyword that has something to do on what you plan to make will generate an article with good online readability. 3. Ahrefs Ahrefs shows small businesses how much traffic each of these pages is getting and from which keyword. It basically tracks the keyword and the business Google ranking from all devices and different locations over time. Ahrefs also has a link intersect feature that shows you who is linking to your top three competitors but not linking to you. The good thing about this is establishing who is linking who, and if people are linking out to multiple of your competitors, there is a good chance that those people will be linking to you. 2. Small SEO Tools Small SEO Tools provides several tools that can help small businesses get ahead of the competition. The most prominent feature of the SEO tool is the plagiarism checker that ensures your content is 100 percent original and unique. 1. Google Trends Using Google Trends will show small businesses how well their brand is doing in time. Typing your business versus other competitors will show you which company is more significant. Google Trends will also show you how other brands from other locations are doing with their ranking. Related Article: SEO Guide for Small Businesses: Tips and Tricks to Outrank Your Competition in Google Rockin With Lou, fresh from her upset win in last weeks Kirk Breed Pace, looks to close out the Cal Expo meet in style in Sundays featured $7,200 Filly and Mare Open Pace. The main event is slated as the fifth on a nine-race card with first post at 5:25 p.m. The program will bring the Watch and Wager LLC meeting to an end with mandatory payouts for all wagers. Rockin With Lou is a four-year-old daughter of Sweet Lou and the Rocknroll Hanover mare Ram Rocker who is owned, trained and driven by Gerry Longo. She is gunning for her 10th win from 28 lifetime trips to the post. Sent off at 9-1 in last weeks Kirk Breed, Longo sat back early with his charge, rallied off cover to the lane and ignited late to prevail by a half-length over favored Velocity McSweets while earning a new career standard with the 1:52.3 clocking. Velocity McSweets put in her usual solid late close in that affair but had to settle for the runner-up prize. Jen Sabot owns and trains the six-year-old daughter of McArdle and Cordarius Stewart will once again be the pilot from the outside post in the field of seven. Velocity McSweets is looking for her 25th snapshot from 94 appearances and established her career mark of 1:52 two years ago at Tioga Downs. Her most recent score came here on March 28 in the Distaff Open. Completing the cast are Kiss On The Lips with Jake Cutting; Marys Pretty Girl, Tony Kerwood; Roaring Home, who will have Nick Roland in the sulky; Delightfully Wild, Mooney Svendsen and Alwaysalittlemore with Luke Plano guiding. Im A Magic Man puts it all together After having to settle for minor awards in his initial stakes appearances, it was Im A Magic Mans chance to shine in last weeks final big-money clash for the sophomore males at this session. Sent off the 3-1 second choice with Tony Kerwood at the controls, Im A Magic Man left into a stalking spot, attacked pace-setting Lodi Phillip in the lane and posted a three-quarter length trophy earner while posting an excellent 1:53.3 clocking. The Mystician homebred carries the banner of Rick Schneider, is put through his paces by Ariel Alvarez and is now two-for-two since joining forces with Kerwood. You can really see the difference in his last few starts, said Alvarez after the Sire Stakes score. It was just a matter of getting his head and his legs to click, and then the improvement came. He was beating an easier field the week before, but it was strong, and I think quite a few people were surprised when he was able to beat Lodi Phillip in the stakes. Hes got a lot of talent and now hes putting it all together. While Im A Magic Man has returned to his native Alberta and a reunion with Schneider, following closing week here Alvarez will be packing his bags and heading to what he hopes will be a successful spring and summer at Running Aces. This being closing night, there will be mandatory payouts in all wagers. A reminder that there are three bets with a reduced 16 percent takeout rate the 20-cent early and late Pick 5 and the 20-cent Pick 4, with the latter featuring a $25,000-guaranteed gross pool. (Cal Expo) ADVERTISEMENT The Imo State government has confirmed the attack on the governor, Hope Uzodimmas house in Omuma Oru East council area on Saturday by unknown gunmen. They, however, failed to give the number of casualties recorded in the attack. The Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, who confirmed the incident to journalists on Saturday, said a few casualties were recorded after security men on guard repelled the attack. Gallant security operatives this morning repelled an attack on the Omuma country home of the governor of Imo State, Sen Hope Uzodimma. At about 9 am today, Saturday, April 24, a group of hoodlums numbering about 15 and driving in a motorcade of three vehicles, accompanied by a tipper loaded with used tyres, stormed the country home of the governor and attempted to burn down the house. However, vigilant security operatives attached to the Governors house successfully repelled the attack and consequently minimised damage, he said. The commissioner further disclosed that in the ensued cross fire, a few casualties were recorded. He said preliminary investigation suggests that the foiled attack may have been politically sponsored. The commissioner said the governor has directed the relevant security agencies to expedite investigation on the incident and promptly apprehend the sponsors and their agents and bring them to justice. He said Yes, I can confirm the story. The hoodlums attacked the governors house by throwing in Petrol bomb, as a result of which two cars were burnt, but the attackers were successfully repelled. None of the building was set ablaze, however, one unarmed personnel of the NSCDC was killed in the process. The hoodlums, while escaping, also killed a Police Sergeant and another NSCDC personnel, both in their private vehicles at Mgbidi junction. (NAN) Farmers markets help Stohrs introduce goat dairy products to SD Stohr Diary invests in the dairy goat industry. Helps grow awareness to the benefits of goat dairy within South Dakota. Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, Arizona Western College is partnering with Arizona Complete Health to raise awareness and promote action through an upcoming virtual workshop. The Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training is designed to equip participants with the skills to effectively and appropriately intervene in a crisis or mental health situation. The QPR mission is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical, and proven suicide prevention training. It is not intended to be a form of counseling or treatment, but instead, a means to offer hope through positive action. This is an especially important topic at the college level, as rates of suicide are at an all-time high for young people, said Student Health and Wellness Coordinator Christine Rouff. Quality education empowers people, regardless of background, to make a positive impact and a difference in the life of someone they know. The free training will be held on Wednesday, May 5, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. via Zoom. Students, staff, and faculty are invited to attend as well as members of the community. Those that might be interested in participating may include, but are not limited to, healthcare workers; first responders; friends and family of anyone struggling with mental illness; and people who work with or serve those with mental health issues. Visit qprinstitute.com for more information about QPR. One of AstraZeneca's most senior bosses has launched a blistering attack on critics of its vaccine. Finance chief Marc Dunoyer told The Mail on Sunday that some of the comments made about the AZ jab developed in partnership with Oxford University were 'completely inaccurate, wrong and uneducated'. It is the first time a top official at the drugs giant has broken ranks to defend the firm's reputation since concerns were raised worldwide over the vaccine's use due to a perceived lack of data about its effectiveness for certain age groups and links between the jab and a small number of fatal blood clots. Finance chief Marc Dunoyer told The Mail on Sunday that some of the comments made about the AZ jab developed in partnership with Oxford University were 'completely inaccurate, wrong and uneducated' Some countries, such as Denmark, have suspended the rollouts of AstraZeneca vaccinations completely while politicians in EU countries have repeatedly attacked the company's communications and production speed, and questioned the jab's effectiveness. Mr Dunoyer said: 'We're still trying very hard every day to help a very large proportion of the human race and we'll do it at no profit for the period of the pandemic. 'We are certainly receiving a lot of commentary, some of them we think are completely inaccurate, wrong, uneducated and so on. 'We will be vindicated and the science will prove itself.' Britain outwits the EU again to secure 100m vaccine doses from French firm as Brussels remains locked in a bitter battle with AstraZeneca over supplies Britain has again outflanked the EU to secure a huge priority order of vaccines this time from a French manufacturer, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Brussels chiefs are still furious at AstraZeneca for promising the UK first deliveries of its vaccine supplies and remain engaged in a bitter legal battle with the Anglo-Swedish firm, claiming it has reneged on its deal with the bloc. The dispute appears to have prompted another vaccine maker, France's Valneva, to make it clear to Eurocrats that its contract will put the UK at the head of the queue for their jabs too. Europe's vaccination rollout is in danger of being over-reliant on the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, the ambassadorial meeting notes also reveal An initial British deal for 60 million Valneva doses was struck last September, with the order raised to 100 million at the start of February. By contrast, the EU was still in 'advanced discussions' about buying 60 million doses in January The clash clears the way for the UK to start receiving its 100 million shots of the two-dose vaccine which is made in West Lothian, Scotland later this year. Details of the row between Valneva, based in Nantes in western France, and Brussels are laid bare in official notes of an internal meeting of EU ambassadors, seen by this newspaper. The minutes state that the deal proposed by Valneva 'so far remains below expectations for [EU] Member States', in part because the firm's contract is 'explicitly giving priority to the UK over the EU'. The European Commission has also received 'no commitment from the company on delivery schedules', the ambassadors complained. Both matters prioritising the UK and delivery schedules have been bones of contention between EU leaders and AstraZeneca. European officials have repeatedly accused AstraZeneca of breaching the terms of its contract with the bloc by supplying Britain first even though the UK contract was signed first. According to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, AstraZeneca's contract with the UK is an 'exclusivity deal' while its contract with the EU is a 'best efforts' arrangement. 'Our contract trumps theirs,' the Health Secretary quipped in March. Similarly, Valneva signed agreements to supply the UK with vaccine supplies months ago, but has not yet put pen to paper with the EU. An initial British deal for 60 million Valneva doses was struck last September, with the order raised to 100 million at the start of February. By contrast, the EU was still in 'advanced discussions' about buying 60 million doses in January. Signs of the rift emerged last Tuesday when Valneva said it would be discussing deals 'on a country by country basis' and was 'consequently de-prioritising centralised discussions with the European Commission'. Two days later, in what appeared to be an attempt at saving face, the Commission said Valneva had 'not, at this stage, succeeded to meet' contractual conditions demanded by Europe. 'When companies want their vaccines to be integrated in our vaccines portfolio, a certain set of conditions has to be respected,' a spokesman said. Europe's vaccination rollout is in danger of being over-reliant on the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, the ambassadorial meeting notes also reveal. 'Several member states cautioned against the risks of relying too much on Pfizer-BioNTech and called to develop a broad portfolio of vaccines,' they say. EU states have now administered 120 million vaccine doses, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, of which 83.8 million more than two-thirds have been Pfizer. China-backed solar park helps Argentina fight poverty Xinhua) 14:53, April 24, 2021 BUENOS AIRES, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The world's highest-altitude solar park, built with Chinese financing and technology, has energized the fight against poverty in the remote corner of the town of Cauchari in Argentina's northernmost Jujuy province. The Cauchari Solar Park, one of the largest projects of its kind in South America, is bringing technical training to local residents who invariably lack such opportunities, and making profits to improve the local educational system. Built with financing from the Export-Import Bank of China and technology supplied by the Chinese company Shanghai Electric Power Construction (SEPC), the solar park began to provide the Argentine Interconnection System, or grid, with energy in September 2020, benefiting 160,000 families. The solar park, with an estimated lifespan of more than two decades, is expected to generate significant income for Jujuy, with net profits valued at hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars, allowing officials to build up the public education system, Jujuy Governor Gerardo Morales said. "We will have a profit on the order of 400 million dollars. We have already requested an educational loan of 307 million dollars from the Andean Development Corporation and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, and we are building 258 new schools," Morales told Xinhua. In addition, the regional government plans to build 2,000 km of new roads, repair 700 more schools, modernize classrooms with high-tech equipment, and create new teacher training programs. "That means the project will let us build in four years more than a third of the schools that were built in Jujuy in 150 years," Morales said. "It is the only project that remunerates the indigenous communities, who own the land where the solar park is located." "Ten years from now, the idea is for Jujuy to provide 3,000 megawatts of renewable energy. And the working model with Chinese companies has been very comfortable and easy for us," he said. Paulino Martinez, who works in the area of the electromechanical operation and maintenance of solar panels at the park, told Xinhua that the initiative gave him the opportunity to learn new skills. "Before coming here, I worked with livestock and agriculture ... I learned a lot (in the solar park) and I will continue with this because I like it," Martinez said. "I will continue with other projects here in Argentina or elsewhere." From construction to operation, the plant has created 1,500 direct and indirect jobs, mainly for inhabitants of the province. SEPC Project Manager Jorge Delgado said the solar park has provided locals with a chance to pursue a career other than in agriculture. "Many of them had no work experience, because in the Puna (region), which is 4,200 meters above sea level, the main activities are agriculture and livestock," said Delgado. "Today, many of them are part of the specialist electromechanical operation and maintenance team," he said. The development of new energy sources and environment protection have been among the top objectives of the Argentina-China cooperation in the energy sector. The Cauchari Solar Park is estimated to prevent 975,000 tons of carbon emissions per year, and that is why the SEPC has stressed the willingness of both countries to continue the development of alternative energy projects. "(I want to) thank the Chinese company for knowing how to invest in this renewable energy project. It has made it possible to boost the energy supply by lowering our carbon footprint on the planet and has provided opportunities for Argentine people, especially nearby communities," Delgado said. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24) The COVID-19 nationwide tally is nearing 990,000 after 9,661 more people got infected, the Department of Health's Saturday bulletin stated. The bulletin showed 989,380 total number of coronavirus infections with 9% or 89,485 active cases. It's the first time in a month that the country had less than 90,000 people still battling the infection. The last time was on March 23. The DOH, however, said this excludes data from five laboratories that failed to submit their reports on time, adding one lab was also not operational on April 22. At least 95.9% of the active cases have mild symptoms, 1.4% have no symptoms, 1.1% are in a severe state, 0.8% are in critical condition, and 0.7% are moderate cases. The death toll climbed to 16,674 - 1.69% of the case count - with 145 more fatalities, marking the fourth consecutive day of over 100 deaths. Meanwhile, another surge of recoveries was recorded, with 22,877 getting better, to lift the survivor count to 883,221 or 89.3% of the total tally. At least 13,000 recoveries have been tallied daily in the past five days, which the DOH said was expected this week due to changes in its data reporting. The department said it reclassified 56 recoveries into deaths after validation and deleted 21 duplicates, including 12 survivors. The daily positivity rate or the rate of infected patients among those tested is 16.3%, based on 38,640 tests conducted as of noon of April 22. The DOH earlier mentioned that the bulletins will show data based on testing output of laboratories from two days earlier. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benhur Abalos said if the low trend continues and if occupancy rates in intensive care units ease up, then the National Capital Region could shift to the more relaxed general community quarantine next week. However, he noted that Metro Manila mayors have not yet convened to discuss the issue. "Ibabase ko rin naman kung medyo lumuwag na ang ICU," Abalos told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Weekend. "Kung medyo maganda-ganda na ng konti, it's about time mag-granular lockdowns, siguro buksan ang ating mga negosyo, ngunit malaking kundisyon talagang maghigpit pa rin tayo sa minimum health protocols." [Translation: I will still base (my suggestion) on whether ICU (occupancy rates) will ease up. If the situation improves, then it's about time we have granular lockdowns, maybe open more businesses, but the condition is we continue being strict with minimum health protocols.] Among Filipinos abroad, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed 15 more infections, raising to the total to 18,237. Three more Filipinos succumbed to the disease while nine others recovered, bringing the death toll to 1,126 and the number of survivors to 11,190. There are 5,921 still undergoing treatment. The Culture War Comes to Your School Commentary You may have noticed the ongoing fight between Albertas United Conservative Party and the education establishmentthe teachers union and university faculties of educationover the governments new humanities curriculum. And you may have noticed that the expert commentary in the mainstream media is uniformly damning the government. They want to set back our educational system 40 years and undo the progress of the past three generations, according to those commentaries. Its clearly a fight between two opposed philosophies of education. But dont let your eyes glaze over. Your kids are at stake. The traditional or natural philosophy of education believes the purpose of schools is to help kids mature into responsible adult citizens. Kids must be equipped to join the political, cultural, and economic world into which they are bornthe real world. Its only partly traditional, drawing on our roots, but it also has to adapt to the changing needs of society. You know: reality. The key term here is core knowledge. In the Seventies, however, university faculties of education became dominated by devotees of Marxist Paulo Freire and postmodern Michel Foucault. Their progressive education believes the purpose of schools is to liberate kids from the Oppressive Past. Creative children need only imagine their futures, and the past only obstructs their self-expression. Yes, kids need some skills, but when it comes to our shared history and culture, they only need to learn that it was evil, is evil. The key term is liberation. Ever wonder why city councils now face demands that they tear down John A. Macdonald statues? Ever wonder where woke rage and cancel culture come from? Thank the education elite. The academic fad became a path to Power, indoctrinating the teachers who are now indoctrinating your kids. I saw it all happen at the University of Alberta. By 1980, education theory was all Foucault, all the time, and still is. Its Sixties ideology. By 1990, a friend lecturing in educational psychology said shed lose her job if she challenged the liberationists. Google-search Foucault and his progressive education. By the 2000s, liberation was in the classroom, with social studies textbooks titled Globalism, Nationalism, and Ideology being used in grade 10, 11, and 12 respectively in Alberta. Some of my kids have taken the course, and they grieve that easily 80 percent of their classmates end up socialists, dissing their own capitalist parents. My own kids know that socialist regimes from East Germany and Russia to China and North Korea have killed over 100 million of their own helpless citizens in liberating them. But none of their classmates have been taught real history. And the classroom culture is so dogmatic, my kids were allowed little self-expression. The government may lose this fight. Ambitious academics and public administrators are oblivious to the fact that they can break the country that feeds them, killing the goose as did poor, once-wealthy Venezuela. The United Conservative Party was elected by 55 percent of Albertans, partly on the promise of reforming education, but expert educators take every opportunity to make them look bad. We ordinary citizens assume that public servants obey the elected government, their legal bosses, and some do. But in general, they are the experts, working in the bureaucracy, rising in the bureaucracy, and expert primarily in stonewalling and embarrassing the government. Ironically, Albertas educational bureaucracy is busily defending the Sixties, just as France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, and Singapore are all abandoning progressive education and returning to cultural core knowledge curricula. This is all documentedwith facts and figuresin E.D. Hirschs How to Educate a Citizen (2020). Its a quick read, or an audiobook you can finish in four hours, and it might encourage you to defend your kids. John Lennons Imagine is a beautiful song, but its really lousy public education policy. Joseph K. Woodard, Ph.D., has been an academic, a journalist (Calgary Herald), and a federal tribunal judge. He lives in Calgary and now teaches the Great Books Program online at the Angelicum Academy. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 20:54:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People march to protest against anti-Asian hate crimes on Brooklyn Bridge in New York, the United States, April 4, 2021. A big "Stop Asian Hate" rally and march was held here on Sunday. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) "Only through coordinated action can we prevent further acts of bias-motivated violence and hurtful scapegoating." by Xinhua writer Liu Yanan NEW YORK, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Multiple advocacy organizations and the Chinese business community in the United States are calling for actions to cope with the historic rise of hatred, violence and xenophobia targeting Asian and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the country. The United States reported a spurt of anti-AAPI crimes during the pandemic. According to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based nonprofit social organization, it received nearly 3,800 reports of attacks or abuse against people of Asian descent between March 2020 and February 2021 and the real number of such incidents is believed to be far more than that. In response to the horrific scenario, the U.S. Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill combating surging hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. While acknowledging such a gesture, the minorities in the United States are calling for concrete actions to protect them from hate crimes. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (2nd R) speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, April 22, 2021. The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill combating surging hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) ACTION NOW A coalition of advocacy groups on Thursday voiced their appeals to the U.S. law enforcement, elected officials, and government agencies to ensure a holistic response to the Anti-Asian hate problem, and recognize the urgent need to take concrete actions. In particular, the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice should set up a task force to specifically investigate and combat increased violence directed towards the AAPI community, stated a release by the Committee of 100, a non-profit organization of prominent Chinese Americans, which organized the action. The coalition also called on the U.S. Department of Justice to revisit its China Initiative, which instigates U.S. judicial confrontations with China, and examine whether the program has caused the spike in prosecution of innocent Chinese American scientists. Senior executives and those in leadership positions should ensure that the AAPI community has a voice at the table, including in the boardroom, stressed the coalition. "This coalition across communities showcases the strength and impact we together possess ... Collectively, we can work to put these horrific incidents in the past and move forward as one nation," said Zhengyu Huang, president of the Committee of 100. More than 10 advocacy groups in the United States joined the coalition, including the 1990 Institute, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, the Committee of 100, Council of Korean Americans, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Partnership With Native Americans. Those organizations would meet on a quarterly basis to continue discussions of joint programs, activities and advocacy to combat anti-AAPI hate, said the release. "Silence is unacceptable. Unity in combating hate is absolutely imperative," said David Harris, chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Jewish Committee. "Only through coordinated action can we prevent further acts of bias-motivated violence and hurtful scapegoating," said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, the world's leading anti-hate organization. California Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis attends a rally to protest against anti-Asian hate crimes in Millbrae, California, the United States, April 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) BUSINESS COMMUNITY PLAYS A ROLE Meanwhile, the Chinese business community is also working to fight anti-AAPI hate and violence. "I would say we shouldn't really feel that we need to be fearful about what's going on ... You should be able to feel that you're at home," said Ni Pin, president of Wanxiang America Corporation, an automobile component designer and manufacturer based in Illinois, at a webinar organized by the China General Chamber of Commerce-USA (CGCC) on Friday. Speaking of the China Initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice, Ni said, "under that initiative, many people got a screening, which really is hurting American interests, American competitiveness, and for sure is gonna hurt the Asian American community." The business community should take the lead in fighting anti-Asian hate and violence as the companies have resources, funds and laptops, according to Ni, who is also the chairman of CGCC Chicago. As much as 86 percent of companies feel that the business community has the responsibility to support the fight against anti-Asian hate and violence, according to a survey by CGCC Chicago. AAPI small businesses are not able to operate safely and need assistance now, said Chiling Tong, president and CEO of the National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE). The National ACE calls on its partners to join in responding to the ongoing violence against the AAPI small business community by helping to educate employees, customers, and the public to intervene to halt these deplorable acts. Asian American employees need a special space to talk about the hate issues right now as a lot of them are hurting and that's affecting their work, according to John C. Yang, president and executive director of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an advocacy for Asian Americans' civil and human rights. As for the business community, "the next step is also to engage in these interracial conversations and think about how we show up for each other," said Yang. SAN JUAN, P.R. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Victor Ramos, a pediatrician, had not seen more than two Covid-19 patients hospitalized at the same time at San Jorge Children & Womens Hospital in San Juan, the Puerto Rican capital, where he works nights. When he left after one of his shifts a few days ago, the hospitals pediatric patient count had grown to 10. We had never seen that, he said. Some children were dehydrated after the coronavirus gave them high fevers, Dr. Ramos said, but others had the inflammatory syndrome that afflicts some children with Covid-19. One of the children hospitalized with severe Covid was just 3 months old, he said. Puerto Rico has experienced its worst coronavirus outbreak of the pandemic over the past five weeks, with an explosive growth in cases exceeding records that had been set in December. Only this week did the numbers stop rising, giving the territory its first respite since the surge began in mid-March. New Delhi, April 24 : Hospitals in the national capital continued to send out SOS calls on Saturday morning appealing to authorities to arrange oxygen. Moolchand Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH), Batra Hospital and Jaipur Golden hospital reported shortage of oxygen and appealed to the authority to arrange it at the earliest. At 7.05 am, Moolchand Hospital tweeted about shortage of oxygen. "Urgent sos help. We have less than 2 hours of oxygen supply at Moolchand Hospital. We are desperate and have tried all the nodal officer numbers but unable to connect. Have over 135 Covid patients with many on life support," Moolchand hospital tweeted tagging Prime Minister Office, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister Office, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. At 9.20 a.m., SGRH said that only 500 cubic meter of oxygen is left with the hospital which will last for about 30 odd minutes. Batra Hospital also reported a shortage of oxygen. Its Medical Director Dr SCL Gupta said that the hospital is left with oxygen for one hour with 350 patients. He appealed to the authority to ensure urgent supply of oxygen. Later, DCP South District Atul Bhatia said that an oxygen tanker had been arranged for Batra hospital. "We have received only 500-litre of oxygen after pleading for nearly 12 hours, which is also less than our daily requirement of 8,000 liters. We have 350 patients and it is difficult to treat them in absence of inadequate supply," Gupta told IANS. Around 9.30 a.m., MD Jaipur Golden Hospital, Dr D.K. Baluja tweeted, "Jaipur Golden Hospital is still waiting for oxygen. 215 COVID patients are dependent on the hospital, get supply ASAP. Please help, we are desperate." ABC: The ABC will cover Anzac Day services in all states and territories on Sunday 25 April as marches return to towns and cities across the country. The Director of ABC Regional & Local, Judith Whelan said Anzac Day still carried deep meaning for Australians. This was evident in last years coverage when Australians from every part of the country stood at their gates at dawn to remember those who have served. Anzac Day continues to be one of the largest and most important events the ABC covers. This year we will have ABC crews in all our major cities and in towns, covering local commemorations and connecting them with all Australians across all our platforms. Live coverage of state and territory dawn services as well as the National Dawn Service and Ceremony from Canberra will be carried across all ABC platforms. There will also be coverage of Light up the Dawn when Australians will mark a minutes silence wherever they are from their driveways, balconies, front gates or farm gates. The ABC will also mark the day with special programming on ABC Television and ABC ivew that includes a Landline Anzac Day edition at 12.30pm; Air Force 100 a commemoration of 100 years of the Royal Australian Air Force at 4.00pm; The Art of Remembrance, which looks at Australias involvement in conflict through the lens of visual art, at 6.00pm; and a special collection of news features and documentaries on ABC iview in Anzac Day: Australia Remembers. ABC NEWS Weekend Breakfast is inviting viewers to share their photos and videos of their Anzac Day commemorations at [email protected] and ABC Classic is featuring musical moments of reflection in the lead up to and on Anzac Day. Summary of ABCs Anzac Day coverage (#AnzacDay) Canberra Dawn Service and National Ceremony will be broadcast on ABC TV, ABC NEWS channel, iview, ABC RN, ABC Radio (except Victoria), ABC Australia and on social media. The ABC listen app will carry a dedicated Anzac Day stream featuring Dawn Services, The Townsville March and local radio streams. TV broadcasts of Sydney Dawn Service, Canberra Dawn Service and National Ceremony and Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance Service will all be live from 4.30am AEST on ABC TV and ABC NEWS channels, on iview, and streamed live on ABC Australia Facebook and YouTube. State TV broadcasts of capital city marches and dawn services will also be streamed live on ABC capital city Facebook accounts and on the ABCs capital city local radio websites. Every capital city will have live coverage of a local march, however coverage of capital city dawn services will vary in each state. Broadcasts times can be found on the ABC Anzac Day website. The Anzac Day Address by the Governor-General, David Hurley will be broadcast on ABC Television and iview and at 6.55pm and replayed on ABC Radio during its national Evenings program. ABC News Digitals Anzac Day coverage will include previews on the different ways to commemorate the day and a series of historical features and news stories reflecting the ways Australians are marking it. On Sunday, readers can stay up-to-date with events around the country as they unfold, at abc.net.au/news and on the ABC listen app. Seven: The Seven Networks special Anzac Day coverage begins from 4.50am Sunday with the live and commercial free broadcast of the Currumbin Dawn Service on the Gold Coast. In a special extended edition of Weekend Sunrise, join hosts Matt Doran and Monique Wright as they cross live throughout the morning to local commemorative services happening around the nation to honour the fallen and give thanks to our service men and women who have served and continue to serve this country. From 10.30am, Channel 7 will broadcast live and commercial free the Anzac Day National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. AFL powerhouses Collingwood and Essendon then run out onto the MCG for the annual Anzac Day match, with Sevens live and free broadcast to begin from 2.00pm AEST on Channel 7 and 7mate, including the traditional pre-game Anzac observance ceremony. Then join 7NEWS at 6.00 for a special Anzac Day commemorative bulletin, as well as the days other headlines from Australia and around the world. Special coverage of Anzac Day from 4.50am AEST Sunday on Channel 7 and 7plus Broadcast times on Seven: 10: All times AEST Saturday 4:20am 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day 2021 As Australia stops to remember, 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day. With reporters across the country, N.Z, U.K. & Turkey, we will take you to the national services & dawn vigils on across the country. Sunday 6am 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day 2021 As Australia stops to remember, 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day. With reporters across the country, N.Z, U.K. & Turkey, we will take you to the national services & dawn vigils on across the country. 10am 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day 2021 As Australia stops to remember, 10 News First Presents: ANZAC Day. With reporters across the country, N.Z, U.K. & Turkey, we will take you to the national services & dawn vigils on across the country. NITV: Paradise Soldiers Sunday, 25 April at 8.40pm on NITV As far back as World War I, through Vietnam and up to present day, young Cook Islanders have served and sacrificed alongside New Zealand in military conflicts and combat, but their stories are largely untold. Paradise Soldiers celebrates their contribution, acknowledges their sacrifice, and shares their personal stories. Truth Be Told: Lest We Forget Sunday, 25 April at 9.40pm Truth Be Told: Lest We Forget is a landmark documentary. It follows four descendant researchers as they uncover the untold stories of their Indigenous ancestors who fought with the Australian Imperial Forces in the Middle East during World War I. This film documents a trip made in October 2017 by descendants of Aboriginal soldiers who fought as part of the World War I Palestine campaign, who gathered in Israel to mark the 100-year anniversary of the battle of Beersheba. Lest We Forget Aboriginal Women Sunday, 25 April at 10.40pm on NITV Three Aboriginal women, all now in their late 50s or early 60s, who served in the military in the 1970s and 80s, discuss how their lives were changed by being in the military, what challenges they faced at the time, and how the experience contributes to their world view today. Related Recent data indicates that rampant American discord parallels worsening violence across the nation and in Kansas City. This not so fun fact is important to remember as a coalition of activist leaders renew their commitment to confront the mayor & police chief. Embattled talker Tucker Carlson recently noted this study but it deserves repeating among our blog community as a woman fights for her life after an East side shooting this Friday afternoon whilst culture war trumps any discussion of solutions to KCMO's tragic homicide trend. Check it: From 2014 to 2019, a researcher tracked more than 1,600 BLM protests across the country, largely in bigger cities, with nearly 350,000 protesters. His main finding is a 15 to 20 percent reduction in lethal use of force by police officers roughly 300 fewer police homicides in census places that saw BLM protests. Research also indicates that these protests correlate with a 10 percent increase in murders in the areas that saw BLM protests. That means from 2014 to 2019, there were somewhere 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. Without blame or accusation. The data deserves consideration by people with good intentions from every perspective. A local volunteer in the midst of KCMO political upheaval sees the situation this way . . . "The ENTIRE activist community is fighting the Mayor. They are dishing it out in public . . . This doesnt help our community at all. None of this does." Meanwhile, lowly local residents, plebs and ne'er-do-wells don't really have much influence over these conversations that are mostly incited by social media and strategically documented and dismissed by broadcasters who live in the suburbs. And in the midst of this unrest, the record-breaking pace of the KCMO homicide count continues to rise. Check the links . . . Vox: Research shows places with BLM protests from 2014 to 2019 saw a reduction in police homicides but an uptick in murders. CNBC: 8 in 10 Asian Americans say violence against them is risingyet support is lacking Conversation: Collateral damage of COVID-19 - Rising rates of domestic and social violence You decide . . . SCSI auctioneers and valuers say land prices remained resilient last year despite the threat posed by Covid and are predicted to rise by 4% on average this year, underpinned by a rise in farm incomes as well as strong demand and reduced supply. The main findings: * In Kilkenny prices ranged from 8,000 to 12,300 * Land prices forecast to rise by 4% on average in 2021 * Leinster average non-residential prices under 50 acres ranged from 7,400 per acre for poor quality to 11,200 for good land in 2020 * The most expensive land was in Kildare where good quality land fetched an average of 13,600 per acre According to the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland / Teagasc Agricultural Land Market Review and Outlook Report 2021 the price in Leinster for an acre of non-residential land under 50 acres last year ranged from an average of 7,400 for poor land to 11,200 for good quality. The report found that Leinster had the highest prices in 2020 because of the higher quality of land in the province and the high demand for it. For good land, less than 50 acres, average prices in the province ranged from a high of 13,600 in Kildare the highest in the country - to 7,900 in Longford, while the prices for poor quality ranged from a high of 8,300 per acre in Kildare to 5,500, again in Longford. The average price of an acre of good land under 50 acres in Kilkenny was 12,300, while the average price of an acre of poor-quality land under 50 acres in the county was 8,000. The survey of 156 auctioneers and valuers from all over the country which was conducted in February 2021 found that demand for rented ground also remains strong with rents this year expected to rise by 8% in Leinster, 6% in Connacht/Ulster and 5% in Munster. John Dawson of REA Dawson, a member of the SCSIs Rural Agency Group said that lockdowns due to Covid had led to a reduction in the volume of sales. The inability to view holdings or physical auctions led to a significant increase in the number of sellers postponing plans to sell land. In our survey, over a third of agents (35%) reported a decrease in the volume of land sold in 2020 compared with 19% in 2019. Virtual viewing options have been available to sellers, but clearly many have a preference for more traditional auction sales. Agents in Leinster say younger farmers with a Green Certificate, which is a level 5 qualification are helping to drive the market. However, they caution that land price expectations from some vendors are simply unrealistic at this present time. While Covid has affected sales activity, it hasnt affected output or prices and as a result farmer confidence about the future has been unaffected. The land market has shown strong resilience throughout the pandemic and agents believe prices will rise on average by 4% this year. The low level of supply is again an issue in the rental market, but its not Covid related. Here the issue is leases with twenty-four per-cent of agents reporting a decline in the volume of land leases in 2020 compared to just 8% in 2019 as more land is locked up in long-term leases Mr Dawson said. In Munster, where dairy farmers are driving the market, prices ranged from an average of 11,900 per acre for good quality land under 50 acres in Tipperary to 9,000 in Clare while prices for poor quality ranged from an average of 6,500 in Waterford to 4,700 in Clare. In Connacht/Ulster prices for good land under 50 acres ranged from an average of 9,500 per acre in Donegal to 6,500 in Monaghan and for poor land from 5,750 in Monaghan to 3,250 in Leitrim, the lowest price in the country. Teagasc economist Dr. Jason Loughrey said that while Covid may have impacted the volume of sales, it had little impact on agricultural commodity prices last year and this helped to support farm incomes and land values at a time of great uncertainty. The closure of hotels and restaurants and the contraction in the tourist business led to a sharp fall in sales of food and drink through these channels. However, this was largely offset by increased food and drink consumption within the home. Overall it is estimated that the average farm income in Ireland increased by 6% in 2020 and this year we forecast an increase of a further 3%. Looking at the various farm sectors, last year was a good one for sheep farmers in particular, as they benefitted from higher prices as did pig producers. Dairy farm incomes were stable while incomes on cattle rearing farms increased. There was no change on other cattle farms. Tillage farmers did have a disappointing year due to adverse weather conditions which led to low yields and a drop in income. While farmers benefitted from lower input costs last year, they are facing some cost pressures this year, with feed, fertiliser and fuel prices all on the increase. Lamb prices are expected to be significantly higher in 2021 relative to 2020 and farmers with a sheep enterprise will therefore benefit. A slight improvement in cattle farm income is expected with dairy incomes remaining stable. The outlook for tillage farm income this year is contingent on cereal yield developments. Normal weather through to the harvest period would see a significant improvement in tillage farm income in 2021 Dr. Loughrey concluded. : Qiguoji (), : Military : JJ : BBS (Fri Apr 23 17:49:48 2021, ) https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/23/health/johnson-vaccine-acip-recommendation/ index.html (CNN)Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted Friday to recommend resuming use of the vaccine. An updated warning will be added to the label. The CDC and US Food and Drug Administration recommended pausing the use of the vaccine on April 13 while they investigated the risk of rare, severe blood clots. On Friday, members of the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices agreed the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks from rare blood clots linked with the vaccine. US has more than 9 million Johnson & Johnson doses ready to go if pause lifts US has more than 9 million Johnson & Johnson doses ready to go if pause lifts Committee members worried that taking one of only three vaccines out of the mix available to Americans would slow efforts to immunize the population against a virus that has killed more than half a million people in the United States. Plus, they agreed that having a one-shot vaccine that doesn't need to be stored in freezers was valuable and would be preferred by many people who do not want to come back for a second dose, or who would struggle to make two vaccination appointments. The language of the vote: "The Janssen Covid-19 vaccine is recommended for persons 18 years of age and older in the U.S. population under the FDA's emergency use authorization." The vote was 10 in favor, four opposed, with one abstention. What's next? The US Food and Drug Administration will update the label for the vaccine, indicating that women under the age of 50 should be aware of the risk of a rare blood clotting syndrome associated with the vaccine. Earlier, Johnson & Johnson officials said they had agreed to new language for the label that acknowledges the risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, or TTS. The CDC now has reports of 15 cases, all in women, and 13 of them in women under the age of 50. Three have died. CDC vaccine advisers to hear about new blood clot cases linked with J&J coronavirus vaccine CDC vaccine advisers to hear about new blood clot cases linked with J&J coronavirus vaccine CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will sign off on ACIP's recommendation and then FDA will prepare an amended emergency use authorization for the vaccine, Dr. Amanda Cohn, ACIP's executive secretary, told the meeting. "We are awaiting and anticipate that the FDA will be putting out a new, a newly approved EUA language," Cohn said. "And additionally, we will be taking the input from today, along with this language that FDA will publish and both FDA and CDC will have communication materials and education materials including infographics, patient fact sheets." Next week the CDC has scheduled a telephone briefing for doctors and other clinicians to explain the changed recommendations and lay out the symptoms and treatments for TTS. There will also be a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report -- the CDC's main publication for disseminating health news -- to share the information. Risks and benefits The CDC's Dr. Sara Oliver presented the results of several models laying out what might happen if the vaccine is used again, including with restrictions on use in certain groups. The CDC took into consideration deaths from coronavirus and the likelihood that people would get vaccinated more quickly if the Janssen vaccine was in the mix. "When resuming vaccination among all persons at least 18 years, we expect 26 to 45 TTS cases depending on vaccine uptake," she said. But 600 to 1,400 deaths from Covid-19 would be prevented, and as many as 3,500 ICU admissions would be prevented. If the vaccine were restricted to people over the age of 50, three TTS cases could be expected, but between 40 and 250 Covid-19 deaths would be prevented, and as many as 1,000 people would not need treatment in the ICU. Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team. For every million doses of vaccine given to women 18 to 49, 13 TTS cases can be expected, Oliver said. But 12 deaths from Covid-19 would be prevented and 127 ICU admissions would be prevented among those women if they had access to the Janssen vaccine. The CDC did not consider a gender-based restriction, Oliver said, because it would be too hard to explain -- even though the risk of blood clots appears to be very low among men. -- :WWW mitbbs.com [FROM: 2600:1017:b817:] The disgraced Army Drill Sergeant caught on video shoving a black man in his gated community will face civilian not military court on assault charges, after his commander said he trusted the justice system to bring a 'fair resolution.' Fort Jackson's Commander Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr. said in a statement Friday that the Army will leave the prosecution of Jonathan Pentland to the civilian criminal system because he does not want to 'interfere' in the case. Pentland was charged with third degree assault and battery last week after video surfaced online showing the 42-year-old father of two shoving a young black man walking past his house and telling him: 'You came to the wrong neighborhood motherf****r.' If convicted, he faces up to 30 days in prison and/or a fine of up to $500. The white Army veteran was also suspended from his duties as an instructor at Fort Jackson and was instead assigned to administrative duties pending the outcome of the criminal case. The disgraced Army Drill Sergeant caught on video shoving a black man in his gated community will face civilian not military court on assault charges, after his commander said he trusted the justice system to bring a 'fair resolution. Pictured the incident above But Beagle said Friday he will not be bringing charges against Pentland in military court as he trusts the civilian criminal system to pursue justice. 'While I have the authority to take action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or take other administrative actions,' Beagle said. 'I have the utmost confidence in our civilian criminal system and trust that it will reach a fair and just resolution of this case.' He added: 'I do not want to take any actions now that could interfere with the fair resolution of civilian criminal charges.' Beagle slammed Pentland's actions last week saying: 'Soldier conduct on and off duty must be exemplary to retain the trust of our communities and our nation.' The commander doubled down on his condemnation of Pentland's actions Friday, saying they do not match with the values and expectations of soldiers in the Army. 'I want to reiterate that the command in no way condones the behaviors and actions depicted,' he said. Fort Jackson's Commander Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr. (above) said in a statement Friday that the Army will leave the prosecution of Jonathan Pentland to the civilian criminal system Beagle's statement where he said he does not want to 'interfere' in the case 'Those behaviors are absolutely counter to the Army Values and professionalism expected of Soldiers, both on and off duty.' However he added that he wanted to protect 'due process': 'Your Army is committed to confronting racism, extremism, and corrosive behaviors, but I must remain mindful of protecting due process in both the civil and military jurisdictions as this proceeds.' The shocking incident unfolded in the Summit neighborhood of Richland County in South Carolina on April 12. Pentland (in mug) was charged with third degree assault and battery In the three-minute viral video, Pentland is seen aggressively accusing the young black man of 'hanging around' the neighborhood for '15 minutes', and tells him the police have been called. The soldier asks where Deandre lives and claims he is 'harassing the neighborhood'. Deandre appears confused and responds that he lives in the area and 'was walking to my house'. Pentland insists Deandre must not live in the area because it is a 'tight knit community'. The Staff Sergeant repeatedly yells at him and gets in his face, saying: 'You're in the wrong neighborhood. I ain't playing with you. I'm about to show you what I can do.' He adds: 'Check it out, you can either walk away or I'm going to carry your a*s out.' At one point Pentland pushes Deandre, causing him to almost fall to the ground. Cassie Pentland, the sergeant's wife, can also be heard shouting at the black man in the video and telling him police have already been called when he tells them to alert authorities. Pentland pictured in uniform. He is a drill sergeant at Fort Jackson in South Carolina In fact, Deandre does appear to have a close relative who lives just a 10-minute walk from the scene of the confrontation. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announced last week Pentland had been charged with third-degree assault. 'The first time I saw the video it was terrible. It was unnecessary,' he said. Pentland was detained at the Richland County Jail and issued a personal recognizance bond, according to online jail records. He was originally handed a citation for malicious injury to property for slapping Deandre's phone out of his hand and cracking it, according to reports. The victim has not named and is identified only as Deandre on social media. Demonstrations have been held outside Pentland's home this week after video (still above) surfaced online showing the 42-year-old father of two shoving a young black man walking past his house and telling him: 'You came to the wrong neighborhood motherf****r' Black Lives Matter protesters were seen rallying outside the South Carolina home Wednesday The three-minute clip shows Pentland repeatedly scream at the man - identified only as Deandre - to 'go away now' and telling him he must not live there because it is a 'tight-knit community' Lott said he is not facing charges. He added the man had been involved in other incidents in the neighborhood leading up to the video, but 'none of them justified the assault that occurred'. A law enforcement source told Dailymail.com last week that Deandre was facing charges of trespass and animal cruelty from separate incidents but has now been determined mentally incapable of standing trial. The source said the young man is mentally unwell and has entered a facility in the days following the alleged assault. Protesters descended on the sergeant's home after the video surfaced online, with a crowd of around 150 Black Lives Matter demonstrators rallying outside last Wednesday, holding signs and chanting. Pentland was spotted fleeing his home with his wife Cassie under the cover of darkness in footage posted to social media the next morning following the backlash over his alleged assault of the black man. A spokesperson for the Richland County Sheriff's Department told DailyMail.com Pentland was not relocated, though 'we do not know his whereabouts.' Pentland was seen fleeing his home in the early hours of last Thursday, after BLM protest outside Cassie Pentland, his wife, can also be heard shouting at the black man and telling him police have already been called when he tells them to alert authorities Despite the economic cost, a majority of Australians believe Anzac Day should trigger a national holiday even if it means having a Monday off, like it would this year. At the same time, most of us have seem to have no plans to attend services or events to mark the occasion. An online survey of 1,038 Australians conducted by CoreData Research has found 82.5 per cent of respondents reckon this Monday should be a day off in all states and territories, even though Anzac Day falls on Sunday. More than nine in 10 (90.8 per cent) said Anzac Day should always be a public holiday as a sign of respect to those who sacrificed their lives. Despite the economic cost, a majority of Australians believe Anzac Day should trigger a national holiday even if it means having a Monday off, like it would this year Even so, 36.6 per cent of those surveyed said they would be attending an Anzac Day service this year. Around a third (34.3 per cent) won't be going to a service, while 29 per cent might. The research highlights intergenerational differences in attitude, with greatest support for a national holiday among Generation Z (aged 26 or younger) and Pre-Boomers (76 or over). The strongest opposition registered among generations X and Y. Support for a day off is strongest in WA and lowest in the Northern Territory, where April 26 is a public holiday but where fewer than six in 10 people apparently believe the rest Australia should get a break. Even though the economic cost of a one-day national public holiday is estimated by CoreData Research at roughly $7 billion, more than 56 per cent of the people it spoke to still believe it's worth it. Again, Baby Boomers are more likely to and Gen Y least. However, only 36.6 per cent of those surveyed said they would be attending an Anzac Day service this year Slightly confusing is that a public holiday on April 26 will be observed in some states this year and not others. The survey showed people from states where there is a day off are less likely to know it's not a national occurrence. Only one in three West Australian respondents, for example, were aware. NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania do not have a public holiday on Monday when Anzac Day falls on a weekend. Ways to celebrate Anzac Day tomorrow A year ago, Australians marked Anzac Day without marches for the first time since the Spanish flu hit in 1919. This year, with the coronavirus largely contained, the parades are back and ceremonies will have crowds, albeit limited ones. However, services in Western Australia's Perth and Peel region have been cancelled after a hotel quarantine outbreak led to community transmission. The two regions will be in the midst of a lockdown on Sunday, with state leaders encouraging people to mark the occasion in their driveways. More than nine in 10 (90.8 per cent) said Anzac Day should always be a public holiday as a sign of respect to those who sacrificed their lives Veterans' organisations are encouraging other Australians to 'light up the dawn' in their driveways. Sunday marks the 106th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli. Anzac Day 2021 also marks major milestones for all three branches of Australia's armed services. The RAAF celebrates 100 years of service and the Royal Australian Navy, 110 years since it was granted the 'Royal' title by His Majesty King George V. The Australian Army is recognising the two million Australians who have served, and continue to, under the Rising Sun Badge for the past 120 years. 'Our armed services have loyally and courageously defended our nation for more than 100 years and I encourage all Australians to place our servicemen and women - past and present - at the front of our thoughts this Anzac Day,' RSL national president Greg Melick said. The Australian War Memorial has received approval from health authorities to hold the traditional dawn service and national ceremony. This means 3,000 pre-registered ticket holders will be able to attend the dawn service and 4,200 for the national ceremony in Canberra. Veterans, descendants of veterans, members of the Armed Services, military bands and school children take part in the Anzac Day march in Sydney in 2019 The service will start with the playing of the didgeridoo by Flight Lieutenant Tjapukai Shaw, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivering the commemorative address. The national ceremony will run from 10.30am to 12pm, with an address by Chief of Air Force Mel Hupfeld. Those paying tribute at home are encouraged to stand at the end of their driveways at dawn, with a candle and radio or app for a synchronised playing of The Last Post, as occurred last year in the depths of the pandemic. Royal Australian Navy veteran Grant Newham said his family had to rethink its commemorations during last year's Covid-19 lockdown, taking part in Light up the Dawn. '(We stood) at the end of our driveway at dawn with a candle, listening to The Last Post,' he said. 'It was so different to what we'd done in the past but it turned out to be really special. Light Up the Dawn feels like a really inclusive and meaningful way to appreciate our past and present servicemen and women which is why we've decided to participate again this year.' The RSL acknowledged some people still felt uncomfortable in crowd situations and plans to stream a digital dawn service at 6am through lightupthedawn.com.au 'Regardless of how Australians choose to mark Anzac Day, the most important thing is to pause and reflect on those who served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation,' Mr Melick said. Anzac Day 2021 also marks major milestones for all three branches of Australia's armed services Governor-General David Hurley and Mrs Hurley are spending Anzac Day in the NT, attending the Darwin dawn service before travelling to Katherine for the parade and community reception. In addition, the governor-general's Anzac Day message will be broadcast on the ABC, focusing on the role families play in supporting serving men and women. About 20,000 ADF personnel and cadets will contribute to activities, including the RAN ships HMAS Sheean and HMAS Armidale at the dawn service in Latrobe, Tasmania. On health advice, Anzac Day services overseas will not go ahead including the Australian and New Zealand-led Anzac Day services in Turkey and the Australian services in France. The day will still be recognised in these countries, however, with locally-based officials holding private commemorations. Update on April 25 at 6:20 p.m.: Indonesias military officially said Sunday that all 53 crew members of the submarine that sank last week are dead. Rescuers located the wreckage of the submarine that had been missing since Wednesday. The wreckage was at a depth of 838 meters. Based on the authentic evidence, we confirm that the KRI Nanggala has sunk and all the crew members have fallen, Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said at a news conference Sunday. Images captured by an underwater robot showed the submarine was in a least three pieces on the ocean floor. Advertisement Original post: The slim hope of finding Indonesias lost submarine all but vanished Saturday when debris was located that was thought to be from the vessel that lost contact on Wednesday with 53 crew members aboard. Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yudo Margono declared the submarine had sunk after rescuers found items, including prayer rugs, thought to be from the 44-year-old submarine. Officials had earlier said that they expected that the oxygen supply at the German-built KRI Nanggala 402 would run out by early Saturday morning. With the authentic evidence we found believed to be from the submarine, we have now moved from the sub miss phase to sub sunk, Margono said. Advertisement Advertisement Sonar technology revealed the sub sunk to 850 meters, far deeper than the collapse depth of 200 meters, at which point the pressure is so great that the vessel begins to split. If its an explosion, it will be in pieces. The cracks happened gradually in some parts when it went down from 300 meters to 400 meters to 500 meters, Yargono said. Advertisement Several countries, including the United States, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and India, have been providing assistance to locate the submarine. The cause is still uncertain as the submarine lost contact during what should have been a routine torpedo drill. The navy is investigating exactly what happened that prevented crew members from calling out for help. The Indonesian boat most likely went down through an internal problem, through flooding through a pipe that gives way or a battery explosion, Norman Polmar, an American submarine historian, tells the New York Times. No bodies have been recovered and officials would not comment on the fate of the crew members. Some family members continued to hold on to the possibility their loved ones would be found alive. There is still hope, I wont stop hoping, said Winny Widayanti, the wife of Col. Harry Setyawan, the commander of Indonesias submarine fleet who was aboard. The men will survive. It hasnt ended yet. *This post has been updated with new information since it was originally published. Lance LaCour, Katy Area Economic Development Council president and CEO, has decided to step down from his role in spring 2022, after more than 15 years of leadership. On HoustonChronicle.com: Katy ISD bond eyes renovating 7 aging schools During that time, the Katy-area population has more than doubled. A news release stated that LaCour has guided Katy Area EDC through a range of expansion projects that fostered the development of thousands of jobs and helped make the Katy area a prime location for business and families. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to lead this organization and be involved with the Katy-area community, said LaCour, in the release. It was a very difficult decision to leave this role, and I would like to extend a special thank you to our board of governors for their strong leadership and vision during my time leading the EDC. Katy Area EDC started in 2003 with the goal of spurring on economic development across the Katy area to attract, retain and grow quality, impactful companies, jobs and talent to improve the area and lives of its residents. The organization has started the process of finding a new president and CEO, following its succession plan. LaCour will continue leading and help the new leader transition into the role over the next year. On HoustonChronicle.com: Fort Bend Iftar celebrates Ramadan, brings together faiths and cultures On behalf of the board of governors, I thank Lance for his service to Katy Area EDC, said Board Chair Rick Lawler, in the release. We are sad to see him go but look forward to working with him over the next year in selecting his successor and continuing the great work for which our organization is known. To learn more about Katy Area EDC, visit www.katyedc.org. tracy.maness@hcnonline.com The serial killer drama Dexter is returning to TV in 2021, with fans eager to see what his life is like now. Many have even floated theories about what could happen in Dexter Season 9, including that hes stopped killing but will be tracked down by someone from his past. But now we have a definitive answer. A new Dexter Season 9 teaser reveals that hes returned to his nature and is killing again. Actor Michael C. Hall at an event in July 2012 in San Diego, California | Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images Several people are going to die in Dexter Season 9, says showrunner Clyde Phillips The last time we saw Dexter Morgan, he had exiled himself to Oregon, vowing to stop killing. But as we know now, he was unable to sustain that. Dexter always has what we call the dark passenger living inside him, showrunner Clyde Phillips previously explained to TV Insider. He is more grounded than hes ever been, but that dark passenger is a voice he cannot deny. This is Dexter. People are going to die. Dexter seems to have relocated to the fictional small town of Iron Lake in New York, where hell face villain Kurt Caldwell. Played by Clancy Brown of The Crown, Caldwell is described as a community figure who realized the American dream by going from driving big rigs, just like his father did, to now owning several trucks and the local truck stop. Powerful, generous, loved by everyone hes a true man of the people. If hes got your back, consider yourself blessed. But should you cross Kurt, or hurt anyone that he cares for, God help you (via TV Line). RELATED: Dexter: New Cast Additions Offer Insight Into the Plot of the Revival Series A Dexter Season 9 teaser highlights his return to his old ways On April 22, Showtime released a short video clip for the revival that teases whats next. It shows an ax set into a tree trunk as a fire burns in the snowy background. Dexter (Michael C. Hall) says through a voiceover, There really is nothing like getting back to naturemy nature. RELATED: Dexter Season 9 Teaser Photo Hints at His New Life After Becoming a Lumberjack The image suggests Dexter still works in the lumber industry, which could explain how he wound up in a town like Iron Lake. But how and when he started killing again remains a mystery. Whatever happens, Hall has said the revival features a really good story. I think in this case, the story thats being told is worth telling in a way that other proposals didnt, and I think enough time has passed where its become intriguing in a way that it wasnt before, he told The Daily Beast, referencing past revival ideas. And lets be real: people found the way that show left things pretty unsatisfying, and theres always been a hope that a story would emerge that would be worth telling. I include myself in the group of people that wondered, What the hell happened to that guy? So Im excited to step back into it. Ive never had that experience of playing a character this many years on, he continued. The show is expected to air in late 2021, but an exact date is unknown. For updates, be sure to check back in with us. RELATED: The Dexter Revival May Not Definitely Be the End of the Show, Says Michael C. Hall By David A. Tizzard This past week on social media, I've watched as friends, relatives, and acquaintances have posted pictures and comments related to two topics seemingly very far from Korean life: COVID-19 vaccines and marijuana. Tuesday was "420:" a day on which people gather to celebrate and consume cannabis in various parts of the world. It's both a holiday and a politically-charged event, as stoners and regular folk engage in a little bit of civil disobedience to try and enact legislative change. There is no 420 culture of note in Korea and the possession or consumption of marijuana remain both illegal activities and strong social taboos. However, it is interesting to note the seemingly increased Korean-language media attention given to the topic, and the ways in which social media is facilitating a more open and democratized conversation on the topic. For example, mainstream news organizations are now more regularly putting out media content addressing the issue. These are not videos in the dark corners of the Internet or personal vlogs (though there are an increasing number of those too); instead, they are those placed by mainstream broadcasters on their official social media channels and platforms. Because of the nature of YouTube and the ability to freely leave comments, more and more citizens are now able to voice their opinions on the subjects of their choice. It is no longer a case of having to shout at the television screen at home; people are now able to talk to each other and express themselves. A certain degree of anonymity no doubt also helps. From reading through these comments to get a sense of what's going on, there is no general consensus. One of the key lessons of any study of Korean culture and society is that it is far from monolith. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see such conversations taking place. What was once extremely hush-hush has now apparently become something that some (at least) are willing to address. On YouTube in April, there has been a whole host of Korean content covering marijuana in various ways, ranging from news of: legalization, international arrests, discussions, and celebrity involvement. The South Korean news channel, JTBC, had a seven-minute piece on Mexico's recent decision to legalize recreational marijuana. The YouTube clip in Korean has had nearly 12,000 views and over 300 comments in a month. A YTN broadcast last Wednesday covering a Spanish marijuana bust has nearly 40,000 views in less than 2 days. The fact that the perpetrators were of Chinese descent seems to have prompted a great deal of negative engagement on that particular video. On April 1st, television personality Daniel Lindemann spoke in Korean while covering the pros and cons of marijuana in his "Wiseman" series for YTN News. He covers the legality of marijuana around the world, its medicinal uses, and warns of its effects on one's emotional and psychological health. The conclusion of that particular video was that, because of the high level of social cohesion and prevailing attitudes, it is not the correct time to be discussing the legalization of marijuana in Korea he said while discussing that very thing. The video has nearly 70,000 views in 3 weeks and 700 comments, all in Korean, all debating the issue reasonably underneath. I briefly covered the history of marijuana in Korea in my last October, but far too many here still remain in the dark on certain specifics. For example, medicinal marijuana has been legalized in South Korea for a few years now. And despite it being the first country in Asia to do so, few know about this. It rarely, for example, features in any of the above comment sections. A YouTube video uploaded 6 months ago by Subusu News, titled, "Legal Cannabis Plantations in Korea," therefore explores the only place it is legal to grow cannabis in South Korea: the "Free Hemp Control Areas" of Andong City. These locations have been permitted to plant and grow hemp for medical purposes. The video explores the pros and cons of using CBD to treat various ailments, and has some nuanced views and informed talking heads. The video has received over half a million views and 2,000 comments in the relatively short time that it's been online. Alongside medicinal cannabis, it is also important that people are aware of its legality. With all the talk of Canada and Colorado now making it perfectly legal to smoke there, many young Koreans don't realize it's still illegal for them to smoke it in those places. Korea uses extraterritorial jurisdiction and expects its citizens to abide by Korean law (particularly vis-a-vis marijuana and gambling) irrespective of where they are in the world. For Korean people, it is not a case of "When in Rome," but rather, "You are always in Seoul." When I inform young university students of how Korean law applies to Korean citizens extraterritorially, many look back with disbelief, incomprehension, or a frantic realization that they should probably delete some of their old social media posts from their time spent backpacking around Europe. The key point again here, however, is about the access to information and the possibility for discussion. It's not my position to tell Korean people or the legal system what they should or should not think about when it comes to marijuana. Yet, I do hope that young (and old) people don't needlessly find themselves in trouble, simply due to the lack of information. In that sense, it is very interesting to see more and more Korean-language discussion on the topic taking place on social media platforms. This debate, I think, points to the true democratization of ideas and content. Social media can be a purveyor of fake news, agitation, hyperbole, and polarization. But it can also allow people to read, listen, and discuss a whole new variety of issues that would previously have remained very far away from them. This opportunity for discussion then allows them to make more informed decisions, enlightened choices, and hopefully avoid any unnecessary mistakes or incidents. Oh yeah, and vaccines. Can we get some of those here soon please? Dr. David A. Tizzard (datizzard@swu.ac.kr) has a Ph.D. in Korean Studies. He is a social/cultural commentator and musician who has lived in Korea for nearly two decades. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times. The Chauvin Trial is an Exception to the Rule Since most U.S.-Americans know little about social and political reality beyond their own limited experience and bubbles, powerfully deceptive narratives and images disseminated by the corporate media easily distort public perceptions. Now we have the Derek Chauvin trial. Is it a good thing that cable news has been broadcasting this dreadful proceeding from gavel to gavel, offering endless microscopic forensic coverage of the prosecution and defense of George Floyds racist cop murderer? Not so much. It isnt just that any fool can see that Chauvin lynched Floyd in cold blood and that it is distressing to watch Chauvins lawyer present the clearly videotaped nine and a half minute asphyxiation of Floyd as if it were merely an incidental co-morbidity alongside Floyds supposedly drug- and disease-induced death. The defense strategy is smart but absurd and sociopathic. It not-so-subtly channels the vicious racist, mass-carceral War on Drugs at its core, appropriately enough. Its not even that the obsessive focus on one case has diverted attention from the nations broad and deep system of brutal racial oppression and inequalitya system replete with racist mass incarceration, racist felony branding, and the almost routine murder and maiming of Black and Brown people by cops (numerous victims since the Chauvin trial began include Daunte Wright, just outside Minneapolis, and Adam Toledo, a 13-year old shot with his hands in the air in Chicago!). ADVERTISEMENT No, its even worse. Another deep problem here, the Chicago anti-fascist activist Jay Becker writes, is that people who havent followed other trials of cops who kill (the few there have been) will think that Chauvins prosecution is typical when it is anything but. The chief of police testified against him. The prosecutors actually prosecuted. Nope, its really quite unprecedented and evidence of the deep, deep fear that last summers rising against White supremacy has instilled in all law enforcement and the powers that be at large. Indeed. The danger here is that knowledge-starved Americans and Whites especially will think this case is characteristic of how racist cops are usually treated when they kill and cripple Black and Brown people. Nothing could be further from the truth. There have been some few partly or fully successful prosecutions of killer White cops whose crimes were just too egregious, too clearly caught on tape, and too notorious to successfully defend within courtrooms and the court of public opinion. Chicago cop Jason Van Dykes vicious 16-shot killing of the Black teenager Laquan McDonald (October 2014) and North Charleston, North Carolina cop Michael Slagers sadistic murder of Walter Scott (April 2015) come to mind. But such prosecutions and convictions are remarkably rare Van Dyke got off with an absurdly short sentence). Most killer cops like the murderers of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and many more go free. And theres never been anything remotely like the Chauvin trial. Whats it all about? Among the hundredsif not thousandsof incidents in which White cops have killed Black Americans, the murder of George Floyd was distinctive in two key and related ways. First, its not just that it was caught on tape by a citizenas were the killings of Walter Scott ad Eric Garnerbut that it was a prolonged and deliberate lynching of a prone suspect that could not possibly be defended as a split-second action made in the heat of action, which is the standard defense used in countless cases, certain to be used by Daunte Wrights recent killer, Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter. Second, it provoked the largest single protest wave in U.S.-American history, putting tens of millions of Americans in the streets behind calls not merely for improved police conduct but also for the dismantlement of the nations giant, globally unmatched racist mass arrest and incarceration statea monstrous criminal injustice system that traces back to the nations unresolved legacies of Black chattel slavery, Jim Crow terrorism, hyper-segregating ghettoization, and racial fascism. So the media here is stepping up to create an illusion: a government passionately committed to social and racial justice and to the disciplining of its gendarmes when they go too far. ADVERTISEMENT Chauvin is the sacrificial lamb for the preservation an insidious regime of racial oppression that rarely punishes its worst on-the-ground perpetrators. One can already hear the paranoid-style murmurings of the absurdly aggrieved White-Amerikaner Trumpenvolkthe deranged White nationalists who pathetically claim to be the real racial victims of the nations supposedly radical Left and PC politics, government, and media. They are taking the medias extreme Floyd-Chauvin coverage as proof that Anglo Saxon Caucasians are the true wounded party. It will take a prolonged peoples uprising, bigger than the George Floyd Rebellion to defeat all this and the imperialist class dictatorship that lay behind it at the end of the day. CLEVELAND, Ohio City officials on Friday fired a Cleveland police supervisor accused of attacking a woman at a gas station in 2017. Cleveland Safety Director Karrie Howard fired Sgt. Christopher Graham over an incident in which Graham was criminally charged with assault and unlawful restraint, both misdemeanors. The case has languished in Cleveland Municipal Court, held up by an appeal and the coronavirus pandemic that halted criminal trials. Graham, a police officer of nearly 25 years, has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges, and no trial date has been set. Grahams criminal defense attorney Marcus Sidoti said he intends to take the case to trial. Christopher Graham has been a decorated police officer for 24 years, Sidoti said. Cleveland police officers charged with crimes typically arent disciplined until the criminal cases are completed. Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia and mayors spokeswoman Latoya Hunter did not respond to questions seeking comment following the citys late Friday news release. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 8 President Capt. Brian Betley said the union will file a grievance and take the case to arbitration to try to reverse Howards decision. Betley he said he objected to Howard rendering a decision in the case before the criminal trial was finished. He said the plea fell on deaf ears, and that will be brought up if the case goes to arbitration. According to the letter from Howard notifying Graham of his firing, Graham was fired for using excessive force, including choking the then-18-year-old woman and pinning her to the ground with a knee on her back, as well lying about the woman trying to kick him in the groin, never explaining to the woman why he arrested her, and never asking if the woman needed medical attention. Graham also tightened his handcuffs too tight around the womans wrist, and the wrists of a second person he arrested that night and failed to search the woman after he arrested her, the letter said. The incident happened about Sept. 12, 2017, at the Sunoco gas station on Lorain Road near West 136th Street. Officers went to the gas station for a report of teens fighting. One of the teens was handcuffed and put into the back of a police cruiser. The 18-year-old woman, who was a friend of the handcuffed teen, walked up to the cruiser and tried to talk to her friend, body camera video showed. Several officers, including Graham, ran at the woman. Graham got to the woman first and choked her, according to body camera video and court records. He grabbed the woman by the hair and dragged her to the ground. Graham claimed that the woman tried to kick him in the groin, but the Internal Affairs investigation found that never happened. Graham kneeled on her back, and one of the officers handcuffed her as she screamed in pain and insulted the officers, the body camera video showed. An officer lifted her and walked her to the cruiser. Graham signed charges against the woman for fourth-degree felony assaulting a police officer. She spent five days in jail, and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office dropped the charge before it proceeded to the grand jury. Internal Affairs detectives investigated the case and found that Graham lied about the woman trying to kick him and that he assaulted her for no reason. The investigators also wrote in court records that the charges against the woman were unwarranted. Graham has remained on restricted duty since the criminal charges were filed in 2017. Graham two other times has been accused of abusing his police powers. In 2003, he had two patrolmen arrest his ex-girlfriend on a trespassing charge, even though the woman lived at the Oak Park Avenue home. The city settled a lawsuit in that case for $14,000. Two years later, Graham argued with a man over a parking space, pulled his car over, then chased him into a coffee shop and attacked him, according to the lawsuit. He then filed criminal charges against the man for assaulting a police officer. A grand jury rejected those charges. The city paid $7,500 to settle that lawsuit in 2007. Former Safety Director Michael McGrath in June suspended Graham without pay for 20 days for a myriad of issues. He was accused of repeatedly clashing with supervisors, including one incident in which his supervisor feared the argument would turn violent, and another incident in which he called Traffic Commission James Muhic a liar, according to city records. He also made some 339 public records requests to the city and submitted a report that included inflammatory language and lies, among other issues, according to city records. The city also announced in the same late Friday news release that Howard fired dispatcher Kashuana Lowe after she pleaded guilty in December to drunken driving in Willoughby. A judge suspended her drivers license for one year, placed her on probation and ordered her to pay a $500 fine. Howard wrote in his letter notifying Lowe of her firing that he found that she also lied to Willoughby police about a hit-and-run crash associated with the incident. Lowe also had a history of failing to show up for work, refusing mandatory overtime, showing up late and abusing sick time. She was hired in 2018. In this photo from March 5, 2020, more than a dozen members of an ASE Vision process committee sit with Pitkin County officials in the countys administration building on Main Street to discuss details of local airport redevelopment, ideas that would later be included in the official Common Ground recommendations. It would be one of the last meetings in the county commissioners meeting room before COVID-19s stranglehold of business shutdowns, mandatory mask-wearing and online public meetings took effect. Drug and alcohol treatment programs have been working to promote the COVID-19 vaccine among higher-risk populations in the county. Jayme Hendricks, division director for northern tier outpatients for Gaudenzia, a nonprofit provider of drug and alcohol treatment, said protection against COVID-19 for clients is crucial, as they might have a weakened immune system or other medical problems. We know our substance abuse population is vulnerable, Hendricks said. Because theyve been using drugs or alcohol, their bodies are not the healthiest to begin with. Gaudenzia has outpatient drug and alcohol services in Pottsville and two womens and childrens residential programs in Ashland Gaudenzia New Destiny halfway house and Gaudenzia Fountain Springs inpatient services. The state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs partnered with the Department of Human Services and Rite Aid and Walgreens pharmacies to offer vaccine clinics at treatment facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Hendricks said they have held vaccine clinics at their residential facilities, for both the women who live there and the staff. The majority of our female population has been vaccinated, Hendricks said. Gaudenzia brought in pharmacies to our residential programs and offered all the staff the opportunity to get vaccinated as well, which ultimately protects our clients. For those living in the residential homes, getting vaccinated is especially important in protecting the community. We want our women to be healthy, Hendricks said. Some of them may be pregnant. Some of them have small children in the program with them, so it isnt just about the mothers. Gaudenzia also has educational initiatives, including a handbook given to clients that talks about COVID-19 prevention methods and the vaccine. Hendricks said they also discuss the importance of the vaccine in individual sessions and group seminars. For outpatient clients, Hendricks said they offer assistance in the appointment process. We help our clients navigate the system and set up a vaccination appointment, Hendricks said. If theres any type of barriers, we are going to sit and work with them until they are vaccinated, if that is what they decide to do. Hendricks said their goal is to help protect their clients from COVID-19, as well as anyone they might come in contact with in the community. Its all important, whether were trying to protect community members, staff, clients, family, children, Hendricks said. We are trying to do everything we can to do our part. A vial of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, N.Y. With the U.S. pause of the vaccine, authorities are weighing whether to resume the shots the way European regulators decided to with warnings of a very rare risk. An oil field over the Monterey Shale formation near Lost Hills, Calif., on March 24, 2014. (David McNew/Getty Images) California to Halt Fracking Permits by January 2024, Phase Out Oil Extraction by 2045 Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will stop issuing new permits for hydraulic fracturing by January 2024, and has instructed the California Air Resources Board to work on ways to phase out oil extraction in the state by 2045, he said on April 23. The move on fracking is regarded mostly as symbolic, as California Department of Conservation records show that the process accounts for only 2 percent of oil extraction in the state. The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day, Newsom said in a statement. Ive made it clear I dont see a role for fracking in that future and, similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil. California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at California State UniversityLong Beach, in Long Beach, Calif., on March 3, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Hydraulic fracturing is a method of extracting oil and gas from parts of the earths crust inaccessible by conventional drilling methods. It became a hot topic in the 2020 presidential election because it plays a crucial role in the energy industry of Pennsylvania, a swing state. Newsom seems to have changed his tactics after a push in the state legislature to ban fracking failed. He told reporters in September 2020 that only the legislature can ban fracking because he didnt have the authority to do it. We simply dont have that authority. Thats why we need the Legislature to approve it, Newsom said at the time. However, the efforts to push the fracking ban via legislature failed. Democratic lawmakers didnt drum up enough support to advance Senate Bill 467which was intended to ban fracking in the stateout of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. While environmental organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club hailed Newsoms announcement, an oil producers trade association said the executive move is disappointing and that it will undermine the states energy industry and shift oil production to foreign countries with questionable human rights records. Its disappointing that the Governors legally questionable announcement will undermine Californias climate leadership. Curbing in-state production through a well stimulation ban would not change the fact that Californians demand 1.4 million barrels of oil each day, the California Independent Petroleum Association, a trade association representing approximately 500 independent crude oil and natural gas producers and related companies operating in California, said in a statement (pdf). Instead of meeting our vast needs with California oil, produced under the planets strictest regulations, we would economically reward foreign regimes who do not share our environmental standards and human rights values. Reuters contributed to this report. A black man killed while driving away from sheriff's deputies was 'shot in the back' as he tried to drive away, newly released audio has revealed. Emergency dispatch audio recorded after the shooting of Andrew Brown, 42, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina on Wednesday morning included a dispatcher saying: 'We do have a subject that was hit... 'Be advised EMS has one male, 42 years of age, gunshot to the back.' In audio obtained by Broadcastify, they added: 'We do have a viable pulse at this time.' Later on, another transmission shared that Brown, a father of 10, had suffered 'gunshot wounds.' Brown was struck while deputies from Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office were executing a search warrant over a suspected drugs offense. Neighbors Demetria Williams, who witnessed part of the shooting, said she never saw Brown carry a gun, and that deputies fired into his car as he was trying to get away from them. He crashed his car moments later, with Williams saying she saw Brown 'slumped' in his vehicle as he died of his gunshot wounds. Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten told WAVY-TV that seven deputies have been put on administrative leave following the shooting of Brown. CNN reported that another two deputies resigned and one retired as a result of the incident. All seven were involved in executing the warrant on Wednesday morning, although Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten said not all of those suspended used their weapons. Demonstrators close a bridge into downtown as they demand the release of body camera footage of the police killing of Andrew Brown Jr. in Elizabeth City, North Carolina on Friday Tony Riddick addresses demonstrators at the intersection of Ehringhaus Street and Road Street during a march on Friday in Elizabeth City Protesters gather in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, on Friday night in the wake of Andrew Brown Jr's shooting at the hands of sheriff's deputies Demonstrators gather outside a government building during an emergency city council meeting Friday in Elizabeth City, North Carolina Demonstrators gather outside a government building during an emergency city council meeting Friday in Elizabeth City, North Carolina Six year-old Diamond Wood and her grandmother, Geneva Harris, participate in a protest march on Friday in Elizabeth City, North Carolina A man holds a sign that reads 'He didn't have to die!' during a march for Andrew Brown Kirk Rivers leads a group of demonstrators as they march through the streets of downtown Elizabeth City on Friday Community activist Kirk Rivers uses a megaphone to address protestors after emergency city council meeting on Friday Protestors block an intersection after an emergency city council meeting April 23, 2021 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina One deputy was initially placed on leave after the shooting, although their involvement in Brown's death remains unclear. The sheriff told WAVY-TV that footage from multiple body cameras would be released 'in the next couple days' after protesters took to the streets for two nights in a row demanding that officers release the footage. Protesters were gathering across North Carolina headed into the weekend as police in Raleigh declared one protest an 'unlawful assembly' as of 8pm after a group of protesters allegedly threw trash cans into the street, WRAL reported. 'We appreciate protestors resuming peaceful demonstrations and ask that they continue to do so until the end of the protest,' Raleigh police tweeted. Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten, top, appears during a meeting at The Mount, a church in Elizabeth City, where he spoke to push messages of unity and transparency, as well as accountability, with local religious and political leaders Andrew Brown, 42, was shot and killed by sheriffs in North Carolina on Wednesday morning Brown, a father of ten, was described by his family as a 'good guy' The Pasquotank Sheriff told WAVY-TV that seven deputies are on administrative leave after the shooting The Elizabeth City Council held a press conference after an emergency meeting to address the shooting Elizabeth City council members hold a press conference following an emergency meeting to direct the City Attorney to file a petition with court for body cam footage of the Andrew Brown Jr. shooting Glenda Brown Thomas displays a photo of her nephew, Andrew Brown Jr., on her cell phone at her home in Elizabeth City, N.C., on Thursday A small memorial is at the scene where a Pasquotank County sheriffs deputy shot and killed Andrew Brown Daylight shines through a bullet hole in an antique clock on the living room wall of Michael Gordon's home in Elizabeth City, N.C. Brown, a father of 10 children, was shot and killed in his car at around 8.30am while police were executing search-and-arrest warrants for drug offenses, officials said. Authorities would not provide details of the shooting but an eyewitness said that he was shot while trying to drive away, and that deputies fired at him multiple times. The car skidded out of Brown's yard and eventually hit a tree, said Demetria Williams, who lives on the same street. Williams said after hearing one gunshot, she ran outside, where she saw other shots being fired at the car. 'When they opened the door he was already dead,' Williams told The Associated Press. 'He was slumped over.' She said officers tried to perform chest compressions on him. A car authorities removed from the scene appeared to have multiple bullet holes and a broken rear windshield. However, the body camera footage cannot be released to the public without a court order under North Carolina law. The Elizabeth City Council held an emergency meeting at 3.30pm on Friday and voted unanimously to petition the sheriff to release the body camera video, WAVY-TV reported. City council members said that the Elizabeth city attorney will petition a superior court for an order of release if the sheriff denies the request. A demonstrator holds a sign for Andrew Brown Jr. during a protest march on Thursday Kirk Rivers, president of the Pasquotank County chapter of the NAACP, leads a group of demonstrators as they block Ehringhaus Street, a main retail avenue in Elizabeth City, N.C., on Friday Elizabeth City council members hold a press conference following an emergency meeting to direct the City Attorney to file a petition with court for body cam footage of the shooting Quentin Jackson, regional director for the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, addresses protesters blocking Business U.S. 17 in Elizabeth City, N.C. A woman holds a Black Voters Matter sign while driving in a protest march on April 22, 2021 in Elizabeth City, North Carolina Andrew Brown Jr.'s aunt Martha McCullen and her granddaughter pose for a photo on the stoop of his rental home Demonstrators block an intersection to protest the police killing of Andrew Brown Jr in Elizabeth City, North Carolina on Friday However, the city attorney said during the meeting that he does not believe the city has much of a legal standing to request the body camera footage. Council member Darius Horton made a motion to make the request anyway to 'send a message,' according to the outlet. City Attorney William Morgan said during the meeting that for the city to have legal standing to demand the footage it 'would have to have suffered some harm or have some reasonable connection to the issue,' The Outer Banks Voice reported. Sheriff Wooten appeared during a meeting at The Mount, a church in Elizabeth City, where he spoke to push messages of unity and transparency, as well as accountability, with local religious and political leaders. 'We come as a united front to let you know we hear you, we feel your pain. We know there is a lot of hurt in his community and we definitely want the transparency you want, we want the accountability that you want and there will be accountability,' Wooten said. Sheriff Tommy S. Wooten, II , right, and Chief Deputy Daniel Fogg with the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Office speak about the death of Andrew Brown Jr. in this message posted on Thursday Demonstrators organize to march in Elizabeth City on Thursday Kirk Rivers addresses demonstrators outside City Hall as they await members of the city council who held an emergency meeting on Friday Demonstrators march on Thursday in Elizabeth City in reaction to the death of Andrew Brown A demonstrator wears a shirt with an image of Andrew Brown Jr. on it during a march, Thursday The sheriff offered his 'sincerest condolences' to the Brown family while local leaders called for peace and patience while investigations into the shooting death of Brown are underway. 'I also will be calling in another agency to be doing our internal investigation, administratively, to keep my sheriff's office out of it completely, and that is solely due to accountability,' Wooten said. 'I can assure the public that if any of my deputies broke any laws or violated any policies that come out in this investigation, they will be held accountable because it's what citizens expect of me, it's my job as a leader, and it's the right thing to do.' Officials have described Brown as someone who was well known to police - but his family described the father-of-ten as a 'good guy', despite his 'flaws' - and are demanding the body camera footage. 'The police didn't have to shoot my baby,' Martha McCullen, an aunt of Brown, said on Thursday on the stoop of Brown's rental home. She said she raised him after his parents died and that he recently had has children taken from him but was working to get them back. 'Andrew Brown was a good person,' she said. 'He was about to get his kids back. He was a good father. Now his kids won't never see him again.' Brown's grandmother, Lydia Brown, and his aunt Clarissa Brown Gibson told The Associated Press that they learned about his death through a TV news report. Both said they want the shooting thoroughly investigated. 'I am very upset. Andrew was a good person,' Lydia Brown said. The deputy 'didn't have to shoot him like that.' Clarissa Brown Gibson said: 'We want to know if he was served with a warrant, why the shooting over a warrant?' Kirk Rivers, president of the Pasquotank County chapter of the NAACP, led a group of demonstrators as they blocked Ehringhaus Street, a main retail avenue in Elizabeth City, on Friday. Rivers told the Associated Press earlier this week that 'people in charge' need to be held accountable. 'When is it going to stop? We just got a verdict yesterday,' Rivers said in a phone interview, referring to the guilty verdicts handed down Tuesday in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. 'Is it open season now? At some point, it has to stop. We have to start holding the people in charge accountable.' On Thursday night Andrew Womble, the district attorney for the First Prosecutorial District, which encompasses Elizabeth City, said they were prevented by law from releasing the footage. 'We know people want to see the body camera footage,' said Womble, in a statement jointly signed with R. Michael Cox, the Pasquotank County Attorney. 'It is reasonable for people to ask to see it, because such footage can help provide key context about what happens in incidents like this. 'However, under North Carolina law police worn body camera footage is not a public record and cannot be released to the press or public without a court order. 'We must follow the law and the law prohibits us from publicly releasing the body worn camera footage.' Womble and Cox said they were allowed to show the footage privately to the family, however, and were making arrangements to do so. The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today, Biden said in a keenly anticipated statement issued on what is called Armenian Remembrance Day in the United States. Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination, he said. We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms. Let us renew our shared resolve to prevent future atrocities from occurring anywhere in the world. And let us pursue healing and reconciliation for all the people of the world, added the statement. Biden also paid tribute to Armenian survivors of the genocide, many of whom took refuge in the U.S., as well as their descendants. Over the decades Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic history that brought so many of their ancestors to our shores, he said. We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated. Successive U.S. presidents have until now refrained from using the word genocide to describe the World War One-era massacres for fear of antagonizing Turkey. Some of them, including Barack Obama and Donald Trump, used instead the Armenian phrase Meds Yeghern (Great Crime) in their April 24 statements. Biden repeatedly pledged to recognize the genocide when he ran for president. The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate unanimously passed genocide resolutions in 2019 after decades of lobbying by Armenian-American advocacy groups. The latter were quick to hail Bidens move. President Bidens affirmation of the Armenian Genocide marks a pivotal milestone in the arc of history in defense of human rights, said Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America. By standing firmly against a century of denial, President Biden has charted a new course. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) praised the U.S. president for dealing a major setback to Turkeys century-long obstruction of justice for this crime. President Bidens principled stand on the Armenian Genocide today pivots America toward the justice deserved and the security required for the future of the Armenian nation a landlocked, blockaded, genocide-survivor state, said Raffi Hamparian, the ANCA chairman. Meanwhile, Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian thanked Biden for the powerful step in a letter swiftly publicized by his office. The recognition of the Genocide is a matter of truth, historical justice and security to the Republic of Armenia, especially in the light of the events that took place in our region last year, Pashinian wrote, referring to the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh during which Turkey provided strong military support to Azerbaijan. Predictably, the Turkish government strongly condemned Bidens statement. It did not immediately announce any retaliatory steps against Washington. We have nothing to learn from anybody on our own past, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote on Twitter. Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal to peace and justice. We entirely reject this statement based solely on populism. According to the Reuters and Bloomberg news agencies, Biden informed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about his intention to recognize the genocide when they spoke by phone late on Friday. It was their first phone conversation since Bidens January 20 inauguration. Ankara vehemently denies a premeditated government effort to exterminate Ottoman Turkeys Armenian population. Erdogan has claimed that Armenians themselves massacred Muslim civilians and that their mass deportations to a Syrian desert was the most reasonable action that could be taken by the Ottoman government. U.S.-Turkish relations were already strained over a host of issues, including Turkey's purchase of Russian air defense systems, policy differences in Syria and human rights. U.S. officials told The New York Times earlier this week that Biden is mindful of the risk of their further deterioration emanating from Armenian genocide recognition. They said he is determined to further his human rights agenda on the international stage. ALBANY, Ore. -- Over 100 people rallied outside of the Linn County Courthouse Friday evening in support of a Black teen, who was the victim of an alleged hate crime The crowd held signs that said "Black Lives Matter," "No Hate Here," and "End Racism." Speeches were given by leaders of Black Joy Oregon and the Albany chapter of the NAACP. Black Joy Oregon organized Friday's rally in Albany and the founder, Julianne Jackson, said it was not a protest. It was just a time and place to show 13-year-old Nehemiah Miller the community supports him. "We're letting the community know that this person is not alone. We understand were only 2% of the population but we need other folks to understand well take the time to go stand with folks," Jakson said. "Its not something were not going to tolerate in our communities any longer." Miller was allegedly assaulted by the five white teenagers last Tuesday at Swanson Park. Albany Police said he was standing up against hate speech when the teens began to assault him. He was then hospitalized. Three of the five teens have been arrested and charged with various degrees of assault and bias crime. Albany Mayor Alex Johnson II said he was disappointed and saddened by the incident. People need to know that behaviors like that are unacceptable, Johnson said. In this community, we must be better together. We must be. No question about it. There's good people that live here, and there's people who don't believe we should be here. That's the past. Let's move forward better together as a community." Johnson said he hopes with education and time that this type of treatment and hate will end. He encouraged community members to report incidents like this to the police department, city councilors and teachers. People are just tired of this, Johnson said. Everybody is worn down. Its time for this stuff to stop. He said he planned on having lunch with the teenager and his grandmother on Saturday to let him know he is supported. Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. The presenting duo, both 45, shared the news with their 4.3 million followers on their joint Instagram account on Friday. Ant uploaded a snap of the moment a nurse administered the vaccine, while Dec posed for a selfie which showed a sticker on his jacket that read: 'I've had my Covid vaccine.' Jabbed: Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, both 45, have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and shared this image on Instagram to announce the news on Friday Great news! They captioned the happy moment: 'We're jabbin' #vaccinated', and a needle emoji They captioned the milestone: 'We're jabbin' #vaccinated', and a needle emoji. Currently in the UK, everyone over the age of 50, as well as the highly vulnerable, and health and social care workers, have received their first dose. Meaning at 45-years-old, the double act became eligible for their jabs earlier this month. Ant uploaded a snap of the moment a nurse administered the vaccine, while Dec posed for a selfie which showed a sticker on his jacket that read: 'I've had my Covid vaccine. Vaccination programme: The double act became eligible for their jabs earlier this month More than 45 million vaccine doses have so far been given in the UK, with over 11 million of these being second doses. By the end of July, the government claims to be 'on track' to provide a vaccine to all adults in the country. Recently, Dec's 5million home was the subject of an attempted burglary by a gang while the TV star was asleep upstairs with his wife and young daughter. Police rushed to the presenters home in West London on April 6, following a 999 call. The star and his wife Ali, 43, and their two-year-old daughter Isla were all asleep upstairs in the seven-bedroom home. The suspects had botched an attempt to rip open the iron gates at the front of the property. Scary: Recently, Dec's 5million home was the subject of an attempted burglary by a gang while the TV star was asleep upstairs with his wife and young daughter They fled in a car shortly before officers arrived and the family were only aware that the burglars targeted their home when the police told them. A source told The Sun: 'Dec and Ali weren't disturbed. The first they realised anything was amiss was in the morning.' 'The robbers couldn't force the gates open and that's what made them give up, and flee.' Met Police officers conducted inquiries along the street today and forensic checks were carried out. The force confirmed that the suspects left the scene prior to police arriving and there was no evidence to suggest they gained access to the house. by Tran Hung Since the New Year, a new wave of infections has swept through Phnom Penh. The Cambodian capital, along with Takhmao, is in lockdown. Many Vietnamese also return home by illegal means, risking to infect the country. For transport from Cambodia to Vietnam, traffickers demand 350 US dollars. In the past two months, 14,000 people have crossed the border in Kien Giang province. Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - The Vietnamese health authorities have warned the Hanoi government to step up controls of the south-west and north-west border crossings with Cambodia. The aim is to limit the risk of spreading the Covid 19 pandemic, which has reached worrying levels in Cambodia. Phnom Penh recently celebrated the New Year (Chol Chnam Thmay, April 14-16). The ensuing gatherings sparked a new wave of infections. According to the ministry of health, there are 8193 people infected with coronavirus in Cambodia. Of these, 2924 are hospitalized and 59 have died. Most of the infected are in the capital which, together with the city of Takhmao, has been under lockdown since April 15. The country's hospitals are close to collapse. As a result, many Vietnamese who are in Cambodia for work are trying to return to their cities of origin, crossing the borders and risking spread of the infection in Vietnam as well, where Covid seems to be under control to date. At least 9 Cambodian provinces, all bordering Vietnam, have pandemic problems. In the province of Kien Giang - on the Mekong delta, next to the province of Sihanoukville - for example, since February 20, the authorities have stopped 142 people attempting to return to Vietnam illegally. On April 19, five girls tried to cross the sea by canoe to get to the island of Phu Quoc (province of Kien Giang). The girls were arrested. It turned out that for a return to Vietnam, each had to pay around US $ 350 to local traffickers. On the same day, 13 nurses and doctors arrived in Kien Giang from Cho Ray hospital in Ho Chi Minh City to set up an emergency hospital for 500 patients who have returned from Cambodia. The province of ong Thap, slightly north of Kien Giang, shares at least 50 km of border with Pray Veng in Cambodia. Here too there is a Vietnamese "flight from the epidemic". Over the past 10 days, ong Thap authorities have discovered and blocked more than 500 cases of illegal border entry. There are also illegal exits to check: they are mainly Chinese who come as far as ong Thap and An Giang to go to work in Cambodia. Another route from Cambodia to Vietnam is the city of Ha Tien (province of Kien Giang). From February 20 to April 22, at least 1300 people crossed the border. Of these, 31 were illegal. The authorities had to arrange accommodation for 303 people to isolate them in quarantine. Since last February, in the province of Kien Giang, out of 14 thousand people who crossed the border and underwent tests, 38 of them tested positive for the virus. The shah lent the French government more than a billion dollars to build a commercial enrichment facility in France to supply nuclear fuel to power plants in Iran, France, Italy, Belgium and Spain. But that consortium, known as Eurodif, never gave Iran the nuclear fuel. In 1979, religious revolutionaries overthrew the shah. At first, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared nuclear power to be un-Islamic and withdrew from the project. Later, clerics had a change of heart and sought the fuel, but Eurodif refused to provide it. Eventually, Iran built its own uranium enrichment facility in secret. Reports suggest that Irans nuclear program was revived in 1984, after an invasion by Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader who had a nuclear weapons program of his own. The bloody eight-year war with Iraq killed at least 300,000 Iranians, including many who died horrible deaths from chemical weapons. But the international community sided with Saddam Hussein an outrage Iranians never forgot. It was during this war that the fledgling Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gained a loyal following for its role in repelling the invasion. Iranian scientists like Mohsen Fakhrizadeh who was assassinated last year dedicated themselves to developing Irans indigenous defenses. After the Iran-Iraq war ended, a moderate president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was elected on promises to boost the economy by repairing relations with the West. In 1995, Iran struck a deal with Conoco, a U.S. oil company, to develop one of its largest oil fields. But the Clinton administration killed the deal by banning nearly all American trade and investment in Iran, and threatening sanctions against foreign companies that invested there. Irans nuclear program inched forward anyway. In 2002, Irans clandestine enrichment facility became international news. The international blowback, and the U.S. invasion of Iraq the following year, shook the Iranian regime. In 2003, Iran agreed to freeze its enrichment work and halted most weapons-related development. An Iranian official also prepared a sweeping proposal for U.S.-Iranian talks over a wide range of issues, including the nuclear program, Irans posture toward American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and support for Palestinian terrorist groups. But the Bush administration scoffed at the idea of direct talks and signaled Iran might be next on its regime-change list. Two years later, Iranians elected a hard-liner, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as president who pressed ahead with Irans uranium enrichment program. By the end of Mr. Bushs second term in office, Iran was on its way to mastering enrichment. Analysts disagree about why Iran has been willing to spend so heavily on a nuclear program that it claims is peaceful. Some view it as a matter of national pride. The more the Americans insisted that Iran should not have nuclear technology or even nuclear knowledge the more the nuclear program became a symbol of self-reliance and resistance to Western imperialism. Others see the program as Irans only bargaining chip in the effort to remove sanctions, some of which have been in place for decades. Still others believe that the Iranian regime needs a nuclear weapon or at least the option of building one to survive domestic unrest and intense geopolitical rivalries. The grisly death of the Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi, who was overthrown with American help after he gave up his weapons program, serves as an unfortunate cautionary tale. In 2015, the United States and Iran achieved a diplomatic breakthrough after the Obama administration conceded that Iran could enrich uranium on its own soil if it agreed to robust inspections and other measures to make sure its activities remained peaceful. The deal was flawed, but bought time to test the limits of diplomacy. But in 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement, and slapped Iran with the most expansive sanctions to date, which have made it hard for ordinary Iranians to purchase medicine and food. As expansive as those sanctions are, they havent stopped Iran from marching forward on its nuclear program. That suggests that external forces can slow Irans program but not stop it. The only sure way to halt Irans nuclear progress is to convince Iranians that they have more to gain from taking the path of South Africa than the path of North Korea. Laura Italianos New York Post cover story isnt much longer than the headline Kamala isnt at the southern border but migrant kids are getting Veeps book but it packs a punch. Here is the heart of it: Vice President Kamala Harris hasnt been to the border to address a crisis she was tasked to help fix but a childrens book she wrote is waiting there for young migrants who are being welcomed into the country. Unaccompanied migrant kids brought from the U.S.-Mexico border to a new shelter in Long Beach, Calif., will be given a copy of her 2019 childrens book, Superheroes are Everywhere, in their welcome kits. Its just the latest open-arms gesture by the Biden administration, whose mixed messaging regarding the border and immigration has been credited with the surge from Central America to the U.S.-Mexico border. The Post condenses the gist of the story the classic cover below. Readers with a gift for pattern recognition might be able to trace a line from the April 23 Post story on reminding us of the Minnesota Freedom Fund Harris supported to raise bail for the rioters in our back yard to todays KAM ON IN story on the flood of illegal immigrants she also supports. UPDATE: The Post story appears to be fake news. Please see Fake news, NY Post style. I regret having followed the Post down this blind alley. Senior CPC official calls for promotion of revolution-themed publications Xinhua) 15:30, April 24, 2021 BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official on Friday called for the widespread promotion of publications about the Communist revolution. Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended a reading event held in Beijing to mark the 26th World Book and Copyright Day. Speaking highly of the value of revolutionary classics in the country, Huang particularly urged efforts to promote Party history-themed publications. He also called for the promotion of more creative reading experiences to form a good reading environment in society, especially for teenagers. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) A mother-of-two is confined to a wheelchair in constant pain after a surf lesson went horribly wrong due to a rare condition that has doctors stumped. Roisin Clark woke up before sunrise on December 10, 2019, and excitedly got ready for her very first surfing lesson at Maroochydore Beach, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, before work. On a beautiful summer morning she and her best friend posed for a photo in front of their large learner surfboards, ready to get on the ocean. That photo would be the last one ever taken of the graphic designer standing on her own. Pictured: A photograph of Roisin Clark (right) and her best friend before a surf lesson. It would be the last photo ever taken of her standing up on her own Pictured: Roisin Clark with her husband Matt, who is a police officer, and their two children, age six and nine Ms Clark, 36, said the group of beginners practiced paddling on the sand and dived into the surf to catch some small one-footer waves, but halfway through she started to feel a pain in her lower back. 'I continued with the class because I didn't think it was that bad, but by the end I was in severe pain,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'But I didn't think it was too serious - I thought I just overworked my core.' Ms Clark, who was a gym-goer at the time, trailed behind her friend and the surf instructor while they made their way back up the beach after the lesson. As her back pain worsened, she asked her friend to rinse her board off while she went and sat in the car. 'She drove me five minutes from Maroochydore to Alexandra Headland, pulled up alongside my driveway to let me out, but I couldn't move,' she said. 'My friend came around to my side of the door and held her hands out to help me stand, so I lifted my legs outside the door but fell down on the door jamb and lay on the driveway.' Pictured: Roisin Clark walking with her young son before she was paralysed from the waist down Ms Clarke (pictured bush walking in Mt Tibrogargan in Queensland) used to lead an active life and was a gym-enthusiast An ambulance was called and Ms Clark was quickly taken to hospital where doctors repeatedly asked if she fell off the board or hit the sand, 'which I hadn't,' she said. When and MRI and CT scan revealed a perfectly normal-looking spine, doctors were puzzled because was clearly paralysed and knew there was nothing they could do. The mum said she felt 'surprisingly okay' because the situation didn't feel real and she didn't know anything about spinal cord injuries. Doctors gave her steroids to reduce any inflammation, but there was none, and sent her to the spinal rehabilitation unit for five months to learn how to live with paraplegia. 'But in the days and weeks and months after I went home, there were new challenges to face every day,' she said. Pictured: Ms Clark with her son in hospital. She was in hospital for five months and still lives in chronic pain Pictured: Ms Clark in rehabilitation after her surf lesson. She believes she has surfers myelopathy - an ultra rare condition Ms Clark (pictured with her children) is now riddled with pain that she describes as feeling like a thousand bee stings around her waist WHAT IS SURFER'S MYELOPATHY? Surfer's myelopathy is a rare nontraumatic spinal cord injury usually affecting beginner surfers. The majority of cases have been reported in younger patients under 40 years of age. All sufferers have experienced back pain after hyperextending their spines on a surf board. After returning to shore, they discover they can barely walk and go on to experience paraplegia, and loss of bladder and bowel function. There are no standardised treatment options because it is very rare and poorly researched. Source: NCBI Advertisement Baffled by her unexplained paraplegia, Ms Clark's sister did some research and she believes she has surfers myelopathy - a rare condition brought on through a non-traumatic injury. Sufferers are almost always people who have been surfing and is caused by hyperextension of the back, and Ms Clark said the description matches her circumstances exactly. 'The doctors knew I had a spinal injury but they didn't know what surfers myelopathy was - there's not much research into it.' Ms Clark is now riddled with pain that she describes as feeling like a thousand bee stings around her waist. She has been prescribed cocktail of painkillers to help her get through the day as painlessly as possible, does not have normal bowel or bladder function, and is worried she will have deal with pressure injuries and blood clots like other people with spinal injuries. 'From my middle down to my toes feels like burning pins and needles, which is nerve pain - damaged nerves in my spinal cord are sending these different messages, and I also get stomach spasms which feels like a baby kicking,' she said. 'But I also can't feel the sun on my legs, I can't open my own front door, and I can't comfortably hug my family from in a chair.' To help give her some independence, a family friend set up a Go Fund Me campaign to help raise money for a car with modified seats, doors, space for a wheelchair and electronic features to allow her to control the car without using her legs. Ms Clark (pictured with her husband Matt) hopes to use a car and be more involved in her children's lives in the future She also hopes to raise awareness about surfers myelopathy so other sufferers can get a diagnosis Her goal is to be more involved in her children's lives, who she says don't really understand why their mum can't walk anymore. 'My son, who is six, keeps asking when Covid will end and I can get out of my wheelchair, because my injury happened at around the same time he's linked the two together,' Ms Clark said. She also hopes to raise awareness about surfers myelopathy so other sufferers can get a diagnosis and know what to do if they suddenly experience pain in their lower back. ADVERTISEMENT The police in Katsina on Saturday debunked a report on social media that 20 women were abducted at a naming ceremony in Dandume Local Government Area of the state. The report alleged that the abduction happened on Friday at Gidan Bido village of Jiruwa ward in Dandume council area. The police spokesperson in the state, Gambo Isah, denied the report in a statement he issued on Saturday and urged reporters to always ascertain the facts before publishing a report. Reporters should either go to the scene of crime and do a real time investigative reporting or seek confirmation from the appropriate authorities, Mr Isah said. ALSO READ: Four policemen killed as gunmen attack police formations across Nigeria He said the misinformation (was) capable of causing discord and apprehension among the good people of the state. Mr Isah said the police headquarters in Katsina had made contact with the divisional police officer in Dandume and other local sources and it turned out the story was a fairytale meant to cause unnecessary panic among residents. Storms and heavy rain were in progress for part of Alabama on Saturday night, but the threat for severe weather has ended for a large part of the state. Strong to severe storms will be possible in eastern and southern Alabama through tonight. Severe thunderstorm watches are in effect for the state as well but are being trimmed back as storms leave the area. The National Weather Service said winds could be gusty tonight behind the storms, and wind advisories have been issued for many areas in central and south Alabama. The National Weather Service has gotten lots of hail reports today. Baseball-sized hail was reported earlier in Monroe County, and tennis-ball sized hail was reported in Madison County. It was an active day across the state. Multiple severe thunderstorm warnings and a few tornado warnings were issued starting early today in south Alabama (though no tornadoes have been confirmed so far), and a second round of severe storms hit both south and north Alabama this afternoon and evening. A severe thunderstorm watch continues for only Covington and Escambia counties in Alabama until 9 p.m. Only a few counties are left in a severe thunderstorm watch that once covered much of south Alabama. It will be in effect until 9 p.m. A second severe thunderstorm watch continues for only three central Alabama counties until 9 p.m.: UPDATE: We've removed a few more counties from the Severe Thunderstorm Watch. The Watch remains in effect until 9 PM for only 3 counties...Randolph, Tallapoosa, Chambers. #alwx NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) April 25, 2021 A new severe thunderstorm watch was issued for southeast Alabama just before 8 p.m. It will be in effect until midnight CDT: A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of Alabama, Florida and Georgia until 1 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/eHwDM68NxE NWS Tallahassee (@NWSTallahassee) April 25, 2021 The counties in that watch are Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston. Forecasters are also on alert for the possibility of flash flooding. A flash flood watch will be in effect through late tonight for southeast Alabama including Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties. The weather service said Mobile had record rainfall today. Mobile got 2.88 inches, breaking the record of 2.68 inches set in 1937. The rain and storms are expected to move out of Alabama late tonight, and drier weather is expected statewide for Sunday and through the first part of next week. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Its a frigid April afternoon, and Yorta Yorta woman Monica Morgan is walking along the shores of the Barmah Lake, emotions running deep. Shes pointing towards an Indigenous massacre site where 26 of her ancestors were brutally killed by colonial troopers, when an ancient river red gum sounds out an alarming creak as a wind squall catches it branches. My ancestors are with us, Morgan says at the sound. Theyd be proud were still fighting but also lamenting how many of our people we have lost along the way by those massacres, the removal of children from their parents, the deaths in custody and all those things that are just piling on us. But I believe that tree was talking to us, and thats the ancestors saying good, keep going, keep fighting. This time the Yorta Yorta people are fighting to restore the health of their heartland, the Barmah National Park on the NSW-Victoria border. They want to undo years of damage caused by logging, feral animals, noxious weeds, climate change and the artificial flow of water to and from the Murray River and return its forest to the pristine state their ancestors enjoyed. Parks Victoria plans to cull 100 brumbies every year for the next four years in the Barmah National Park. Credit:Justin McManus There are no longer seasonal floods to drench the park and fuel its rejuvenation. Horse hoofprints have hardened parts of the ground, compacting the soil and preventing the growth of native flora. The reeds and rushes near the Barmah Lake, an internationally recognised wetland listed under the Ramsar Convention, are no longer growing in sync with the mating seasons of birds. Loading Advertisement While there is consensus that the park is no longer as it was even 60 years ago, tensions in Barmah are at an all-time high over the plan to cull brumbies in pursuit of a healthier bush. The brumby has long held mythical status in Australia, but as the population of the wild horses grew, so too did concerns about the ecological destruction they wreak. Of all the Yorta Yorta country, 2 per cent is not cleared, is not farmland, Morgan says. Only 2 per cent is country that we can restore and have the generations to come of all people, both Yorta Yorta and Australia, to share in, and see a glimpse of how country ought to be. That is what the vision, the hopes and the dreams of my Elders who stood under those gum trees are when they said enough is enough, we must fight for our right. In 2010, the Brumby Labor government entered into a Traditional Owner Land Management Agreement with the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation with the aim of establishing a joint management plan to conserve the natural and cultural values of the Barmah National Park and manage threatened species. Following years of delays, Environment Minister Lily DAmbrosio released the plan last year, paving the way for Parks Victoria, on behalf of the state government, to remove feral animals and noxious weeds that have degraded the land. These signs have been placed around the town. Credit:Justin McManus The debate has become highly charged over one contentious issue: the culling of brumbies. Parks Victoria has estimated there are 750 brumbies in the 20,000-hectare park, and announced that 100 of the wild horses will be removed every year for the next four years. Brumby advocates dispute the figure and say they believe there are 250 wild horses. That would mean the culling timeline amounts to eradication of the animals. At the heart of this debate lies cultural heritage: is it possible to simultaneously protect a 160-year Anglo-Celtic history and the (at least) 65,000-year-old Aboriginal culture when the two clash? Advertisement We drove up to the border town ahead of this weekends annual Barmah muster, a camping event to celebrate the brumbies in the national park. There are billboards, put up by the Barmah Brumby Preservation Group, around town accusing Morgan of slaughtering the Barmah brumbies. One sign has photos of horses, then a caption in black and white stating this is the face that signed their, followed by a photo of Morgan and the words death warrant, Yorta Yorta. Another, which was removed shortly after, was hung on a tree, with some observers noting it had undertones of black people being lynched. Morgans address has also been published on public Facebook pages, urging people to turn up and protest against the killing of brumbies. Morgan says the personal attacks remind her of the early 80s when, during the fight to end logging, her mother Elizabeth Hoffman Morgan was viciously targeted for leading the charge to protect trees. Vandals dug shallow graves at a ceremonial site in the park and hung Rest In Hell Elizabeth Hoffman and Ku Klux Klan signs near it. A rally will be held on Saturday morning to call for legislation to give brumbies heritage protection, similar to that in NSW a reprieve not afforded to any other feral animal. For many advocates, the brumbies depict the last remnants of a lifestyle slowly stripped away from them. Logging and cattle grazing in the park has ended why are horses in the firing line now, they argue. Gerry and Kaye Moor, from Barmah, Renee Neubauer and Berny Thaggard set up Barmah Brumby Hay Angels after the 2018 drought, followed by flash flooding, that killed more than 100 brumbies and pushed many to the brink of starvation. Renee Neubauer (left), Kaye Moor and Gerry Moor are fighting to protect the brumbies. Credit:Justin McManus Advertisement These are the traditional horses that belong to the farmers of the time that built this country, and genetically these horses have evolved and adapted to what I think is a very harsh environment, and they have become such a strong genetic pool of survivors since the 1800s, Neubauer says. The brumbies are important as a connection to past generations that have been out here, and historically speaking the horses were revered in this country as the animal that built this country. To see that dismissed would, I think, be very un-Australian. The group want Parks Victoria to examine the impact of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan on the health of the Murray River that runs through the park and undertake a proper assessment of the actual number of brumbies before embarking on the cull, which they believe is not necessary. They say the current plan is inhumane and does not achieve a holistic solution to a multi-faceted problem. Re-homers will only have a window of 24 hours to come and collect wild horses out of a trap ... but if that re-homer cannot get here within 24 hours, all those brumbies are going to be shot. Thats the cold hard reality of it, Neubauer says. Now theyre going to shoot them based on information of incorrect numbers, and being incorrectly used as a scapegoat to give them what they hope is a better national park removing them is not going to give them a better national park. The group say cattle herdsmen in the past would manage the brumby population while loggers would manage the condition of the park, including grading the roads. The Yorta Yorta communitys largest ceremonial site is located in the Barmah National Park. Credit:Justin McManus Advertisement We are just really worried that theyre just picking on one species and they think its going to fix all their problems, its not, Neubauer says. Morgan also wants Parks Victoria to act, and says they have been a laggard in implementing the plan. Every delay, she argues, will cause further degradation. The Yorta Yorta communitys largest ceremonial site is located within the park and, along with many other cultural locations, has been fenced off to prevent feral animals as well as people trampling over sacred sites. Loading The joint management plan identified priority risks as changes to the natural water regime; feral horses, feral pigs, feral goats, feral deer, feral sheep, rabbits, foxes and kangaroos grazing, browsing and trampling on wetlands and cultural sites; invasive wetland plants; inappropriate fire regimes; carp; illegal recreational activities that contaminate the water and damage vegetation; and lawful recreational activities which have led to the erosion of banks. Without intervention, the highly significant moira grass, which has declined in extent by more than 80 per cent since the 1990s, will be extinct by 2026, according to the joint management plan. Changes to the way water is allocated through the Murray-Darling Basin Plan are being canvassed. Noxious weeds, including the aquatic arrowhead, must be controlled and invasive native species such as as the giant rush and river red gum regrowth need to be removed, the plan states. The removal of feral horses has been identified as a high priority that needs urgent action to deal with impacts. Advertisement Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Limited (BE) got the Indian drug regulator's nod to start phase 3 clinical trial for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate. Central Drugs Standard Control Organization's (CDSCO) Subject Expert Committee (SEC) approved the company's application to start phase 3 trials. NITI Aayog member V K Paul had said last week that the vaccine is expected to be ready for use sometime in August. The phase III clinical study, to be conducted in 15 sites across India, will evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of Biological Es SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 vaccine for protection against Ciovid-19 disease in 1,268 healthy subjects in the age range of 18 to 80 years. It is intended to be part of a larger global phase III study. BE started the phase I/II clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the second week of November 2020. Its candidate includes an antigen developed by Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and in-licensed from BCM Ventures, Baylor College of Medicines integrated commercialization team, along with Dynavax Technologies Corporation's advanced adjuvant CpG 1018TM. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) have provided support for the phase I/II clinical trials and also for the upcoming phase III trial of this vaccine candidate. BE's phase I/II clinical trial evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate in about 360 healthy subjects in the age range of 18 to 65 years. The vaccination schedule consisted of two doses for each study participant, administered via intramuscular injection 28 days apart. "BEs novel Covid-19 vaccine was found to be safe and well tolerated and immunogenic," the firm claimed We are delighted with the success of the phase I/II clinical trials of our Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The results of these clinical trials are very positive and promising. We believe that our vaccine candidate will become another effective global COVID-19 vaccine as we move forward into phase III clinical trials, said Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Limited. This vaccine could one day soon fill urgently needed gaps and vaccine supply shortages in Africa, Latin America, and in low-income Asian countries. Its so exciting to partner with BE helping India to provide a vaccine to halt the COVID-19 pandemic globally, said Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor and co-director of Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. The Duggar family from TLCs Counting On are infamous for their untraditional courtship rules. And everyone remember when Jinger Duggar was courting Jeremy Vuolo. Now, the couple has a new book coming out about their journey to a successful marriage and Jeremy recently spoke on Jim Bob Duggars 50-page courtship questionnaire. But a clip from years ago shows Jeremy saying the questionnaire actually came to 105 pages. How did Jeremy Vuolo meet Jinger Duggar? The Counting On couple give details in new book (L-R) Jeremy Vuolo and Jinger Duggar Vuolo attend Discoverys Serengeti premiere | Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Discovery Channel Jinger and Jeremy can thank another Duggar family member for bringing them together and thats Jessa. Jeremy met Jessa before he met Jinger, and they crossed paths at a church fellowship that took place at his home. From there, Jeremy became friends with Jessa and her husband, Ben Seewald and he met Jinger through them. Jinger and Jeremy started to get to know each other over time, but Jinger wasnt totally convinced Jeremy liked her. I knew he was an awesome, awesome guy, but I was like hed never be interested in me, thats for sure,' she shared on the Behind the Scenes podcast. But it seems Jeremy had similar feelings. Ultimately, the Counting On couple did have feelings for one another and similar values with their religious beliefs. They married in 2016 and now have two kids. Now, the couple has a memoir coming out titled The Hope We Hold. It hits shelves on May 4. [People] think that everything is always perfect, that we have the easiest lives in the world, Jinger explained to Us Weekly about the book. I think its easy to look just at the outside and to have that view, but [we want to] actually get real and say, No, we are human beings. We have the exact same problems that you all have. Jeremy Vuolo said his Duggar family courtship questionnaire came to 105 pages It looks like the Duggar family courtship questionnaire might be mentioned in The Hope We Hold. The questionnaire is allegedly 50 pages long and includes plenty of questions to determine if the suitor in question is a good match for the Duggar, according to Jim Bob. Jeremy discussed it with Us Weekly. It was intense, but I was actually pretty eager to fill it out and say, OK, look, this is a good opportunity for them to get to know me, Jeremy shared. Its tough for Mr. Duggar, man. Hes got all these girls [and] all these guys hanging around. I think if I had all those girls Id probably come up with a document too. This isnt the first time Counting On fans have heard of the document, either. A TLC clip shows Jill Duggars husband, Derick Dillard, and Ben also commenting on the Duggar family questionnaire. Did Mr. Duggar ever drill you guys about your financial situation before marriage? Jeremy asked the other men. Its on the 45-page application, Derick said in the clip. Page 27, section B, line four. Jeremy went into more detail in the clip and said the most detailed part of the questionnaire for him involved explaining how he became a Christian. It was basic get to know the person, he added. It wasnt, like, rate yourself. Jeremy then noted his questionnaire ended up being 105 pages in total when he sent it back. Are any of the Duggars in a courtship? Counting On stars Jessa Duggar, Jinger Duggar, Jill Duggar, and Jana Duggar visit Extra | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra RELATED: Duggar News: Jessa Duggar Confirmed Jana Duggar Isnt Engaged So, are any of the Duggars in a courtship now? Rumors surround Jana Duggar in 2021, as fans suspect shes courting a Nebraska pilot named Stephen Wissmann. Aside from Jana, others suspect Jeremiah Duggar is courting Stephens sister, Hannah. And James Duggar might be courting Lauren Caldwell, Kendra Duggars sister. None of the rumors are confirmed just yet, but were hopeful the Duggar family will announce them on social media. Recently, fans were shocked when Jed Duggar secretly wed without any prior courtship announcement. Well have to wait and see if any of his wedding is featured on future episodes of Counting On. For now, were left to wonder if Stephen also has to fill out the questionnaire the other Duggar-in-law husbands had to! Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! An Alabama woman is behind bars in the U.S. Virgin Islands after she violated COVID-19 safety measures put in place by island authorities. According to Virgin Islands police, 41-year-old Franketa Taylor, of Birmingham, uploaded fake negative COVID-19 test results into the islands online travel portal, The Virgin Islands Consortium reported. The USVI Travel Portal is intended to screen visitors for coronavirus, and people traveling to the islands are required to submit a negative test result within five days of their arrival, WIAT reported. Taylor is the seventh person charged after submitting altered or fake test results into the portal, the Virgin Islands Daily News reported. She is facing four charges, including fraudulent claims upon the government, use of false information, access to a computer for fraudulent purposes, and filing or recording forged instruments. Her bail was set at $5,500, which she has been unable to pay, outlets report. She is in Bureau of Corrections custody pending an advisement hearing. Earlier this month, a Texas woman was also arrested for submitting altered test results, according to a VIPD release. She was also wanted by Texas authorities for violating probation, police said. Turkey has warned the United States that President Joe Biden's expected characterization of the mass killings of the Ottoman Armenians in 1915 as a genocide will derail Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and further damage US-Turkish ties. Armenians say there is no reconciliation process to speak of. LOS ANGELES, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MUFG Union Bank today announced that Anvar Hodjaev has been named Head of Healthcare for its Commercial Banking division. Based in Los Angeles, he will lead the bank's Healthcare industry team and report to Adam Feit, Managing Director and Head of Financial Sponsors, Healthcare, and Life Sciences. "Anvar brings a wealth of experience and expertise to a crucial business for MUFG Union Bank," Feit said. "As half of our lending commitments come from industry specialties, we continue to lean into our ability to leverage the combination of both local coverage and specialized industry expertise in critical individual sectors for our clients." As Head of Healthcare, Hodjaev will expand the bank's commitment to deliver holistic banking and capital markets solutions and help clients with their sector-specific challenges and unique needs. The recently formed Healthcare team's coverage will include pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, devices and supplies, healthcare providers, healthcare payers and managed services, life sciences, healthcare IT, healthcare REITs, and other healthcare services. The group will also cover healthcare focused venture capital and private equity companies. "I am thrilled about this new opportunity, new team, and new venture," Hodjaev said. "This past year, we all saw the critical importance of the healthcare sector, and we anticipate even greater growth for the industry moving forward. With growth comes increasing capital and advisory needs, and I look forward to working with clients to identify and help solve for their financing objectives." Hodjaev brings over 15 years of banking experience to his new role. Previously, he worked with MUFG's Capital Markets Group focusing primarily on covering the Healthcare and Middle Market sectors. Before joining the bank in 2010, he was a Director with Oppenheimer & Co in the Leveraged Finance Capital Markets Group. He has a BBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and a MA in Economics from the University of Southern California. About Commercial BankingThe MUFG Union Bank Commercial Banking group is dedicated to providing high-touch, reliable financial solutions with specialized industry knowledge to middle-market companies and financial sponsors. With a proven track record in providing debt financing and capital markets capabilities, the Commercial Banking group offers clients access to a worldwide network of financial professionals and services, as well as strategic insights into global economic trends, social customs and trade practices as part of the MUFG platform. We work with middle market clients across their lifecycle, offering merger, acquisition and capital advisory services through Intrepid Investment Bankers, our investment banking arm, in sectors including healthcare, technology & digital media, consumer brands, industrials, and business services. About MUFG Union Bank, N.A.As of December 31, 2020, MUFG Union Bank, N.A. operated 348 branches, consisting primarily of retail banking branches in the West Coast states, along with commercial branches in Texas, Illinois, New York, and Georgia. We provide a wide spectrum of corporate, commercial, and retail banking and wealth management solutions to meet the needs of our clients. We also offer an extensive portfolio of value-added solutions for clients, including investment banking, personal and corporate trust, global custody, transaction banking, capital markets, and other services. With assets of $132 billion, as of December 31, 2020, MUFG Union Bank has strong capital reserves, credit ratings, and capital ratios relative to peer banks. MUFG Union Bank is a proud member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE: MUFG), one of the world's largest financial institutions with total assets of approximately 351.7 trillion (JPY) or $3.4 trillion (USD), as of December 31, 2020. The corporate headquarters (principal executive office) for MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation, which is the financial holding company, and MUFG Union Bank, is in New York City. The main banking office of MUFG Union Bank is in San Francisco, California. 1 Exchange rate of 1 USD=103.5 (JPY) as of December 30, 2020 Press Contact: Liz Shapiro T: (213) 236-4136 E: elizabeth.shaprio@unionbank.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mufg-union-bank-appoints-head-of-new-healthcare-commercial-banking-team-301275826.html SOURCE Union Bank The seriousness of COVID-19 has caused many to refocus attention on the impact of states in the affairs of the citizenry. For those who suddenly see more clearly, the clarity hasnt been a pretty picture in places like New York. Here, in addition to the many tragic human victims of the virus, respect for constitutional governance can also be counted as a pandemic casualty. Article III of the New York State Constitution begins with a seemingly simple and straightforward declaration: The legislative power of this state shall be vested in the senate and assembly. This language indicating where lawmaking power shall be vested as opposed to where it may be vested clearly and expressly mandates this authority is neither optional nor transferable. That was until state lawmakers and our governor decided that even the state constitution was not beyond unlawful manipulation to suit their immediate demands. On March 3, 2020, the Legislature granted Gov. Andrew Cuomo emergency legislative powers. We should be clear: Lawmakers didn't have their power ripped from them. They handed it over with overwhelming margins of support and they should be held accountable. At a time of crisis when residents needed to be most represented in Albany, legislators violated the state constitution by abdicating their constitutional responsibilities and authority to the governor. The 7,314 words of Article III that follow the allocation of state legislative power to the legislature detail the function of the senate and assembly as institutions, the requirements to become a state legislator as well as other features of how the legislative branch would operate. The details dedicated to the state legislatures role in New York governance arent accidental and are not superfluous. Those who wrote our states constitution and other constitutions, for that matter understood that the ability to write and enact law is the most powerful function of government and they wanted to create a foundation that insulated this immense power from abuse. The framers of our states various foundational documents recognized that governmental powers should not be vested in one person. Their experience with monocracy had made them correctly fearful of authority that is too centralized. Armed with this knowledge, they understood the importance and need of a legislative body to enact law. For most of the states history, the legislature was constitutionally and politically the dominant branch of the government, writes Peter Galie in The New York State Constitution: A Reference Guide. Vesting lawmaking power in a legislative bodyas opposed to a unitary executive like a governor shows good judgment. Those with a sense of history recall the dangers of having too much power concentrated in too few hands. In an ideal legislature, lawmakers would be encouraged to defend and debate important policy initiatives and examine proposals for possible infringements of legal rights. By the sheer number of lawmakers required to get something done, they would be obliged to either convince others that their vision is correct or compromise and collaborate until a shared vision is realized and an idea becomes an enforceable law. Over the past year, an overwhelming majority of lawmakers in New York instead saw no need for any of these important features of good governance and no need to enforce or protect their delegated powers. Instead, many of them either applauded or sat silent as Cuomo amassed authority the state constitution had not assigned to his office. Cuomo seized this unlawful transfer of power to issue more than 100 executive orders that controlled many aspects of our lives, directives that destroyed local businesses and deprived families of income, dignity and constitutional rights. This abuse of granted power by the executive branch was flagrantly unconstitutional and our legislative branch willfully surrendered its authority without regard to the consequences. Some Albany lawmakers in recent weeks have suddenly found the spinal fortitude to challenge Cuomos grip on the very powers that they sheepishly and shamefully surrendered to him. Far from being profiles in courage, the governor's plummeting popularity in the midst of a swirl of scandals has no doubt been more of a justification for their renewed spurious exploration for relevance than a desire for constitutional fidelity. In the end, it is clear that our state lawmakers bear some culpability as co-conspirators for augmenting Cuomos powers and essentially promoting a constitutional crisis while shirking their authority and violating their sworn oaths. A serious analysis of our response to the pandemic and the subsequent condescending dismissal of our state constitutional governance must be initiated. For those who enabled Cuomo to unilaterally control our state government with disastrous results, a reckoning needs to take place so that such a blatant violation never happens again. Good government in our state, should New Yorkers once again desire it, depends on it. James Coll is an adjunct professor of American and Constitutional history at Hofstra University and the founder of ChangeNYS.org. Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, on Friday pleaded not guilty to new sex-trafficking charges in a Manhattan federal court, The Washington Post reports. The big picture: It was her first court appearance since she was arrested last summer on allegations that she facilitated the sexual abuse of young girls by Epstein. Maxwell spoke briefly, responding affirmatively when the judge asked her if she knew about the sex trafficking charges. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free Her attorneys are looking to delay the start of two trials, per the Post. The first is scheduled to begin in July and will cover the sex-trafficking charges and others related to recruiting minors. The second will cover perjury charges. U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan did not say whether the delay would be granted. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free More than half of the UKs total population has received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, figures show. Government data up to April 23 shows that of the 45,580,400 jabs given in the UK so far, 33,508,590 were first doses a rise of 119,953 on the previous day. The UK population is estimated to be 66,796,807, so the latest figures show that more than half the population have now had a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. NHS England data up to April 23 shows that of the 38,189,536 total doses given in England so far, 28,102,852 were first doses a rise of 107,656 on the previous day. Anyone aged 45 and over can still arrange their jab in England, as well as people who are clinically vulnerable or health and care workers. Caroline Nicolls receive an injection of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine administered by nurse Amy Nash, at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire (Steve Parsons/PA) Deputy chief executive of NHS Providers Saffron Cordery said: It is an astonishing achievement that half of the UK population has now had at least one Covid-19 jab. In under five months, frontline NHS staff in trusts and primary care and volunteers have done an incredible job giving out over 33 million first jabs and more than 11 million second doses. We owe each and every one of them our thanks. Weve made truly significant progress, but weve still got a long way to go until we reach our next major milestone of offering all adults their first jab by the end of July. In the meantime, wed encourage everyone to have their Covid-19 vaccines when they are offered it and to continue following the rules on social contact. These measures are key to keeping Covid-19 infection rates under control and helping ensure this current lockdown is our last. The Government said a further 32 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, bringing the UK total to 127,417. Separate figures published by the UKs statistics agencies show there have been 151,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. The Government also said that, as of 9am on Saturday, there had been a further 2,061 lab-confirmed cases in the UK. Experts have said vaccines should be able to control the Covid-19 pandemic as they published new real-world UK data showing that jabs slash infection and are likely to cut transmission. Just one dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine leads to a two-thirds drop in coronavirus cases and is 74% effective against symptomatic infection. After two doses of Pfizer, there was a 70% reduction in all cases and a 90% drop in symptomatic cases these are the people who are most likely to transmit coronavirus to others. Experts are still collecting data on two doses of AstraZeneca but say their findings show that both vaccines work and are effective in the real world. One of the new studies, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, is based on data from the national Covid-19 Infection Survey run by the University of Oxford and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It included a random sample of more than 373,000 adults from across the UK, who produced more than 1.6 million swab test results between December and April. Professor Sarah Walker, from the University of Oxford and chief investigator for the survey, said the study suggested vaccines could reduce transmission and were also effective against the Kent variant of coronavirus. Heidi Klum and fellow AGT judge Sofia Vergara have turned up to set in a variety of stylish ensembles. And on Friday the German-born supermodel, 47, and her Modern Family partner in crime, 48, flashed more looks from their expansive wardrobe ahead of taping. Heidi looked sweet in a honeydew colored pant suit and Sofia cut her usual feminine figure in a ruffled maxi dress, as they continue to bank episodes ahead of the show's June 1 premiere. Stylish entrance: Heidi Klum, 47, looks delicious in a honeydew colored pant suit as she flashes a wave while making her AGT entrance Feminine figure: Sofia Vergara, 48, cut her usual feminine figure in a ruffled maxi dress Klum looked lush in her monochromatic pantsuit and her white T-shirt and matching platform sneakers made for a cohesive look. The former Project Runway host toted a white leather bag over her shoulder and threw on a pair of round statement sunglasses as she flashed a wave and a smile. And Sofia strutted her stuff in a patterned maxi dress that looked to be imprinted with a design reminiscent of monarch butterflies as she arrived. The Colombian born beauty paired the ladylike frock with straw heeled platforms with a suede brown ankle strap and a Valentino bag. Delectable: Klum looked lush in her monochromatic pantsuit and her white T-shirt and matching platform sneakers made for a cohesive look Posing up a storm: And Sofia strutted her stuff in a patterned maxi dress that looked to be imprinted with a design reminiscent of monarch butterflies as she arrived Flawless: The Colombian born beauty paired the ladylike frock with straw heeled platforms with a suede brown ankle strap and a Valentino bag Longtime gig: Klum is among one of the show's longest standing judges aside from Cowell Still got it: Despite tapping out in the middle of last season to have serious surgery on his back after he broke it, Cowell proved he's back and better than ever Agile: The British born record mogul proved his agility as he bent down to pet a sweet dog while wearing white shorts and a grey cashmere sweater Chipper: The UK born record mogul kept it casual in white shorts and a grey cashmere sweater And she hid her eyes behind aviator sunglasses before making a costume change as she filmed in a sparkly dress for the show. Also making their arrivals ahead of taping were veteran judge and executive producer Simon Cowell who continues to show he is injury free. He had tapped out in the middle of last season after he broke his back in an electric bike accident and was temporarily replaced by Kelly Clarkson and Kenan Thompson. The British born record mogul proved his agility as he bent down to pet a sweet dog while wearing white shorts and a grey cashmere sweater. Show host Terry Crews participated in a segment for the show as he, Vergara and Klum made their way out of a bus to film entrance shots on a red carpet. Puppy love: Though he can often come across cold as part of his shtick, Simon proved that even he has a soft spot for puppies Expert stylists: Sofia frequently takes to social media to show off her show dresses Making an entrance: The cast was seen stepping out of a tour bus as they looked to be filming their intros Say cheese! Vergara looked into the camera before it panned back to capture her sultry walk down the carpet Segment time: Show host Terry Crews participated in a segment for the show as he and Vergara made their way out of a bus before filming walking shots on a red carpet Flare for drama: She seductively flicked her hair for what looked to be a slow motion segment Runway ready: Heidi showed off her runway legs in a checkered black and white mini skirt and matching blouse The Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor rocked a pastel pink suit with faint pinstripes and threw on a pair of bright purple dress shoes for a snazzy kick. And Sofia seductively flicked her hair for what looked to be a slow motion segment as she stepped out of the vehicle in full glam. Heidi showed off her runway legs in a checkered black and white mini skirt and matching blouse with white pumps. She looked in her element after having graced hundreds of catwalks as a veteran supermodel. Not photographed at the seemingly cast wide event was other panelist Howie Mandel who is known to arrive in a range of humorous outfits. Commanding the room: An expressive Heidi showed off her wingspan while filming on set Hot mama: Sofia served looks as she had a camera stare down before climbing out in black heels Later on: Cowell looked slightly more dapper as he flashed a smile before taking the red carpet during a red carpet special at AGT The Government is coming under increasing pressure to introduce legislation that will ensure nationwide access to cash and banking services. Such legislation was promised more than a year ago but has been delayed for a number of reasons including the pandemic. Some experts now fear that unless the Government acts soon, the country's cash system could collapse within the next 12 to 24 months, leaving more than five million adults reliant on cash financially excluded. It would also be catastrophic for many small businesses that are still heavily dependent on cash sales. Consumer group Which? says the Government should set out its plans in the Queen's Speech early next month. 'We're at a critical moment,' the organisation's Gareth Shaw told The Mail on Sunday yesterday. 'We need the Government to show us a roadmap that will safeguard consumers' access to cash, at a time when ATMs and bank branches are closing at record levels. Its intervention cannot come soon enough.' The end of the line?: Some experts now fear that unless the Government acts soon, the country's cash system could collapse within the next 12 to 24 months The latest data from Which? indicates that 50 bank branches per month have shut on average since the beginning of 2015 with NatWest Group axing nearly 1,100. Simultaneously, many free-to-use cash machines have been taken out of service one in four since 2018. In some deprived areas where cash usage is widespread, free-to-use ATMs have been replaced with fee-charging machines, resulting in vulnerable people being 'overcharged' for accessing their cash. Shaw, head of money at Which?, believes that any legislation should require the Financial Conduct Authority the City's regulator to have overall responsibility for overseeing access to cash, including holding banks to account when they do not act in the best interests of consumers. Without such regulatory oversight, he fears that the banks will simply keep encouraging more customers to jettison cash in favour of contactless payment and mobile banking. 'Legislation is key, not piecemeal solutions,' he said. The plea by Which? for Government action follows in the wake of a key report on financial exclusion published yesterday by a House of Lords committee. Among its many recommendations, the Liaison Committee calls for the Government to come up with a comprehensive financial inclusion strategy 'that will ensure access to cash' and 'protect the public'. Like Which?, it believes legislation should be introduced laws that would impose a statutory duty on the banks to provide customers with access to cash in communities where they close branches or ATMs. Baroness Tyler of Enfield was chair of a previous House of Lords report into financial exclusion back in 2017 work that formed the starting point for the latest suggestions. Yesterday she told The Mail on Sunday: 'Access to cash was a problem in 2017. But now, with the pandemic, more bank and ATM closures and many retailers going cashless, it's a bigger issue than ever.' She added: 'The current regulatory framework governing access to cash and banking services is not strong enough. The Financial Conduct Authority should be empowered to be more on the front foot when banks leave communities behind. 'Currently, the impression is that the banks pay lip service to customers' needs. That has to stop, which means regulation and a more proactive approach from the regulator.' Although she said it would be 'fantastic' to hear the promise of legislation in the Queen's Speech next month, she accepts that there is a 'fight for legislation time' which could result in disappointment. Yesterday's House of Lords report also called for the Government to promote more aggressively the banking services of the Post Office. When a last bank branch in a community is shut, the local post office is often the only place where customers can then deposit and withdraw cash. The committee argues for a 'public information campaign' explaining the services that post offices provide a campaign that should be both 'comprehensive' and 'national'. Baroness Tyler told The Mail on Sunday she was 'delighted' that new-style Post Office 'banking hubs' were also now being trialled as part of a 'community access to cash pilots' project funded by the banks via trade organisation UK Finance. The pilots are being overseen by Natalie Ceeney, former boss of the Financial Ombudsman Service, who has done more than anyone in recent years to highlight the dangers posed by the rush to a cashless society. Three years ago, she published an 'Access to Cash' review calling for the Government and regulators to act in order to ensure cash remains a viable payment option. Two of the eight pilots in Rochford, Essex, and Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire involve the testing of the banking hubs. Others are trialling different ways of making cash more accessible in communities from simply installing a free-to-use cash machine in a community previously deprived of one, through to making cashback services more accessible (see below). As well as offering banking services to personal and small business customers of all the big banks, the Post Office hubs allow people to meet a representative from their bank on a selected day. Feedback so far from Rochford indicates widespread support for the idea. Although all the trials under the cash pilot project will only run for six months, Ceeney's wish is that if the two Post Office banking hubs prove successful, they could pave the way for a nationwide rollout. Some, she believes, could be located in the very branches that are due to shut in the coming months as all the major banks such as HSBC, Santander and TSB reduce their high street presence. 'Such hubs would breathe life back into struggling communities,' says Ceeney. Baroness Tyler said: 'I see these Post Office hubs as a really important part of fixing the access to cash problem.' The Mail on Sunday has long campaigned for access to cash to be maintained. We have also been a longstanding supporter of shared bank branches an idea first put forward by the Campaign for Community Banking Services in the late 1990s. Although trials were carried out, the banks quashed the idea. Last week, we asked the Government to comment on when legislation on access to cash was likely. It failed to comment. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong arrived in Jakarta on Saturday to attend the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) special meeting on Myanmar. Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai also landed in Indonesia's capital to attend the talks as special representative for Thailand, since Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha cannot attend the meeting. Myanmar's top general and coup leader Min Aung Hlaing is due to attend the meeting, marking his first foreign trip since security forces staged a coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in early February. There is little hope for an immediate breakthrough in the two-hour gathering with the junta leader. But his decision to face them offers a rare chance for the 10-nation bloc to directly deal with the general who ousted one of its leaders. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) (Reuters) - The United States has administered 218,947,643 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country and distributed 282,183,915 doses as of Thursday morning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 215,951,909 vaccine doses the CDC said had been given to people by April 21 out of 277,938,875 doses delivered. The agency said 135,791,031 people had received at least one dose, while 89,245,776 people were fully vaccinated as of Thursday. The CDC tally includes two-dose vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, as well as Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine. A total of 7,783,990 vaccine doses have been administered in long-term care facilities, the agency said. (Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli) Continued concerns about oil demand continued to cap crude prices. West Texas Intermediate on the New York Mercantile Exchange had an up-and-down week, gaining 71 cents Friday to close the week at $62.14 per barrel, down from $63.28 at Mondays close. Prices had a two-day winning streak but couldnt overcome the loss of over $2 seen Tuesday and Wednesday. Posted prices closed at $58.62, according to Plains All-American. Natural gas prices also traded in a narrow band this week as well. After starting the week with a 7-cent gain, then lost almost 6 cents Tuesday and Wednesday before gaining 6 cents Thursday. Prices ended the week Friday down 2 cents at $2.73 per Mcf, down slightly from $2.75 at Mondays close. Bloomberg reported crude futures rose the most in over a week on Friday but were unable to reverse a 1.6 percent weekly loss as the market weighed a global economic reopening thats coming in fits and starts. The U.S. has remained near the forefront of the worlds budding demand recovery from the pandemic, and the latest manufacturing figures out of Europe have stoked optimism around a recovery there. But, the news service said, spreading coronavirus cases in countries such as India are tempering the positive signs coming out of the US and Europe. There was a real strong belief that we were going to see a very robust demand outlook from Asia, Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp., told Bloomberg. But with concerns in countries such as India and Japan, it shows the global economic recovery is not going to be balanced by any means, and thats going to derail the international travel situation. Oil is up almost 30 percent this year, but prices have struggled to reach new heights recently with the coronavirus situation deteriorating in some key oil consuming countries, Bloomberg said. Indias combined consumption of diesel and gasoline is poised to plunge by as much as 20 percent in April from a month earlier due to renewed restrictions, according to officials from refiners and fuel retailers. Meanwhile, Japan is facing an increase in cases and a state of emergency will be declared from Sunday to May 11 in cities including Tokyo. In the short-term, the market is facing an uneven recovery in demand, Andrew Lebow, senior partner at Commodity Research Group, told Bloomberg. With concerns around India and Japan, which are two of the top-five consumers of petroleum products, the market is trying to gauge where were going on demand. Still, prices have averted further losses, aided by the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and vigilant supply management from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, Bloomberg reported. OPEC+ is set to start easing deep supply curbs from May, and the group is expected to hold a full ministerial meeting next week to assess the global state of play. "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 Opal Hunters Unearth Massive Unicorn Pocket of Opal Worth $900,000 Down Under A brother and sister duo from Australia have fulfilled an epic quest their parents began decades ago. The family have been in search of opal their whole lives. They recently hit the jackpot, stumbling on a unicorn pocket of opal in South West Queensland, 1,000 kilometers west of Brisbane. Like rainbows frozen in time, opals are one of the rarest, most precious and sought after gemstones on earth. In March, the siblings unearthed a gargantuan 150-kilogram (approx. 330-pound) haul of the precious gemstones in the outback at a sight called Yowah, fulfilling their familys two-generation quest. Isaac and Sofia Andreou have been in the opal industry their whole lives, learning the trade of opalsmining, cutting, polishing, appraising, jewelry designing, and selling themfrom masters in the field. Their parents began their quest for opal in the 1960s, but never uncovered anything like this recent find. Australia is where some 90 percent of the worlds opals are found. Brought up in Byron Bay, Isaac now spends much of his time in the barren, hot, and unforgiving region of southwestern Queensland, searching for the rare, precious rocks. He also runs a production and wholesale opal enterprise direct from the mine online. His younger sister Sofia takes care of the retail end of the business, running an opal shop in Whitsunday. Together, the siblings, along with mine owner Dave Darby and teammate Chris, stumbled on the monumental find, and Isaac believes it is the culmination of something that was ultimately predestined. When we were children, mom and dad were involved in all of the different types of opal, Isaac told The Epoch Times. When I was very young, they came across this material, and then nothing else mattered. From children, theres always been a story and its almost like its a story thats been put into our minds about this particular material. When we were kids, it was just a bit of fun and fantasy. But its strangely coming true step by step. Weve always had this material, its always come to us in a way. But searching for that pocket, that key pocket, that unicorn pocket, [weve been at it for] two generations. With the help of mine owner Dave Darby, whos been searching for opals for decades, they located a promising pocket of opal nutsunique colored gems that form inside ironstone matrix boulders. Using a 30-ton excavator, they dug 50 feet down into the clay earth and soon saw bright colored flashes among the broken ironstone boulders, and they realized they were close to finding their fortune. Isaac, Sofia, and the team unearthed rock after rock containing colorful crystal centers of the sought-after gemstone. One of the rarest of all gemstones, opals are unlike others in that they are amorphous, meaning without a regular crystal structure. Instead, they are composed of millions of silica spheres which reflect light at various wavelengths, creating an endless combination of multicolored patterns. Isaac describes the phenomenon in terms of a rainbowwhere pixels of water dropping from the sky at the same rate of speed, all the same size, cause the optical phenomenon of a rainbow as light passes through when viewed from a certain angle. Now imagine those pixels of water instead of dropping in that fashion, imagine them all squashed together and snapped frozen, he explains. It emits a rainbow still, but the rainbow is all twisted. Its all rearranged. Theres no order to the rainbow. So that means that there is absolutely no end to the combination of color, brightness, tone that they can get. Throw all that in, mix all that up, and now make it art. Thats what a Yowah nut opal is. The team of opal hunters cheered as they made the discovery. Sofia, who is a trained expert in valuing the worth of opals, was left in awe as she began to fathom the extent of the find, which, comprised of thousands of opal stones, is deemed to be worth some AU$1.2 million (approx. US$928,000). The brother and sister now hope to purchase their own opal mine for AU$50,000 (approx. US$38,700) with the profitsin addition to paying daily expenses and helping fund Isaacs daughters education. However, the ultimate goal has always been the fulfillment of a dream. They want to share the magnificent find with the world. The crown jewel of their find has been dubbed the Yowah Moon, a Yowah nut with a perfect crystal centerthe rarest of all opal formations. The Yowah Moon is valued at over AU$50,000. Many of the other opals are being offered for sale through the opal hunters website for the world to enjoy. Meanwhile, the Yowah Moon and some other top specimens deemed museum quality have been set aside for the time being, reserved for public displays. The Yowah Moon opal. (Courtesy of Isaac Andreou) Isaac describes opal as something of a miracle in and of itself. When you look at Yowah nut, the first one to expose something thats been hidden for millions of years, there is absolutely an undeniable feeling that comes over you, he said. To start with, even the aesthetics broadens your mind and makes you realize whats possible. The artistic nature of these stones just gives your mind a leap forward in understanding the earth and creation. Ultimately, Isaac believes their fairytale-like journey in search of the precious material has a higher purpose in store. The word Yowah its an aboriginal word. Its an indigenous word. But its also an international word thats always been around, he said, referring to the name of God, Yahweh. Now, heres the question, how did the aboriginal people get that word? That starts to make you wonder now. The brother and sister have already been featured on Discoverys The Outback Opal Hunters TV series and Isaac has his sights set on a greater goal: to have their story made into a full-length movie. The siblings, both still in their thirties, have already achieved more than most can hope for in a lifetime. And with their new mine on the horizon, theres plenty of potential for treasure yet to be discovered. Outback Opal Whisperers can be found on Instagram, Facebook, or on their website. Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter ADVERTISEMENT The Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, on Saturday, named Ife-Moro road after the late Afenifere Spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin. The Ooni, represented by Kemade Elugbade, at the funeral service of Mr Odumakin in Moro, described the late Afenifere chieftain as an unforgettable patriotic descendant of Oduduwa and a positive factor in Nigerias democracy. He said: Odumakins death was a rude shock when Yoruba nation in particular and Nigeria at large needed him. The news of his demise was a very bitter pill to swallow for the entire country and to us particularly in the House of Oduduwa. He was a disciplined Yoruba leader who has been one of the loudest pro-democracy voices in the country, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a short clip of Mr Odumakins lifetime and his wife, Joe, attending a television interview was played in remembrance of the human rights activist at the event. (NAN) Angelina Jolie was seen spending time with her children Zahara and Pax in West Hollywood on Thursday evening. The 45-year-old actress and two of her eldest adopted kids were seen taking a short stroll together after finishing up a shared sushi dinner at one of their usual hangouts. Jolie wore a flowing black dress that fell to the middle of her shins while spending time with two of her children. Mom time: Angelina Jolie was spotted stepping out for a sushi dinner in West Hollywood with her daughter Zahara and her son Pax on Thursday evening She paired her outfit choice with a matching set of sandals and carried a large coat with her in case the cool springtime weather grew any colder. The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider star also kept a leather purse with her as she took a stroll with two of her children. Her gorgeous brunette hair fell onto her shoulders. Keeping it consistent: The Lara Croft: Tomb Raider actress wore a flowing black dress that covered much of her frame Extra storage: The performer also carried a small black purse to keep her belongings close during her shared outing Jolie, Zahara and Pax all wore facial coverings to keep themselves protected from COVID-19 while spending time in public. The actress shares a total of six children with her estranged husband Brad Pitt, from whom she began a highly-publicized relationship with after they costarred in the 2005 action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith. She first adopted her son Maddox, aged 19, with her former husband, Billy Bob Thornton, in 2002, although she later raised him as a single mother for a period of time. The performer went on to welcome several other children into her home, including Zahara and Pax. Not taking chances: Jolie and two of her eldest children wore facial coverings to keep themselves protected from COVID-19 while stepping out Big family: The actress currently shares six children with her estranged husband, Brad Pitt. The performers met while they were costarring in the 2005 action comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith Team effort: The two welcomed three biological offspring during their time together while also taking care of three adopted children Jolie and Pitt's final additions to their family, daughter Shiloh and twins Vivienne and Knox, were their only biological offspring. The actor's outing comes amid her ongoing custody battle with her estranged husband. The couple tied the knot in 2014 after several years of dating, before separating in 2016. The couple's split kicked off a still-ongoing custody battle concerning the welfare of their adopted and biological children. Earlier this year, Jolie filed legal paperwork alleging that the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood subjected her and the couple's kids to acts of domestic abuse during the span of their relationship. All things must end: Jolie and Pitt tied the knot in 2014 but went on to separate two years later Getting complicated: The former couple's split set off a still-ongoing custody battle concerning the welfare of their children Serious business: Earlier this year, Jolie filed legal paperwork alleging that Pitt subjected her and the couple's children to acts of domestic abuse The actress agreed to provide testimony to back up her claims, and noted that several of her children would do the same. In March, the couple's eldest child, Maddox, appeared in court to give his opinion on the matter and did not paint his estranged father in a positive light. Shortly after the 19-year-old told the authorities about his perception of the actor's behavior, a source spoke to Us Weekly and noted that what was stated in court did not bode well for the performer's future. 'Maddox has already given testimony as [an] adult in the ongoing custody dispute and it wasnt very flattering toward Brad,' they said. 'He doesnt use Pitt as his last name on documents that arent legal and instead uses Jolie. Maddox wants to legally change his last name to Jolie, which Angelina has said she doesnt support,' the source added. Speaking his mind: In March, the couple's eldest son, Maddox, headed to court to provide testimony against his estranged father Tran Thi Tuyet had published more than 25 stories and videos on Facebook and YouTube prior to her August 2020 arrest. A court in Vietnam sentenced a journalist to eight years Friday for writing anti-state stories and sharing them on social media, her lawyer told RFA. The Peoples Court in the south-central coastal province of Phu Yen convicted Tran Thi Tuyet Dieu of violating article 117 of the Vietnamese penal code for creating, storing and disseminating information and materials against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The trial lasted three hours, which is quite fast. The prosecution carried a sentence range of five to 12 years and I think the 8-years is pretty harsh, Nguyen Kha Thanh, Dieus lawyer told RFAs Vietnamese Service. Ms. Dieu had a clean criminal record. This is her first offense, Thanh said. A former employee of a state-run newspaper, Dieu was arrested in August 2020, for managing a Facebook profile called Tuyet Babel and a YouTube account under the name Tuyet Dieu Tran." According to the Vietnam News Agency, which cited the indictment, Dieu had used the websites to disseminate 25 news stories and nine videos deemed to be against the state. She also stored seven other anti-state stories on her laptop and had published online written materials in support of democracy activist Nguyen Viet Dung, currently serving a six-year sentence for disseminating anti-state materials, including photos of himself in military garb in front of the flag of South Vietnam, defeated when the communist North unified the country in 1975. After Dieus arrest, she was not allowed to contact anyone for months and could not meet her lawyer until November 2020. She pleaded innocent, saying that there were no victims of what she did. She did not accept the accusations as the trial failed to find a person harmed by her actions, said the lawyer. But the court said her actions caused harm to the nation, a common tactic that allows them to not have to show any specific harmed individuals, he said. Thanh said as a regular citizen, Dieus writings were not done with the intention of opposing the government, and an individuals writings are not strong enough to topple an entire government. In my view what she was doing was not in opposition to the authorities. I guess Ms. Dieu wrote those things because she was upset or something. She should have been charged with an administrative violation or for insulting an organization, Thanh said. Harsh forms of persecution With Vietnams media all following Communist Party orders, the only sources of independently-reported information are bloggers and independent journalists, who are being subjected to ever-harsher forms of persecution, the press freedoms watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in its 2021 Press Freedoms Index. Measures taken against them now include assaults by plainclothes police, RSF said in its report, which placed Vietnam at 175 out of 180 countries surveyed worldwide, a ranking unchanged from last year. To justify jailing them, the Party resorts to the criminal codes, especially three articles under which activities aimed at overthrowing the government, anti-state propaganda and abusing the rights to freedom and democracy to threaten the interests of the state are punishable by long prison terms, the rights group said. Vietnams already low tolerance of dissent deteriorated sharply last year with a spate of arrests of independent journalists, publishers, and Facebook personalities as authorities continued to stifle critics in the run-up to the ruling Communist Party Congress in January. But arrests continue in 2021. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service, Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong. The Texas legislative session is just over a month away from ending, with all potential bills already filed, but Tomball City Council members are making plans to keep a close eye on the next session. Of the 6,019 bills filed during the session, Acting City Manager David Esquivel said about 2,700 of those will affect the city of Tomball, and the city council reviewed some of those during a special workshop April 19. On HoustonChronicle.com: HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball earns accreditation in robotic surgery When we looked at what we could do, we wanted to put together a comprehensive list of bills that could affect us, Esquivel said. If its a bill you want to take an active position on, we can start planning for it. David Riddle, the community outreach director for Harris County Precinct 4, told council members legislative bills are like horse races. Every owner of a horse thinks their horse is going to win, Riddle said. The likelihood of their horse winning specifically is a challenge. Riddle said Pct. 4 used software to track bills as they go through committee and are voted on. Any bills that havent had a committee hearing scheduled at this point in the session have an unlikely chance of passing. By tracking bills that are of interest to you guys, you can make a big difference, Riddle said. Can we get legislation passed? Yes. Its not going to happen this legislative cycle, but it can happen next legislative cycle. On HoustonChronicle.com: Ten Days of Tomball promoting local businesses, sales Bills in the city councils list for tracking include SB 234 and HB 749, both of which would prohibit cities like Tomball from using the Texas Municipal League to lobby for bills on their behalf. The voices of joined cities have defeated some bills in the past, Council Member Lori Klein Quinn said. That apparently angered some politicians, so they want to take away this organizations voice. Theres trade associations for every industry but theyre not going after those. Council Member Derek Townsend said what really griped him about the bill was that the state of Texas doesnt want the federal government telling them how to run the state, but they want to run the affairs of Tomball. That to me is a little hypocritical at best, Townsend said. Both bills are still pending in committee, state information shows. Other bills on the councils list include SB 861, which would make provisions for virtual meetings introduced during the pandemic permanent; HB 738, which would require updating of 2012 building codes; and SB 1608, which would require video cameras to be posted at polling places to record all activity other than voting. For the next legislative cycle, Riddle said the council could make a huge impact, looking at bills drafted and going to hearings, and offering up substitute bills to committees they could adopt which would have language beneficial to Tomball. If you are just reacting to what the bill is saying after its gone through committeetheres really nothing you can do to stop the train, Riddle said. If you catch it early enough, theres lots. paul.wedding@hcnonline.com The panel voted 10 to 4 to resume use of the vaccine with the warning label. Some of the panel members who voted no wanted a more prominent warning about the risk to younger women and the availability of other Covid vaccines that do not appear to pose the same risk. Lifting the pause will allow states to restart vaccination efforts among hard-to-reach populations like rural Americans, migrants and elderly people who have difficulty leaving their homes. Their access to the vaccine had been hampered by the suspension, which left roughly 10 million doses sitting on shelves. In Wisconsin, officials said they intended to begin using their Johnson & Johnson doses as soon as possible. We have also heard from a number of vaccinators who say that there are lots of people who dont like needles, said Julie Willems Van Dijk, the deputy secretary of the state health department. They just want to get the vaccine that requires them to have one shot versus two shots. Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the C.D.C. director, said governors in a number of states had expressed intense interest in resuming use of the shots. They wondered why we had paused, and they were anxious to have this back, have an opportunity for a single-dose vaccine, for a one-and-done possibility, she said. About 135.8 million people in the United States have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine. But daily doses have fallen by almost 13 percent since last week, from a peak of 3.38 million daily doses on average to about 2.95 million. What benefits in trade and investment will the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UVFTA) offer to Vietnam? Nguyen Canh Cuong, trade counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy to the United Kingdom The agreement will provide huge trade benefits to Vietnam quickly and directly, thanks to four key factors. Firstly, the UKs market size is very big. The UK spends about $700 billion a year importing goods from all around the world. Secondly, the UVFTA immediately exempts import tariffs into the UK for almost all products sourced from Vietnam or under a relatively quick tariff-reducing roadmap of one, three, and 7-8 years. Thirdly, the UVFTA has created competitive advantages for many products from Vietnam, such as agro-fishery products, footwear, rubber products, and wood products as compared to peers from China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Brazil, which are major trade rivals of Vietnams many products. However, these nations have yet to create an FTA with the UK. Lastly, many Vietnamese enterprises have successfully established firm relations with partners in the UK, and they have products meeting the quality standards of the EU and the UK. These businesses can take advantage of the competitive advantages of the UVFTA more quickly than new enterprises in a bid to increase their market share. UK importers with already-forged cooperation with Vietnamese suppliers will also increase their imports from Vietnam in their global value chain. In the first three months of 2021, Vietnams total export-import turnover with the UK hit over $1.63 billion, up 12.48 per cent on-year. This included nearly $1.47 billion worth of export turnover, up 14.74 per cent on-year though the UVFTA was just applied temporarily on January 1, 2021. Following direct trade benefits, the UVFTA will also bring indirect benefits to Vietnam. UK investors will increase the hunt for investment opportunities in Vietnam or shift their production bases from other locations to the country so that their products will be exempted from tariffs when being exported to the UK. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of March 20, the UKs direct investment into Vietnam hit $3.87 billion in registered capital for 441 projects. Will the trade deal help Vietnam attract more? The UVFTA will not create direct benefits in the short- and mid-term, but will create positive effects in attracting investment in the long term. Together with Vietnams continued reform of policies, the UVFTA will encourage foreign investors in Vietnam to expand production and business. Some owners of UK businesses in China and Myanmar may also relocate their production establishments to Vietnam. What items will immediately benefit from the agreements tariff slashes? Items with immediate exemption of non-quota import tariffs include coffee, rambutan, mango, litchi, longan, dragon fruit, coconut, and pickle. Other items including shrimp, tuna, ground fish, fragrant rice, cassava starch, and other agricultural products will also be exempt from tariffs under quotas. Industrial products with immediate tariff exemptions embrace bags, wallets, suitcases, protective shoes and sport shoes, underclothing, bathrobes, nightclothes, indoor clothing, swimwear, handkerchiefs, shawls, gloves, leggings, and kids clothing. What should enterprises in Vietnam do to enjoy and take advantage of UVFTA benefits? They have to meet requirements in the quality and production process under the standards of both the UK or the EU. Even though enterprises may have good products, if they have no professional English-language websites, they will not have opportunities to approach UK importers. They should also partake in international fairs and exhibitions to showcase their products, in addition to using high-tech tools to approach and work with customers, especially during this time of COVID-19. If they cannot join online English-language meetings, they will miss many opportunities to export their products to the UK market. Currently big supermarkets and retailers from the UK tend to place direct orders from prestigious producers in order to diversify their product portfolios, seek innovation, and better control product quality and origin. So Vietnamese firms can register to become these retailers suppliers via their websites. What challenges will the UVFTA bring to enterprises in Vietnam and the economy, and what solutions will be required? In 2020, British firms exported goods worth over $600 million to Vietnam. The UVFTA can help those businesses increase exports under Vietnams tariff-reducing roadmap, so they can increase competition pressure on some Vietnamese firms in the years to come. However, because the UKs major export structure include aircraft, high-end cars, pharmaceuticals, machinery, electrical equipment, precious metals, whisky and wine, steel, crude oil, and optical equipment, it is forecasted that the competition pressure will impact on the equivalents imported from other nations, rather than on Vietnams products. The main reason is that the market segment of many domestically-made products is different from that of the UKs similar products. The key solutions needed to be carried out by Vietnamese enterprises are to raise their own competitiveness and actively participate in the regional and global value chains in order to become a factor that can create the added value for the national economy and the global economy. Last month Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple cuts off China's OFilm over using Uyghur slave labor." Although we had reported on Apple dropping O'Film as a supplier due to slave labor being used back in December 2020, Bloomberg's report seemed to cement this reality in the market. China has been accused by the U.S. and other Western governments of detaining more than 1 million Muslim Uyghurs in camps in the far western Xinjiang region and pushing them into work programs. The U.S. government and lawmakers in Canada and the Netherlands have said Chinas actions constitute genocide. Washington has also banned cotton products from the region, and there have been some calls to boycott next years Winter Games in Beijing over the issue. Today we're learning that Samsung has decided to follow Apple's lead and drop O'Film from their supply chain, even though it was always a small supplier. According to The Elec, Samsung considered it to risky to keep OFilm Group as its supplier due to the alleged human rights violations, and removed them from its supply chain to hedge against potential risks. In Apples camera supply chain, LG InnoTek had the most share at 50%. This was followed by Sharp, which controlled mid-30%. OFilm held a mid-10% share before Apple dropped them. For more on this story, read the full report by The Elec. As Burning Man organizers consider restricting attendance at their desert art festival and bacchanal to revelers whove received COVID-19 vaccines, one of their founders said that would run counter to the events counter-culture, anti-establishment ethos and promotion of radical inclusion. Burning Man Project CEO Marian Goodell said this month that the organization plans to require mandatory proof of vaccination for anyone attending the weeklong Burning Man festival if its held this year. COVID testing could also be required, she said in a video. A week later, she seemed to back off, acknowledging concerns but saying that mandatory vaccinations are part of the health and safety plan the event is required to submit to the state of Nevada, where the event is held. Burning Man transforms part of the desolate and dusty northwestern Nevada desert into Black Rock City, home to a week-long, free-form festival and campout populated with creative art displays and tens of thousands of people, ranging from artists to celebrities and social media influencers. It culminates with the burning of a towering wooden sculpture of a man. Goodell said the vaccination decision and other precautions against the spread of the coronavirus, arent final, but the suggestion of the restriction sparked criticism on its website from Burning Man participants. Mandatory vaccinations?!?!?!, wrote someone who identified himself as Voo-Doo. Are you trippin? Michael Mikel, a founding member of Burning Man Project known as Danger Ranger, weighed in on Friday through a post on Facebook. Having the freedom to play with fire is a part of our ethos, he wrote. Requiring a vaccination for entry ... not only goes against that ethos, it is against logic. People whove received vaccines shouldnt be concerned about their safety, he wrote, while those who havent been vaccinated are knowingly accepting the risk. However, rare cases of vaccinated people becoming ill or dying from the virus have been reported. The org should not become the government that we came to the desert to get away from, he wrote. Public health officials have encouraged everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a means of attaining herd immunity against the virus but some been reluctant for medical, political or personal reasons. As more people are getting vaccinated, officials are slowly easing rules constraining gatherings and events but some event sponsors have voluntarily required attendees to be vaccinated. Burning Man has never been about safety, Danger Ranger wrote. In 1998, I put You assume the risk of serious injury or death by attending this event on the back of the ticket. Burning Man was never intended to be SAFE. The post includes a photo of a flatbed truck driving across a stretch of desert known as the Playa with people sitting on couches perched on the back. The words Perfectly Safe are spray painted on the back of one couch. Burning Man is held the week leading up to Labor Day but was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. Goodell said the decision on whether to hold the event has not yet been made. The decision, she said, is expected to be made by the end of April. Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan Singapore: Eleven weeks after he was detained by Myanmars new junta, the whereabouts of Australian economist Sean Turnell have finally been revealed. An adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, the overthrown civilian leader of the troubled south-east Asian nation, Turnell has been held by security forces while they have waged a bloody crackdown that has claimed 745 lives. Sean Turnell with Aung San Suu Kyi. Credit:Peter Morris/Lowy Institute It had been unknown whether he was in prison or one of the militarys many compounds but now, more than 2 1/2 months since he was taken into custody, a student leader released from detention has disclosed where he has been. Ko Zeyar Lwin, who was released on April 17, said he had spoken to Turnell and several ministers from the deposed government while he was inside the infamous colonial-era Insein Prison, built by the British in 1887 in Yangon. Former United States President Donald Trump April 23 slammed the South Korean leader Moon Jae-in for ripping off America while underlining his supposed friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. While Trump said that he likes Kim who never respected South Korean President, ex-US President also called Moon weak as a leader and a negotiator. In a statement on Friday, Trump further said that US President Joe Biden will not even ask billions that South Korea had agreed to pay the United States. During his four years in the White House, Trump positioned himself as a lead negotiator in peace talks between both Koreas. "Kim Jong-un of North Korea, who I have gotten to know (and like) under the most trying of circumstances, never respected the current President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in," Trump said in a statement. He added, "President Moon was weak as a leader and as a negotiator, except when it came to the continued, long term military ripoff of the USA... We were treated like fools for decades, however, I got them to pay billions of dollars more for the military protection and services we render...The Biden Administration is not even going to ask for the additional billions South Korea agreed to pay us," Trump added, referring to current President Joe Biden. Donald Trump first met with Kim Jong Un in June 2018 in Singapore that was also the first-ever summit between the United States and secretive North Korea when both nations were technically at war. However, later, the former US President said that the two leaders fell in love. In the remaining tenure of his presidency, Trump met ween Kim two more times and North Korea reportedly stalled its nuclear and missile tests. However, analysts have said that Pyongyang has continued to advance its weapons programs. Trump's response after Moon's remarks Trump's extraordinary remarks after leaving White House came as Moon told New York Times just this week that the former US President "beat around the bush and failed to pull it through." However, according to Trump, he was always there to "stop the aggression" for the negotiations. The 45th US President said, "I was always the one who stopped the aggression toward the South, but unfortunately for them, I am no longer there." Trump slamming Moon came just weeks after North Korean leaders sister Kim Yo Jong branded the South Korean President a parrot raised by America. In a published statement, Kim Jong Uns sister said that Moons "illogical and brazen-faced" criticism of missile tests in Pyongyang basically echoed Washingtons stance. Meanwhile, Seouls Unification Ministry also expressed strong regret over her statement and said that both Koreas should observe the rules of minimum etiquette in any circumstance." Image credits: AP Kayla Picou went through the drive-thru window at a Wendys earlier this month in Lafayette to get food for her kids and was offered a job. The Youngsville mother of two was taken aback at the offer since she was only trying to go inside to get the food that was left out of her order after going through the drive-thru a first time. The lobby was closed, so she went back to the drive-thru window to get the order straightened out. Then she learned why the lobby was closed. The manager told me, Im sorry. I cant open the lobby because no one wants to work, Picou said. And then she asked if I wanted a job. She said theyd hire anyone at this point. The lack of employees at Wendys was no fluke. Quick-serve restaurants in Acadiana and across the country are facing a severe hiring crisis as the number of applicants has dried up. Now that restaurants in Louisiana are allowed full capacity following months of restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, the issue has become magnified. At the Wendy's, the staffing shortage has forced the the franchisee, Georgia-based Wen-Star, to close all the dining areas in its five Lafayette-area stores. People are not showing up for work, said Bobby Dunning, Wen-Stars vice president of operations. Weve done everything weve been able to do. Were constantly looking to hire people. We have to take care of the people that are there. If we have to keep the dining room closed to keep the pressure off the people we have there, then thats what were going to do. The reason? Many point to the increased unemployment benefit and recent stimulus payments. How prevalent that is is anyones guess, but others in the industry are now throwing anything and everything including higher wages at the problem as customers are returning to dine-in restaurants. Restaurants nationwide reported a 32% increase in total sales last month, according to a QSR Magazine report. Its brutal, said Adam Diamond, CEO of ADT Pizza, which operates 26 Pizza Hut locations in Acadiana, many of which could use three or four more workers. Nobody will work. Were pulling out all the tricks. Were spending a lot more money on recruiting than we have before. Were switching from consumer marketing to job marketing. Weve hired a recruiting firm for the first time. Were increasing pay. If people ask for more money, we give them more money. Big incentives The Shrimp Basket, an Alabama-based chain of seafood restaurants, made the biggest splash in the industry this week. It is offering new hires and employees who recommend a new hire a chance to win a new car. So many others are offering incentives that its almost become an arms race. At Half Shell Oyster House, the Mississippi-based seafood and steak restaurant with a location in Lafayette, company officials recently raised its minimum wage to $12 an hour for all nontipped employees and are offering up to $500 in bonus money for referring an employee to join the company. +7 'Trying to build up our side of town': Cafe moves into Taco Bell space along Evangeline Thruway The owners of a soul food cafe on Moss Street are moving to the site of the former Taco Bell on the Evangeline Thruway and hope to have it ope Each of its 14 locations could use another seven to 10 people, said company VP Kevin Fish said. Ill be honest: Im a very conservative person, but I think its actually within conservative values to take care of people that work for you, Fish said. I think we have a custodial responsibility to care for them. It (finding workers) has been a struggle. We havent had the struggles that some other places have had, but its been difficult. Its been very difficult. RPM Pizza, which owns the 10 Dominos Pizza locations in the Lafayette area, is offering signing bonuses for drivers who stay on a certain amount of time along with a $250 bonus for any team member who recruits a driver who stays 60 days. Some locations, recruiting manager Sara Smoot said, are even offering a free pizza for simply showing up to an interview. In the Lafayette market, it could hire at least 90 employees right now, she said. Maybe more. We definitely have seen a reduction in applications, Smoot said. Weve had to adjust to trying to find new and creative ways to get applicants inside the door and, once we get them in the door, get them for an interview. We have some applicants not showing up for interviews. Kergan Brothers Sonic, which operates six Sonic locations in Lafayette and 50 others in Louisiana, could use as many as 10 more workers at every store, company president Gary Wilkerson said. It recently raised its starting wage to $8, and employee evaluations are now done more than once a year with a chance to get a raise. Its also common for the company to provide workers with cookies or cake during a shift. Inside info on doing business in Acadiana We'll keep you posted on the Acadiana economy. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Lafayette area adds jobs in March, see how many Acadiana added 1,800 jobs between February and March, the largest increase posted by any of the states metro regions. Current and new employees can get $75 as part of the companys referral program. Staffing is everything to us, Wilkerson said. Were just not getting a lot of applications. This (issue) didnt just happen. Its exaggerated right now, but staffing in our industry has been in bit of a decline for a couple of years. You can go back to last March when things really started. Staffing really got challenging in March and April of last year, and it hasnt stopped. Everybody is trying to find the same person. Some online job listings for positions are Lafayette-area restaurants include bonuses. Bon Temps Grills ad seeking a grill cook/prep cook include a $100 signing bonus. A listing for Saltgrass Steakhouse offered $250 in bonus money. The problem Respondents for this story and others nationally almost consistently point to the same issues: the federal unemployment benefit and the recent federal stimulus checks. The $300 weekly federal unemployment stacked on top of a state benefit that maxes out at $247 is enough to convince displaced workers to stay on the sidelines, company leaders claimed. Stimulus checks for at least $1,400 as part of President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package may have also kept people at home instead of working. +6 Artmosphere still up for sale, but live music will return May 20 Artmosphere Bistro is still up for sale, but the owner says its not going away any time soon. I think the stimulus payments and unemployment benefits are necessary, Diamond said. They put money in their pockets and theyre able to take care of their kids. (But) I think people who are not making a lot of money take a break. A lot of people say (screw) it when they get those stimulus checks. We get a lot of applications but not a lot of follow through. If youre on unemployment benefits, you have to apply for jobs and show youre applying for jobs. Well get 50 people apply for a driver job but like one person call back. Still, the number of restaurant jobs nationwide continues to bounce back, the QSR report indicated. Restaurants added 175,00 jobs in March, lower than the 309,000 in February, but the industry has brought back 4.2 million since April 2020 when it lost 5.5 million jobs as the start of the pandemic when restrictions were placed on restaurants. Last month restaurants employed 10.5 million workers, still down nearly 2 million from prior to the pandemic. In Louisiana, total jobs in food service and drinking places rose by 4,000 but still remain down just under 14,000 jobs from a year ago. That total could rise in the coming months, Wilkerson said. I do believe that once the kids are out of school people are going to be looking for summer jobs, he said. Hopefully were going to get our fair share of those people. Were doing the best we can while we can. I am amazed when I go to a drive-in and visit (our) stores. Our people do such a great job, and they do it with a smile on their face. Wendys could add as many jobs as there are people interested in working at one of its locations. Sales, Dunning noted, remain strong and the breakfast menu has become popular despite the staffing issues. Employees with a wage that starts at $9 an hour get hired but then they just dont come back. You cant fire someone whos not there. +9 'It's a big change': Amazon bringing complaints of traffic, noise to Carencro months before its arrival Paul Morgan and his wife of 47 years, Mary, still live in the doublewide trailer they put on the property they bought in 2016 at the end of Ca The two Wendys locations that closed in Lafayette, he noted, were not related to staffing challenges but instead because Wen-Star was leasing those buildings. But until staffing issues are resolved, there may be situations similar to Picou experience at Wendys. And they'll very likely occur because the operation is understaffed. It just kind of made my heart heavy, Picou said. This manager clearly loves her job and she wants good people, and at this point in time its either nobody or just anybody, basically. For her to ask if Im looking for a job in the drive-thru, I was like, Man, theyre really desperate for workers. Staff Writer Megan Wyatt contributed to this report. PARIS Marine Le Pen does not have to say anything, said Alain Frachon, a former editor of the French daily Le Monde. Each time France is hit by terrorism, the extreme right benefits. Mr. Frachon was reflecting on the fatal stabbing Friday of a police officer by a Tunisian immigrant who had been in France for a decade without legal status before securing authorization to stay in 2019 and a temporary residence permit last year. In fact, Ms. Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally, did say something. She told the BFM-TV news network that France needs to expel hundreds of thousands of illegals in France. We need to return to reason. Support our police, expel the illegals, eradicate Islamism. How, she asked, was it possible for somebody who was illegally here for 10 years to have his situation regularized? YEREVAN. Today I join the Armenian Genocide commemoration together with the people. President of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), Fanny Carolina Salinas Fernandez, on Saturday stated this after paying tribute at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan on the 106th anniversary of this tragedy, expressing her support to the Armenian people. "Armenia, like Central America, has paid a very high price for freedom. In our case, thousands of people were massacred in civil wars. And in the case of Armenia, millions have died so that the age-old [Armenian] culture, language, and religion can survive. Armenia and Central America have another thing in common: a privileged geographical location, which has aroused the greed of many, and we have paid a very high price for freedom. On behalf of the Central American Parliament, we silently pay tribute to the memory of the victims of this tragedy, and wish the restoration of peacebased on truth and justice, by building a strong and lasting friendship between our peoples," the PARLACEN speaker added, in particular. The family of the man killed by a Portland police officer last week called Friday on the governor and state attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to do an independent investigation of the fatal shooting. Robert Douglas Delgado, 46, was shot last Friday morning by East Precinct Officer Zachary DeLong at Lents Park in Southeast Portland. His children and other family members gathered in front of the downtown Portland law offices of their attorney, J. Ashlee Albies. The family recognizes that we dont know everything that happened last week, Albies said. The investigation is still underway. They are waiting for information. But she said video of the encounter and witness accounts are deeply disturbing and alarming. We see that Robert is having a mental health crisis, she said. He is clearly struggling to keep his composure and we hear the way that the police were responding. A 911 caller reported that a man in the park was doing quick-draws with a gun but not pointing it at anyone, according to the Police Bureaus account. DeLong got to the scene and radioed that Delgado was not following police commands. Minutes later, DeLong fired on Delgado from behind a tree about 90 feet away. Police recovered a replica handgun with an orange tip on it and a magazine to the gun that Delgado had. Police photographed the gun lying on the grass in the park but did not specify exactly where it was. Delgado suffered from anxiety and depression and had been living on the streets, in parks and couch surfing, according to his family and court records. His sister said he struggled with substance abuse addiction. Delgado is survived by four grown children, daughters Madison Scott, 30, of Oahu, and Kennedy Garrett, 24, of Mesa, Arizona, and two sons, Skyler Delgado, 26, also of Mesa, and River Delgado, 24, of Gilbert, Arizona. Family and loved ones of Robert Douglas Delgado, who was shot and killed by Portland police officer Zachary DeLong last week, held a vigil in Lents Park, where Delgado died, on Friday night, April 23, 2021. A group of more than 100 people attended, members of which viewed and added to a memorial, wore blue T-shirts memorializing Delgado and provided food, clothing and other necessities to those in need. Speaking on the familys behalf, Albies said a special prosecutor would ensure an independent review of the shooting. She pointed to a 2020 Oregonian/OregonLive review of 40 fatal police shootings since Kendra James in 2003 that found half of those killed suffered from mental illness. This is unacceptable, she said. People in mental health crisis or people with mental health issues are not inherently dangerous and they need to be treated with respect and care. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appointed Attorney General Keith Ellison to handle the prosecution of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer found guilty last week of killing George Floyd. We think that sets a precedent, Albies said. She called on Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt to support the call for an independent prosecutor. There is the fox guarding the henhouse kind of analogy, she said. She said Schmidts office works closely with the Portland Police Bureau, which is investigating the shooting. Typically in Multnomah County, the District Attorneys Office would present the case to a grand jury to determine if the shooting was in justified. After Delgados death, Schmidt issued a statement saying he is committed to an open and transparent process. Schmidts spokesman, Brent Weisberg, said the district attorney sees the importance of having an outside prosecutor handle certain criminal investigations such as an officers use of deadly force. He said Schmidt had not heard from Gov. Kate Brown or Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum about appointing a special prosecutor but the district attorney would be open to those discussions. Spokespeople for Brown and Rosenblum did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the Delgado familys request. His children said their father was fun-loving, warm and loved his family. He had recently become a grandfather for the first time but had not met his new granddaughter. He had a big heart, Skyler Delgado said. He loved all of his kids. He said he reviewed video of the shooting and suspects his father was feeling harassed. I feel he was feeling attacked. The family planned a vigil at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Lents Park in Delgados memory. Family and loved ones of Robert Douglas Delgado held a vigil in Lents Park on Friday night, April 23, 2021. Dave Killen | The Oregonian/OregonLive Separately on Friday, Juan Chavez, an attorney at the Oregon Justice Resource Center, said the killing is part of a fatal pattern in Portland. From his review of a video of the shooting combined with hearing what bystanders have relayed about the moments leading up to the encounter, Chavez said he believes the situation was handled incorrectly. He said Delgado showed signs of being in crisis and police failed to assess the situation and identify that the gun Delgado had was fake. What we have done in this country is make police de facto mental health crisis responders, Chavez said. That is not good medicine and it has gotten people killed. Oregonian staff writer Nicole Hayden contributed to this report. -- Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Wednesday, April 21 4:02 p.m. Deputies were dispatched to a Geneva Township residence for a destruction-of-property complaint. A 35-year-old man reported someone put BBs in his engine. Damages are approximately $2,500. There are no suspects at this time. 3:43 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Elisenal Drive and Joe Mann Boulevard. 2:56 p.m. The sheriff's office detective bureau received a referral from the Department of Health & Human Services indicating possible physical assault to a 13-year-old girl by her mother. DHHS investigated the case and found the referral information was unfounded and the filing could be in retaliation to a custody dispute. No injuries were incurred to the child. It was found that an argument occurred between the child and her mother when the mother found that her daughter had been using the phone to send sensitive photographs and took the phone away. 1:36 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 2500 block of North Saginaw Road. 1:35 p.m. A 32-year-old Warren Township woman was arrested for operating while intoxicated and drug possession after a traffic stop in Warren Township. 1:14 p.m. Deputies responded to a referral from DHHS regarding alleged inappropriate contact between a 16-year-old teen and her uncle. Contact was made with the teen's father, who said he discussed what happened with his daughter, and law enforcement involvement was not needed at this time. The man said he did not wish to name the other family member involved. 11:39 a.m. A deputy was dispatched to an Edenville Township residence to complete a car-deer crash report that occurred in Edenville Township earlier in the morning. 11:04 a.m. Officers responded to a larceny in the 500 block of East Grove Street. 9:33 a.m. A 55-year-old woman reported a former co-worker of hers is fraudulently providing prescription medications by using her name and information. The incident took place in Clare County. The information pertaining this incident has been turned over to the FBI for further investigation. 4:08 a.m. A 60-year-old Lee Township woman called 9-1-1 to report a missing firearm that belongs to her 83-year-old father. The deputy spoke with the 83-year-old man, who said he does not wish to file a report at this time. He said he wants to search his home thoroughly before filing a missing firearm report. 3:35 a.m. Officers performed a death investigation in the 2500 block of Schade West Drive. From the ages of 23 to 26, Greg Ritzinger mostly lived out of his car in San Francisco. Struggling with substance abuse and estranged from his family, Ritzinger tried to save up enough money to stay at a motel once a week. Most days he wasnt so lucky. He remembers jotting down the name of shops that let him use the bathroom after buying something. Id generally go around a week without showering, just washing up in bathrooms or using wipes and mouthwash, he recalled. I tried to keep my face clean; if I didnt look too disheveled then it was way more likely Id be allowed to use the bathroom. A court-mandated, six-month recovery program helped Ritzinger start to turn his life around. He enrolled at City College and then transferred to UC Berkeley, where the 29-year-old undergrad is currently studying political science and rhetoric on a full scholarship. But those earlier years, between 2015 and 2018, were among his hardest. Ritzinger, who interacts with students experiencing or exiting homelessness as a research apprentice and volunteer, says its even harder to be young and unhoused today. Theres already so little done for youth experiencing homelessness just anything from being able to access a toilet or charge your phone or other services that were hard to get well before the pandemic, he told The Chronicle. Now, these things are virtually nonexistent. According to several studies by UC Berkeleys School of Public Health over the past year, the coronavirus crisis has eroded an already frayed safety net for young people experiencing homelessness, further ostracizing a vulnerable population with disproportionate numbers of Black, brown and LGBTQ youth. Approximately 3.5 million people between the ages of 18 and 25 are homeless across the country, according to the University of Chicago. A third of them live in California, said Colette Auerswald, a professor at UC Berkeleys School of Public Health. But those figures reflect a sharp undercount of the reality, she noted. Data is hard to pin down, but we know from our ongoing research during the pandemic that more youth in parts of the Bay Area have been reaching out to shelter providers when housing and bed availability have significantly gone down, Auerswald said. The undercounts exist because of how homelessness is measured in the country. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development requires counties to conduct point in time surveys every two years. These surveys take place over a few January nights and arent intended to be a true reflection of any locales homeless population so much as a baseline estimate that HUD can use to determine funding allocations. In San Francisco, for instance, the last point-in-time survey in 2019 found 1,145 unaccompanied children and transitional-age youth, a 10% decrease from two years earlier. About 83% were unsheltered, either living in cars, tents, park benches or the general outdoors. Nearly half of all young people experiencing homelessness in the city identified as LGBTQ and were people of color. While Blacks and Latinos make up just 6% and 15% of the citys population, respectively, they accounted for 29% and 27% of the local count of homeless young people. In Alameda County, young people between 18 and 24 represented 9% of the overall population experiencing homelessness (702 individuals). While the countys 2019 homeless count did not break down young people by race and ethnicity, it did say LGBTQ youth were overrepresented at 40%. Young people from marginalized communities are more likely to face structural failings that lead to homelessness, Auerswald said. Generational poverty, mental health issues, and sexual and substance abuse, as well as interactions with punitive systems, are all potential gateways into homelessness and disproportionately affect people of color. Family dysfunction, poverty, involvement with social services and juvenile justice, all of that is going to lead to higher rates of homelessness, Auerswald said. According to the California Coalition of Youth, a survey of 300 unhoused young people in September 2020 indicated that employment was the No. 1 need among this population. Young people are often overlooked in homelessness response efforts, experts say. For instance, Alameda County has fewer than 10 shelter beds for minors and fewer than 100 for transitional-age youth, ages 18-24. A focus on single adults is just one reason young people are less likely to seek out homeless shelters, said Emily Cohen, the interim director of strategy and external affairs at San Franciscos Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. If theres no feeling of community, if theres a fear of victimization and a lack of appropriate protocols that are in place, they will likely not seek help and not be on our radar, Cohen said. Young people who couch-surf between friends and relatives without stable housing are also virtually invisible to the system, compounding undercounts of the population, Auerswald said. Minors and transitional-age youth between 18 and 25 have also been overlooked in COVID-19 response efforts, according to a recent article in the Journal of Adolescent Health. The authors public health authorities from California, Washington state, Texas, Minnesota, North Carolina and Canada wrote that young people who had been relying on couch-surfing to remain indoors reported no longer being welcome in homes where they previously stayed. As schools and their places of work closed, so did connections to vital resources. These challenges played out in San Francisco, where only one of the 25 hotels that the city converted into shelters for the most vulnerable including older unhoused people and those with severe medical issues was specifically designed for young people. San Francisco opened its first navigation center for young people this past February. The shelter provides mental health services, workforce development and referrals to paid training opportunities. While it can accommodate 75 beds, it is operating only 43 due to social distancing protocols. It may take time to see what effect the pandemic has had on homelessness numbers among young people. Most Bay Area counties, including San Francisco, suspended homeless counts that were supposed to occur this year. But in a society where homeless youth feel invisible, the pandemic may have further exacerbated feelings of isolation, possibly impeding them from seeking help. Im hoping we can provide more help to homeless youth, said Ritzinger, the UC Berkeley student, who plans to become an attorney. Being unhoused is one of the most precarious and anxiety-inducing situations. How does one get on with life when you have shelter to figure out? Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter/Instagram: @shwanika 2. God Hates Pride Because It Always Deceives Us and Leads Us Astray Obadiah 1:3 The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in the loftiness of your dwelling place, who say in your heart, Who will bring me down to earth? The Hebrew word translated as deceived [nasa'] means to beguile, to lead astray, to mentally delude or morally seduce. Proverbs 16:18 warns that pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling. God hates pride (Proverbs 8:13). It is the original sin that caused Lucifer to fall from serving in the presence of God (Isaiah 14:12-14; Luke 10:18) and is at the root of unregenerate mans refusal to worship God. Edom made a critical mistake. They challenged God to a power struggle. Pride deceived their hearts just as it will always deceive us. How much better would it have been for Edom to lay down their pride and humbly accept Gods choice of Israel. Instead of judgment, they would have benefitted from the blessings of God as supporters of His people, just as God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. 3. Gods Righteous Judgment Will Always Overcome Any Reliance on Physical Strength or Mental Craftiness Obadiah 1:4-9 If thieves came to you, if robbers by night O how you will be ruined! Would they not steal only until they had enough? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleanings? O how Esau will be ransacked, and his hidden treasures searched out! All the men allied with you will send you forth to the border and the men at peace with you will deceive you and overpower you. They who eat your bread will set an ambush for you. (There is no understanding in him.) Will I not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy wise men from Edom and understanding from the mountain of Esau? Then your mighty men will be dismayed, O Teman, so that everyone may be cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter. Edom mistakenly thought they had the upper hand in battle by their strategic location. Likely they had enjoyed victory over other armies, but they forgot that God was not like any other enemy they had faced. God reminds them that His judgment will be complete and that no human wisdom will be able to rescue them. In fact, Obadiah warns that God plans to use Edoms allies to carry out His sovereign judgment. We are foolish to try to outsmart God, and when we attempt it, we expose our wrong perspective and understanding of who God is. God speaks through the psalmist to remind us that His silence when we sin is not a sign of weakness or inability: These things you have done and I kept silence; you thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes. Now consider this you who forget God, or I will tear in you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver (Psalm 50:21-22). Arent we grateful for Gods mercy and patience which gives us time for repentance (Romans 2:4)? Unfortunately, Edom would not rely on Gods mercy, but would go headlong into destruction; their strategies and prideful schemes would fail. Photo credit: Unsplash/Daniel Jensen YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Member of the German Bundestag Albert Weiler called on the government of Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Today is the anniversary of the first systematically planned genocide of the 20th century. 106 years ago, 1.5 million Armenians and other Christian minorities were brutally killed and deported from their homelands. To date Turkey has not sincerely confessed the dark pages of its own, our common history, the German lawmaker said on Facebook. He reminded that the Bundestag has already officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. I call on the Turkish government to acknowledge the past. There is no reconciliation without recognition, he said. The Bundestag MP also posted his photo made during his visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan ion April 24, 2015. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan New Delhi, April 24 : As the second Covid wave ravages India with a vengeance, the death rate is alarmingly growing and thousands of asymptomatic patients are fast transmitting the highly infectious strains which could put the entire nation to a halt sooner than expected if not controlled, experts warned on Saturday. The threat of double and now a triple-mutant Indian strain, along with the deadly UK variant, are believed to be behind the latest surge across the country. According to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), over 400 cases of the UK strain and 76 of the Indian double mutants have been found in Delhi alone and nearly 11 per cent samples from across the country show variants of concern. To date, 1,644 cases of the UK strain have been found in India, along with 112 cases of the South African strain, one of the Brazilian strains and 732 cases of the double mutant that emerged in the country. "The UK strain directly correlates to the Delhi surge. Both the UK variant and B1617 (double mutation) are present. The scenario is still unfolding. If we co-relate with the surge, I think it directly co-relates with the type of variant we're observing," informed Sujeet Kumar Singh, director, NCDC, during a webinar on Friday. The B1617 variant, first detected in Maharashtra, contains mutations from two separate virus variants -- E484Q and L452R. The third mutation evolved from the double mutation where three different Covid strains combined to form a new variant. Two of these triple-mutant varieties have been found in samples collected from Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. "No doubt that the second wave looks more dangerous than the first one in India. The mutant virus is more infectious and more virulent, causing widespread infection and disease leading to more mortality and morbidity," Dr V Ramana Prasad, Senior Pulmonologist, KIMS hospital Hyderabad, told IANS. The RNA virus has the potential to acquire mutations as it replicates and spreads. These mutations can, sometimes, result in virus variants with better adaptability to its environment. While the SARS-CoV2, causing the Covid-19 infections, has evolved at a much slower rate compared to Influenza or HIV viruses but as the number of infections rises, the country is observing a rapid emergence of numerous viral variants. With the increase in the number of infections and spread, there are more opportunities for the virus to mutate. According to Dr Sumant Mantri, Senior Consultant Pulmonologist at Apollo Hospital, Bengaluru, the new strains are more infectious. "Lot of asymptomatic patients transmitting virus. People have become complacent about wearing mask and maintaining social distancing which has led to this surge," Mantri told IANS. A total of 3,46,786 Covid cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, and 2,624 deaths, the highest single-day deaths so far in the country, according to health ministry's reports on Saturday. India registered over 2,000 deaths for the fourth consecutive day with the highest spike in single-day deaths. A total of 1,89,544 have lost their lives due to Covid-19 in India since the beginning of the pandemic last year. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text An organization that sells gently used items at affordable prices and provides meaningful employment for people with disabilities reached a milestone this month. An organization that sells gently used items at affordable prices and provides meaningful employment for people with disabilities reached a milestone this month. Canadian Goodwill Industries marked its 90th anniversary on April 4. The charity has five retail stores in Winnipeg and one in Ashern. According to general manager Charlotte McTavish, the anniversary is especially meaningful because of the challenges the non-profit has faced over the last few years. "If it wasnt for the customers, the donors and the staff, Goodwill wouldnt be here," McTavish says. "Its their constant support that keeps us going." Rev. J. Richmond Craig, a United Church minister, started Canadian Goodwill Industries in 1931. Craig held a rummage sale at his church, and as it was winding down, a man who was down on his luck approached Craig looking to buy some clothes. Craig told the man that if he helped clean up after the sale, he could take the items for free. "He liked to call it a hand up, not a handout," McTavish says. From there, Canadian Goodwill Industries was born. Craigs goals were to offer employment to those who could not find work due to the Great Depression, and to offer Manitobans items they needed at a low price. Nine decades later, the non-profits objectives are almost exactly the same. Canadian Goodwill Industries provides employment for persons with physical, developmental and emotional disabilities persons whose disabilities are obstacles to their employment in the open market. By collecting, refurbishing and selling used items, Canadian Goodwill Industries helps provide its employees with an income, independence and self esteem. Thats been the case for David Marks, who started working at the non-profit in October 2001. The 50-year-old lives with short-term memory issues stemming from a brain injury he sustained as a teenager, as well as depression and anxiety. Prior to arriving at Canadian Goodwill Industries, Marks worked at a number of different places. "They didnt work out because people didnt know how to handle my memory problems," he says. At Canadian Goodwill Industries, Marks has found acceptance and an employer that is willing to accommodate his various needs. He has held a number of roles at the company, and currently does pick-ups, makes deliveries and helps at the non-profits warehouse on Princess Street. "I love it here," Marks says. "The people are just fantastic to me." The job keeps Marks physically fit and its helped with his anxiety. "When society puts limits on people without seeing what they can do in the first place, those people become stigmatized," he says. "Goodwill didnt do that to me. They gave me the chance to try everything." Along with Canadian Goodwill Industries successes have come challenges. In March 2019, the non-profits Pembina Highway location caught on fire after an SUV crashed through the front of the building. The store was closed for 10 months as a result. Last June, another car smashed into the same building. In between the crashes, Canadian Goodwill had to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic. "It was honestly so stressful," McTavish says. One upside to the two accidents at the Pembina store was the outpouring of concern from the community that supports Canadian Goodwill Industries. "We had so many customers sending us emails, saying how much they love the store and asking how staff were doing," McTavish says. "They were genuinely concerned. In order for customers to show that compassion and care about the staff, I think it says a lot about the staff and the work they do." Canadian Goodwill Industries employs 66 people and is overseen by a board of directors. One board member who is especially excited about the non-profits 90th anniversary is Tom Craig, the grandson of founder J. Richmond Craig. Tom Craig, whose father Alan managed Canadian Goodwill from 1956 until 1995, has served on the board since the 1980s. "To me the anniversary is very exciting," Tom Craig says. "Its an organization that started right from the bottom, has built itself up with no help from any government agency and has survived for 90 years. Its been through the wars, its been through financial downturns and its been able to help people all the way through it." Canadian Goodwill would usually celebrate its anniversary with a large gathering, including cake, balloons and sales at all six locations. Those things arent possible as a result of the pandemic, but McTavish is happy the non-profit can nonetheless mark the occasion. "Were still standing after 90 years," she says. "The last few years have been really hard, but we survived it." "Honestly and truly," she adds, "I have to say we have the best customers and staff." Anyone interested in making a donation to Canadian Goodwill Industries can visit canadiangoodwill.ca. aaron.epp@gmail.com Germanys parliament adopted this week an update to the Infection Protection Act to impose nationwide regulations. The law secured support from 343 deputies from the governing parties, the Christian Democrats (CDU), Christian Social Union, and Social Democrats (SPD). There were 250 no votes, from the far-right Alternative for Germany, the Free Democrats and the Left Party, and 64 abstentions by the Greens. German Chancellor Angela Merkel casts her vote during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) The dishonesty of the debate that preceded the majority support for the change was breath-taking. Deputy Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) stated cynically that one could not simply ignore that over 80,000 citizens of this country have lost their lives to the virus. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn claimed that the law was effectively equipped to break the third wave. AfD parliamentary group leader Alexander Gauland accused the government of establishing a dictatorship, while a far-right mob supported by the AfD ran rampant outside. According to police sources, around 8,000 people participated in various protests, some of which had been banned in advance, and engaged in clashes with the police. More than 200 were arrested. Right-wing extremist mob in front of the Bundestag (AP Photo / Michael Sohn) AfD parliamentary group co-leader Alice Weidel paid the demonstrators a visit, allegedly to get a picture of the scene. According to media reports, an AfD deputy managed to smuggle members of the Lateral Thinkers movement into the parliament. A team associated with the lawyer Martin Haintz allegedly tried to film proceedings from the spectators gallery. In reality, the new law, which was described in the media as a nationwide emergency brake, does not create the basis for a shutdown based on medical and scientific criteria. Instead, it increases the incidence rate at which schools are allowed to remain open by 65 percent and grants vast powers to the states and municipalities to dismantle the remaining restrictions. This largely corresponds to the demands of the far-right AfD. Like the previous measures adopted by the federal and state governments, no worksites were impacted by the regulations. Employers were merely obliged to offer two voluntary tests for all employees each week. This in spite of the fact that a University of Dusseldorf study has demonstrated that regions with a higher percentage of production workers have higher infection rates than others. This indicates that workplaces, like schools, are hotspots for the virus. The obligation to work from home, which was also adopted, only applies if no unavoidable business reasons are contradicted, a criterion that is impossible to regulate. The only concrete restrictions contained in the law are contact restrictions and curfews in private life. In addition to the already existing staggered closures of retail outlets, bans will be placed on meeting more than one person from another household or leaving ones home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. But these measures will only apply if the infection rate is above 100 per 100,000 over the previous seven days for three days in a row. To avoid imposing identically worded regulations agreed at previous meetings between the chancellor and the heads of the state governments, municipalities repeatedly presented false, allegedly cleaned incidences in which easily confined mass outbreaks, such as in factories, were arbitrarily excluded. As soon as the incidence declines below 100 for several days, states and municipalities can immediately allow further openings, which is a recipe for the controlled mass infection of the population at a minimum speed of 100 per 100,000 residents per week. To put the murderous scale of this figure into context, it is worth considering the state of affairs in hospitals as well as developments with the pandemic in other countries. Figures from Johns Hopkins University show that the highest incidence rate ever recorded in China was 2. It was 0.4 in Vietnam; in New Zealand it was 10. In Germany, the current incidence rate is 160. The 68,000 infections recorded overall in the hard-hit Chinese province of Hubei are being surpassed in Germany every two to three days. The law has especially disastrous consequences for schools: while in-person learning has up to now been halted in most states when the incidence rate surpasses 100, the switch to online learning will now only take place after the incidence rises above 165 for three days in a row. Students are to be taught in full classes up to an incidence of 100. The Education and Scholarship Union (GEW) and German Teachers Association criticised the 165-incidence limit as too high and demanded a reduction to 100, which would merely mean a slower spread of the pandemic. The current regulations in force at the state level, which were based on an incidence of 100, have resulted in the incidence among children aged five to 14 being between two and four times higher than for the population as a whole in some areas. This was revealed in a recent report from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Even these figures reported by local health agencies likely substantially underestimate the extent of asymptomatic spread among children. As medical experts and scientists have repeatedly noted, an asymptomatic infection does not necessarily translate into an illness free from consequences. The RKI has registered at least 828 COVID-19 hospitalisations among children cared for or accommodated in daycare centres, youth centres, schools, homes, and holiday camps. Despite this, hundreds of thousands of students returned to in-person learning this week with the end of the Easter holidays. This includes students in Berlin, where students in year 7 to year 9 are beginning a hybrid model, and in Baden-Wurttemberg and North-Rhine Westphalia. Berlin Education Senator Sandra Scheeres (SPD) described the incidence of 165 as an arbitrarily chosen number, and demanded that other things are taken into account. Meanwhile, Saxonys state government has announced that it will keep schools open regardless of the incidence rate. The Left Party, which voted against the emergency brake because its votes were not required for it to pass, is also responsible for the policy of mass infection. The government in Thuringia, which is led by the Left Party, oversees a state-wide incidence of 246, the highest of any German state. The Left Party declared that it would not call for or support a call for mediation in the Federal Council, Germanys upper house, over the legislation. Federal Council President Reiner Haseloff (CDU) made clear several weeks ago that the federal and state governments always accepted that children would be infected en masse in open schools. He remarked at a March press conference, We always made clear that we would have a potential of increasing contacts by 250,000 people. This was understood nationwide by everyone, including the chancellor. By way of justification, Haseloff added that one had to include daycare and schools, otherwise one would have had to write off the entire school year. The profits-before-lives policy is meeting with mounting contempt among the population and is exposing capitalism worldwide before the eyes of millions of people. A social media post by Olaf T. from southern Germany was typical. It is simply sad and disgusting what is happening here in the world, he wrote on Facebook. Capitalism has reached the pinnacle of global contempt for humanity and injustice! While the government refuses to increase the wages of health care workers, according to Olaf, the shareholders in the health care system award each other with fat dividend payouts, and that for doing nothing! The health care conglomerate Fresenius, whose subsidiary company Helios GmbH operates 86 hospitals in Germany, announced an annual increase in shareholder dividends for the 28th year in a row, and announced in the face of further coronavirus-related burdens a new cost-cutting programme for 2021. Beneath the all-consuming waves of the coronavirus pandemic, another deadly public health crisis has been festering in obscurity. Beneath the all-consuming waves of the coronavirus pandemic, another deadly public health crisis has been festering in obscurity. Last year, 372 people died of drug overdoses in Manitoba a horrifying 87 per cent spike over 2019 fatalities, according to data released by the office of the chief medical examiner last week. Behind those data points are parents, spouses, friends and family members who have been failed by government inaction. Drug overdose deaths spike by 87 per cent in 2020 Click to Expand Rebecca Rummery lost her partner Rob to an accidental drug overdose in 2018. (Abby Matheson photo) Posted: 6:14 PM Apr. 20, 2021 Annual drug overdose deaths reached an all-time high in Manitoba, after 372 people died in 2020, marking an 87 per cent increase in reported deaths over 2019. We knew it was going to be high, but it doesnt make it easier when you see these numbers, said Rebecca Rummery, co-founder of Overdose Awareness Manitoba. Its people were talking about, and they all have families and loved ones. Read Full Story The pandemic has poured fuel on an epidemic that has been raging in Manitoba and across the country for years. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, has been linked to a rise in overdose deaths locally and nationally since at least 2016. In Winnipeg, methamphetamine use was the crisis dominating headlines until COVID-19 arrived in town. Even though attention has waned, the damage is ongoing and getting worse. Stress, anxiety and social isolation makes for a dangerous combination when people use drugs. The likelihood of overdose increases with isolation, our main defence against the virus, and public health orders have made it harder to access Manitobas few in-person addiction treatment programs and detox facilities Main Street Project, for example, has had to reduce its number of detox beds to meet restrictions. At the same time, virtual counselling, while crucial during the pandemic, is generally less effective and isnt accessible for everyone, according to a report from the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction. The closure of the United States border has also disrupted the illicit drug supply in Canada, leading to higher toxicity and higher risk of overdose. Taken together, the forces working against someone battling addiction are of epic proportions. In an open letter published last week, the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network called on the province to address the impact COVID-19 is having on people who use drugs, particularly when it comes to vulnerable populations. Addiction doesnt happen in a vacuum and social inequalities like unemployment, poverty and homelessness contribute to higher drug use. Those same inequalities put people at greater risk of contracting COVID-19; providing safe shelter and a long-term housing strategy would go a long way in tackling both crises. The network also recommends that the province decriminalize illegal drugs and drug use; expand access to a safe supply of opioids and stimulants, similar to alcohol and cannabis; and make naloxone kits widely available currently, Manitobans can only get the lifesaving overdose medication through a health-care professional. The letter signed by more than 40 organizations and 317 doctors, nurses, academics and social service providers is likely to have fallen on deaf ears. Time and again, Premier Brian Pallisters Progressive Conservative government has demonstrated an aversion to evidence-based harm reduction strategies. Drug use wont go away and trying to fight addiction solely with prevention ignores those who are already in the throes of it. Supervised consumption sites exist in nearly every Canadian province except Manitoba. These facilities have been proven to save lives and reduce the spread of infectious diseases. They are also an effective way to connect people with addiction treatment programs. In response to a 2019 local feasibility study on such sites, then health minister Cameron Friesen said, "Our premier has been very clear: there really is no such thing as a safe methamphetamine injection site." While 63 per cent of Manitobans polled in 2020 supported the development of safe consumption sites, sentiment among the provincial government remains unchanged. Drug use wont go away and trying to fight addiction solely with prevention ignores those who are already in the throes of it. People who use drugs deserve safety and support, otherwise they are vulnerable to becoming another gruesome statistic. LANSING Today, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order No. 2021-5, creating the Michigan Jail Reform Advisory Council. "The Jail Reform Advisory Council will play a critical role in implementing long overdue reforms to our justice system, said Whitmer. Michigan will continue to lead the way as we take tangible steps to reform our justice system, and I know that the bipartisan work of this council will make our communities and state safer, save taxpayer dollars, and help us achieve the goals laid out by the Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration. In April 2019, Governor Whitmer signed Executive Order No. 2019-10 creating the Michigan Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration co-chaired by Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist and Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack. The Task Force issued its final report and recommendations in January of 2020 and found significant growth in county jail populations, costing taxpayers nearly half a billion dollars annually. Jail populations have been driven equally by pretrial and post-conviction incarceration, with limited guidance in state law on the preferred or presumed intervention. This council will do critical work to implement the recommendations of last years Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration that I was proud to co-chair, said Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist. Together, we can make substantive, lasting changes to our justice system that make us all safer and help us live up to our highest ideals. The Task Force recommended extensive state policy changes related to traffic violations, arrests, behavioral health diversion, pretrial release and detention, speedy trials, sentencing, probation and parole, financial barriers for system-involved individuals, victim services, and data collection. The Michigan Legislature passed many of the Task Force recommendations with bipartisan support in December of 2020, which were signed into law by Governor Whitmer on January 4, 2021. Executive Order No. 2021-5 creates the Michigan Jail Reform Advisory Council as an advisory body within the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget. This new Council will facilitate, assist with, monitor, and evaluate the successful implementation of jail reform legislation throughout the state of Michigan. Thanks to the data-driven, bipartisan work of the Jail and Pretrial Incarceration Task Force, Michigan is a national leader in reforming our criminal justice system to be more fair, effective, transparent, and accountable, said Chief Justice Bridget M. McCormack. The council will support the implementation of these pioneering improvements, making sure the vision of a justice system that makes us all safer and stronger that inspired us becomes reality. The Council will include Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack who will serve as Chair, Robyn Liddell serving as designee of Attorney General Dana Nessel, Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington, Capt. Dale Hinz serving as designee of Col. Joe Gasper of the Michigan State Police, Melissa Smiley serving as designee of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and Deb Cain serving as designee of Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel. The Governor appointed the following members of the Council: Jerry L. Clayton, Sr., of Ypsilanti, is the sheriff for Washtenaw County. He is a certified criminal justice trainer and instructor, and a graduate of the Eastern Michigan University School of Staff and Command. Sheriff Clayton is appointed to represent a county sheriff or jail administrator for a term commencing April 21, 2021 and expiring March 31, 2023. Barbara Hankey, of Holly, is the manager of the Oakland County Community Corrections Division. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University. Ms. Hankey is appointed to represent community corrections or pretrial services for a term commencing April 21, 2021 and expiring March 31, 2023. D.J. Hilson, of Muskegon, is the prosecuting attorney for Muskegon County. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Economics from Marquette University and a Juris Doctor degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Mr. Hilson is appointed to represent a county prosecutor for a term commencing April 21, 2021 and expiring March 31, 2023. Takura N. Nyamfukudza, of Lansing, is a litigator and partner with Chartier & Nyamfukudza, PLC. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and a Juris Doctor degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Mr. Nyamfukudza is appointed to represent an individual who is a public defender or criminal defense attorney for indigent clients for a term commencing April 21, 2021 and expiring March 31, 2023. Bill Peterson, of Alpena, is a commissioner with Alpena County. He is also the owner and operator of Twin Acres 19th Hole restaurant. Commissioner Peterson is appointed to represent a member of a board of county commissioners for a term commencing April 21, 2021 and expiring March 31, 2023. Vasilis K. Pozios, M.D., of Ann Arbor, is the chief medical officer for the Oakland Community Health Network and medical director of NorthCare Network. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Doctor of Medicine from Tufts University. Dr. Pozios is appointed to represent a community mental health employee for a term commencing April 21, 2021 and expiring March 31, 2023. William Riley, III, of Dearborn Heights, is the chief of police for the City of Inkster Police Department. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Saint Pauls College. Chief Riley is appointed to represent a police chief for a term commencing April 21, 2021 and expiring March 31, 2023. The Council will include participation from Judge Prentis Edwards of the 3rd Circuit Court of Wayne County and Judge Carrie Lynn Fuca of the 41B District Court of Clinton Township who are designated by Chief Justice McCormack, Sen. Jim Runestad nominated by the Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Sylvia Santana nominated by the Senate Minority Leader, Rep. Mike Mueller nominated by the Speaker of the House, and Rep. Tenisha Yancey nominated by the House Minority Leader. Appointees will serve until the Council dissolves on March 31, 2023. These appointments are not subject to the advice and consent of the Senate. Last Monday the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board began sending teams to investigate a fiery Tesla Model S crash that occurred April 17 in Woodlands Township near Houston, Texas, that left two dead. Photo of wreckage (Source: ABC13, ABC13.com) The two men killed in the crash were identified by local authorities as Everett Talbot, 69, an engineer, and his friend Dr. William Varner, 69. According to a Reuters report on April 19, the vehicle was traveling at high speed near Houston when it failed to negotiate a curve and went off the road, crashing into a tree and bursting into flames in the Carlton Woods Creekside subdivision last Saturday night. The Harris County Precinct 4 Constables Office reported that subsequent small fires continued to flare up for hours and required rescue workers to use about 30,000 gallons of water to extinguish, due to the fact that the cars battery continued to reignite after the crash, ABC13 Eyewitness News reported. Authorities insist that no one was present in the drivers seat at the time of the crash. One man was found in the passengers seat and another in the back seat of the vehicle when fire and emergency response teams arrived at the scene of the accident. The cause of the initial fire, which almost completely torched the vehicle and its victims in a matter of moments, is still under investigation. However, there is some reason to believe that the car battery itself may have been defective. The corporation is still under investigation by the NHTSA for its decision to issue a software update for 2,000 vehicles rather than to recall them after reports that the vehicles had a possible battery defect that could start fires. Tesla drivers have also made numerous complaints to the NHTSA to allege that sudden acceleration of the vehicles occurred in a number of situations which could potentially cause serious harm to drivers, passengers and property, such as sitting in traffic and while attempting to park in a garage or at a curb. Woodlands Township Fire Chief Palmer Buck told Car and Driver that this was our first experience with a large-scale runaway lithium-ion fire and that had the crash occurred on a highway rather than a residential area with access to a fire hydrant, the situation could have been far worse as the fire departments trucks, which carry between 500 and 1000 gallons, would not have been able to keep on lightly soaking the car for that much time. The NHTSA and NTB are currently investigating whether the Tesla Model Ss autopilot system, a partially automated system on Tesla vehicles that can keep a car centered in its lane, keep a distance from cars in front of it and change lanes automatically, was engaged at the time of the crash. We have witness statements from people that said [the victims] left to test drive the vehicle without a driver and to show the friend how it can drive itself, Herman told Reuters. Elon Musk, billionaire Tesla CEO and currently the third wealthiest person in the world with a fortune of about $174 billion, tweeted Monday to dispute assertions that the autopilot was engaged at the time of the Texas crash. Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase [Full Self-Driving]. To date, there are no fully autonomous vehicles on market. Yet several consumer agencies note that the marketing of its autopilot feature is misleading and potentially dangerous to drivers. Herman and other local and national officials have not said whether they have received any of this purported data from Tesla, if it exists. Musks wealth dropped by $5.6 billion as share prices of Teslas stock dipped by 3.4 percent after news of the fatal crash hit the airwaves. Tesla is well-known by now to authorities and interest groups for a number of incidents regarding possible defects with the vehicles software systems, including autopilot, and batteries. The April 17 crash is the 28th accident involving a Tesla vehicle under investigation by the NHTSA. In the wake of numerous safety issues with Tesla cars, former US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, appointed by former US President Donald Trump, said that the NHTSA would look into measures to address safety without hampering innovation in development of automated driving systems, meaning that it would consider the possibility of the most lenient regulations that would not interfere in any way with Teslas ability to amass profits. Current US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, appointed by President Joe Biden, has also hinted at implementing regulations on electric vehicle safety, but nothing in his statements on the issue indicate that anything under the Democratic Biden administration would be any departure from the business-friendly policies of the Republican Trump. Buttigieg said last month that I would suggest that the policy framework in the U.S. has not really caught up with the technology platforms So we intend to pay a lot of attention for that and do everything we can within our authorities. Buttigieg himself has overseen the dismantling of public transportation infrastructure during his tenure as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. From 20112019, public transportation ridership in the city fell 32 percent under his leadership while vast sums of money were funneled into the transformation of the industrial and mainly working class citys downtown area into a playground for the wealthy. For both the Democrats and the Republicans, the interests of US capitalism play a role in the refusal to seriously address safety regulations. Any attempt to slow the flow of profits into the hands of the ruling elites poses a threat to the US goal to dominate the world market in the production of electric and self-driving vehicles at the behest of its global competitors. The NHTSA does not have much clout as a regulatory agency, and primarily relies on self-reporting from auto companies themselves, which puts the agency at the mercy of the corporations. A Washington Post report on the crash cited Frank Borris, a former head of NHTSAs Office of Defects Investigation, who said the agency is in a tough position because of a slow, outdated regulatory process that cant keep up with fast-developing technology. Kelly Funkhouser, who heads connected and automated vehicle testing for the advocacy agency Consumer Reports, told the Post, Teslas numbers have been inaccurate in the past and are difficult to verify without underlying data. Funkhauser has called for government oversight of the production and development of automated driving systems. She asserts that the circumstances surrounding recent crashes of Tesla vehicles may indicate that the company is not testing its automated driving systems, and instead dangerously getting away with using the general population of Tesla owners as guinea pigs to test the system. On Thursday, Consumer Reports published the outcome of a demonstration that showed that car owners of its latest Model Y could easily outsmart the Tesla autopilots driver monitoring features that are supposed to ensure a driver is alert and present in the drivers seat while the system is engaged, by simply keeping a weight on the steering wheel. The study revealed that Tesla relies primarily on detection of weight on the steering wheel to determine driver presence. This is a less advanced system than those used by Ford, GM, BMW and Subaru in their development of automated driver systems, which use camera-based technology and warning systems to ensure that drivers are looking at the road, and mechanisms to slow and stop the vehicle when drivers appear unfocused. However, any regulations under the capitalist system will do little if anything to seriously address the issue of public safety in the development of electric and self-driving vehicles. Throughout the course of the pandemic and for years before, the government has always bowed to the corporations demands for profit interests over the health and safety of human beings. Musk alone amassed a personal fortune of $151 billion over the course of the pandemic, while workers in Tesla plants were forced to labor under unsafe conditions where the COVID-19 virus ran rampant to produce these profits. His wealth is based almost entirely on stock prices and ruthless speculation, leading Tesla to cut production costs and safety measures to continuously buoy up fictitious capital. In 2020, Musk and Tesla defied Alameda County, California, public health officials orders to close its plant in Fremont, leading to hundreds of infections among workers and several deaths. These deadly conditions were aided and abetted by the Democratic Party, which is in control of the county and the state, by turning a blind eye to Teslas illegal actions and further pushing ahead with business and school reopenings to serve the interests of the corporations. Right now, there's one bill in the Alabama state legislature that changes protest laws. The anti-protest bill upgrades rioting to a crime with jail time that could result in no probation or bail. Some demonstrators feel the bill could keep them from peacefully protesting at all. "We hope that we can continue to protest HB-445. You can get up to a class-c felony. So, are we going to be able to continue to protest?" Camille Bennett, founder of Project Say Something, said. Bennett and many others who came out to peacefully protest wonder if these could be the last times to do so. "It's set up as an anti-riot bill, but what it does is it gives the authorities more authority to classify anything as a riot," Unique Dunston, founder of Reclaiming Our Time, said. She, along with several other activist groups, hosted a protest in downtown Huntsville Friday night. Their focus was on ending police brutality, knowing your right to protest and the importance of community activism. If House Bill 445 were to pass as law, it could allow local law enforcement to define what a riot or protest is, and if found guilty, punishable up to 20 years in prison. The organizer of Project Say Something doesn't agree with the language of the bill. "It's completely outlandish, so this is a show of solidarity and it's also, will we be able to continue?" said Bennett. House Bill 445 says a riot is a gathering of five or more people which creates a grave danger of substantial damage to public, private or other property or serious bodily injury to one or more persons. It also defines it as anything that substantially obstructs a law enforcement or other government function. Under current law, riot requires a person to engage in tumultuous and violent conduct. Protesters who came out Friday evening say they want to keep the peace and keep the conversation going. "This is kind of a template of how we're going to do it collectively, across the state, everybody gathering, and making sure we hit full force every time we try to do something," Keith Young, founder of Black Lives Matter Huntsville, said. The bill did pass in the Alabama State House and will be sent to the Senate. Hastens, a leading Swedish furniture brand that has handcrafted the finest beds since 1852, has opened its flagship store in Dubai, inviting residents to explore a range of exclusive beds, expertly crafted to provide the best quality of sleep. The expansive 4,000-sq-ft flagship store, located on Sheikh Zayed Road, will showcase Hastens latest concept, representing a comprehensive destination for visitors to immerse themselves in the full Hastens experience while having the opportunity to test, feel and touch the brands ultimate bed collections, including linen and accessories, said the statement from the company. Recognised for making the best handcrafted beds in the world, every Hastens bed is handmade using only premium sustainable natural materials and techniques handed down through six generations. Hastens rich history started in the Swedish town of Koping - where the beds are still being made today and goes from its roots as master saddlers to being Royal purveyors, a journey filled with passion and skill, it stated. Upon entry, visitors will delve into the world of Hastens and embark on a journey to discover what it takes to achieve a good nights sleep, said a top company official. "Having built a very strong clientele in this market over the past few years, we are delighted to be opening this flagship store in partnership with the Mattress Store Group a market leader in the UAE for sleep solutions and to provide our customers with a full immersive Hastens experience," remarked its Regional Director IMEA Ludovic Letrillart. More than ever, people value their comfort and their home living environment and acknowledge the importance of natural materials, craftsmanship and long-lasting quality furniture. "We are on a mission to help people sleep better and live a better life and are committed to keep fulfilling our clients search for excellence, quality and better living," he added.-TradeArabia News Service All morning, Luke Wirkkala paced his jail cell in a jacket, tie and the dress shoes his defense investigator bought for him. Lunch hour came and went. Then a Deschutes County sheriffs deputy appeared in the cell window. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Time to go. The jury had reached a verdict after deliberating for about five hours. Wirkkala would soon learn whether he was going back to prison for life. It was the second trial for the logger and bartender-turned-freelance writer who, after a day of drinking in 2013, killed a friend with a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun. The Oregon Court of Appeals had tossed out Wirkkalas first murder conviction, saying Bend police detectives should have halted their interview once Wirkkala asked for a lawyer. A different verdict the second time around would be nothing short of extraordinary. The case against Wirkkala remained largely the same. No new key witnesses had come forward. No blockbuster forensic evidence had emerged. Wirkkalas new trial spanned 10 days and ended this month. It was one of a handful of murder trials held in Oregon during the coronavirus pandemic, which ground the state court system to a crawl for a year. Wirkkala worked to keep his nerves in check as deputies handcuffed his wrists, wrapped a chain around his waist, shackled his ankles and shuttled him back to the makeshift courtroom at the county fairgrounds in Redmond about 20 minutes away. Wirkkala, now 40, took his seat next to his lawyers and watched jurors file into the room. A couple of them glanced at him. Face masks made it impossible to read their expressions. Deschutes County Circuit Judge Randy Miller broke the silence. Was the verdict unanimous? he asked the foreman, a middle-age man from La Pine in an American flag mask. No, the man replied. The response was a quiet signal: Wirkkala knew that Oregon juries can acquit defendants of felonies, including murder, on a 10-2 vote. He wasnt going back to prison for life. He clasped his hands and wept. The judge read aloud the verdict in each of the charges. Murder. Not guilty. First-degree manslaughter. Not guilty. Second-degree manslaughter. Not guilty. Wirkkala felt the hand of one of his attorneys on his back. Thank you, he mouthed to the jurors. Eight years after the long and winding case had begun, State of Oregon vs. Luke Anton Wirkkala had come to a close. The judge excused the jury. Then he turned to the stunned defendant. Mr. Wirkkala, youre free to go. FLIPPED OUTCOME RARE The killing of David Ryder, a 31-year-old U.S. Navy vet and married father of a young son, was never a whodunit. Wirkkala acknowledged that he pulled the trigger. What had long been in dispute were the circumstances leading to the fatal encounter in the early morning hours of Feb. 4, 2013. Jurors didnt buy Wirkkalas self-defense claim in 2014. But this time most believed him. And that was enough. Its unclear what swayed jurors now. One told a reporter for The Bend Bulletin only that the state hadnt made its case. That Wirkkala got a new trial isnt unusual. Courts regularly identify legal snags and overturn convictions and sentences, even in murder cases. But new murder trials almost always lead to the same result -- a guilty verdict. So Wirkkalas acquittal, particularly when the facts hadnt changed, is a rarity. Veteran criminal defense lawyers and prosecutors alike had to think back years to come up with a case that featured such a striking reversal. One cited an infamous case out of the East Coast dating back to the 1980s: Claus von Bulow was convicted, then later acquitted of twice trying to murder his heiress wife, Sunny, in Newport, Rhode Island. THERE ARE TWO VERY DRUNK MEN Wirkkala spoke recently with The Oregonian/OregonLive about the case and his acquittal. He grew up on the southwestern coast of Washington and holds a degree in history from Washington State University in Pullman. He eventually moved to Astoria, where he tended bar and worked as a freelancer for The Daily Astorian and other local publications. He had no criminal record. In 2012, he and his girlfriend decided to trade the soggy coast for sun-drenched central Oregon. Wirkkala said it was on a camping trip to Tumalo, a rural community outside of Bend, that the couple met Ryder. Ryder was born and raised in Kentucky and worked as a software engineer in Bend. His father, David Ryder, attended the trial. Once settled in Bend, Wirkkala and his girlfriend invited their new friend to meet up at a local tavern for the Super Bowl. That night the three returned to the home the couple shared. We dont know exactly what happened between these two men that night. Prosecutor Kristen Hoffmeyer What unfolded next would be carefully dissected over two high-profile trials. Prosecutors said Wirkkala carried out a calculated killing of Ryder. They argued Wirkkala was drunk and forensic evidence would show that at some point the men had engaged in a sexual encounter. Wirkkala, in the prosecutions telling, walked out of the living room and into a back bedroom, where he retrieved a shotgun from under the bed. In her closing argument earlier this month, Senior Assistant Attorney General Kristen Hoffmeyer, a veteran prosecutor, told jurors that Wirkkala was in his underwear when he went to grab the gun. She said he racked it in the bedroom and took time to put on pajamas before walking back out. He racked it a second time once he was in the living room and fired at Ryders neck from close range. She pointed to testimony from two boys, the son and nephew of Wirkkalas girlfriend. They were in separate bedrooms that night and each said they heard a commotion followed by Wirkkala saying: I (profanity) killed him. Prosecutors offered no clear motive but suggested Wirkkala had acted out of revenge after having sex with Ryder and regretting it. We have a situation here where there are two very drunk men, admittedly very drunk, Hoffmeyer told jurors. Perhaps you will know, based on your common sense and experience, right, that very drunk people make choices that they later regret. Is that what happened here? Its very possible, but heres the thing: We are not here to make up evidence and present it to you, she said. We dont know exactly what happened between these two men that night. HE FIRED SINGLE SHOT Wirkkala testified in his own defense at both trials. According to his account, he passed out on the couch and awoke to find Ryder pulling off his pants and sexually assaulting him. He said he broke away, but the men scuffled and at one point Ryder grabbed him by the neck, leaving marks captured in crime scene photographs. He retrieved his loaded shotgun and returned to the living room. Wirkkala said Ryder refused to leave and instead charged at him, prompting him to fire a single shot at his friend, who police would later find dead on the floor. There were no eyewitnesses. In the second trial, the defense mounted a more robust response to the states theory that Ryders arm was in a defensive posture at the time he was shot. And this time, prosecutors largely steered clear of characterizing Ryder in positive terms, knowing perhaps that might open the door to defense witnesses who would testify about negative brushes theyd had with him. Wirkkalas defense team portrayed Ryder as a psychopath and sexual predator who posed a threat to Wirkkalas safety. They recycled their original defense: Wirkkala acted to protect himself and others in his home. Despite being told to leave, despite hearing the rack of a shotgun, despite seeing a shotgun, David Ryder charges, charges a guy with a gun, who by the way, is in his own home, Thaddeus Betz, one of Wirkkalas lawyers, told jurors in the closing argument of the second trial. Who does that? PLEA DEAL REJECTED It took less than six minutes for the judge to review and read aloud the verdict. The scene played out in a large exhibition hall more accustomed to hosting 4-H events and Junior Achievement meetings than a murder trial. Jurors sat six feet apart. Miller presided over the proceedings from an improvised bench. It seemed surreal compared to the first trial in 2014 in a crowded courtroom in Bend, when Wirkkala heard guilty and was so taken aback that he thought it was a mistake. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 25 years. He ended up in the Snake River Correctional Institution, a far-flung state prison near the border of Idaho, where he spent more than three years before his conviction was overturned in 2018. That year, he was sent back to Deschutes County to await a new trial. Killing a man? Thats a heavy burden and its something Ill have to bear for the rest of my life. Luke Wirkkala After the verdict in the first trial, he and his girlfriend wed, but Wirkkala said the union eventually dissolved from the stress of his incarceration. Before the second trial, he had turned down a deal from prosecutors that would have likely sent him to prison for another year and a half if he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Going to trial again, he knew, was a gamble. A murder conviction meant a mandatory sentence: life with a minimum of 25 years. Instead, he was going home. GODSPEED, A DEPUTY TOLD HIM But first, he had business to wrap up with Deschutes County: He needed to clear his cell. He walked over to two deputies, the same men who had ferried him back and forth from the Deschutes County Jail to the fairgrounds for trial. This trip, there would be no handcuffs. Wirkkala climbed into the backseat of the government SUV. The guards drove him south on Oregon 97. One of the deputies rolled down Wirkkalas window. He breathed in the fresh air and looked out at the Three Sisters peaks. He said little on the ride back. Every other time he returned to jail from court, he was strip-searched before changing back into his ill-fitting jail scrubs and slip-on sandals. This time Wirkkala stepped into his unit still in court clothes. The men knew what that meant. A couple of them wrapped him in a tight embrace. Word spread. Wirkkala had been there a little over three years, so long hed become a fixture of the place. Men gathered at the windows to catch a glimpse of one of the jails longest serving inmates walking out a free man. They banged on the walls and windows and erupted in whoops and hollers. To Wirkkala, it seemed like something out of a movie. The deputies allowed him to dole out his commissary snacks, a breach of protocol that reflected the unusual nature of the day. He collected his legal paperwork and left. As he approached a side exit, deputies gathered and shook his hand. Godspeed, said one. Then Wirkkala stepped through the doors and into the late afternoon sunshine. ADJUSTING TO LIFE ON OUTSIDE That night, Wirkkala and his extended family celebrated at a Prineville steakhouse. He ordered prime rib, mashed potatoes and a Caesar salad. He stayed up listening to Willie Nelson, Led Zeppelin and anything that popped into his head while alone in a hotel room that his sister arranged for him before they all returned to the Washington coast. He watched the sun come up the next day. Wirkkala is adjusting to life outside of prison. Hes easily overwhelmed by social situations. He doesnt sleep well. He plans to write about his experience, maybe submit it to a magazine, or publish a book. The case is behind him, but the weight of having killed a man remains. Thats a heavy burden, he said, and its something Ill have to bear for the rest of my life. Wirkkalas acquittal paves the way for him to have the record of his arrest and prosecution set aside. Eventually, it will look as if the past eight years never happened. Noelle Crombie; ncrombie@oregonian.com; 503-276-7184; @noellecrombie TORONTO, April 22, 2021 /CNW/ - Intact today confirmed that Christian Baltzer will continue as CEO of Codan Denmark following the completion of the proposed takeover of RSA Insurance Group plc by Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC) and Tryg A/S, currently expected in the second quarter of 2021. Under the proposed transaction, Codan Denmark will be jointly owned by the two parties on a 50/50 economic basis with Intact taking management responsibility. Working together with Intact, Christian Baltzer and the Codan Denmark-team will drive the continued success of the business, whilst assessing strategic alternatives for its long-term ownership. Charles Brindamour, CEO, Intact Financial Corporation: "The entire Codan team in Denmark, led by Christian Baltzer, has undergone remarkable development over the past year, and has achieved strong results. Codan Denmark is an iconic brand in a great market. We are confident that Codan Denmark can continue to realize its significant potential, and Christian Baltzer is the right person to lead that journey forward," says Charles Brindamour, CEO, Intact Financial Corporation. Christian Baltzer, CEO, Codan Denmark: "Codan Denmark is a company with exceptionally skilled employees and a diversified, customer-focused business. I and the rest of the Codan team in Denmark are really looking forward to the future. Both Intact and Codan believe that a strong data-driven mindset combined with a strong customer-centric focus - is the way forward to realizing Codan Denmark's great potential." Notes to editors: Intact Financial Corporation and Tryg A/S announced their bid for RSA Insurance Group plc on 18th November 2020 . RSA shareholders approved the takeover on 18th January 2021 . . RSA shareholders approved the takeover on . Under the proposed transaction, RSA's business in Denmark will be jointly owned by the two parties on a 50/50 economic basis with Intact taking management responsibility. Intact will own RSA's Canadian, UK and International businesses, while Tryg A/S will retain RSA's Swedish and Norwegian businesses, Trygg-Hansa and Codan Norway. will be jointly owned by the two parties on a 50/50 economic basis with Intact taking management responsibility. Intact will own RSA's Canadian, UK and International businesses, while Tryg A/S will retain RSA's Swedish and Norwegian businesses, Trygg-Hansa and Codan Norway. The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority has granted approval to Intact Financial Corporation to acquire sole control of RSA's business outside Norway and Sweden , including the acquisition of sole control of RSA's Danish business placed in Codan A/S and , including the acquisition of sole control of RSA's Danish business placed in Codan A/S The proposed takeover is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions including financial regulatory approvals in relevant markets, the sanction of the scheme by the Court and the re-registration of RSA Insurance Group plc as a private limited company. The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority has granted approval to Intact Financial Corporation to acquire control of RSA's business outside Norway and Sweden , including the acquisition of control of RSA's Danish business placed in Codan A/S. and , including the acquisition of control of RSA's Danish business placed in Codan A/S. Completion is currently expected during Q2 2021. About Intact Financial Corporation Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC) is the largest provider of property and casualty (P&C) insurance in Canada and a leading provider of specialty insurance in North America, with over $12 billion in total annual premiums. The Company has over 16,000 employees who serve more than five million personal, business and public sector clients through offices in Canada and the U.S. In Canada, Intact distributes insurance under the Intact Insurance brand through a wide network of brokers, including its wholly-owned subsidiary BrokerLink, and directly to consumers through belairdirect. Frank Cowan Company, a leading MGA, distributes public entity insurance programs including risk and claims management services in Canada. In the U.S., Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions provides a range of specialty insurance products and services through independent agencies, regional and national brokers, wholesalers and managing general agencies. Products are underwritten by the insurance company subsidiaries of Intact Insurance Group USA, LLC. SOURCE Intact Financial Corporation For further information: Media Inquiries: Jennifer Beaudry, Manager, Media Relations, 514 282-1914 ext. 87375, [email protected]; Investor Inquiries: Ryan Penton, Director, Investor Relations, 416 341-1464, ext. 45112, [email protected] Related Links www.intactfc.com Daniel Feuereissen - New sales Territory Manager Unifiller Systems, a leading global provider of portioning equipment and a subsidiary of the Linxis Group of Companies, is pleased to welcome Daniel Feuereissen as a new sales Territory Manager at its global head office. Daniel has been with Unifiller for over 7 years and is known for his vast technical and product knowledge. Daniel previously worked with Unifiller as a Support Specialist travelling around the world assisting customers with installs of their Unifiller equipment. Prior to that, he worked as a Product Specialist testing customer product, in R&D and Production. Daniel has in-depth experience with how to help customers optimize their production with semi and fully automated solutions that focus on creating a quick ROI. He believes in taking a proactive and collaborative approach ensuring customers are fully equipped to manage their equipment with confidence. Daniel speaks German, English and Spanish and is well suited for Unifiller's diverse customer base. In his personal time Daniel loves to flip classic cars, is an avid software coder and is currently working towards his pilot license. Unifiller is a leading global manufacturer of innovative portioning equipment for the baking and food industry, and a subsidiary of the Linxis Group of Companies consisting of leading companies focusing on mixing technologies (Diosna and VMI), portioning technology (Unifiller) as well as ingredient dosing systems (Shick-Esteve). New Delhi: Bollywood actor and star kid Varun Dhawan turns 34 today (April 24) and fans have already begun sending warm birthday wishes to the 'Badlapur' actor on social media. Varun who started his journey with Karan Johar's 'Student of the Year' has come a long way and carved his place in the Bollywood industry. In fact, he is the only actor who has had 11 box-office successes in a row since his debut which is a huge achievement. Needless to say, it's remarkable how the young actor has always shown promise and dedication in his art. Apart from a good work ethic, Varun also uses his popularity to spread positive messages to his fans. For instance, on women's day, he spoke about the importance of making one's country safe for women. So, to celebrate his success in the industry and his mid-thirties milestone, we present you with lesser-known facts about the 'Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania' actor. 1. Varun Dhawan is the son of popular director David Dhawan and Karuna Dhawan. His family has always had a connection with the film industry as his elder brother Rohit is a director and his uncle Anil is an actor. 2. Varun did his schooling in Mumbai and completed his higher education at H.R. College of Commerce and Economics. Later, he went to Nottingham Trent University to earn a degree in business management. 3. Before making his acting debut, the actor had worked as an assistant director to Karan Johar for the film My Name Is Khan in 2010. 4. For his extraordinary performance in the 2015 crime thriller 'Badlapur' Varun earned a nomination in the Filmfare Awards for the Best Actor award. In the movie, Varun played the gritty role of a man who systematically avenges the murder of his wife and son. 5. Dhawan is married to fashion designer and childhood sweetheart Natasha Dalal. The couple that met in school and fell in love eventually, tied the knot on 24 January 2021. We wish you a happy birthday, Varun! To target me and say that I was violent or encouraging violence is a blatant distortion of the truth. I am nonviolent. In a 1993 essay, ahead of the verdict in the federal civil rights trial of the officers who brutally beat Rodney King, I wrote to our community and I implored our young people to be responsible. I implored them to be about life and not about death. I cautioned them that we may not get justice and that if that were to be the case, we still must not endanger our lives or the lives of others. Anybody who knows me or has seen the way I stand up for my community knows that I am nonviolent. In the same way that Martin Luther King Jr. created Project C, Project Confrontation, during the civil rights movement to further our march toward freedom, I am an advocate for peace and fairness and justice. Project Confrontation was not about violence, but about confronting the injustices in our society by letting our voice be heard and our presence be felt. The fact of the matter is that Chauvin was found guilty of murder, not because of any one persons opinion, but because the prosecution put on a great case and implored the jury to believe their own eyes. Debris has been recovered from a missing Indonesian submarine, the country's navy said Saturday, suggesting that the stricken vessel could have broken apart after sinking with 53 crew aboard Bali, Indonesia, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2021 ) :Debris has been recovered from a missing Indonesian submarine, the country's navy said Saturday, suggesting that the stricken vessel could have broken apart after sinking with 53 crew aboard. The development dashed already slim hopes of rescuing the sailors alive after their oxygen reserves were understood to have run out earlier in the day. Warships, planes and hundreds of military personnel have been searching for the KRI Nanggala 402 since it disappeared off the coast of Bali early Wednesday. Authorities earlier said the German-built craft was equipped with enough oxygen for only three days after losing power. That deadline passed Saturday morning. The navy's chief Yudo Margono said a search party had recovered fragments from the submarine including items from inside the vessel -- pointing to a catastrophic accident. "We have raised the status from submiss to subsunk," he told reporters, adding that the retrieved items could not have come from another vessel. "(The items) would not have come outside the submarine if there was no external pressure or without damage to its torpedo launcher." Navy officials displayed several items including a piece of its torpedo system and a bottle of grease used to lubricate a submarine's periscope. They also found a prayer mat commonly used by Muslims. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. Margono said the hunt for the submarine -- and sailors -- would continue, but warned that deep waters made the recovery effort "very risky and difficult". "We don't know about the victims' condition because we haven't found any of them. So we can't speculate," he said in response to questions about the possibility of survivors. "But with the (discovery) of these items, you can make your own conclusion." - Sudden disappearance - The submarine -- one of five in Indonesia's fleet -- disappeared early Wednesday during live torpedo training exercises off the Indonesian holiday island. An oil spill spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage, fanning fears of a deadly disaster. There were concerns that the submarine could have been crushed by water pressure if it sank to depths of more than 700 metres (2,300 feet) -- well below what it was built to withstand. The vessel was scheduled to conduct the training exercises when it asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after. Authorities have not offered possible explanations for the submarine's sudden disappearance or commented on questions about whether the decades-old vessel was overloaded. The military has said the submarine, delivered to Indonesia in 1981, was seaworthy. Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia, as well as the United States and Australia, were among nations helping in the hunt with nearly two dozen ships deployed to scour a search zone covering about 10 square nautical miles (34 square kilometres). Australia's HMAS Ballarat arrived earlier Saturday with a US P-8 Poseidon aircraft. Singapore's MV Swift Rescue -- a submarine rescue vessel -- was also taking part. - Deadly disasters - Indonesia's military said earlier it had picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres (165 and 330 feet), raising hopes of finding the submarine. But Saturday's announcement means the Southeast Asian archipelago joins a list of countries struck by fatal submarine accidents. Among the worst was the 2000 sinking of the Kursk, the pride of Russia's Northern Fleet. That submarine was on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea when it sank with the loss of all 118 aboard. An inquiry found a torpedo had exploded, detonating all the others. Most of its crew died instantly but some survived for several days before suffocating. In 2003, 70 Chinese naval officers and crew were killed, apparently suffocated, in an accident on a Ming-class submarine during exercises in 2003. Five years later, 20 people were killed by poisonous gas when a fire extinguishing system was accidentally activated on a Russian submarine being tested in the Sea of Japan. And in 2018, authorities found the wreckage of an Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier with 44 sailors aboard. WASHINGTON President Bidens pledge to cut Americas climate warming emissions in half by 2030 is technologically feasible and, scientists say, ecologically imperative. Economically, it could be a gamble. The speed of the presidents promised transformation to an economy far less reliant on fossil fuels risks exposing vulnerabilities in the nations electricity system and unsettling its transportation sector, while potentially increasing American reliance on goods imported from China. Utility chiefs say they could handle the transition over a slightly longer timeline, but they warn of rolling blackouts to meet the presidents 2030 target. General Motors said it will sell only vehicles that have zero tailpipe emissions by 2035; the 2030 date has autoworkers worrying about steep job losses. But if Mr. Biden can orchestrate the seamless transition that he is promising, the rewards could be high: lower risk of catastrophic climate change, a burst of new middle-class jobs and renewed global leadership for American companies in the industries administration officials believe will define the rest of the 21st century. The presidents pledge, made at the start of a two-day climate summit hosted by the White House, represents perhaps the greatest bet in recent American history on what economists call industrial policy, the idea that the government can steer the development of jobs and industries in the economy. (Newser) The International Space Station's population swelled to 11 on Saturday with the jubilant arrival of SpaceX's third crew capsule in less than a year. It's the biggest crowd up there in more than a decade. All of the astronautsrepresenting the US, Russia, Japan, and Francemanaged to squeeze into camera view for a congratulatory call from the leaders of their space agencies, the AP reports. "In this tough situation around the world, I believe you have brought courage and hope for all of us, said Japanese Space Agency President Hiroshi Yamakawa. A recycled SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts arrived at the space station a day after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The new arrivals are NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, France's Thomas Pesquet, and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide. story continues below The Dragon capsule docked autonomously with the orbiting outpost more than 260 miles above the Indian Ocean "Man, it is awesome to see the 11 of you on station, said NASA's acting administrator, Steve Jurczyk. He noted that this will be the norm, now that SpaceX is regularly flying crews. The newcomers will spend six months at the space station. Theyll replace four astronauts who will return to Earth in their own Dragon capsule Wednesday to end a half-year mission. NASA deliberately planned for a brief overlap so the outgoing SpaceX crew could show the new arrivals around. Although this was SpaceXs third crew flight for NASA, it was the first to use a vehicle thats flown before, an essential part of Musk's push to the moon and Mars. (Russia is planning to build its own space station.) Ottawa, 23 April 2021 (SPS) - The UN peace process in Western Sahara failed to achieve its goals as Morocco's allies, namely France, Spain and the United States, put their interests ahead of the Sahrawis' right to independence, said Vivan Solana, anthropology professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada. "The systematic ineffectiveness of the United Nations peace process in Western Sahara can be explained by examining what Morocco's allies (especially France, Spain and the United States) see as opportunities and benefits to be derived from the occupation of Western Sahara," said the scholar in a column recently published on the website of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP), a research group which studies conflicts in the Middle East region. According to her, North American and European firms have invested in Western Sahara, as part of economic agreements with Morocco, to exploit the resources of the occupied territories despite the illegality of this kind of investment. Phosphate, fishery resources, agricultural products, petroleum are all resources which interest Morocco's western allies. Many motivations "push Westerners to give priority to their relations with Morocco rather than to the political rights of the Sahrawi people, in violation to international law". According to Vivian Solana, France has several times vetoed, UN (United Nations Organization) resolutions proposing to endow the Minurso (United Nations Mission for the organization of a referendum in Sahara Western) with a mandate to monitor human rights in the occupied Sahrawi territories. The academic also added that the United Nations peace process in Western Sahara has provided Morocco with a number of advantages to consolidate its presence in the occupied territories. Morocco also gained time while waiting to obtain political support from its allies, which came with the statement made by former US President Donald Trump on December 10, 2020 recognizing the so-called Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. (SPS) 062/090/700 Barely over a year old, the emerging AirLife air ambulance transport service is helping make a dent in high-level adult and pediatric trauma care across the Gulf Coast area. The service was launched last year during the wake of the pandemic and news may have been shuffled about the exciting foray into the service by HCA Houston Healthcare, but the impact has been significant. The mission: keep patients closer to home. That hasnt been easy. It also involved the successful elevation of the HCA hospitals to a Level II Trauma Center designation the Clear Lake and Conroe locations and still more are seeking the coveted standing including Northwest. On HoustonChronicle.com: HCA Northwest Hospital receives multi-million-dollar facelift Jared Lee, director of business development, said under the AirLife umbrella, they now have two helicopters and two ambulances. AirLife as it is today has only been around for about a year, he said. On any given day, they will staff two adult critical care teams, a pediatric specialty team, a neonatal specialty team, and a maternal specialty team. While they wait for the lifesaving calls for transport, the teams perform rounds in their specialty units. On HoustonChronicle.com: Cypress VFW gifted new roof from local business owner In the mornings, they may be with the intensive care unit doctors learning about different patients being treated at their local hospital, and how to take care of different illnesses or injuries being cared for in the hospital. The hands-on, real-life training is critical to their knowledge base in the air. The medical crews generally work a 24-hour shift, and depending on how the week falls, it could be two or three days a week or more if theyre covering for a vacation shift. Pilots, on the other hand, are guided by FAA policies that restrict them to a 12-hour duty day. One of the adult critical care teams and one of the specialty teams are stationed out of the Womens Hospital of Texas and the other adult critical care team is stationed with the helicopter at the HCA Houston Healthcare Conroe. Having those helicopters in town and in Conroe have provided another option for paramedical transport in the greater Houston area, he said. The pilots will work seven days of 12-hour shifts and then rotate to seven nights. They have a long record of experience with flight time. We do draw a lot with a military background. They come with excellent training and a lot of flight hours, he said. We partner with Air Methods Corporation who provides the pilot staffing for us. They manage the schedule. All the medical team members rollup to HCA, Lee said. Having those capabilities further out also helps reduce transport times, Lee said. The AirLife service not only covers Harris County, but many of the counties north, south, and east of the two locations in Conroe and at Texas Womens Hospital in the Medical Center. In rural locations, theres not always a helipad for landing the air ambulance. A lot of times we land on the street or it could even be in a cow pasture, he said. It just depends on the location. The local fire department will recommend where to land the helicopter so that its safe for all involved. The helicopters, pilots, and mechanics are all in partnership with Air Methods. Fueling is usually done at Houston Southwest Airport or the airport in Conroe. Since they were a new service, the hospital system has been on the ground working with local fire departments and EMS agencies who make the decision on who to call for transport. Weve done a lot of education and landing zone safety classes with the local EMS and fire departments as well as those in the rural area to help get our name out there and secondly when theyre calling for a helicopter, both sides know what to expect and we can do that operation safely, Lee said. As far as capabilities and care, were comparable to any other air ambulance service, he said. HCA teams carry the same products on their flights and are capable of administering the same critical lifesaving care to patients, Lee said. The HCA system doesnt have a pediatric trauma center or burn center so if a patient needs to be transported to a non-HCA affiliated hospital, AirLife can accommodate that as well. All but one HCA Houston Healthcare hospitals have a helipad on their campus. That one is close to another hospital, so we take a quick ground trip around the corner to the hospital as necessary, Lee said. HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest Hospital just received a makeover and part of that was two new helipads. Theyre a huge improvement from their previous arrangement, he said. Prior to the installation of the two new helipads constructed on the campus of the hospital, helicopters were forced to land in the street which meant the closure and shutdown of traffic for the emergency transport coming to the hospital. Both helicopters are EC 145s, with a dual engine and are capable of flying in less than ideal situations, Lee said. The helicopter is equipped with wide side sliding doors and a large rear clamshell door to make loading and unloading easier. The cabin is also larger than most and features a low external sound making operation friendlier to urban areas. Both choppers have a 120-mile range and can respond to both 911 calls or transfers of patients from other hospitals to facilities with a higher level of care. The two air ambulances are equipped with basic life-saving equipment, and each team brings their specific items on the flight. The pediatrics team will carry, for example, a fetal heart monitor while doing the transport to make sure baby and momma are safe, he said. Its a flying ICU with all the capabilities of a life-saving ambulance, he said. When flying, the teams communicate with the hospital via radio or satellite phone and with the communications dispatch center. We can be relayed to the hospital through our dispatch center directly to the hospital by cell phone as well, he said. Lee said crews try to minimize the amount of time they are on the ground but that depends on the patient being stable before airflight. We know these are time-sensitive patients and there are times when patients are not stable at the time where we have to start blood products in the ambulance and start replacing the blood loss before we put them in the helicopter, he said. The teams carry on the blood products in coolers to keep it cold. Depending on where the patient is being transported from, the flight could be as long as 15 minutes from a rural area. We try to keep them closer to their communities which also reduces their transport time, he said. With more HCA hospitals seeking Level II Trauma Center designation, the choices are easier for pilots. In addition to the new helicopters, HCA Houston Healthcare purchased a mobile simulation ambulance that performs as a training center for EMS agencies and portable classroom in the field. The simulation ambulance that weve purchased thats got a large outdoor television and a truly life-size mannequin that we can take to outlying areas whether its an EMS area or a hospital that needs education. We can use the simulation ambulance to practice caring for different patients in varying scenarios, Lee said. The teaching ambulance comes with remote-controlled cameras, wireless microphones and can be set up at any Houston-area EMS facility unlike others that are in fixed locations. It also comes with a family of mannequins representing several age ranges. This is just another step of providing as many services as possible to the Houston area and that includes critical care transport, Lee said. dtaylor@hcnonline.com Rishikesh: Sixty-five healthcare personnel, including doctors, deployed on Kumbh duty have tested positive for COVID-19. All of the affected healthcare workers have been kept in isolation, news agency PTI quoted officials saying. A total of 751 healthcare personnel - 336 doctors and 415 nurses and paramedics - had been deployed in the Kumbh Mela area after being vaccinated. The Kumbh Mela area is spread over 641 hectares. Apart from Delhi, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and other states, Telangana also has issued guidelines for the people returning from Kumbh. The Director of Public Health said all those who attended Kumbh Mela held from April 1 to April 17 should quarantine and maintain physical distance from family members for 14 days. They should wear masks even while at home, the Director said. Those with symptoms like cold, cough, throat pain or headache should immediately get tested at nearest government COVID-19 test centres, which are providing free testing services. People can dial 104 for any clarifications, said a statement from the Director`s office. The Health Department has issued the advisory amid reports that several people who attended Kumbh Mela may have got infected by the virus. Telangana is witnessing a massive surge in Covid cases. The state on Thursday saw 6,206 new cases and 29 deaths, the highest single-day fatalities since the pandemic broke out last year. (With inputs from news agency PTI) Live TV STANTON President Biden recently stopped the Wuhan probe into what caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Why would he do that unless he was trying to cover up the cause? It is widely known that the Bidens profited heavily from their financial dealings in China and elsewhere during Joes vice presi .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE, N.M. Firefighters were working to knock down a wildfire that broke out Friday about 5 miles northwest of Las Vegas, threatening some structures and causing students at nearby United World College to voluntarily evacuate. Leo Maestas, emergency manager for San Miguel County, said fire crews with the U.S. Forest Service, New Mexico Forestry and about four local crews were on the fire, which was reported about 1 p.m. A helicopter was also helping with fire suppression efforts, he said. Whats been named the Peterson Fire had burned about 20 acres on both sides of N.M. 65 near the Peterson Reservoir by late Friday afternoon and had slowly crept east during the day. Everything looks pretty good. We havent had it move very much, Maestas said, adding that the fire was burning timber and brush in a steep, canyon area. Maestas said students at the college had evacuated due to smoke in the area, not because buildings were threatened. He said the Peterson Fire was burning about a mile south of the college and moving away from it on state and private property. Some other residents in the area self-evacuated, according to the New Mexico Fire Information website. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Wind could be a challenge for firefighters working the blaze, including efforts to suppress the fire from the air. Winds were blowing at 15 to 20 mph, gusting to 30 to 40 mph, Maestas said. The cause of the fire had not been determined. While those amendments did not end up in the final budget, a broader proposal threatening corporations that speak out on any legislative or executive action was added to the states wishlist, a compilation of longshot proposals. Even with unlikely odds of passing, simply placing the proposals on the record is seen by lobbyists and operatives in Austin as a thinly veiled warning to businesses to stay quiet on the voting bills. The Perryman Group, an economic research and analysis firm based in Waco, said in a recent study that implementing controversial voting measures could lead to conferences or events being pulled from the state, and prompt businesses or workers to shun it. The group estimated that restrictive new laws would lead to a huge decrease in business activity in the state by 2025 and cost tens of thousands of jobs. Among the restrictions in two omnibus bills in the Texas Legislature are a ban on 24-hour voting, a ban on drive-through voting and harsh criminal penalties for local election officials who provide assistance to voters. There are also new limits on voting machine distribution that could lead to a reduction in numbers of precincts and a ban on encouraging absentee voting. The bills also include a measure that would make it much more difficult to remove a poll watcher for improper conduct. Partisan poll watchers, who are trained and authorized to observe the election on behalf of a candidate or party, have occasionally crossed the line into voter intimidation or other types of misbehavior; Harris County elections officials said they had received several complaints about Republican poll watchers last year. Mr. Hollins, the former Harris County clerk, said Republicans recognized that Black and brown and poor and young people use the flexible voting options more than others. Theyre scared of that, he said. While Republican-controlled legislatures in Georgia and Arizona are passing new voting laws after Democratic victories in November, Texas is pushing new restrictions despite having backed former President Donald J. Trump by more than 600,000 votes. The effort reflects the dual realities confronting Republicans in the State Legislature: a base eager for changes to voting following Mr. Trumps 2020 loss and a booming population that is growing more diverse. COLUMBUS, Ohio - Millions of Ohioans couldnt get a coronavirus vaccine jab soon enough. They believed in the science, were lonely for their loved ones and wanted to travel or see the office again. They put their names on vaccine waiting lists, regularly tracked their eligibility and loaded -- and reloaded and reloaded -- websites of providers, hoping for an open appointment. Then, the impatient, sometimes frantic demand for the vaccine came to a screeching halt. Appointments are now available in every corner of the state. Theres so much unused vaccine in the past couple of weeks that the state has been able to shift thousands of doses to regions with COVID-19 surges. Starting this week, vaccine clinics at the Summit County Fairgrounds are being scaled back from three to four a week to once a week. Mercer County in Western Ohio ended its mass vaccination clinic altogether, and is now sending doses to providers that serve minority communities. The abrupt plunge in vaccine demand has occurred in the past month, when the people who wanted shots finally received them. Since then, the state has continued to receive weekly allocations of vaccines, but the number of people lined up has dwindled. The sudden plunge in demand was even a shock to Dr. Michelle Medina, Cleveland Clinic Community Healths associate chief of clinical operations. I think there was always going to be a slip between not enough, a lot of demand to a lot of supply, less demand, she said. What has been surprising is how quickly that came down. Everybody was expecting theyre going to have a big surge and maybe a tail-off. But what ended up happening is it was almost like we hit a wall. Ohioans age 16 and older are eligible for the vaccine. This is 9.4 million people. However, not even 4 million Ohioans have completed the vaccine, defined as receiving a second dose or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot. Aside from some Ohioans who cannot take the vaccine due to medical conditions, millions of Ohioans are hesitant. Public health officials said many are on the fence -- rather than dead-set opposed -- and they remain hopeful that the state will eventually achieve herd immunity. But it may take a while before Ohio gets there. While nearly half of the age-eligible Ohioans have been vaccinated, nearly a fifth the the state - the 2.3 million children under the age of 16 - have not been approved by the federal government to receive any of the vaccines. This chart shows the share of Ohioans who have received at least one dose.Rich Exner, cleveland.com Herd immunity Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says he thinks herd immunity will be achieved when 75% to 85% of the population is vaccinated. But it may not have to be that high. Medina said that the number Fauci uses is one that gets communities to herd immunity with other vaccines. But the exact number with COVID-19 isnt yet known. That may be the number we need here, she said. But what if its a lower number -- just because theyre so effective? Pfizer and Moderna are both above 90%. A study in Israel found that with every 20 percentage point increase in adult vaccination rates in a community, the risk of children testing positive halves. The study hasnt been peer reviewed. Its unknown whether the same protection for children will be found in the U.S., which is much larger and has a different pace of vaccinations, Medina said. Hesitancy The urban centers around Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo have among the highest vaccination rates in Ohio, based on data available through Thursday.Rich Exner, cleveland.com Some people are hesitant about getting vaccinated because the vaccines were developed so quickly in comparison to previous ones. They are concerned about long-term effects that havent yet been documented. People hear contradictions, such as 95% efficacy for one vaccine but 72% for another, Medina said. Youre going to have people be completely against it -- and I think thats probably a lower number -- and then youre probably going to have a fair number of people who continue to sit on the fence and say, Well, I may wait another week, maybe another few weeks, maybe a few months just to see how this is going to shake out, she said. Nearly a fifth (19.7%) of Ohio adults say they either probably or definitely wont get the vaccine, according the Census Bureaus Household Pulse Survey completed at the end of March. Among these people, better than half (53.7%) said they were concerned about side effects. More than one reason could be cited by individuals. Not trusting the COVID-19 vaccine were 41.7%, and 40.3% said they didnt believe they needed it. More people, however, have grown interested in getting the vaccine. In early January, 25.5% of Ohios adults said they probably or definitely would not get the vaccine. But Ohio during both periods lagged the national rate, which fell from 21.5% in the survey completed in mid-January to 15.6% at the end of March. Nationally, among those with bachelors degree, 7.9 % said they probably or definitely would not get the vaccine. This compared to 17% among those with some college education, and 20.4% who had a high school degree but did not go to college. The national rate was the same among men and women. The rural-urban divide County Population Age 16 up One dose Pct. All doses Pct. Delaware 153,408 105,370 68.7% 73,686 48.0% Warren 178,795 99,135 55.4% 72,977 40.8% Wood 106,853 57,790 54.1% 45,673 42.7% Geauga 75,124 40,456 53.9% 29,699 39.5% Medina 142,714 76,852 53.9% 54,982 38.5% Lake 189,395 100,876 53.3% 68,010 35.9% Union 44,524 23,648 53.1% 17,057 38.3% Ottawa 34,088 18,093 53.1% 14,138 41.5% Cuyahoga 1,017,354 521,593 51.3% 378,209 37.2% Franklin 1,019,324 519,699 51.0% 359,708 35.3% Summit 441,370 222,349 50.4% 157,848 35.8% Hamilton 645,956 324,874 50.3% 238,179 36.9% Lorain 248,229 124,762 50.3% 88,839 35.8% Henry 21,615 10,378 48.0% 8,047 37.2% Erie 61,552 29,418 47.8% 22,856 37.1% Greene 136,388 65,056 47.7% 49,422 36.2% Lucas 342,588 163,109 47.6% 124,339 36.3% Fairfield 121,887 57,687 47.3% 42,237 34.7% Mahoning 189,231 88,095 46.6% 67,561 35.7% Clermont 161,992 75,144 46.4% 54,295 33.5% Montgomery 427,551 198,310 46.4% 150,429 35.2% Putnam 26,249 11,913 45.4% 10,225 39.0% Licking 137,872 62,500 45.3% 47,961 34.8% Butler 300,636 134,463 44.7% 93,091 31.0% Sandusky 47,268 21,084 44.6% 16,428 34.8% Portage 135,933 60,443 44.5% 41,950 30.9% Clark 108,131 48,055 44.4% 39,196 36.2% Trumbull 164,324 72,515 44.1% 53,048 32.3% Stark 301,461 132,073 43.8% 91,937 30.5% Fulton 33,522 14,599 43.6% 11,877 35.4% Madison 36,168 15,727 43.5% 11,862 32.8% Hancock 60,861 26,294 43.2% 20,693 34.0% Wyandot 17,618 7,456 42.3% 6,018 34.2% Muskingum 68,863 29,143 42.3% 25,264 36.7% Defiance 30,495 12,878 42.2% 10,421 34.2% Washington 49,998 20,957 41.9% 16,934 33.9% Ashtabula 78,853 32,856 41.7% 24,443 31.0% Miami 84,088 34,659 41.2% 27,252 32.4% Seneca 44,654 18,242 40.9% 14,265 31.9% Athens 57,409 23,205 40.4% 17,432 30.4% Pickaway 46,894 18,763 40.0% 14,162 30.2% Ross 62,382 24,836 39.8% 20,552 32.9% Hocking 22,937 9,070 39.5% 7,316 31.9% Huron 45,821 18,077 39.5% 13,791 30.1% Marion 52,912 20,845 39.4% 15,547 29.4% Williams 29,453 11,446 38.9% 9,859 33.5% Jefferson 54,870 21,287 38.8% 16,630 30.3% Monroe 11,414 4,401 38.6% 3,725 32.6% Van Wert 22,433 8,611 38.4% 6,706 29.9% Jackson 25,476 9,765 38.3% 7,719 30.3% Crawford 33,706 12,864 38.2% 10,719 31.8% Scioto 61,448 23,219 37.8% 19,874 32.3% Columbiana 84,499 31,835 37.7% 25,113 29.7% Wayne 91,002 34,228 37.6% 25,052 27.5% Guernsey 31,460 11,816 37.6% 9,865 31.4% Gallia 23,969 9,000 37.5% 7,613 31.8% Knox 49,017 18,317 37.4% 14,819 30.2% Paulding 14,867 5,506 37.0% 4,492 30.2% Champaign 31,345 11,441 36.5% 9,251 29.5% Carroll 22,402 8,152 36.4% 6,434 28.7% Tuscarawas 73,768 26,841 36.4% 21,094 28.6% Richland 97,923 35,471 36.2% 28,340 28.9% Clinton 33,281 12,048 36.2% 10,031 30.1% Belmont 56,646 20,504 36.2% 15,705 27.7% Allen 82,102 29,588 36.0% 25,350 30.9% Noble 11,944 4,302 36.0% 3,533 29.6% Auglaize 36,050 12,975 36.0% 10,980 30.5% Harrison 12,494 4,492 36.0% 3,535 28.3% Pike 22,177 7,942 35.8% 6,788 30.6% Morgan 11,959 4,280 35.8% 3,611 30.2% Meigs 18,704 6,688 35.8% 5,599 29.9% Mercer 31,612 11,247 35.6% 9,174 29.0% Logan 36,144 12,827 35.5% 10,490 29.0% Morrow 28,038 9,858 35.2% 7,708 27.5% Fayette 22,646 7,960 35.1% 6,263 27.7% Coshocton 28,823 10,099 35.0% 8,512 29.5% Perry 28,635 9,827 34.3% 8,083 28.2% Vinton 10,472 3,492 33.3% 2,925 27.9% Darke 40,635 13,512 33.3% 11,324 27.9% Ashland 42,900 14,217 33.1% 9,837 22.9% Preble 33,028 10,888 33.0% 8,541 25.9% Hardin 25,075 8,137 32.5% 6,848 27.3% Shelby 37,941 12,000 31.6% 9,593 25.3% Highland 34,122 10,386 30.4% 8,466 24.8% Brown 34,824 10,494 30.1% 7,696 22.1% Lawrence 48,590 13,897 28.6% 10,821 22.3% Adams 21,808 5,872 26.9% 4,318 19.8% Holmes 31,595 5,657 17.9% 4,620 14.6% There is a clear urban/rural divide in Ohio, with the rural numbers being driven down by low vaccination rates in several small southern Ohio counties. Among Ohios largest counties - the 15 where there are at least 150,000 residents age 16 and up - nearly half of age-eligible people (49.9%) had received their first dose, based on Ohio Department of Health reporting through Thursday. Yet in the 49 smallest counties with fewer than 50,000 people age 16 and up, 37.5% had received their first vaccine. Ashtabula County Health Commissioner Ray Saporito said there are reasons for the gap. At the beginning of the pandemic, outbreaks were concentrated in urban areas. It took longer for Ashtabula County to become a red county in the states Public Health Advisory system. I think there was a perception of, Oh, Im not going to get this. I think the numbers play a role, he said. The urban areas had mass vaccination clinics, which were well-publicized and convenient. We did not have that luxury, he said. Vaccination rates are highest in Ohio's most populated counties. In the 15 largest counties with at least 150,000 residents age 16 and up, 49.9% have received at least one dose. But in the 49 counties where there are fewer than 50,000, the rate is just 37.5% for those age 16 and up.Rich Exner, cleveland.com Much of the hesitancy in his area is among younger people, he said. In the very beginning when the vaccine was made available to us, we had waiting lists that were, gosh, we had 3,000 to 4000 on a waiting list, he said. The people who really wanted this, most of the people who took the vaccine, percentage-wise, are going to be the older people. Id say 60 and above were more motivated. They perceived themselves as more vulnerable. The younger people 30-, 40-, 50-year- olds, I think they were less motivated. The federal governments pause on administering the Johnson & Johnson shot -- after six women had severe blood clotting out of 6.8 million doses administered may have also rattled people who were skeptical about the vaccine, Saporito said. Vaccines work The disinterest in getting vaccinated among some Ohioans comes despite strong evidence of them working. For example, hospitalizations have dropped dramatically for the older people who were the first to be offered vaccines. In December, just as the vaccines were getting started, Ohioans age 70 and older accounted for 51% of all coronavirus hospital admissions. That share has dropped to just 26% this month. And data is starting to show a change for the next groups eligible as well. For example, those age 50 and older became eligible for shots in mid-March. Already, their share of hospitalizations has leveled off, following what had been an increased share in previous months as fewer older people were admitted. Yet the share of hospitalizations is on the rise for younger age groups, those both to be last offered the vaccine and with the lowest vaccine rates. The share of hospitalizations among Ohioans age 70 and up has been cut in half since vaccinations started. And the next age group, those from 50 to 69 years old, are seeing a leveling off in just the first few weeks after all became eligible in mid-March.Rich Exner, cleveland.com How to increase demand? At the state level, Gov. Mike DeWine has encouraged vaccine providers to work with labor unions, employers and other groups to offer vaccine clinics in an attempt to distribute more shots. That appears to be working, although not on a massive scale. For instance, in Union County, outside of Columbus, Scotts Miracle Gro recently held two weekend drive-up clinics for employees and others in the community; 800 people were vaccinated. In Lucas County, where contagion is especially high due to the proximity with Michigan and virus variants, health officials are targeting neighborhoods by studying ZIP codes where vaccination rates are lower. Alternating between small community clinics and larger clinics seems to be working in Cuyahoga County, said Kevin Brennan, communications officer for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, who said he isnt seeing a lot of vaccine hesitancy. Each week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, a mass vaccination clinic alternates between The Word Church in Warrensville Heights and Cuyahoga Community College Western Campus in Parma, he said. This past Tuesday and Wednesday, we were at 95% percent capacity, in terms of the number of people we put through in a day, Brennan said. Last weekend, the health department worked with the Islamic Center of Cleveland at its location in Parma. Approximately 200 people were served. And on the east side, the department works with the Salvation Army to host clinics, he said. The Cleveland Clergy Alliance and other organizations also arrange to give people rides. State health officials and the governors office will continue to look for ideas to target vaccinations, said DeWines spokesman, Dan Tierney. On Wednesday, DeWine disclosed hes considering changing the metric for which all public health orders - from the mask mandate to the rules at schools - will be lifted. Currently, cases need to drop to 50 per 100,000 residents over two weeks for life to return to what it was before the pandemic. But now hes thinking about switching to a vaccine benchmark. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear earlier this month created one for his state. This could work as an incentive for people to get vaccinated and, in the end, increase vaccine demand. And its easier for the public to track vaccination progress on the Ohio Department of Healths coronavirus dashboard, than cases per 100,000 residents, which is an average that requires some digging into the dashboard, plus some math to calculate. By no means is that the end of it, Tierney said about the states efforts thus far to increase demand. Were constantly looking at it and will move on to new initiatives in the state. Propaganda officials in Shanghai are investigating the appearance of several high-profile TV anchors at a recent birthday party for businessman Zhou Zhengyi following his early release from a 16-year jail term for "bribery" and "embezzlement." Zhou threw a lavish 60th-birthday bash at a five-star hotel on the Bund in Shanghai last weekend, which was attended by several presenters and hosts from state-run Dragon Television. Video clips from the star-studded event went viral on social media platforms in China, showing Zhou roaming around the venue, taking photos with guests, in obviously high spirits. The hosts were later reportedly subjected to investigation and punishment from their employers, as the Shanghai branch of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s propaganda department looked into the matter, after viewing the video clips online, according to screenshots seen by RFA. In a screenshot of a reply to a request for information from the Shanghai branch of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s propaganda department, Dragon TV said six of its presenters and show hosts had attended the glitzy celebration at the Wanda Ruihua hotel on the Bund in Shanghai on . They were named as Cheng Lei, Chen Rong, Zhu Zhen, Ni Lin, Fang Haiyan, and Dai Liufei. A seventh presenter, Gao Yuan, was named, but wasn't a Dragon TV employee, it said. "The hosts charged no fee for their attendance at this event," the message said. Another screenshot reported that Gao Yuan had discovered they were on an official media blacklist since the party, while another showed an invitee turning down the glitzy invitation for fear of political repercussions. A Shanghai businesswoman surnamed Zhang said Dragon TV had notified the hosts who did attend that they were "in violation of regulations" to attend Zhou's party. "They are now saying [to the propaganda department] that the hosts didn't attend as TV hosts, nor did they represent their employer at the function," she said. Tighter controls under Xi The Shanghai municipal radio and TV bureau said it would "carry out further investigations," and called on the hosts' employers to "conduct interviews with the hosts in question as soon as possible and correctly handle the matter subsequently." Zhang said Zhou had likely underestimated the tight political controls now being exerted on public figures under CCP leader Xi Jinping, after spending more than a decade in prison. "He didn't really read the current political situation right, because it's completely different from before he went into prison," Zhang said. Zhou's fortune is now largely controlled by his Hong Kong-based wife Mao Yuping, Zhang said. "Zhou's wife helped him hang onto the fortune; she's now in Hong Kong," she said. "He will have been well-treated in prison." Zhou, who served 13 years of his prison term, recently took a job as "adviser" to a cosmetics and skincare company in Shanghai. Known in Hong Kong as Chau Ching-ngai, where he is wanted by the city's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Zhou was once Shanghais richest man and the 11th richest in mainland China, with an estimated fortune of U.S.$320 million from property development and stock market speculation. Zhou's case was linked to the downfall of former Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu, who is currently serving an 18-year jail term for misuse of Shanghai's social security fund. Hong Kong's ICAC wants to question him in connection with fraud allegations linked to publicly listed companies there. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. She has been adjusting to life Down Under again after relocating to Australia with her husband Sacha Baron Cohen and their children last year. And it appears Isla Fisher is well and truly settling back in. On Saturday, the 45-year-old Wedding Crashers star enjoyed a relaxing coffee run in Sydney and showed her support for an Australian fashion label's ovarian cancer awareness charity campaign. Showing support: On Saturday, Isla Fisher stepped out to grab a coffee in Sydney. While running errands, the 45-year-old Wedding Crashers star also showed her support to Australian fashion label Camilla and Marc's ovarian cancer awareness charity campaign She donned a nude Camilla and Marc hoodie, an item of clothing that has been designed as apart of a campaign to raise money for cancer research. Isla teamed her over-sized jumper with navy gym shorts and white Adidas trainers. She accessorised with minimal gold jewellery and Le Specs sunglasses. Casual coffee run: For the casual occasion, Isla had her hair in a messy low bun and went makeup free Street style: Isla teamed her over-sized jumper with navy gym shorts and white Adidas trainers For the casual occasion, Isla had her hair in a messy low bun and went makeup free, showing off her naturally flawless complexion. Isla's trip to her local cafe comes after she recently discussed making the move across the Pacific from Los Angeles with her family to Stellar magazine. The Perth-raised actress told the publication: 'I just feel so safe, I suppose the word is cosy, when I'm in Australia. It's where I grew up.' Home sweet home: Isla's trip to her local cafe comes after she recently discussed making the move from Los Angeles to Sydney with her family. The Perth-raised actress said: 'I just feel so safe, I suppose the word is cosy, when I'm in Australia. It's where I grew up' 'I'm the happiest when I'm home,' the Godmothered star added. She also briefly touched on motherhood in the interview, a topic which she loves dearly but rarely discusses to protect her children's privacy. Isla shares three children with her comedian husband Sacha Baron Cohen, 49. Isla and Sacha first met at a party in Sydney back in 2002, they tied the knot in Paris in 2010 after she converted to the Jewish faith. The couple initially relocated temporarily to escape 'Trump's America' at the end of last year. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 20:33:27|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday that its troops killed three terrorists in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan. As reported by the IRGC's official outlet Sepah News, a terrorist team "who had recently entered the area to carry out subversive and terrorist acts" was ambushed near the Pakistani border on Saturday and "destroyed" by IRGC troops. Three militants were killed in the operation, and their weapons, ammunition and communication equipment were captured by the IRGC, according to the report. Enditem Snowing on Highway 88 View Photo The Winter Storm Warning that is currently in effect for the Sierra Nevada above 4,500 feet, will expire at 11 AM Monday. The heaviest snow is expected late this morning into the evening, with the majority of accumulation for elevations above 4,500 to 5,500 feet. Lighter accumulations are possible down to 3,500 feet Monday morning. Additional snow accumulations above the 5,000 foot elevation will range from three inches to sixteen inches. The higher you go, the more the snow. Travel will be very difficult with slick, snow covered roads, and possible road closures. Be prepared for winter driving conditions, significant travel delays, and chain controls. Also be prepared for significant reductions in visibility at times due to breezy and gusty winds. The winds will cause blowing and drifting snow, with the possibility of local whiteout conditions. Dangerously cold wind chill temperatures will be a threat to hikers in the high country. A Winter Storm Warning means there will be snow covered roads and limited visibilities. Travel is not recommended while the Warning is in effect. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California announced a plan on Friday to ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, by 2024 and to consider phasing out oil production statewide by 2045. The announcement, on the heels of Earth Day, came as a petition for Mr. Newsoms recall was expected to qualify for the ballot. In the past, the governor has said he lacked the executive authority to halt fracking, which has long been a source of both pollution and higher-paying, blue-collar jobs in California. Mr. Newsom campaigned on a promise to ban fracking, and in September asked Democrats in the Legislature to send a bill to his desk that would do so. But some Democrats criticized him later for failing to promote it sufficiently. Last week, a sweeping bill incorporating that ban and other fossil-fuel regulations was blocked by industry lobbyists and moderate Democrats seeking to protect paychecks in the oil-rich San Joaquin Valley. The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day, the governor said in a statement on Friday. As we move to swiftly decarbonize our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, Ive made it clear I dont see a role for fracking in that future and, similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil. Tensions in Jerusalem sparked the worst round of cross-border violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip in months on Saturday, with Palestinian militants firing at least 30 rockets and Israel striking back at targets operated by the militant group Hamas in Gaza. Skirmishes have spiked in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is home to sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Residents braced for possible further unrest as police stepped up security and the US Embassy appealed for calm. Israeli border police block members of Lehava, a Jewish extremist group, to approach to Damascus Gate to protest amid heightened tensions in the city, just outside Jerusalems Old City on April 22, 2021. Credit:AP On Friday, Israeli police said 44 people were arrested and 20 officers were wounded in a night of chaos in Jerusalem, where security forces separately clashed with Palestinians angry about Ramadan restrictions and Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby. The incidents in Jerusalem triggered a flare-up in Gaza. Hamas armed wing warned Israel not to test its patience and militants in the Palestinian enclave started firing rockets into southern Israel late Friday and continued through Saturday morning. Over the past week, New Zealands Labour Party-led government has faced further attacks from the Australian and British media, and sections of the NZ media and political establishment, for its perceived failure to fully align with the US-led preparations for war against China. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden speaking at a press conference in September 2020. (Image Credit: Jacinda Arden/Facebook) New Zealand is a close ally of the US and a member of the top-level Five Eyes intelligence sharing network that includes the US, UK, Australia and Canada. Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns government, since it first came into office in 2017, has supported Washingtons militarisation in the Into-Pacific region, which is aimed at encircling China and maintaining US dominance through war if necessary. The 2018 NZ defence strategy echoed the Trump administrations identification of Russia and China as the major threats to the international order. The Ardern government is spending billions of dollars to upgrade NZs military and expand its own presence in the Pacific. As President Bidens administration ramps up the drive to war, however, it is demanding absolute, unwavering support from every US ally, which is disrupting internal politics and diplomatic relations throughout the world. Senior US military commanders have predicted a war against China over Taiwan within six years or less and warned that it is likely to involve nuclear weapons. New Zealands political establishment is increasingly nervous about the implications of these developments for its relations with China, which takes about 28 percent of NZs exports and is the countrys most important trading partner. Wellington has baulked at joining some of the inflammatory denunciations of China. The Australian media recently attacked NZ for failing to join the other Five Eyes countries in a statement alleging that Beijing meddled in a World Health Organisation report on the origins of the coronaviruspart of the campaign of lies and distortions to divert blame for millions of deaths caused by the failure of Washington and its allies to suppress the pandemic. The latest storm of criticism erupted after a speech on April 19 by Foreign Minister Mahuta, delivered to the government-funded New Zealand China Council. Mahuta said NZs relationship with China was in good shape and praised the upgrade of a free trade deal in January, saying it would deliver new benefits for New Zealand businesses. The speech also clearly supported Washingtons anti-China push. There are some things on which New Zealand and China do not, cannot, and will not, agree, Mahuta declared, referring to Beijings actions in Hong Kong and its treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The Ardern government has joined the US in hypocritically denouncing Chinas human rights abuses. Last month, Wellington and Canberra expressed support for coordinated sanctions against China by Canada, the European Union, the UK and US, based on unsubstantiated claims of genocide against the Uyghur minority. Mahuta called for New Zealand to diversify its trade so as to be less reliant on China. She also praised NZs Pacific Reset strategy, aimed at protecting its neo-colonial dominance over island nations in the Pacific region, in alliance with the US and Australia, and pushing back against Chinas growing economic influence. Mahuta criticised Chinas large loans to several Pacific countries, saying economic vulnerability and indebtedness is a major risk for the future of the Pacific. Despite her clear pro-US stance, however, Mahuta has been attacked for stating that New Zealand was uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes. We would much rather prefer to look for multilateral opportunities to express our interests on a number of issues, she said. New Zealand, despite its small size, plays an integral role in the Five Eyes. A 2013 document leaked from the US National Security Agency by Edward Snowden revealed that NZs Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) was especially helpful in its ability to provide NSA ready access to areas and countries difficult for the US to access, including China. The GCSB has also gathered intelligence to assist with the US-led war in Afghanistan. The US, however, is increasingly pushing to transform the Five Eyes into a more open military-intelligence and diplomatic alliance against China. Mahutas speech came at the same time that Japans right-wing nationalist government, which is deeply integrated into the US military planning against China, is seeking to join the Five Eyes. Tokyos ambassador to Australia told the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) this week that he was optimistic this would happen soon. The newspaper stated that Japan and the Five Eyes countries all see China as a strategic rival, but that Canberra and Washington are concerned by Wellingtons attempt to curtail its expansion. It said Australian officials had been blindsided by Mahutas statements, which were interpreted as New Zealands official opposition to using the spy network to exert diplomatic pressure on Beijing. An editorial in the Australian newspaper entitled Crucial Five Eyes alliance must not become 4 Eyes, accused the Ardern government of a blatant attempt to curry favour with China. It declared that as China asserts its influence in the South China Sea and across the Pacific, strong alliances, such as the Five Eyes intelligence network, have never been more important. The UK Times, in an article headlined Five Eyes on China cut to four as New Zealand puts trade first, accused Wellington of breaking an agreement reached last year. In June 2020, defence ministers from all the Five Eyes countries said they would further strengthen their relationship and advance defence and security cooperation [to] defend a stable, rules-based global order that is increasingly being challenged. The British Telegraphs defence editor Con Coughlin wrote that New Zealand faces the very real prospect of expulsion from the alliance for cosying up to Chinas communist rulers. The government is also facing criticism within New Zealand, reflecting deepening divisions within the ruling elite over how to align. Brooke van Velden, foreign affairs spokesperson for the far-right ACT Party, said the government was pandering to Beijing, and Mahutas speech reflects the worrying distance we are developing from our Five Eyes partners. Alexander Gillespie, a prominent pro-US academic at Waikato University, wrote in a widely-syndicated column that New Zealand had to do more than lip service such as making noises about democracy in Hong Kong. He called on NZ to join the next military exercise by the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quada quasi-alliance of the US, Japan, India and Australia against China. Highlighting the importance of the alliance, this week Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne visited New Zealand ahead of Anzac Day, the April 25 holiday that commemorates both countries involvement in World War I and other imperialist wars, including the criminal US-led occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. The SMH revealed that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will also visit for talks with Ardern in two weeks, and the future of the Five Eyes will be a hot topic of discussion. In a joint media conference with Payne on Thursday, Mahuta sought to downplay any differences with Australia, stating: We receive significant benefits from being a part of [the Five Eyes] and they are close allies and friends in terms of common values and principles. Prime Minister Ardern similarly told the media, some of the reporting Ive seen is actually just inaccurate Five Eyes remains our most important security and intelligence partnership and that has not changed. These comments underscore the fact that, whatever tactical differences and tensions exist, driven by concerns over NZs trade with China, the Ardern government remains committed to the alliance with the US, as Washington moves ever closer to all-out war against China. Midland Mayor Patrick Payton and Odessa Mayor Javier Joven addressed their future plans for the two cities and discussed issues like taxes and sanctuary cities during a forum Thursday night. The forum, hosted by the Midland Liberty Leadership Council, was held at the Rolling 7s Ranch Event Center and moderated by Reporter-Telegram Editor Stewart Doreen. Economic development and taxes Despite an announcement Thursday morning that the Odessa Development Corp. had secured a $7 billion deal with Nacero Inc. for a new oil and gas facility, Joven cast doubt on the need for the ODC. One of his frustrations with the entity is that the city council doesnt have access to the funds that go to the ODC, he said. Joven recently spoke out against a $600,000 grant from the ODC for renovations at the Ellen Noel Art Museum. On Thursday, he said the ODC has stretched beyond its original purpose to diversify Odessas economy. The Odessa mayor also said the city is likely going to look at raising the tax rate because of revenue loss related to the COVID-19 pandemic; any increase would need to be approved by voters. Joven said the city is going to focus more on basic priorities, like water and roads, and less on items related to quality of life. Payton said the fallacy with the Midland Development Corp. is that its function is to diversify the citys economy rather than embrace the oil industry. He said Midland needs to prioritize the scientific development thats going to occur within the industry. The Midland City Council will also look to raise the tax rate, Payton said, but theyll use some revenue to increase quality of life by adding more outdoor recreation options. I hope that a legacy that we can leave behind is we have begun to make this into one of the most outdoor-friendly places for recreational facilities and areas in the entire West Texas, he said. Sanctuary cities for the unborn and Second Amendment rights Passing an ordinance to outlaw abortion in Odessa was one of the major platforms of Jovens campaign. On Thursday, he said passing that ordinance is the main accomplishment he hopes to have during his time as mayor. Joven has already drafted an ordinance similar to ones that have been passed by other Texas cities, but he doesnt have enough votes on the council, he said. Other council members have expressed concerns that the ordinance would open the city up to lawsuits while Roe v. Wade remains in place. Im willing to take that risk of being sued, Joven said. Payton said hes not a fan of virtue signaling or the reactionary right, but said he has asked the citys legal department to explore everything thats a benefit to Midland. Ive already talked to the [city attorney] and said, show me the things that can happen here, show me the things that we can do, he said. But Im also not going to put the city in a situation where someone can come in and sue the pants off the city. AG opinion on Ector County tax district Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion on April 5 stating that the city of Odessa should not be entitled to tax revenue generated in areas annexed by the city, and that revenue should instead go to the county. That opinion was based on the countys wording when a tax assistance district was placed on the ballot and approved by voters in 2018. Joven criticized previous city council members and Ector County officials for not communicating better during the process of creating the district. This is what happens when we as elected officials or leaders fail the community, Joven said. This is what we inherited. Its a tough situation. The AG opinion will soon become relevant to the city of Midland as Midland County looks to have a tax assistance district approved by voters this November. In an interview following Thursday nights forum, Payton said the city and county will need to work together on the tax district. The city is very interested in, when the future comes around with annexation, how were going to pay for it, he said. Thats going to be a discussion about how those taxes work, so it might be easy today to say we might not be interested in those taxes, but when the city begins to grow, everybodys going to be interested in those taxes. It has been a year since Jonathan Coelho died of COVID-19, but for his widow, Katie Coelho, it feels like yesterday. She still remembers the 3 a.m. phone call urging her to the hospital. She remembers holding herself up, hands on her knees, as she saw her husband lying motionless. She remembers the way his beard felt as she rubbed his face one last time and said goodbye, the way she placed her hand on his chest, desperately hoping it would start moving again. Every moment, every detail of those last few minutes, has been seared into her memory, a waking nightmare shes forced to relive day after day. I can close my eyes and know exactly what Jonathan looked like when I walked into the hospital room that morning, and looking back on it all a year later, it brings a new level of pain that I wasnt expecting, Katie Coelho said. Before his death, Jonathan Coelho, 32, left a note on his phone for his wife and children. I love you guys with all my heart and youve given me the best life I could have asked for, the note began. Coelho, a probation officer at the Stamford courthouse, was among the states earliest COVID-19 cases and died on April 22. Since then, more than 8,000 other Connecticut residents have also died from the novel coronavirus. But while Jonathan Coelho is gone, Katie Coelho, 34, said her husbands memory awaits her around every corner. The wall leading up the stairs of Katie Coelhos new Southbury home is lined with dozens of pictures of Jonathan. There are pictures of him with the familys firstborn, Braedyn, and photos of him holding younger daughter Penelope. In the familys living room, there hangs a wood carving with an imprint of the American flag and badge from the Probation Department in memory of Jonathans life and death. His image lives on in their two children, 3-year-old Braedyn and Penelope, who is soon turning 2. In their movements and expressions, she sees glimpses of her husband staring back at her. Samantha Nappi, Katie Coelhos younger sister, said the past year has been the hardest year of the familys life, but so far, shes been blown away by her sisters resilience. Shes just a one-woman wonder. Shes just stayed so strong for her and her family, even though this past year has been a nonstop challenge, Nappi said. When Jonathan Coelho went into the hospital with COVID-19, Nappi took time off work from a custom lighting company to help her sister. When her brother-in-law died, she quit her job to help full-time. The decision, Nappi said, was super easy. My sister is my ride or die, theres nothing I wouldnt do to help her, she said. For six months, Nappi left her own home to stay with her sister. She helped the kids get ready in the mornings, and looked after Braedyn, who has multiple disabilities and requires constant care, when her sister was busy. If it looked like it was needed, she was there with soothing words or heartfelt advice. Friends from the probation office where Jonathan Coelho used to work have kept in touch with the family, calling in to check up on them and help out when they can, Katie Coelho said. It just speaks to the kind of person that Jonathan was that his probation coworkers still check in and just care, after so many other people have faded into the background, she said. Despite the support of friends and family, life without her soulmate has not been easy, Katie Coelho admits. My life as I knew it has imploded. I lost of the love of my life, and the kids are going to have to grow up without their dad, she said. Diana Mallory, Jonathan Coelhos sister, said her son Oliver has sorely missed his tio uncle in Portuguese. Days after her brothers death, Mallory learned that she was pregnant with her second child. The dueling emotions crippling sadness at the loss of her only brother and the joy of a new addition to her own family was overwhelming at first, Mallory said. But as time passed, she began to see her pregnancy as a continuation of the familys experience. We felt like it was a sign from him that he is with us. My husband and I had been trying for a while, so it was just very coincidental, she said. To honor her brother, Mallory gave her daughter, born Dec. 4, Alberta as a middle name which had been Jonathan Coelhos middle name thanks to a typo on his birth certificate. Mallorys father channeled his grief into his work at Faith Church in New Milford. She said her dad poured most of his time into running local food pantries and giving back to his community. I think its helped him to keep going. For him to help people, especially during the pandemic when people have lost their jobs and they need food, its given him a purpose when things have gotten hard, Mallory said. For Katie Coelho, one of the few solaces shes found in the past year is being able to share her and Jonathans story with the world. Shes made appearances on Anderson Coopers news show on CNN and has been featured in newspapers and magazines around the country. She said to see people take interest in her husbands life, for them to see the love that he helped spread, has kept her afloat during otherwise difficult times. Its been one of the only lights for me in a really dark time, she said. A man who has infected 22 people with COVID-19 has been detained in Spain, RIA Novosti reported, and charged with causing harm to his health. The investigation began in January after a hotbed of infection was identified in Manacor, Balearic Islands. A few days earlier, one of the employees of the institution began to show signs of illness, while, despite the persuasion of colleagues, he refused to go home. In the evening, the man passed the PCR analysis, however, without waiting for the results, the next day he went back to work and even visited the gym. He again refused to listen to the requests of his colleagues to go home, while, according to them, the man had a temperature of 40, and when he coughs, he lowers the mask and says that he will infect everyone, the police claim, citing witnesses. By the end of the day, the results of the test passed the day before became known - the COVID-19 was confirmed. After that, a check began on all colleagues and visitors to the gym and their families - 22 people fell ill, including three infants. CHICO, Calif. - On April 23, Federal judge Morrison C. England Jr. extended the eviction ban in Chico for three weeks. During this three-week period, the City of Chico can't evict homeless people from camps or parks until a solution has been found. For the past three months, the homeless have been cleared out from city parks like Bidwell, the Triangle, and One-Mile. The Chico City Council now has three weeks to work with the Legal Services of Northern California to come up with a feasible solution for the homeless that the judge can sign off on. Councilmembers Sean Morgan and Scott Huber both believe the judge making this decision could actually be beneficial. Both parties indicated that they are willing to negotiate with each other on some sort of settlement, said councilman Scott Huber. I think this is fantastic, to be honest with you, said councilman Sean Morgan. It is like okay, the judge has now spelled out what needs to happen for the city of Chico to force its ordinances it has on the books. It does not matter if I agree with him or not. That is how it works. Martin v. Bosie states that homeless people cannot be punished for sleeping outside on public property in the absence of adequate alternatives. People experiencing homelessness at least in the 9th circuit can sleep more safely without facing criminal punishment for trying to survive on the streets. The judge made it very clear the city cannot make up its own ordinances that go against the US constitution and informed the City and eight plaintiffs to work together on a plan and return to court in three weeks on May 14. Mumbai, April 24 : Actress Rasika Duggal said she tries to avoid focusing on what people expect of her while bringing alive a role. She feels what matters is being invested in one's work. "I try to not focus on delivering as per what people expect from me. I always believe that if you are invested enough in your work, the audience will be invested enough in your story. The idea is to keep myself invested and interested in the story," Rasika teold IANS. She will soon reprise her role of Dr Meera in the second season of web series "Out Of Love". Earlier, she returned in the second season of "Mirzapur", and soon she will be seen in season two of "Delhi Crime". About her return on "Out Of Love", she said: "I find season two is very fascinating. It's a very different experience." The actress does accept there is a certain sense of comfort when it comes to working in a known set-up. "It's comfortable in terms of shooting because you already have the sense of your team -- if the team is the same, the framework. For example, the 'Mirzapur' team was largely the same, so I already knew my way around it. I knew the things which were working and ones which were not. Once all of that is dealt with, you can focus on your work rather than worrying about all those things.". But would comfort factor be the same if a show went on, for several seasons? "I don't know how I would feel if the show went on for many, many seasons. I presume there would be a point where you would get a little tired but I haven't had that experience yet, so I can't say, " shared Rasika. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A column complaining that Disney Worlds wokeness is ruining the fun because Disney cares more about politics than happy guests drew a sharp backlash online this week. The guest column, I love Disney World, but wokeness is ruining the experience, was written by Jonathan VanBoskerck and appeared online Friday in The Orlando Sentinel. In the column, Mr. VanBoskerck, of North Las Vegas, wrote that he was strongly rethinking his commitment to the amusement park and the city of Orlando, Fla., home of Disney World. The more Disney moves away from the values and vision of Walt Disney, the less Disney World means to me, Mr. VanBoskerck wrote. Disney is forgetting that guest immersion is at the core of its business model. For anyone under 21, just wanting to join the fight against the Axis powers in World War II wasn't enough - someone had to vouch for you. The National Archive of Australia released a trove of references written for hopeful enlistees about 70 years ago, before their interviews to join the RAAF. They tell a story of young men and women from big cities, small towns, and all kinds of industries keen to down tools and join the war effort. Adelaide-based Guinea Airways Limited seemed unwilling to talk up Mr Ellens' abilities in this reference (pictured, courtesy National Archives of Australia) Beaurepaires manager felt it important to point out that Gordon Cuthbertson had the 'guts' to fight in defence of his country in their reference to the RAAF (pictured, courtesy National Archives of Australia) The applicants came from workplaces including a Beaurepairs tyre shop in Ballarat, a cinema beside Lake Macquarie, Taubmans paint head office in Brisbane, inner Sydney Don's Car Repair garage, and Carlton and United Breweries in Melbourne. Their references provide insights into normal life before going to war would undoubtedly change them. Between 1939 and 1944, 215,000 Australians served in the RAAF. The national pride in the war effort was evident, as was their lack of awareness about what was really in front of them and the apparent ordinariness of the airmen and women who the passing of time has romanticised. Some of them were so ordinary they were apparently not up to the task. Having been asked to write a reference for Warrant Officer Ellens, Guinea Airways' Chief Pilot J Chapman, of Adelaide, didn't hold back. 'The position, as I see it, is that Warren Officer Ellens has absolutely no idea of navigation and cannot be trusted to be left alone in the cockpit of the machine, even for a short period,' Mr Chapman said. The owner of Nanango Garage wanted it known in this reference that Archibald Muir wasn't afraid of working overtime and that he would be welcome back if he didn't make the RAAF (pictured, courtesy National Archives of Australia) Roy Durbin was recommended as 'a straightforward lad, and of very good character' in Eddy's Warehousemen's reference supplied to the RAAF in 1942 (pictured, courtesy National Archives of Australia) 'As far as I am concerned, he merely fills the seat of the second pilot... I have given up any hope of being able to do anything with him.' Kylie Johnson, of the National Archives, said it was possible that Mr Chapman was being cruel to be kind - and actually attempting to save the young man's life. 'We can only guess what people really thought behind the words they wrote,' she said. Mostly it seems employers were proud of their employees' and their willingness to enlist. 'I have known him and his family for 15 years and I can honestly say that he is a lad who will have the "guts" to do his share in defence of his country,' Beaurepaires Ballarat's manager of Gordon Cuthbertson wrote. Carlton and United Breweries were not the only employers to note that their employee was 'anxious' to join the RAAF. The company said BM Callanan, a fitter and turner, 'was intelligent and bears excellent character' (pictured, courtesy National Archives of Australia) Melvic Theatre at Belmont recommended OJ Ward as 'a man of excellent character and has always strived to be a good citizen' in this reference to the RAAF (pictured, courtesy National Archives of Australia) Taubmans' F. Foster, wrote of Mr AFW Ensor: 'He has the ability to control men and organise work, and I feel his efforts can be utilised to advantage of work of a more national character.' New Systems telephones manager RM Davies wrote: 'We have pleasure in granting him his wish and congratulate him on the loyalty he has displayed by his action,' of junior refrigeration mechanic Raymond Howell's application.' It is evident from the references many didn't fully understand the nature of war - several wishing their employees 'every success' in their endeavour and many keen to offer a job back to them when their service was completed. Over 27,000 Australians - including nearly 6500 airmen and women - died, and more than 23,000 were wounded in World War II. Some bosses took the reference as a chance to complain that the war was bad for business. In a letter guaranteeing a job for Harold Noakes after he served, the manager at Adairs Brothers Drapers, wrote that Mr R Adair suffered a 'complete mental and physical breakdown in consequence of shortage of competent staff'. FH Latham and Son report having to turn down orders from Europe due to labour shortages. Carlton and United Breweries asked permission to replace their enlistee with someone who was too old for military service. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said today that those who ordered his murder allocated only $ 10 mln. Of this money, for which the conspirators were supposed to attack the presidential residence, a hitman-sniper was paid $ 1 mln. According to BelTA, Lukashenko noted that the conspirators had several scenarios for his murder. Among other things, they wanted to kill him during the Victory Parade on May 9, or attack the motorcade by firing grenade launchers at the cars. Varun Dhawan Celebrates 34th Birthday; Arjun Kapoor And Other Stars Wish The 'Shirtless Wonder Of Juhu' As Bollywood star Varun Dhawan ringed in his 34th birthday on Saturday, actors including Arjun Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Madhuri Dixit Nene, and others extended heartfelt wishes on social media to make the day even more special. Arjun broke the internet with his hilarious birthday wish for his dear friend, calling Varun the 'shirtless wonder' of Juhu. He took to his Instagram handle and uploaded a video montage with funny pictures of Varun in his various shirtless avatars, comparing him to Mowgli. Arjun captioned the post as, "To the shirtless wonder of Juhu, Happy Birthday! @varundvn." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Arjun Kapoor (@arjunkapoor) Bollywood's 'Dhak Dhak' girl Madhuri Dixit Nene also wished the birthday boy on her Twitter handle by sharing a photo with him, along with the tweet, "Happy Birthday, @Varun_dvn. May your year ahead be as charming as you. Lots of love." Happy Birthday, @Varun_dvn. May your year ahead be as charming as you. Lot's of love pic.twitter.com/wh0431GSLB Madhuri Dixit Nene (@MadhuriDixit) April 24, 2021 Anushka Sharma posted an Instagram story featuring Varun's photo along with the message, "Happy Birthday VD! Wishing you a safe, healthy and happy year@varundvn." Tiger Shroff also shared a photo with Varun on his Instagram story and wrote, "Happy bday @varundvn have an amazing year ahead lots of love stay healthy." Actor Riteish Deshmukh took to his Instagram handle and shared a custom animated portrait of the 'October' actor. In the caption he wrote, "Wishing the energy & talent ki dukaan @varundvn a great great birthday! Stay healthy, stay safe." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Riteish Deshmukh (@riteishd) Meanwhile, on the work front Varun, who was last seen in his father David Dhawan's 'Coolie No. 1', co-starring opposite Sara Ali Khan, recently completed shooting for the horror-comedy 'Bhediya' along with Kriti Sanon in Arunachal Pradesh. The movie that is slated to release in cinemas on April 14, 2022, will mark the 'Badlapur' star and 'Heropanti' star's third collaboration with each other after sharing screen space in 2015 rom-com 'Dilwale' and 2019 'Kalank'. 'Bhediya' will bring together the dynamic duo of producer Dinesh Vijan and director Amar Kaushik, who also helmed the 2018 blockbuster movie 'Stree'. Starring Kriti Sanon, Varun Dhawan, Abhishek Banerjee, and Deepak Dobriyal, the story is written by National Award Winner, Niren Bhatt who also wrote intriguing scripts for 'Bala', 'Made In China', 'Wrong Side Raju'. Apart from 'Bhediya', the actor will also be seen in 'Jug Jugg Jeeyo' alongside Anil Kapoor, Kiara Advani, and Neetu Kapoor. UTICA A central New York man was given the maximum sentence for fatally shooting his wife and hiding her body in a dumpster. Jason D'Avolio, 49, was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in state prison for the second-degree murder of his wife, Kerrilee D'Avolio, and one-and-a-third to four years for concealment of a human corpse. The Rome, New York, resident was convicted in November after a trial in which prosecutors argued he shot his wife in the back of the head with a rifle on the night of July 28, 2019 and disposed of her body. Authorities found her body in a landfill and the rifle in the Barge Canal in Rome. "It haunts us to know someone who was so loving, so caring, could be thrown away like she was nothing," the victim's sister, Tiffany Thompson, told the court at his sentencing. Thompson said she was fostering the D'Avolios' three daughters, according to the Observer-Dispatch of Utica. Jason D'Avolio continued to insist that he had found his wife dead from an apparent suicide. His lawyer argued at trial that D'Avolio sought to protect the couple's three young daughters, so he wrapped his wife's body in a sheet and garbage bags and hid her body in a dumpster at a nearby apartment complex. The leader of an Indianapolis police union has slammed a County Prosecutor for failing to use 'red flag' laws to prevent the FedEx massacre shooter from purchasing the assault rifles that he used to kill eight people. Brandon Scott Hole, 19, opened fire at the Indianapolis FedEx Ground facility on April 15, killing eight and injuring many more before shooting himself dead. Hole's mother had previously contacted Indianapolis police back in March 2020 to raise concerns that her son had just bought a shotgun and feared that he was going to commit 'suicide by cop'. But despite his detention, suicidal thoughts, and evidence that he had frequented white supremacy websites, he was never brought before a judge on the state's 'red flag' laws. The law allows police to confiscate guns from a person deemed dangerous to themselves or others. Prosecutors can then decide whether to ask a court to ban that person from buying any other firearms. Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police President Rick Snyder says Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears 'failed to do his part'. Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police President Rick Snyder (pictured) says Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears (right) 'failed to do his part' to prevent Hole from buying assault weapons used to. carry out the April 15 massacre 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole when opened fire at an Indianapolis FedEx Ground facility on April 15, ultimately killing himself Police were called to the home of the then 18-year-old Hole in March 2020 after his mother reported he wanted to attempt 'suicide by cop.' Hole was placed on temporary hold and police seized a pump-action shotgun, Associated Press reports. But prosecutors ultimately decided against filing a petition with the court to add Hole to the red flag list after his family agreed to forfeit the shotgun, Fox 59 reports. Because of that Hole was able to legally purchase the two assault rifles he used to gun down his former coworkers at the FedEx Ground facility. 'Unfortunately, the lack of action by the Marion County prosecutor prevented a court hearing, which could have ... prohibited the suspect from owning ... any other firearms,' Snyder said. 'Why didn't the prosecutor seek the hearing that the statute requires? Why didn't the prosecutor use all the legal tools available? Why didn't the prosecutor try?' he asked. On Monday Mears said that prosecutors did not seek a 'red flag' hearing to try to prevent Hole from possessing a gun because they did not have enough time under the law to definitively demonstrate his propensity for suicidal thoughts. Mears say the law has too many 'loopholes' pointing to a 2019 change in the law that requires courts to make a 'good-faith effort' to hold a hearing within 14 days. An additional amendment requires authorities to file an affidavit with the court within 48 hours, AP reports. 'This individual was taken and treated by medical professionals and he was cut loose,' and was not even prescribed any medication, Mears said about Hole. 'The risk is, if we move forward with that (red flag) process and lose, we have to give that firearm back to that person. That's not something we were willing to do.' he added. Eight people were killed at an Indianapolis FedEx Ground facility on April 15 after 19-year-old Brandon Scott Hole opened fire on his former co-workers Hole killed eight people in the April mass shooting, including four members of the city's Sikh community. Hole killed eight people and himself in the April mass shooting, including four members of the city's Sikh community. Members and leaders of the Sikh community have demanded that law enforcement conduct a 'thorough' and 'transparent' investigation into the possibility of bias as Hole's motivation for the shooting. 'If it is determined that there was a failure in this law that could have prevented this tragedy from happening, the law should be fixed,' Satjeet Kaur, Executive Director of the Sikh Coalition, said. 'If the law was incorrectly implemented as written, the parties responsible must be held accountable.' Two cases of a variant with a stronger resistance to vaccines have been identified in Alabama. I wouldnt be surprised if we identified more, said Assistant State Health Officer Karen Landers. The South African variant eludes vaccines more than other strains of the virus, but state health officials say thats not enough to prevent immunity from the shot. We still believe that the vaccine product we have will work against this variant, said Landers. The variant, first identified in the United States in January, was thought to be highly contagious but hasnt spread as quickly as anticipated. It showed up, but it hasnt spread, said Dr. William Schaffner professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University. According to Dr. Schaffner, the variant appears to present a low risk, but should be closely tracked. We really do have to keep our eye on this character, this South African variant, because its a variant that is among the most different from the parent COVID strain, and our current vaccines provide only partial protection, we think. In case they are needed, vaccine companies are developing booster shots against the South African variant. Meanwhile, a dangerous strain of the virus is taking hold in Alabama. In early April, the UK variant made up about 40 percent of cases in Alabama. The strain is both deadlier and more contagious than the original virus. To better track variants, Dr. Landers said the state is ramping up its ability to sequence virus strains. There have been roughly 200 breakthrough COVID-19 cases post-vaccination in Alabama, but so far variants havent been identified as the cause. That may be only a matter of time. Were really, really wanting people to be vaccinated, said Landers, who acknowledged that demand for the vaccine in Alabama has declined in recent weeks. It is really a race to get as many people vaccinated as possible before we have more transmission of the virus, said Landers. In some counties, there is now ample vaccine supply, but vaccination rates hover below 30 percent of the population, and the state still lags behind the nation in vaccination rates. Dr. Schaffner said it is unknown how the South African variant will behave going forward. He is urging people to continue social distancing and to take a vaccine. If we dont do those things, he said, We give the variants more opportunities to spread. Tom Holland swings to new emotional heights as Army vet in new film "Cherry" Premier Brian Pallister referred recently to critical comments regarding the provincial response to the COVID-19 crisis made to the local media by a Manitoba intensive care unit doctor. I am that doctor and Id like to respond to his comments directly. Opinion Premier Brian Pallister referred recently to critical comments regarding the provincial response to the COVID-19 crisis made to the local media by a Manitoba intensive care unit doctor. I am that doctor and Id like to respond to his comments directly. As a prelude, Id like to say that I am in no way a political partisan. I have no political affiliation. I consider myself a physician first and a Canadian second. Pallister seems to suggest we are doing well in Manitoba compared to provinces outside the Atlantic bubble. Why are we excluding the Atlantic bubble? This area is the gold standard in Canada against which we should compare ourselves. Do we really want to proudly claim that we are better than Ontario, where ICUs appear to be at imminent risk of collapse? Or Quebec, with the highest death rates in Canada? The provinces of the Atlantic bubble made the right decisions at the beginning of the Canadian epidemic. They proactively decided on a strategy of maximum suppression of viral infections (as did other jurisdictions across the world that now have outstanding results) rather than one where case counts are allowed to rise until such time as they threaten health care and ICU capacity as weve done here in Manitoba and other parts of this country. The truth that few will speak is this: the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths per capita in the Atlantic provinces is 15 times lower than the rest of Canada. Had Manitoba adopted a maximum suppression strategy, as many recommended, with resulting population-adjusted death rates similar to the Atlantic bubble, there would likely be 900 more Manitobans alive today. The raw numbers required to make this calculation are publicly available through the Public Health Agency of Canada. This is simple and indisputable high school math. Looking forward, is it still possible to implement such measures here? Yes it is; the hard and longer shutdown that would be needed would be painful, but not a lot more painful than the shutdown thats imminent anyway with 261 new cases reported Thursday. It is true that the ICU physicians like myself, who advocate for shutdowns and maximal suppression strategies, dont feel the brunt of those shutdowns directly. However, I resent the implication that we are unaffected. We all have spouses, partners, family members, friends and neighbours who do. Many have businesses and jobs at risk. I can promise you, we dont take the risk of financial injury to them or to the rest of the community lightly. Nor are we immune to mental-health concerns. My wife and I have octogenarian/nonagenarian parents living with us who have not been able to go out safely for a year. And a child who has lost more than a year of on-site schooling. Depression is a serious issue for all of those affected by shutdowns, my family and my colleagues included. As a counterpoint to the premier, Ill point out that we ICU/ER/hospital physicians, and all the other front-line health-care workers, particularly nurses, feel most of the brunt of the failure to expeditiously implement restrictions when it becomes obvious were losing control of case counts. Ive had more than one nurse suggest that they feel less like heroic soldiers in a winning war and more like expendable ammunition in a losing battle. Im seeing spectacular degrees of burnout and emotional devastation among ICU nurses and other health-care workers, including physicians, respiratory therapists (RTs) and others, many of whom are unable to speak their reality owing to employment-related restrictions on their communications with outside parties. If our senior political leaders want to get a real sense of what their preferred strategy of intervening only when hospital capacity is threatened has done to the mental health and well-being of health-care workers, I challenge them to hold a meeting with a group of randomly selected ICU and ER nurses, as well as RTs, outside of working hours and without names being divulged to their employers. Finally, the premier has suggested that he would rather follow the advice of Dr. Brent Roussin and his public health team than outside experts. I have the greatest respect for Roussin and his team, even if I disagree with some of the timing and decisions the premier has ascribed to their advice. I have no doubt Roussin and his team have, in private, given and continue to give the premier the best advice they can. I also have no doubt that the premier, as our most senior political leader, has also integrated the advice of various core constituencies, including the business and religious communities, as well he should. However, if he has made a serious misjudgment on how to balance his obligations to these various interests and constituencies and the community at large, that is ultimately his responsibility. That is the nature of elected political leadership. Nine hundred excess deaths would strongly suggest such a misjudgment. Dr. Anand Kumar is a physician in an intensive care unit in Winnipeg, and a University of Manitoba professor of medicine and medical microbiology. (Newser) "Way more than just the movies stank last year," the Golden Raspberry Awards acknowledged as it awarded a special Razzie to 2020 as the "Worst Calendar Year Ever." The uncoveted Worst Picture award, meanwhile, went to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's election fraud film Absolute Proof, which the Razzies described as a "faux documentary which reputedly cost only $25,000 to make, and lost its maker about $65 million in cancelled business." Lindell also won Worst Actor, while the Worst Actress Razzie went to Kate Hudson for her role in Sia's heavily criticized Music, per the Hollywood Reporter. The movie about a teen girl on the autism spectrum also earned Sia a Razzie for Worst Director and a Worst Supporting Actress award for Maddie Ziegler. story continues below Rudy Giuliani was awarded two Razzies for his unwitting appearance in Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm. The former New York City mayor, who appeared to put his hand down his pants while in a hotel bedroom with the actress playing Borat's daughter, won the Worst Supporting Actor Razzie. The Worst Screen Combo Award went to "Rudy Giuliani & His Pants Zipper." Dolittle and 365 Days led the pack with six nominations apiece but each picture only won one Razzie: Worst Screenplay for 365 Days and Worst Remake, Ripoff, or Sequel for Dolittle. USA Today reports that the Razzies continued its tradition of announcing the year's worst movies the day before the Academy Awards, though it decided to cancel the in-person ceremony for a second year. Click for the full list of winners and nominees. (Read more Razzies stories.) She left the courtroom feeling a profound sense of empathy for Mr. Floyd, saying that the prosecution put a face on a human being to the name of George Floyd. Critics of police violence have become quick to denounce anything that smacks of victim-blaming, saying that a flawed past or an unwillingness to submit to police control should not be a death sentence. As a general rule, the past bad acts of victims are not allowed in the courtroom, any more than those of the accused are, to prevent jurors from making judgments based on past behavior rather than the evidence in the case at hand. But there are exceptions, and victims of police violence have been called out for drug use, failure to pay child support and domestic violence and even been compared unfavorably to a Boy Scout. In the Chauvin case, the defense lawyer, Eric J. Nelson, argued that he needed to present Mr. Floyds past arrests to show a pattern of behavior. And evidence of Mr. Floyds drug use underscored the arguments that Mr. Chauvin was dealing with an unpredictable subject and that the drugs contributed to Mr. Floyds death, Mr. Nelson said. In the case of Mr. Blake, who the authorities say was armed with a knife when Officer Rusten Sheskey shot him in the back last year, the district attorney referenced a history of domestic violence allegations against Mr. Blake at a news conference announcing his decision not to file charges. In an email to The New York Times, Michael D. Graveley, the Kenosha County District Attorney, explained that he was attempting to help the public understand why officers would take a domestic abuse call so seriously. I agree with those who say no one should ever simply make decisions on use-of-force cases by citing individuals prior records or contacts with police, Mr. Graveley wrote. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 15:29:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) holds a leaders' meeting to discuss the ongoing situation in Myanmar at the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 24, 2021. The meeting is participated by leaders of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services and chair of the country's newly formed State Administration Council Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. Foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines attend the meeting as representatives. (Photo by Laily Rachev/Presidential Press Bureau/Handout via Xinhua) JAKARTA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is holding a leaders' meeting here on Saturday to discuss the ongoing situation in Myanmar. The meeting is participated by leaders of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services and chair of the country's newly formed State Administration Council Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. Foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines attend the meeting as representatives. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told a press conference on Friday evening that it would be the first in person meeting of ASEAN leaders since the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shows the leaders' concern about the situation in Myanmar. "The commitment of leaders to meet physically is a reflection of a deep concern about the situation in Myanmar and ASEAN's determination to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation," she said. The one-day closed door meeting is a follow-up to Indonesian President Joko Widodo's talks with Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah as Chair of ASEAN, she said. Around 4,400 police personnel have been deployed at 51 points across the Indonesian capital to secure the meeting. Roads around the ASEAN Secretariat where the meeting is held, are temporarily closed. The meeting, Retno added, would be carried out by implementing maximum health protocols. ASEAN said in a chair's statement released at the Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on March 2 this year that the regional organization was ready to assist Myanmar in a positive, peaceful and constructive manner. Established in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Enditem YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. President of the USA Joe Biden for the 1st time of all U.S. Presidents officially recognized the Armenian Genocide in his message addressed to the Armenian people. ARMENPRESS reports Biden used the word genocide in his message. The statement runs as follows, ''Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring. Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination. We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms. Of those who survived, most were forced to find new homes and new lives around the world, including in the United States. With strength and resilience, the Armenian people survived and rebuilt their community. Over the decades Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic history that brought so many of their ancestors to our shores. We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated. Today, as we mourn what was lost, let us also turn our eyes to the futuretoward the world that we wish to build for our children. A world unstained by the daily evils of bigotry and intolerance, where human rights are respected, and where all people are able to pursue their lives in dignity and security. Let us renew our shared resolve to prevent future atrocities from occurring anywhere in the world. And let us pursue healing and reconciliation for all the people of the world. The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today''. As costs for services and infrastructure mount, Landisburg Borough is considering levying local taxes to pay for those things. And it has been discussing the matter since approving its 2021 budget, when council learned the costs for fire and emergency medical services would increase. If council instituted taxes, it would buck a long-standing trend of Landisburg being one of only two municipalities in Perry County without local taxes. Some on council see it as a necessity of last resort, even if they dont like it. Its not just fire and EMS, council President Steven Kowalewski said. Theres costs we have to anticipate. Over the past couple months, Kowalewski has been the main proponent on council for a small, limited real estate tax to cover the $5,200 fire and EMS contributions, the tax administration, as well as plan for other borough needs like road repairs. For decades, he said, the borough has been paying its expenses out of savings and a very limited revenue stream, but that cant continue forever as costs for everything increase. Taking it out of savings is unsustainable, Kowalewski said. Landisburg does not currently have a real estate tax, nor does it have a per capita or occupational tax. The only other municipality without a general real estate tax is Carroll Twp., but it has a dedicated fire tax and a per capita tax. At the April 12 meeting, Kowalewski outlined several options for a tax and what they would mean to property owners and borough revenue. There are 82 properties in the borough with a median value (absolute middle) of $140,900, according to his research. Depending on the tax millage, the borough could raise between $6,900 and $14,400 in property taxes. That would cover its costs and leave a little left over to address other problems, such as roads and storm water facilities. Given the median value of a property, a tax rate of 1.25 mills (0.00125) would be a tax bill of $176.13, or $14.68 per month, according to Kowalewskis numbers. That rate would raise the most money for the borough. A rate of 0.07 mills (0.0007) would raise a total of $8,087 for the borough. Thats a bill of $98.63 per property or $8.22 per month. The rates go down from there. The table shows a breakdown of possible tax rates that were put forward by Landisburg Council President Steven Kowalewski at last weeks meeting, and their implications for property owners. Council has not passed a real estate tax, but discussion continues due to the boroughs rising costs. (Jim T. Ryan table) Not everyone in the community or on borough council believes thats the best way to go. That rates too high, said Jill Quigley, a resident who was formerly on the sewer authority. She was talking specifically about the amount the borough is charged for fire and EMS services. No ones working, but were talking about raising taxes? asked Councilman Doug Morrison, referencing high unemployment rates in the state due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Morrison is a critic of the taxing idea, encouraging the borough to instead find more places to cut from its budget. Kowalewski and borough secretary/treasurer Thomas Gates have pointed out the budget is already lean. Morrison is no stranger to the need for money to repair borough infrastructure. Hes on the boroughs sewer authority which recently raised sewer rates to cover its costs and raise money for repairs. Others want the borough to explore alternative funding options, such as grants, for borough projects, or taxes other than real estate. Larry Baum said real estate taxes are the most unfair system in Pennsylvania because a large amount of land doesnt necessarily mean a person has a lot of money. Lets do something fair, Baum said, preferring something like the occupational tax levied on those working in the borough. The borough gets much of its revenue from just three sources: liquid fuels money from the state that can be used only for road-related work; the real estate transfer tax, which is only levied when a property is sold and provides inconsistent funding; and 0.7% from the earned income tax collected by the school district. Kowalewski noted the occupational tax would be difficult to collect among some of the boroughs transient residents. He also noted while grants can help tackle borough projects, theres no guarantee of receiving them and the borough cant use them to cover recurring revenue shortfalls. Council has not yet voted on a specific solution to its revenue problems. But its limited by state law in how it can raise revenue, and it needs to make a decision this year before costs begin to spiral in the future. Our solicitor said by far (taxes) was our best avenue to go down, Kowalewski said. Jim T. Ryan can be reached via email at Myanmar's military checkpoint is seen on the way to the congress compound in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, February 1, 2021. Photo by Reuters. Vietnam's Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son stressed the importance of restraint, a halt to violence, humanitarian support, use of dialogue and the central role of ASEAN in addressing Myanmar crisis. During a meeting with the United Nations Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener in Indonesia on the sidelines of the ASEAN leaders summit Saturday, Son said Vietnam is closely following developments in Myanmar and is playing an active part, together with ASEAN, in looking for the most suitable solutions to deal with its ongoing crisis. The only ASEAN country now working as a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, Vietnam has been striving for the U.N. to enter balanced and comprehensive discussions on Myanmar, Son said, according to a statement from the foreign ministry. He expressed his hope the international community, the U.N. and Burgener herself would support and assist ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular in dealing with the issue. Burgerner said there have been attempts to seek solutions to the current tensions in Myanmar. The U.N. special envoy expressed her concern about loss of civilian life, especially women and children in Myanmar, and hoped ASEAN would take positive steps, contributing to the settlement of disagreements, and bring peace to Myanmar. Myanmar has been in crisis since a coup on Feb. 1, with almost daily protests and a crackdown by the junta in which hundreds of people have been killed. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Burmese activist group, says 745 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and 3,371 people detained. The special summit between leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is held in Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday, chaired by Brunei's Sultan and Prime Minister Hassanal Bolkiah. Myanmar's military junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, arrived in Jakarta on Saturday to attend the summit at which analysts expect little progress apart from serving as a necessary first step towards international dialogue. Ray Makela CEO at the Sales Readiness Group (SRG) has been accepted into Forbes Business Development Council, an invitation-only community for senior-level sales and business development executives. Ray Makela was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his experience. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors. We are honored to welcome Ray Makela at SRG into the community, said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Business Development Council. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world. As an accepted member of the Council, Ray has access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to help him reach peak professional influence. He will connect and collaborate with other respected local leaders in a private forum. Ray will also be invited to work with a professional editorial team to share his expert insights in original business articles on Forbes.com, and to contribute to published Q&A panels alongside other experts. Finally, Ray will benefit from exclusive access to vetted business service partners, membership-branded marketing collateral, and the high-touch support of the Forbes Councils member concierge team. It's an honor to be included in this exclusive thought-leadership group. I look forward to collaborating with the business development council members and sharing relevant sales content with Forbes.com readers, stated Ray Makela. https://profiles.forbes.com/members/bizdev/profile/Ray-Makela-CEO-Managing-Director-Sales-Readiness-Group/e7126a16-df5c-4dfa-b39a-5f2d4aa0ccaa ABOUT FORBES COUNCILS Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive. For more information about Forbes Business Development Council, visit forbesbizdevcouncil.com. To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com. ABOUT SALES READINESS GROUP Sales Readiness Group (SRG) is a top sales training company that helps B2B businesses develop effective sales organizations. Our sales training programs are customized to meet our clients' specific requirements. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you improve sales performance at https://www.salesreadinessgroup.com/sales-training-company/schedule Military vehicles carrying missiles drive past the Tiananmen Gate during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Beijing, China, on Sept. 3, 2015. (Rolex Dela Pena - Pool /Getty Images) CCP Military Expert: Deadline for Taiwan Issue May Be as Soon as Tomorrow, or as Late as 2050 Chinese officials reiterate commitment for so-called national reunification with Taiwan, a democratic island that Beijing claims as its own, amid heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait. On April 16, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng told The Associated Press: Chinas national reunification is an unstoppable historical process and trend. When asked if the Chinese side has a timetable for bringing Taiwan under Beijings rule, Le didnt directly respond, but emphasized, This is a historical process. The Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) military expert, Wang Yunfei, provided his interpretation of Les statement in an interview with Wenweipo.com, which is under the control of the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government in Hong Kong. Wang is reportedly a researcher at a national defense policy institute. However, information about both him and the agency is opaque and unreachable online. What Le suggested, the expert explained, was China does have a timeline, meaning the unification may come as soon as tomorrow, or in 2050 at the latest. That cannot be postponed indefinitely, Wang emphasized. According to him, the historical process of cross-strait reunification is in the hands of China. It would approach as long as Taiwan touches any of the so-called three red lines set out in Chinas Anti-Secession Law, which was passed in March 2005. Those red lines are embodied in Article 8 of the law, including Taiwans secession from China under any name or by any means; occurrence of major incidents entailing the secession; or the loss of possibilities for peaceful reunification. The anti-session law gives communist China the legal basis for military action against Taiwan if it secedes or seems about to, making the narrow Taiwan Strait a potential military flashpoint. During the interview, Wang also warned that there is no way to peaceful, gradual, or de jure Taiwan independence. In fact, China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. The CCP regime has intensified its effort in sending its military airplanes to enter Taiwans air defense identification zone (ADIZ), particularly after President Tsai Ing-Wen won her re-election by a landslide in January 2020. In response to growing threats from the CCP regime, the Tsai administration has shown its resolve to confront China while seeking closer ties with the United States, Japan, and other democracies. On April 16, a joint statement after a summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga mentioned the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, the first reference to Taiwan in such a declaration by leaders of the two countries since 1969. The latest move by the United States is the passage of the Strategic Competition Act of 2021 on April 21, which is meant to ensure that the United States is capable of meeting challenges from communist China. The act proposes regular arms sales to Taiwan, to strengthen Taiwans defense capabilities, to encourage and promote Taiwans development of asymmetric combat capabilities, pointing out that relevant measures will help prevent the PLA from projecting military power to areas beyond the First Island Chain. A motive for the attack was not made clear by prosecutors, but it began shortly after 2 a.m. March 26, when police were called to the Galway Bar and Grill, 12045 Roosevelt Road, in unincorporated Proviso Township near Elmhurst after being notified of a person shot in the parking lot. Another gender reveal party turned dangerous, this time in New Hampshire, with an explosion that shook nearby homes. The partygoers detonated around 80 pounds of explosives, Kingston police said in a statement. They used an explosive called Tannerite, a target used for firearms practice that also comes in a gender-reveal variety. After Kingston police arrived Tuesday, they said, the partygoers admitted the explosion had been part of a gender reveal party and later told a detective that they'd chosen the quarry because they felt it was a "safe location" to detonate the explosives. But the detonation triggered tremors that some neighbors who lived near the quarry believed came from an earthquake. One woman told CNN affiliate WBZ the explosion caused cracks in her home's foundation. Another neighbor called the explosion "absolutely over the top, ridiculous." "I'm not upset because I have chalk or confetti blown in my way," Sara Taglieri told CNN affiliate WBZ. "I mean, it was an explosion that rocked my house, my neighbors, my community and my town." The Tannerite gender reveal target contains 1 pound of the explosive material combined with a blue or pink powder, according to its website. Tannerite falls under the same federal laws "as black powder and all other explosives that are exempt for sporting purposes from the federal regulations of commercial explosives in their unmixed form," per its site. The person who purchased -- and detonated -- the explosives turned himself in, according to Kingston police. Officials are still determining "what charges will be forthcoming." Based on the color powder released in the explosion, the partygoers will soon celebrate the birth of a boy. Kingston police didn't report any injuries from the explosion. Other gender reveal parties that have triggered explosions have caused significant harm: In February, a soon-to-be-father in New York died after a device exploded. That same month, a Michigan man was killed when a "celebratory cannon" exploded. And the El Dorado Fire in Southern California, a sprawling wildfire that scorched more than 10,500 acres in 2020, was caused by a pyrotechnic device used during a gender reveal party, fire officials said at the time. By Juby Babu and Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -Canadian Pacific Railway on Saturday welcomed a favorable regulatory decision related to its proposed merger with Kansas City Southern, on the same day that Kansas City said its board has determined that a competing offer from Canadian National Railway could be expected to lead to a "superior proposal." Kansas City Southern said the board made its determination unanimously and said it would open negotiations with Canadian National, although it remains "bound by the terms of the CP merger agreement." It noted that its board "has not determined" that the CN proposal "in fact constitutes a Company Superior Proposal." Canadian Pacific's $25 billion cash-and-stock offer, at the time the deal was announced in March, values Kansas City Southern at $275 per share. Canadian National's rival cash-and-stock offer, made earlier this week, values Kansas City Southern at $325 a share. Canadian Pacific on Saturday touted a ruling by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, which oversees freight rail, that a waiver of stricter rules governing mergers granted to Kansas City Southern in 2001 would be applicable to a merger of Kansas City and Canadian Pacific. The pre-2001 rule judges a proposed merger on whether it would adversely affect competition. Under the rule introduced in 2001, rail merger applicants must demonstrate that a proposed tie-up would be in the public interest. Kansas City Southern had been granted the waiver based on its small size. The STB on Friday confirmed that the waiver it granted to Kansas City Southern in 2001 is applicable to the proposed friendly combination of the two companies. Both companies expect the STB's review to be completed by the middle of 2022. According to the regulator, the merger would result in the smallest Class I railroad, based on U.S. operating revenues and also result in few overlapping routes. Following Canadian National's rival $33.7 billion offer for Kansas City Southern on Tuesday, CP said it would not raise its bid. Story continues Canadian National Railway said in a statement on Saturday that it looked forward to engaging with Kansas City to finalize a merger agreement and that it welcomed the determination by Kansas City Southern's board. Canadian Pacific, in a response, said the Kansas City Southern board was simply meeting its obligations under the merger agreement with CP and fulfilling its "fiduciary duty" to its shareholders by assessing the Canadian National offer. (Reporting by Juby Babu and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler) The administration announced a 34-hour from 8 pm on Saturday amid a surge in cases in the Union Territory. "Complete corona to be observed in the Union Territory from 8 PM, 24th April (Saturday) till 6 AM, April 26 (Monday). Essential and emergency services to be allowed. All market, commercial institutions will remain closed," the office of Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha said in a tweet. On April 8, a night from 10 pm to 6 am was imposed in the urban areas of eight districts, which was extended to the municipal and urban local body limits of all the 20 districts in the Union Territory on April 20. Jammu and Kashmir's tally of COVID-19 cases surged to 1,56,344 on Friday as 1,937 more people tested positive for the viral disease, while the death toll due to it climbed to 2,111 with a record daily jump of 19 fatalities, officials said. Besides extending the night curfew on April 20, the administration had ordered the closure of 50 per cent shops on alternate basis in municipal and urban areas and capped the passenger capacity in public transport at 50 per cent. While the shopkeepers followed the order with some reservations, the transporters in the Jammu region went on an indefinite strike on April 21, demanding a 50-per cent hike in the passenger fare to save them from operational losses. The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) appealed to the Union Territory administration to review its decision pertaining to the opening of 50 per cent shops on alternate days, claiming that the schedule formulated by the administration is causing much inconvenience to both the trading community as well as the people at large. Demanding a review of the order, the trade body suggested that the shops and other establishments should be allowed to work daily from 10 am to 6 pm with a two-day weekend lockdown on Saturdays and Sundays. In view of the marriage season having commenced, the JCCI said people, especially those who have weddings in their families, are highly perturbed over this schedule, which needs an immediate review. Expressing similar views, the Federation of Traders' Associations said there are some markets in Jammu that deal in single-stuff products and keeping the entire market closed on particular days causes great inconvenience to people. Meanwhile, the Nehru Market and Kanak Mandi wholesale markets in Jammu city remained voluntarily closed on Saturday. Ware House Nehru Market Traders' Association president Deepak Gupta said the decision to observe a weekend lockdown was taken in view of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. However, he said the association does not support the administration's decision of opening 50 per cent shops on alternate days as the move is not in favour of the general public and the traders. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A US media firm suggested the Duchess of Sussex front a show called Princesses And Puppies during a meeting at Kensington Palace almost a year before she and Prince Harry unveiled their Megxit plans, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The couple met executives from streaming service Quibi on January 30, 2019. Yet during an interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this year, Prince Harry said the couple 'didn't have a plan' after they quit as working Royals in January 2020 and signed lucrative deals with Netflix and Spotify only after the family 'cut me off financially'. According to a source, the couple had previously discussed various projects with executives at the now-defunct Quibi. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (pictured during their March interview with Oprah) met executives from streaming service Quibi on January 30, 2019, despite saying in the interview that they 'didn't have a plan' after they quit as working Royals in January 2020 One idea suggested by the firm's founder, Jeffrey Katzenberg, was for the Duchess to host an online show that combined Royalty and pets. 'Meghan seemed to find that idea offensive and though she was gracious in the moment, people in the room were a bit appalled that this was the pitch to her,' said the source. 'Jeffrey thought that puppies and princesses both sold well so if you put them together you'd have something incredibly commercial.' Left: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Quibi's founder, who suggested Meghan host an online show that combined Royalty and pets. Right: Meghan on January 30, 2019, when she and Harry met Quibi executives Mr Katzenberg, 70, is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, having headed Disney Studios and founded the DreamWorks studios with Steven Spielberg. He launched Quibi a streaming service to broadcast 'short-bite' shows on mobile phones in August 2018 with 1.3 billion in funding. Joining Mr Katzenberg at the meeting at Kensington Palace were fellow Quibi executives Janice Min and Brian Tannenbaum. The source said: 'I believe Quibi first approached Harry and Meghan, who invited executives to meet them in London. The couple met executives from streaming service Quibi (logo pictured) on January 30, 2019 'There was discussion about a sustainable travel programme and another show about Harry's charity interests in Africa. There was talk about Meghan narrating a nature documentary. Quibi held several discussions with them.' The Duke reportedly had one further in-person meeting with Quibi executives in London in January 2020 the month that the couple stepped back from Royal duties but the talks petered out. Harry and Meghan later relocated to California, where they now live in an 11 million mansion. Quibi collapsed last December. Yesterday, Ms Min and Mr Tannenbaum both said they were unable to comment. Mr Katzenberg did not reply to requests for comment. Oprah 'shock' at royal racism claim Oprah Winfrey has admitted she was 'surprised' that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex 'went all the way there' with their allegations of racism against the Royal Family during their bombshell interview with her. Ms Winfrey, 67, claimed she had 'no idea' her interview would cause such a sensation after the Duchess revealed she felt suicidal, but was unable to get help. 'I had no idea that it would have the reverberating impact it has had and continues to have,' the chat-show host said. Ms Winfrey told a podcast that she had been 'shocked' when Meghan claimed there had been 'conversations with Harry about how dark [Archie's] skin might be when he's born', adding: 'I'm like, 'What? You're going there? You're going all the way there?' ' She added: 'They wanted to be able to tell their story and tell it in such a way that allowed them to be as truthful as possible.' Advertisement Prince Harry had lunch with philanthropist Wallis Annenberg at an exclusive Hollywood club on the Queen's 95th birthday after returning to California following Philip's funeral, reports claim By Martin Robinson, chief reporter for MailOnline Prince Harry reportedly dined with the doyenne of LA philanthropy Wallis Annenberg at Hollywood's most secretive hotspot as his grandmother the Queen celebrated her 95th birthday alone 5,500 miles away in the UK, it was revealed today. The Duke of Sussex reportedly ate lunch with Ms Annenberg, a 81-year-old heiress to her late father's US media empire, at the exclusive San Vicente Bungalows on Wednesday - 24 hours after returning to California to be with pregnant Meghan and their son Archie. The Annenberg Foundation pours billions into projects linked to climate change, animal welfare and social justice in America, areas which Harry, who has already secured two new paid jobs since quitting as a frontline royal and settling in California, is known to be interested in. A source told Page Six: 'They sat outside, far from other people, and Harry came in wearing a mask'. The club, owned by Sunset Tower hotel millionaire Jeff Klein, is one of the LA's most exclusive joints because it bans mobile phones and taking photos is prohibited with ejection and permanent expulsion the punishment for breaking the rules. Father-of-one Harry was expected to begin a second 10-day quarantine in California a requirement for international travelers journeying to the US, although it is not mandatory unlike in the UK. CDC guidelines recommend travelers get a Covid-19 test prior to departure and self-isolate for 10 days after they return. But while LA guidelines say travelers should quarantine, that advice includes exemptions for those traveling for work or for urgent family matters. It is not known if Harry has been vaccinated, but if he is then that would also allow him to leave his home. MailOnline has asked the Duke of Sussex's spokesman to comment. Wallis Annenberg's father Walter, a playboy Anglophile publisher of US newspapers and magazines and later US ambassador to Britain under Richard Nixon, was a friend of Prince Charles and hosted the Queen and Prince Philip at his California ranch in the 1980s. When he died in 2002 Charles had reportedly hoped cash would be left for the Prince's Trust in his will, but he was left disappointed. San Vicente Bungalows' owner Jeff Klein is said to have launched a probe into how news of Harry and Ms Annenberg's meeting leaked. The Page Six source said: 'Its just too juicy I had to divulge', adding Mr Klein is 'crazed and trying to figure out how the privacy policy has been breached'. Kleins private social club in West Hollywood has 750 highly vetted members - but only as long as everything is kept secret, especially their guests. In 2019 there was a huge row when it was reported by Page Six that Steven Spielberg and Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos met, breaching club rules on discretion. Klein said he had narrowed down his search for the rat to three people - half-joking that he was willing to use Mossad to root out the spy - and he will upset again that someone has leaked news of Harry's meeting. The club has private rooms, several bars and for those least worried about being seen, tables in the garden surrounding a swimming pool. Prince Harry reportedly dined with the doyenne of LA philanthropy Wallis Annenberg at Hollywood's most secretive hotspot on the Queen's 95th birthday Private: The exclusive club they met at is considered the most secretive of the private clubs in and around West Hollywood Celebrity oasis: San Vicente Bungalows is a celebrity hotspot created by Jeff Klein - phones and photos are strictly banned Prince Harry's chauffeur-driven MPV was seen leaving the private terminal at LAX, reserved for celebrities and the super-rich, and was spotted again arriving at the Sussexes' Montecito mansion at around 4pm on Tuesday Poignant images of Her Majesty bowing her head and watching the Duke of Edinburgh's coffin from behind a mask in St George's Chapel moved millions in Britain and around the world on Saturday. She spent her first birthday without him in 73 years on Wednesday Harry returned home to California from London on Tuesday, Dailymail.com revealed, missing the Queen's birthday on Wednesday and with the Windsors' family row unresolved after meeting only once with his father and Prince William following the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral. William had joint meeting with Harry because they were too scared to meet him individually Charles and William preferred to meet with Harry together at Windsor so that nobody's words could be misconstrued afterwards, MailOnline's Dan Wootton revealed. A senior royal insider said: 'Obviously after the worldwide fallout of the Oprah interview trust has to be rebuilt. 'There was no official wake after the funeral, but Charles, William and Harry took the opportunity to speak and catch-up face to face after many months apart. 'They were only able to spend a short time together outdoors given Covid restrictions and also without staff, including senior courtiers, overhearing what was being said. 'It was important to Charles and William that they were both there together. It means nothing spoken about can be misconstrued in the future.' Kate also attended parts of the talks, some of which took place at Frogmore Cottage, Harry's home within the grounds of Windsor Castle, according to The Sun. Given the tensions, sparked by claims of racism and uncaring behaviour by the Royal Family when Meghan says she was suffering from mental health issues, a full rapprochement did not occur. Another senior royal insider said: 'There is much pain and hurt on both sides, so this reconciliation will take place in baby steps. 'First, they need to decide on some ground rules as to how they conduct business going forward in a way that makes all parties feel safe and protected.' Crucially, Charles and William have the Queen's support to deal with the situation. The source explained: 'The Queen has made it clear to senior advisers that she is united with Charles and William, and was disappointed with aspects of Harry and Meghan's interview.' Advertisement His grandmother the Queen turned 95 - just days after the funeral of her beloved husband of 73 years - and spent her first birthday without him in more than seven decades. Her Majesty, the world's oldest reigning monarch, spent a 'low key' day at Windsor Castle, walking her dogs supported by a small bubble of staff. Harry did reportedly see her privately twice before the funeral. Family members living closest to the Queen including Prince Andrew, Princess Eugenie, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex, may not have been able to see her. There was also no traditional gun salutes or birthday photo due to the monarch remaining in mourning. Harry also chose to fly from Britain with the rift with his father and brother caused by his decision to emigrate and pour his heart out to Oprah still seemingly unresolved. The Duke of Sussex, 36, is understood to have flown into Los Angeles on an American Airlines flight from London Heathrow shortly after 1.30pm. His chauffeur-driven MPV was seen leaving the private terminal at LAX, reserved for celebrities and the super-rich, and was spotted again arriving at the Sussexes' Montecito mansion at around 4pm. After Saturday's emotional funeral William and Harry took 'baby steps' towards healing their relationship after they walked back to Windsor Castle from St George's Chapel together after being pushed together by peacemaker Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. Later there was a face-to-face meeting within the grounds of the castle between the brothers and their father Prince Charles, but, in an unprecedented development that lays bare the depth of their rift, Charles and William preferred to meet with Harry together so that nobody's words could be misconstrued afterwards, MailOnline's Dan Wootton revealed. Harry had been widely reported to have been planning to stay for the Queen's birthday, although sources said he was 'conflicted' about the decision and wanted to get home to Meghan. He had flown into the UK on an American Airlines flight just over a week earlier and spent most of his British trip in quarantine at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor. Harry's brief visit to the UK for the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh was his first trip back to Britain in a year. Pregnant Meghan, who is expecting a baby girl in the summer, was told not to travel with him but did send a handwritten note and a wreath. The trip also marked the first time he had seen his family since making explosive allegations about royal racism during an interview with Oprah last month and claiming his father and brother are 'trapped in the system'. Sources told the Mail on Sunday Harry received a frosty reception when he appeared at Philip's funeral on Saturday and was largely ignored by senior royals, among them Princess Anne and the Earl and Countess of Wessex. His presence also caused problems for courtiers although the Duke of Edinburgh had wanted military uniform to be worn for his funeral, Harry is not entitled to wear it having given up his military roles as part of the Megxit deal. Instead, the Queen decided to spare Harry's blushes by having the royal party wear morning suits to the funeral. The royal, 36, is understood to have flown into LAX on an American Airlines flight that arrived in Los Angeles shortly after 1.30pm local time His car was seen leaving the private terminal at LAX minutes after the plane landed and was spotted again arriving in Montecito around 4pm Pregnant Meghan, who is expecting a baby girl in the summer, was told not to travel with him but did send a handwritten note and a wreath The monarch said in a statement: 'We have been deeply touched, and continue to be reminded that Philip had such an extraordinary impact on countless people throughout his life' He reportedly texted with his father and brother beforehand but didn't see them in person until shortly before the service began. Although William and Harry's interactions initially looked frosty, they were pictured chatting together after the service as they made their way back to the castle. Prince Charles and his two sons are then reported to have spent three hours 'clearing the air' immediately after the funeral. Although William and Harry's interactions initially looked frosty, they were pictured chatting together after the service as they made their way back to the castle But Page Six and The Telegraph both reported that Harry and Charles did not have a one-on-one due to fears of a misunderstanding. The pair were said to be unlikely to meet again before the Duke of Sussex headed back to the US, reported The Times. Sources told the outlets that both Charles and William wanted each other present for any meeting for fear that a 'twisted version of events' would leak out from Harry's camp. Harry is due to return to the UK again at the end of July for the unveiling of a memorial to his mother Princess Diana. The Queen said she was 'deeply touched' by the 'support and kindness' shown by the public following the death of the Duke of Edinburgh as she marked her 95th birthday without her beloved husband of 73 years. In her first comments since Prince Philip's death, the monarch thanked well-wishers across the globe for the tributes paid to her husband which have 'deeply touched' the royal family. The Queen said she and her family were in a 'period of great sadness' but were comforted by words of praise for Philip, who died peacefully at Windsor aged 99. Her Majesty said: 'I have, on the occasion of my 95th birthday today, received many messages of good wishes, which I very much appreciate. 'While as a family we are in a period of great sadness, it has been a comfort to us all to see and to hear the tributes paid to my husband, from those within the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and around the world. 'My family and I would like to thank you all for the support and kindness shown to us in recent days. 'We have been deeply touched, and continue to be reminded that Philip had such an extraordinary impact on countless people throughout his life.' (Natural News) Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on April 20 called for the Republican Party to reduce its financial dependence on big companies, while urging the breakup of some mega-corporations that exert too much power on American politics and seek to run our democracy. (Article by Tom Ozimek republished from TheEpochTimes.com) Hawley made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News Primetime, after being asked about corporations weighing in on hot-button political issues such as their recent pushback against Georgias voter integrity laws. What can we do to get corporations to back off a lot of these culture war issues that are so divisive at the center of American life? Fox News host Ben Domenech asked. I dont think theres any question that these mega-corporations have way too much power in American society, way too much power in American politics, and they want to run our democracy is the bottom line. They want to run our government, Hawley replied. And the answer is, for many of them, we have to break them up. Earlier in April, Hawley introduced legislation called the Trust-Busting for the 21st Century Act, which would ban all mergers and acquisitions by companies with a market capitalization of over $100 billion, empower the Federal Trade Commission to prohibit digital dominant firms from buying out potential competitors, and force companies that lose antitrust lawsuits to forfeit profits from monopolistic practices. A small group of woke mega-corporations control the products Americans can buy, the information Americans can receive, and the speech Americans can engage in. These monopoly powers control our speech, our economy, our country, and their control has only grown because Washington has aided and abetted their quest for endless power, Hawley said in an April 12 statement. Woke corporations want to run this country and Washington is happy to let them. Its time to bust them up and restore competition. Hawleys rhetoric on woke corporations mirrored remarks made by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who in early April said it was foolish for business leaders to denounce Georgias election integrity law, whose critics claim it imposes unfair barriers to voting and whose proponents say it makes elections more secure. Its quite stupid to jump in the middle of a highly controversial issue, McConnell told reporters at a press conference in his home state of Kentucky. McConnells remarks followed a major weigh-in by corporate America on election reform efforts, with a joint statement by 200 companiesincluding PayPal, Dow, Microsoft, and Ubersignaling their opposition to bills that they argue make it harder to cast a vote. There are hundreds of bills threatening to make voting more difficult in dozens of states nationwide, the statement reads, signed by senior executives at corporations also including Estee Lauder, HP, LinkedIn, and Levis. We call on elected leaders in every state capitol and in Congress to work across the aisle and ensure that every eligible American has the freedom to easily cast their ballot and participate fully in our democracy. Dont pick sides in these big fights, McConnell said. Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order. Hawley told Fox News in the interview that its absolutely vital for the Republican Party to end its financial dependence on corporate America, especially the multinational globalist companies. Our voters have been telling us for years that they dont like our jobs being shipped overseas. They dont like the way that these corporations kowtow to China on one hand and then turn around and lecture Americans about social justice at home when they are some of the worst offenders, he said. Were not going to base our policy around them, Hawley said. Its time we listen to our voters. And weve got to get tough on the corporations themselves. And I say again for those that are monopolies, they should be broken up. Read more at: TheEpochTimes.com and VoteRepublican.news. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday inaugurated a 280-litre per minute capacity PSA plant at a COVID-19-designated hospital at Kolavada in Gujarat's Gandhinagar Speaking on the occasion, the Union home minister said 11 more such plants will be set up in Gujarat under the Prime Minister's Citizens Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation (PM CARES) Fund. Shah inaugurated the pressure swing absorption (PSA) plant at a COVID-19 centre set up at an Ayurvedic hospital at Kolavada, which falls under his Parliamentary constituency of Gandhinagar. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel were also present on the occasion. Under the PM Cares Fund, 11 more PSA plans will come up in Gujarat to meet the growing requirements of oxygen for COVID-19 patients in the state, Shah said, adding that hundreds of such plants will be set up across the country under the fund. "At the Kolavada plant, 280 litres of oxygen will be concentrated after drawing from the air and supplied to the patients every minute. An arrangement has been made to ensure that the supply continues to meet the requirements of all 200 patients at the centre (when the facility is at its full capacity)," he said The government has also kept large gas cylinders in reserve in case of emergency, he said. At present, 66 patients are being treated at the facility and are on oxygen support. "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hundreds of such oxygen plants are being set up across the country under the PM CARES Fund. Gujarat has also received permission to set up 11 plants, which will be functional soon," the Union home minister said. Being an industrial state, Gujarat produces more amount of oxygen compared to other states and has set a beautiful example of supplying the same to them, he said. Shah also provided an assistance of Rs 10 crore to provide necessary healthcare facilities for people of his Gandhinagar constituency. The Chief Minister's Office stated in a release that the facilities will benefit eight lakh people in rural areas. As part of the arrangement, six ambulances, two mobile ICU sand two mobile laboratories have been made available, it was stated. According to the release, equipment including Phaco machines, digital X-ray machines, sonography colour machines, oxygen concentrators, binocular microscopes, digital X-ray machines, BiPAP machines and ventilators have also been procured. Shah had on Friday held a high-level meeting with Rupani and senior government officials to discuss the COVID-19 situation in Gujarat and also visited a 950-bed facility for patients at Ahmedabad's GMDC ground. The facility has been set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with the state government. Shah also announced that a 1,200-bed hospital for COVID-19 patients will soon come up in Gandhinagar. Gujarat on Friday recorded 13,804 COVID-19 cases, with the state's active caseload crossing the 1-lakh mark to 1,00,128. The state's COVID-19 toll has risen to 6,019. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A teen with special needs was arrested in Vacaville on Wednesday and the citys police chief said Friday his department is investigating the circumstances of the arrest, following public outcry. Video showing portions of the arrest obtained by NBC Bay Area and other news outlets appeared to show an officer approach the teen on the sidewalk in the citys Somerville neighborhood Wednesday afternoon. Moments later, the officer appears to grab the teen and violently throw him to the pavement. The teens father, Adam Wolf, identified his son as Preston Wolf, 17. He told news outlets his son has autism and does not like to be touched. On Friday, Police Chief Ian Schmutzler said he appreciated the justified concern raised by Vacaville residents following the videos release. The video came from a doorbell camera. Any time there is a use of force, it is difficult to watch, Schmutzler said in a statement on the departments Facebook page. Sgt. Katie Cardona, a spokeswoman for the department, declined to identify the officer. He was placed on paid administrative leave, she said. Police were called to Casa Verde Court around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday on report of someone being threatened with a weapon in a nearby creek, Cardona said. The teen was arrested on assault with a deadly weapon, she said. He was detained for one hour on scene before being released to his stepmother with a citation. Wolf told news outlets his son had been in a fight with another teen shortly before the arrest. On the dispatch audio published by Solano NewsNet, an officer and dispatcher can be heard discussing the teens autism. An officer asks, Is Preston the subject that has autism? and the dispatcher replying, Possibly special needs per prior contact. Schmutzler said the officer heard on the dispatch radio was not the arresting officer. Based on a preliminary review of dispatch records and body camera footage, the arresting officer did not know the teen had special needs, Schmutzler said. The department is investigating all aspects of the incident, he said. Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NMishanec Joe Weiler, 39, hails from Cincinnati/Norwood, Ohio, and is an attorney with Chalgian & Tripp Law Offices. Weiler resides in Midland with his spouse, Radha, and children, Yashi (10) and Eelan (8). In his professional role, Weiler is an attorney focused on estate planning, administration, contested probate and Medicaid planning. Weiler won the Daily News 20 Under 40 Legal category, and you can learn more about this popular lawyer below. What is the best aspect of your job? Helping people and making a difference. Why is your community a good place to live and work? Midland thrives, because people are invested and give back. What one person has influenced you the most? My Mom she taught me hard work, tenacity and the value of a dollar. What quote do you live by? Never take No for an answer. European CommissionAstraZeneca 422PoliticoReutersAFP 1 422 12631.8 422 Johnson & JohnsonBioNTech/PfizerModernamRNA 601 422- Interview: "Beijing would be icing on the cake for me" Xinhua) 15:33, April 24, 2021 Brodka of Poland competes during the men's 1500m of Speed Skating at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, Feb. 15, 2014. Zbigniew Brodka won the gold medal with 1 minute and 45.006 seconds. (Xinhua/Wang Haofei) The iconic Polish speedskater Zbigniew Brodka wants to compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as "it would be the perfect last chapter of my career". WARSAW, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The iconic Polish speedskater Zbigniew Brodka wants to compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as "it would be the perfect last chapter of my career," the athlete told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. "I am waiting for the situation to develop, and it is not only about the pandemic, but also issues related to my professional work, as I'm a professional firefighter. We need to establish some things so that I can prepare for the Olympic Games as I wish. My dream is to end my career at the most important event in four years," Brodka claimed. The Olympic champion from Sochi suspended his career in 2019, but he is ready to return to the ice. "I hope it will be possible. I have a plan to prepare for the event in my head. I am in talks with the Polish Speed Skating Association. They are waiting for my signal; the calendar is ready. We have to start working seriously because there is less than a year left until the Olympics," the 36-year-old added. "It will be impossible to repeat the success from Sochi and stand on the podium, but I stay optimistic. I want to end my career with a positive result", the Pole said. "Once I make an official decision to start, I'll do my best to prepare well. I want to say that I am starting preparations for the event in Beijing since now, but not everything is up to me." Zbigniew Brodka of Poland reacts after the men's 1500m of Speed Skating at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, Feb. 15, 2014. Zbigniew Brodka won the gold medal with 1 minute and 45.006 seconds. (Xinhua/Wang Haofei) Brodka's shape is a question mark as he didn't compete for a year and a half. However, according to the speed skater, that period without training may help him. "The break had a positive effect on my body; I recovered and healed all the injuries that have been troubling me. I spent a lot of time with my family. My daughters were born at a time when I was most successful, and I couldn't give them as much attention as I wanted. Thanks to my career suspension, I have caught up. I regenerated not only physically but also mentally," Brodka emphasized. "Of course, no one expected a pandemic to break out, so I don't think anyone is 100 percent prepared to compete now. The Winter Olympics will be a great challenge for all athletes." In 2014 at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Brodka won two medals as he was the best in the 1500 meters individual race, and he added bronze in the team competition. "Sometimes I look back to those days because it was the greatest success in my life and an achievement worth remembering. It is motivating for me. On the other hand, I know that I have to work for the next good results. I want to show good form and not just live in the past. A performance in Beijing would be the perfect conclusion to my career," the athlete commented. "Regardless of what will happen, as an athlete, I feel fulfilled. I am very pleased with what I have achieved. The only thing missing is the icing on the cake in the form of a performance in Beijing," Brodka concluded. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) Covishield is the most affordable COVID-19 vaccine available in the market today, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, said in response to the criticism overpricing of the jab made by his company. He said the Covishield price has been determined to ensure sustainability so that when the need arises, there are funds at hand to invest in scaling up and expanding production capacity. Serum Institute, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world by volume, is manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca for supply across the world. In India, this jab is being sold under the name Covishield. In the initial phases of India's vaccination drive, Serum Institute was providing Covishield to the central government at Rs 150 per dose. Before the third phase of the programme begins on May 1, the vaccine manufacturer has announced that it will supply the shot at Rs 400 per dose to state governments and Rs 600 per dose to private hospitals. ALSO READ: Covishield price row: Centre says will procure vaccine at Rs 150, provide for free to states Addressing the public scepticism over the pricing policy, Poonawalla said there was an inaccurate comparison between global prices of the vaccine with India, adding that Covishield is the cheapest COVID-19 vaccine available today. We at @SerumInstIndia have for the past five decades been at the forefront of supplying vaccines and saving lives globally. We care about and respect every human life and strongly believe in transparency, and thus we hope our statement below can clear any confusions. pic.twitter.com/YQ3x38BuFL a SerumInstituteIndia (@SerumInstIndia) April 24, 2021 "Government procurement for countrywide immunisation programs in all countries including India has been at a far lower price as the volumes are very large. For instance, based on the market conditions, prices of many vaccines in the private market including our pneumococcal vaccine are sold at a higher free-economy price, whereas for the government it is almost one-third of the free market price," the Serum CEO said. "Furthermore, there was an inaccurate comparison done between the global prices of the vaccine with India. Covishield is the most affordable COVID-19 vaccine available in the market today. The initial prices were kept very low globally as it was based on advance funding given by those countries for at-risk vaccine manufacturing. The initial supply price of Covishield for all government immunisation programmes, including India, has been the lowest," he further added. ALSO READ: SII's Covishield comprises over 90% of 12.76 crore COVID-19 vaccines administered so far Noting that the current situation is "extremely dire" as the virus is constantly mutating, Poonawalla said that his company has "to ensure sustainability as we must be able to invest in scaling up and expanding our capacity" in the face of this uncertainty. The Serum CEO further argued that a limited portion of Covishield stocks will be sold to private hospitals at Rs 600 per dose, which is four times the price the company is charging from the Centre at Rs 150 per dose. "The price of the vaccine is still lower than a lot of other medical treatment and essentials required to treat COVID-19 and other life-threatening diseases," Poonawalla claimed. "Furthermore, in the interest of public health, it is important for the market to open up for other vaccines from across the world. This will accelerate and advance the immunisation programme of our country," he further said. Earlier today, the Centre has said that it will continue to procure the vaccine for Rs 150 only. It added that the vaccine that will be procured by the Centre will be given to states for free. ALSO READ: Covishield to cost Rs 600 at private hospitals, Rs 400 at govt hospitals (Edited by Vivek Punj) Britain's International Trade Secretary Liz Truss reacts as she arrives in Downing Street in London on Oct. 19, 2020. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images) UK, Australia Agree on Vast Majority of Free Trade Agreement The UK and Australia have reached a consensus on the vast majority of the elements of a comprehensive free trade agreement, the Department for International Trade said on Friday. Both countries are confident that the remaining issues will be resolved, and will now enter a sprint to agree the outstanding details with the aim of reaching agreement in principle by June, said a joint statement released after two days of talks between UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss and Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan in London. Made major breakthrough on #TradeDeal with our friends and allies Australia in talks with @DanTehanWannon. We aim to reach Agreement in Principle by June, securing a win-win deal that delivers jobs across both countries. More https://t.co/HlVz1NhTmX pic.twitter.com/xya0VoE0SU Liz Truss (@trussliz) April 23, 2021 Truss said major breakthroughs have been made and an agreement is now in sight. This is a deal that will deliver for Britain and all parts of our economy. It is a win-win for both nations. It is a fundamentally liberalising agreement that will support jobs across the country and help us emerge stronger from the pandemic, strengthening ties between two democracies who share a fierce belief in freedom, enterprise, and fair play. We will spend the next few weeks ironing out details and resolving outstanding issues, with a view to reaching a deal by June, she said. According to official estimates, a UK-Australia free trade agreement could add 500 million ($692 million) to British economic output over the long term. Britain is pursuing a deal with Australia as one of the pillars of its post-Brexit strategy to build stronger commercial and diplomatic links in the Indo-Pacific region. In February, the UK made a formal request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a landmark 11-country trade deal that includes Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, and Peru. The UK government said CPTPP membership would deepen the UKs access to fast-growing markets and major economies, including Mexico, Malaysia, and Vietnam, for the benefit of UK business. UK trade with the group was worth 111 billion ($152 billion) in 2019, the government said. The figure is dwarfed by Britains trade with the European Union. In 2019, the UK exported to the EU 294 billion ($403 billion) worth of goods and services, and its imports from the EU amounted to 374 billion ($513 billion). The UK exited the EUs single market and customs union on Dec. 31, 2020, when the Brexit transition period ended. Reuters contributed to this report. Most people have a lot of digital footprints since they are usually using the internet to do various activities. Because of the ongoing global pandemic, individuals across the globe are relying on different social media platforms and apps to contact their loved ones, as well as finish their daily job tasks. Since most people are now staying at home, the internet has become even more popular. However, this could lead to some issues that might affect your sensitive information. If you are worried about your identity, there's a way on how you can delete 99% of your digital footprint on the internet. All you need to do is follow this simple guide so that you can erase almost all of your online activities. What is Digital Footprint Rasmussen University explained that digital footprint is all the things about you that are published on the internet. Aside from this, the digital footprint also shows all your online activities. Also Read: New NYC Law Offers Affordable $15-a-Month Intenet to Low-Income Families These include posts, photos, emails, and more. However, researchers also explained that your digital footprint could also reveal your information that is being acquired from your passive online activities. This simply means that even if you don't post anything on the internet, you will still have it as long as you are accessing various websites, social media platforms, and other online sites. On the other hand, your digital footprint is a big deal since various sources confirmed that hackers and other cybercriminals are now evolving. Previously, Facebook suffered from a massive breach that allegedly leaked users' sensitive data. Deleting 99% of Your Digital Footprint According to Reader's Digest, there are various methods you can use to erase almost all of your digital footprints. Here are some of them: The first thing you need to do is delete your old email accounts. Before you can do this, you must have the usernames and passwords of your old email addresses. But, if you didn't save them or can't remember them, all you need to do is contact your email service providers. Aside from deleting email accounts, you can also uninstall all the applications on your smartphone or desktop. Remember, these apps are free, but they will track your online habits and location information in exchange for access. If you still want to access the internet, you can also rely on privacy-protected platforms, such as Duck Duck Go, which is considered safer than the Google browser. For more internet tips and guides, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Is Amazon AirPods Raffle Scam Real? Here's What You Need to Know and How to Avoid It This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 14:22:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan addresses a commemorative activity marking the 50th anniversary of the China-U.S. Ping-Pong Diplomacy via video link in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Saturday called for promoting a stable and sound China-U.S. relationship when addressing via video link a commemorative activity marking the 50th anniversary of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy. Hailing the role of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy in opening up the historical course of the normalization of China-U.S. ties, Wang said the relationship between the two countries, in spite of ups and downs, has in general witnessed constant progress over the past 50 years. Cooperation in various fields between China and the United States has produced fruitful outcomes, delivering tangible benefits to the two peoples and contributing to world prosperity and stability, Wang added. Noting that China-U.S. relations are standing at a crucial juncture, Wang said China and the United States, as the two biggest economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. "Cooperation is the only right choice." He urged the two sides to follow the spirit of the phone conversation between the two leaders in February, draw inspirations from history, focus on cooperation, manage differences and promote exchanges and cooperation of various fields as well as the sound development of ties to contribute more to the victory in COVID-19 response, global economic recovery and world peace and stability. Enditem 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. Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine" and at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Fox Searchlight Pictures and Getty Images We've rounded up the youngest Academy Award nominees and winners of all time. The youngest in history was Justin Henry, nominated in 1979 when he was just 8 years old. The list includes Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, Keisha Castle-Hughes, and more. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Timothee Chalamet ("Call Me By Your Name") - 22 years old Timothee Chalamet was nominated for best actor in 2018. Sony Pictures Classics Chalamet starred as the 17-year-old Elio in 2017's breakout indie film "Call Me By Your Name." Though Chalamet was 22 by the time he was nominated for the role, the rising star was 19 when the movie was filmed. Saoirse Ronan ("Brooklyn") - 21 years old Saoirse Ronan was nominated for best actress in 2016. 20th Century Fox "Brooklyn" was nominated for best actress, best adapted screenplay, and best picture at the 88th Academy Awards. The movie didn't win in any of its categories, and Saoirse Ronan lost best actress to Brie Larson for her performance in "Room." This was Ronan's second Oscar nomination. The now-25-year-old actress is up for her fourth nomination this year for 2019's "Little Women." Marlee Matlin ("Children of a Lesser God") - 21 years old Marlee Matlin was nominated for best actress in 1987. Paramount Pictures "Children of a Lesser God" was nominated for five awards at the 59th Academy Awards, including best picture, best actress, best actor, best supporting actress, and best adapted screenplay. Matlin was the only winner from the film. Matlin has held the record as youngest best actress winner for 31 years, and she is (to date) the only deaf recipient of an Academy Award in any category. Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea") - 20 years old Lucas Hedges was nominated for best supporting actor in 2017. Roadside Attractions/Amazon Studios "Manchester by the Sea" was nominated for six total Oscars, though it only took awards home for best original screenplay (Kenneth Lonergan) and best actor (Casey Affleck). Hedges lost the Oscar to Mahershala Ali for his role in "Moonlight." The young actor had a supporting role in 2017's breakout hit "Lady Bird," though he was not nominated for a second time. Story continues Ellen Page ("Juno") - 20 years old Ellen Page was nominated for best actress in 2008. Fox Searchlight Pictures "Juno" was nominated at the 80th Academy Awards for best original screenplay, best actress, best director, and best picture though it only won for its original screenplay. Page lost the Oscar to Marion Cotillard for her performance in "La Vie en Rose." Keira Knightley ("Pride and Prejudice") - 20 years old Keira Knightley was nominated for best actress in 2006. Focus Features The 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" was nominated for four awards at the 78th Academy Awards, including best actress, best original score, best art direction, and best costume design. The movie didn't win in any of its nominated categories, and Knightley lost the Oscar to Reese Witherspoon for her performance in "Walk the Line." Timothy Hutton ("Ordinary People") - 20 years old Timothy Hutton was nominated for best supporting actor in 1981. Paramount "Ordinary People" recieved a whopping six Oscar nominations at the 53rd Academy Awards. Hutton won in the best supporting actor category, and the movie also took home the statue for best picture, best director, and best adapted screenplay. Hutton's "Ordinary People" co-stars Judd Hirsch and Mary Tyler Moore did not win in their categories for best supporting actor and best actress. Isabelle Adjani ("The Story of Adele H.") - 20 years old Isabelle Adjani was nominated for best actress in 1976. United Artists Adjani starred in this French drama and garnered a nomination for best actress. It was the only Academy Award nomination for "The Story of Adele H." at the 48th annual awards. She lost the Oscar to Louise Fletcher for her performance in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Jennifer Lawrence ("Winter's Bone") - 20 years old Jennifer Lawrence was nominated for best actress in 2011. Roadside Attractions "Winter's Bone" was nominated for four Oscars at the 83rd Academy Awards, including best picture, best supporting actor, and best adapted screenplay. This was Lawrence's first Oscar nomination, though she lost to Natalie Portman for her performance in "Black Swan." Lawrence was nominated again for best actress (and won) for "Silver Linings Playbook" when she was 22. Mickey Rooney ("Babes in Arms") - 19 years old Mickey Rooney was nominated for best actor in 1939. MGM "Babes in Arms," starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, was nominated for best actor and best original score at the 12th Academy Awards. The young Rooney lost to Robert Donat for his performance in "Goodbye, Mr. Chips." Leonardo DiCaprio ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape") - 19 years old Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for best supporting actor in 1993. Paramount Pictures DiCaprio's role in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" earned the actor his first Oscar nomination, and the sole nomination for the movie. He was subsequently nominated for best actor three times, and finally won the Oscar in 2017 for his performance in "The Revenant." River Phoenix ("Running on Empty") - 18 years old River Phoenix was nominated for best supporting actor in 1989. Warner Bros. "Running on Empty" was nominated for best original screenplay, and Phoenix got the nod for best supporting actor. He lost the Oscar to Kevin Kline for his performance in "A Fish Called Wanda." Phoenix died five years later at the young age of 23 due to combined drug intoxication. Sal Mineo ("Rebel Without a Cause") - 17 years old Sal Mineo was nominated for best supporting actor in 1955. Warner Bros. "Rebel Without a Cause" is an iconic movie surrounded by tragedy. The film was nominated for three Oscars at the 28th Academy Awards, including best supporting actor, best supporting actress, and best motion picture story. Mineo played the supporting role opposite James Dean, who died in a car accident before "Rebel Without a Cause" was released. Dean was also nominated for an Oscar in 1955, but it was a recognition for his role in "East of Eden." He was the first actor to ever posthumously win an Academy Award. Patty Duke ("The Miracle Worker") - 16 years old Patty Duke was nominated for best supporting actress in 1963. Playfilm Productions "The Miracle Worker" was nominated for five total Oscars at the 35th Academy Awards: Best actress, best supporting actress, best costume design, best director, and best screenplay. Both Duke and her co-star Anne Bancroft won the Oscar for their performances as Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller. Jack Wild ("Oliver!") - 16 years old Jack Wild was nominated for best supporting actor in 1969. Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images The musical drama "Oliver!" was nominated for a staggering 12 Oscars at the 41st Academy Awards. Wild lost his statue to Jack Albertson for his performance in "The Subject Was Roses." "Oliver!" won six Oscars that year, including best picture and best director. Jodie Foster ("Taxi Driver") - 14 years old Jodie Foster was nominated for best supporting actress in 1976. Columbia Pictures "Taxi Driver" was nominated for four total Oscars at the 49th Academy Awards, but it lost in every category (best picture, best actor, best supporting actress, and best original score). Foster lost to Beatrice Straight for her role in "Network." Despite losing the award when she was 14, Foster went on to win two best actress Oscars for her roles in "The Accused" (1988) and "Silence of the Lambs" (1991). Hailee Steinfeld ("True Grit") - 14 years old Hailee Steinfeld was nominated for best supporting actress in 2011. Paramount "True Grit" was nominated for 10 Oscars including best picture, best director, best actor, and best supporting actress but it lost in every category at the 83rd Academy Awards. Steinfeld lost the Oscar to Melissa Leo for her performance in "The Fighter." Bonita Granville ("These Three") - 14 years old A movie poster for "These Three" released in 1936. LMPC/Getty Images The Oscars didn't introduce the category of best supporting actress until 1936. Granville was one of the first nominees in the new category at the 9th Academy Awards ceremony. She lost to Gale Sondergaard for her performance in "Anthony Adverse." It was the only Oscar nomination given to "These Three." Keisha Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider") - 13 years old Keisha Castle-Hughes was nominated for best actress in 2004. Pandora Film "Whale Rider" only recieved one nomination at the 76th Academy Awards Castle-Hughes's nod for best actress. But the young star lost the Oscar to Charlize Theron for her role in "Monster." Castle-Hughes set the new record for youngest best actress nominee, which she held until 2013. Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement") - 13 years old Soarsie Ronan was nominated for best supporting actress in 2007. Focus Features Ronan's first Oscar nomination was for her role in "Atonement," though she lost the award to Tilda Swinton for her performance in "Michael Clayton." "Atonement" was nominated for seven total Oscars at the 80th Academy Awards, though it only won for best original score. Brandon deWilde ("Shane") - 11 years old Brandon deWilde was nominated for best supporting actor in 1953. Paramount Pictures "Shane" was nominated for six total Oscars at the 26th Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, and two best supporting actor nods. Both deWilde and his co-star Jack Palance lost the Oscar for best supporting actor to Frank Sinatra for his role in "From Here to Eternity." Interestingly, a scene from 1952's "Shane" was featured in the 2017 Oscar-nominated movie "Logan," bringing the awards full circle. Haley Joel Osment ("The Sixth Sense") - 11 years old Haley Joel Osment was nominated for best supporting actor in 2000. Buena Vista Productions M. Night Shamaylan's breakout movie "The Sixth Sense" was nominated for six total Oscars at the 72nd Academy Awards. The film didn't win in any of its categories, which included best picture, best director, and best original screenplay. Osment lost the Oscar to Michael Caine for his performance in "The Cider House Rules." Anna Paquin ("The Piano") - 11 years old Anna Paquin was nominated for best supporting actress in 1993. Miramax "The Piano" was nominated for eight total Oscars at the 66th Academy Awards,including best picture, best director, and best costume design. Both Paquin and her co-star Holly Hunter took home the awards for best supporting actress and best actress, and the movie's director and writer Jane Campion won for best original screenplay. Patty McCormack ("The Bad Seed") - 11 years old Patty McCormack was nominated for best supporting actress in 1957. AP "The Bad Seed" was nominated for four total Oscars at the 29th Academy Awards: Best actress, two nods for best supporting actress, and best cinematography. Both McCormack and her co-star Eileen Heckart lost the best supporting actress Oscar to Dorothy Malone for her role in "Written on the Wind." Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine") - 10 years old Abigail Breslin was nominated for best supporting actress in 2006. 20th Century Fox Breslin's performance as the charismatic Olive garnered one of four Oscar nominations for "Little Miss Sunshine" in 2006. Her co-star Alan Arkin took home the award for best supporting actor, and Michael Arndt also won for best original screenplay. Breslin lost to Jennifer Hudson for her performance in "Dream Girls," and "Little Miss Sunshine" lost the big picture vote to "The Departed." Quinn Cummings ("The Goodbye Girl") - 10 years old Quinn Cummings was nominated for best supporting actress in 1977. Warner Bros. Cummings was nominated for best actress in a supporting role at the young age of 10, though she lost that year to Vanessa Redgrave for her performance in "Julia." Though Cummings didn't take home the Oscar, "The Goodbye Girl" star Richard Dreyfuss won for best actor. "The Goodbye Girl" was also nominated for best actress and screenplay. Mary Badham ("To Kill a Mockingbird") - 10 years old Mary Badham was nominated for best supporting actress in 1962. Universal Pictures "To Kill a Mockingbird" won three of the eight Academy Awards it was nominated for in 1962. Unfortunately, Badham wasn't among the winners, but her co-star Gregory Peck took home the Oscar for best actor. Tatum O'Neal ("Paper Moon") - 10 years old Tatum O'Neal was nominated for best supporting actress in 1973. Paramount Pictures Tatum starred in "Paper Moon" opposite her real-life father, Ryan O'Neal. She landed the nomination for best supporting actress, and won the Oscar that year. She still holds the record for youngest Oscar winner in any category. Jackie Cooper ("Skippy") - 9 years old Jackie Cooper was nominated for best actor in 1931. MGM Cooper played the title character Skippy in this 1931 Oscar-nominated film. He went on to have a successful Hollywood career as an adult, with a recurring role in the 1970s "Superman" movies. The record for youngest Oscar nominee of all time was held by Cooper for nearly 50 years. Quvenzhane Wallis ("Beasts of the Southern Wild") - 9 years old Quvenzhane Wallis was nominated for best actress in 2013. Fox "Beasts of the Southern Wild" was nominated for four total Oscars best picture, best director, best actress, and adapted screenplay. The movie didn't win in any of its categories, but Wallis holds the record for youngest best actress nominee in history. Justin Henry ("Kramer vs. Kramer") - 8 years old Justin Henry was nominated in 1979. Columbia Pictures "Kramer vs. Kramer" swept several categories at the 52nd Annual Academy Awards. The young Henry lost his best supporting actor award to Melvyn Douglas for "Being There," but his co-stars Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman each won Oscars. "Kramer vs. Kramer" won the award for best picture, director, and adapted screenplay. Henry still holds the record for youngest-ever nominee. Read the original article on Insider COLUMBIA A jury convicted former Chester County Sheriff Alex Big A Underwood of seven corruption and abuse of power charges on April 23, effectively ending his career in law enforcement and again highlighting South Carolinas history with crooked sheriffs. Chesters first Black sheriff, who was suspended from office in 2019 amid a federal civil rights investigation and then lost re-election last year, now faces up to 36 years in federal prison after convictions for wire fraud, conspiracy, civil rights violations and theft of government property. Two of Underwoods ex-deputies, Johnny Neal and Robert Sprouse, were also found guilty after a nine-day trial in Columbia. The trio will be sentenced later, likely in two or three months. They will remain free on bond until they are sentenced. The verdicts punctuate one of the largest public corruption cases brought against S.C. law enforcement officials in recent memory. Many of the issues first came to light when The Post and Courier featured Underwood in a string of investigative stories in 2019. Jake Moore, one of Underwood's attorneys, said the former sheriff's legal team will likely appeal the verdicts. "We had serious questions in regard to the validity of the government's case, but obviously the jury disagreed with me," Moore told reporters. Underwood and his deputies sat motionless and remained silent as the 23 guilty verdicts were read aloud. One woman near the back of the courtroom sobbed through her facemask, then left the room while a clerk announced Neal's convictions. Members of the jury six of them White, six Black deliberated for nine and a half hours before reaching their verdicts. During the final hearing, they mostly averted their eyes from the defendants, staring ahead toward District Judge Michelle Childs. Underwood's convictions fall in line with a disturbing trend in South Carolina. Over the past 11 years, 14 South Carolina sheriffs including Underwood have been accused of breaking laws they swore to uphold. Underwood was the 13th to be convicted. Last year, former Colleton County Sheriff Andy Strickland pleaded guilty to charges that he beat his girlfriend, ordered deputies to work on his properties and used county resources to further what prosecutors called an inappropriate relationship. And Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone pleaded guilty to embezzlement and misconduct charges that he used federal funds to buy personal items. Prosecutors Rebecca Schuman and William Miller with the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice traveled down from Washington, D.C., and called two dozen witnesses to convince jurors that Underwood and his top deputies had abused their powerful positions to benefit themselves. Underwood illegally used public money to cover first-class plane tickets for himself and his wife to Las Vegas, pulled deputies away from their normal duties to build a party barn on his property, skimmed money his deputies had earned working after-hours DUI checkpoints, had deputies surveil and arrest political opponents, and then lied to cover up his actions, prosecutors told the jury. Prosecutors also accused the lawman and his deputies of unlawfully arresting and roughing up a man who merely taunted them from his front yard as they responded to an emergency. Defense attorneys for Underwood, Neal and Sprouse produced just two witnesses of their own. Instead, they relied on cross-examining the prosecutors witnesses in an effort to minimize their clients alleged crimes as mere policy infractions and paint Underwood as a charitable public servant who took care of his employees. Underwood initially faced more than 80 years behind bars on 10 counts of conspiracy, fraud, and other tampering and theft charges. The jury found him not guilty of tampering, falsifying records and making false statements during a federal investigation. Neal was convicted of 12 of the 13 charges he faced, while the jury convicted Sprouse of four of the six charges against him. Neal faces 56 years in prison; Sprouse, 30. Moore, Underwood's attorney, said his team could appeal the federal wire fraud conviction against Underwood. He said the charge makes no sense, as the money involved never left South Carolina or crossed state lines. Moore said Underwood has spent tens of thousands of dollars on his defense and has nothing left. Still, he said, the government could move to seize his property, including the barn his former deputies helped build. He has nothing," Moore said. "Hes left broken financially. The Post and Courier first raised questions about Underwood when it reported in 2019 on the case of Kevin Simpson, the 26-year-old Chester resident whom the sheriff confronted while the man live streamed the departments response to a wreck outside his home. Prosecutors later alleged that Underwood and his departments handling of the incident was unlawful. The prosecution played Simpsons near 28-minute Facebook video for the jury. The jury also heard testimony that Neal shoved a handcuffed Simpson to the ground and that Sprouse confiscated Simpsons phone after entering his home with deputies. Deputies did not write a report on the incident for two months, and one was created only after an FBI agent called asking about the incident, witnesses testified. The defense counsel countered that reports arent always required, and that Underwoods department had cooperated with the federal investigation. At one point, the prosecution entered into evidence The Post and Couriers March 2019 investigation, Above the Law. The reporting featured Underwood, but also highlighted more than a dozen sheriffs in the past decade who had been accused of breaking laws. 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. The prosecution centered part of its case around several of those same travel records first reviewed by reporters. The jury also heard testimony that Underwood and Sprouse agreed to reimburse the county for the first-class travel, and their wives travel, but only the day after The Post and Courier sent questions about it two years after the trip. Moore argued that because Underwood was an elected official, a county policy prohibiting employee spouse travel did not apply to him. The Post and Courier also reported in 2019 that Underwood had enlisted deputies for renovations on a barn on his personal property. Prosecutors later alleged the work on the barn was substantial, with labor worth as much as $10,000. The jury heard testimony from former deputies that they were ordered away from on-duty shifts to the sheriffs property. Travis Jenkins contributed reporting. This story was produced in partnership with The News & Reporter. The new boss at Royal Mail has launched a major drive to stamp out bullying in its 140,000-strong workforce and heal the 'scar tissue' of previous regimes, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. In a video call with employees, Simon Thompson admitted that the postal giant had issues with bullying and he vowed to 'stop it at source'. Thompson is also understood to be planning initiatives aimed at improving conditions for workers possibly including new electric vans and handheld scanners for use during deliveries. A good sign?: Simon Thompson admitted that the postal giant had issues with bullying and he vowed to 'stop it at source' He is also looking at reintroducing a version of the postal cadets scheme which ran from the late 1970s until 1996 and developed the career of young employees by allowing them to work in every part of the business. The former Ocado executive, who last year ran the NHS Test and Trace app, joined Royal Mail in January just a month after a landmark agreement with unions following years of rows over pay and conditions. He is attempting to modernise the delivery firm while repairing relations with union bosses and instilling trust between managers and workers. Thompson said: 'The brief I've got from the board is to reinvent this British icon for the next generations.' When asked about repeated claims of bullying by middle managers, Thompson responded: 'I don't believe that we've ever put in a job advertisement 'bullies welcome'. I've never met somebody I've thought was a bully, but it goes on. 'Maybe there's something that we are doing that is putting people in the situation where they either feel that's OK or they feel that's what they have to do to get the outcome. 'My overall impression is that people are proud to be here and they're magnificent people, but [bullying] definitely goes on. It definitely needs to stop.' Royal Mail last week launched an internal Big Trust Survey aimed at identifying problems and building better relations between employees. Thompson appealed to staff to come forward with information about the root causes of bullying within the organisation. Employee complaints posted on social media allege postmen and women have felt pressured to take on extra work, while managers have been too focused on taking calls and completing administrative tasks to lead their teams. Management pressure to hit budgets is said to have been unfairly concentrated on the 90,000 postal delivery staff. One employee wrote: 'Bullying is a scourge in our service. The Communication Workers Union has been complaining about this issue for decades. Time for a new start with a new attitude to move our workplaces forward.' Another wrote: 'Managers make you feel like you're worthless, even if you give 100 per cent.' In January, a former manager at Royal Mail's Cardiff centre won a 230,000 payout after a failure to deal with his complaints about bullying and discrimination contributed to the deterioration of his mental health. He was subsequently dismissed. Thompson said he was 'optimistic' about a trial in one mail office designed to free managers from administrative work to spend more time with their teams and solving customer issues. The video call was jointly hosted by CWU postal deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger, who claimed that managers had been 'encouraged to not form relationships' with workers and to ignore their ideas on best practice. 'That may be an uncomfortable truth...we absolutely have to get past all that stuff,' he said. Thompson said: 'People do not forget how you've made them feel. There is some scar tissue around the place.' Former boss Rico Back was ousted in May last year by chairman Keith Williams, who ran the firm until Thompson's arrival. Successive bosses have attempted to modernise the former state monopoly, which was privatised in 2013, while a long-term decline in letter volumes held back revenues. The pandemic stretched resources and many workers were forced to self-isolate due to the virus, causing delays to deliveries. However, the surge in online shopping as a result of Covid lockdowns has boosted revenues. Profits at Royal Mail are expected to be around 700 million for the past 12 months, compared to 325million a year earlier. The FTSE 250 firm has seen its share price rocket 240 per cent over the past 12 months to 4.97. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 19:51:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's appeal for fostering a community of life for man and nature boasted far-reaching wisdom and values, scholars at U.S.-based think tanks have said. "It is important that we have shared values for the globe to embrace nature and develop an ecological civilization," said Dr. Bruce Hanson, a researcher at the California-based Institute for Postmodern Development of China (IPDC) while recalling Xi's speech at the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate made via video link on Thursday. To build a community of life for man and nature, Xi made a six-pronged proposal as to what the international community must be committed to -- from harmony between man and nature, green development, systemic governance, a people-centered approach, to multilateralism and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. Discussing what we mean by harmony, productivity, systemic governance, well-being and other core values is a key to common understanding of climate change, Hanson told Xinhua in an interview on Friday, noting that he appreciates the values and initiatives presented in the speech. "The Chinese civilization has always valued harmony between man and Nature as well as observance of the laws of Nature. It has been our constant pursuit that man and Nature could live in harmony with each other," he quoted Xi as saying. It is "very encouraging" to hear what the leader of the most dynamic economy of the world has to say, said Hanson, noting that Xi's appeal also embodies the nation's ancient wisdom. The IPDC advocates global pathways to ecological civilization through new modes of development, according to its website. Echoing Hanson, Kevin Clark, Director of Center for Organic Philosophy, a Washington State-based non-profit organization, said on Friday that Xi's remarks outlined "far-reaching values for global cooperation among all peoples." In an interview with Xinhua, Clark said he was impressed by the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities the president conveyed at the summit, stressing that developed countries, who bear more responsibility, should feel the call of their duty and contribute to the systemic governance of our ecosystem. Just like no country or place on Earth is the same, developing countries can make diversified contributions to climate actions, and the others must accommodate their particular difficulties and concerns, said Clark. Such values, illustrated in Xi's remarks, come from a compassionate heart and guide countries to their immanent own responsibilities, according to Clark. The president "reminds us (that) we need to work on the basis of international law, follow the principle of equity and justice, and focus on effective actions," he added. Hanson emphasized that, to balance human welfare with the welfare of nature, the world need actions other than words, especially a massive and immediate reform of industrial systems. "This does indeed require multilateralism, encouraging each of our efforts and sharing the rewards of those efforts," he added. Hanson said he agreed with what the president has said about China's goal of moving from carbon peak to carbon neutrality in a much shorter time span than what might take many developed countries requires extraordinarily hard efforts. Meanwhile, he expressed concerns that it may be hard for the global community to achieve an "ecological civilization," unless it enables a faster and more dramatic change in greening. "Innovation and willpower needs to come from everyone on the planet. How might we encourage such a 'grassroots' effort?" asked Hanson, noting that China has made ecological cooperation a key part of Belt and Road cooperation, endeavoring to improve the life of people while preserving nature. Enditem According to a report published Friday by the New York Times, in 2020 the United States suffered the biggest single-year surge in its death rate since the federal government began publishing statistics, significantly surpassing the rise in the death rate during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Workers burying bodies in a mass grave on Hart Island, April 9, 2020. (Credit: AP Photo/John Minchillo) The Times conducted its own analysis of annual US death rates going back a century and found that the rate jump from 2019 to 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, was 16 percent, as compared to the 12 percent surge in the US during the global pandemic that occurred over a century ago. The total number of COVID-19 deaths in the US is already approaching 600,000, on track to surpass the 675,000 estimated to have been killed in the US during the 1918 pandemic. By the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations modeling projections, the COVID-19 death toll is expected to surpass 600,000 before June, reaching 620,000 by August under a best-case scenario. The Times report aligns with an analysis of mortality data conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that from March 2020 until February 20, 2021, there were 574,000 more Americans who died than would be expected in a typical year. This places the deaths nationwide at 21 percent higher than what has usually been observed. A JAMA report published online on April 2, 2021, authored by Dr. Steven H. Wool and colleagues from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, corroborated these findings in their analysis. They found that between March 1, 2020 and January 2, 2021, there were 522,368 excess deaths, accounting for a 22.9 percent increase in all-cause mortality. At the time, there had been 378,039 confirmed COVID-19 deaths. As they explained, Excess deaths not attributed to COVID-19 could reflect either immediate or delayed mortality from undocumented COVID-19 infections, or non-COVID-19 deaths secondary to the pandemic, such as from delayed care or behavioral health crises. Adjustments must be made for the differences in population size of the United States in 1918 compared to 2020. Additionally, as health care and public health measures have improved, the populations lifespan has risen. As a result, the per capita death rates for the two periods are substantially different, which adds complexity to these comparisons. Nevertheless, the 16 percent increase in the death rate in 2020 from preceding year, compared to the 12 percent jump during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, is staggering. Overall, 10 percent of the 3.4 million deaths in the United States were attributed to COVID-19, making it the third leading cause of death in 2020 after heart disease with 21 percent and cancer with 18 percent. Comparing these two pandemics highlights that the COVID-19 infection is not merely another flu. It is a dangerous pathogen that has repeatedly demonstrated a tremendous ability to wreak havoc on the populations life, and needs to be treated with the utmost seriousness and caution. Maliciously criminal has been the repeated dismissal of this reality by the political establishment and the ruling elite in their prosecution of the policy of herd immunity, which has enriched them in unimagined proportions while allowing the virus to run rampant and mutate into more virulent forms. In light of advances in our understanding of the biology of these infectious organisms, including the medical advances in the treatment of COVID-19 infections that have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, to have allowed so many to become infected and perish is a historic crime. It is the result of capitalisms remorseless drive to extract profits and further enrich a layer of oligarchs who number in the tens of thousands on a planet with 7.8 billion people. That the COVID-19 pandemic can even be compared to the Spanish Flu that occurred one hundred years ago speaks to the abject failure of the current political process to govern or protect the population of almost every wealthy nation. In the US, current infection rates are approximately 64,000 per day, while the average daily death toll has settled in at just over 700. Yet the Biden administration is celebrating these developments as the success story of their vaccination campaign. Meanwhile, one state governor after another is biting at the bit to relax restrictions and fully open their economies. As of April 23, 135.8 million people had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, accounting for 40.9 percent of the population, while 89.2 million people, representing 26.9 percent of the people, have now been fully vaccinated. According to the Washington Post vaccination tracker, a total of 282.2 million COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed to the states. Despite this achievement, the recent trends in immunization indicate that moving forward, the situation will grow considerably more challenging for the Biden administration. Last week saw an average of only 2.95 million doses per day, a decline of 12 percent. Scientists have estimated that upwards of 70 to 90 percent of the population will need to be inoculated if meaningful herd immunity is to be achieved. Amid news of the sudden slowdown in vaccination rates, President Biden took to the media on Wednesday to proclaim that the US would reach the milestone of 200 million jabs this week, exceeding the target set for the end of April. He then made his pitch to the nation, stating, Im calling on every employer large and small in every state to give employees the time off they need, with pay, to get vaccinated. No working American should lose a single dollar from their paycheck because they chose to fulfill their patriotic duty of getting vaccinated. The vaccines are critical to the defeat of the pandemic, but the cynical attempt by the government to use this necessary and life-saving tool to justify the reopening of unsafe factories and offices as well as schools while the pandemic continues to rage only helps the far-right promote vaccine skepticism among sections of the middle class and working class. A recent report in US News & World Report noted that states that are having a difficult time disbursing to school districts hundreds of billions of dollars in federal aid from the most recent coronavirus relief package are running up against a Friday deadline to explain to the Education Department why thats the case. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, seeking to speed up the reopening of the schools, said, Every child deserves an opportunity to hear their name being spoken in the classroom this year. As our nation heals and recovers from the pandemic, our decisions and actions will impact generations of learners. Our inaction will too. Meanwhile, Michigans recent surge of COVID-19 cases was preceded by hundreds of school outbreaks throughout the state. Michigan has seen a record-breaking number of children hospitalized with severe infections. Michigan Health & Hospital Association data shows that the number of children hospitalized statewide has reached 70, double the number seen during the worst of the wave that swept through in November. The push by Democrats no less than Republicans to lift whatever COVID-19-related restrictions remain, especially among the vaccinated, has the potential to fuel more contagious strains of the coronavirus. In 1918, public health officials understood little of the virus that plagued their communities, relying on basic measures to control the death and mayhem it created. The blame for the disaster during the current pandemic lies entirely with the bourgeoisie. It has been nearly two weeks since Britain's pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and shops reopened and, so far, things appear to be going according to plan. Covid-19 cases are continuing to fall and deaths are below 40 a day. Last week, Government data showed that only 32 fully vaccinated people have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19. But scientists say Britain could be quickly pulled back into chaos by dangerous Covid variants mutated versions of the original coronavirus that could escape the protection offered by the vaccines. Last week, 132 cases of a new Indian variant were picked up in the UK. It has been frighteningly named a 'double mutant', as it carries two significant changes to the spike protein the part of the virus that allows it access to human cells. The Indian variant is now 'under investigation' by the Government, while several others have been confirmed as 'variants of concern'. A health worker collects a swab sample from a resident to test for Covid-19 at a testing centre in New Delhi An outbreak of the South Africa variant in South London has also alarmed health officials. Public Health England confirmed the outbreak led to 56 new cases of the variant, 23 of which were discovered in a care home. Reports suggest that dozens more may have been picked up through 'surge testing'. Health officials are also on the lookout for the Brazil variant, of which there have been 20 new cases in the past week. These are incredibly small numbers the UK saw more than 17,000 new cases of Covid last week and it's not unusual for a virus to mutate. According to experts, this is a relatively slow pace of mutation compared with flu. So why are scientists so fixated on these three variants in particular? In all three countries of origin, the variants are partly behind a sudden spike in cases.Take India, which last week reported more than 300,000 new infections in a single day, a global record. On Thursday, 2,256 deaths were officially recorded hundreds more than the UK's January peak of 1,823. Worryingly, experts have voiced concern that these variants may render vaccines less effective. One especially alarming study of the South African variant carried out by health authorities there found the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine may be just ten per cent effective at preventing infection. This variant has a significant mutation to the spike protein. Variant fact At least 95 per cent of British cases of the Indian variant have been directly linked to travel between the UK and the subcontinent. Advertisement Still, scientists speaking to this newspaper say the current threat of Covid variants may have been overstated. Although there could be emerging evidence they can cause vaccinated people to become infected, there is nothing to suggest these people will get ill. Dr Julian Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester, says there is currently no worry about the risk of harm to vaccinated Britons. He said: 'Trials found no evidence to suggest the vaccines are failing to protect people from serious illness. We can't know if that applies to everyone, but right now we're not seeing it.' Not a single subject in the South African study was admitted to hospital with serious Covid symptoms, or died as a result. 'These are cases of mild-to-moderate symptoms in vaccinated patients, nothing more,' said Dr Tang. Reports last week about an outbreak of the South African variant in a South London care home seem to support this. The majority of infected care- home residents suffered no symptoms. Other scientists say panic about variants demonstrates a 'misunderstanding' about how vaccines work. Professor Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at The University of California, San Francisco, says it is important not to focus too much on the antibodies delivered by the jab. Antibodies are cells designed to hunt out coronavirus and prevent it binding to our cells. Several studies have suggested Covid-19 antibodies are less effective against variants with mutations to the spike protein. But antibodies are just one part of the fight against Covid. Another, arguably more important, defence are T-cells. While antibodies stop viral cells entering the body, T-cells attack and destroy them. Covid vaccines prompt the body to begin producing these T-cells. Recent studies have found T-cell responses in vaccinated people were unaffected by either the South Africa or Brazil variants. Prof Gandhi said: 'Antibodies are helpful in protecting against Covid, but they're not the only defence the vaccinations provide. If anything, T-cells are our main line of defence against Covid. If you get vaccinated, your T-cells are going to give you strong protection. 'One or two mutations to the virus, like we're seeing with these variants, aren't going to be enough to make the vaccines ineffective.' Scientists believe it is plausible that at some point in the future a variant may evade both the antibody and T-cell response. Dr David Nabarro, special envoy on Covid-19 for the World Health Organisation, said last week it was a matter of when, not if. But Dr Tang said: 'We haven't seen anything close to full vaccine escape just yet.' Scientists agree at the moment some risk does exist, but mostly because a large proportion of the population remains unvaccinated. With a significant number of Britons unprotected, a highly transmissible variant can rapidly infect scores of the population and, simply by way of more infections, increase hospitalisations and deaths. The Kent variant, which spread quickly in December, is believed by scientists to be up to 70 per cent more infectious than the original virus. Now this variant is the most dominant version of the virus in the UK, accounting for more than 200,000 cases. Dr Tang said: 'If you allow the most transmissible strains to get out of control, they can reach those who haven't been vaccinated, or the small proportion of people for whom the vaccine may not work.' Many believe, for this reason, the Indian variant is one to watch. As such, health officials argue it is crucial to keep these variants in check using tools such as surge testing and hotel quarantine for international travellers, at least until September. That is when the Government hopes to deploy booster vaccines jabs tailored to combat the variants. In the meantime, British virus experts are confident they will be able to spot any worrying variants. 'This is our bread and butter,' said Dr Tang. 'British scientists have been tracking variants of all viruses for decades. Given the time and money being spent on tracking these ones, I think we can keep on top of it.' Rita Ora has sparked romance rumours with Thor director Taika Waititi as she shared an incredibly cosy snap online on Thursday. The singer, 30, uploaded a photo of the Thor director, 45, wrapping his arms around her as they wore complementing Gucci garments. The snap sent tongues wagging, as fans speculated the pair could be an item and suggested Rita might have a cameo in his forthcoming movie. Couple? Rita Ora has sparked romance rumours with Thor director Taika Waititi as she shared an incredibly cosy snap online on Thursday In the snap, Taika sported a cap, partially concealing his identity as Rita penned a revealing caption: 'Good times, memories, random things on my phone and the ones I love..' alongside a heart emoji. The rumoured couple were spotted exiting a private jet with Chris Hemsworth, his wife Elsa and Matt Damon in Sydney recently, following a trip to the Gold Coast. The Hollywood movie hunks are staying Down Under to shoot scenes for Taika's Thor Love and Thunder film in addition to Russell Crowe, who was seen on a bike ride with Rita last week. Speculation: The Thor director (pictured), 45, and the British pop sensation, 30, were spotted exiting a private jet recently and were reportedly seen kissing in a restaurant in Australia Revealing: Rita captioned the post: 'Good times, memories, random things on my phone and the ones I love..' alongside a heart emoji' A listener of the Who? Weekly podcast fuelled further romance speculation as they reported seeing the couple kissing inside a restaurant. Curious fans took to social media to question whether Rita, who split from French director Romain Gavras earlier this year, will have a cameo in his film. A twitter user said: 'When taika waititi sneaks rita ora into the first thor movie thus making rita the first pop girlie in the mcu yup! '(please don't correct me if im wrong I have seen maybe 5 marvel movies I don't care)'. (sic) A second added: 'You being a Thor or nah @ritaora?' A third Thor fan wrote: 'Idris Elba is on Rita Ora's Instagram (I make no apologies, I love her problematic a**) so does that mean he's in the next Thor?' Conversation: Curious fans took to social media to question whether Rita, who split from French director Romain Gavras earlier this year, will have a cameo in his film MailOnline have reached out to Rita and Taika's reps for comment. It is believed that Taika split from his wife, Chelsea Winstanley, in 2018 following seven years of marriage. They share two daughters, Te Hinekahu, eight, and Matewa Kiritapu, five. His war drama, Jojo Rabbit, won the respective Oscar and BAFTA Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. Meanwhile Rita is currently staying Down Under to film the upcoming series of The Voice Australia. The songstress transitioned into acting with films such as 50 Shades Of Grey and Southpaw. She's had several high-profile relationships and was previously linked to Calvin Harris, Rob Kardashian and James Arthur. Rita became engaged to Romain, 39, in 2020 and was last pictured with him in November. It was confirmed to MailOnline in March that the couple are officially no longer together - and broke up before Christmas. Making friends: Rita joined Russell Crowe for a bike ride last week, as he is also Down Under shooting scenes for Taika's Thor Love and Thunder film A spokeswoman for Romain revealed the relationship had been over for 'months', saying: 'Rita and Romain split up months ago because of difficulties with their respective work commitments. They remain close friends.' Rita and Romain went their separate ways weeks after her Covid rule breaking 30th birthday party at a Notting Hill restaurant on November 21. The French director, who is based in London and directed music videos for US rappers Kanye West and Jay Z, began dating Rita following her split from songwriter boyfriend Andrew Watt in 2019. The pair enjoyed a whirlwind romance during their brief relationship with exotic holidays in Ibiza and Corfu. And last October, the pair sparked engagement rumours when Rita was seen wearing a huge rock on a her engagement finger. But a source close to Rita told MailOnline: 'Rita and Romain tried to make it work but they both agreed it wasn't meant to be. 'They remain close but it was simply impossible to maintain a relationship where they barely saw each other. 'And given both their busy schedules for 2021, the writing was very much on the wall towards the end of last year.' Ma'Khia Bryant's biological mother plans to sue after after her daughter was shot and killed by police outside of her home, it has been revealed. Deja Torrence, the 16-year-old girl's cousin, told Insider that her mother Hazel Bryant had spoken with Bryant's biological mother Paula throughout the week. Torrence said that they were in talks with a lawyer to file a lawsuit in the wake of Bryant's death outside her foster home in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear who the family wants to sue or when it would be filed - but members of the family have claimed Bryant was failed by the foster care system before her death. Donnie Bryant, another cousin, confirmed on Facebook late on Friday that that Ma'Khia's mother has hired a lawyer and public relations representative. He also said she has finally been able to view her body. Torrence said that Bryant had called the police for help when two women fought with her. When officers arrived, body camera shows Bryant was shot while lunging at one of the girls with a knife. Paula Bryant, her biological mother, said she is 'hurt' and 'wants answers' after her death Ma'Khia Bryant's biological mother plans to sue after after her daughter was shot and killed by police outside of her home in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday Hazel Bryant reacts after her niece, 15-year-old Makiyah Bryant, was fatally shot by a police officer in Columbus, Ohio 'Someone has to be held accountable. The family just doesn't want this to be another senseless killing that goes under the rug and gets overlooked,' Torrence told Insider. Angela Moore, Bryant's foster mother, told CNN on Friday that two of her former foster children had showed up to the house to to celebrate her birthday when they fought with Bryant over the tidiness of the home. 'It was over keeping the house clean,' Moore said, who was at work when the shooting happened. 'The older one told them to clean up the house because 'Mom doesn't like the house dirty.' Moore said that Bryant and the girls would 'argue all the time.' 'I never in my worst nightmare would have thought it would ever come to this,' she told CNN. A building was spray-painted in downtown Columbus Protesters hold signs in the streets during the Ma'Khia Bryant protest Children carry a sign at a Black Lives Matter protest as it makes it's way through downtown Columbus in response to the police shooting of MaKhia Bryant Nicholas Reardon, who shot Bryant at around 4.45pm on Tuesday on the 3100 block of Legion Lane, has been taken off street duty while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation investigates the shooting, the outlet reported. Reardon, a Staff Sergeant in the Air National Guard, also serves in the 121st Security Forces Squadron. Torrence told Inside that Bryant's biological family has not been in contact with her foster family since her death earlier this week. Bryant had allegedly complained about her foster home 'several times' to members of her family before her death - but she did not detail those claims to Insider over legal concerns. Ma'Khia Bryant, foreground, is pictured holding a knife while lunging toward another girl Bryant was then shot to death by police officer Nicholas Reardon who responded to the scene Bryant is pictured on the ground after the shooting 'There's been some talk about the foster family in the past, of how she's had issues with the foster family. So as a family, we've tried to kind of navigate that over the years,' Torrence told the outlet. 'I haven't been in contact with them, but I want people to know that we should be holding somebody accountable for the 16-year-old kid's death.' She added: 'They had custody of her, and so I just feel like the foster parents, and everyone in the foster system that was involved, failed her in that regard.' Torrence told the outlet that Bryant had lived with her briefly when she was younger and remembered her as a 'girly girl.' The Columbus cop who fatally shot Ma'Khia Bryant has been identified by the Daily Beast as a member of the Air National Guard. Nicholas Reardon reportedly received the 'expert marksman' badge while in training Paula Bryant, Makhia Bryant's biological mother, is pictured in an undated photo She spent a lot of her time making cosmetology videos for TikTok and dreamed of going to cosmetology school, Torrence said. 'She's always been a girly girl and has always been into hair and eyebrows and makeup,' Torrence said. 'I'm a lot older than her, but I just remember, like, always telling her, 'Girl, you're too young to be thinking about this.'' Bryant's biological mother said in an interview on Thursday that her 'beautiful baby' was taken from her. 'I love God and I'm just going to put it in God's hands right now. That's all I know how to do,' she said. Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw is still struggling in the aftermath of his emergency eye surgery, admitting that he is having a hard time seeing. Crenshaw, 37, a Navy SEAL veteran, went under the knife on April 9 for emergency surgery, which was to take care of the deterioration of his left eye following being wounded by an IED in Afghanistan in 2012. That explosion also resulted in the loss of Crenshaw's right eye, which he wears an eye patch to cover. Crenshaw had his first follow-up for the surgery on the damaged retina last week, which went 'very well' he shared. 'To our relief, my retina was still in place during my follow-up appointment,' Crenshaw said in a statement on Friday. 'I can lift my head up again and no longer have to position myself face-down, which is a relief.' Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw provided an update on Friday following his emergency eye surgery At the same time, however, Crenshaw admitted that he isn't 'out of the woods yet.' 'I still cannot see much other than lights and shadows, basically, as I am still in the early stages of my recovery,' Crenshaw continued. 'I am not sure how my vision will be in a few weeks, but I am hopeful and confident that it will return to normal.' Crenshaw also detailed parts of his surgery, which included putting a 'silicon buckle' around his retina and injecting a gas bubble to keep the retina in place, which is the temporary cause for his seeing struggles. He will not be able to fly for the next six weeks to avoid causing the gas bubble in his eye to expand. He also will not be posting on social media or conducting interviews. Crenshaw went on to thank his doctors and nurses at the VA in Houston, as well as solicit audio book recommendations from the public. In a statement, Crenshaw said the surgery went 'very well,' but he isn't 'out of the woods yet' The surgery was needed after Crenshaw noticed 'dark, blurry spots' in his vision earlier this month. 'The prognosis I received Thursday is obviously very bad. Tara [his wife] drove me to emergency surgery on Friday morning at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston and was by my side the entire time,' Crenshaw said in a statement after the surgery. 'The surgery went well, but I will be effectively blind for about a month. I want to especially thank the phenomenal team of doctors and nurses at the VA who took such good care of me,' Crenshaw added. Crenshaw wears an eyepatch after losing his right eye when a bomb detonated in Afghanistan during his third deployment in 2012. Crenshaw lost his right eye after an IED blew up in Afghanistan in 2012, which also damaged his left eye to the point where the surgery was needed on it a couple of weeks ago Although he can still see from his left, he explained the blast also caused a cataract and extensive damage to the retina, and there was 'always a possibility' that the effects of the injury would resurface. 'Anyone who knows the history of my injuries knows that I don't have a 'good eye,' but half a good eye,' he has said. The Republican was reelected in November to represent Texas' 2nd Congressional District in the Houston area. His congressional offices in Washington, D.C. and Houston will continue to operate and will still be taking calls from constituents while he recovers, Crenshaw said. The congressman made national headlines in 2018 when comedian Pete Davidson made fun of his eyepatch on Saturday Night Live. Davidson's joke was widely criticized, but Crenshaw appeared on Saturday Night Live alongside Davidson a week later to accept the comedian's apology. Police Searching for Escaped Inmate By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - Police are asking for the public's help to locate an escaped inmate.According to the Kentucky State Police, 35-year-old Joseph Blake Darnell of Bowling Green escaped from the Keaton Correctional Facility in Paducah sometime between 5 and 7 pm on Friday.He is described as white, 6 feet tall, approximately 180 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call 911. For non-emergencies, the public can call 270-856-3721. With the COVID-19 shutdown crippling racing in Ontario, there will be many horses and horsemen from that Canadian province racing in America over the next month or so, as live action may not return to Woodbine at Mohawk Park and other tracks in the region until early June. One of the new names that will be seen in the program at The Meadowlands will be Bob McClures, the 30-year-old driver who guided Forbidden Trade to Hambletonian glory in 2019 for trainer Luc Blais and owner Serge Godins Determination Stable. Those connections might have another big-time Hambletonian contender on their hands this August 7 as Mycrownmykingdom, a three-year-old son of Muscle Hill-Beehive, looked ultra-impressive in thoroughly dominating a field of sophomore colts and geldings Friday night at The Meadowlands in his seasonal debut. Mycrownmykingdom recorded his first career victory in just his third lifetime start by cutting out fractions of :28.3 to the quarter and :58.3 to the half. He encountered a challenge from Swan Hill at three-quarters (1:28) but easily put that one away off the far turn before trotting an electric final quarter of :27.2 to stop the clock in 1:55.2. It was six lengths back to Ritson in second. Ethics was third. A half brother to Bee A Magician, who won all 17 of her starts on the way to being named 2013 Horse of the Year, Mycrownmykingdom returned $6.80 to win as the 2-1 favourite. I was going to go wherever they went, said McClure of Determinations decision to race some of their stock at The Meadowlands and surrounding tracks. They are great to drive for. He had a lot of ability at two, said McClure of Mycrownmykingdom. But he was underdeveloped. They were patient with him and it looks like he is going to pay them back for it. TWO FOR ONTARIO: Doug McNair, another standout Ontario regular who, like McClure, will be seen at The Big M over the next few weeks, also visited the winners circle after guiding 10-1 shot Rock N Blue to his first win of the year from nine starts. A LITTLE MORE: The sixth race on the card attracted the largest total pool for a single dash in 2021, as $403,494 was pushed through the windows, $124,413 of that on the 50-cent Pick-4. All-source wagering totaled $3,196,485, the seventh consecutive program where betting busted the $3-million barrier. Chalk players were loving life as nine consecutive post-time choices scored beginning in race three. Live harness racing resumes Saturday at 6:20 p.m. (Meadowlands) Hyderabad: Amid the rise in COVID-19 cases in Telangana, the state health department has urged people returning from the Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand to isolate for 14 days. It has also asked people showing COVID-19 symptoms to get tested immediately or call the state emergency 104 healthcare number for assistance. Telangana Health Department urges people who are returning from Kumbh Mela to isolate themselves for 14 days and if they have any symptoms then they must get tested immediately: State Govt#COVID19 ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2021 Over 2,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus at the Kumbh festival in Haridwar so far. The COVID-19 protocols including wearing of masks and social distancing were openly violated as lakhs gathered for the major Hindu pilgrimage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed on April 17 that the Kumbh Mela "should now only be symbolic amid the coronavirus crisis", stressing that it would give a boost to the fight against the pandemic. In response, Swami Avdheshanand replied, "We respect PM Modi`s appeal. Saving lives is sacred. I request people to not gather for the ritual bath in large numbers and follow all Covid protocols." Telangana reported 6,206 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to over 3.79 lakh while the death toll rose to 1,928 with 29 more fatalities, the highest-ever in a single day, the State government said on Friday. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 1,005 followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (502) and Nizamabad (406), it said in a bulletin providing details as of 8 PM on April 22. Live TV The news itself was crushing. A 7-month-old baby boy named Synciere Williams died Tuesday. The man charged with taking care of him that day, Joseph Williams, 26, was booked by police for allegedly murdering the child. And, it turned out, hed been arrested twice recently on suspicion of felony domestic violence, in January and March, before being released without charges. But when Kathy Black, the executive director of La Casa de las Madres, a shelter for domestic violence victims in the city, read how District Attorney Chesa Boudins office had explained the tragedy, she felt even more devastated. His spokesperson said the woman in the previous cases had refused to cooperate with prosecutors, so he couldnt file charges. No, no, no! Black told me, her voice rising. Domestic violence is a crime against the state of California, and the district attorneys job is to work with what the Police Department has gathered at the crime scene and develop the evidence to present a case. Thats his job its not the victims job. The notion that charging cases hinges on whether battered victims will stand up in court against people with whom theyre in a relationship and may rely upon for income and housing is so old-school, Black was surprised to hear the famously progressive district attorney use it as justification for dropping the case. Its true that such a lack of cooperation can make proving a case more difficult, but it certainly doesnt make it impossible. Its so archaic, Black said. Oh, my God. Its just shocking to me. Williams is far from the only person to be arrested by police on suspicion of felony domestic violence and then released by Boudin with no charges. In the last three months of 2020, city cops made 131 arrests for felony domestic violence, and Boudins office dismissed 113 of them. He charged just 13 of them, one as a misdemeanor, and the other five are still being reviewed. That means 113 alleged perpetrators were released with no consequences no mandatory attendance in a batterers program, no assignment to anger management classes, no required supervision for visiting children, nothing. If theres no charging, theres no leverage, Black said. The message is, Nothing happened to me. Its over. I got away with it. Boudin said in an interview that he hasnt changed any policies related to prosecuting domestic violence cases since taking office in January 2020 and that a 28-year veteran of the office makes the charging decisions in felony domestic violence cases. Domestic violence cases continue to be a priority for me and the office, Boudin said. We will as a matter of policy prosecute any domestic violence case we think we can prove with or without the cooperation of the victim. Statistics provided by his office, however, show prosecutors are filing charges in fewer cases than previous years. The District Attorneys Office filed charges in 15% of felony domestic violence cases last year, a rate that has continued so far this year. The same figure ranged from 20% to 27% from 2016 through 2019. Boudins filing rate for misdemeanor domestic violence cases is 38%, which is more in line with previous years. Boudin didnt dispute that he had dismissed 113 felony cases late last year. The number came from a letter Police Chief Bill Scott sent to Supervisor Catherine Stefani, whod requested the information after numerous advocates for victims of domestic violence expressed concern that their clients abusers were getting released. Stefani, a former prosecutor, will announce legislation Tuesday that would require the police force and the district attorney to provide monthly data outlining how many people are arrested for domestic violence and whether their cases are prosecuted. I was absolutely shocked when I saw those numbers, Stefani said of the 113 dismissed cases. This looks like its part of a bigger trend of a refusal to charge felony domestic violence cases, and now a 7-month-old little baby is dead. Stefani was in Tuesdays Board of Supervisors meeting when she received a text alerting her that a baby had died in her district. According to police, Joseph Williams took Synciere Williams they are not related despite sharing a last name to the emergency room at California Pacific Medical Center on Van Ness Avenue. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital, where staffers noticed signs of trauma, police said. Boudin has announced he will file a homicide charge, but did not specify whether it will be murder or manslaughter. As in many cases of alleged domestic violence, there were previous red flags. Police who responded to Market and Montgomery streets on Jan. 7 reported finding that Williams had been in a shoving match with a woman he was dating. A 10-month-old girl was in a stroller next to them. According to police, the woman said Williams had grabbed her by the throat in an altercation in a Tenderloin apartment before the argument spilled onto the street. She complained of bruising on her neck, but declined medical treatment. Police booked Williams on suspicion of felony domestic violence, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and child endangerment. On March 26, police received a call about a woman screaming and a baby crying in an apartment in the Tenderloin. Officers reported finding the same woman from the January incident, with a cut on her lip, a mark on her forehead and blood on her clothes. According to police, she told the officers Williams had punched her several times and pushed her head into a cabinet. This time, police booked Williams on suspicion of felony domestic violence and false imprisonment. But on both occasions, Boudin said, the woman would not cooperate. He said she blamed herself for initiating the first fight and that Williams had serious injuries after the second incident, factors that contributed to Boudins decision not to prosecute. Domestic violence victims advocates say thats not good enough. Beverly Upton, director of the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, said that while Boudins focus on reducing mass incarceration is important, authorities must hold abusers accountable to keep women and children safe. That doesnt necessarily mean a lengthy jail sentence, she said, but consequences that include treatment such as a batterers program and the knowledge that prosecutors, probation officers and judges are watching. Upton participated in two Zoom meetings with Boudin and other victim advocates over the winter and said she was startled to hear the district attorney repeatedly talk about the need to unclog the court system of domestic violence cases. Boudin explained in an interview that San Francisco Superior Court is operating only four courtrooms because of the pandemic, and they tend to be reserved for the most serious violent crimes. Meanwhile, he said, defense attorneys are refusing to settle misdemeanor domestic violence cases, while exercising their right to call for a speedy trial. That has contributed to a big backlog of cases awaiting the courts full reopening. Upton said she was alarmed by Boudins ideas for addressing the backlog. She said he spoke of shortening batterers intervention programs in an attempt to get more defendants to accept plea deals, even though a series of 52 weekly classes is the widely accepted best practice. In an interview, Boudin pointed to a study from the National Institute of Justice showing that batterers programs have mixed results, but Upton said theyre better than nothing. Upton said San Francisco prosecutors dismissal of domestic violence cases has long been an issue, but not to this level. We have survivors who tell us their cases are just being dismissed, she said. Pretty soon, theyre going to stop telling us. Pretty soon, theyre going to stop calling. Orchid Pusey, executive director of the Asian Womens Shelter, agreed that Boudins goal of ending mass incarceration is important. However, she said, Reform cannot happen on the backs of survivors of domestic violence. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf Instagram: @heatherknightsf On the afternoon of April 14, Ivanka Trump shared some good news with her Facebook followers. The former first daughter posted two photos of a nurse injecting her with a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Today I got the shot!!! she gushed. I hope that you do too! Ivankas enthusiasm was not matched by her followers. One of the saddest pictures on the internet today, one woman responded. What a sellout! A male follower told Ivanka, Not playing lab rat for BIG PHARMA. Experimental Gene Therapy DNA Modifying RNA Biological Agent, NOT A CHANCE!!! And so it went. I love you and your family, but nope. Never will I put that in my body, one male commentator said. Im sorry. I used to think you were smart and a patriot, a female follower said. Clearly not. Fifty years from now, historians will go through all kinds of brain contortions to make sense of our current right-wing resistance to the COVID-19 vaccine. After all, for much of 2020, Donald Trump, the pied piper of modern American conservatism, pushed drug manufacturers to get vaccines tested, approved and administered before Election Day. Trump was openly annoyed when the Pfizer vaccines emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration came a month after his failed re-election bid. Nonetheless, Trumps media acolytes wanted him to get credit for the vaccine. Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera suggested honoring the outgoing president by calling it the Trump Vaccine. Riveras pal Sean Hannity made a habit of using that very name. At the same time, however, a substantial chunk of Trumps Republican base regarded the idea of a government-funded mass vaccination program as something to be feared. Loyalty to Trump, after all, meant a complete disdain for public servants; a belief that faceless deep-state bureaucrats routinely conspire to strip us of our liberties. Trumps devotees loved him in large part because they saw him as the wild bull rampaging through the bureaucratic china shop. When it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, that anti-government paranoia has dovetailed with a long-flourishing anti-vaxxer movement to create a perfect storm of vaccine resistance. Going into this weekend, more than 137 million people in the United States (roughly 41 percent of the population) had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 91 million (27 percent of the population) had been fully vaccinated. Over the past couple of weeks, however, vaccination rates have slowed. Going forward, our problem is no longer supply, but demand. A Monmouth University poll released last month found that 36 percent of Republicans are opposed to receiving the vaccine, compared with only 6 percent of Democrats. If Trump had been re-elected, it would have been in the best interest of GOP politicians to tout the benefits of the vaccine. With Joe Biden in office, however, theres little motivation for Republican elected officials to try talking their voters out of believing that Democrats want to use them for lab rats. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, pandered to the paranoia during a Thursday radio appearance. Johnson said he sees no reason to be pushing vaccines on people. Apparently, the devastation of a pandemic that has, in this country alone, infected more than 32 million, killed 570,000 and completely upended our way of life for more than a year, is not a good enough reason for mass vaccination. Johnson uttered that idiocy on a talk show hosted by Vicki McKenna, a class act who tweeted this message about Bidens vaccine initiative: The Drooler-in-Chief thinks we should all be forced to get an experimental vaccine to live a normal life in America. How about NO NO and HELL NO? Common sense says we should look at the vaccine as a gift that can allow us to return to something approaching our old sense of normalcy and protect each other from furthering the spread of this awful plague. Instead, in our hyperpartisan, conspiracy-mongering time, the vaccine is widely regarded as Joe Bidens mind-control serum. Because Trump commanded the loyalty of COVID-19 skeptics and vaccine refuseniks, he would have been uniquely positioned to drive up vaccine participation. Its not entirely clear, however, whether he could have cooled the anti-government distrust he spent most of his presidency fomenting. After all, one of Trumps most loyal supporters, right-wing rocker Ted Nugent, said back in December (when Trump was still in office), Its not a real pandemic and thats not a real vaccine. Last Monday, Nugent revealed that he recently contracted COVID-19 and it left him barely able to crawl out of bed. Nonetheless, Nugent remains anti-vaccine. He cant be swayed. Its hard to knock down a wall built on pride, partisanship, paranoia and a twisted sense of patriotism. ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470 Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg opens for its 95th season today. The family-owned resort, a hidden gem and vacation mainstay of Northeast Pennsylvania, celebrates the milestone while still facing the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be a low-key celebration with a commemorative logo and maybe an in-park parade on July 4, said Stacy Yutko, public relations director for Knoebels. Were going to save the big celebration for our 100th in five years. As was the case during the 2020 season, masks will be required at the Columbia County park. Knoebels will only be open to 75% capacity, and attractions where its impossible to maintain social distancing, such as the ball pit and the Spacewalk bouncy house, are closed. While the fallout from COVID-19 has dominated the circumstances of the opening, Knoebels has much more planned. A new ride, Tornado, is expected to open at the end of May. Tornado is a family-friendly thrill ride on which guests will be able to control how fast the ride spins. Scheduled to open last season, Tornado was postponed due to COVID-19-related project delays. Knoebels will also celebrate Autism Awareness Day on June 6. After partnering with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards, 2021 will be Knoebels first year as a Certified Autism Center. Staff at Knoebels received training to better accommodate guests on the autism spectrum. For information, visit www.knoebels.com. New Delhi, April 24 : About 20 Covid patients died on Friday night at Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi due to low supply of oxygen. The hospital has appealed to the authority in the national capital to arrange oxygen at the earliest. According to the hospital, "A supply of 3.5 metric tonnes of oxygen was supposed to reach by 5 p.m. yesterday. But it reached around midnight. By then, 20 patients had died." MD of Dr D.K. Baluja tweeted on Saturday morning, "Jaipur Golden Hospital still waiting for oxygen. As many as 215 Covid patients are dependent on the hospital. Get supply ASAP. Please help, we are desperate." Earlier, around 25 Covid-19 patients had died in the period of 24 hours in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH). It had raised an alarm for immediate need of oxygen supply on Thursday evening as over 140 critical patients admitted in the hospitals were on ventilators and on oxygen support. Along with Jaipur Golden Hospital, Moolchand Hospital, SGRH, Batra Hospital, on Saturday, sent SOS messages reporting shortage of oxygen and appealed to authority to arrange it at the earliest. In the morning, Batra Hospital's Medical Director Dr SCL Gupta said that the hospital is left with oxygen for one hour for 350 patients. Later, 500 litre of oxygen was supplied to the hospital. "We have received only 500 litre of oxygen after pleading for nearly 12 hours, which is also less than our daily requirement of 8,000 liters. We have 350 patients and it will get difficult treating them in absence of inadequate supply," Gupta told IANS. Around 11 a.m., SGRH hospital claimed that it is left with the last 200 cubic oxygen which lasted for 15 minutes. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Scrutiny of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer found guilty earlier this week of murdering George Floyd, may continue even after Tuesdays verdict. The Department of Justice is reportedly still weighing whether to bring additional charges against Chauvin relating to a 2017 incident, where he allegedly use similar types of manoeuvres as he did on Mr Floyd, including a knee on the neck, against a 14-year-old Black teenager, ABC News reports. Last year, as state prosecutors prepared their case against Chauvin for the murder of Mr Floyd, they sought to introduce evidence relating to the 2017 arrest. According to a court filing, in that incident, a 14-year-old Black boy was reportedly slow to comply with officers instructions, so Chauvin allegedly grabbed him by the throat, forced him to the ground, and put a knee into his neck and back, kneeling on top of him for nearly 17 minutes as the boy complained he couldnt breathe. The circumstances are reminiscent of Chauvins fatal arrest of Mr Floyd, where the officer and two colleagues knelt on Mr Floyds neck and back for more than 9 minutes, as the man told police he couldnt breathe 27 times. He could not breathe. And just like with Floyd, Chauvin ignored those pleas and refused to provide medical assistance, prosecutors wrote at the time. The Hennepin County Court ultimately rejected the introduction of that past case as evidence into the Chauvin trial, but the DOJ is pressing on in considering charges. In February, as the George Floyd murder trial continued, the federal government convened a grand jury hearing that included witness testimony about Mr Chauvins past use of force. Its not the first time Chauvin has been accused of excessive force. Though it was largely kept out of the trial, Chauvin had a long record of using force , often against people of colour , which continued through the days just before he arrested George Floyd and resulted in 22 complaints or internal investigations over his 19 years on the force, but only one formal instance of discipline. His conviction is believed to be just the second time an on-duty Minnesota police officer has been convicted of murder in the states history, and the first time for a white officer. He reportedly was ready to accept a plea deal before his trial began if he could avoid federal civil rights charges, The New York Times reported, before the previous US attorney William Barr scuttled the deal, saying the investigation against Chauvin needed more time to proceed. The potential federal charges come amid broader scrutiny of the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of the George Floyd killing. After months of community members demanding federal scrutiny of the department, this week, the DOJ announced it would conduct a so-called pattern or practice investigation of the MPD to see if had engaged in unconstitutional or unlawful police practices. Such investigations are often the prelude to federal consent decrees with police departments, legally binding court-sanctioned agreements between the government and local police forces to change their practices. Hours after Israeli soldiers shot and killed Osama Mansour at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, the military announced that it had thwarted a car-ramming attack but the facts didn't seem to add up. By all accounts, Mansour had initially stopped his car when ordered to do so. His wife, the mother of his five children, was sitting in the passenger seat and after the soldiers sprayed the vehicle with gunfire, killing him and wounding her, they declined to arrest her as an accomplice. Witnesses say the soldiers killed Mansour for no apparent reason, part of what rights groups say is a pattern of fatal shootings of Palestinians by Israeli forces under questionable circumstances. The debate over the soldiers' conduct echoes the high-profile police killings of Black Americans in the United States. In its initial statement, the military said the vehicle had accelerated "in a way that endangered the lives of the soldiers" and that forces opened fire to "thwart the threat." Shortly afterwards, the military said the shooting was under investigation, without elaborating. A military spokeswoman declined to answer detailed questions about the incident submitted by The Associated Press, including whether the army still believes it thwarted an attack. Sumaya Mansour, the widow of the deceased, says her husband took her to see a doctor in the early hours of April 6. On the drive back to their home village of Biddu they passed through the village of Bir Nabala, just outside Jerusalem. They saw Israeli troops and armored jeeps up ahead, a common sight in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces often carry out overnight arrest raids. She said two soldiers came over to the car with their rifles pointed at them. One of them ordered Osama to shut off the ignition, and he complied. The soldier asked where they were from and what they were doing, and they told him, she said. "He said 'Fine, OK, go.' So, we started the car, we moved forward, and a second later they opened fire," she said. "I froze out of fear, with broken glass falling over my head and the sound of bullets. It was very scary." She said the car veered back and forth. She called out to her husband to go faster, then saw that he was slumped between the seats and took the wheel until they reached some people who helped them get to a hospital. In recent years, Palestinians have carried out a series of stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks that have killed or wounded Israeli soldiers and civilians. Military checkpoints in the West Bank are a frequent target. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. Defenders of the military say soldiers must make split-second decisions in life-or-death situations. International law and the Israeli military's rules of engagement say lethal force can be used in life-threatening situations. However, rights groups say Israel often falls short of that standard and rarely punishes wrongdoing by its security forces. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) When Madi Cores Sailers high school switched to in-person learning this marking period, her choice was easy: she would keep learning virtually. Cores Sailer, a senior at Freehold Township High School, is one of thousands of New Jersey students who have continued learning virtually, even after their schools have opened classrooms either full- or part-time. I would much prefer to have a regular senior year and be in school, but my parents completely left this decision up to me whether I want to go back or stay home, she told NJ Advance Media. And I think it just makes more sense to stay home with everything going on. Cores Sailer has been learning virtually since last March, when Gov. Phil Murphy ordered all schools remote during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Schools were allowed to choose their own learning formats for this year, but still had to give students the option to learn virtually if they wanted. Its unclear exactly how many students statewide are currently taking advantage of this option. As of mid-October, the most recently available data, 25% of students in districts with hybrid or in-person learning were staying home, a spokesman for the state Department of Education told NJ Advance Media. Updated figures will not be available until the end of the academic year. NJ Advance Media analyzed enrollment data and learning status of the states 10 largest districts and found a significant number of students are staying virtual, despite schools reopening. About 81.5% of the nearly 195,000 kids enrolled in those districts have an option of in-person learning, whether its because their school is hybrid or fully open. However, only 43.5% of students offered the choice are currently opting for it. Although 19% of the students attending those 10 districts are enrolled in a virtual-only school, 64% of the total students are still learning virtually. Families reasons for kids staying home can be multi-fold, Leslie Calabrese, a professor at Rutgers Graduate School of Education, told NJ Advance Media. In addition to concerns about the coronavirus, some students simply do better in a less formal setting. Comforts like sleeping for an extra hour or being able to grab a mid-morning snack could have been the tipping point for some students in staying home. This dynamic will likely be unique to the 2020-2021 school year, as Murphy has said he expects all districts to provide fully in-person education starting this fall. If the current vaccine allocations and health trends proceed as anticipated, we believe that the vast majority of students will be able to attend school full-time in person this coming fall, a spokeswoman for the governors office told NJ Advance Media in an email. Of course, any necessary alternative accommodations will be considered as part of the fall reopening process. As always, we will continue to follow the guidance from our public health experts. Jersey City, which has flip-flopped on its reopening plans, has the largest proportion of voluntary virtual learners, with 80% of students staying home based on a parent survey conducted in mid-April, school officials said. Even Edison, the states largest suburban district and the largest to offer full time, in-person learning, has a majority of its students staying home, with just 32% returning to classrooms. Toms River and Passaic, both of which are offering hybrid instruction, will have about two-thirds of their students back in classrooms, the most of the largest districts. Officials in several school districts says the divide is not even across grade levels, with younger students significantly more likely to head back into classrooms. In Woodbridge, some schools have as many as 70% of their students in-person, while others have only 20% in-person, superintendent Robert Zega told NJ Advance Media. In Union City, which will re-open for hybrid learning on May 3rd, about two-thirds of high schoolers are staying home. For middle schoolers those numbers are flipped, with two-thirds of students going back into classrooms, Ralph S. Passante, Jr., the Coordinator of Data and Community Engagement for the district, said. Passante said he believed middle schoolers were the hardest hit socially and emotionally by the switch to virtual learning. Older students have fared better learning virtually than younger students, Calabrese, the Rutgers professor, said. Better versed in technology, theyve need less help from their parents and have been able to stay in touch with their friends in a way younger students havent been able to. As schools prepare to bring students back into the classroom in the fall, Calabrese says she hopes districts can learn from the parts of virtual learning that worked. If kids are choosing to work from home, theres something about it thats working, she said. Its their way of leveling the playing field that is potentially not leveled for them when they go into the building. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Katie Kausch may be reached at kkausch@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. French Quarter voters will decide in Saturday's election whether to bring back a sales tax that pays for extra police patrols in the neighborhood. The 0.245% tax is similar to one that was shot down by voters in the fall elections, allowing it to expire at the start of the year. Property tax proposals, French Quarter sales tax voted down in New Orleans New Orleans voters solidly rejected all three parts of Mayor LaToya Cantrell's tax reshuffling Saturday night, voting down a plan that would h About 67% of French Quarter voters cast ballots against the tax last time, as Mayor LaToya Cantrells administration and some French Quarter groups clashed over how the money would be divvied up. Cantrell had sought to split the money equally between police and workers who would write citations for minor quality of life and code enforcement issues. Other groups, led by the French Quarter Management District, had sought to have the money go primarily to police. Almost immediately after the tax failed, the City Council voted to put it back on the ballot in a modified form. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The new plan would put the Management District, a state board made up of representatives of various French Quarter groups, in charge of the revenue generated by the tax and require the first $2 million a year go directly to police patrols. Any additional funds can go toward either more police or other public safety programs. If passed, the tax is expected to bring in between $2 million and $2.5 million. The Management District and Cantrell administration have still not reached an agreement about the funds, which would start to be collected in July if the tax passes. The original tax was put in place under former Mayor Mitch Landrieu in 2015 as part of a collection of programs aimed at increasing the police presence in the French Quarter amid a rise in crime. Originally, it funded Louisiana State Police patrols. Those patrols have since ended and the Management District has said it plans to use the sales tax money to continue popular Smart car patrols by off-duty New Orleans Police Officers. Those patrols were originally funded by the tourism industry, though that money dried up during the coronavirus pandemic. +3 French Quarter Task Force patrols temporarily out of commission in fight over funding The supplemental French Quarter police patrols, known for their souped-up smart cars and dispatch-via-app technology, have ended due to lack o The Oscars Academy Awards is, for the most part, like a movie we've seen before. We've always seen movies like this, which are objectively not so exciting but have comfort in their unchanging, not-so-good sameness. Performances of some nominated songs are reportedly pre-recorded on the Academy museum's rooftop. It could potentially be a fascinating Oscar ceremony at the end of a unique movie year. Major studios moved many of their films out to 2021 or later, leaving the field open for a rich assortment of lesser-known nominees this year, as per Seattle Times. Aside from being celebrated amid the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some of what you may expect from the Academy Awards. Academy Awards 2021 will have a handful of guests The 93rd Academy Awards, with thousands of A-listers winding their way up the red carpet in the late afternoon Los Angeles sunshine and then partying late into the night at the legendary Vanity Fair reception, is usually set to provide the world with a much-needed shot of glamour. The Oscars this Sunday, on the other hand, may as well be called the Odd-scars. What is scheduled is a stripped-down, partially immersive version of the ceremony in three countries, with no drinking and a drab array of nominated films to boot. When you add a perplexing time zone discrepancy, the service begins at 5 p.m. on Sunday in the United States, meaning it will be after 1 a.m. on Monday in the United Kingdom. You have a solution for a 29 million night that could go down in history for all the wrong reasons, as Alison Boshoff describes. Why Prince William Allegedly Unlikely To Reconcile With Prince Harry The producers encourage nominees to attend the LA ceremony, which they describe as "an intimate, in-person event." A far cry from the notoriously sparkling scene that commonly occurs when 3,700 of Hollywood's finest rub shoulders. This year, the presenters will be joined by nominees and a single guest. Last year's winners will continue to deliver the awards this year, as is usual, which means Brad Pitt, Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, and Parasite director Bong Joon Ho will all be in attendance in Los Angeles. Harrison Ford, Halle Berry, and Reese Witherspoon are among the other presenters. The number of people in the room will be limited to 170. And those in the crowd will be circulated in and out of the ceremony at Union Station to maintain social distance. Actors do not have to wear masks on camera when the awards are being treated as a TV or film event. But they must take at least three COVID-19 checks in the days leading up to the ceremony, as per Daily Mail. Kendall Jenner Wins Second Five-Year Restraining Order Against Alleged Stalkers These Asian actors, filmmakers could win the Academy Awards for the first time It's hard to imagine that after 93 years of the Academy Awards, there are already too many "firsts" to tick off. But there are a few for Asian actors and filmmakers this year, NBC News reported. Steven Yeun (Minari) is the first Asian American actor to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) is the first Muslim to receive a Best Actor nomination. It's the first time that two best actor prospects of Asian heritage are competing. Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari) is the first Korean woman to receive an acting award nomination. Chloe Zhao, the director of Nomadland, is the first Asian woman to be nominated for best director. It's also the first time there are two Asian nominees in that category, thanks to director Lee Issac Chung's nomination for Minari. Real Reason for Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez Break Up @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Armenian leader praises Bidens genocide recognition View Photo YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) Armenias leader is praising President Joe Bidens recognition of the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide, calling it a powerful step. Bidens announcement Saturday and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans response came on the day that Armenians streamed to a hilltop memorial complex in the capital of Yerevan to lay flowers and mourn the victims. Armenia on Saturday marked the anniversary of the 1915 rounding up of some 250 Armenian intellectuals, regarded as the first step in the killings that lasted until 1923. Turkey vehemently rejects the genocide label, conceding that many died in that era, but insisting that the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest. Bidens statement brought an angry response from Turkey and risks worsening relations between Washington and Ankara. But Pashinyan said the move reaffirms the supremacy of human rights and values in international relations. From this point of view, it is an inspiring and inspiring example for all who want to build a just and tolerant international society together. I highly appreciate your principled position, which is a powerful step towards the restoration of truth and historical justice, invaluable support to the descendants of the victims of the Armenian genocide, he said in a message to Biden. Turkish officials struck back immediately. We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the president of the U.S. regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Pashinyan, meanwhile, also said the recognition constitutes a security issue, especially in the light of the events that took place in our region last year, referring to the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in which Armenia ceded large swaths of territory occupied by Armenians in Azerbaijan. More than 6,000 people died in the war and large numbers of Armenian civilians were displaced.. Azerbaijan, which was supported by Turkey in the war, also criticized Bidens recognition of the genocide. While misrepresenting the events that happened 100 years ago, the failure to give a fair assessment of the genocide committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis in Khojaly 30 years ago is an example of bias and double standards, Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry said in a statement. More than 200 Azeris were killed by Armenian forces in 1992 in the town of Khojaly during fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. - Aida Sultanova in London and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this story. By AVET DEMOURIAN Associated Press Click here to read the full article. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is set to host the May 8 edition of Saturday Night Live, with musical guest Miley Cyrus. Musk is a rare example of a business mogul to be featured as host of the NBC late-night institution. The news comes on the heels of Musks SpaceX travel venture launching its second operational flight of its Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station on Friday. New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner hosted SNL in 1990. Then-NBC programming head Brandon Tartikoff fronted the show in 1983 as the network began its storied run of success under his leadership. Musk has become one of the most talked-about business leaders of the past decade with his bold moves in the electric car arena with Tesla. He has also been a champion of the plan to ultimately develop a market for private space expeditions with his SpaceX venture. Although Musks various business ventures have had ups and downs, and his stewardship of Tesla has drawn major criticism, he remains one of the most visible CEOs and tech entrepreneurs-impresarios of the moment. His fortune is estimated by Forbes at $177 billion. The episode will mark Cyrus sixth visit to SNL as musical guest. Her most recent album, Plastic Hearts, bowed last November. Musk has been praised as a visionary for plowing ahead in sectors that were daunting to others. But his outsized compensation from Tesla and his personal behavior have at times drawn flack from investors. Among other activities, Musks Boring Company is working on building a loop for automobile traffic under the Las Vegas Strip around the citys convention center. Click here to sign up for Varietys new Media Earnings newsletter. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. CHICOPEE U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal visited Chicopee City Hall Friday, discussing the $55 million the city expects to get from the American Rescue Plan passed in Washington in March, the lingering impact of COVID-19 and the Biden administrations $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes $29.9 million for the city, and the Chicopee Public Schools will receive $24.6 million, Neals office said. Massachusetts will receive $5.3 billion in state fiscal relief and $2.6 billion in local fiscal relief. Cities and towns across Neals district will receive $241 million of that. Neal has already done announcements in Holyoke, which expects $32 million, and Springfield, which expects between $97.5 million and $127.3 million. Chicopee Mayor John Vieau didnt go into specifics Friday about how the money can be used, except to say the city will look at infrastructure projects and at ways to help small businesses. Neal, D-Springfield, said the money is an opportunity to think long-term or to tackle projects that have had to wait while more immediate priorities were addressed. This will give Mayor Vieau and his staff and the elected officials here in the city of Chicopee a chance to talk about some real legacy issues that you wouldnt ordinarily talk about because you are always piecing and stitching together, Neal said. As chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, Neal was responsible for about $1 trillion of the $1.9 trillion bill. Neal said he expects to handle the first phase of President Joe Bidens $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan by July 4. His committee will be charged with paying for it. Biden has proposed raising the corporate tax to 28%. Republicans are taking 25%. The rate in the now is 21%. Neal said he doesnt like to talk about revenue early because the opposition can mobilize. But he talked about child tax credits approved under the American Rescue Plan. Starting in July, parents will start receiving checks of about $300 for children under 6 and about $250 a month for children 6 to 17. Economists agree that the American Rescue Plans targeted, evidence-based action was needed both for struggling families and for the American economy, Neal said. The legislations provisions will generate $1.25 for every $1 of spending, will cut child poverty in half and will lift nearly 12 million people out of poverty. I am immensely proud of the aggressive course of action the Ways and Means Committee contributed to this package including putting money directly into Americans pockets, and helping them better afford childcare and health coverage, Neal said. This is a big deal for our country and its a big deal for cities like Chicopee who will have the opportunity to use this funding to make bold improvements that will benefit the city and its residents for years to come. Neal said the country has lost 8.3 million jobs during the pandemic, and 4 million have stopped looking for work. Until we defeat the virus, its hard to see how we get back to full economic recovery, he said. Friday was Neals first visit to the restored Chicopee City Hall Auditorium. The $14.2 million renovation project is substantially complete, although contractors continued their work during Neals event. Iran's Al-Alam television said an oil tanker that was reportedly attacked on April 24 near Baniyas in Syria was one of three Iranian tankers that arrived recently at the oil terminal. Syria's Oil Ministry said earlier that a fire broke out on an oil tanker off the Syrian coastal city of Baniyas following what is believed to be a suspected drone attack from Lebanese territorial waters, Syria's state news agency SANA reported. Firefighting teams managed to extinguish a fire in one of the tanks of the oil tanker, the report said. It provided no further details and did not specify where the tanker was arriving from. It was not clear who carried out the attack, which caused no casualties, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. There was no immediate reaction from Iranian officials. There has been a series of mysterious attacks on vessels in recent months. They have come amid rising tension in the region between Iran, Israel, and the United States. Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, dpa, and AP By Lameck Masina BLANTYRE, MALAWI - Malawi's government says it will go ahead with plans to destroy thousands of expired COVID-19 vaccine doses, despite calls from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Africa Centre for Disease Control not to destroy them. The WHO and Africa CDC this week urged African countries not to destroy COVID-19 vaccines that may have passed their expiration dates, saying they are still safe to use. However, Malawi's government says the appeals have come too late to prevent the destruction of thousands of doses of expired COVID vaccines. Officials said the 16,440 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that expired April 13 have already been removed from cold storage. Thursday, the WHO and the Africa CDC had urged African countries not to destroy the vaccine that may have expired, saying it is still usable. And its also a requirement that every vile manufactured, has an expiry date beyond which it cannot be used," said Dr. Charles Mwansambo, Malawis secretary for health. "In this case, we cannot proceed to use these because the vile clearly states the expiry date. And any doctor, any physician would not be forgiven in the event of anything happening after knowingly used a vile that is clearly having labeled as having expired. The expired vaccine is part of the 102,000-dose donation the country received in March from the African Union. Malawi and South Sudan earlier announced plans to destroy about 70,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that expired last month. Mwansambo also said using the expired vaccine would scare people from taking the jabs from the remaining stock. If we leave or store these expired vaccines that will be big blow to our vaccination drive people will not come. Now even though we are not using them people have been hesitant to come because they feel that we might be given the expired vaccines, he said. Mwansambo said the country may be considering extending the shelf life of the remaining stock of vaccine received through the COVAX facility and from the Indian government that expires in June and July. George Jobe, the executive director for the Malawi Health Equity Network, said using the expired COVID-19 vaccine would create a negative attitude in people. We can have phobia from Malawians which we should not. If the [expired] vaccines are safe, the CDC can take the expired vaccines, or WHO, and donate to the developed countries. But we have to witness the day the vaccines are leaving Malawi. Mwansambo said destroying the expired vaccine is in line with Malawi government guidelines on expired pharmaceutical products. He said the government will soon announce the date when it will publicly destroy the expired vaccine in Malawis capital, Lilongwe. Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) will resume flights on the route Kyiv - Chisinau - Kyiv from April 29, which were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline's website says. It says that flights Kyiv - Chisinau are to be operated on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, flights Chisinau - Kyiv - on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. As reported, in connection with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Moldova, a state of emergency was introduced for the period from April 1 to May 30. More than 20 civilians have been killed during the past 20 days during a vicious crackdown in northwestern Myanmars Sagaing region, a hotbed of anti-junta rallies since the early February military coup overthrew the elected government, witnesses said Friday. Clashes between security forces and protesters have intensified in Sagaings Yinmabin and Kani townships, with residents taking up improvised firearms and other simple weaponry after junta authorities tried to arrest a local Buddhist monk in early April. There have been at least six clashes in the weeks between Apr. 2 and 23, said residents who are furious that the military used rocket-propelled grenades to quell protests. People here have a conviction that we must fight back against the military dictatorship with any available weapon, said a Kani resident who did not want to be identified. We have to resist them in every way possible. Were not giving in. We have an armed force of about 10,000. Villagers in the area, which is near Myanmars border with India, have used tumee rifles for hunting in the mountains for generations and have been turning the simple guns that use gunpowder on the military. Hundreds of troops are now in the area and trying to crush the popular resistance, residents said, with the crackdown intensifying since a karaoke lounge and restaurant in the area owned by an army major were recently set on fire, and a soldier was killed by unknown persons while fetching water. In response to the stiff resistance, Myanmar forces stormed their communities in recent weeks, driving out nearly 10,000 people from 10 villages, residents said. Many left behind livestock, rice, and cash, which was stolen by the soldiers, locals told RFA. At first we stayed in the village during daytime to keep watch of our homes, but then the soldiers came in big numbers, so we dared not to stay there anymore, said a woman from Win Gone village who declined to give her name. All the villagers had to leave their homes, she said. There are about 500 houses, and so at least 10,000 people, young and old alike, are on the run. Soldiers looted and extorted money from villages where internet service had been cut off, and took food and bottles of beer from restaurants, and bags of rice and pigs raised by locals, she said. On Thursday, soldiers arrested about 45 Thabyay Aye villagers who went to recover the bodies of those killed by security forces, residents said. They were all released on Friday after paying off soldiers, a villager said. Myanmar anti-junta protesters flash a three-finger salute of defiance during a demonstration in downtown Yangon, April 23, 2021. Credit: AFP We have no trust in them The military is now telling villagers that they will have peace if they lay down their arms. They are asking for our weapons, said a local resident from Yinmabins Kapai village. But we have no trust in them at all, he said. We have seen them doing anything they want to people in our villages. Its not easy for us now, people are scattered and in hiding here and there in small groups. Aung May Yi, a former member of the Sagaing regional parliament, said troops are bullying and suppressing people because they have weapons. Even though some people have been killed, the people are not losing this fight of resistance, she said. All the people are getting more united than ever. People in our township who had joined the civil disobedience movement are holding on, and they [the junta] are the ones that are losing. In other parts of Myanmar, at least 15 people nationwide were arrested amid crackdowns by police and soldiers on Friday, witnesses said. Sporadic protests, dubbed No Cold Blood Protests were held on streets in downtown Yangon, while hundreds of young people marched in outlying townships despite the heavy presence of security forces. Anti-junta protesters take part in a demonstration in Dawei, capital of southern Myanmar's Tanintharyi region, April 23, 2021. Credit: AFP/Dawei Watch Government workers in hiding In Mandalay, anti-junta protesters continued to use guerrilla tactics despite the military juntas crackdown on pedestrians. Government employees who left their jobs and joined the civil disobedience movement (CDM) in Mandalay say they live in constant fear of being ratted out by informers and arrested. Someone from the military moved into our government housing after the coup, and weve felt unsafe, said a Mandalay Education Department worker. At first, the staffers who joined the CMD were able to stay together, but then we had to go home because we were worried about our safety. Others remain in hiding. Some education employees from Yangon and Mandalay have moved around to conceal their whereabouts since they had given their addresses to the authorities when they joined the service, said a university professor involved in the CDM. At first they stayed in university housing in the cities, but after the military forces occupied university and school campuses, they dared not stay there anymore, he said. They had to leave their homes and go into hiding. In Sagaings Kalay, hundreds of civilians fled their villages as clashes intensified between military forces and local protesters, residents said. Anti-coup demonstrators staged one march but had to abandon plans to hold a memorial service for protesters who died during the past few weeks, said a Kalay protest leader who declined to be named. We had to disperse quickly when we realized they [security forces] were going to block us from both ends of the road and trap us, he said. Anyway, we made it. We held the protest march, and no one got arrested. Anti-junta protesters march down a street in Myanmar's largest city Yangon, April 23, 2021. Credit: Associated Press Villagers questioned about fire In Loikaw, capital of eastern Myanmars Kayah state, a protester jumped into a nearby creek when police and soldiers stormed a dawn protest on Thursday, and he is still missing, residents said. Security forces there arrested three women during a crackdown, they said. In Padaung township, Bago region, about 10 villagers and a toddler from Taungpo Kwin village were arrested on Thursday for questioning about a fire that had broken out the night before at the local police station, according to a text message RFA from a source close to the family. Soldiers allegedly tortured the young boy, forcing his father and grandfather to confess, someone close to the boys father said. A man who broke his leg while escaping arrest and is being treated at a hospital said security forces released the toddler, but that the other detainees were still being held for questioning. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy group based in Thailand, 745 people had been killed by the junta since Feb. 1, and 3,371 others were being detained as of Friday. Another 1,118 people were at large while facing charges and arrest warrants. Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane and Kyaw Min Htun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. The on Saturday demanded that all people above the age of 18 be vaccinated against COVID-19 free of cost by the Union government. chief Nana Patole told reporters here that he had submitted a letter with the demand to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through Pune divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao. He said the Centre was "discriminating" by approving different rates of the vaccine for itself, the states and private facilities. The Union government on April 19 announced that all adults will be eligible for COVID vaccination from May 1, while private hospitals and states will be able to buy doses directly from manufacturers. (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.) Natasha Maxwell, 34, is employed through ACEA High School. She resides in Sanford with her spouse, Rob Maxwell, and step-children, Emma, Elissa, Klyn and Alex, Alister, and Amelia. Maxwell is an English teacher to alternative high school students, and shes currently caring for her husband, who is fighting Stage 3C Choriocarcinoma. Its not her first challenge. I taught my students throughout my pregnancy during the pandemic and when we returned in-person this fall, she stated. I was teaching English and Earth Science when I learned of my husbands diagnosis in January. My students are a great inspiration for me to keep going through the difficult times; I want to set an example on not giving up. Maxwell rounds out the Daily News 20 Under 40 overall winners, and she also is the Education category winner. The following is more information about this popular educator. What is the best aspect of your job? Many of my students have difficult life circumstances, and they often have a wall built up to protect themselves. Getting to know my students as individuals, earning their respect, and teaching them valuable life lessons inspires me every day. I love watching students grow into adults and becoming successful in their own right. Why is your community a good place to live and work? ACEA doesnt give up; we offer dynamic resources to help our students develop life, emotional and behavioral skills that will promote success in their future careers or endeavors. What one person has influenced you the most? Michelle Zielinski has been the principal at ACEA for more than 20 years, and she was also my principal when I attended as a student. I grew up in a complex home environment, and I felt I had slipped through the cracks of the school system. My teachers never understood the trauma I had experienced as a child, so I often felt that I didnt belong. Michelle interviewed me upon enrollment after I dropped out of high school at 17 years old. It was the first time I felt that someone genuinely cared about my circumstances and also knew how to help. I graduated from ACEA as Student of the Year in 2005, joined the Marines in 2007, and returned to ACEA as a teacher in 2020. What quote do you live by? The best way out is always through is a line from Robert Frosts A Servant to Servants. I repeated this quote many times throughout boot camp and in other life challenges. The quote reminds me that experience is the purpose of lifes journey, including times of joy and pain. The White House has defended President Joe Bidens upcoming visit to the UK in June when he attends the G7 summit, as travel restrictions remain for other Americans amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Press secretary Jen Psaki fielded criticism on Friday towards the US leader after details were announced of his first overseas trip, despite advising citizens not to travel abroad. Mr Biden will fly to Cornwall for the 47th annual intergovernmental G7 summit from 11-13 June, where he will meet UK prime minister Boris Johnson as well as other world leaders. It will be the first face-to-face meeting for the global leaders since the outbreak of the pandemic, including German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron. When questioned about his travel plans, Ms Psaki told the White House press room that a diplomatic trip for the president was slightly different than travel for the ordinary citizen, as captured in a video posted on Twitter by Vox.com. She said: Well, I would say I think most Americans would see it as slightly different from the president of the United States Im not suggesting youre saying otherwise but as a president of the United States making a diplomatic trip, abiding by Covid protocols and flying on Air Force One, than whether it is safe for mass numbers to fly internationally. Ms Psaki added: Obviously, everybody wants that to be reopened. Europeans, we do, American people who would like to travel. But, you know those conversations are really happening between health and medical experts and they [will] make an evaluation based on what they think is safe for the American public. In a statement announcing the trip this morning, the White House said: This trip will highlight [President Bidens] commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalising the transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure Americas interests. President Biden will attend the G7 Summit in Cornwall, UK, which is happening from 11-13 June, where he will reinforce our commitment to multilateralism, work to advance key U.S. policy priorities on public health, economic recovery, and climate change, and demonstrate solidarity and shared values among major democracies. He will also hold bilateral meetings with fellow G7 leaders, including British prime minister Boris Johnson. The summit will be held in Carbis Bay in Cornwall, described by Johnson as the perfect location. Leaders from Australia, South Korea, the EU and India will also attend as guests. Last years 46th meeting, which included the core members the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan, was cancelled due to Covid-19. Following the summit the president will travel to Brussels, in Belgium, where he will participate in the NATO Summit on 14 June and affirm the United States commitment to NATO, transatlantic security, and collective defence. During that visit he will also take part in a US-EU summit. The leaders will discuss a common agenda to ensure global health security, stimulate [a] global economic recovery, tackle climate change, enhance digital and trade cooperation, strengthen democracy, and address mutual foreign policy concerns, the statement added. The group first met, with six members, in 1975 to discuss solutions to global economic crises, before Canada joined a year later. Each year the meeting is held in the country of a different member state, tackling issues including climate change, global security, trade and health. The UK will be the first foreign nation visited by President Biden in his capacity as leader of the United States. Last month he spoke to the UKs prime minister over the phone and the White House said in a statement that the two leaders underscored their continued commitment to combating Covid-19 and ensuring global health security. It added: They discussed the importance of developing ambitious climate goals, noting the opportunities provided by the Leaders Summit on Climate and the UKs G7 presidency. They agreed to work closely together on shared foreign policy priorities, including China and Iran. The leaders also affirmed the importance of preserving political stability in Northern Ireland. Prince Charles and Princess Diana were welcomed at the White House by former President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1985. Jean-Louis Atlan/Getty Images Princess Diana danced with Neil Diamond during a 1985 gala dinner at the White House. Pete Souza, a former White House photographer, captured the moment and shared the photo on Instagram. Diana also danced with John Travolta, who said dancing with her was "as if it were a fairytale." Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Princess Diana danced with several celebrities when she attended a White House dinner nearly four decades ago, but she "visibly" blushed while dancing with Neil Diamond. In November 1985, the Prince and Princess of Wales arrived to Washington D.C. as part of a three-day trip to the U.S., The Washington Post reported. Their first day ended with a star-studded White House dinner hosted by then-President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan. While Diana took a spin with celebrities like John Travolta and Clint Eastwood, former White House photographer Pete Souza recalled her memorable dance with Neil Diamond. "The one rock-solid remembrance I have is that Diana was visibly blushing when she danced with Neil," wrote Souza in an Instagram post. "In the photograph, you can see that her cheeks are a bit red but in the moment it was even more obvious." Souza, Chief Official White House Photographer for Reagan and Barack Obama, said that Diamond also performed that night at the dinner - and may have even sung for Diana. "Accompanied by the military band, Neil sang a few of his songs. I distinctly remember him singing, 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers,'" Souza wrote. "My recollection-and I can't be sure this is correct-is that he continued singing this song as he danced with her." In another Instagram post, Souza added that Diana "danced that night with President Reagan, Tom Selleck, Clint Eastwood and Neil Diamond. She did not dance with Prince Charles." The story was first reported by People. During a new interview with Esquire Mexico, John Travolta shared details about his dance with Diana and how it was like a "fairytale." Story continues "I didn't think they'd ask me to dance with her. I had the great privilege and honor of doing so, and I thought, 'There must be a reason for doing this and I better give it my all," Travolta, 67, told the publication. "We were at the White House. It's midnight. The stage is like a dream. I approach her, touch her elbow, invite her to dance. She spins around and gives me that captivating smile, just a little sad, and accepts my invitation. And there we were, dancing together as if it were a fairytale," he said. Travolta, who danced with Diana to a "Saturday Night Fever" medley, said he committed the moment to memory. He said: "Who could ever imagine something like that would happen to them someday? I was smart enough to stamp it in my memory as a very special, magical moment." Read the original article on Insider Unlike other famous bands, Led Zeppelin was never a group to idle away weeks in a recording studio trying to lay down a single track. The bands entire 69 debut LP went down in a matter of days (about 36 hours total, including mixing). That continued through the production of Led Zeppelin IV (1971), widely considered the bands masterpiece. It began with less than a week of studio time in London in late 70. After a change of scenery, the Zep put in another six days of recording at Headley Grange (a former poorhouse in the countryside) in early 71. Then the band finished up with five days of overdubs back in London. All told, it added up to about 17 days of studio time to create one of rocks greatest albums. Unfortunately, mixing the album took almost as long. A studio mishap in L.A. turned the process into a nightmare for Jimmy Page and his bandmates. And only one track mixed in L.A. made it onto IV. Led Zeppelin needed a do-over for every mix except When the Levee Breaks Robert Plant, John Bonham and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin | Laurance Ratner/WireImage RELATED: Physical Graffiti: How Many Songs Did Led Zeppelin Use From Previous Sessions? After producing the album in England, why take the tapes to L.A. for mixing? The idea came from engineer Andy Johns, whod worked on an album there earlier. Besides that, Sunset Sound had a reputation as the place where the Beach Boys (Pet Sounds), Joni Mitchell, and others had recorded. So Page and Johns headed off to L.A. with the reels that contained Stairway to Heaven, Black Dog, and the albums other epic cuts. But the omens were foreboding when the Zep entourage arrived: The 71 San Fernando earthquake had just occurred. Suddenly, the mention of canyons shaking in Going to California didnt seem like a good choice of words. And Page and Johns learned they wouldnt work in peace. So the tapes began rolling and sure enough there was an aftershock, Johns recalled in a 2013 interview with Chris Welch. Totally coincidental of course, but Jimmy was convinced it was the power of the music. So that was rather funny. All superstitions aside, Page and Johns realized something went very wrong when they returned to London and played the album back to the rest of Zep. It all sounded great at Sunset but the only mix that got used was When The Levee Breaks,' Johns told Welch. Jimmy Page couldnt explain what happened at Sunset Sound John Bonham, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin | Chris Walter/WireImage Even with decades to think it over, Johns still couldnt explain what was behind the poor mix. The previous stuff Id done at Sunset was really good, Johns told Welch in 13. I thought Sunset was a cool place but they had changed the room since I was last there. I dont know what happened. In Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page (2012), Zeps guitarist-producer also couldnt put his finger on it. It didnt sound anything like it did in L.A., Page said of the playback session with his bandmates. I was astonished. [] Maybe the monitors were giving us a totally false sound picture. Regardless, Page headed into Londons Island studios to finish the job. And everything went well except for one track: When the Levee Breaks. Thats when he turned back to the L.A. mixes for guidance. Somehow, that mix sounded as phenomenal as it had in L.A. To many, it still stands as Led Zeppelins finest blues. Graeme McDowell celebrated in different stages at the par-3 17th hole at TPC Louisiana on Friday. Its a fairly brutal hole, all 216 yards of it, and water guards its entire left side. A par was the score he was chasing in the second round of the Zurich Classic. So when McDowell saw that the beautiful 4-iron he struck safely on land, pitching at the front of the green, that was cause for joy in itself. He didnt bother to even watch the rest once it bounced. RELATED: Leaderboard | Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson combine to make move in 'tricky format' And then his ball released, and rolled, and rolled some more 40 feet or so right into the jar for McDowells very first ace in a PGA TOUR event. McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champion, figures he has around 14 or so holes-in-one around the world, as many as five as a pro on other tours, but he had never had one on the PGA TOUR. When the ball disappeared, McDowells partner, Matt Wallace, was more thrilled than McDowell, giving him a double-armed jolt to the shoulders as everybody else on the tee swarmed him. Its a sweet one, obviously, said McDowell, 41, a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR. It means I can share the bar bill with Matty, as well, which is great. I think we sent a few beers over to the caddie tent, and we sent a few beers over to the media center, as well, just in case you guys are thirsty. McDowells ace, which came on the eighth hole of the round, provided a nice spark for the McDowell-Wallace tandem, which moved from the cutline into the fringes of contention. A second-round 70 left them at 8-under 136, just five shots out of the lead. Because the hole-in-one arrived at the PGA TOURs two-man team event it was not deemed as being official by the PGA TOUR. As far as McDowell and his partner were concerned, you can keep the asterisk. Nah, that counts, Wallace said. Added McDowell, Official? I dont care if its official, unofficial Im pretty sure it says 1 on the scorecard. With a big weekend ahead, his own celebration would have to wait. Maybe a little red wine with dinner, McDowell said. It was a nice little shot in the arm for us, and we birdied the next, and we put ourselves in a nice little slot going into the weekend, McDowell said. We may have a glass of wine, but well save the celebrations, hopefully, for Sunday night. Rest easy. If McDowell and Wallace were to win, it would be counted as official. And theyll both know the shot that got them going. If there's one thing the United States military gets right, it's lethality. Yet even once the US military has you in its sights, it may not know who you actually are such are, these so-called "signature strikes" even as that wrathful finger of God is called down from upon on high. As Kate Crawford, Microsoft Research principal and co-founder of the AI Now Institute at NYU, lays out in this fascinating excerpt from her new book, Atlas of AI, the military-industrial complex is alive and well and now leveraging metadata surveillance scores derived by IBM to decide which home/commute/gender reveal party to drone strike next. And if you think that same insidious technology isn't already trickling down to infest the domestic economy, I have a credit score to sell you. Yale University Press Excerpted from Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence by Kate Crawford, published by Yale University Press. Copyright 2021 by the President and Fellows of Yale University. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Underlying the military logics of targeting is the idea of the signature. Toward the end of President George W. Bushs second term, the CIA argued that it should be able to launch drone attacks based solely on an individuals observed pattern of behavior or signature. Whereas a personality strike involves targeting a specific individual, a signature strike is when a person is killed due to their metadata signature; in other words, their identity is not known but data suggests that they might be a terrorist. As the Snowden documents showed, during the Obama years, the National Security Agencys global metadata surveillance program would geolocate a SIM card or handset of a suspect, and then the U.S. military would conduct drone strikes to kill the individual in possession of the device. We kill people based on metadata, said General Michael Hayden, former director of the NSA and the CIA. The NSAs Geo Cell division was reported to use more colorful language: We track em, you whack em.'" Signature strikes may sound precise and authorized, implying a true mark of someones identity. But in 2014, the legal organization Reprieve published a report showing that drone strikes attempting to kill 41 individuals resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,147 people. Drone strikes have been sold to the American public on the claim that they are precise. But they are only as precise as the intelligence that feeds them, said Jennifer Gibson, who led the report. But the form of the signature strike is not about precision: it is about correlation. Once a pattern is found in the data and it reaches a certain threshold, the suspicion becomes enough to take action even n the absence of definitive proof. This mode of adjudication by pattern recognition is found in many domainsmost often taking the form of a score. Consider an example from the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis. Millions of people were fleeing widespread civil war and enemy occupation in hopes of finding asylum in Europe. Refugees were risking their lives on rafts and overcrowded boats. On September 2, a three-year-old boy named Alan Kurdi drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, alongside his five-year-old brother, when their boat capsized. A photograph showing his body washed up on a beach in Turkey made international headlines as a potent symbol for the extent of the humanitarian crisis: one image standing in for the aggregate horror. But some saw this as a growing threat. It is around this time that IBM was approached about a new project. Could the company use its machine learning platform to detect the data signature of refugees who might be connected to jihadism? In short, could IBM automatically distinguish a terrorist from a refugee? Andrew Borene, a strategic initiatives executive at IBM, described the rationale behind the program to the military publication Defense One: Our worldwide team, some of the folks in Europe, were getting feedback that there were some concerns that within these asylum-seeking populations that had been starved and dejected, there were fighting-age males coming off of boats that looked awfully healthy. Was that a cause for concern in regard to ISIS and, if so, could this type of solution be helpful?" From the safe distance of their corporate offices, IBMs data scientists viewed the problem as one best addressed through data extraction and social media analysis. Setting aside the many variables that existed in the conditions of makeshift refugee camps and the dozens of assumptions used to classify terrorist behavior, IBM created an experimental terrorist credit score to weed out ISIS fighters from refugees. Analysts harvested a miscellany of unstructured data, from Twitter to the official list of those who had drowned alongside the many capsized boats off the shores of Greece and Turkey. They also made up a data set, modeled on the types of metadata available to border guards. From these disparate measures, they developed a hypothetical threat score: not an absolute indicator of guilt or innocence, they pointed out, but a deep insight into the individual, including past addresses, workplaces, and social connections. Meanwhile, Syrian refugees had no knowledge that their personal data was being harvested to trial a system that might single them out as potential terrorists. This is just one of many cases where new technical systems of state control use the bodies of refugees as test cases. These military and policing logics are now suffused with a form of financialization: socially constructed models of creditworthiness have entered into many AI systems, influencing everything from the ability to get a loan to permission to cross borders. Hundreds of such platforms are now in use around the world, from China to Venezuela to the United States, rewarding predetermined forms of social behavior and penalizing those who do not conform. This new regime of moralized social classification, in the words of sociologists Marion Fourcade and Kieran Healy, benefits the high achievers of the traditional economy while further disadvantaging the least privileged populations. Credit scoring, in the broadest sense, has become a place where the military and commercial signatures combine. China is pushing major advances in Africas energy sector. It will inevitably use the African fossil fuel sector as security for its own future energy needs. The geopolitical consequences could be serious. Countries in Africa are in dire need of economic uplift for which a fossil-fuel supported energy sector is indispensable. In a world of growing opposition to fossil fuels, China has become Africas key fossil fuel enabler. Africa Must Move Forward, and Fossil Fuels Are an Absolute Necessity The African continent is at a critical phase of development. Decades of slow economic development are proving to be a major hurdle in tackling poverty, expanding access to basic utilities, and overall improvement of living standards. To break free from this persistent lack of growth, Africa countries must adopt the tried and tested method of economic growth and industrialization used in Europe, North America, and Asia: a strong energy sector that aids a budding industrial economy. Developed economies across the globe achieved phenomenal success during the 20th century by using fossil fuels to provide the energy required for the industries, households, and transportation. But the anti-fossil fuel lobby threatens Africas ambitions. Even Africas primary funders, like the African Development Bank, have stopped funding fossil-fuel projects. This is a big blow to Africas ambitions to break free from centuries of poverty and the existing $50 billion per annum investment gap in Africas energy sector. Denying African countries energy sovereignty will perpetuate widespread poverty and delay economic progress. China is stepping in to aid African countries with fossil fuel development. The Fossil Fuel Genie: China Despite signing the Paris climate agreement, and even aiming to achieve Net Zero target by 2060, China has been an active enabler of fossil fuel production and technology deployment in Africa. Since 2000, China has funded $51.8 billion for coal projects globally, and its total contribution to foreign energy is valued at $245.8 billion. Through its $1 billion Belt and Road initiative, China is involved in fossil-fuel projects with over 70 countries and international organizations, including in Africa. Chinas trade with Africa is already worth $200 billion per year, and its fossil fuel investments are expected to take this number higher. Chinas interest in Africas fossil fuel sector helps secure its imports for the future. Beijings own oil reserves are depleting rapidly, and the power demand from fossil fuels is projected to surge in coming decades. China has provided funds for at least 13 coal projects in Africa and plans to fund nine more. In Nigeria alone, Chinas investment in oil and gas is estimated to be more than $16 billion. It is expected to help Nigerian authorities achieve their target of producing three million barrels a day by 2023. Three-fourths of the revenue for Nigerias federal budget comes from its oil industry. Continued Chinese interest (since 2005) is helping the countrys race against poverty. Around 40 percent of the population in Nigeria lives in poverty. Nigeria has also been benefiting from domestic interest in fossil-fuel expansion. Nigerias richest man is building a multi-billion dollar oil refinery that will process 650,000 barrels per day and create 230,000 indirect jobs once it starts operating in the first quarter of 2022. Oil reserves off the coast of South Sudan hold a promising future and are considered the third largest in Africa. Again, China is the leading oil and gas operator in the region despite its sociopolitical instability. To make itself immune from that instability, China has hired private security to help expedite its oil and gas installations in Africa. Chinese energy interests in South Sudan date back to the mid-1990s It has maintained a near monopoly in the region since then. Dr. David H. Shinn, adjunct professor of international affairs at George Washington University, noted, China wants to retain its substantial petroleum investment in South Sudan to take advantage of current oil production and on the assumption that better days will come .When that happens, Chinese companies will be well placed to develop new oil fields in the country. This is part of Chinas long-term strategy even if it means tolerating short-term losses. In poverty-stricken Zimbabwe, Chinese investment in a coal project has raised hopes for a brighter future. Zimbabweans have experienced power blackouts as lengthy as 18 hours a day, because the government has not been able to produce more electricity and lacks funds to import it. The $4.2 billion Chinese investment in a coal project near Lake Kariba will improve the energy and economic situation. Zimbabwes neighbor South Africa has been battling its own problems with the aging and underperforming Eskom, the state power utility company. China has stepped with a $4.5 billion investment in a power plant. The list of Chinas energy investments in Africa is quite long. Beijing has invested in most other countries in Africa, including some of the poorest like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Niger, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. The anti-fossil lobby in Europe and North America has been observing Chinas fossil fuel enablement in Africa. The powers in Brussels and Washington may see Chinas carbon footprint in Africa as an impediment to their global renewable energy mandate. But for those who are concerned about the development of Africa -- the conquest of poverty there -- like Dr. Mehari Taddele Maru, China is already winning the hearts and the minds of Africans. He argues that China has enabled the African governments to meet their peoples rapidly growing demands for services and infrastructure more quickly China has lifted about 800 million people out of poverty through its untraditional path of development. Chinas growing presence in Africa and the increasing indebtedness of African nations to it could prove a geopolitical threat to Western powers and to democracy in Africa. The last thing the world needs is a Chinese-controlled African continent. International funders should resume funding fossil-fuel projects, providing economic and democratic stability in the region. Vijay Jayaraj (M.Sc., Environmental Science, University of East Anglia, England), is a Research Contributor for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation and resides in Bengaluru, India. Image: Raminagrobis To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed a new law which will prohibit state and local police from enforcing federal bans on guns, ammunition and magazines. Republican Gianforte has been an outspoken advocate of Second Amendment protections. Announcing the signing on Friday, he tweeted: 'Today, I proudly signed Rep. [Jedediah] Hinkle's law prohibiting federal overreach into our Second Amendment-protected rights, including any federal ban on firearms. I will always protect our #2A right to keep and bear arms.' The law was signed just weeks after President Joe Biden unveiled a series of executive actions aimed at addressing gun violence in the wake of a series of mass shootings throughout the country. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican who has been an outspoken advocate of Second Amendment protections, took a victory lap on Twitter Friday. The president specifically mentioned a crackdown on 'ghost guns,' which are homemade firearms without serial numbers so they can't be traced, and an assault weapons ban. Biden's plan to curb tail gun violence was met with opposition from members of the Republican party. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia tweeted a photo of herself with an AK-47. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who campaigned for Congress with her Glock at her side, said: 'Republican Attorney Generals, get ready to fight the Biden executive orders on gun control all the way! I'll be doing my part from the House! Let's ensure we stop this tyrant.' Montana, a primarily Republican state, is the latest state to take on Biden's promises with a law of its own. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a similar law earlier this month, and a bill that would designate Oklahoma a Second Amendment 'Sanctuary State' is headed for Gov. Kevin Stitt's desk, Fox News reported. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is among the Republicans fighting to protect Second Amendment rights. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson vetoed a similar legislation because he fears it would jeopardize law enforcement and the public. The United States has been rocked by a string of mass shooting in recent weeks. Since March 16, when eight people were killed and one wounded in shootings of Atlanta-area spas, the United States has had at least 50 mass shootings. The United States has seen at least 150 mass shootings in 2021, according to data from the GVA, a non-profit based in Washington, CNN reported. Law enforcement investigates after the mass shooting at the FedEx facility in Indianapolis on April 16 that left eight dead. The FedEx shooting left everyone in shocked. Just last week, a teenager opened fire in an Indianapolis FedEx facility, killing eight people along with himself and injuring several more. The mass casualty incident is reportedly weighing heavy on the Marion County Coroner's Office, which has to investigate the deaths and notify the families. Alfarena McGinty, chief deputy coroner for the Marion County Coroner's Office, Told FOX 59, 'This particular incident was slightly different. It impacted our staff slightly different. 'It was probably the most challenging thing that one of my senior staff had to do. My senior staff expressed that it was very difficult to make notification, one after another,' she told the news station. The White House has repeatedly emphasized the need for legislative action on guns. While the House passed a background-check bill last month, gun control measures face slim prospects in an evenly-divided Senate, where Republicans remain near-unified against most proposals. The House measures would expand background checks to include private sales and close what is known as the 'Charleston loophole,' which allows a gun sale to go through if a background check isn't finished after three days. But it's highly unlikely the measures would get the 60 votes needed to proceed in the 50-50 Senate. It's not just Republican objections, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has expressed opposition to the House measures. And Congress is no where close to approving what Biden called for during the presidential campaign: a ban on assault weapons and universal background checks. Burma Female Detainee Sexually Assaulted, Tortured During Interrogation: Former Cellmate Ma Khin Nyein Thu A female detainee accused of involvement in a series of bombings has been sexually assaulted and tortured by junta forces at an interrogation center in Yangon and denied access to medical treatment for her injuries, according to a 17-year-old former detainee recently released from the same facility. Two womenMa Khin Nyein Thu, 31 and Ma Hsu Linn Htet, 19and four men were arrested at a house in Yankin Township on April 17 following a series of deadly blasts that killed at least one soldier and wounded several others in Yangon. They have been held at the juntas interrogation center in Shwepyithar Township, Yangon since April 18. There, Ma Khin Nyein Thu has been sexually assaulted and severely tortured by junta forces since her arrest, according to 17-year-old anti-regime protester Ma Shwe Yamin Htet, who shared a cell with the victim and was recently released from the interrogation center because she is a minor. She made the revelations on her Facebook page on April 21, and is now in hiding. On Thursday, she repeated the account of the juntas sexual torture of Ma Khin Nyein Thu in an interview with RFA. Ma Khin Nyein Thu has been beaten by the soldiers since her arrest, she said. On April 17, after learning that her boyfriend is a foreigner, officers at the police station in Yankin forced Ma Khin Nyein Thu to open her legs, kicked her in the genitals and beat her on the genitals with a stick, Ma Shwe Yamin Htet said on her Facebook page. Her vagina was bleeding when she arrived to us at the interrogation center. But it was not caused by the menstrual cycle, the girl said. Ma Shwe Yamin Htet said Ma Khin Nyein Thu had been beaten over her whole body and cant walk or eat properly due to the serious injuries caused by the torture. She cant eat food as her lips are split open, said Ma Shwe Yamin Htet, who witnessed the injuries. She said Ma Khin Nyein Thu is being interrogated every day from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again throughout the night at the interrogation center in Shwepyithar. Ma Khin Nyein Thu has been denied proper medical treatment for her injuries, the girl said. During the interrogation, she goes without food all day and night. She was not in good health [to begin with] as she was injured a lot [at the police station prior to being sent to the interrogation center]. Her life is at risk if she continues to be interrogated daily like this, Ma Shwe Yamin Htet said in her interview. Military-run media reported on April 18 that weapons, including homemade bombs, were seized with the six detainees including Ma Khin Nyein Thu. It also broadcast photos of the detainees indicating they had been badly beaten. After learning that her daughter had been tortured at the police station, on April 18 Daw Hla Hla Soe, the mother of Ma Khin Nyein Thu, told The Irrawaddy, I am praying for her. I dont hope for much but I want her to live. I am praying for all of them to be saved by God. Ma Shwe Yamin Htet said she had seen that some of the male detainees could not walk well after they were interrogated in a separate room. Ma Shwe Yamin Htet and her mother were arrested by junta forces on April 14 when they went outside to stage an anti-regime protest. They were both sent to the interrogation center in Shwephyithar from April 15-20. She revealed she had faced sexual harassment and had her life threatened by a policeman while being interrogated at a police station in Sanchaung Township on April 14 before being sent to the interrogation center. Tapping me on my shoulder, the policeman said he could help me. After I struck his hand when he made a second attempt and called for a policewoman, he angrily responded that he could easily kill me and secretly dispose of my body, the girl said in the interview. As of Thursday, nearly 740 people had been killed by the military regime during crackdowns, raids, arrests and interrogations, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Those killed include anti-regime protesters, National League for Democracy (NLD) members, bystanders, pedestrians and local residents. Meanwhile, more than 3,300 people including elected leaders, NLD party members, election commissioners, anti-regime protesters, journalists, doctors, writers, artists and civilians have been detained. Amid the brutal killings and arrests, tens of thousands of people across Myanmar continue to take to the streets to protest military rule. You may also like these stories: ASEANs Exclusion of NUG in Summit Disappoints Myanmar More Than 110 People Abducted by Myanmar Junta This Week China Says ASEAN Summit Should Fend off External Interference in Myanmar Jenn March/Jenn March Photography There are two decidedly different concepts of god: These are the deist and the theist views. In the former, god is the creative force that sets reality in motion but does not participate in the details of history. By many accounts, a majority of the founding fathers of this country were deists. Theists, on the other hand, believe in a god that is both active in natural history and in human affairs. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are creeds that espouse a theistic concept of god. By definition then, an atheist is a person who does not affirm the existence of a theistic god. The Ghana Boundary Commission has begun an audit of the countrys land boundary with Togo to help avert any major land dispute between the two countries. The exercise follows complaints received through the various security agencies and local authorities concerning some boundary disputes. Using boundary pillars as reference in its work, the commission is seeking to ensure that all demarcated lands within the country are protected. The GhanaTogo Border stretches over a distance of 1,098 kilometres from the tri-point with Burkina Faso in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the south. Significantly, while the land border exercise is taking place, at the same time the two neighbouring countries are engaged in negotiations regarding the delimitation of their shared maritime border. Border marks Executives of the commission and the Afadjato South District Assembly, in collaboration with security officials from Togo, last Thursday examined some of the country's border marks at Leklebi. During the exercise, it was observed that two pillars (51 and 53) had already been affected by natural factors, such as erosion, which threaten to alter the boundary marks. Collaborate The National Coordinator of the Ghana Boundary Commission, Brigadier-General Emmanuel Kotia, urged traditional authorities and citizens in communities along the Ghana-Togo border to collaborate with the security agencies to safeguard Ghana's borders. Speaking at a sensitisation session with the chiefs of the Leklebi Traditional Council, Brig.-Gen. Kotia also advised the people to quickly inform the commission about any defect they found on the border marks, so that it would quickly respond to reconstruct any defective pillar. He informed the traditional leaders that the auditing of the pillars was still ongoing, and that it would be followed by an additional survey to ensure that the country's borders were protected. Brig.-Gen. Kotia said the level of cooperation between officials of the commission and those from Togo was impressive and noted that the amicable manner in which disputes were settled along the border was in line with the core functions of the commission. Education He indicated that an educational drive would be engineered by the commission to sensitise residents in border communities to how the boundary pillars were to be protected. "It is important to understand that these boundary pillars have been placed as a marking to determine the boundary between us and our neighbouring countries," he said. He urged the district assemblies to plant teak along the borders to serve as additional markings at the land boundary. Challenges At the meeting, the Leklebi Traditional Council raised concern over the siting of the barrier at Leklebi Kame. The concern, put forward by the Chief of Leklebi-Kame, Togbe Atakyi V, indicated that the current location of the barricade had cut off Kame-Tonu, a community in the Leklebi Traditional Area. Source: graphic.com.gh Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Kolkata, April 24 : The central and the West Bengal government locked horns over the supply of oxygen from the state to other states following the oxygen crisis in different hospitals in Delhi amid an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases in the country. A day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to the Centre not to divert the oxygen scheduled for the state to other states, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs wrote back to all the states and union territories to comply with the order of Delhi High Court and allow transportation of oxygen without any hindrance. In a letter written to all the chief secretaries by the Disaster Management Division under MHA it has been mentioned that Delhi High Court has directed to ensure that the supplies from all oxygen producing plants is made as per allocation and transportation takes place without any hindrance. "Court also directed to ensure adequate security to the lorries transporting oxygen and its non-obstruction on the way," the letter said. "Hon'ble High Court has further directed that non-compliance of the said order will invite action for contempt of court and also invite criminal and penal action under the Disaster Management Act and under the Indian Penal Code," the letter further added. The union ministry has directed all the states and UTs to follow the directions of the court to ensure availability of adequate and uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen across the country for management of Covid-19 patients, the letter said. The letter comes after Banerjee alleged that the central government is diverting the oxygen scheduled for the state to other states and that will create shortage of supply of oxygen in the state which might jeopardize the treatment of Covid patients. "When the entire country is reeling under the crisis of Oxygen, they have decided to divert the oxygen scheduled for the state to Uttar Pradesh. Sail - that used to supply oxygen to us has been asked to send the oxygen to UP. This will increase the crisis of Oxygen in our state," the chief minister had said in a press conference on Friday. Further the state issued a press note saying: "Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of India, recently on April 21 allotted 200 MT of Oxygen from different plants located in West Bengal to outside the state. As per current patient load and the rising trend of infections, it is expected that the consumption level in West Bengal will radically rise to roughly 450 MT per day in the next couple of weeks. Hence present allocation of Liquid Oxygen to outside West Bengal will jeopardize the medical treatment of Covid patients in the state. "The Government of West Bengal has accordingly requested the Government of India on April 22 to consider the need of the state and not divert the medical oxygen available in the state elsewhere." Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Playing Favorites Sally Hepworth lands at #6 in hardcover fiction with The Good Sister, which our review called an addictive psychological thriller whose punchy prose helps propel the twisty plot to a creepy but satisfying conclusion. It made by far her strongest debut week showing yet. Painful Truths New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe lands at #12 on our hardcover nonfiction list with Empire of Pain, his sweeping saga of the rise and fall of the family behind OxyContin, the painkiller widely credited with sparking the opioid epidemic in America, our starred review said. Readers will be outraged and enthralled in equal measure. Keefes previous works include 2019s much-lauded Say Nothing, an investigation into an IRA-linked murder in Northern Ireland, which has sold 232K print copies; hes also the writer and host of the popular 2020 podcast Wind of Change, about Cold Warera spycraft and a power ballad earworm. Matters of Taste Pepper Teigen joins daughter and Cravings author Chrissy Teigen on the cookbook shelves with The Pepper Thai Cookbook, an exciting debut, our review said, and #6 on our hardcover nonfiction list. Her 80 recipes cover Thai standards (chicken satay with peanut sauce, green papaya salad) and reinterpretations (pad Thai brussels sprouts). In a prepub interview with PW, Pepper Teigen discussed moving from Thailand to the U.S. in the 1980s, when finding the right ingredients for her native cuisine required some legwork. Still, when asked, Do you have any advice for home cooks who are making Thai food for the first time? she responded, Honestly, I think cooking American food is more complicated! NEW & NOTABLE LIGHTER STEP-BY-STEP INSTANT POT COOKBOOK Jeffrey Eisner #1 Trade Paperback, #5 overall This time last year, YouTuber Eisner had a hit with The Step-by-Step Instant Pot Cookbook, which debuted at #10 overall. His new collection of slimmed-down recipes sold twice as many print units in its first week as its predecessor did. WHEN THE STARS GO DARK Paula McLain #14 Hardcover Fiction In this stunning crime novel, our starred review said, Anna Hart, a San Francisco detective whos on indefinite leave following a tragic incident, gets drawn into the search for a missing teenager. McLain matches poetic prose with deep characterizations as she shines a light on the kindness in her characters souls. THE ROCK FROM THE SKY Jon Klassen #25 Picture Books Five connected vignettes star a trio of pensive animals placed in what Caldecott Medalist Klassen described in a prepub interview with PW as an impossible, insurmountable situation. Our starred review said the author-illustrator delivers 96 pages of dark, Beckett-caliber comedy. Bhutans health minister has said the country will vaccinate its entire adult population within a week of launching a nationwide innoculation drive. The countrys prime minister, Lotay Tshering, had said the country aims to become one of the first in the world to administer the first doses to all its eligible population. He said the second dose of the vaccination programme is scheduled 8 to 12 weeks from now. A government update said 423,114 people have been vaccinated as of Thursday. Bhutan had covered nearly 40 per cent of its eligible population, estimated at 533,558, by the second day of the vaccination campaign which began on 27 March. Sangeeta Thapliyal, professor of Inner Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told The Independent that it is a remarkable achievement by Mr Tshering, who is a doctor by profession. She said he has been able to contain the spread of the virus despite limited medical infrastructure. Bhutan has reported 873 cases of Covid-19 and one death since the pandemic began, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Read more: Ms Thapliyal said the country has been actively combating Covid-19 and perceived it as a health emergency. It brought out a national preparedness and response plan for the outbreak of coronavirus. Travel restrictions, quarantine and other related measures showed the countrys quick response to the emergency-like situation. A 30-year-old woman became the first one in the country to get the jab at a vaccination centre in Bhutans capital Thimphu. Let this small step of mine today help us all prevail through this illness, she said after getting the first dose of the vaccine. The prime minister and his family got vaccinated on the first day of the campaign. Cabinet ministers and other parliament representative have also received Covid-19 jabs, according to news agency ANI. View more Indian virologist Shahid Jameel said that while its an achievement for Bhutan, its also an achievement for Indias vaccine diplomacy. Bhutan received the first consignment of 1,50,000 doses of Covishield developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India in January from India. It received a second batch of 400,000 doses from New Delhi on 22 March and initiated the vaccination campaign. Bhutan prime minister also thanked his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, for timely support and delivery of the vaccine. You played a big part in making this possible. Dr Rui Paulo De Jesus, the World Health Organisation representative to Bhutan, also expressed gratitude towards India for providing the vaccines. India vaccinated 1,500,000 people in the first week of its inoculation drive which began in January. In the UK, more than 130,000 people were vaccinated in the first week of the vaccination programme. On Monday, 26 April, the Community of SantEgidio, in Italy, will spearhead prayer vigils in memory of victims of the latest shipwreck off the coast of Libya. Paul Samasumo Vatican City As another shipwreck off Libya took the lives of migrants, on Thursday, Italys Community of SantEgidio appealed for guaranteed rescues at sea and the opening up of new humanitarian corridors. Yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean The European humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee, which operates the rescue vessel Ocean Viking, said late Thursday that the capsized rubber boat, which was carrying around 130 people, was spotted in the Mediterranean Sea northeast of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The aid vessel did not find any survivors on the scene but could see at least ten bodies near the wreck. Various humanitarian NGOs have accused the Libyan coast guard and European authorities of failing to meet their responsibilities to save lives. The umpteenth immigration tragedy has sadly occurred off the coast of Libya, with a death toll estimated by some NGOs at over a hundred. The Community of SantEgidio expresses its condolences to the families of migrants, who experienced much suffering and abuse while they were attempting to reach Europe, reads a statement seen by Vatican News. The statement adds, SantEgidio launches an appeal to all authorities who could have tried to rescue the sinking rubber boat - with alarming reports available already on Wednesday - to guarantee the rescue at sea of those in danger. Reactivate rapid and efficient sea rescues SantEgidio has called for long term solutions to the crisis and the opening up of legal humanitarian corridors for migrants. We need to urgently respond to the request for help coming from migrants attempting to reach Europe - and of those currently in Libya - with long-term projects to empty places of detention, to examine situations case by case and to allow legal ways of salvation like the Humanitarian Corridors. At the same time, we need to build a positive future in the countries of origin - especially for young people - with the support of the European Union, said SantEgidio. The community of SantEgidio urged the European Union to urgently reactivate a rapid and efficient sea rescue network, as required by international law. Prayer vigils In the meantime, SantEgidio said that on Monday, 26 April, it will observe, in Italy and various European cities, prayer vigils in memory of victims of the shipwreck. On Monday, starting with Romes Basilica of Santa Maria in the Trastevere neighbourhood, prayer vigils will be held in Italy and in other European cities. The prayer vigils will be in memory of the victims of the latest shipwreck off the coast of Libya. We feel it is our duty to raise our voices and our prayers so that our continent will not be stained by the guilty of indifference but will be faithful to its values of humanity and the defence of rights, the Community of SantEgidio affirmed. Bengaluru, April 24 : Karnataka will set up a 200-bed modular Intensive Care Units (ICU) with ventilator facility in key districts -- Mysuru, Shivamogga, Hubballi, Belagavi and Bidar in the next fortnight, health minister K. Sudhakar said here on Saturday. Sudhakar told reporters that the state was facing a shortage of at least 2000 ICU beds. "As we have already mentioned in Bengaluru we will be setting up modular ICU beds in our tertiary hospitals, similarly we will be establishing in key districts as well. In Bengaluru we are planning about 1000 modular ICU beds whereas in five districts -- Mysuru, Shivamogga, Hubballi, Belagavi and Bidar we will have 200 beds each. In the districts too, we plan to build these ICUs in tertiary hospital premises," he explained. He added that hospital beds are required only for those patients with severe symptoms and not for those who are having mild symptoms or are asymptomatic. The minister claimed that in the next fortnight these modular ICUs will be functional with a total capacity of ICU 2000 beds with ventilators. "We are in the process of importing ventilators, already talks have begun with some of the suppliers," he said. French Quarter residents woke Saturday to the news of yet another overnight shooting on upper Bourbon Street, then headed to the polls to decide whether to devote a $2 million sales tax to security in the Vieux Carre. I think its critical. More policing is always good, said Bernard Jaffe, 81, as he emerged from the polling place at Homer A. Plessy Community School. +6 Five wounded in Bourbon Street shooting early Saturday, New Orleans police say Five people were wounded when gunfire erupted early Saturday on Bourbon Street, New Orleans police said. The polls opened about six hours after gunfire erupted in the 300 block of Bourbon, wounding five people. New Orleans police said an argument between two males devolved into a shootout at about 1:15 a.m., injuring a 60-year-old man, a 23-year-old man, a 29-year-old man, a 20-year-old woman and another woman. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening. No arrests were reported. Last year, Quarter voters rejected an earlier version of the 0.245% sales tax, which was tied to splitting the revenue equally among security and efforts to improve quality of life and code enforcement. The Bureau of Governmental Research urged voters to reject Saturdays second version because of an unresolved squabble about the administration of the money: whether it should go through City Hall or through the unelected French Quarter Management District, an entity created by the state of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina to oversee the revitalization of Quarter. But in some ways, the New Orleans voters reflect a national debate about the proper scope of policing, amplified by the death of George Floyd, who was killed in Minneapolis by police officer Derek Chauvin after allegedly passing a counterfeit bill at a grocery store. Starting in the 1980s, police enforcement of quality-of-life crimes and minor disorders skyrocketed in tourism destinations such as Manhattan and the French Quarter because of a since-discredited broken windows law enforcement approach that connected property crimes to violence. French Quarter voters to decide, again, on sales tax for police patrols French Quarter voters will decide in Saturday's election whether to bring back a sales tax that pays for extra police patrols in the 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 That type of policing didnt change anything, Zach Hoffman, 32, said after voting Saturday. Hoffman said he voted for the security tax because he thinks New Orleans understaffed Police Department needs to be able to focus on crime such as gun violence instead of lesser issues that might not really require a sworn law office packing a pistol. After all, Hoffman said, gunmen on Bourbon Street are not the core purview of the French Quarter security team, which consists of off-duty officers riding in Smart cars topped with blindingly blue lights. Instead, Hoffmans friends have reported a much faster response when they use the designated phone app to beckon the Smart cars for loud drunks, panhandlers and shoplifters, homeless people sleeping in doorways or graffiti artists tagging historic buildings. Other residents frowned upon the fact that these security officers are unarmed and unauthorized to make arrests. The issue I have with that is that the patrol is useless. I dont think that a system that has off-duty police officers roaming around in little tiny cars without the ability to issue any type of citation is really the best approach to have, said Bruce Baldwin, 67. I think what would deter shootings on Bourbon is a viable police presence, he added. You cant do that from inside a tin can. Jeff Nowak contributed to this story. (CNN) An anti-terrorism investigation has been launched in France after a female police officer was killed in a knife attack at a police station in a Paris suburb. Police on the scene quickly intervened and killed the attacker, Prime Minister Jean Castex told journalists on Friday, referring to the incident in Rambouillet as a "terrorist attack." Castex said that "our determination to fight terrorism in all its shape is unbroken, more than ever." French anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-Francois Ricard said, "The way this crime was committed" and "the words said by the attacker during the event" led the anti-terror office to take on the investigation. The attacker had scouted the location before launching the stabbing, Castex said. And witnesses heard the attacker shout "Allahu Akhbar," according to a source close to the investigation. Three people, believed to be members of the attacker's close circle, have been taken into custody, a French judicial source told CNN. Castex and French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said they were on their way to Rambouillet, a town of 25,000 people 35 miles southwest of the capital. Earlier, Castex shared his condolences with the victim's relatives, saying they "have the support of the whole nation" in a tweet. "The Republic has just lost one of its heroines, in an infinitely coward barbaric gesture," he added. Local representative Aurore Berge tweeted her condolences, saying that "this is a terrible shock. For Rambouillet. For the Yvelines, grieving again," referring to a fatal stabbing of a police commander and his partner, a police administrator, in 2016. Reacting to the attack, French President Emmanuel Macron said France would not give up the fight against terrorism. "She was a police officer. Stephanie has been killed in her police station in Rambouillet, on the already wounded land of the Yvelines. The Nation stands by the side of her family, her colleagues, and law enforcement officers. We will not give up the fight against Islamist terrorism," Macron said on Twitter. Attacks intensify debate over French secularism The attack comes amid an extensive public debate over France's model of secularism, which has wracked the nation in recent months and is likely to be a key issue in the presidential election next year. Known as "laicite" in French, the separation of church and state is the framework of the country's political system and is deeply ingrained in French culture. French lawmakers have been working on contentious legislation aimed at combating Islamist radicalism and reinforcing the country's principle of laicite, as President Macron attempts to appeal to right-wing voters. But secularism is divisive in a country as diverse as France, which is home to 5 million Muslims -- many of whom live in poorer areas and are often marginalized in politics and media. The vast majority of France's Muslims do not support Islamic extremism, yet still face unfair stereotypes, experts say. Critics say the bill, which includes measures that would ban head scarves and other overt religious clothing or symbols, risks discriminating against Muslims. The bill is currently being scrutinized by a cross-party parliamentary commission. The wider debate over laicite and whether it works in modern, multicultural France has been intensified by recent terror attacks. On October 29, three people were stabbed to death at a church in the French city of Nice. A 21-year-old Tunisian national was charged in their murder, and President Macron said the country was under attack by "Islamist and terrorist madness." Prosecutors said the suspect had photos on his phone of the man who beheaded a teacher near Paris 13 days earlier, potentially indicating a common motive. The middle school teacher, Samuel Paty, was killed by an 18-year-old man of Chechen origin who, before the attack, said in a post on social media that he wanted to punish Paty for showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in his class. Macron subsequently issued a strong defense of the principle of freedom of speech and said France would not "give up" the caricatures, which were published in satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2012. The attacks are the latest in a string of violence linked to the cartoon in France over several years. In 2015, 17 people were killed in a terror attack that began in Charlie Hebdo's offices in Paris and carried on for three days. The caricatures are considered blasphemous in Islam, and Macron's comments triggered widespread anger in many Muslim-majority countries last year. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Anti-terrorism probe launched after French police officer killed in knife attack." Nephronophthisis (NPH) is a kidney disease affecting mainly children. Now, for the first time, researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have studied a number of adults with NPH and highlighted clinical, genetic and pathological characteristics that could help in confirming this challenging diagnosis. NPH is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern and, though rare, is the commonest genetic cause of kidney failure in children. The name is derived from 'nephron', the functional filtration units of the kidney and 'phthisis', Greek for 'wasting away'. Recent genetic studies have highlighted that NPH may also present in adults resulting in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, there are only a few case-reports and no cohort studies, possibly because of rarity and diagnostic difficulties. The clinical diagnosis of adult NPH is problematic because clinical, radiologic and histologic features are non-specific. Even the extrarenal features are fewer in adults. Because management includes renal transplantation and genetic counselling, an accurate early diagnosis is essential. Takuya Fujimaru, first author, explains further. "At present, molecular genetic analysis is the only practical method for clinically diagnosing NPH. However, as over 25 genes have been identified, Sanger sequencing (one DNA fragment at a time) is tedious; comprehensive mutation analysis using next generation sequencing (NGS) capable of sequencing millions of fragments is therefore required. Unfortunately, NGS is expensive and has limited availability. We therefore aimed to investigate the genetic background of adult nephronophthisis and evaluate the clinical characteristics and pathological changes in these patients." The research team, drawn from top medical institutions across Japan, studied 18 patients with adult-onset NPH suspected from kidney biopsy using cutting-edge tools such as low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy and capture-based sequencing. They analyzed 69 genes associated with kidney disease and compared patients with and without mutations. Seven of their patients had NPH-causing mutations; they were comparatively young though not significantly different in classic pathological findings. Interestingly however, thick tubular basement membrane (TBM) duplication was seen in many more tubules in these genetically proven patients. Our finding that thick TBM duplication is specific to adult-onset NPH is significant. The number of tubules showing this pathologic change has potential as a diagnostic criterion for adult NPH. We also observed that older patients are unlikely to have pathogenic mutations; this could be a novel diagnostic pointer, though comprehensive testing against a target panel of associated genes remains necessary." Eisei Sohara, Corresponding Author This story was reported by Zach Williams. Where the Parks Department sees a place to store stacks of pristine work gloves, rakes and other supplies, local activists envision a community center. Reconciling the two designs on a Stanton Street building within Sara D. Roosevelt Park remains as elusive now as 20 years ago. Neighborhood parks received more than $8 million last year as part of Mayor Bill de Blasios Community Parks Initiative. That money will fund improvements at three Lower East Side parks and followed a renewed interest in recent years within the neighborhood to secure under-utilized park buildings for community use. Yet, it remains to be seen whether this change in the political winds will result in concrete plans to transform the Stanton Street building into a community center, as well as a number of other under-utilized park buildings throughout the neighborhood. Regular meetings with William Castro, the Parks Departments Manhattan borough commissioner, indicate enthusiasm but no firm commitment to the idea, said K Webster, president of the Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition. But she remains undeterred. It would be such a win-win for the community for the park, for the Parks Department, Webster said before adding: There are just so many reasons why you want the resources of that small narrow park to be fully utilized by the community. I know that (Castro) is behind us on this, but the sticking point seems to be Where do I put my storage? Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) and the Hester Street Collaborative conducted a feasibility study in 2012 of the Stanton Street building along with buildings in Seward Park and on the Allen Street pedestrian mall at Delancey Street. But the obstacles both financial and logistical to moving forward with renovation plans remain daunting. Thomas Yu, an AAFE executive and chairperson of the Community Board 3s parks committee, said in a phone interview that the storage needs of the Parks Department remain an impediment to turning the Stanton Street building into space for community programming. The building appeared ripe for change in the mid-1990s as the surrounding neighborhood began its transformation from a gritty, crime-ridden area and real estate values skyrocketed. At that time, the department indicated a willingness to work with activists on transferring use of the building to the community, according to Webster. Yet there remains no other readily-available facility right now to stow the toilet paper, rakes and other necessary materials for Manhattan parks, according to a department spokesperson. That does not mean that the department would not consider a new use for the Stanton Street building should a new storage location be eventually secured, according to the department. Renovations could happen down the road, Steve Simon, Castros chief of staff, told the CB3 Parks Committee in January. Another site was identified as potentially accommodating to the departments storage needs, he said before adding that no relocation was imminent. Funding remains a concern as well, according to the spokesperson. Renovations are needed to bring the building up to code and its unclear how much money and time that would require, the spokesperson added. Webster said the Parks Department should demonstrate its commitment by establishing a firm timeline. I think thats a concrete way that we can move forward together and working as partners, and weve done a lot of great work together, this really has gone on too long. Its gotten old, she said. There are three other buildings within the park. One houses a city-wide alarm system. Engineering staff utilize another. The third is a valued community resource, according to Webster. The Bowery Residents Committee Senior Center at the parks intersection with Delancey Street is a bee-hive of activity, she said. Older Chinese ladies were busy chatting and playing mahjiang there on the afternoon of Feb. 5, as they escaped the biting cold outside. Brightly painted walls, clean carpets and interior sunshine were a stark contrast to the Stanton Street building where the clutter of supply pallets were visible through a door blown open by the wind. The only visible activity observed that afternoon was a park employee who briefly exited to access a department truck. One man in need of some reading time, sat down on the steps clutching his coat. More community gathering spaces are needed within the Community Board 3 district, states the boards Fiscal Year 2016 Priorities. Thomas Yu, the parks committee head, said the Stanton Street building would fulfill such a need. For now, however, the project remains stuck in the mud of bureaucracy. As Congress continues to question BJP's promise to supply the COVID-19 vaccine free of cost to everyone, the Centre on Saturday issued a clarification. The Union Health Ministry in a tweet said that the Government of India's procurement price for both COVID-19 vaccines remains Rs 150 per dose. "GOI procured doses will continue to be provided totally free to states," it added. #Unite2FightCorona It is clarified that Govt of Indias procurement price for both #COVID19 vaccines remains Rs 150 per dose. GOI procured doses will continue to be provided TOTALLY FREE to States.@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @DDNewslive @PIB_India @mygovindia https://t.co/W6SKPAnAXw Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) April 24, 2021 Congress once again engages in Vaccine politics COVISHIELD @ 400 for new govt procurement is higher than what govts of US, UK, EU, Saudi, Bangladesh & SA pay. Made in India & highest price for India? By SII's own admission profits are made even at 150. Prices must be renegotiated @PMOIndia @nsitharaman @drharshvardhan pic.twitter.com/BSTzQ6Fbvo Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 24, 2021 This statement by the Union Health Ministry came after Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh took to his official Twitter handle and alleged that the price of Serum Institute of India's Covidshield vaccine (Rs 400) for the new government procurement is higher than what governments of the US, UK, EU, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and SA are paying. Stating that the vaccine, which is made in India have a high price for India itself, the Congress leader urged the Centre to renegotiate the price of Serum Insititute's COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine politics: Congress & TMC attack Centre over vaccination drive On Friday, both Congress and TMC scoffed at BJP's promise of administering the COVID-19 vaccine free of cost to everyone in West Bengal after forming the government. According to Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala, people will have to pay Rs.600 per vaccine dose. This is perceived as a reference to the Serum Institute of India's announcement of the price at which it will sell COVISHIELD to state governments and private hospitals. Meanwhile, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien stressed that people should not believe BJP as it had failed to fulfill a similar manifesto promise in Bihar. "BJP's free vaccine jumla with two phases to go in Bengal. Remember what BJP did in Bihar? They announced during the election free vaccines. Elections finished, they forgot. Free vaccine jumla, vaccines for all in Bengal, don't believe the BJP, don't trust the BJP," he asserted in a video message. So far, the governments of Bihar, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala have announced free vaccination for all adults. What about rest of India, who have to pay 1,200 per person(600 2 dosages) for #vaccine ! Stop befooling people !#COVID19 #COVIDEmergency2021 https://t.co/HgczQx3gbm Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) April 23, 2021 Trinamool made the commitment yesterday. BJP announces today. There is one BIG difference between the two. #COVID19 Watch pic.twitter.com/CfEcKSKFGU Derek O'Brien | ' (@derekobrienmp) April 23, 2021 COVID-19 vaccination in India Apart from COVISHIELD and COVAXIN, the DCGI accepted the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, paving way for the approval of Sputnik V on April 12. Moreover, the Union government declared that those vaccines that have been granted emergency approval for restricted use by USFDA, EMA, UK MHRA, PMDA Japan, or which are listed in WHO (Emergency Use Listing) will be granted emergency use approval in India. In place of the local clinical trial requirement, the post-approval bridging clinical trial shall be mandated. In a huge announcement on Monday, the Centre relaxed the age bar for vaccination from May 1 onwards and mentioned that vaccine manufacturers can supply 50 per cent of its doses to state governments and in the open market. The private hospitals shall have to procure their supplies of the COVID-19 vaccines exclusively from this quota. The private vaccination providers shall transparently declare their self-set vaccination price. However, they will have to follow all protocols such as being captured on the Co-WIN platform and linked to AEFI reporting. At the same time, vaccination shall continue at Government of India vaccination centres for healthcare and frontline workers and those above 45 years. Additionally, the Centre stated that it will allocate vaccine doses to the states from the remaining 50% quota based on factors such as the number of active cases, speed of administration and vaccine wastage. Coronavirus tally in India As the world continues to battle against the Coronavirus pandemic, India so far has registered over 1,66,10,481, out of which, 1,38,67,997 have successfully recovered and 1,89,544 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 3,46,786 new cases, 2,19,838 fresh recoveries and 2,624 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 25,52,940. (Image: PTI-Representative, Twitter-@Jairam_Ramesh) President Joe Biden became the first commander in chief to officially recognize that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire was a genocide, in a move that fulfilled a campaign promise and illustrated how Washington isnt as worried as it once was about angering Turkey. The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide, Biden said in a statement Saturday, which is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Let us renew our shared resolve to prevent future atrocities from occurring anywhere in the world. And let us pursue healing and reconciliation for all the people of the world. Advertisement President Donald Trump and his predecessors had largely chosen to dance around the issue in order to avoid angering Turkey. The closest a U.S. president had come to this kind of statement was Ronald Reagan, who referred to the genocide of the Armenians in passing In a 1981 statement on the Holocaust but that was not followed up by a formal recognition. George W. Bush had vowed to recognize the genocide during the 2000 presidential campaign but didnt end up following through as Turkey ended up becoming a key ally in the Iraq invasion. Barack Obama also said he would recognize the genocide during the 2008 presidential campaign but never ended up doing it during the eight years he was commander in chief. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Although Turkey recognizes that lots of Armenians were killed by Ottoman forces in 1915, it vehemently disputes the claims of genocide. Turkey made its displeasure clear on Saturday. We entirely reject this statement, Turkeys foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, wrote on Twitter. We have nothing to learn from anybody on our own past. Political opportunism is the greatest betrayal to peace and justice. The ministry issued a statement saying the United States had opened a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship. The recognition, which comes after a long lobbying campaign by members of Congress and Armenian-Americans, reflects how Biden is prioritizing human rights as well as the worsening relations between the United States and Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It also shows how Biden is aware that for the first time in many years, Erdogan needs the U.S. more than Washington needs him, notes NBC News. Biden had told Erdogan of his decision in a call Friday in what was reported to be a tense conversation. The issue was left out of the official statements about the call. She said the C.D.C. had talked to health providers for young women, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The pause and investigation into the rare disorder, she added, should give the public confidence in the system used to monitor vaccine safety. Nearly 8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have now been administered. Among men and women who are 50 or over, there has been less than one case per million doses. Roughly 10 million doses or more of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, produced at the companys factory in the Netherlands, are sitting on shelves across the United States and could be deployed immediately. Several states, including Texas, Alabama, Utah and Wisconsin, said they expected to follow the recommendations of the C.D.C. and F.D.A. once the decision was made. Dr. Walensky said that she heard intense interest from governors about resuming use of the shot. They wondered why we had paused and they were anxious to have this back, have an opportunity for a single-dose vaccine, for a one-and-done possibility, she said. The vaccine has immense potential benefits. If vaccinations resume for all adults, 26 to 45 cases of the clotting disorder would be expected over the next six months, according to a model that Dr. Sara Oliver, a C.D.C. scientist, presented at Fridays meeting. However, 600 to 1,400 fewer Covid-19 related deaths would be expected over the same time period. The vaccine, which is easy to store and requires just one shot, is also especially well-suited for use in hard-to-reach populations, including people who are homebound, homeless, or incarcerated. Additional potential cases of the clotting disorder, including some in men, are currently being reviewed. Dr. Shimabukuro also mentioned one case that developed in a 25-year-old man who participated in a clinical trial of the vaccine. "I'm looking for a kumquat. Do you know what that looks like?" Kay Kingsman flagged down a fellow shopper in the grocery store with that question - and no, he couldn't identify a kumquat. But she kept on talking. "How's your day?" she recalls asking. "Having a fun grocery trip?" Kingsman, a 27-year-old manufacturing engineer in Portland, Ore., dragged the conversation on so long that this stranger in the citrus aisle interjected with an answer to a question she hadn't pondered: "I'm married." GENERATION ZOOM: Abandon all those awful, never-ending Zoom calls with this app That's when Kingsman realized she didn't know how to have a casual conversation with a stranger anymore. She hadn't been flirting, at least not intentionally. She'd been earnestly seeking those little orange oblongs for a cake she was baking, and once she opened her mouth, she was so excited to be talking to someone that she couldn't stop. Verbal diarrhea is just one symptom of late-stage pandemic social awkwardness. Others include asking yourself: How far away did I used to stand when talking to someone? Should I stand farther now? How long is a conversation supposed to last anyway? Do my friends still like me? As vaccinations ramp up and our social lives restart, many of us are rusty, tongue-tied, rambling or insecure - and it shows. "Social interaction is a million things knitted into one," says Marisa Franco, a psychologist who specializes in friendship. It's turning thoughts into speech, making eye contact, entering and exiting a conversation, and more. "It's like you haven't practiced a language, then you go back to the country and it starts to come back." Rest assured fellow awkwards, your social skills will come back. And you're not the only one feeling out of sorts. The coronavirus pandemic brought with it so many new rules: We were urged to wear masks in public, to stand at least six feet away from others, to socialize indoors only with those in a defined pod, to mute and unmute ourselves at the appropriate times on Zoom. All of that was uncomfortable at first. Shouldn't reemergence be the easy part? Not necessarily. Our new reality isn't the same as life before covid-19; it's an in-between stage, a collective adolescence of sorts. We've changed. The world has, too. "What is awkward is that different people have different rules," says Dave Nadelberg, founder of the "Mortified" podcast and stage shows that feature embarrassing childhood stories. "Everyone says they care about covid safety, but everybody has a different definition. People are appalled if you're too restrictive or permissive. As the world is opening up, that tension is a little stronger." The freshly vaxxed vibe resembles a middle school dance: We're eager to be with others, but don't know quite how to act. And our dance moves have aged terribly. "We've been sitting around in our sweatpants and not showering for a year. We have to now worry about bad breath and all the things that Zoom conference calls insulated us from," Nadelberg adds. At the beginning of the pandemic, says Ty Tashiro, a psychologist and author of "Awkward: The Science of Why We're Socially Awkward and Why That's Awesome," discomfort over social distancing or Zoom etiquette was often outweighed by the pervasive fear and anxiety surrounding catching or spreading the novel coronavirus. "Now the awkwardness gets to stand on its own." Loneliness is another emotion that's ballooned during the pandemic. And the lonelier you are, the likelier you are to be socially anxious, says Franco, the friendship expert. When Franco asked her Instagram followers if they felt their social skills had deteriorated during the pandemic, about 80 percent said yes. However, even if you perceive yourself as awkward, there's a good chance others haven't noticed. "We all have a bias to think other people are judging us more than they actually are," Franco says. For Alexandra Clemente, a 29-year-old consultant in San Francisco, her awkwardness manifests as fear of overstaying her welcome. She used to understand the cadence of a party, but the pandemic has thrown off her sense of timing. "I don't want to be rude," Clemente says. "I'm trying to be aware of what people's boundaries are." Her friends have promised to help her read the room, saying: "We'll tell you when to leave, don't worry." In our new reality, maybe we'll care less about being perceived as rude and more about just being real. Derek Brown, owner of the Columbia Room bar in Washington, finds small talk to be difficult these days. "Politeness feels awkward," Brown says, "not just because of the time you spent without people, but the enormity of what people have gone through" in the past year. Returning to the office has made some workers recognize the perks of Zoom. Jennifer Sonne, a 33-year-old environmental consultant in Anchorage, started a new job during the pandemic, so when she started coming into the office in the fall, she had trouble recognizing her co-workers in masks. "On Zoom, you see names," she says. "In the office, I almost wish we could put some name tags on foreheads." She can't quite remember how to gracefully exit an in-person conversation. And then there's body language, something office workers toiling at home haven't had to think much about in the past year. "On video conferences or phone calls, you don't have to worry about your hands or anything more than chest up," Sonne says. During an impromptu conversation with a colleague in the office, Sonne caught herself wondering what to do with her hands: "Do I put my hands on this chair? On the desk? Do I fiddle with my clothes? Where do humans put their hands? What is body language anymore?" Jordan Hall found that even going to the mall to buy a shirt at Uniqlo felt strange. "I feel like an ant. I feel small," the 28-year-old videographer in Los Angeles recalls thinking while trying to maneuver between hundreds of shoppers at Glendale Galleria. "I'm my own main character in my house and now I'm in this flood of people." He chose the escalator over being in an elevator with strangers and constantly worried about where everyone else had been. Shielding yourself against awkwardness starts even before you leave the house. Ilana Dunn, co-host of the "Seeing Other People" podcast, now tries on about seven outfits before she picks a pair of pants. After a year of athleisure,"the act of getting yourself together, putting makeup on, putting an outfit on, has become so difficult," Dunn says. "It's been tough to figure out what to present myself as." Before the pandemic, Dunn, a 26-year-old in New York, was "the most social person ever." Now she'll have to excuse herself from an outdoor hangout to take a walk because it's just too much. "I've suddenly become that quiet, awkward person off to the corner not really engaging with people. Part of me is still questioning: 'I don't know if these people are safe to be around. I don't even know what to talk about.' " If you talk about doing lots of things, it sounds like you're bragging or that you've been reckless, Dunn says. "And if you talk about doing nothing, it's like: 'Why not? . . . You can finally do things again.' " For those with reduced social stamina, Franco suggests going slowly and being intentional about whom you reconnect with. "Maybe there are select few [people] you want to talk to," Franco says. "Be strategic about what getting out there means to you." And the next time you're feeling awkward, Tashiro advises leaning into it. "The best thing to do is to say: 'It's a little weird getting back out into public and socializing again, isn't it?' " Because we're all searching for some kind of normalcy. Or kumquats. On Thursday, Apr. 22, Gaon Music Chart dropped their post-corona first-quarter analysis of the K-pop market. Want to know which male idols had the best physical album sales for the first quarter of the year? Then keep on reading! BTS is the Male Idol with the Best Physical Album Sales for the First Quarter of 2021 Sitting at the top of the list is BTS. Not only are they the male artists with the best physical album sales, but they are also, overall, the best K-pop act with the best physical album sales for the first quarter of 2021. By Apr. 22. BTS sold 1,554,843 physical albums, amounting to 22.5% of the total shares among male artists. Their most recent album, "Be," was released on Nov. 2020. According to the Gaon Album Chart, the album sold 2.2 million copies within the first week of its release. This marks the second-highest opening week sales figure for the Gaon Chart, with BTS's previous album, "Map of the Soul: 7," holding the record. On Jan. 6, 2021, the album was revealed to have been certified as double-million by the Korea Music Contest Association. "Be" appeared on the Gaon Annual Album Chart at number two, sitting behind "Map of the Soul: 7." The album reportedly sold 2,692,022 albums in South Korea. BTS appeared thirteen times on the chart, making them the artist with the most entries on the 100-spot ranking. EXO Baekhyun is the Male Idol With The Second Best Physical Album Sales for the First Quarter of 2021 After BTS is Baekhyun, who reportedly sold 591,944 albums for the first quarter of 2021, amounting to 8.6% of the total shares among male artists. His most recent release, "Bambi," was released on Mar. 30, 2021, as a final album before his upcoming military enlistment. Hour before the release of "Bambi," it was reported that the mini-album had surpassed 833,392 pre-order sales, making it the most pre-ordered album by a South Korean soloist. Upon its release, "Bambi" topped the iTunes Charts in 60 countries. The mini-album debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart, making it Baekhyun's fourth release to do so. "Bambi" was the top-selling album of Mar. 2021 on the Gaon Album Chart. On Apr. 19, news reports stated that "Bambi" had surpassed one million sales, making it Baekhyun's second album to do so. These are the Male Idols with the Best Physical Album Sales for the First Quarter of 2021 1. BTS - 1,554,843 or 22.5% 2. EXO's Baekhyun - 591,944 or 8.6% 3. NCT - 514.582 or 7.5% 4. Super Junior - 433,065 or 6.3% 5. ATEEZ - 380,711 or 5.5% 6. WayV - 309,278 or 4.5% 7. TREASURE - 309,024 or 4.5% 8. SHINee - 281,449 or 4.1% 9. NCT Dream - 200,866 or 2.9% 10. TVXQ's Yunho - 193,797 ot 2.8% Did your favorite male idol make the top ten for the first quarter? Tell us in the comments below! For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns This Written by Alexa Lewis New York, April 24 : As many places across the globe face mobility restrictions due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, a new study has found that it may be effective only for a short period. The study, led by Junghwan Kim from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the US, examined people's mobility for seven months during the pandemic in the US using publicly available, anonymized mobile phone data. "We found that, overall, mobility declined sharply in March and April but quickly recovered to the pre-pandemic mobility levels from April through June, forming a V-shaped data curve," Kim said. "During the second wave that occurred between June and September, we saw very little change in mobility despite the Covid-19 pandemic becoming more severe," Kim added. For the study, published in the Journal of Transport Geography, the team used mobile device data from 2,639 of the 3,000 US counties, excluding those with too little data, those with excessively high mobility levels and those with incomplete demographic data. A closer look at the data also showed that mobility changes are associated with political partisanship, poverty, mobility restriction and high Covid-19 case numbers. The team found that counties with more poor people showed only a slight decrease in mobility throughout the study period and that state-wide Covid-19 mobility restrictions were more effective during March and April than from April to June. The study also alerts authorities to the need for more manageable travel restrictions and policies that reduce Covid-19 exposure risk to essential workers. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) People inspect an ICU ward after a fire broke out in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. Mumbai: At least 14 Covid patients died in a major fire at a Covid centre in Virar, Maharashtra's Palghar district, in the wee hours of Friday. The fire broke out at around 3 am in the ICU on the second floor of the four-storeyed Vijay Vallabh Hospital which had 17 Covid patients. According to the sources, the cause of fire seems to be a short circuit in an air conditioning unit of the hospital. The surviving patients under critical care have been moved to nearby hospitals in Mumbai. Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil ordered a thorough probe by the Maharashtra Director General of police (DGP). The Maharashtra government also announced Rs 5 lakh compensation each to the legal heir of the deceased. The government will also provide Rs 1 lakh to those who have serious injuries. Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray expressed grief over the incident and directed the administration to make arrangements for the treatment of those people who were admitted to the Vijay Vallabh Hospital. The cause of the fire should be investigated properly. The administration has been instructed to see whether the appropriate fire safety measures were taken in the hospital, Mr Thackeray said. Surendra Singh Raj of Satyamev Jayate, an NGO based in Vasai and Virar, alleged that most of hospitals including this hospital in Vasai and Virar did not have fire safety equipment, fire alarm and smoke detectors. Relatives of the victims reached the hospital soon after they got to know of the incident and demanded that stringent action be taken against those responsible for the tragedy. TV visuals showed the smoke-filled ICU in a disarray after the blaze, with the ceiling falling off in some places, beds and other furniture strewn around and kin of the deceased wailing outside the hospital. In his tweet in Marathi, the state home minister said, A fire broke out in the intensive care unit of Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar, killing 13 patients. The incident is very unfortunate and painful. A heartfelt tribute to the victims of the accident! The Director General of Police has been directed to conduct a thorough inquiry into the incident. Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis also demanded an in-depth inquiry and strong action against the people responsible for the incident. The tragedy comes two days after 22 Covid patients who were either on ventilator or oxygen support, suffocated to death when their oxygen supply stopped suddenly due to a malfunction in the main storage at a civic hospital in Nashik. Earlier, on the intervening night of March 25-26, nine Covid patients had died in a fire that broke out in Mumbai's Dreams Mall, which housed a Covid-designated hospital on its third floor. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-25 00:20:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, April 24 (Xinhua) -- More than 12 million people in Britain are fully vaccinated by Saturday, the official figures said. The British government said that 12,071, 810 people are fully vaccinated, having had their second dose. The total number of people who have had a first dose is 33,508,590. More than half Britain's population has had one jab, according to the official figures. A total of 38,189,536 COVID-19 vaccinations took place in England between Dec. 8 and April 23, according to National Health Service (NHS) England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 501,800 over the previous day. Government data up to April 23 showed that of the 45,580,400 jabs given in the country so far, 33,508,590 were first doses, a rise of 119,953 over the previous day. Some 12,071,810 were second doses, an increase of 448,139, according to the official data. Experts have warned that despite progress in vaccine rollout, Britain is "still not out of the woods" amid concerns over new variants, particularly those first emerged in South Africa, Brazil and India, 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 Kathmandu, April 25 : Nepali authorities have issued record number of expedition permits for Mt. Qomolangma, defying expectations of reduced number of permit issuance compared to past years amid Covid-19 pandemic. The Himalayan country issued a record 394 permits for the Mt. Qomolangma, the world's tallest peak by Friday, which broke the earlier record of 381 permits issued in 2019, according to the Department of Tourism, which issues such permits, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. "We had not expected that such a large number of mountaineers would be climbing the Mt. Qomolangma in the middle of the pandemic," Mira Acharya, director at the mountaineering section of the department told Xinhua on Friday. "This suggests the massive charm of Mt. Qomolangma among the mountaineers as well as their passion towards climbing the mountain despite the risk of the Covid-19." The department had initially estimated that maximum 325-330 permits could be issued this spring season for the Mt. Qomolangma. "We later estimated the number of permits to be issued could be around 370," said Acharya. "But, the flow of people willing to climb the world's tallest mountain defied our expectations." According to the department, there is no additional application in the pipeline for expedition to Mt. Qomolangma. Before new permits issued on Friday, such applications were not in the pipeline until a few days ago. "So there is still a chance that some more permits could be issued for the Mt. Qomolangma," said Acharya. The world's tallest peak, whose revised height is 8848.86 meters, continues to attract a large number of adventure lovers. Even those who had prepared for expedition to this mountain last year but could not do so due to suspension of all mountaineering activities by the Nepali government amid Covid-19 fears, have also come this year, according to Nepali officials and companies organising the expedition this year. "But, the main reason for the record high permit issuance is love and passion among the mountain lovers towards the Himalayas, particularly the Mt. Qomolangma," Mingma Sherpa, chairperson of Seven Summit Trek, one of the leading expedition organising companies in Nepal, told Xinhua. According to him, his company alone is managing 110 climbers who got climbing permits for the Mt. Qomolangma, known as Sagarmatha in Nepal. The number of climbing permits issued does not incorporate the mountaineering guides, mostly the Nepali Sherpas as they don't need to take such permits. According to Sherpa, over 2,000 mountaineers, guides and other assistants have already reached the base camp of the Mt. Qomolangma. In 2019, a record 644 mountaineers, including 280 foreigner mountaineers and Sherpa guides had stepped onto the top of the world. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Prince Harrys return to the U.K. was a somber affair. Though he was expected to head home in July 2021 for the unveiling of a statue of his mother, Princess Diana, the death of his grandfather, Prince Philip, brought him home earlier than he expected. The prince has been living in California with his pregnant wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and toddler son, Archie Harrison. The pair have resigned from royal life, launched their own foundation, Archewell, and signed million dollar deals with Netflix and Spotify. However, they havent been as quiet as people expected them to be post-Megxit. In a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Sussexes unpacked the reasons they left royal life behind and why they felt the royal family did little to help or support him. While were sure it was a tad awkward for Prince Harry to return home following the interview, its been said that hes taken great care to maintain a good relationship with his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Harry | Julian Simmonds WPA Pool / Getty Images Prince Harry accused the British royal family of being unsupportive In their CBS interview with Oprah that aired on March 7, the Sussexes touched on the lack of support they received from the royal family as Meghan was dealing with the horrific racist and sexist British tabloids. She explained that when she asked for help amid a mental health crisis, she was turned away. Prince Harry said he felt very let down by his father and that the relationship between himself and Prince William was simply one that involved space. Prince Harry also accused Prince Charles of cutting him off financially and refusing to take his phone calls. Most shockingly, the couple spoke about an unnamed family member who questioned their son, Archies skin tone, presumably since Meghan is mixed-race. Prince Harry Returned Home to Meghan Markle and Archie on Tuesday https://t.co/2eLfsXDCFm Oprah Daily (@OprahDaily) April 21, 2021 RELATED: How Has Prince Harry Relationships With Prince William and Prince Charles Changed Since Prince Philips Funeral? Prince Harry returned to the U.K. for the first time since Megxit Prince Harry returned to the U.K. alone for Prince Philips funeral since a heavily pregnant Meghan was not cleared to fly. Though he was cordial with his family, this was not a time for the royals to iron out their issues. This trip was to honor the life of his grandfather and support his grandmother and relatives. It was very much a family-focused period of time, royal expert Omid Scoobie told Harpers Bazaar. Saturday broke the ice for future conversations, but outstanding issues have not been addressed at any great length. The family simply put their issues to one side to focus on what mattered. This trip was to honour the life of his grandfather and support his grandmother and relatives, a source close to Harry tells @HarpersBazaarUS. It was very much a family-focused period of time.https://t.co/X3VfSaHh9V Omid Scobie (@scobie) April 21, 2021 Prince Harry met with Queen Elizabeth II privately at least twice While he didnt exactly clear the air with Prince William or Prince Charles, Prince Harry did make sure to speak with Queen Elizabeth on multiple occasions. The love and respect he has for his grandmother will always be unwavering, Scoobie explained. The Finding Freedom author reported that Prince Harry spoke privately with his grandmother on a minimum of two occasions. In a recent interview with James Corden, Harry revealed that hes spoken more with his grandmother in the past year than he has in the last several years. Were glad to hear that their bond continues to be very strong. What a difference a year makes. The public was back, allowed to sing and there was an impromptu performance of the Haka. Last year in the grip of COVID-19 there was an unattended token wreath-laying at the Cenotaph in Sydneys Martin Place. This year, dawn service MC Gareth McCray welcomed back the public with some 1500 already in place at 4am with a near full orange moon high in the sky. It is 12 degrees and feels like eight but it is a beautiful start to Anzac Day, he said. The guard of honour at the ANZAC Day Dawn Service. Credit:Cole Bennetts It was the 94th anniversary of the Sydney service which has continued uninterrupted since 1927 - although attendance was limited during the Second World War and national security restrictions meant it was held indoors in 1942. There were 500 seated at the George Street end of Martin Place and a further 750 at the Pitt Street end. The inner sanctuary around the Cenotaph was restricted to 100. Last year marked the 30th anniversary of the iconic Renault Clio the companys most successful model, and the best-selling French car of all time. The Clio was first shown in 1990 at the Paris Motor Show as the replacement for the successful and popular Renault 5. Light, efficient, spacious and comfortable, the Clios arrival marked a pivotal moment for Renault, and would go on to become a multiple award-winner spanning five generations. More than 15 million Clios have left production lines around the world over the last 30 years, with almost 56,000 making their way onto Irish roads and into the hearts of drivers and passengers alike. Consistent Identity Whats remained consistent throughout the last three decades is the Clios identity. It provides the kind of refinement and appeal of a larger car, but delivered in a small package that represents impressive value. The model line-up has also expanded with each version, with a range of distinct models offering something for everyone. Indeed, there has been a Clio to suit all tastes throughout the last three decades. A New Generation of Technology The all-new fifth generation Clio boasts technology and features found on larger and more expensive models in the Renault line-up, bringing the very best of the brand to a wider range of buyers. It has advanced driver assistance systems and full LED lighting as standard equipment across the range, the very latest infotainment systems and the most accomplished driving experience, backed up by a five-star Euro NCAP crash safety rating. With a line-up culminating in sporty R.S. Line models, the all-new Clio boasts a more expansive range of engine options than ever before, with efficient TCe (petrol) and dCi (diesel) powertrains, bolstered by the advanced new E-tech hybrid powertrain in both self-charging and plug-in guises. Outstanding Efficiency The new Clio E-Tech Hybrid can drive short distances exclusively on electric power and Renault claim that the Clio E-Tech Hybrid allows you to drive in full electric mode for up to 80% of your daily commute. The new Clio E-Tech hybrid combines cutting-edge electric and combustion engine technology with a particularly efficient automatic transmission. This multi-mode gearbox features intuitive regenerative braking for dramatic deceleration, and it takes the wasted energy from the braking process and uses it to recharge the car's batteries. As a result, the new Clio E-Tech hybrid consistently starts in electric drive, optimises electric driving in the city, and it boasts a silent electric experience for ultimate serenity on the move. Test Car My test car was a Clio E-Tech Hybrid (self charging), which was finished in striking Quartz White metallic paint, with contrasing two-tone alloy wheels and tasteful lower-body decals adding terrific visual drama. The interior of the Clio Hybrid is equally as impressive as the exterior, with a combination of light and dark colour schemes throughout the cabin. Powering the new Clio Hybrid are a pair of differntly sized electric motors and a naturally-aspirated 1.6-litre petrol engine, which produce a combined 140PS (138bhp). With the instant responsiveness of the electric motors, along with the Clio Hybrids standard multi-mode automatic transmission, there is no shortage of driving thrills on offer. Using the My Sense button to trigger Sport mode makes the accelerator livelier, with the engine becoming more free-revving in tandem with a maximum electric boost. However, given the nature of the Clio E-Tech Hybrid, it is more satisfying driving in such a way as to keep the digital power meter in blue (for regeneration) or green (for eco or electric driving), and seeing the EV light flicker on and off especially driving through towns and villages in the knowledge that emissions are as suppressed as possible. Even at motorway speeds, you will still see that tell-tale EV-only sign flickering occasionally, principally when you are cruising steadily. The conventionally-powered, all-new Renault Clio is a dynamic and agile car in every respect, and the good news is that the Clio E-Tech Hybrid performs every bit as good. The ride is relaxed and comfortable, the steering light and effortless, plus there is ample head, leg and elbow room for occupants in the front and rear of the car. Boot space in the E-Tech Hybrid is down from 391-litres (in standard petrol and diesel models) to 300-litres to accommodate the hybrids battery pack, but this capacity can be greatly increased by dropping the rear seats when needed. Light blue trim detailing around the transmission selector, and the dashboard vents, is a distinctive E-Tech Hybrid feature, and is representative of the low emission credentials of the newest addition to the magnificent award-winning Renault Clio model line-up. Pricing & Warranty The All-New Renault Clio E-Tech Hybrid is priced at just 29,145 (ex works), or from as little as 162 per month subject to certain criteria. From now until April 30, Renault Clio E-Tech Hybrid customers will receive a 1,000 Green Bonus, 3.9% APR and 3 Months Deferred Payments (terms & conditions apply). All new Renault passenger cars come with a five-year/200,000km warranty as standard. Contact Joe Mallon Motors, Naas, on 045 897675. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-25 02:23:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VALLETTA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The China Cultural Center in Malta organized an online event Saturday to celebrate World Tai Chi Day, attracting many Maltese Tai Chi enthusiasts to participate. Tai Chi, a centuries-old Chinese martial art characterized by gentle movement exercises, has been widely accepted by people around the world. The event featured Wang Zhanjun, the founder of a Tai Chi school from central China's Henan province, teaching Tai Chi via the internet, and the school's students presenting shows combining Tai Chi with the dance of Shuixiu, literally Water Sleeves, one of the most skillful stunts in Chinese Peking Opera. The Malta Tai Chi Yang Family Club, the Malta School of Wushu, the Malta Martial Arts Association and the Mediterranean Traditional Chinese Medicine Center also practiced Taiji for the online event. "I am a firm believer that Tai Chi has many positive aspects," said Clifton Grima, Parliamentary Secretary for Sports, Recreation and Voluntary Organizations, adding that "we are using online technology in order to ensure that this art gets to the house of people who would like to practice this marvelous art." "I look very much forward towards further collaboration between our two countries, which, though being located in different continents, are connected due to their historical aspects," he noted. World Tai Chi Day, which falls on the last Saturday of April, has been celebrated in Malta for 14 consecutive years, according to Yang Xiaolong, director of the China Cultural Center in Malta. Enditem A colorized scanning electron micrograph of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Credit: NIAID A first case of the COVID-19 variant contributing to the exploding outbreak in India has been detected in Switzerland, the public health authority said Saturday. "The first case of the Indian variant of COVID-19 has been discovered in Switzerland," Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) said in a tweet. The virus variant was found in "a passenger who arrived in Switzerland after transiting through a European airport." "The person changed flights in a European country before flying on to Switzerland," spokesman Daniel Dauwalder told AFP in an email, adding that the positive sample was collected in March in the northern canton of Solothurn. The news comes after Belgian authorities on Thursday said a group of 20 Indian nursing students who arrived from Paris had tested positive for the variant in the country. India's healthcare system is meanwhile buckling under a new wave of infections blamed in part on the new "double mutant" variant, known as B.1.617. On Saturday, India reported a record daily number of cases and deaths from COVID-19, while the government is struggling to provide enough oxygen to overwhelmed hospitals. A total of almost 190,000 people have died of coronavirus in India according to official figures. Countries have been on high alert for the variant, with several suspending flights from India. The BAG said it was discussing whether to add India to its red list of high risk countries. People arriving from countries placed on Switzerland's red list are required to quarantine for 10 days. But Dauwalder pointed out that India already figured on a separate list held by the State Secretariat for Migration, which meant that for now, in most cases only Swiss citizens and residents were permitted to enter Switzerland after a stay in India. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP EDWARDSVILLE The first murder trial in Madison County since the start of the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a guilty verdict against Kevin Campbell in the October 2018 shooting of Tyrone Williams. The three-day trial resulted in guilty verdicts of first-degree murder and discharge of a firearm. Prosecutors and police also went to some extraordinary effort to bring in an important witness. We are very glad Tyrone Williams murderer has been brought to justice, said States Attorney Tom Haine. I hope this will provide some measure of relief to his family. Assistant States Attorneys Lauren Maricle and Katie Warren did tremendous work bringing this case together. It was a true team effort. They should be very proud. Campbell, 39, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon following the shooting death of Williams on the morning of Oct. 6, 2018. Williams was found dead in the parking lot of Williams Auto Body in Venice. An argument from earlier in the evening preceded the shooting. I am also grateful for the efforts of the court, and the diligence of the jurors, as we all worked through the COVID mitigation protocols with success and professionalism, Haine said. This case shows our citizens that Madison Countys justice system is rolling again, and the serious cases to come will be able to be tried professionally, fairly and expeditiously. The trial, which began with jury selection Tuesday and ended with the verdict late Thursday evening, included testimony from Vernell D. Williams, who was able to identify all of the participants in the event. According to prosecutors, everything was on security video or social media, but the difficulty was in identifying who was who. Williams, who was at the scene of the murder, testified and brought those pieces together. Prosecutors noted that it took extraordinary efforts to get Williams to the stand. On April 9 he was charged as an armed habitual criminal, a Class X felony. The charges were suppressed until April 19, after Williams had been arrested in Chicago and brought back to Madison County. According to court documents, Williams, who had multiple convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm dating back to 1993, was found to be in possession of a Smith and Wesson M and P handgun on the same day as the fatal shooting. According to officials with the States Attorneys Office, investigators with the Illinois State Police were talking to someone about the potential location of the shooter. Williams, not realizing they were police officers and thinking they were making threats, approached them with the handgun. When he realized they were police, he dropped the gun and ran, but was soon caught. As Illinois State Police investigators were questioning him about the gun, they realized he had been at the shooting, and offered to drop the gun charge in exchange for testimony. Williams initially agreed and made a statement on video, but then stopped cooperating and left the area as prosecutors were getting ready for the trial. Prosecutors filed the original charge so he could be brought in on a warrant. He was found in Chicago, but U.S. Marshals delayed apprehending Williams because of unrest that weekend over recent police shootings. On Monday they busted down his door at about 2:30 p.m. Madison County deputies went up to Chicago and had him back in Madison County by 2:30 a.m. and he testified on Wednesday. The efforts were described as a great example of coordination between the Illinois State Police, U.S. Marshals, Madison County Sheriffs Department and the States Attorneys Office. After his testimony was complete, the armed habitual criminal charge against Williams was dropped. NEW YORK, April 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Monteverde, founder and managing partner at Monteverde & Associates PC, a national securities firm rated Top 50 in the 2018 and 2019 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report and headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City, is investigating Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. II ("MCAD" or the "Company") (MCAD) relating to its proposed merger with Better Therapeutics. Under the terms of the agreement, MCAD will acquire Better through a reverse merger, with Better emerging as a publicly traded company. The investigation focuses on whether Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. II and its Board of Directors violated securities laws and/or breached their fiduciary duties to the Company by 1) failing to conduct a fair process, and 2) whether the transaction is properly valued. Click here for more information: https://www.monteverdelaw.com/case/mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-ii. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. About Monteverde & Associates PC We are a national class action securities litigation law firm that has recovered millions of dollars and is committed to protecting shareholders from corporate wrongdoing. We were listed in the Top 50 in the 2018 and 2019 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. Our lawyers have significant experience litigating Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Class Actions. Mr. Monteverde is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation in 2013, 2017-2019, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in a particular field. He has also been selected by Martindale-Hubbell as a 2017-2019 Top Rated Lawyer. Our firm's recent successes include changing the law in a significant victory that lowered the standard of liability under Section 14(e) of the Exchange Act in the Ninth Circuit. Thereafter, our firm successfully preserved this victory by obtaining dismissal of a writ of certiorari as improvidently granted at the United States Supreme Court. Emulex Corp. v. Varjabedian, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019). Also, in 2019 we recovered or secured six cash common funds for shareholders in mergers & acquisitions class action cases. If you own common stock in Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. II and wish to obtain additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341. Contact: Juan E. Monteverde, Esq. MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC The Empire State Building 350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4405 New York, NY 10118 United States of America [email protected] Tel: (212) 971-1341 Attorney Advertising. (C) 2021 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC Related Links http://www.monteverdelaw.com Roger Smith was just 16 when he entolled on a watchmaking course at the Manchester School of Horology in 1986. While studying, he attended a lecture by George Daniels CBE and, fascinated by the idea of making a watch by hand, Smith knew where his future lay. After graduating, he famously spent a year and a half making a pocket watch that he took to the Isle of Man for Daniels feedback and approval. In the back of my mind, I knew that it wasnt good enough, but I needed to hear it from him, says Smith, speaking of the moment Daniels rejected his watch. But watchmaking is addictive, which suits my personality, and I spent the next five years remaking the piece before returning to show it to George. This time, all 34 skills required by the The Daniels Method had been mastered and, on that basis, nine years after Smiths watchmaking journey had begun, Daniels invited him to work with him. Three years after moving to the island, Smith set up his own studio. Grateful for the mentorship given by Daniels right up until his death in 2011, Smith hopes that he is honouring the legacy of his friend and teacher by picking up where he left off and taking things to the next level. Roger Smith Stephen Daniels After presenting his Series 1 and 2 watches, Smith was asked to become an ambassador for British innovation, technology and creativity and, in 2013, presented the symbolic Great Britain watch, which has since toured the world. In 2015, he embarked on production versions of reimagined Series 1 and 2 plus all-new Series 3, 4 and 5 pieces all using his revolved Co-axial movement. Asked about his greatest personal achievements, Smith cites being the first British company to make a production wristwatch. We proved it can be done, now there are others doing it, too, he says. And with the development of the Co-axial movement, we have made what I believe is the worlds most mechanically efficient watch. We are definitely making in-roads in improving mechanical timekeeping and the watches require servicing only once every 10-15 years. As for the future and his footnote in the history of watchmaking, Smith looks to the greats that have gone before him: I want to be remembered for making a contribution to improving mechanical timekeeping, he says. Breguet was a creator and an innovator, so was George. A lot of watchmakers just want to make watches; I want to contribute to making them better. *Written by Tracey Llewellyn *On the occasion of GMT Magazine and WorldTempus' 20th anniversary, we have embarked on the ambitious project of summarising the last 20 years in watchmaking in The Millennium Watch Book, a big, beautifully laid out coffee table book. This article is an extract. The Millennium Watch Book is available on www.the-watch-book.com, in French and English, with a 10% discount if you use the following code: WT2021. Order now Missing conwoman Melissa Caddick had a decades-long history of fraud and dishonesty, somehow evading consequences for her crimes every time. With charm, designer handbags and a silver tongue she was able to fool friends, family, and even her mother and rob them blind, a Sydney Morning Herald investigation has found. Her first known swindle was petty embezzlement in 1998, and worked up to $23 million in vanished investments - which finally did her in. On November 11, 2020, investigators from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission raided her $6.8million home in Dover Heights after she was found to be operating a financial services business without a valid licence. It was the last night she was seen alive. Caddick disappeared for three months and was presumed to be on the run, until a rotting foot washed up on a beach on the NSW south coast, prompting police to declare her dead. A lack of credible witnesses and an absence of CCTV footage means the glamorous conwoman's disappearance may never be solved Caddick vanished the day after corporate watchdog ASIC raided her luxury $6.1million home in Dover Heights, Sydney, on November 11 last year. Pictured: the ASIC raid Her crime was a Ponzi scheme involving 60 friends and family, totaling $30 million - only $7 million of which was ever repayed. The rest vanished. But her history as a serial thief and fraudster goes back decades, beginning in 1998, before either of her marriages. Then 27, she forged her boss's signature on four cheques only six months into a job at a small Sydney investment firm. She was caught before too long, but allowed to resign and leave immediately without police being called, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Caddick, then known as Melissa Grimley, was 27 years old and didn't even have to repay the $2,000 she'd stolen. Creating an impression of success became an essential part of the conwoman's modus operandi. Her immaculate presentation was designed to ensure people saw her as professional and overlooked her habitual dishonesty. Out of school she did a business and secretarial course at St Patrick's College Australia in Sydney, where she learned the importance of talking herself up. Caddick's decomposed foot in a rare Asics shoe was found 400km away from her home on Bournda Beach on February 21 In her first job at NRMA, Grimley would become angry if anyone referred to her as a secretary. 'Her manicured presentation seemed suited to a job she aspired to, rather than the job she had,' a former boss told the Herald. Looking back, old friends recounted her basic dishonesty. 'We'd be at dinner and she would say "that's a beautiful butter knife" and she'd steal it,' one old friend said. She admitted an attractive pair of salt and pepper shakers at her home were stolen from a restaurant in Paddington. The childhood friend remembered that in her early 20s Grimley suffered a breakdown after being the victim of a conman who stole from her family and eventually her - maxing out her credit cards and doing a runner. She refused to believe the man was a con artist and ran away with him, only to end up broke and emotionally devastated. Melissa Caddick learned early about the importance of presenting the appearance of success - and it appears to have been a part of her modus operandi, allowing her to convince unwitting victims to 'invest' with her - only for her to keep most of the money. She is pictured with husband Anthony Koletti - who is not suspected of any wrongdoing It was claimed Anthony Koletti and Melissa Caddick began an affair in France while she was still married to Tony Caddick The south coast beach where Caddick's foot was found is more than 400km from where she was last seen at her lavish Dover Heights home (pictured) in Sydney After being sacked from the investment firm for forging checks, Grimley married an English builder's labourer - Tony Caddick - and had a baby with him. She bought a share of successful financial planning business, Wise Financial, and appeared to have a bright future in her 30s. But Caddick tearfully quit, disillusioned that she was not allowed to sidestep ethics rules that barred planners from directly recommending property and shares for clients. She spun a series of lies about receiving huge payouts from the company - one for a an $86 million business deal she made up and another for a sexual harassment case that never happened. Her marriage fell apart in the UK after she was caught cheating in Paris - with her current husband, Anthony Koletti - while she had claimed to be on a business course in Switzerland. Again, she lied about what happened, falsely claiming Tony abused her, cheated on her, and lied about his job. Missing conwoman Melissa Caddick's many victims included her mother and father Barb and Ted Grimley. She is believed to have stolen $23million from 60 clients - many of whom were family and close friends When he moved to Sydney to be closer to his son, who was with his mother, Caddick unsuccessfully tried to block him from having access. A confused Tony Caddick heard stories from his son that he flew first class and on private jets and wondered where the money came from. Caddick's combination of dishonesty and using impressions to get money out of people came together in the many scams she ran in her own company Maliver - collecting $30 million over eight years. The Ponzi scheme began soon after she arrived back in Australia from the UK in 2012. It was common for her to tell interested clients who approached her that she was too busy to help them - then later tell them they were in luck, somehow finding time for their business. The brochure she handed out for Maliver lied about her credentials as she was not a certified financial planner and did not have a masters of business. The business operated using someone else's Australian financial services Licence - a life insurance broker who she insured herself with. Melissa Caddick during a business meeting while she ran her fraudulent investment company, Maliver Sydney conwoman Melissa Caddick (pictured with her husband Anthony Koletti) allegedly defrauded more than $25million from scores of investors. He is not accused of any wrongdoing Once she had their money, she created a fake CommSec share trading account for each client. Where she needed to, she forged not only clients' signatures but also that of the nearest available justice of the peace - her father-in-law Rodo Koletti. She emailed clients a fake monthly report claiming stunning returns of up to 30 per cent, which convinced them to invest more with her, and to get her more word-of-mouth business. Caddick's pool of victims began with family and friends - many of whom lost their life savings - and expand from there. She scammed her parents Barb and Ted Grimley, brother Adam, her uncles, aunts and cousins. She stole from childhood friends and their families, her personal trainer, her employees and surgeons in Perth, introduced by a friend of her brother. Liquidators say the mother-of-one 'meticulously and systematically' deceived those who entrusted millions of investment dollars to her over seven years, then used the money to fund her lavish lifestyle The cliffs at Dover Heights, near her luxury home, where ASIC raided her in November 2020 One woman, a childhood friend whose 50th birthday Caddick attended in a $2,500 designer Dolce & Gabbana dress a month before her disappearance, claimed the fraudster stole $10 million from her family. 'Looking back, she was ripping off everyone at my party. Every single member of my family plus another couple I had invited,' the woman told the Herald. When ASIC investigators raided Caddick in November, they confiscated dozens of expensive designer label dresses, handbags, and shoes. Her scams began to unravel when a client did due diligence on documents provided to them and the woman whose Australian financial services licence she used notified ASIC - which is believed to have been November 2019. ASIC recorded the complaint but took no action at that time. Another complaint in June 2020 contained more detail and ASIC applied to the Federal Court to freeze her assets and seize her passport. ASIC raided her home five months later, and Caddick promptly disappeared to permanently evade justice. Melissa Caddick's father-in-law says there are still three questions about the fraudster's disappearance he wants answered before he accepts she's dead - and reveals what he REALLY thinks about his hairdresser son By Alana Mazzoni and Tita Smith for Daily Mail Australia Melissa Caddick's father-in-law said he won't accept the conwoman is dead until three crucial questions about her mysterious disappearance are answered. Caddick, who allegedly defrauded more than $25million from scores of investors including friends and family, vanished the day after corporate watchdog ASIC raided her luxury $6.1million home in Dover Heights, Sydney, on November 11 last year. A foot washed ashore three months later on the NSW south coast and was confirmed to be Caddick's after a DNA match was made, however police have been hesitant to confirm the missing conwoman is actually dead. The 49-year-old's father-in-law, tax agent Rodo Koletti, has been probed by police who are preparing a statement for the coroner. When asked by officers if he believed Caddick was dead, Mr Koletti responded: 'I do not feel police have to date provided enough information for me to form an opinion one way or the other if Melissa is dead. 'How much of the mysterious foot was found in the shoe, how was it severed, how do they explain that forensic scientists stated that it was unlikely the shoe had been in the ocean for less than two weeks?' Caddick, pictured with her husband Anthony who is not accused of wrongdoing Mr Koletti, whose son Anthony was married to Caddick for seven years, said the couple were 'happily married'. He also said his son didn't have any business prowess, and wouldn't have been aware of his wife's alleged fraudulence. 'Even if Melissa's business documents were sitting on the kitchen table in front of Anthony he would not know what he was looking at. He doesnt have the business capacity to know what a financial scheme is,' Mr Koletti told The Daily Telegraph. Anthony and Caddick's son are still living in her Dover Heights mansion, which could soon be seized pending a federal court decision, to be sold to help repay her alleged victims. ASIC is also seeking the Edgecliff penthouse where Caddick's parents live, which is under the fraudster's name. ASIC dropped all charges against Caddick and has withdrawn the warrant for her arrest. The commission would not reveal whether this is confirmation that Caddick is definitely dead. 'It is not for ASIC to determine if, or speculate on whether, Ms Caddick is alive. That is a matter for the NSW Police and - should it come to that - a coroner,' a spokesman previously said. Liquidators say the mother-of-one 'meticulously and systematically' deceived those who entrusted millions of investment dollars to her over seven years, then used the money to fund her lavish lifestyle. Caddick blew her victims' money on luxury items and overseas trips with the authorities confiscating high end fashion label handbags, shoes and clothes during the raid. A lack of credible witnesses and an absence of CCTV footage means her disappearance may never be solved. Two forensic experts have raised a theory that Caddick may have died elsewhere before being moved closer to Bournda beach, where her foot and trainer were discovered More than 50 possible sightings were reported to NSW Police in the weeks after her disappearance but none were solid leads. Two forensic experts have raised a theory that Caddick may have died elsewhere before being moved closer to Bournda beach, where her foot and trainer were discovered. The south coast beach is more than 400km from where Caddick was last seen at her lavish Dover Heights home in Sydney. 'That is remarkable but it can happen,' said Professor John Hilton, a forensic pathologist said. Earlier this month, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said authorities were unable to say whether she killed herself or if there was foul play involved. He also raised the possibility Ms Caddick could have severed her own foot to throw police off the scent - and that she could still be alive. 'There's always a chance she cut her foot off and is still alive, though it's pretty fanciful,' he told 2GB on March 8. One theory to explain her disappearance has been that Caddick jumped from the Dover Heights clifftops after making the short 300m walk from her home. The route is not covered by CCTV cameras and led police to initially suspect she had taken her own life. But Mr Fuller said many people jumped from those cliffs without their remains washing up several hundred kilometers away. Caddick blew her victims' money on luxury items and overseas trips with the authorities confiscating high end fashion label handbags, shoes and clothes during the raid. Pictured with husband Anthony Koletti '[It's not common to see] body parts wash up so far south of Sydney and in such good condition given she went missing on or about November 11,' he said. 'Not to say it can't happen. The coroner will make further determinations.' He said the limited decomposition of the shoe would indicate it had not been out in the ocean for the entire three-month period since she went missing. Earlier this month Caddick was farewelled in a private service with only a handful of mourners in attendance. Caddick's husband, her parents Barbara and Ted Grimley, and her brother Adam Grimley gathered with friends at the West Chapel, in Matraville, on April 6 to say their goodbyes. Anthony led the procession out of the chapel alongside the funeral director, who helped him carry a bouquet of flowers to put in the boot of his black Mercedes, as the Grimleys followed behind. Although a death certificate is yet to be obtained, her foot has been cremated. Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet left his season debut Wednesday with forearm soreness and quickly went on the 10-day injured list, leading to concerns that he could require a second Tommy John surgery. A couple days later, those worries seem to be fading. Lamet went through his typical post-start routine Friday, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes, and manager Jayce Tingler called it a positive day for the 2020 Cy Young contender. If all goes according to plan over the next week-plus, Lamet could return from the IL when hes first eligible on May 2. Now for a few American League updates Kevin the dog is finally heading home to Brandon after a 2,400 kilometre adventure to Ontario in a truck drivers cab. Advertisement Advertise With Us Kevin the dog is finally heading home to Brandon after a 2,400 kilometre adventure to Ontario in a truck drivers cab. The pup pulled a disappearing act on April 10 while in Brandon visiting friends with his owner, Ashley Will. Kevin the dog is finally heading home to Brandon after a 2,400 kilometre adventure to Ontario in a truck drivers cab. (Facebook) According to a previous story in CTV news, Will lives just outside Brandon. Normally, Kevin sticks close. but on this day, he slipped out a gate and disappeared. Will cast her net wide as she spread the word on social media, the local radio station and animal organizations in the area the story said. "I didnt know what to do from there, so I kind of just sat and was sad," Will said in the interview. About a week later, Will received a message from a woman in Ontario. "She called me, and she was like, dont freak out. I think I might have Kevin," Will said. As the story goes, a kind-hearted truck driver noticed Kevin on the side of the road, said Lori Sherwin Denis, co-founder of Critter Cabs, an animal rescue transport Facebook group with roughly 2,400 volunteers across Ontario. "We have cattle, goats, horses, owls, all kinds of animals who need transportation from point A to point B," she told The Sun in a telephone interview. "(The truck driver) didnt want to leave Kevin on the side of the road. He looked for help but couldnt find anyone to help him," she said. Kevin ended up on Team Chelseas doorstep, another organization involved in animal rescue in Ontario. They tracked Kevins owner down through an exhaustive search for lost animals on Facebook. Eventually, Kevins owner was located. From there, a relative in Toronto was contacted and Kevin was safe and sound and with family Denis said. Team Chelsea connected with Critter Cabs, and Kevins road trip was organized. A tracking device was firmly attached to the furry Houdinis collar. Just in case he pulled another disappearing act before he got home, Denis said. There are 11 volunteers driving Kevin home to the Manitoba border where his owner will meet the last driver in the journey. Kevin left the Toronto area around 7 a.m. Friday morning with a sleep-over scheduled Friday night in northern Ontario. "Our drivers embraced it as kind of feel-good story when theres not a lot of those these days," Denis said in the CTV interview. "I think it is just kind of the world coming together to get him home." Kevin is scheduled to arrive in Manitoba sometime tonight. To track Kevins journey back to Manitoba, Denis is posting his progress on a Facebook, you can watch his progress here: https://bit.ly/3niruRW kkielley@brandonsun.com (Natural News) A Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID vaccine manufacturing plant where an ingredient mix-up last month resulted in 15 million doses of J&J vaccine being discarded may have contaminated additional doses, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Article by Megan Redshaw republished from ChildrensHealthDefense.org) The 13-page report also identified a series of other problems at the Baltimore facility owned by Emergent BioSolutions. Emergent, which in June received $628 million in taxpayer funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish the primary U.S. manufacturing facility for J&Js and AstraZenecas COVID vaccines, agreed this week to temporarily shut down operations. According to the FDA report, There is no assurance that other batches have not been subject to cross-contamination. The report also said the plant was not maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. Inspectors found peeling paint and unidentified black and brown residue on the floors and walls, as well as a failure to properly decontaminate waste generated during the manufacture of the vaccine. During an FDA inspection completed Tuesday, the Baltimore plant was found to be too small, poorly designed and dirty. Unsealed bags of medical waste were observed, along with damaged floors and walls that could inhibit proper cleaning, inspectors said. Emergent also failed to adequately train personnel involved in manufacturing operations, quality control sampling, weigh and dispense, and engineering operations to prevent cross-contamination of bulk drug substances. Im shocked I cant put it any other way, said Dr. Jose R. Romero, chairman of a panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that will meet Friday to determine whether to lift the pause on J&Js vaccine announced last week after reports of blood clots associated with the vaccine. Inappropriate disinfection, the prevention of contamination those are significant and serious violations, Romero said. In statements Wednesday, the FDA, Emergent and J&J said they were working to resolve the problems at the factory, but gave no indication of how long that would take. Emergents pattern of errors ignored Just two weeks after the government handed J&J control over the error-prone Emergent plant, the FDA asked Emergent to suspend production of J&Js COVID vaccine after inspecting the facility. At the FDAs request, the company agreed on April 16 not to make any new COVID materials at the Baltimore facility and to quarantine existing materials already manufactured there pending completion of the inspection and remediation of any resulting findings, according to an 8-K U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. According to The Washington Post, J&J said it was working to resolve the situation at Emergent and would address any findings at the conclusion of the inspection. The facility was cited for the same quality control problems in April 2020 that led to the COVID vaccine production errors. According to CNBC, an FDA inspection of the Baltimore plant in April 2020 revealed Emergent lacked necessary personnel to produce a COVID vaccine. Another inspection, in June 2020, determined Emergents plan for producing vaccines was inadequate due to poorly trained staff and quality control problems. A series of confidential audits last year, obtained by The New York Times, warned about risks of viral and bacterial contamination and a lack of proper sanitation at the Baltimore facility. A top federal manufacturing expert cautioned last June that Emergent would have to be monitored closely raising questions as to why the company did not fix problems earlier and why federal officials who oversaw its lucrative contracts did not demand better performance. An examination by The Times of manufacturing practices at the Baltimore facility found serious problems, including a corporate culture that ignored or deflected missteps and a government sponsor, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, that was not policing the plant. It was allegedly human error that botched 15 million doses of J&Js vaccine in March. But Emergent CEO Robert Kramer disputed published reports that the problem stemmed from employees mixing up ingredients from J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines, which are made at the same plant. Internal logs showed Emergent also had to discard one batch of AstraZenecas vaccine in October 2020 because of suspected contamination, and four more in December. Those four were spoiled by bacterial contamination of equipment, a former company official said. In November 2020, production of a batch of J&Js vaccine had to be discarded after workers hooked up the wrong gas line and accidentally suffocated the cells where the virus for the vaccine is grown, logs show. In December, records indicated workers making AstraZenecas vaccine deviated from manufacturing standards on average more than three times a day. About one-fifth of the deviations were classified as major. Congress launches investigation, shareholders file lawsuit Before Emergent received the $628 million from HHS to establish Baltimore operations, the company received billions from the U.S. government to help prepare the nation for biowarfare, The Washington Post reported. According to a February report by Accountable.US a nonprofit nonpartisan public advocate and watchdog organization that monitors public corruption executives at five drug companies, including Emergent, made net profits of more than $250 million by dumping company stocks during the first six months of Operation Warp Speed. According to SEC filings, from the beginning of September through November 15, 2020, executives and directors at Pfizer, Moderna, Novavax and Emergent, who received government COVID vaccine funding, made stock transactions valued at a net profit of more than $105 million. Accountable.US sent a letter to Emergent calling for the release of the 10b5 automatic trading plans used by top executives who made millions of dollars dumping company stock, and requested the CEO freeze sales until the SEC could investigate and release updated guidance regarding automatic trading plans for companies receiving taxpayer funding and advance purchase guarantees resulting in millions in profits for pharmaceutical CEOs. A congressional investigation was launched Tuesday into Emergent BioSolutions federal vaccine contract and shareholders filed a class action lawsuit Monday, alleging Emergent and some of the Gaithersburg-based companys made false statements about the companys readiness to mass-produce vaccines. The lawsuit alleges false and misleading comments by company executives drove up the share price, which substantially dropped when news media outlets exposed a major mistake that forced the company to discard millions of vaccine doses and revealed a history of problems found in inspections. Read more at: ChildrensHealthDefense.org Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Reports on Saudi Arabia Provides the Trending Market Research Report on Savoury Snacks in Saudi Arabia under Food category. The Savoury Snacks Market in Saudi Arabia is projected to exhibit highest growth rate over report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence and industry reports. With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing during the second and third quarters of Savoury snacks is well-positioned to take advantage of the prevailing trends in packaged food towards informal, snack-orientated consumption, and health and wellness. Nuts, seeds and trail mixes, rice snacks, and in particular vegetable, pulse and bread chips all look likely to benefit from consumers looking for healthier snacking options than products such as confectionery and sweet biscuits. Savoury Snacks in Saudi Arabia report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data 2015-2019, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new product developments, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2024 illustrate how the market is set to change. Product coverage: Nuts, Seeds and Trail Mixes, Other Savoury Snacks, Popcorn, Pretzels, Salty Snacks, Savoury Biscuits. Request a free sample copy of Saudi Arabia Savoury Snacks Market Report @ http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com/marketreports/sample/reports/962708 Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data. Why buy this report? * Get a detailed picture of the Savoury Snacks market; * Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change; * Understand the competitive environment, the markets major players and leading brands; * Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop. Table Of Contents Savoury Snacks in Saudi Arabia KEY DATA FINDINGS 2020 IMPACT Health and wellness trends will impact savoury snacks in 2020, boosting sales of healthier products Almarai will grow its current retail value share in 2020, while Mondelez will continue to lead savoury biscuits Potato chips is expected to remain the most popular snack in 2020, though high product saturation is likely to discourage new investment RECOVERY AND OPPORTUNITIES Price sensitivity likely to generate retail volume growth for private label and local companies into the forecast period Vegetable, pulse and bread chips expected to see retail volume growth into the forecast period, as consumers switch to healthier snacking options Stricter regulations will raise challenges for savoury snacks into the forecast period CATEGORY DATA Table 1 Sales of Savoury Snacks by Category: Volume 2015-2020 Table 2 Sales of Savoury Snacks by Category: Value 2015-2020 Table 3 Sales of Savoury Snacks by Category: % Volume Growth 2015-2020 Table 4 Sales of Savoury Snacks by Category: % Value Growth 2015-2020 Table 5 NBO Company Shares of Savoury Snacks: % Value 2016-2020 Table 6 LBN Brand Shares of Savoury Snacks: % Value 2017-2020 Table 7 Distribution of Savoury Snacks by Format: % Value 2015-2020 Table 8 Forecast Sales of Savoury Snacks by Category: Volume 2020-2025 Table 9 Forecast Sales of Savoury Snacks by Category: Value 2020-2025 Table 10 Forecast Sales of Savoury Snacks by Category: % Volume Growth 2020-2025 Table 11 Forecast Sales of Savoury Snacks by Category: % Value Growth 2020-2025 Browse our full report with Table of Contents: http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com/marketreports/savoury-snacks-in-saudi-arabia/962708 About Us Market Reports on Saudi Arabia provides you with an in-depth industry reports focusing on various economic, political and operational risk environment, complemented by detailed sector analysis. We have an exhaustive coverage on variety of industries ranging from energy and chemicals to transportation, communications, constructions and mining to Food and Beverage and education. Our collection includes over 3000 up-to-date reports all researched, analysed and published by top-notch international research firms. Contact us at: Market Reports On Saudi Arabia Tel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773 Email: info@marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com Website: http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com Follow us on : Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn Scientists studying bat diseases at China's maximum-security laboratory in Wuhan were engaged in a massive project to investigate animal viruses alongside leading military officials despite their denials of any such links. Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveal that a nationwide scheme, directed by a leading state body, was launched nine years ago to discover new viruses and detect the 'dark matter' of biology involved in spreading diseases. One leading Chinese scientist, who published the first genetic sequence of the Covid-19 virus in January last year, found 143 new diseases in the first three years of the project alone. The fact that such a virus-detection project is led by both civilian and military scientists appears to confirm incendiary claims from the United States alleging collaboration between the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and the country's 2.1 million-strong armed forces. The scheme's five team leaders include Shi Zhengli, the WIV virologist nicknamed 'Bat Woman' for her trips to find samples in caves, and Cao Wuchun, a senior army officer and government adviser on bioterrorism. Prof Shi denied the US allegations last month, saying: 'I don't know of any military work at the WIV. That info is incorrect.' QUESTIONS: Colonel Cao Wuchun, a WIV adviser, and, right, Major General Chen Wei, China's top biodefence expert Yet Colonel Cao is listed on project reports as a researcher from the Academy of Military Medical Sciences of the People's Liberation Army, works closely with other military scientists and is director of the Military Biosafety Expert Committee. Cao, an epidemiologist who studied at Cambridge University, even sits on the Wuhan Institute of Virology's advisory board. He was second-in-command of the military team sent into the city under Major General Chen Wei, the country's top biodefence expert, to respond to the new virus and develop a vaccine. The US State Department also raised concerns over risky 'gain of function' experiments to manipulate coronaviruses at the Wuhan lab and suggested researchers fell sick with Covid-like symptoms weeks before the outbreak emerged more widely in the Chinese city. Last month, Britain, the US and 12 other countries criticised Beijing for refusing to share key data and samples after a joint World Health Organisation and Chinese study into the pandemic's origins dismissed a lab leak as 'extremely unlikely'. Filippa Lentzos, a biosecurity expert at King's College London, said the latest disclosures fitted 'the pattern of inconsistencies' coming from Beijing. 'They are still not being transparent with us,' she said. 'We have no hard data on the pandemic origins, whether it was a natural spill-over from animals or some kind of accidental research-related leak, yet we're unable to get straight answers and that simply does not inspire confidence.' The documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday detail a major project called 'the discovery of animal-delivered pathogens carried by wild animals', which set out to find organisms that could infect humans and investigate their evolution. It was launched in 2012 and funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The project was led by Xu Jianguo, who boasted at a conference in 2019 that 'a giant network of infectious disease prevention and control is taking shape'. The professor also headed the first expert group investigating Covid's emergence in Wuhan. He denied human transmission initially, despite evidence from hospitals, then insisted in mid-January 'this epidemic is limited and will end if there are no new cases next week'. One review of his virus-hunting project admitted 'a large number of new viruses have been discovered, causing great concern in the international virology community'. It added that if pathogens spread to humans and livestock, they could cause new infectious diseases 'posing a great threat to human health and life safety and may cause major economic losses, even affect social stability'. An update in 2018 said that the scientific teams who published many of their findings in international journals had found four new pathogens and ten new bacteria while 'more than 1,640 new viruses were discovered using metagenomics technology'. Such research is based on extraction of genetic material from samples such as those collected by Prof Shi from bat faeces and blood in the cave networks of southern China. Such extensive sampling led to Prof Shi's rapid revelation last year of RaTG13, the closest known relative to the new strain of coronavirus that causes Covid. It was stored at the Wuhan lab, the biggest repository of bat coronaviruses in Asia. Pictured: Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province, during a visit by members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus It later emerged she changed its name from another virus identified in a previous paper, thus obscuring its link to three miners who died from a strange respiratory disease they caught clearing bat droppings. Prof Shi also admitted that eight more unidentified SARS viruses had been collected in the mine. The institute took its database of virus samples offline in September 2019, just a few weeks before Covid cases exploded in Wuhan. A comment was made on social media after Colonel Cao published a paper on a fatal tick bite, saying he and Prof Shi 'can always find a virus that has never been found in humans', adding: 'I suspect this is another so-called 'scientific research' made in the laboratory.' In recent years, China's military has ramped up its hiring of scientists after President Xi Jinping said this was a key element in the nation's march for global supremacy. Lianchao Han, a dissident who used to work for the Chinese government, said Cao's involvement raised suspicions that military researchers who are experts in coronaviruses might also be involved in bio-defence operations. 'Many have been working with Western research institutes for years to steal our know-hows but China still refuses to share critical information a year after the pandemic has killed over three million.' David Asher, an expert on biological, chemical and nuclear proliferation, who led State Department inquiries into the origins of Covid-19, said: 'The Chinese have made it clear they see biotechnology as a big part of the future of hybrid warfare. The big question is whether their work in these fields is offensive or defensive.' .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. The Albuquerque Police Department was investigating a fatal shooting on Friday afternoon the second homicide investigation in less than 24 hours. Police spokesman Daren DeAguero said around 5 p.m. Friday officers were dispatched to the 800 block of Locus NE in reference to a man being shot. Officers arrived and aid was rendered, DeAguero said. Unfortunately, the male had been fatally wounded and (succumbed) to his injury. DeAguero gave no other details. In the other incident, late Thursday, police said a womans body was found along East Central. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Dating apps could use artificial intelligence to 'red flag' potentially threatening users to protect women from sexual assault. American holding company Match Group owns 27 apps including Hinge, Tinder, and Plenty of Fish and has been working with NSW Police on a plan to improve safety. Users who might pose a danger to others on the platforms might be flagged and any assaults reported via the apps will be immediately forwarded to police. The owners of dating apps like Tinder are working on a plan to increase the safety for users on their platform (stock image) Match Group will establish a software portal that will feed any sexual assault reports - along with information linked to the case such as conversation histories - to police. 'They have been very good at recognising that their brand can be damaged if they don't support victims if there has been an incident that has stemmed from meeting on one of their apps,' Detective Superintendent Stacey Maloney told The Daily Telegraph. The changes address the two of the biggest concerns that have been raised about the safety of dating apps. Apps such as Tinder currently don't directly refer reports of assaults or stalking behaviour to police themselves but rather provide information to complainants in the form of generic written responses or call centre 'case workers'. Victims might then not continue the matter with police, so the platforms forwarding complaints directly to authorities increases the chances of conviction. The company could use artificial intelligence to scan the conversations between users (stock image) The other concern is apps like Tinder with an 'unmatch' function that perpetrators could use to block their victims and wipe their digital interactions - along with possible evidence. Match Group is working with police to potentially use their artificial intelligence systems to scan conversations for 'red flags' and then document them. 'Very coercive and forceful behaviour that we see in law enforcement in offenders... if we can [record] that throughout the course of them being on those apps... in the event something does occur,' Det Supt Maloney said. The company is also considering hiring law enforcement liaisons whose sole job would be to streamline communication and information sharing with police. 'We recognize we have an important role to play in helping prevent sexual assault and harassment in communities around the world,' a Match Group spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia. 'We are committed to ongoing discussions and collaboration with global partners in law enforcement and with leading sexual assault organizations like RAINN to help make our platforms and communities safer.' 'While members of our safety team are in conversations with police departments and advocacy groups to identify potential collaborative efforts, Match Group and our brands have not agreed to implement the NSW Police recommendations.' The government has asked platforms, including and Facebook, to remove content and posts that were found to be spreading misinformation and public panic around the pandemic, according to sources. said it has notified the impacted account holders of its action taken in response to a legal request from the Indian government but did not give details of the affected accounts. Sources said these flagged posts carried misleading information about COVID-19 pandemic, and were designed to incite public panic. The development comes at a time when India is registering a record number of infections daily. The number of COVID-19 cases touched a new daily high of 3.46 lakh cases and 2,624 fatalities on Saturday. When contacted, a spokesperson said when it receives a valid legal request, it reviews it under both Twitter Rules and local law. If the content violates Twitter's Rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only. "The legal requests that we receive are detailed in the biannual Twitter Transparency Report, and requests to withhold content are published on Lumen, the spokesperson said. Reports citing Lumen database (an independent research project studying cease and desist letters concerning online content) suggested that more than 50 posts - including those by a member of Parliament, MLA and filmmakers - were removed by Twitter on government request. Meanwhile, Twitter said ahead of withholding the content, it has notified the account holders so that they're aware that the action has been taken in response to a legal request from the Government of India. The microblogging platform emphasised that it is committed to the principles of openness and transparency, and that it tackles misinformation based on the highest potential for harm. It noted that it is tackling COVID-19 misinformation using a combination of product, technology, and human review. and Instagram did not respond to queries. According to sources, a number of posts and content were flagged by the government to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other websites on Friday. These posts carried misinformation around COVID, were designed to incite public panic and create a feeling of ill-will towards health personnel, they added. Details of the account holders and number of such posts flagged could not be immediately ascertained. (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.) (Newser) Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was different this year, after President Biden recognized the killings carried out by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century constituted genocideending decades of disappointment and broken promises for Armenian Americans. Hundreds of people dressed in black visited a hilltop monument in Montebello, east of Los Angeles, to lay flowers and say prayers, as they do every April 24. Armenian Americans praised Biden's announcement"He's the first American president to have the guts to talk about it," one man saidwhile saying that the struggle isn't over and that they're not necessarily sure what's next. "My whole life has really been defined by this event in 1915," said Lori Mesrobian of Los Angeles, the Times reports, "because it's really my family's story." story continues below Varoujan Kioudjian, 74, who went to Montebello on Saturday, grew up going to demonstrations and memorials every Remembrance Day. His father would tell him about the genocide, per AP. "The day April 24 comes around, tears flowed from his eyes, from his heart," Kioudjian said. "It was that sad." Younger generations feel the same connection. "Every action, of every day of my life, I want to find ways to help our community," said Tadde Matossian, 22, of Burbank. Hasmik Burushyan, an Armenian youth leader in California, said Biden's decision was important in "breaking the cycle of being complicit" in Turkey's denials that it committed genocide, per the Times. Salpi Ghazarian, who said she's been working to "prove that my grandmother's story is not a lie," said one more step needs to be taken. "At the end of the day," she said, "the important recognition is that by Turkey." (Read more Armenian genocide stories.) 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! April 24, 1906 Maloney to build home for the elderly Martin Maloney, of Philadelphia, purchased a 10-acre tract of land adjacent to the Mount St. Marys seminary property that was owned by the Pennsylvania Coal Co. The property would be used as the future site of a home for the elderly. Maloney also had agreed to pay for the construction of the home. In the agreement with the Pennsylvania Coal Co. Maloney allowed the coal company to remove the coal from under the tract, but Maloney and his agents would have access to the mine at all times and could erect roof supports underneath the tract. The coal company also needed to inform Maloney three months prior if it decided to remove the pillars. Local San Francisco aid fund tops $900 Following the devastating earthquake and fire that hit San Francisco on April 18, the Scranton Times started a fund drive asking for those who could afford it to donate $1 to help the people of San Francisco. The campaign got underway on April 20 with initial donations from the Scranton Times, Clarke brothers, Megargee brothers, Morris Williams, J.W. Dusenberry, Alfred Twining, J.E. Bradley and Thomas Harrison. As of the afternoon of April 24, the total donation stood at $909.85. In the morning of April 24, the Times received a surprising donation from its carriers and sales boys of Carbondale. Each of the boys donated 5 or 10 for a total of $2.25. Armory presents FaustSeveral thousand people filled the armory to see the production opera Faust. The opera was presented by the Scranton Oratorio Society. This opera was simply sung. The production requires no sets, costumes or acting. The role of Faust was sung by Cecil James, Mephisto by William Harper, Valentine by Andreas Schneider and Marguerite by Marie Stoddart. The chorus of 300 was made up of members of Dr. Masons Glee Club of Wilkes-Barre and other local singing societies. The show was under the direction of professor John T. Watkins of St. Louis. The handsome Portugeezer - Antonio Horta-Osorio (not Jose Mourinho) - might be tempted to clean house when he takes over as chairman of Credit Suisse next month There is just over a week before former PLC ( ) chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, takes the chair at strife-torn (CS). Given the rate at which the company is clumsily walking into buzz-saws, that leaves plenty of time for additions to the already lengthy list of issues that the handsomely remunerated Horta-Osorio needs to sort out. The Portuguese banker endured the odd scandal in his time at Lloyds but generally, he is highly rated but then so was his fellow countryman Jose Mourinho, and look what happened to him. If Horta-Osorio can clear up the mess at he will deserve to start referring to himself as the special one. When his appointment as CSs next chairman was announced at the end of last year, he might have thought his first bit of fire-fighting would be repairing the Swiss banks reputation after it admitted hiring private detectives to spy on two of its executives in 2019. Since then, the bank has been in the brown stuff because of its relationship with the collapsed supply chain finance specialist, Greensill Capital. Investment banks do get involved in working with shady individuals Swiss banks, in particular, have a reputation for not being particularly squeamish about having some stomach-churningly despicable people as their customers and the market is generally prepared to turn a blind eye to this but what the market tends not to tolerate is for an investment bank to be slow getting out when things start to go pear-shaped. In the Greensill case. appears to have been blind-sided by the rapid unravelling of the Greensill operation, leaving a lot of customers waiting an uncomfortable time to get money back from CS funds that were focused on investing in Greensills securitised invoice packages. The bank froze four funds managing US$10bn of Greensill assets and has been steadily releasing funds to its funds customers, with US$4.8bn in funds now returned. announced in its first-quarter results this morning that it had taken a CHF30mln charge for the collapse of Greensill, which has sparked a probe in the UK into the lobbying of the government on the companys behalf by former PM David . Thats small beer, which is more than can be said for the CHF4.4bn of losses stemming from the collapse of the hedge fund, Archegos Capital. Credit Suisse said it is likely to swallow another CHF600moln of losses related to the Archegos debacle in the second quarter. The loss we report this quarter, because of this matter, is unacceptable, admitted Thomas Gottstein, the chief executive. The role of a chairman is largely a behind the scenes one with the day-to-day running of the company left to the chief executive but one of the big decisions is whether to make management changes. For Gottsteins part, he claims he is still up for the fight and wants to right the listing ship. Like Jose Mourinho, the former Spurs manager found out this week, that decision is not his to make. This presser escaped our attention this week because there's a worthwhile change in tone . . . The Kansas GOP is stepping up their support of Amanda Adkins and finally admitting she is one of their power players, not just a housewife. Asking for honesty in politics is too whimsical but a glimpse at red state leaders attempting to step up their game is refreshing. Here's the pitch that hopes an upcoming red wave will replace incumbent Rep. Sharice Davids . . . ADKINS EARNS ENDORSEMENT FROM KANSAS LEADER CONGRESSMAN RON ESTES Overland Park, KS Today, Amanda Adkins earned another endorsement from Congressman Ron Estes from Kansass Fourth Congressional District. The stakes couldnt be higher without Amanda in Congress well have another two years of the most radical policies from the squad led by AOC and Pelosi forced upon us and rubber-stamped by Sharice Davids. Thats why we need a leader like Amanda in Congress wholl join me in ALWAYS putting Kansas families first, instead of Pelosis liberal pet projects. Ron Estes is an outspoken Republican leader in Congress representing Kansass Fourth Congressional District which represents Wichita and South Central Kansas. Throughout his career, Estes has promoted issues important to growth and opportunity for all Kansans, and conservative solutions to drive change across the nation. I am honored to earn the endorsement of a dedicated leader from our state like Ron Estes, said Adkins. The support from so many respected Republican voices puts us in a position to return KS-03 to the values that have made this state great. Our motto to the stars through difficulty means we create our own opportunity through a belief in the power of the individual and the hard work of our families. Adkins won the Republican primary handily and outperformed the top of the ticket in Johnson County in the 2020 elections. Adkins recently launched her campaign for the 2022 election cycle with the support and encouragement of the former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan Pompeo, as well as numerous members of congress. Amanda is a businesswoman, mother and social entrepreneur. For the past 15 years, she worked as an executive at Cerner Corporation, a global Kansas City based healthcare and information technology company. Professionally Amanda has advised providers and employers across the United States on how to cut healthcare costs and improve health outcomes for individuals and families. In the course of this work, she has been a leader for consideration of social determinants of health in communities (SDOH). A belief in the importance of SDOH was a major consideration when she founded Systems of Care Initiative (SOCI), a philanthropic organization dedicated to helping young children be healthy and ready for kindergarten and later success in life. Amanda is the former chairwoman of the Kansas Republican Party, where she achieved unprecedented election success while serving two terms from 2009-2013. Amanda led a Clean Sweep in the 2010 election cycle winning all Federal and statewide races and increasing majorities in the legislature. Her tenure in politics is marked by promotion of women in leadership positions. Adkins is co-founder of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Excellence in Public Service Series whose mission is to prepare Republican women to seek greater involvement in leadership, government and politics. ### Developing . . . The circular says if a health policy is eligible for a cashless claim, the insurer has to ensure the settlement as per the agreement entered with the network hospitals After reports of hospitals denying cashless facility to the COVID-19 patients, insurance regulator IRDA has issued a circular to general and health insurers with regards to the health insurance claims. The circular says if a health policy is eligible for a cashless claim, the insurer has to ensure the settlement as per the agreement entered with the network hospitals. "There are reports of certain network providers (hospitals) charging high rates and insisting on cash payments from the policyholders for providing treatment to COVID-19 infected patients despite having cashless arrangement with Insurers," says the circular. "In compliance with the provisions of Regulation 31of IRDAI (Health Insurance) Regulations, 2016, the Insurers, in case of "cashless claim" under a health insurance policy, are advised to ensure expeditious settlement of such claims on cashless basis in accordance to the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) entered with hospitals," it adds. The regulator further says that while reviewing cashless requests the insurers are also advised to ensure that the policyholders are charged as per the rates agreed to by network providers wherever applicable. "Insurers are also advised to ensure that hospitals do not levy any additional charges for the same treatment other than those rates that are agreed with the insurers," it says. IRDA specifies insurers to report to the respective governments if a network hospital doesn't comply with the rules. "In order to ensure that all network providers extend cashless services to policyholders and to address any issues causing inconvenience to policyholders while availing cashless service, the Insurers are advised to put in place an effective communication channel with all the network providers for prompt resolution of grievances of policyholders. Insurers are advised to report levying of excess charges or denial of cashless facility to the respective state governments for appropriate action," the circular says. In cases where reimbursement claims have to be settled, it has to be done as per the terms and conditions of the respective policy contract expeditiously. "Insurers are advised to issue suitable guidelines on this to all Third-Party Administrator (TPAs)," says IRDA. TPAs act as intermediaries between insurers and policyholders to process insurance claims. The IRDA circular comes after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke to IRDA Chairman SC Khuntia to take immediate action on hospitals denying cashless settlement of bills. Also read: IRDAI asks hospitals to provide cashless treatment for COVID-19 to policyholders Law enforcement officers move into the main opposition camp against the Dakota Access oil pipeline near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S (Photo : REUTERS/Terray Sylvester) A U.S. appeals court on Friday denied Dakota Access LLC's petition for a rehearing of a court decision that canceled a key permit for its oil pipeline and ordered an environmental review, court documents show. The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia means the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) technically is still trespassing on federal land because it does not have a permit to cross under the Dakotas' Lake Oahe. The line is currently operating indefinitely but will be reassessed once the environmental review of the line is completed in March 2022. Advertisement The 570,000 barrel-per-day DAPL began operating in mid-2017 but drew controversy during construction as Native American tribes and activists protested its route under Oahe, a critical drinking water source for the tribes. Last summer, a U.S. district court judge threw out a federal permit for the line to operate under the lake and ordered an environmental review for that section of the pipeline. A three-judge panel at the circuit court in January upheld the lower court's decision to vacate the permit and require the review. The pipeline's operators wanted the circuit court to reconsider the panel's decision, but the court unanimously denied the request. The decision leaves only the U.S. Supreme Court for Dakota Access to oppose the environmental review and permit denial, but it's not certain the nation's highest court will take up the case. "This is a pretty definitive statement that the legal issues in this case do not warrant attention from the Supreme Court," said Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman, who represents the Standing Rock Sioux in the case. "Here, not only didn't we see dissents, not a single judge called for a vote." A spokeswoman for Energy Transfer LP, DAPL's majority owner, declined to comment on current or pending legal matters. DAPL is the largest pipeline out of the Bakken region, which produces about 1 million barrels of crude per day in North Dakota and Montana. If the pipeline were forced to close, the state of North Dakota estimates production could fall by 400,000 bpd temporarily. Once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes its environmental review, a decision will be made on whether to issue a new permit for the pipeline. On Friday, the Native American tribes that brought the lawsuit argued to the District Court that Dakota Access pipeline's operators exaggerated the economic impact from shutting down the pipeline and the pipeline's safety has never been evaluated as the law requires. And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. On this program, we explore words and expressions in American English. For half the planet, it is springtime. That means warmer temperatures and new growth on plants and trees. Trees are amazing and do so much for our environment. The basic parts of a tree are the trunk, the roots, branches, and limbs. Today we are going to talk about limbs. If you like watching squirrels play in trees as much as I do, you may have noticed something. They jump from one limb to another. They are fearless even as they walk out on the weakest-looking limb. They are simply not afraid. And that is our expression for today -- to go out on a limb. When you go out on a limb you take a risk. You take a chance. You are brave by doing something that could hurt you. You know, when you climb out onto a tree limb you could fall and get hurt. But heres the thing with this expression. More often than not the risk is an emotional, social, or political one. It is usually not a physical risk like the ones our squirrel friends take. It means you put yourself out there and open yourself up to criticism or judgement. Heres an example. Lets say I have a friend, Jake. Well, Jake just lost his job, and he is really upset about it. However, he has a plan. He plans to go to his ex-bosss office unannounced and explain all the reasons why she should give him another chance. I think no, I know this is a terrible idea. But Jake does not want my suggestions. In fact, he gets very upset when I warn him. So, I say to Jake, Look, this might upset you, but Im going to go out on a limb. I think its a really bad idea to visit your ex-boss at her office. Really bad. Why dont you just call instead? A call is better. And a call wont get you arrested for trespassing. Here is another way to use it. Lets say I put in a good word for Jake with my boss. This means I speak highly of him. As a result, he ends up getting a job interview. I really went out on a limb for Jake. I know he's not that great of a worker. But he promised to do better. Still, my relationship with my boss is on the line. This means it is at risk of being damaged. I went out on a limb for Jake. I really hope I dont regret it. And thats all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories! I am going to go out on a limb myself and say that VOA Learning English is THE best place for you to reach your English-learning goals. This is a risky thing to say. One. I dont know your English-learning goals. And two. There are a lot of other English-teaching shows out there. But I really wanted to finish the show with another example for you. Until next time Im Anna Matteo! Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor. _________________________________________________________ Words in This Story trunk n. the thick main stem of a tree limb n. a large branch of a tree branch n. a part of a tree that grows out from the trunk chance n. an opportunity to do something : an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done brave adj. feeling or showing no fear : not afraid trespass v. to go on someone's land without permission put in a good word phrase : to say something good about someone interview n. a formal meeting with someone who is being considered for a job or other position regret n. a feeling of sadness or disappointment about something that you did or did not do New Delhi, April 24 : The Indian Army along with Assam Rifles troops has rescued Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) two abductees from the outlawed group, United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) in Assam on Friday late night. "Operations are still in progress," said Indian Army. The banned group ULFA-I has still one ONGC employee in their clutches. Three employees of the ONGC were on April 21 kidnapped by suspected ULFA-I militants from its Lakwa oilfield in Assam's Sivasagar district along the Assam-Nagaland border. The employees were kidnapped in a company-owned vehicle from the state-run firm's Lakwa field in Sivasagar, where the exploration company has been operating for nearly six decades. The three kidnapped employees are Mohini Mohan Gogoi (35), Ritul Saikia (33), both junior technicians (Production) and Alakesh Saikia (28), a Junior Engineering Assistant (Production). The two rescued abductees are Alakesh Saikia and Mohini Mohan Gogoi. "One AK 47 has also been recovered," Indian Army said. After the abduction incident, the Assam government asked the district police authorities to intensify the security arrangements at OIL and ONGC infrastructures in eastern Assam. The state government has asked all the Superintendents of Police of eastern and northeastern Assam districts to review and to step up the security arrangements at Oil India Ltd (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) infrastructures under their jurisdictions, especially those located in interior areas. Local police had arrested 14 linkmen and sympathisers of the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent who were helping the banned outfit directly or indirectly. Police, all army and para-military bases located in the area were alerted to find out the captives. Soon after the incident, ONGC in a statement said that the abduction took place from a rig site of the company in Lakwa field of Sivasagar, and the abducted employees were taken away in an ambulance vehicle belonging to ONGC. Later, the vehicle was found abandoned near the Nimonagarh jungles close to the Assam-Nagaland border. Wrexhams British Heart Foundation charity shop appeals to public for donations The BHF Cymru shop in Wrexham is appealing to the local community to donate their preloved items to support the charitys recovery from the coronavirus crisis. The shop, on Egerton Road, accepts items such as clothing, handbags, shoes, books and toys. Every item sold will be turned into funds for research that could help transform the lives of those in the local area living with heart and circulatory diseases. Donations and sales help fund the BHFs life saving research into heart and circulatory diseases which cause around 25 deaths each day in Wales. The shop is urgently asking the local community to support it by simply donating good quality items that they have been clearing out while at home. Area manager Jacqui Webb said, Were so pleased to be back open in Wrexham and to see everyone whos visited so far this week. There are measures in place to keep staff, volunteers and customers safe in the shop. This includes social distancing on the shop floor, protective equipment for staff and volunteers and screens at till points. Customers can donate items at Covid-secure donation points set up at BHF shop entrances. If youre having a spring clear out, please consider donating your preloved items to BHF Cymru. For larger donations to BHF home stores, donors can book a free collection service online or by calling their local shop. All pick-ups are Covid-secure in line with Government social distancing guidelines. For those not ready to visit shops, the charitys postal donation service is also available for smaller, quality items simply print off a label and take your items to your local drop off point. Alternatively, shop a wide range of items via the BHF eBay shop. The coronavirus crisis has had a devastating impact on the BHFs income, leading to research funding being cut in half and the delay of important scientific breakthroughs. The charity is now urging the local community to support their nearest shop by donating items theyve decluttered while at home. Every pound raised in BHF shops helps the charity to support those living with heart and circulatory diseases. To find your local shop or store head to www.bhf.org.uk/shop. (Natural News) Scientists in Chile are warning that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese company Sinovac offers very weak protection against the virus until after the second dose. It is an important warning as the vaccine is being used widely in the developing world. Countries like Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Turkey are all currently rolling out the Sinovac vaccine. In a study of 10.5 million people, researchers discovered that the vaccine is only 16 percent effective in protecting against the virus after one dose. Its efficacy only rises to 67 percent after the second dose. Its a lesson that Chile has learned the hard way after the country experienced a dramatic surge in cases despite carrying out one of the fastest vaccine rollouts seen in the world. In March, Chile was hit by a second wave of coronavirus as summer holidays came to a close in the Southern Hemisphere and more contagious variants of the virus discovered in Brazil and the UK began to circulate. Bars, beaches and restaurants were crowded with people, many of whom were not wearing masks. Young people defied restrictions and held house parties, infecting their families. When theaters got back in full swing, the virus swept through one play and infected nearly every actor, killing two of them. The Chilean capital of Santiago and many other areas of the country are currently under a strict lockdown, and they are registering approximately 7,000 new cases of COVID-19 every day as critical bed occupancy reaches 95 percent. Seventy percent of the countrys 19 million people are confined to home under the tighter measures, which saw them lose their right to go to supermarkets on weekends. A false sense of security Many believe that Chiles rapid vaccination program resulted in a false sense of security that prompted the country to ease some of its restrictions too soon as people underestimated the ongoing risk. In November, the country reopened its borders and allowed Chileans to go on summer holidays starting in January. A lack of strict controls on people entering the country and for contact tracing meant that travelers could have been picking up infections and bringing them to new areas. Meanwhile, the reopening of schools, gyms, restaurants and shops gave the virus plenty of opportunity to spread. Chilean Society of Infectious Diseases Vice President Dr. Claudia Cortes told NBC News: The government was overoptimistic, and there was a mishandling of information around the good initial rollout of vaccine. She added: It seems people got the impression everything is fine now, but there needs to be a clear message that the vaccines are just one part of combating the pandemic. It does not mean that we can forget the basics like social distancing and wearing masks. Of all the vaccines currently being used around the world, Sinovacs is considered one of the poorest options with the least consistent results. In January, a Brazilian study indicated that its efficacy rate in preventing symptomatic illness was just 50.4 percent which is well below the 95 percent that has been reported for Pfizers vaccine. Concerns about the low protection offered by the Chinese vaccine, combined with supply shortages, have prompted Chile to shift its vaccination strategy toward giving people second doses while slowing its administration of new shots. Clinics around Santiago have been turning people away as their vaccine supplies dwindle. They aim to administer 760,000 second shots within the coming week. Chilean Trade Vice Minister Rodrigo Yanez, who has been tasked with acquiring vaccines, told Reuters that the countrys speedy vaccination campaign made it an attractive place for vaccine makers to test their shots. In other words, the Chilean people are the subjects in a huge experiment, and many are paying with their lives. (Then again, so are Americans, Canadians and Europeans when it comes to experimental vaccines made by companies like AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.) Sources for this article include: WSJ.com NBCNews.com NBCNews.com Rather than accept a bye and guarantee himself two Dexter Cup final starters, Ake Svanstedt decided to let Incommunicado compete in Saturday's (April 24) Dexter Cup elimination at Freehold Raceway. The gamble paid off, as Incommunicado cruised under the wire 2-3/4 lengths in front and established himself as one of the favourites for next week's Dexter Cup final. When the entry box closed on Wednesday, ten horses were entered for the Dexter Cup. Svanstedt was offered two byes with his pair of Ambassador Hanover and Incommunicado, and while he accepted the bye with the former, he decided to race Incommunicado. The Massachusetts Sire Stakes champion was made the 8/5 second choice in the field of eight. The complexion of the race changed dramatically in the opening eighth, when favoured Ethan T Hanover and Roysons Punch both went off stride. Ethan T Hanover was pulled up by Todd McCarthy, while Roysons Punch got back trotting. Incommunicado stayed trotting and rated in fourth place in the early stages. Just before the half-mile, Yannick Gingras pulled Incommunicado off the pylons and moved him first over after early leader Share the Wealth. The leader put up a good fight, but Incommunicado took charge entering the stretch and drew off. He trotted the mile in 1:57, a sharp time for his first pari-mutuel race of the year. Incommunicado is owned by Knutsson Trotting, Little E LLC, Arthur Geiger, and David Stolz. He's now won five times from eleven starts, with earnings of almost $220,000. Along with his stablemate Ambassador Hanover, he gives Svanstedt a formidable pair for next week's final. The following horses also advanced to the final: Credit Con, for trainer Todd Buter, Fifty Ways, trained by Joe Columbo, Believer, for trainer Randy Taft, Chapolier, for trainer Trond Smedshammer, and Share the Wealth, trained by Ray Schnittker. Sunny Crockett, trained by Julie Miller, also received a bye and will compete in the final. The post positions for the Dexter Cup final, along with its filly equivalent, the Lady Suffolk trot, will be drawn next Wednesday. FARALDO, BELTRAMI AHDC TROT WINNERS Joe Faraldo and Tony Beltrami each reined a winner in their respective splits of the American Harness Drivers Club trotting series on Saturday (April 24) at Freehold. Faraldo guided Always A Good Time to a 1:57.1 victory over seven others in his split while Tony Beltrami was victorious with Big Smoove in 2:00.1 the other seven-horse division. Both were raced for a purse of $9,000. Faraldo scored an easy victory with the 4-1 shot Always A Good Time. After getting away third he moved first-up as Bob Hechkoff showed the way with Pound Sterling, hitting the first quarter in :29.3. "Just as soon as I saw Hechkoff grab leather I was out and moving with Always A Good Time and when we passed the half we were heads apart. We were still side-by-side by the three- quarters but on the final turn Hechkoff's trotter began to fade and my horse then got real brave and we cruised home an easy winner," Faraldo said. At the wire the margin of victory was opened to six lengths as Joe Pennacchio hustled Keystone Blade home second best. Masster Blue, the betting favourite, finished third for Tony Verruso. The winner is owned by Triple D Stables and trained by Scott Di Domenico. He paid $10.40 for win. In the first AHDC trot Tony Beltrami took no prisoners and sent Big Smoove immediately to the front from post three and once on top he had an easy time of it. Big Smoove showed the way by the first quarter in a soft :30.2 and was still in command at the 1:00.4 half. Up the backside Southwind Frost (Bob Hechkoff) and Swipe Right (John Calabrese) began to move from far back, but Presidente Zette (Joe Faraldo) was still second best and he remained that way all to the wire. Swipe Right beat out Southwind Frost for the show dough. Big Smoove is owned by Joseph Scanio and Bart Fooden and trained by Williams Hernandez. He returned a $17.20 win payoff. Live harness racing resumes at Freehold next Friday, April 30, with a first post time of about 12:30 p.m. (Freehold / AHDC) Burma Myanmar Military Troops Killed as KNLA Protects Protesters in Mon State A military truck is seen after clashes between regime troops and the Karen National Liberation Army in Thaton, Mon State on Friday. / CJ At least two Myanmar military soldiers were killed during a series of clashes with the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU) in Thaton Township, Mon State on Friday. During clashes with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)s Brigade 1, four regime soldiers were also seriously injured, according to local residents. A resident told The Irrawaddy that fighting broke out in two locations in Thaton District at around 6 a.m. while KNLA troops were providing security for anti-regime protesters. Around 100 anti-coup protesters gathered in front of a local school to protest against the military regime and show support for the National Unity Government formed by elected lawmakers from the ousted National League for Democracy. About 10 Myanmar soldiers were heading to the protest event to crack down on the protesters. Before they arrived at the event, the KNLA opened fire to protect us, a resident said. One civilian was also injured in the leg during the fighting, he said. The military troops later returned with reinforcements and opened fire randomly near the protest areas. However, no one was injured as the protesters had already dispersed. The Yangon-Mawlamyine Highway was also temporarily closed due to the fighting on Friday morning, according to residents. However, the military fired several artillery shells into villages near the KNLAs Brigade 1 at around 10 p.m. As a result, hundreds of villagers were forced to flee from their homes. Tension has risen between the military and the KLNA in Hpapun district and Bago Township since the KNU publicly denounced the military coup. The KNU leader, Padoh Saw Mutu Say Poe, has refused to meet with coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing until his troops stop killing civilians and free all detainees arrested after the coup. You may also like these stories: Female Detainee Sexually Assaulted, Tortured During Interrogation: Former Cellmate ASEANs Exclusion of NUG in Summit Disappoints Myanmar More Than 110 People Abducted by Myanmar Junta This Week Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 19:20:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- The ongoing Auto Shanghai 2021 has displayed the new ambitions of global brands to dig into China's car market, the world's biggest. -- New models displayed at the auto show suggest international automakers are paying more attention to the needs of Chinese customers while embracing green and self-driving technologies as China strives to realize its carbon-neutral goal and build a more tech-savvy car industry. -- China's auto market performance beat the forecast in 2020. Despite being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, both production and sales have bounced back quickly since April, as auto factories reopened and pent-up demand was unleashed. A pure-electric "Honda SUV e" (2nd R) and an oil-electricity hybrid Honda BREEZE (1st R) are displayed at the 19th International Automobile Industry Exhibition (Auto Shanghai 2021) in Shanghai, east China, April 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe) by Xinhua writers Zhou Rui, Che Yunlong, Xia Kangjing and Yao Yuan SHANGHAI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- From electric SUVs named after a Chinese city to self-driving trucks, an ongoing auto show in Shanghai has displayed the new ambitions of global brands to dig into the world's biggest car market as it bounces back from the COVID-19 pandemic. The 19th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition -- also known as Auto Shanghai 2021 -- is the world's first major auto show to run normally this year, kicking off on April 19 and opening to the general public from Saturday. According to organizers, about 1,000 enterprises from all over the world are participating in the auto show, which boasts a total exhibition area of 360,000 square meters. International carmakers including Audi, Benz and General Motors are showing off their new models. Green and smart technologies also figure prominently at the fair, with auto manufacturers eyeing new opportunities amid China's goal of going carbon-neutral and building a more tech-savvy car industry. BROADER MARKET After years of preparation, the joint venture (JV) between China's major carmaker SAIC Motor and German car brand Audi has shown its first fruits, with two models debuted at the exhibition. The cooperation between SAIC and Audi not only reflects the growing importance of Chinese consumers to global brands but also the vitality and openness of the Chinese auto market, said Jia Mingdi, president of Audi sales and marketing, SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. SAIC is now the second Chinese partner of Audi after Audi's long-standing partner First Automotive Works (FAW). SAIC Audi plans to launch four new models in the next three years, Jia added. The debuted SAIC Audi models included a sedan customized for Chinese consumers and an electric SUV named "Audi concept Shanghai," the first time that Audi has named a new model after a city, according to Jia. The JV is also cooperating with Chinese tech giant Tencent to launch car-mounted WeChat to cater to Chinese drivers. "International carmakers used to sell in the Chinese market whatever was manufactured back home without thinking much. Now they must first figure out what Chinese consumers need before producing it," said Jia. An Audi electric SUV named "Audi concept Shanghai" is displayed at the 19th International Automobile Industry Exhibition (Auto Shanghai 2021) in Shanghai, east China, April 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Ting) China's auto market performance beat the forecast in 2020. The number of automobiles sold in the country totaled 25.31 million last year, down 1.9 percent year on year, narrowing 6.3 percentage points from the decline seen in 2019, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Despite being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, both production and sales have bounced back quickly since April, as factories reopened and pent-up demand was unleashed. "The Chinese auto sector bottomed out in 2020," the CAAM said, adding that as the Chinese economy continues its stable recovery, auto sales are expected to exceed 26 million units in 2021, up 4 percent year on year. Apart from its sheer size, China's auto market continues to lure foreign investment due to the considerable potential that its relatively low car ownership represents, said Zhou Minhao, president of the Shanghai Council for the Promotion of International Trade. By early 2021, China's vehicle density stood at 205 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to 871 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants in the United States, according to the latest analysis from the German Center for Automotive Research (CAR). While the U.S. market is saturated, China still has "great growth potential," said the CAR. Aerial photo taken on March 8, 2021, shows workers driving new energy vehicles out of a parking lot at a logistics park in Liuzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Photo by Li Hanchi/Xinhua) GREENER DEVELOPMENT The auto show also sheds light on the industry's urge to jump onto the green-tech bandwagon, as China, which is already the world's No.1 new-energy vehicles (NEV) market, pushes for clean-energy use in its auto sector. During the fair, Volkswagen's China JV SAIC Volkswagen debuted a pure-electric SUV "ID.6 X," the second model produced by its new NEV plant in China. The Shanghai-based plant started mass production late last year and is expected to launch another electric model this year. "SAIC Volkswagen will launch a variety of new-generation pure-electric vehicles in the future, which will help the Chinese market accelerate the realization of the carbon-neutral goal," said Yang Siyao, Executive Director of VW Marketing & Sales Business, SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. Sales of NEV in China jumped by 2.8 times year on year to 515,000 units in the first quarter, data from the CAAM showed. In March alone, NEV sales surged 2.4 times year on year to reach 226,000 units. The better-than-expected NEV sales came amid government efforts to promote eco-friendly cars and rising market enthusiasm for them. In November last year, China unveiled a development plan for its NEV industry from 2021 to 2035 that aims to accelerate the country's transition into an automotive powerhouse. The proportion of new NEVs in the sales of new vehicles is expected to rise to 20 percent by 2025, and vehicles used in public transportation will be completely electrified by 2035, according to the plan. The chassis system of a new energy MPV from Chinese carmaker SAIC MAXUS Automotive Co., Ltd. is displayed at the 19th International Automobile Industry Exhibition (Auto Shanghai 2021) in Shanghai, east China, April 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang) SMARTER TECH Another highlight of this year's auto show is the deep involvement of tech firms, which are teaming up with vehicle manufacturers on cutting-edge technologies such as autonomous driving. During the event, China's ride-hailing giant Didi announced cooperation between its autopilot company and Volvo on autonomous driving technologies, while Chinese drone maker DJI debuted its self-driving system. IM Motors, a Shanghai-based intelligent electric vehicle brand, offered a glimpse into the tantalizing future of autonomous driving by displaying new sedans capable of being summoned via a mobile app to pick up drivers and the ability to find a parking space and park on its own. The futuristic functions will be realized in certain commercial districts of cities including Shanghai by the end of 2021, assuming the laws allow it, said Chris Chen, the person in charge of the brand experience of IM Motors. Industry observers have pointed to Chinese consumers' growing expectations for smart cars and autonomous driving. According to a 2019 report from McKinsey & Company, Chinese consumers' acceptance level for autonomous vehicles was 80 percent, double that of Germany and the United States. "By 2025, China is expected to achieve 70 percent of new mass-produced vehicles with Level-3 autonomous driving, and Level-4 self-driving vehicles will begin to be applied on a large scale," said Hou Fushen, deputy secretary-general of the China Society of Automotive Engineers. In self-driving technologies, Level-5 indicates full automation, followed by Level-4 and Level-3, which allow vehicles to navigate without drivers in certain conditions. Hou said that the country is expected to achieve mass production of Level-5 vehicles by 2030. Compared with many countries in Europe, China has been pushing for technological innovation at a "rapid pace and with unparalleled momentum," and has become a market "that is the center of the auto world and that no one can do without," the CAR analysis said. (Video reporters: Ding Ting, Zhou Rui, Cen Zhilian; Video editor: Peng Ying) * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24) The distribution of the newly-delivered COVID-19 vaccines will begin on Sunday, the Health Department said, but noted that their allocation will prioritize areas at high risk for the coronavirus. In the government's Laging Handa briefing on Saturday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the move aims to protect vulnerable sectors in the COVID-19 hotspots. "'Yung allocation, nagawa na po. At bukas, magu-umpisa tayong mag-distribute," Vergeire said. "Meron tayong bias ngayon sa ating mga lugar na matataas po ang kaso." [Translation: The allocation has already been completed, and tomorrow, we'll start distributing. We will have a bias on places where cases are high.] Despite this, Vergeire assured the public that other regions will get their share of future vaccines. "'Yun nga lang po, nauuna nang konti ito pong nasa NCR Plus," she maintained. [Translation: But the distribution will first prioritize those in the NCR Plus.] The Philippines on Thursday received another half a million doses of China's Sinovac the latest batch of coronavirus vaccines procured by the government. The country is also expecting an initial shipment of 15,000 Sputnik V vaccines on Sunday, which Vergeire said will only be given to select local government units due to the product's complex storage requirements. Vergeire noted the Sputnik V can only be stored in a dark place, with the temperature not exceeding -18 degrees. "Kaya pagdating po ng Sputnik V, meron lang po tayong mga [That's why when the Sputnik V arrives, we only have] assigned local governments that will receive because they have the capability to store these kinds of vaccines," the official said. READ: First batch of Sputnik V likely to be distributed in Metro Manila - DOH COVID-19 cases in the country inched closer to 980,000 on Friday, after the DOH tallied 8,719 new infections. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. On the matter of reconciliation process between Armenia and Turkey, German lawmakers are highlighting that Turkey should make the first move, and that both countries should meet each other halfway. On the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki and the Head of the Germany-South Caucasus parliamentary friendship group Barbara Hendricks spoke about the issue in a video statement provided to ARMENPRESS. Today we commemorate the massacres of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Remembrance of this genocide and commemoration of the victims requires constant work. But we should not only look at the past, but also the present and future, Kubicki said. He said that as a citizen of the European Union he has realized that nations who have been warring against each other for decades can reach co-existence. I hope that reconciliation will happen between Armenia and Turkey as well. It is desirable that Turkey becomes the one to make the first step. Displaying sufficient conscious over this matter is as important as remembering the genocide, Kubicki added. In turn, Barbara Hendricks says that reconciliation is possible if both sides, as neighbors, meet each other halfway. Today we remember the numerous victims of the genocide committed against Armenians in 1915-1916. We commemorate their memory. At the same time, we realize that we must take steps aimed at reconciliation. Back in 2009, Armenia and Turkey had reached an agreement to establish diplomatic relations and open the closed borders between the two countries. To date, this agreement hasnt come into force and has not been implemented, the lawmaker said. Barcelona, April 24 : World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas made it to the final of the Barcelona Open, defeating Italy's Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 in the ATP 500 event on Saturday. The Greek will take on the winner of the semi-final between Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta. It was at the same venue three years ago that Tsitsipas had made a major breakthrough, reaching his maiden ATP Tour final. The reigning Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters champion saved all four break points he faced to improve his unbeaten record on clay this year to 9-0. "It was very close. It was a close match," Tsitsipas told the ATP Tour site. "He (Sinner) had a lot of break point opportunities on my serve. It could have been different, but I stayed tough and I converted those break points (I had). That was crucial and very important." After taking a 2-1 lead in his ATP head-to-head series against Sinner, Tsitsipas has now matched Russian Andrey Rublev's tour-leading total of 26 victories this season. Tsitsipas and Rublev are eight wins clear of their nearest ATP Tour rivals, with Sinner in third position on the 2021 wins list. Tsitsipas now awaits the winner of the all-Spanish semi-final between 11-time champion Rafael Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta. Tsitsipas has a 2-6 ATP head-to-head record against Nadal, which includes his final loss to the Mallorcan in the 2018 Barcelona final. The Greek holds a 2-0 advantage against Carreno Busta. "It feels great to be back (in the final). I will try to redeem myself from last time...I am looking forward to whoever I have to play," said Tsitsipas. "A final is always a very important phase in a tournament." In a tight opening set, both players were unable to convert early break points. Tsitsipas made the only breakthrough of the set at 4-3, when he attacked Sinner's forehand to extract multiple errors and break serve. Sinner struck eight of his 11 unforced errors in the first set on his forehand side. Click here to read the full article. The unexpected Academy Award run of My Octopus Teacher, Netflixs hit, heartfelt documentary about a filmmakers unlikely relationship with an octopus living off the coast of South Africa, marks a rare Oscar nomination for an African documentary. But perhaps it should come as no surprise. These are widely hailed as boom times for documentary filmmaking, driven in part by streaming platforms relentless appetite for content, as the coronavirus pandemic has left millions of homebound viewers across the globe glued to their screens. Despite the hurdles they face, it stands to reason that African filmmakers would also reap some rewards. For the continents documentary filmmakers, however, its a movement a long time in the making. Recent years have seen the emergence of grassroots efforts to grow the African documentary community, such as the Nairobi-based DocuBox film fund, the Ouaga Film Lab, in Burkina Faso, and the pan-African DocA initiative. Collectively theyve helped to bring together filmmakers from across the continent, building a far-flung network while also bolstering opportunities for African filmmakers to tell their own stories. If you look at the last 50, 60 years, most African documentaries have been financed out of Europe, says Steven Markovitz, the South African producer behind docs such as Toronto players Beats of the Antonov and Silas, and this years Hot Docs premiere The Colonels Stray Dogs. Were starting to see more financing coming out of Africa, which is contributing to more independent filmmaking, more original filmmaking, and also African producers having more ownership over their docs. European and North American institutions and film funds, such as the IDFA Bertha Fund and the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Docs Fund, have also played a key role, and remain instrumental in supporting African documentary filmmakers hamstrung by limited local and regional capacity. Earlier this month, the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Docs Fund unveiled its eight latest recipients, who will receive a total of CAD$120,000 ($96,000) in development and production grants, while also announcing an additional CAD$1 million ($960,000) in support over the next four years that will bring the funds total to CAD$3.35 million ($2.7 million). Founded in 2011, the fund has awarded grants to 78 projects from 24 African countries. What were seeing is where resources are directed, the talent is following, says Hot Docs director of programming Shane Smith. The talent is being developed. Its not rocket science. You invest in developing the voices and the talent, and youll see the incredible work that theyre able to do. That work is being recognized more widely than ever before. Festival programmers, increasingly on the lookout for a broader and more diverse range of storytelling perspectives, particularly from long overlooked and marginalized communities, have given African filmmakers a vital global platform. Recent festival standouts include Downstream to Kinshasa, a 2020 Cannes official selection from acclaimed Congolese documentary filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi; Kenyan director Sam Sokos Softie, which won a Special Jury Award at last years Sundance Film Festival; and Talking About Trees, Sudanese director Suhaib Gasmelbaris 2019 Berlinale prizewinner. Still, that doesnt necessarily translate to a gold rush for African filmmakers. [Foreign] broadcasters are more interested in African-based directors and producers, but there hasnt been a huge surge in commissions or co-productions with African-based producers and directors, says Markovitz. While global streaming services have upped their documentary spending elsewhere around the world, in Africa, for the most part, we havent felt it yet, says producer Tiny Mungwe of STEPS, a non-profit media company based in Cape Town. To create a sustainable documentary industry in Africa requires a shift in the traditional way of doing business, with financing flowing from north to south, but little energy being put into the development of institutions at the local level. There isnt enough of a recognition of the need for institutional capacity development, says Mungwe. To build an industry, you need to build an ecosystem, but also then start to trust organizations and institutions in the Global South to be the ones leading the capacity development thats needed. That holistic, pan-African approach is in the DNA of Generation Africa, an anthology of 30 short, medium-, and feature-length documentary films about migration told from an African perspective, which are being co-produced by STEPS along with partners in 17 African countries. ARTE has come onboard to co-produce seven of the films, and will broadcast all 30 across either its channels or digital platforms, offering a model for how European broadcasters can serve as collaborators in support of African-led initiatives. The first two Generation Africa feature films arrive this month. In Zinder (pictured), which premieres in the international competition at Visions du Reel before screening in the Change Makers program at CPH:DOX, Nigerien filmmaker Aicha Macky returns to the titular hometown she left years ago to explore the harsh inequalities and divisions in the desert citys impoverished Kara-Kara district. The situation in Kara-Kara reveals the fate of a wasted and abandoned youth who struggle to find their place in society, their identity and their dignity, says Macky. The problem is inherent to all societies in the world. The struggle of these young people is not far from that of the youth of the ghettos in the U.S.A., those of the European suburbs who fight for racial equality, social justice, the right to education. A title card in the films opening sequence states: I am a daughter of Zinder. That insiders perspective is central to the films being produced by Generation Africa, and is the key to changing narratives about the African continent, according to veteran South African producer Don Edkins of STEPS. As soon as you start telling stories from the inside, you find a very different storytelling approach, he says. Another Generation Africa title, The Last Shelter, by Malis Ousmane Zorome Samassekou, premieres in the main competition of CPH:DOX before heading to the World Showcase strand of Hot Docs. Samassekous film unspools at the House of Migrants on the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert, where weary West African refugees hoping to reach Europe in search of a better life prepare for the long journey ahead. For me, it was necessary to approach the subject of immigration from another angle than the one vilified by the media, says Samassekou, who has a personal connection to the story: his uncle Amadou left Mali for Europe years ago, disappearing without a trace. I believe that if these people were allowed to come and go as they are allowed to do in the West, there would be less of the immigration disaster that we see. Western journalists have chronicled the punishing trans-Sahara route to Europe, and the difficult lives awaiting African migrants there. But Samassekou brings a distinctly local perspective to the migration narrative, in order to lift the taboos and to dare to talk about the failure when you leave, and the difficulty of returning because of it. Migration is also at the heart of The Colonels Stray Dogs, from the London-born, South African-Libyan director Khalid Shamis. The film, which recounts Shamis fathers dangerous life as a Libyan exile in the U.K. with a million-dollar bounty on his head, premieres in the World Showcase strand at Hot Docs. In the intimate portrait of his relationship with his father, the director questions the cost of his fathers decades-long opposition to Muammar Gaddafi and eventual return to an unrecognizable Libya on the brink of civil war. Shamis nevertheless sees his as a widely relatable story. I feel that the second-generation migrant in the West could identify with the experience of exiled parents and what they allow their children to know of their past lives, so that the kids can concentrate on their assimilation in the new land, he says. Stray Dogs was a journey many years in the making, partly owing to the challenges facing most directors of long-term personal films, says Shamis, but largely due to the hurdle of getting the rights to archival material that was vital to the film and personal to my story, but was in the hands of the archives gatekeepers of the world. His success is perhaps a fitting metaphor for a generation of African documentary filmmakers looking to wrest back control of their own narratives. And in the end, Shamis learned a valuable lesson thatin spite of their many gainsstill holds true for his peers: Perseverance is key. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. City of Laredo and Webb County officials confirmed 58 COVID-19 cases, including 48 cases in one day, in their Friday coronavirus update. The 48 cases reported on April 23 is the largest amount of cases confirmed in a single day since March 1, when 56 cases were confirmed. Along with the new positives, the city continues see a rise in active cases, reporting 165 persons are actively infected with the virus. The metric is now the highest its been since March 5, when the city reported 193 actives. 42,674 persons are estimated to have recovered from a previous infection. With over 150 active cases, Laredo has now officially entered level three of its color-coded advisory system, indicating level orange or 'higher risk' of COVID-19 infection. The last time Laredo entered level three was on March 15. Despite the rise in positives and actives, no deaths were confirmed in the latest report. Additionally, hospitalizations dropped in the Laredo area, with 17 people reportedly hospitalized with the virus. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports a COVID-19 hospitalization rate of 5.24% based on data from April 22. The Laredo hospital region has now reported a rate above 5% in three of the last five days. Additionally, it is one of the eight regions in Texas reporting a rate above 5%. Part of the reason for this increase is due to the lowered hospital capacity in Webb County. This is mainly due to the demobilization of state assistance in the city. DSHS has not reported a total hospital capacity above 500 in the Laredo region dating back to April 10. With the demobilization of two state facilities, an infusion center and an alternate care site, expected next week, that capacity could further decrease. However, plans are in place should a surge of cases be seen, Laredo fire chief and emergency management coordinator Guillermo Heard confirmed. City leaders continue to advocate Laredoans receive their COVID-19 vaccine as one way that citizens can help to limit hospitalizations in the Laredo area. As of noon Friday, the city reports 131,313 persons, or 66.68% of the eligible population 16 years and older, have received at least one dose of the vaccine. In those aged 65 and older, the rate stands at 81.30%. 84,109 persons, or 42.71% of the population, are reported to be fully vaccinated. As of the report, 332,200 tests for the virus have been administered in the Laredo area. In all, 43,672 persons have tested positive and 833 persons have died. Submarine now declared as officially sunk with no hopes of finding any survivors Wreckage has been found in the hunt for the lost Indonesian submarine with 53 crew members after search teams discovered items from the sunken vessel, said the country's navy. Rescuers found several items including parts of a torpedo straightener, a grease bottle believed to be used to oil the periscope and prayer rugs from the submarine, according to Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yudo Margono. He said: 'With the authentic evidence we found believed to be from the submarine, we have now moved from the sub miss phase to sub sunk.' A scan has also located the submarine below its survivable limit at around 850m (2,800ft) beneath the sea. Indonesia earlier considered the submarine that disappeared on Thursday off Bali as missing, but it now declares the submarine as officially sunk with no hopes of finding any survivors. Officials said oxygen supply on the KRI Nanggala-402, which vanished as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill, ran out early Saturday. Rescuers found several items including parts of a torpedo straightener, a grease bottle believed to be used to oil the periscope and prayer rugs from the submarine A military officer holds a piece of debris believed to be from the missing Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala during a press conference in Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali Material believed to be part of a prayer mat from the crew area of the missing Indonesian submarine is displayed during a press conference in Bali, Indonesia, on Saturday Debris thought to be a torpedo straightener (left), piping (centre) and a bottle (right) from the missing submarine are pictured at the press conference Indonesian Navy Chief Handi Tjahjanto, centre, and Indonesia police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo, right, speak to media as they display debris found in the waters during their search Debris believed to be from the missing submarine is held up by a military officer. The vessel has been declared as officially sunk with no hopes of finding any survivors Rescue teams had been battling against time to find the 44-year-old submarine, which officials said would only have enough air to last until around 3am Saturday morning - 8pm Friday BST. An American reconnaissance plane, P-8 Poseidon, had landed early Saturday and is set to join the search, along with 20 Indonesian ships, a sonar-equipped Australian warship and four Indonesian aircraft. Singaporean rescue ships were also expected later Saturday, while Malaysian rescue vessels were due to arrive on Sunday. Indonesia military spokesperson Djawara Whimbo previously said: 'We keep doing the search until we find it and whatever the result.' The submarine lost contact after its last reported dive off the resort island. An Indonesian air force pilot said six tonnes of equipment had been flown to a base to help with the search including underwater balloons to help lift a vessel. Indonesia's navy says items have been found from a missing submarine, indicating the vessel with 53 crew members has sunk, according to Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yudo Margono A member of Indonesian Navy personnel walks past a map of the searching area for the submarine KRI Nanggala-402 A military officer looks at pictures of the crew members on the missing KRI Nanggala which is feared to have ran out of oxygen But Whimbo had said Indonesia's hydrographic vessel was still unable to detect an unidentified object exhibiting high magnetism that was earlier detected located at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (165 to 330 feet). He said: 'The object is floating in the water, so maybe it is moving.' The country's navy previously said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 metres, well beyond its survivable limits. There have been no signs of life from the submarine, but family members of the 53 crew members have held out hope that the massive search effort would find the vessel in time. Ratih Wardhani, the sister of 49-year-old crewman Wisnu Subiyantor, had said: 'The family is in a good condition and keeps praying. We are optimistic that the Nanggala can be rescued with all the crew.' Berda Asmara, the wife of crew member Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who has sailed on the Nanggala for 10 years, said: 'I hope that they will be found alive. We had a video call. He told me that he would go sailing and asked me to pray for him.' Indonesian SAR Agency (BASARNAS) vessel arrive at pier Tanjung Wangi for the search of submarine KRI Nanggala 402 Indonesian Navy's KRI Karel Satsuitubun-356 is seen while preparing to dock at Tanjung Wangi port, as it is being prepared for rescue operation of the KRI Nanggala-402 The KRI Alugoro seen yesterday as it helped search for the missing submarine which is feared to have been lost with all hands Indonesian President Joko Widodo had ordered all-out efforts to locate the submarine and asked Indonesians to pray for the crew's safe return. The search focused on an area near the starting position of its last dive where an oil slick was found. Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono said oil could have spilled from a crack in the submarine's fuel tank or the crew could have released fuel and fluids to reduce the vessel's weight so it could surface. The navy however, believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet), much deeper than its collapse depth of 200 meters (655 feet), at which water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand. The cause of the disappearance is still uncertain. The navy has said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface. The submarine was conducting a torpedo drill in waters 60 miles north of the island of Bali On Friday, the Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Indonesian counterpart and offered additional support, which could include undersea search assets. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Thursday the 'United States would do everything possible to support Indonesia's search and rescue effort,' a spokeswoman said. Two Australian Navy ships were heading for the search area including a frigate with special sonar capabilities, the defence department said. Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia as well as the United States and Australia are also among the nations helping in the hunt with nearly two dozen warships deployed to scour a search zone covering about 10 square nautical miles (34 square kilometres). Indonesia operates five submarines - two German-built Type 209s including Nanggala and three newer South Korean vessels. The military said it picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 165 and 330 feet (50 and 100 metres) Despite hopes for a miracle, an oil spill (pictured) spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage It has been seeking to modernise its defence capabilities but some of its equipment is old and there have been fatal accidents in recent years. Late yesterday, the military said it picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres (165 and 330 feet). Ships equipped with specialised tracking equipment were deployed in the hope that the object could be the KRI Nanggala 402. The US military earlier said it would send airborne teams to help in the search, while Australia said two ships were on their way to assist. Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia dispatched ships that were expected to arrive this weekend, including the city-state's MV Swift Rescue - a submarine rescue vessel. Officers prepare a helicopter before taking part in the search operation for the missing Indonesian submarine KRI Nanggala Berda Asmara is married to Guntur Ari Prasetyo, 39, who had been expected to return home from the submarine training mission at the weekend India said Thursday it had sent a ship to assist in the hunt. 'If there is serious damage on the boat itself, it could potentially mean a few things, for example, there will be very limited spaces for the crew with very limited oxygen,' said Collin Koh, a naval affairs specialist and research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. A hydro-oceanographic survey ship equipped with underwater detection capabilities also was on its way to the torpedo drilling site, where an oil slick was found. Margono said the oil slick may have been caused by a crack in the submarine's tank after the vessel sank. Indonesia's navy said it was possible an electrical failure occurred during the dive, causing the submarine to lose control and become unable to undertake emergency procedures that would have allowed it to resurface. Indonesian rescue workers (above) search for the missing submarine as Navy chiefs fear the worst Indonesian marines are out in full force to track down the submarine that has sparked an international rescue operation French navy vice admiral Antoine Beaussant has warned that the submarine was not built to withstand such a depth. 'If it went down to rest at 700 metres the likelihood is it would have broken up,' he said. 700 metres is around 2,296ft. The submarine is only built to withstand depths of up to 820ft below sea-level. Missing Naggala 402 Age: 44 years after being built in 1977. Top speed: 25 knots (46 km/hr). Range: 8,200 nautical miles (15,200 km). Maximum diving depth: 843ft. Weight: 1,395 tons. Length: 65 yards. Fuel: Powered by four electric diesel engines. Armaments: 14 torpedoes located in eight tubes. It is also equipped with a CSU-3-2 suite type sonar. Built in: Lubeck, Germany. Advertisement Indonesian rescuers searching for a missing Navy submarine have found an oil spill near the vessel's dive location in the waters off Bali. Officials fear the vessel sank to the bottom of a trough with a depth of 2,300ft during a torpedo military exercise. The navy has deployed a number of warships to search for the missing crew. Frank Owen, secretary of the Submarine Institute of Australia, also said the submarine could be at too great a depth for a rescue team to operate. 'Most rescue systems are really only rated to about 1,970ft (600m),' he said. 'They can go deeper than that because they will have a safety margin built into the design, but the pumps and other systems that are associated with that may not have the capacity to operate. So they can survive at that depth, but not necessarily operate.' Owen, a former submariner who developed an Australian submarine rescue system, said the Indonesian vessel was not fitted with a rescue seat around an escape hatch designed for underwater rescues. He said a rescue submarine would make a waterproof connection to a disabled submarine with a so-called skirt fitted over the rescue seat so that the hatch can be opened without the disabled submarine filling with water. Owen said the submarine could be recovered from 1,640ft (500m) without any damage but couldn't say if it would have imploded at 2,300ft (700m). In 2018, authorities found the wreckage of a missing Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier. The Malaysian Navy have provided a submarine rescue ship, the MV Mega Bakti, to help find the KRI Nanggala near the island of Bali The marines (above) patrolling the waters will be supported by ships from Singapore and Malaya The Indonesian Rescue Agency are part of the hunt for the vanished submarine The hunt for Nanggala-402: Rescuers prepare to set off from Bali on a search mission with 53 submarine crew members missing The fate of the 53 sailors hangs in the balance as Indonesian marines search for the missing submarine An aerial search by a helicopter found an oil spill in waters where the submarine (file photo) was thought to have submerged Crushed from an implosion, the ARA San Juan was located at a depth of more than 3,000ft (900m) in a desolate area of undersea craters and canyons 250 miles (400km) off the coast of Argentina. The accident took the lives of 44 sailors. Then, in 2019, a French submarine that went missing in the western Mediterranean over 50 years ago was found. The diesel-electric Minerve submarine was lost off France's southern coast with 52 sailors on board on January 27, 1968. The Minerve was on a training mission in bad weather when it went down while returning to its base in Toulon, France's main Mediterranean naval port. Experts have speculated that the disaster was caused by a problem with the Minerve's rudder, a collision with another boat, the explosion of a missile or torpedo, or a fault with its oxygen supply systems. Property owners in East Baton Rouge are likely to get a tax break for the second year in a row after the parish school system again missed a chance to restore tax rates to their maximum authorized level. Last year, the rates were lowered because of a mistake by the parish school board, resulting in whats known as a rollback. This year, new Superintendent Sito Narcisse effectively decided to keep rates at the rolled-back level, taking the matter out of the boards hands. If Narcisses decision stands, school property tax rates in the parish will remain at 41.25 mills in 2021, rather than returning to 43.45 mills as theyd been for decades. That would continue a $15 break for a home assessed at $150,000 and a $35 break for one assessed at $250,000. Under Louisianas homestead exemption, the first $75,000 in value remains untaxed. District tax revenue, however, would shrink as well by an estimated $9.2 million. Over a two-year period, that adds up to more than $18 million in lost education funding. The school system has until 2024 to restore rates to 43.45 mills, to roll forward or the lower 41.25 millage rate will be locked in for good. A roll forward requires a two-thirds vote of the school board to pass. Opponents of rolling forward millages paint the move as an undemocratic tax hike, arguing that millage rates should only roll forward after a vote of the people. Supporters of "roll forwards" say they rightly take advantage of local economic growth and serve as a fiscally responsible way to ensure stable funding for the ever-increasing cost of public services. The pandemic has only intensified that debate. Opponents of the move say keeping millage rates low makes even more sense these days by lessening hardship on taxpayers. Supporters of roll-forwards, on the other hand, call them even more vital during economic downturns because of the way they sustain public services. The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board has traditionally opted to roll forward at least until last year. The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board gave property owners a tax break by accident Property owners in East Baton Rouge Parish will get a tax break this year after the parish school system inadvertently waited too long to deci In September, then-Superintendent Leslie Brown, like her predecessors, sought a roll-forward. The current board, however, was divided. Unable to clarify a key legal question, the board voted to delay a month a fateful decision that inadvertently killed any chance of a roll-forward in 2020. It looked at first like school administrators would resume the push this year. A public notice appeared in The Advocate in early February calling for a hearing on a roll-forward proposal to be held on March 18. That hearing never happened; Narcisse chose to leave the item off the agenda. Instead, a month later, the superintendent gave the board just one option: keep rates at the rolled-back level. On Thursday, the board voted 8-0 to do just that; board member Connie Bernard was absent. Neither Narcisse nor his staff explained that night why the school district was no longer pursuing a roll-forward as it had in years past. The Advocate emailed Narcisse Friday seeking an explanation, prompting a written statement from district spokeswoman Taylor Gast. Due to the receipt of the CARES and COVID-19 relief funding, the decision was made to forego the roll-forward millage for the 2021 tax roll, she wrote. However, we anticipate that we will bring the roll-forward back to the board in March (2022) for the 2022 tax roll. Dr. Narcisse is very mindful of the challenges and hardships the families of East Baton Rouge Parish have endured over the past year. The funding Gast referred to is quite substantial. The district got $18 million last year from this funding stream and is set to receive another $210 million through next year. 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 It's all short-lived, however. Its one-time money the district has up to three years to spend. As superintendent, Narcisse draws up the initial agendas for board meetings. Board President David Tatman has final approval. Tatman said he recalls being surprised that Narcisse wouldn't hold the March hearing but he let it go. I didnt object to it, he said. I followed his lead on that. Tatman said he considers votes on millage the province of the district's elected leaders. I think the board should always make a decision on whether to roll forward or not, he said. Board Vice President Dawn Collins said she was unaware of the planned March hearing and is unhappy about Narcisse calling it off. That decision should have been for the full body of the board to decide, not the superintendent, Collins said. We are the ones responsible for the health of the budget. Its not too late to roll forward this year, though the school district would have to work on a tight deadline. They still have time to do it, parish tax assessor Brian Wilson said Friday. Wilsons office sets a deadline of June 1 to finalize the assessment rolls, but he said there's some wiggle room. We have leeway there, Wilson said. Narcisses decision to table the roll-forward came as a surprise for another reason. A district audit commissioned by Narcisse and released in February urged a different path. In that audit, called a Transition Report, outside consultants criticized the board for failing to roll forward millages last year. Whether this was a result of administrative error or board inactivity, the result is the same, the report stated. While the consultants recognize that taxpayers are suffering economically, the rolling forward would not increase the millage and the economic impact on the parishs poorest residents is very unlikely to be significant. The consultants acknowledge that the school system gets a lot of federal COVID relief money it wasnt clear exactly how much at that point but noted the ad hoc nature. One-time funds cannot be used for recurrent expenses," they note. "CARES Act funds are most likely one-time money. The consultants recognize that the superintendent and chief finance officer are aware of these parameters, but the consultants simply wish to underscore this critical point. The Harmonious Echo: Songs By Sir Arthur Sullivan Chandos, out Friday Rating: Sullivan and W. S. Gilberts comic operas have given Sullivans brilliant tunes immortality, but at a price; the near total neglect of the rest of his output, much of which he valued more highly. This splendid double album of Sullivans songs, mainly composed pre-Gilbert, are a satisfying listen. They are well sung by a fine British quartet, including the mezzo Kitty Whately, daughter of Kevin of Inspector Morse and Lewis fame, to whom is entrusted the only well-known (or once it was) piece, the mawkish but memorable The Lost Chord. The whole thing is brilliantly ringmastered by the pianist David Owen Norris, whose lively playing is a constant joy, and who also contributes some erudite notes. This splendid double album of Sullivans songs, mainly composed pre-Gilbert, are a satisfying listen. They are well sung by a fine British quartet, including the mezzo Kitty Whately As a teenager Sullivan went to Leipzig on the first Mendelssohn Scholarship, sponsored by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Some of his teachers there had also taught Brahms, and deemed Sullivan the more talented. Sadly, nothing here really stands that up, but this is a thoroughly entertaining album. Congratulations to the always innovative Chandos team for issuing it. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Turn to the River project is ready to launch. Organizers have been working to get to this point for nearly a decade. Their goal? To reconnect Terre Haute's downtown with the Wabash River through public art and design. There are several phases to the 'Turn to the River' project and the first phase is about to begin. It will add a sculpture and celebration area between the city hall and the courthouse. City and county officials, legislators, and representatives from art spaces were all in attendance for the launch of this project. "The area here between the courthouse and city hall will be the first step in this improvement. An art sculpture things that will change the dynamic of this government campus and make it a destination and a place where people might want to come," says Mayor Duke Bennett. Greg Goode of the Wabash River Regional Development Authority says this project has more than $700,000 invested in it. And it's deeper than just art. "We can uplift our community using art and sculpture to enhance our quality of place which we think will help attract attention to our community and help build the population," says Goode. He says Terre Haute's location is perfect and this project should bring folks in from all over. "We are in a very strong place to attract people from Illinois to not only visit Terre Haute and spend money in Terre Haute we hope they will relocate and come and work in Indiana and in our community," Goode told us. They will tackle the heavily trafficked area between city hall and the courthouse first. "This space, in particular, has so many purposes. It's used by so many employees that work between city hall and the courthouse. It's a place where people are going into court and they need a rest.. a green space to have those moments of reflection," says Mary Kramer the Executive Director of Art Spaces. Overall community leaders say everyone will benefit from this expansion. "We want to do as many things as we can to make those who live here, things for them to enjoy visitors and students who come here to see that we're progressing and doing those types of things that will make this a place you talk about and want to be apart of," says Mayor Duke Bennett. Learn more about the project here. The Union Territory of Ladakh has made it compulsory for passengers to undergo RT-PCR test at the Leh airport. Passengers will also have to be under mandatory quarantine till their reports are out. Offenders will be sent back from the entry points and FIRs will be lodged against all those caught furnishing fake RT-PCR reports, according to an official. The decision assumes importance as locals especially those who arrived from outside Leh have tested positive for the virus in large numbers, according to the Medical Superintendent of the SNM Hospital Dr Nurzin. The Medical Superintendent added the new wave is affecting youngsters, especially small kids. This decision was taken at a COVID-19 review meeting convened by Tashi Gyalson, Chairman and Chief Executive Councillor of the LAHDC, Leh. Health officials, representatives of the paramilitary forces, police and district administration were present during this meeting. Gyalson also directed the authorities concerned to ensure strict compliance with COVID-19 protocols at the airport and the quarantine centres. Besides, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Leh also apprised the officials of the current COVID-19 scenario and steps taken by the health department. The CMO talked about the alarming surge in COVID-19 cases, especially among the non-local labourers inducted by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Following this, the LAHDC Chairman directed BRO officials to restrict the induction of non-local labourers until further orders. He also urged them to manage with the existing labourers by providing proper COVID-19 testing facilities and basic amenities at their quarantine centres. Edited by Mehak Agarwal Also read: COVID-19: Second wave in India to peak by mid-May, 5,600 daily deaths likely A defendant who allegedly licked his bloody hands and declared I love the taste of a man's blood after a serious assault on a friend, has been ordered to return to court with 9,000 to pay for the dental treatment his victim now requires. Jason Boylan, Gubnageer, Rossinver, Co Leitrim faced a summons for assault causing harm to Ryan Kerins in Rossinver on July 14, 2019. It was noted that the defendant had already paid 2,000 towards the cost of emergency dental treatment following the assault but Manorhamilton District Court heard it will take a further 9,000 to pay for implants to be inserted in his victim's mouth. Mr Boylan was on a night out in a pub in Rossinver with the victim, Ryan Kerins and another friend on July 13, 2019. At some point during the night difficulty arose over the alleged theft of a wallet and bank card belonging to Mr Kerins. A falling out occurred over the wallet, which Mr Boylan was found in possession of later that night and after the parties went home a number of phone calls were exchanged before the victim and Mr Boylan agreed to meet at Rossinver Church between 5am and 6am. The victim was driven to the church by a third party who had been with Mr Boylan and Mr Kerins that night and who later witnessed the assault. Giving a summation of what was recorded in the victim's statement, Sgt Mick Gallagher noted that when the victim crossed over the bridge at the side of the church he met the defendant who put out his hand. The victim was of the understanding that Mr Boylan was offering to shake his hand before handing over the wallet. Instead, Mr Boylan grabbed Mr Kerins and lifted him over his head and dropped him on the ground before assaulting him. Mr Kerins, said Sgt Gallagher, was knocked unconscious and only came to his senses when he found himself back in his friend's car, with his front teeth gone and blood coming from his mouth. In his statement Mr Kerins said that he saw Mr Boylan standing at the driver's door of his friend's car with his hands covered in blood. Mr Boylan was licking the blood and allegedly said I love the taste of another man's blood. The third party, who witnessed the assault after he drove Mr Kerins to meet Mr Boylan at the church described in his statement how Mr Boylan had lifted Mr Kerins two feet in the air and dropped him. He said that when Mr Kerins had gotten back in the car he had blood coming from his ear and his mouth and Mr Boylan had blood on his hands. When Mr Boylan was questioned by gardai in relation to the incident he denied that he had stolen the wallet belonging to Mr Kerins earlier that evening and claimed that he only arrived at the church because Mr Kerins had rang him saying otherwise he'd smash my windows in. He said he had intended to tell Mr Kerins that he found the wallet but said he hadn't got a chance to because Mr Kerins began shouting abuse. He (Mr Kerins) put his right hand on my throat and his left hand on my right shoulder and I had to defend myself, he claimed in his statement. When questioned about licking blood from his hands following the assault and making comments that he liked the taste of another man's blood, Mr Boylan said he couldn't recollect making such a statement. Defending solicitor, Mark Mullaney, said that his client would say that he found Mr Kerins' wallet and had handed it back to him earlier that night in the pub. He pointed out that there was no charge in relation to theft against his client. He also stressed that Mr Boylan denied any allegation of theft of the wallet. Ryan Kerins, the victim of the assault took the stand at Manorhamilton Court. He said that he had a habit of leaving his wallet on the bar when he was out for a night. He noticed the wallet missing some time before midnight on July 13 and told the bar staff and the licensee ordered everyone in the pub to empty their pockets and bags onto tables in an effort to find the wallet. Mr Kerins said he turned his back to the table as this was done and said he didn't want to know who took the wallet and he wasn't concerned about the money or the bank card it contained, all he wanted was the return of the pictures of his babies which were inside the wallet. He said a friend out with him and Mr Boylan had taken him aside and pointed out that the defendant had not emptied his pockets like others in the pub. Later that night, this same friend noted Mr Boylan paying for his round with a wallet. When Mr Boylan opened the wallet, Mr Kerins' friend reached over and took out the bank card from the wallet and pointed out it had Mr Kerins name on it. Mr Kerins said that when he confronted Mr Boylan he told him he was only joking and handed the wallet back. I said if you are so stuck for 100 then here, take it, said Mr Kerins, adding that he removed the pictures of his babies and threw the wallet back at the defendant. Asked why he had given the wallet back to Mr Boylan, Mr Kerins said he had been that disgusted he took it I just gave it all to him. Later that evening after the parties had gone home Mr Kerins said some discussion was entered about the wallet and the parties agreed to meet at the church. Defending solicitor, Mark Mullaney, said his client denied the theft of the wallet but had found it and returned it to Mr Kerins in the pub that night. He acknowledged that an assault had later taken place and said his client was very, very sorry and asked me to convey his remorse. Mr Kerins said he didn't care about Mr Boylan's apology. He said he had a false plate fitted after the assault which was very uncomfortable and made it difficult to eat. He said that he had to reglue it into position several times a day. (Boylan) said he didn't punch me but he had my teeth in his hand and (Boylan) had to get an operation to remove them (afterwards), Mr Kerins told the court. Mr Mullaney said that his client and Mr Kerins had been good friends and that, since this incident that friendship will never be restored again. He noted his client had paid over 2,000 for emergency dental treatment following the assault and had organised a loan to pay the balance of 9,000. He handed in testimonials on behalf of his client and said that he did not want in any way to take away from the seriousness of the assault. He reiterated that there was a dispute over the allegations of the theft of the wallet but acknowledged there is no getting away from the injuries caused to Mr Kerins. He (Mr Boylan) accepts the injuries he caused. He thought he was being attacked but he accepts this was excessive force, said Mr Mullaney. He asked that the court take his client's early guilty plea into consideration adding Mr Boylan had never been before the court before. Judge Kevin Kilrane said there was a considerable amount of alcohol consumed by all on the night in question but said he was impressed by Mr Kerins' articulate view of what happened in the pub that night. He noted that various people had come under suspicion for the theft of the wallet adding a friend is the last person you would expect to take your wallet. It is difficult to explain fully what happened thereafter. Mr Boylan handed the wallet back to Mr Kerins and Mr Kerins threw it back at him, said Judge Kilrane, but he speculated it was meant to be an insulting gesture. He said there was no comparison between Mr Kerins who is of slight build and Mr Boylan who is heavy set and strong. (Boylan) took the victim up like a feather and banged him on the ground and gave him a fist in the mouth, said Judge Kilrane. He noted the blood covered hands of Mr Boylan after the incident and said that the allegations made by the victim and witness in relation to the defendant licking the blood and subsequent alleged comments as shockingly disturbing. There was alcohol involved but the defendant went away leaving a severely injured man bleeding. In the normal way imprisonment should follow, said the judge. However he noted that some compensation had been paid and further compensation was coming. Judge Kilrane said that if the money was paid over a conviction will be recorded but this will not involve a prison sentence. He then adjourned the matter to May. The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, has held a meeting with the Military High Command and the La Youth Association, geared towards resolving a protracted land dispute between the two parties. The Committee was constituted to come up with a set of measures and options to be considered by Government for adoption. About two weeks ago, some armed soldiers brutalised some La youth over land adjoining the Burma Camp Military Cemetery. In a statement issued by the Public Relations Unit of the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry in Accra on Friday, said the Minister believed the Committee would help bring finality to the age-old land dispute, and ensure peaceful co-existence between the Ghana Armed Forces and the people of La. The Minister tasked the Committee to be guided by the facts and law pertaining to the subject matter. The Minister expressed confidence in the ability of the Committee to deliver on its mandate. The Committee is expected to submit its report by Friday, May 7, 2021. It said the meeting was productive and stakeholders expressed satisfaction over the outcome. The statement said participants at the meeting resolved to safeguard the peace, harmony and cohesion in Accra, particularly, the La community. The Committee was chaired by Mr Benito Owusu-Bio, also the Member of Parliamentary ((MP) for Atwima Nwabiagya North Constituency in the Ashanti Region, and Deputy Minister Designate for the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. A representative of the Ghana Armed Forces-Brigadier General Benjamin Amoah-Boakye, the La Traditional Council, Mr. Lawrence Sacketey and the Lands Commission- Mrs. Mabel Yemidi, and Mr. James Dawson, who will serve as Secretary to the Committee. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Military High Command and the La Traditional Area. 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 Advertisement Dominic Cummings today followed up his astonishing attack on Boris Johnson by implying that ministers were too slow to shut the UK border during the pandemic. The former Downing Street aide suggested the scientific consensus that travel bans would not help prevent the spread of coronavirus was flawed. He tweeted this was a 'very important issue re learning from the disaster', in response to a thread pointing at how Vietnam had successfully insulated itself and limited its death toll to just 35. Mr Cummings yesterday made clear he was prepared to criticise the Government he only recently departed after publishing an extraordinarily explosive statement tearing into the PM. In a lengthy blog post he accused the PM of trying to block a leak inquiry that implicated a friend of his fiancee, and claimed to have warned that using donors to pay for renovations of the Downing Street flat was 'possibly illegal'. 'It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves,' he wrote. Dominic Grieve, a former attorney general, this morning waded into the psychodrama to condemn what he called a 'cronyistic cabal' at the heart of Government. As No10 reeled from the claims of its former top adviser: Labour wielded Mr Cummings's blogpost and called for a 'full investigation' into the refurbishment of Mr Johnson's No11 flat; Downing Street insisted the Government and ministers had 'acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law'; A Government source described claims that No10 aide Henry Newman, a friend of Carrie Symonds, was the so-called Chatty Rat leaker were 'entirely false'; Lord Udny-Lister, another recently departed No10 top aide, refused to answer questions about why he quit as the PM's Gulf envoy after just two months; Campaigning for the slew of local and mayoral elections in less than two weeks time continued. Dominic Cummings today followed up his astonishing attack on Boris Johnson by implying that ministers were too slow to shut the UK border during the pandemic Boris Johnson (pictured with former aide Dominic Cummings in 2019) last night said the British public 'did not give a monkeys' about the Downing Street leak blame claims that have rocked Whitehall, as he denied attempting to block an official inquiry into the issue in order to protect his fiancee's friend Mr Cummings's devastating intervention came just a month before he is due to give evidence to MPs on May 26 about the Government's handling of Covid. Until December, when he left Downing Street following a period of infighting, Mr Cummings was a key figure helping steer Britain's Covid response. Critics point to comparably lax restrictions at the border during the first wave when travellers could come to Britain without being tested or undergoing self-isolation. SAGE papers released last summer reveal that at the height of the first wave ministers were told that shutting the borders had 'little scientific justification'. But Mr Cummings today retweeted a post from a 'superforecaster' called Michael Story who highlighted research that described such advice as 'evidence-free'. Mr Story said: 'The border belief described here was incredibly powerful and wormed its way around institutions the world over. 'The pandemic preparedness index ranked you *less* prepared if you had previously closed borders in the event of disease outbreaks.' Only in June did Priti Patel announce that all international arrivals would have to spend 14 days in quarantine. Now foreign travel is illegal except in exceptional circumstances and all arrivals must undergo quarantine, with those coming from red list countries forced to self-isolate in government-approved hotels. The devastating intervention came just a month before Mr Cummings is due to give evidence to MPs on May 26 about the Government's handling of Covid (pictured appearing before the science and technology committee last month) In a devastating statement, Mr Cummings effectively declared war on No 10 and turned a flamethrower on Mr Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds (pictured) Mr Cummings, who was ousted in a power struggle in December (left), accused Downing Street Director of Communications Jack Doyle (right) of making 'a number of false accusations' to the media Dominic Cummings' extraordinary blog attacking Boris Johnson On new Number 10 Director of Communications: 'The Prime Minister's new Director of Communications Jack Doyle, at the PM's request, has made a number of false accusations to the media' On Dyson texts leak: 'I have not found the ones [texts] that were leaked to Laura Kuenssberg on my phone nor am I aware of being sent them last year. I was not directly or indirectly a/the source for the BBC/Kuenssberg story on the PM/Dyson texts. ' On letting No 10 search his phone: 'I am happy to meet with the Cabinet Secretary and for him to search my phone for Dyson messages.' On the 'chatty rat' leak: 'The Cabinet Secretary told the PM that the leak was neither me nor the then Director of Communications and that 'all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman' On Henry Newman and Carrie: 'The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards 'If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends [pause] perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?' ' On Number 10 flat renovations: 'The PM stopped speaking to me about this matter in 2020 as I told him I thought his plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended. ' On a Covid inquiry: 'The proper way for such issues to be handled is via an urgent Parliamentary inquiry into the government's conduct over the covid crisis which ought to take evidence from all key players under oath and have access to documents. ' On Boris Johnson: 'It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves.' On his testimony to an inquiry: 'I will cooperate fully with any such inquiry and am happy to give evidence under oath. I am happy for No10 to publish every email I received and sent July 2019-November 2020 (with no exceptions other than, obviously, some national security / intelligence issues).' Advertisement Mr Cummings's appearance before a parliamentary select committee is expected to drill down into the decisions taken about the border as well as the Government's overarching strategy. No10 will likely be on tenterhooks after his bombshell blogpost yesterday that took aim squarely at his old boss. He poured petrol on the No11 flat decor scandal by claiming to have warned Mr Johnson that 'plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended.' Labour today called on the Government to release full details of the payments for Mr Johnson's No11 flat refurbishments. Sir Keir Starmer said: 'Publish the details, have the full inquiry. If there's nothing to see here... have a full inquiry. Every day there's more evidence of this sleaze and frankly it stinks.' Shadow cabinet minister Rachael Reeves wrote to the PM this morning demanding answers to 14 questions. Mr Grieve said the row over the Tory party reportedly paying 58,000 for the flat refurbishment reflected wider turmoil He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'My impression is that there's been constant wriggling about the source of the money, and that's just one illustration of the chaos Mr Johnson seems to be bringing in his wake and the reason for that is that he's a vacuum of integrity. 'And that's been apparent for some time. Apparent, I'm sad to say, to my colleagues who elected him as leader of the Conservative Party. And if you've got someone who's a vacuum of integrity then you're going to get this sort of story coming up over and over again. 'I suppose some people may say it doesn't matter, but in the context of trying to ensure good governance and people's faith in democratic institutions, it's really an extraordinary way to conduct oneself.' Mr Cummings's bombshell statement came in retaliation to No10 briefings in three national newspapers that he was responsible for leaking texts between Sir James Dyson and Mr Johnson during the first wave of the pandemic, which he denies. The PM last night said the British public 'did not give a monkey's' about the Downing Street leak blame claims. But it is understood the attack on Mr Cummings was personally ordered by Mr Johnson. Insiders said the driving force was the PM's fiancee Carrie Symonds, who they say 'put him up' to the attack on his former top aide. Miss Symonds, the Conservatives' former director of communications, repeatedly clashed with Mr Cummings during his period in Downing Street. One Westminster source claimed Miss Symonds was said to be incandescent about briefings claiming she had tried to damage the careers of young Tory women. 'This is Carrie flexing her muscles,' the source said. Mr Cummings also claimed that the PM tried to bury an inquiry into last year's so-called Chatty Rat lockdown leaks because it accused a close friend of Miss Symonds, the No10 aide Henry Newman. Mr Grieve, once a Remainer rebel who had the whip revoked by Mr Johnson in 2019, hit out at the bitter Tory infighting. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'One moment they're best of friends and Mr Johnson has his arm round their shoulder, and the next they're all falling out. 'In a professionally run Government it shouldn't be happening with the frequency with which this is happening. One moment they're best of buddies, next they're sworn enemies.' 'Meanwhile, you have to ask yourself what's happening to good, sound government decisions.' In an astonishing attack on the Prime Minister Mr Cummings accused him of considering killing off a leak inquiry last November because the evidence pointed at Henry Newman (centre), a friend of his fiancee Carrie Symonds (right). Mr Newman has denied being the source of the leak The total cost of the work on the Downing Street flat overhaul is believed to be a five-figure sum What has Downing Street said in response to Dominic Cummings? On the blog as a whole, a No 10 spokesperson said: 'This government is entirely focused on fighting coronavirus, delivering vaccines and building back better.' On allegations regarding the Number 11 flat: 'At all times, the Government and Ministers have acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law. Cabinet Office officials have been engaged and informed throughout and official advice has been followed. 'All reportable donations are transparently declared and published either by the Electoral Commission or the House of Commons registrar, in line with the requirements set out in electoral law. 'Gifts and benefits received in a ministerial capacity are, and will continue to be, declared in transparency returns.' Regarding claims Mr Johnson discussed dropping a leak inquiry: 'The PM has never interfered in a government leak inquiry.' Advertisement Mr Johnson was yesterday shamed into paying up to 60,000 from his own pocket to fund the flat renovation. The move followed revelations in the Mail that the shortfall had been picked up by the Conservative Party, prompting calls for an investigation by the Electoral Commission. But Mr Grieve, who served in David Cameron's government and is a long-standing critic of the PM, said it amounted to 'smoke and mirrors'. He said this morning: 'The way we conduct government business in this country has always been with the aim that even if ministers make mistakes they are above reproach of any suggestion of corruption. 'And yet one of the key allegations in this is about the refurbishment of Mr Johnson's flat. Yesterday a minister was saying 'why is the Cabinet Secretary getting involved?' - well the answer's very simple. 'Ministers cannot accept gifts cannot accept gifts in their ministerial capacity, and the refurbishment of his flat clearly is in his ministerial capacity. 'And if it really is 58,000 I'm not surprised he's paying it back 'But it's all smoke and mirrors he hasn't said when he decided to repay it or whether he has repaid it. 'What's become clear is that he did get a significant gift of the refurbishment of his flat. If a minister gets given a gold watch by a foreign ruler, they either have to give it to the Government or buy it back.' Labour's shadow communities secretary Steve Reed said: 'We are calling for the Government to publish any correspondence relating to payments or donations around the refurbishment. 'We need to know the full amount that was spent and we need to know who paid for the work in the first place who the Prime Minister now proposes to reimburse.' He added: 'If people are making significant donations to the Conservative Party, to the Government, we need to know who they are so that we can make sure the Government isn't doing favours for them in return. 'That is what sleaze is all about. That is the behaviour of a tin pot dictatorship. Britain, frankly, deserves a lot better than that.' Nicola Sturgeon said in a statement issued on Saturday: 'The stench of sleaze that is surrounding this UK Tory Government is becoming quite overpowering. 'There are very serious allegations being levelled at Boris Johnson and his Government, including by people who worked closely inside it. 'As someone who has recently been subject to far reaching inquiries and scrutiny, a thorough investigation is needed here given the range and seriousness of the allegations.' Newspapers were briefed yesterday that the PM believed Mr Cummings was 'engaged in systematic leaking' and had become 'bitter about what's happened since he left'. Mr Cummings quit No10 last year after he and former communications director Lee Cain lost a power struggle with Miss Symonds. Stockholm demonstrates support for Ukraine amid the aggravation of the military and strategic situation on the eastern and southern borders due to the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation. Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Taran said this during a phone call with Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Sweden Peter Hultqvist, which took place at the initiative of the Swedish side, Ukrinform reports with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Defense. This call is a demonstration of Stockholm's support for Ukraine in the face of aggravation of the military and strategic situation on our eastern and southern borders due to the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation. Taking into account Sweden's Chair of the OSCE this year, we note the importance of continuing political and diplomatic support for Ukraine, which adheres to the position on a peaceful settlement of the conflict," Taran said. He informed his Swedish counterpart in detail about the security situation around the state border of Ukraine and in the temporarily occupied territories, and also outlined his vision of possible options for its further escalation. In turn, Hultqvist reaffirmed Sweden's intentions to continue providing all-round support to Ukraine and contribute to the settlement of the conflict through political and diplomatic means. The parties agreed to continue joint work to develop bilateral military-political dialogue. Taran confirmed the invitation to his Swedish colleague to take part in the events marking the 30th anniversary of Ukraines independence. As reported, on April 22, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the General Staff of the Russian Federation and commanders to withdraw troops, which have recently been moved to Ukraine's borders, to their permanent bases by May 1. ish Gandhinagar, April 24 : Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel was on Saturday admitted to the UN Mehta hospital in Ahmedabad after being diagnosed Covid-19 positive. Patel was not keeping well for some time, following which he got himself tested for Covid and the report came out to be positive. He had accompanied Chief Minister Vijay Rupani at various meetings across the state. For the past two days, Patel had been accompanying Union Minister Amit Shah, who was on a two-day visit to the state. "I was experiencing common Covid symptoms, following which I got myself tested and was found positive. On doctor's advise, I am getting admitted to the UN Mehta hospital. I request all of you, who came in contact with me, to take care of yourselves and be healthy." Patel had received the first vaccine dose on the March 5. Shah had also contracted the virus some time ago. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Last Wednesday, April 21, was International Curlew Day! The Curlew (An Crotach as Gaeilge) is an iconic bogland bird that since the 1980s has experienced a 98% decline in its breeding population. The National and Parks and Wildlife Service assessment of this species between 2015-2017 identified less than 130 breeding pairs remaining today in Ireland. In 2017 the Curlew Conservation Task Force brought stakeholders together, who published in 2018 a report making recommendations for the action required for the future protection of this bird in an attempt to prevent its extinction. The Irish Peatland Conservation Council, in partnership with BirdWatch Kildare Branch, are doing our bit by monitoring and recording observations of the curlew in Kildare. Although Im not sure why the curlew is called so, its long curved downward bill may be a possible reason! The curlew has a wingspan of 90cm and measures 55cm long, making it the largest European wading bird. Its plumage is mottled cream and brown to help it camouflage itself in its peatland and coastal habitats. The curlews call is called the cry of the curlew and is an unmistakable cur...lee...cur...lee whistle. Curlews feed mostly on invertebrates located by touch. Interestingly, the curlew has had to adapt to the potential freezing conditions of the wet freshwater bogland habitat by leaving the bogland in winter and migrating to the coastal areas around Ireland so they can continue to feed. In spring, they arrive back inland, build a nest on the bogland surface and lay between two and six buff, brown or olive spotted pear shaped eggs. The young hatch after 27 29 days of incubation. Chicks then leave the nest a few hours after hatching and fledge 32 to 38 days later. As the chicks dont stay in the nest, it is important the curlew chooses its nest sites with mixed vegetation height so they can hide from predators. Contact me with any wildlife questions at bogs@ipcc.ie. Chongqing continues making efforts to expand rural characteristic industries People's Daily Online) 17:43, April 23, 2021 After lifting villagers out of poverty, Qijiang district of southwest China's Chongqing municipality has continued to boost its advantageous industries that feature local characteristics by investing a total of 120 million yuan ($18.4 million) to build over 6,533 hectares of high-standard farmland. Photo shows Hu Yuanyong, Party head of Zhenxing village, Longsheng town, Qijiang district of southwest China's Chongqing municipality. By integrating tourism with agriculture, Qijiang has cultivated a thriving rural tourism industry. In 2020, it brought in tourism revenues of more than 3.5 billion yuan. Qijiang has also held skill training sessions for farmers so that they can find jobs without having to leave their hometown. Last year, over 33,000 people received the training and 14,279 people were given lessons on how to start a business. In Qijiang, 98 percent of the administrative villages have vowed to realize full employment and together have created 2,010 public welfare jobs for local residents. In Zhenxing village of Longsheng town, plum cultivation has become a pillar industry. Hu Yuanyong, Party head of the village, explained that the village was impoverished before 2014 when he first came to work there. Back then, the villagers made a living by growing corn and sweet potatoes, Hu recalled, adding that it was imperative for the village to develop its own specialty industry. After careful evaluation, Hu and the fellow villagers eventually decided to develop plum tree planting into a characteristic industry. Today, 253 hectares of the villages total area of farmland at 266 hectares has been planted with plum trees. In addition, the village has established partnerships with 17 companies for selling and processing plums. "The plums are large and sweet, and taste really good," said Zhou Xianmo, head of a farmers' cooperative, adding that the output value of the plums exceeded 1 million yuan last year, the first year the trees started to bear fruit. In 2020, the village brought 6 million yuan in dividends to villagers, which mainly came from rental incomes of land transfers and salaries paid by the farmers cooperative, pushing the per capita income to 16,200 yuan. (Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji) YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan assures that the parliamentary delegations are making all efforts in different organizations and countries for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the independence of Artsakh. The Armenian parliamentary delegations are constantly raising their voice both in different inter-parliamentary organizations and the bilateral relations with the parliaments of various countries over these issues, he said at a joint press conference with President of the Senate (upper house of the Parliament) of France Gerard Larcher in the Armenian Parliament. According to Mirzoyan, the recognition of the Armenian Genocide should be important for all countries and the whole humanity because the genocide is a crime against humanity and humanism. Therefore, the entire humanity is interested in the recognition and condemnation. Unfortunately, only in that way its possible to prevent the repetition of such a horrible event in any part of the world, he said. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Not a single member of the Kardashian family has spoken out to support Caitlyn Jenner's run for California governor more than 24 hours after she first announced her campaign. The echo chamber coming from the reality stars over Jenner's political venture became deafening Saturday as the family still found the time to push a new fragrance line, lifestyle platform and their Kardashian Kloset clothing site through their social media accounts. A source close to the family told TMZ the Kardashians won't be making an appearance on Jenner's campaign trail and won't be publicly endorsing the 71-year-old. Jenner formally announced her run for governor of California on social media Friday under the slogan 'Caitlyn For California'. While she is yet to confirm if she is running as a Republican or as an Independent, Jenner has surrounded herself with a team of former Donald Trump aides and is a registered Republican, who voted for Trump in 2016. News of her campaign sparked an instant backlash on social media with the phrase 'HELL NO' trending and prominent members of the LGBTQ+ community slamming the move as a 'vanity campaign.' Not a single member of the Kardashian klan has spoken out about Caitlyn Jenner's run for California governor more than 24 hours after she first announced her campaign (the family in 2016) Jenner (above) announced on social media Friday she is running for governor of California Now, the silence coming from the Kardashian suggests Jenner is struggling to get the support of her own family as well. In the 27 and counting hours since Jenner tweeted the launch of her campaign Friday morning, the reality stars have shared multiple social media posts with their millions of online followers. Kim shared a post and multiple stories on her Instagram throughout the day Friday promoting her new fragrance collaboration with floral designers Jeff Leatham. 'Jeff Leatham by @KKWFRAFRANCE is available now! I had so much fun creating these scents with @JeffLeatham,' she wrote, alongside a post sharing images of a photoshoot for the collection. The 40-year-old also added several posts to her story of other people promoting the fragrance. Early Saturday, Kim then posted another Instagram post showing a collection of children's cars, with the caption: 'Garage.' Kourtney, meanwhile, promoted Poosh on her Instagram stories Friday - her lifestyle brand named after her daughter Penelope's nickname. She also posted a photo of herself in a bikini eating bread with the cryptic message: 'I don't know what's going on, so I'm just appreciating my bread.' Jenner's daughters Kendall and Kylie also skirted around her campaign on their social media accounts. Kylie filled the void by promoting Kardashian Kloset on her Instagram story, where the Kardashian Jenner family sell their used designer clothing. In the 27 and counting hours since Jenner tweeted the launch of her campaign Friday morning, the reality stars have shared multiple social media posts with their millions of online followers. Kim shared a post and multiple stories on her Instagram throughout the day Friday promoting her new fragrance collaboration with floral designers Jeff Leatham The 40-year-old also added several posts to her story of other people promoting the fragrance Early Saturday, Kim then posted another Instagram post showing a collection of children's cars, with the caption: 'Garage' Kendall Jenner and Khloe Kardashian broke rank by not promoting their brands but still shared posts not related to Jenner's political ambitions. Kendall posted a video of herself running through a field with a horse and later posted the song 'One of dem nights' on her stories. But, while they were busy pushing their glamorous lifestyles and business lines, there was been no mention from any of the family members of Jenner's run. A source told TMZ that although the family was given a heads up ahead of Jenner's 'Caitlyn for California' announcement, they aren't keen to play politics and don't agree with her more right-leaning views. It has been said that Kim, Kourtney and Khloe will not publicly endorse anyone else, including sitting Governor Gavin Newsom, who could be removed in a recall. Meanwhile questions are being asked around whether Jenner will reveal some of her famous family's finances when she discloses five years worth of tax returns - a requirement of the race. Jenner appeared to be unfazed by the lack of support from her family though as she posted a photo on Instagram Saturday posing with a promo mug. 'The support for this campaign has been amazing nationwide! Buy our top selling item - The Caitlyn for California Mug,' she wrote. Kourtney, meanwhile, promoted Poosh on her Instagram stories Friday - her lifestyle brand named after her daughter Penelope's nickname She also posted a photo of herself in a bikini eating bread with the cryptic message: 'I don't know what's going on, so I'm just appreciating my bread' Kylie filled the void by promoting Kardashian Kloset on her Instagram story, where the Kardashian Jenner family sell their used designer clothing Kendall and Khloe Kardashian broke rank by not promoting their brands but still shared posts not related to Jenner's political ambitions. Kendall posted the song 'One of dem nights' Jenner appeared to be unfazed by the lack of support from her family though as she posted a photo on Instagram Saturday posing with a promo mug Jenner announced her bid by way of a Twitter press release where she called herself a longtime 'compassionate disrupter,' while labeling Newsom's time as governor 'disastrous.' 'I'm in! California has been my home for nearly 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality. 'But for the past decade, we have seen the glimmer of the Golden State reduced by one-party rule that places politics over progress and special interests over people. Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision. 'I have been a compassionate disrupter throughout my life, from representing the United States and winning a gold medal at the Olympics to helping advance the movement for equality. 'As Californians, we face a now-or-never opportunity to fundamentally fix our state before it's too late. 'Taking on entrenched Sacramento politicians and the special interests that fund them requires a fighter who isn't afraid to do what's right. 'I am a proven winner and the only outsider who can put an end to Gavin Newsom's disastrous time as governor. 'This will be a campaign of solutions, providing a roadmap back to prosperity to turn this state around and finally clean up the damage Newsom has done to this state. 'Small businesses have been devastated because of the over-restrictive lockdown. A source close to the family told TMZ the Kardashians won't be making an appearance on Jenner's campaign trail and won't be publicly endorsing her. Kim, Khloe and Kourtney 'An entire generation of children have lost a year of education and have been prevented from going back to school. 'Taxes are too high, killing jobs, hurting families and putting an especially heavy burden on our most vulnerable people. 'This is Gavin Newsom's California, where he orders us to stay home but goes out to dinner with his lobbyist friends,' she said. She was referring to a November incident where Newsom, after shutting down the state and telling everyone not to socialize, was pictured dining indoors at a luxury restaurant with a group of at least 10 people for a friend's birthday. Jenner's team includes controversial Trump aides. She has hired Tony Fabrizio, a pollster who worked on both of Trump's campaigns, and Brad Parscale also helped her in an informal role. Parscale was removed as Trump's campaign manager in the run-up to the 2020 election amid dropping poll numbers. He has since been working on a platform to protect conservatives against cancel culture, called Campaign Nucleus. In September, Parscale's wife Candice called the cops to their home in Florida, saying he was suicidal and tried to hurt her during a public meltdown in which cops seized 11 firearms from his house. He was involuntarily detained under Florida's Baker Act for three days and slapped with a risk protection order, and the politico later blamed the outburst on his career and having lost two children. Soft launch: The I Am Cait star announced her bid by way of a Twitter press release where she called herself a longtime 'compassionate disrupter,' while calling Newsom's time as governor 'disastrous' Jenner's campaign merchandise under the slogan 'Caitlyn for California' including wine glasses and mugs Jenner is also being assisted by Caroline Wren who previously worked at Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee for President Trump's 2020 campaign. She also helped organize the rally he addressed immediately before the U.S. Capitol assault on January 6. Jenner's team also includes Steven Cheung, who worked at Trump's White House in communications and who also worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003. Her campaign seems to be a touchy situation for the sisters all around, who have long found themselves in the middle since she and Kris Jenner split. As seen on Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the family is still navigating their relationship with the I Am Cait star who dragged Kris' name through the mud in both her Vanity Fair cover and her memoir. And despite Kim's activity in the political space and her good rapport with former GOP President Donald Trump with regards to prison reform, the family has leaned Democrat for the most part. In 2012, Kim described herself as a 'liberal Republican' in conversation with The Guardian, but said she tends to vote Democrat. She had backed President Obama, and vowed to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016, but a statement that was attributed to Kim in conversation with Wonderland Magazine made it known she was 'on the fence.' 'At first I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm so Hillary [Clinton]', but I had a long political call with Caitlyn last night about why she's voting Trump. I'm on the fence,' she told the magazine. Note: The statement was cited in context on The Evening Standard website, but it never appeared in the online or print version of Kim's spread. And when now estranged spouse Kanye West made a bizarre bid for president in the summer of 2020 under the 'Birthday Party' no members of the family including Kim publicly endorsed him. Kanye made a late entry into the presidential race in July and held his bizarre first presidential rally in South Carolina where he cried on stage and made the bombshell claim that he and Kim had considered aborting daughter North. It sparked marital problems - prior to the couple's filing for divorce. Not a match: Despite Kim's good rapport with former GOP President Donald Trump over prison reform, the family has leaned Democrat for the most part and endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016; pictured 2019 'On the fence': Kim had backed President Obama, and vowed to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016, but a statement that was attributed to Kim in conversation with Wonderland Magazine made it known she was 'on the fence' On November 3 he then tweeted that he had voted for the first time in his life 'for someone I truly trust... me'. But it was unclear if he got the vote of his wife Kim, who encouraged her fans to cast their ballots to vote in the presidential elections on election day, but failed to mention her husband's campaign. Kim showed off her perfect pout while holding up a red, white and blue sticker close to her face. And while she made no mention of who she voted for, she gave a like to Kid Cudi after he boasted about voting for Joe Biden in the presidential election. She also lent her support to a Kamala Harris tweet where the Senator pleaded with voters to stay in line and report any form of intimidation. Jenner, who is transgender, has also been slammed by LGBTQ+ community members who said it was a 'hard pass' that they would vote for her Star Trek actor George Takei, who is gay, took to Twitter to make it 'clear' that he won't be voting for Jenner and comparing her standing in the LGBTQ community to that of Candace Owens in the black community and Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn in the disabled community. Kanye ran for the White House last year in a bizarre campaign that also failed to gain the support of the Kardashians Kim did not back Kanye West last year during his failed presidential run either and retweeted Kamala Harris after voting 'Black people wouldn't vote for Candace Owen for office. The disabled community wouldn't vote for Madison Cawthorn,' he tweeted. 'I'm LGBTQ but I won't be voting for Caitlyn Jenner. Just so we're clear.' Another social media user also drew parallels between Jenner and Owens, tweeting: 'To Fox News and the right. Caitlyn Jenner is to trans Americans what Candace Owens is to black Americans.' Black conservative commentator Owens is known for her controversial views, sparking outrage last year when she said that George Floyd 'has been held up as a martyr sickens me' in the wake of his murder by white cop Derek Chauvin. Other prominent LGBTQ members and groups also responded far from favorably to news of Jenner's run, pointing to her longstanding support of Trump and the Republican party. 'Make no mistake: we can't wait to elect a #trans governor of California,' tweeted Equality California - one of the state's largest LGBTQ-rights. 'But @Caitlyn_Jenner spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her? Hard pass.' Trans activist Charlotte Clymer blasted Jenner's run a 'vanity campaign' and 'selfish' move that will allow transphobia to 'go unchecked.' 'Caitlyn Jenner is a deeply unqualified hack who doesn't care about anyone but herself,' Clymer wrote. 'Her views are terrible. She is a horrible candidate.' In another tweet, she added: 'Caitlyn Jenner has no real support. I don't care about her candidacy. I do care about the ways in which her asinine views will be weaponized against trans people and the ways in which transphobia will go unchecked. Star Trek actor George Takei, who is gay, compared her standing in the LGBTQ community to that of Candace Owens in the black community LGBTQ+ activist group Equality California said it 'can't wait to elect a #trans governor of California. But @Caitlyn_Jenner... Hard pass' Trans activist Charlotte Clymer blasted Jenner's run calling her a 'horrible candidate' Confirmation of her run sparked an instant backlash among the American public, celebrities and even the LGBTQ+ community with many people taking to social media to say it is a 'hard pass' that they would vote for her 'This is purely a vanity campaign, and it's incredibly selfish.' Jenner is a registered Republican and voted for Trump in 2016 but not in 2020, in protest against his position on transgender issues. But she has sparked controversy in the past over her own comments on LGBTQ+ rights. Caitlyn said she wants to 'take on' Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom who she says imposed an 'over restrictive' lockdown that damaged businesses and children's education In 2017, Ellen DeGeneres revealed Jenner told her in a pre-taped interview for The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she was a 'traditionalist' who was against same-sex marriage originally, but was now 'OK with it.' 'I'm older than most people in the audience, and I kind of like tradition, you know, and it's always been a man and a woman,' Jenner said. 'If that word 'marriage' is really, really that important to you, I can go with it,' she added. Her comments left DeGeneres baffled, who said: 'She still has a judgment about gay marriage. 'And I said, 'You're wanting people to understand and accept you and you still have a judgment about gay people and marriage.' ' The recall election for California governor comes amid growing calls by Republicans to oust Governor Gavin Newsom. If a Republican wins, it will be the first time they have held the state since 2003, when Arnold Schwarzenegger won. Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose and businessman John Cox, who lost to Newsom in the 2018 governors race, are also running. Lawton, OK (73501) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Increasing clouds with showers arriving overnight. Low 67F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Douglas Mason Wilson, 23, has been charged with first-degree murder Police have arrested a man in connection with the death of a seven-year-old following an alleged road rage incident in North Carolina. Douglas Mason Wilson, 23, of Claremont was arrested and charged over the death of Zakylen Greylen Harris. Officers responded to a 911 call Wednesday night about a shooting into a vehicle arrived to find Harris with a gunshot wound to his neck. The single shot shattered the back window of the car Harris' mother was driving.Harris was later pronounced dead in hospital. Wilson was arrested on Thursday night at a Crowne Plaza Hotel on an unrelated charge, but was charged with first-degree murder in Harris' death after interviewing with the police. Police announced the charges on Friday, crediting officers for the arrest, as well as the public for their help in leading police to the suspect. Police have not confirmed a motive for the shooting, though Zakylen's mother told police she believed it was road rage after she accidentally cut off a car behind her. She said she did not know the people in the vehicle Wilson was allegedly in. Video released by the police department appears to show the moment the possible road rage incident began after the victim's vehicle accidentally cut off the suspect's vehicle Video released by the Hickory Police Department appears to show the vehicles side-by-side The incident unfolded after dispatchers received a call just after 11pm on Wednesday night. Surveillance video shows the moment the victim's vehicle turns on to Tate Boulevard and moves into the left lane. The vehicle then switches into the right lane, directly in front of the suspect's vehicle. Zakylen's mother told police that after turning her blinker on, she accidentally cut off another vehicle as it approached. The mother then told police that the other vehicle pulled up and a woman in the passenger seat yelled something at the mother. Authorities said only that a white female with blonde hair may have been sitting in the front passenger seat of the SUV. Zakylen Greylen Harris, who was just seven-years-old, was shot in the neck and killed Zakylen's mother didn't hear the gunshot, she told police, but saw a muzzle flash and her broken back window before calling 911 after realizing Zakylen had been shot. Harris was found with a gunshot to the neck. He later died at Catawba Valley Medical Center. Harris' brothers, 6 and 1, who were also in the car escaped without injuries. The chief of police referred to the shooter as a coward during a Thursday news conference, according to WSOC-TV. 'This is a senseless act of violence, there is no excuse for this,' Hickory Police Chief Thurman Whisnant said before the arrest. 'I can tell you this, that the men and women of the Hickory Police Department will work tirelessly to see that justice is brought to the coward who did this.' Police were seen using a metal detector at the crime scene on Thursday to look for the shell casing. It remains unclear how police landed on Wilson as their suspect. Zakylen's family is distraught in the aftermath of his murder. 'It's absolutely devastating because he will not see a high school graduation, prom ... he won't go to college,' said Tiffany Gray, Zakylen's aunt. 'He could have been a doctor, astronaut who knows the sky was the limit.' Southwest Primary, where Zakylen attended school, brought in extra counselors to help students and staff deal with the unexpected tragedy. 'This young boy, we consider him one of our babies, and he is an innocent child,' said Beverly Snowden, who works for Hickory Public Schools. 'The loss of a child is probably the most horrific thing we can ever hear in our journey in life.' Holly Gooch, whose son was in Zakylen's second-grade class, also mourned the loss of the seven-year-old boy. 'It's sad, it's very sad. Especially when you have someone who is the same age,' Gooch said. 'My heart breaks for the mom and you want to hug your baby closer.' Authorities have not released a motive for the shooting, but they have recovered grainy footage from the scene. In the video, the victim's vehicle is seen turning at an intersection The suspect's car (right) is then seen chasing down the vehicle the victim was riding in before the shooting A GoFundMe set up by Zakylen's aunt has raised over $7,500 towards funeral and memorial expenses. During a court appearance on Friday, Wilson shared that he has a felony probation hearing in Tennessee scheduled for May. According to WBTV, Wilson also spent part of the hearing making faces at reporters after having his request for media cameras to be removed denied by the judge. Harris' family was not in the courtroom during the hearing. The Hickory Daily Record reports Wilson has also been charged with marijuana possession. Wilson is being held without bond due to the murder charge. His next court appearance in the case is scheduled for May 13. New Delhi, April 24 : Russian Covid vaccine Sputnik V, which is now the third Covid-19 vaccine in India, has claimed that the available public data suggests more people died after taking the Pfizer jab than AstraZeneca. "Sputnik V study shows that there are significantly more deaths following vaccination with Pfizer than with AstraZeneca vaccine per 1 million administered doses, based on official publicly available data by 13 international health regulators," Sputnik V said in a tweet late on Friday. The causes of such major discrepancies in the number of death "cases among different vaccines should be the focus of honest scientific and public discussion," it added. Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca were yet to react to the Sputnik V study. In January, 23 elderly patients reportedly died in Norway following their immunization with the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine against Covid-19. On the other hand, several countries have halted the use of AstraZeneca as the shot may have caused some recipients to develop blood clots. Recently, the regional health authorities in Italy's Lombardy region have said that public confidence in the country's use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has been hindered by the jab's safety fears. This week, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia's medical regulator, has ruled that a 48-year-old woman's death due to blood clotting was a side effect of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. Meanwhile, Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical major Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (DRL) has received permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to import the Sputnik V vaccine in India for restricted use in emergencies. After Covishield and Covaxin, Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, is now the third Covid-19 vaccine to get emergency use approval in India. This week, the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) reported that the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine showed a 97.6 per cent efficacy. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text SUV Luckily, we've got a piece of footage that shows what can happen when the Golden Bowtie sportscar and the Mopar super-are thrown at each other.It's worth noting that the battle comes from Hennessey Performance and while the Texan tuner held this on the drag strip in its back yard, the vehicles went at it from the finish line to the start in order to replicate real-world starting conditions. As such, we can't talk about a prepped surface or a Christmas Tree here.In spite of the details mentioned above, there's no modding involved here, with both toys coming to the battle in factory form.As such, we can talk about the Durango 's 6.2-liter V8 churning out 710 hp (720 PS) and 645 lb-ft (875 Nm) of torque, while using an eight-speed automatic to feed all four wheels.The middle section of the 'Vette accomodates a V8 of the same displacement, albeit with the naturally aspirated LT1 motor producing up to 495 hp (502 PS) and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm), sending the power to the rear wheels via an eight-speed tranny of the dual-clutch kind.According to what their official numbers, the C8 Chevrolet Corvette and the Dodge Durango Hellcat are in the same 1,320 feet league, albeit with the first, whose time sits at 11.2 seconds, being 0.3s quicker thant the second.After all, the aero drawback of the three-row SUV, as well as its scale footprint disadvantage, which sits at around 2,100 lbs (950 kg) can't be overlooked, can they?Well, instead of answering that question, we'll invite you to check out the pair of runs that await you at the 1:21 point of the video below. Saturday Night Life, or SNL, has remained a comedy mainstay among liberals and the center-left for ages. However, the show has had its fair share of controversial guests, including Donald Trump amid his run for office in 2015. Now, SNL has announced that it will be hosting Elon Musk on May 8, and fans are not thrilled. In fact, some are calling out Lorne Michaels for the choice, especially given Musks comments about COVID-19, and the fact that the audience will include frontline workers. Elon Musk will host SNL on May 8 | Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz/Bloomberg via Getty Images RELATED: How Much Does Bowen Yang Make on SNL? Elon Musk may be a billionaire, and may be well-educated on some subjects, but epidemiology is surely not one of them. In fact, Elon Musk has made a variety of misinformed and potentially harmful comments about the COVID-19 pandemic one of the reasons some SNL fans are irritated to see him host the show. The upcoming Saturday Night Live host has previously downplayed the potential danger of the virus. Some excellent examples involve Musk claiming that chloroquine is worth considering. That said, danger of panic still far exceeds danger of corona imo. If we over-allocate medical resources to corona, it will come at expense of treating other illnesses, he tweeted in March 2020. History has proved him wrong. Another glib tweet simply read, The coronavirus panic is dumb. He also inaccurately claimed that wed see close to zero cases at the end of April 2020. And, in one of his most potentially damaging tweets about COVID-19, he wrote, FREE AMERICA NOW. However, this may come as no surprise, given that Elon Musk defied public health closure regulations twice during the COVID-19 pandemic, putting individuals at risk in order to continue his cashflow. All of this is to say that its become increasingly clear over the last year that Elon Musk is not well-educated when it comes to epidemiology and the reality of the coronavirus, and that his inflammatory comments could cause harm given his wide audience. Fans call out Lorne Michaels, Saturday Night Live, for host choice Lorne Michaels invited Elon Musk to Saturday Night Live on May 8 | Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Elon Musk may be hosting SNL, but fans are not happy about it. Musk will host the May 8 episode of Saturday Night Live, with Miley Cyrus performing. Fans have pointed out that it seems ironic to have Musk host when SNL is welcoming frontline workers into the audience. He also believes Covid is worth the risk with its low mortality rate but thinks that the vaccines are unsafe due to a few negative reactions? Man of science my a**. Complete slap in the face to frontline workers, wrote one Redditor. New York frontline workers at that. Might be an icy night for Elon and the cast, added another user. Im incredibly disappointed in [Lorne Michaels] right now. A whiny abusive a**hole who is the second richest person in the world does not need more of a platform. Did we learn nothing!? asked another user, referencing SNLs choice to welcome Donald Trump. The problem is, [Donald Trump] gave them big ratings, so I imagine [Lorne Michaels] has no reservations about making an episode that will suck hard if people tune in. pointed out another fan of Saturday Night Live. And yet all has been going well in Togo for 16 years ! "Ghana-14 Togolese Arrested for Illegal Immigration" is the title of an article by our colleagues from Icilome that calls out to us. According to the colleague, The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has arrested 33 nationals of West African countries including Togolese who have allegedly entered the country illegally. The communications officer of the Volta Regional Immigration Command, Felix Klu-Adjei, announces that fourteen (14) Togolese had been apprehended in different parts of the Ho municipality. According to him, these Togolese citizens entered the country. Ghana by unapproved routes to implement network marketing programs without valid authorization to do business. Mr. Klu-Adjei said they will be handed over to Togolese immigration officials after Covid-19 tests. Among those arrested, there are also 19 travelers from Nigeria who have already been deported across the Aflao border to their country of origin . As for Togo, it is an announcement of arrest for illegal immigration that contrasts with the doing business and other reports brandished over the years by the Togolese authorities to make the first comer believe that everything is fine in the country and that growth is real and is felt in the plate of Togolese lambda. Sacred Togo by Faure Gnassingbe ! T228 Festa della Liberazione is marked with a public holiday in Italy. Italy celebrates Liberation Day, known in Italian as Festa della Liberazione, with a national public holiday each year on 25 April. The occasion is held in commemoration of the end of the Fascist regime and of the Nazi Germany occupation during world war two, as well as the victory of Italy's Resistance movement of partisans, or partigiani, who opposed the regime. Formed in 1943, the partigiani comprised a network of anti-Fascist activists, from diverse backgrounds including workers, farmers, students and intellectuals, across Italy. Together they united in armed resistance against the Nazi occupation and the Fascist regime, making their struggle both a war of liberation and a civil war. The date of 25 April marks the day in 1945 when a nationwide radio broadcast calling for a popular uprising and general strike against the Nazi occupation and Fascist regime was announced by the National Liberation Committee of Upper Italy (CLNAI), a political umbrella organisation representing the Italian resistance movement. This announcement - made by partisan and future president of Italy Sandro Pertini - resulted in the capture and death of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, who was shot three days later. The first uprising and liberation took place in Bologna on 21 April 1945, followed two days later by Genoa, then Milan on 25 April, and Turin and Venice on 28 April. All of northern Italy was liberated by 1 May, with the advance of the Allied forces, leading the occupying German forces to surrender officially on 2 May. The Festa della Liberazione also represents a significant turning point in Italy's history, paving the way for the referendum of 2 June 1946 when Italians voted in favour of a republic and against the monarchy which had been discredited during the war and whose members went into exile. Designated a national holiday in 1946, the Festa della Liberazione remains a divisive day in Italy, coming under attack each year from politicians on the right who refuse to celebrate the event. In addition to the closure of schools, public offices and most shops, the day is marked traditionally by parades across the country, organised by ANPI, the National Partisan Association of Italy. These events are usually marked with speeches, the laying of wreaths and singing of Bella Ciao, the anthem of the anti-fascist resistance, however this year most activities will move online due to covid-19. Adhering to Italy's coronavirus restrictions to avoid crowds, ANPI is inviting people to leave flowers at monuments and tombstones honouring the women and men who fought in the Resistance. In late 2019 Italy announced plans to establish the Museo Nazionale della Resistenza, a national museum dedicated to the Italian Resistance movement, in Milan. 404 Aurania Resources (CVE: ARU- OTCQB: AUIAF) President Richard Spencer joined Steve Darling from Proactive with news of the company's first drill hole at the Tsenken N1 target at its Lost Cities Cutucu Project in southeastern Ecuador. Though the intersection was modest with grades below economic levels, Spencer says the occurrence of native copper beneath the impermeable layer within the red beds is a key piece of evidence supporting the exploration model that the company is using for sediment-hosted mineralization. The second drill hole on the target is now underway. Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Romania, Dmytro Kuleba and Bogdan Aurescu, noted the readiness of the two states to start a strategic partnership, "taking into account the current level of relations between Kyiv and Bucharest and proceeding from the centuries of friendly coexistence of our peoples in Central Europe and the Black Sea region." This was discussed during Kuleba's working trip to Romania, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said. "Ukraine seeks to officially start a strategic partnership with Romania. This means a special relationship between our states. Aurescu and I agreed to make this a reality," Kuleba said. The parties agreed to hold consultations as soon as possible between the involved ministries of Ukraine and Romania to remove obstacles to the opening of additional checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Romanian border and the implementation of joint infrastructure projects. The parties agreed to intensify the activities of the working group on cooperation in the energy sector. The interlocutors discussed preparations for the Crimean Platform summit as part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. "Aurescu announced the readiness of the Romanian side to send a military unit of the armed forces of Romania to participate in a military parade in the capital of Ukraine," the message says. The Gulf Property Show at the Avenues, the mall edition of the Northern Gulf's leading boutique showcase for the real estate and property development sectors, will be back this June amidst Bahrains steady return to normality. The show taking place at The Avenues Bahrain has received the go-ahead from Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, said the event organiser Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE). The event will take place under Ministry of Health guidelines that will provide visitors with a safe and comfortable environment to enjoy Gulf Property Show. 2020 was a challenging year for everyone but as we come out of lockdown restrictions it is exciting to look forward to renewed business and social activities, remarked Jubran Abdulrahman, Managing Director of HCE. The Gulf Property Show as the first real estate event in Bahrain for over 16 months is a welcome platform for the real estate sector to promote themselves to a dedicated visitor database of property investors, stated Abdulrahman. Exhibition Director Ahmed Suleiman said: "Viewing real estate virtually has not proved a satisfactory substitute to the real thing. Only in person can you touch and appreciate property room sizes or views." The Gulf Property Show will give the opportunity for real estate companies and their professional team to meet with buyers who can in person discuss their concerns and requirements from their property investment," he noted. The Gulf Property Show carries the strategic sponsorship of Bahrain Real Estate Investment Company (Edamah). HCE is a division within the Al Hilal Group and has evolved out of Hilals established expertise as an exhibition organiser. The group, which previously managed the Kuwait International Trade Fair and Gulf Construction Exhibition, has now established a dedicated conferences and exhibitions division which draws on the considerable publishing contacts and knowledge that is available within the company.-TradeArabia News Service To the Editor: Re Prostitution Will No Longer Be Prosecuted in Manhattan (news article, April 22): The change in policy does not go far enough. Those who sell sexual services will no longer be prosecuted, but their clients will remain subject to arrest and prosecution. This lopsided policy has been a failure in countries that have adopted it, such as Canada, France and Sweden. Criminalizing only one of the parties involved in consensual transactions indirectly harms the other party, as they are forced to operate in a clandestine and potentially precarious manner. Imagine a law that decriminalized those who sell marijuana but criminalized those who buy it! Comprehensive legalization is a superior alternative. Ronald Weitzer Aptos, Calif. The writer is the author of Legalizing Prostitution: From Illicit Vice to Lawful Business. To the Editor: We celebrate the policy of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr., of supporting survivors and declining to prosecute those bought in the sex trade. But to be clear, Mr. Vances policy is fundamentally different from the position being championed by some Manhattan district attorney candidates in support of full decriminalization, which would legitimize the sex trade and make brothel owning, pimping and sex tourism legal. Author Amber Petty has revealed intimate details of the relationship between her best friend, Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, and Mary's husband, Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. The Australian advertising executive, who remains close to Princess Mary, saw the beginning of her friend's fairytale romance with Frederik, 52, which she details in her new book, This Is Not A Love Song. In an interview with this week's Stellar Magazine, Petty reveals the pair were just like any other couple, but the 'surreal' experience of seeing her best friend fall in love with a prince changed the friendship. Tell all: Author Amber Petty (pictured) has revealed intimate details of the relationship between her best friend, Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, and Mary's husband, Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark Petty tells the magazine: 'For a long time, one of my coping mechanisms with the surreal side of where that friendship went was simply to just anchor it down to the basic human elements of what it was, and is, which is actually just a story of two people falling in love and choosing to do life together.' In the book, Petty discusses attending Princess Mary's wedding but warns that she is scant on details. 'I have tried to honour the reader by sharing some insights, real moments that I love, while also being mindful to honour the private us, and the private her,' she says. Love story: The Australian advertising executive, who remains close to Princess Mary, saw the beginning of her friend's fairytale romance with Frederik, 52, which she details in her new book, This Is Not A Love Song. Mary and Frederik are pictured in 2002 Petty tells the magazine: 'For a long time, one of my coping mechanisms with the surreal side of where that friendship went was simply to just anchor it down to the basic human elements of what it was, and is, which is actually just a story of two people falling in love and choosing to do life together.' Pictured in 2004 Petty confirms that Mary has read the book, but 'wouldn't want to say on record how she feels, but I will say she understands the purpose of the book and all relevant details to the overarching theme'. She goes on to call Mary her 'soulmate' and despite the women living in different countries - with Petty based in Australia - they remain close. 'Distance has always been hard, and not knowing when you'll see and hug the people you love again is perhaps harder than ever,' Petty tells Stellar. Love: Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary was 'just' Mary, a marketing manager at an advertisement company, when she met Crown Prince Frederik in a pub in Sydney during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The couple's engagement was made official in October 2003 Romantic: On May 14, 2004, Mary married her Prince in a lavish ceremony attended by royals - and media - from across the globe in Copenhagen Cathedral in the Danish capital 'But I've learnt that we just need to be patient and grateful that we are still alive and healthy, and future memories are still there to be had.' Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary was 'just' Mary, a marketing manager at an advertisement company, when she met Crown Prince Frederik in a pub in Sydney during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Mary, a daughter of two Scottish immigrants, has previously said she 'never dreamed of becoming a princess, I wanted to be a veterinarian,' and did not know who the man who introduced himself as 'Fred' was at first. Sweet: Mary, a daughter of two Scottish immigrants, has previously said she 'never dreamed of becoming a princess, I wanted to be a veterinarian,' and did not know who the man who introduced himself as 'Fred' was at first. Pictured in 2019 The couple embarked upon a long distance relationship, something which in the pre-smartphone app era was confined to emails, phonecalls and letters. Despite being spotted together several times in both Denmark and Australia, and Mary moving to Europe in 2001, it was not until April 2003 that Queen Margrethe publicly acknowledged their relationship. The couple's engagement was made official with, what else, a press conference in Copenhagen in October 2003. On May 14, 2004, Mary married her Prince in a lavish ceremony attended by royals - and media - from across the globe in Copenhagen Cathedral in the Danish capital. Family: The Crown Prince couple are parents to Prince Christian, 15, Princess Josephine, 14, and 10-year-old twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine. All pictured It was described as the ultimate happy fairytale ending with the prince marrying the beautiful commoner, and the guestlist included the Kings and Queens of Sweden, Norway, Spain, Belgium and The Netherlands as Prince Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex. The Crown Prince couple are parents to Prince Christian, 15, Princess Josephine, 14, and 10-year-old twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine. They have recently relocated their royal brood to Fredensborg Palace, 40 minutes' drive north of the Danish capital, for the summer. On the northern shore of the Carquinez Strait, not far from Vallejo, is a small town that dreamed of becoming a big city. It is Benicia, a town that opened the first public school in California, the first public hospital, the first volunteer fire department, the first Masonic Hall, the first big foundry and a frontier Army post right out of a John Wayne movie. For one giddy year, Benicia was the capital of the state of California. Back when California was new and everything was possible, the founders had no doubt that Benicia was to be the Pacific Coast metropolis, wrote Hubert Howe Bancroft, the states first historian. They had great expectations, said Dr. James Lessenger, a physician who has written books on Benicias story. But the great plans never worked out, and now Benicia is a town of 28,192, according to the latest estimates, a pretty place with 27 public parks and a solid tax base. A leafy small town with an industrial park attached, Lessenger calls it. In a way, Benicia is California in miniature, a town with layers of history, and a place that was willing to change with the times. When one plan didnt work out, the town switched to another. Nothing ever quite went as planned, even the towns name. When Robert Semple acquired the townsite from Don Mariano Vallejo, he promised to name it after Vallejos wife, Francisca. But just then, the upstart village of Yerba Buena changed its name to San Francisco, so the newer town took one of Senora Vallejos other names, Benicia. In 1847, the U.S. Army built a cavalry post at Benicia Point on Carquinez Strait, where the rivers met the seawater, a sort of frontier Gibraltar. A year later, gold was discovered, and Californias world changed forever. The town of Benicia was right in the middle of it, and in the winter of 1853, Benicia was made the state capital. The states first capital was San Jose, but the politicos, the famous legislature of thousand drinks, thought San Jose was too muddy in winter, San Francisco was too rowdy, Vallejo had only one building, and Sacramento too unready. Benicia had a brand-new City Hall, a brick building with two Doric columns like a small Greek temple on the frontier, Lessenger recalls it. Benicia offered it at no cost. The new Capitol opened for business on Feb. 11, 1853. The state Senate met on the first floor, the Assembly on the second. State offices took up four rooms in the Capitol. The State Archives and the Treasury were in a nearby building. The Legislature met for two sessions, helping to put the new state of California on its feet: The issue of slavery was discussed, immigration was on the agenda, and the formation of a state university and a state prison. In 1853, California had 300,000 citizens, but even then Benicia was too small for the big time. Sacramento then made a serious bid. It offered land, better transportation and a central location. Lessenger believes a bribe of $680,000 more than $3 million in todays money was involved. On Feb. 25, 1854, Benicias brush with glory was over. The Benicia Capitol still stands; its a state historic park. Benicia survived and prospered. The small 1847 cavalry post developed into the Armys Benicia Arsenal, which produced ammunition for the countrys wars and was an economic mainstay for the town. The famous shipbuilder Matthew Turner produced 154 wooden sailing ships in his Benicia yard. There was also a big industrial complex at the east end of town. But the westerly wind blows hard through the Carquinez Strait, and the winds of change blew over the town. Times changed, industry moved. By the Depression, Benicias population dropped to only 3,500. In the 50s, Benicia developed a reputation as a wide-open town with gambling dives and prostitution. It was honest vice, too. It was said that the police chief owned two of the brothels. The biggest economic blow came in the 1960s when the arsenal closed. That might have been a death blow for many towns, but Benicia developed something called the Benicia Plan, which converted the old arsenal property into an industrial park part heavy industry, like an asphalt plant, and part light industry. There were even artist studios in a section of historic buildings called Art Benicia. Lessenger points out there are 300 companies, large and small, in the industrial park. All of this is on the east end of town: a kind of jumble of history and commerce. The beautiful white Victorian commanding-officers house, a remnant of Army days, overlooks the Valero oil refinery. The days of wooden shipbuilding are over, but still, Benicia is a seaport. Three large vessels, one carrying imported automobiles, were in port the other morning. It is also a rail freight center. Its a different world a few blocks away. First Street, the towns main street, is lined with shops and restaurants. Its as classy as San Francisco used to be. Benicia has turned into a destination. The big city dream turned into a surprising small town. Note: An earlier version of this column had the wrong date for the closure of the Benicia Arsenal. Carl Noltes column run on Sundays. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Carlnoltesf Couple Who Fostered 2 Neglected Toddler Siblings Adopt Them As Forever Sons When a couple from Florida who already had three children of their own attended an adoption seminar almost a decade ago, they were sparked by the idea of fostering. However, little did they know that two toddler siblings whom they would come to foster a few years later would end up becoming their forever sons. Overjoyed in becoming a forever family, the parents, Tony and Carla Cross, posted a video on YouTube of their adoption happy dance in front of the judge. In the video, the boys sport red shirts that read, And now we are family. We never set out to adopt; however, God had other plans for us, Tony told Love What Matters. (Courtesy of Sarah Coleman Photography via Tony Cross) Carla and Tony attended parenting courses in 2016. The following year, they passed their home inspection and signed papers to officially become foster parents. We had finally met the goal of becoming foster parents, Tony said. The couple then received a call only three hours later asking them to take in a baby. There was a five-day-old baby who needed a home. Our reaction was, WOW. Already? Are we ready? Tony said. They immediately sprang into action to get their home ready for the baby, a step for which they had not been prepared. Their fostering of the infant, however, wasnt for long; six months later, the baby was adopted by his own grandmother. After tears and heartbreak of separating from their first-ever foster child, they called their licensing agency, One More Child, and told them that they were ready for another child. They called us later and asked us if we could take a pair of siblings, Tony said. One child was a 2.5-year-old and the other was 2.5-month-old. We said, Yes, and 45 minutes later we met our boys. At the time, Carla and Tony were completely unaware of what was going to unfold. They had a long road ahead of them, a path that initially involved confronting the trauma the boys had been through. Lets just say babies are easy, toddlers with trauma and neglect not so much. Dakota, the 2.5-year-old, could barely utter just five words and use a form of bad sign language to communicate, Tony said. Nate, the 2.5-month-old, was extremely sad and had rashes all over. He didnt cry when he was hungry, wet, or had a poopy diaper. His biological mom had not met his needs. Tony and Carla, however, nurtured the boys with love and care, and, after booking the boys into speech and physical therapy sessions, they learned to navigate the boys unique needsthus, they began to bond. They fit seamlessly with our older children, like they belongour big children just love and treat them as if theyve been with us from day one, Tony said. Not long after, Dakota and Nate even dubbed Carla and Tony Mom and Dad. (Courtesy of Madison Finley Photography via Tony Cross) Eventually, the caseworkers and guardian ad litem asked the loving parents if, in the case the biological mother lost rights to her children, they would like to adopt the toddler siblings. Without hesitation, the answer was, YES! said adoptive dad Tony. The biological mom, who had an addiction, did lose her rights to her sons. After lots of paperwork, and time, we finally got the opportunity to go forward with the boys adoption, Tony said. It was such a humbling process, to stand before the judge with everyone you know watching. Once this process ended, we walked out of the courtroom with our forever sons. (Courtesy of Sarah Coleman Photography via Tony Cross) Now, both Tony and Carla have been chronicling their foster care and adoption journey on an Instagram account, hoping to inspire others. Through their platform, they strive to educate people and debunk common misconceptions about adoption. The couple have had the opportunity to have over 15 children come through their home and be middle parents. It is sometimes hard for our sons, but they understand it now that they are older, Tony said. It does cause stress and issues, which we work with. As for Dakota and Nate, Tony said they are doing well, and the couple are now fostering the boys little sister, who was born at 23-weeks gestation. She is a true miracle, and they do not understand their bio mom had another baby, but they love on her and care for her, as older brothers do, Tony said. (Courtesy of Sarah Coleman Photography via Tony Cross) Tony told The Epoch Times via email that he and Carla hope to encourage parents who might be interested in fostering or adopting. I post mostly about whats on my heart and about fostering, so if we reach others who are interested in foster care that is all the better, Tony said. He added that, eventually, they hope to mentor other parents who wish to foster, but that will happen much later. Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired Newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter Mark Cuban has partnered with Barbara Corcoran for several deals on Shark Tank. While the NBA team owner has a sturdy skill set all on his own, he considers Corcoran to be gifted in an area that isnt his strength. Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin OLeary, Lori Greiner, and Daymond John of Shark Tank | Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images Mark Cuban credits Shark Barbara Corcoran with people skills The billionaire Shark isnt shy about telling Corcoran what he sees as a vital skill to have in business. I tell you all the time, Cuban said to Corcoran on her 888-Barbara podcast in 2019, according to CNBC. Why do I tell you youre my favorite Shark? What do I tell you that youre really good at, better than all the Sharks? Barbaras got the best people skills. Apparently, Corcorans radar is very quick and on-target when it comes to sizing up potential business partners on Shark Tank. Her ability to recognize the good and bad in somebody and what theyll be like as an entrepreneur, what theyll be like as a person, Cuban explained. Are they kind? Compassionate? Willing to work with their backs against the wall? Barbara picks up on that stuff in a minute. RELATED: How Shark Tanks Star Mark Cuban Set a Guinness World Record Shark Tank billionaire trusts Barbara Corcorans read on entrepreneurs Cuban has plenty of his own strengths, yet he looks to Corcoran for picking up on character issues in entrepreneurs pitching on Shark Tank. I look at the numbers, the tech guru remarked to Corcoran. I look at the business I try to drill down, and then the arrogant part of me says Well, I can fix that. In your case, youre like Thats a character flaw and I just dont trust that, so I cant do business with you. Why didnt I see that? The Dallas Mavericks owner also praised Corcorans ability to help entrepreneurs through a learning curve. Shes got the ability to hire the right person, Cuban told Mens Health in 2020. Shes got the patience to train them and support them far greater than I do. Shark Tanks Barbara Corcoran seeks out entrepreneurs who are good under pressure Corcoran is known for building her real estate empire from the ground up. When she hears aspiring business owners pitching on Shark Tank, she goes for the person over the product. RELATED: How Shark Tank Star Barbara Corcoran Felt About Being Eliminated First on Dancing With the Stars For me, its never the pitch its about the entrepreneur, Corcoran said in 2015, according to AOL. I look for someone whos really good at taking the pressure of a shark attack. If they can handle that, it lets me know they can probably handle all of the other pressures that come with a start-up. I look for someone who is good under pressure and can pop back in the face of adversity. The real estate mogul doesnt place a priority on education or book smarts. Instead, she values attitude and clarity. Ill go for someone who has high energy over someone with a high IQ every time, Corcoran revealed. I like people who cut to the chase and can get to the point not just in the pitch, but in the answers, too. Shark Tank airs on ABC on Friday nights. Teresa Giudice paid tribute to the new man in her life, boyfriend Luis 'Louie' Ruelas, on his 47th birthday. And The Real Housewives Of New Jersey star used the occasion to open about their relationship, which has been going strong for about six months. 'Happy Birthday to my beau @louiearuelas I'm so eternally grateful we found each other,' Giudice, 48, wrote alongside a slideshow of photos with Ruelas as John Legend's song All of Me played in the background. Sweet sentiments: Teresa Giudice, 48, paid tribute to new beau Luis 'Louie' Ruelas on his 47th birthday with a slideshow of photos taken during their six month romance The mother of four, who finalized her divorce from Joe Giudice last September, shared more than two dozen photos taken throughout their short courtship. 'You have shown me such love, kindness, openness & I feel lucky everyday to have found you!' She added, 'I know we go together so well & I can't wait to celebrate this birthday along with all the birthdays to come in our future. Love you Louie!' along with the hashtags: #allofme #happybirthday #adoreyou @johnlegend' Opening up: The Real Housewives of New Jersey star shared she was 'eternally grateful we found each other' in the caption of the slideshow New man! The reality star began dating Ruelas in October 2020, which came about one moth after her divorce to Joe Giudice was finalized Going public: The couple went Instagram official with their relationship in December 2020 Throughout the night, Giudice shared an array of photos and video clips taken during his party, seemingly at their home in New Jersey. There's one picture of Ruelas, who's a businessman, proudly posing in front of a table full of gifts, as well as images of the different birthday balloons and floral settings along several tables. At one point, the RHONJ star shot video of the party favors as she walked through the home with her camera phone. Beaming: Ruelas flashed a big smile as posed next to a table full of birthday gifts Festive: Giudice shared an array of photos and video clips taken during the party, seemingly at their home in New Jersey, that included plenty of party balloons and favors Colorful: There's also a sweet snap of the huge floral table setting Candlelight: The was also an array of candles set up in one of the rooms Teresa and Joe Giudice announced their split in December 2019 after 20 years of marriage and each of them serving time in prison for fraud. Joe was deported back to Italy in October 2019 after spending seven months in Immigration And Customs Enforcement custody following a 36-month prison stint for conspiracy to commit wire and bankruptcy fraud. He served his sentence right after Teresa finished 11-months of a 15-month prison sentence for fraud. The judge in the case allowed them to serve separately so their children would have at least one parent in the house. Once they were both free, Joe, Teresa and their four daughters reunited in Joe's adopted new home of Salerno, Italy, a port city southeast of Naples. All you need is love: Teresa also spread some love with her new beau on her Insta-Story First meeting: The new couple and her four children visited the Bahamas together, where they met with Teresa's ex-husband, Joe Giudice He has since moved to the Bahamas around the turn of the new year, according to Bravo. Just weeks ago, the former couple had a reunion in the Bahamas with their girls: Gia, 20, Gabriella, 17, Milania, 15, and Audriana, 12, which included Joe Giudice meeting Ruelas for the first time. 'You can all imagine how I felt when they walked in the room. It was awkward to see my ex after a lifetime together with someone else,' the father of four told Us Weekly earlier this month. 'Teresa and I decided to be honest and remain friends with one another for the girls.' Phuket rapid tests identify four COVID carriers on arrival PHUKET: The rapid antigen tests now being conducted on people arriving in Phuket from red-zone provinces elsewhere in the country have already identified four people as COVID positive on the first day of the tests being in effect, Phuket Vice Governor Piyapong Choowong has confirmed. COVID-19Coronavirushealthtourism By The Phuket News Saturday 24 April 2021, 09:08AM Vice Governor Piyapong confirmed the news in a daily briefing video posted online last night (Apr 23). As of Thursday, all people arriving in Phuket from the 17 other red zone provinces (Phuket itself has been designated a red-zone province) must undergo a rapid antigen test if they are unable to prove that they are fully vaccinated and unable to prove they have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours before arriving, explained again last night for Thai-language viewers. If people coming to Phuket cannot prove that they are fully vaccinated or prove they have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours before arriving, they will be required to be tested, he repeated. At Phuket airport on Thursday (Apr 22), the first day that tests were required, 1,051 people arrived to enter the province, Vice Governor Piyapong said. Of those, 958 were tested, resulting in two people being identified as COVID positive, At the Phuket Check Point, at Tha Chatchai, also on Thursday, a total of 9,338 people arrived across the only bridge onto Phuket, Vice Governor Piyapong continued. Of those, 1,290 arrivals underwent the rapid test, which requires a nasal swab, That saw another two people testing positive for COVID-19, he said. Although the first day saw long queues at the airport as people waited to be tested, Vice Governor Piyapong last night said that the testing process itself takes only about 15-20 minutes. The process had little effect on delaying arrivals at the airport, he added. At Tha Chatchai, it is the same, he said. All arrivals must follow the COVID-prevention measures, Vice Governor added. You must wear a mask 100%, everywhere you go, and wash your hands often. This is the new normal, wherever you go, shops, restaurants, etc. Everything, everyone must follow the New Normal, he said. Vice Governor Piyapong also confirmed that yesterday Phuket health officials had reported 13 new confirmed COVID infections on the island, bringing the total number of infections during the current outbreak to 292. Of those, 252 people were receiving hospital care, and 40 people had been released from hospital care and allowed to return home. Vice Governor Piyapong also repeated the explanation that a second field hospital is being set up at the Phuket Rajabhat University (PRU) campus north of Phuket Town. Phukets Field Hospital 1, set up at the Prince of Songkhla University Phuket campus in Kathu, has 170 beds and is currently caring for 70-80 people infected with COVID-19, he said. The Field Hospital at Phuket Rajabhat University will be brought into use only after Field Hospital 1 at the PSU campus is full, he said. Bhutanese Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji on Saturday extended his prayers and expressed solidarity with the government and people of India as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the country. "Our deepest prayers and complete solidarity to the government and people of India in this most difficult period of the pandemic. Praying and hoping for quick relief and recovery," said Tandi Dorji. India on Saturday recorded 3,46,786 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic broke out last year. According to the official data issued by the Union Health Ministry, the country has recorded 2,624 new deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. The country's total infection count has mounted to 1,66,10,481 cases, while 1,89,544 people have succumbed to the viral infection so far. Currently, there are 25,52,940 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, said the official data of the ministry. As many as 1,38,67,997 recoveries have been reported so far, out of which 2,19,838 were reported in the last 24 hours. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 27,61,99,222 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to April 23. Of these, 17,53,569 were tested yesterday. Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in the country stands at 13,83,79,832. (ANI) Daily deaths due to the virus in Bangladesh have soared in recent weeks, with a seven-day average of 100 fatalities due to Covid-19 recorded on Thursday April 22.Bangladesh is under a nationwide lockdown, but steel and most industrial activity is currently allowed to operate - although that may change soon, sources told Fastmarkets.Hospitals have come under crippling pressure in the country, with municipal oxygen supplies now being diverted away from industry and towards intensive care units.This has led to shipbreakers and induction furnace (IF) steelmakers being unable to perform gas cutting at their factories, thereby hindering operations. The gas has all been diverted to Bangladeshi hospitals so IF mills cant process their scrap through gas cutting - only electric arc furnaces (EAFs) have their own oxygen supply in Bangladesh but most mills do... Local featured Knowledge is power: Officer arming young women with information in an attempt to protect them from assault JOEL ANDREWS/The Lufkin Daily News Hudson ISD Police officer Kristen Henley talks about her sex assault awareness program she presents to female students. HUDSON Officer Kristen Henley wishes she had more time with the junior high and high school girls at Hudson ISD. She worries they move about in the world at risk of harm without realizing it. And so she speaks quickly as she runs through a hundred slides packed with information and examples of what one human will do to another knowing she will never get through all she has learned in her years of experience in law enforcement. She has 45 minutes a day, four days of one week, with these girls. She will teach a new set of girls each week. And she can usually tell who the survivors are in each class, even before they say something. So what is the most important lesson she can teach the young women who stare at her, stunned at the end of each lesson; reluctant to move from their chairs while the bell signaling the end of class tolls? I dont know, she said. I dont know how to answer all these questions. Its hard. First, she can teach them the differences between men and women. While neither is better than the other, differences in the average male bone density, structure, muscle composition, lung and heart size and capacity, grip strength and mentality places men at an advantage in a physical situation, should they wish to use it. Their advantage has slowly been declining as the average man isnt as strong as his father or grandfather were, Henley said. And conversely, women have become stronger as they grow more independent. But a gap between the two is still large and worth being weary of. And while Henley would love to teach men not to treat women with indignity, she doesnt believe evil can be eradicated through teaching. Boys and men who want to do something wrong will. But she hopes the classes will expand to teach young men about the respect women deserve, why the physical differences between men and women are important and what behaviors men should watch out for. Henley can teach the girls the exceptionally high prevalence of assault, violence and rape in the lives of young women between 16 and 24. She can teach them what steps to take to avoid bad situations: Never let a gas tank be less than half full. Be armed. Be willing to call 911 if theyre being followed or harassed even if the situation doesnt become physical. Think long and hard about how to react to situations before ever getting into them. And, most importantly, listen to your intuition; if you believe something is wrong, it probably is. She can teach them the violent and nonviolent red flags in any relationship and that young women should decide what they deserve in a relationship long before theyre in one. And she can hope these lessons are being taught at home, though one in three Texans experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Henley teaches that rape by a stranger is uncommon. More often than not, sexual assaults are conducted by men who are in the womans life in some form or fashion, someone who has gained a little trust. And those who are willing to betray that trust will do so. Sexual assaulters are very, very personable, she said. Theyre counting on getting close to you. Theyre counting on their relationship with you to get close to you. They dont even bring any weapons. So by the time they do this, their thinking is, Ive already got her, Ive already got her in the bag. And she teaches women that its OK to fight back. So many times women placed in situations with men who would do them harm freeze because they overthink and believe the situation isnt as bad as it is. But being willing and able to fight back could save a girl some hurt. Women are like, Should I fight? Theyre scared to. Why? Henley asked. Why are we scared to defend ourselves? Why are we scared to cause bodily harm to somebody else when were defending ourselves? When we dont want their action on our bodies or on our person? Though Henley has hundreds of stats, she cant find an answer for that question. But its something she has seen and knows well. Her only solution is to get more time. She doesnt care whether shes the teacher or not, but believes someone should be educating young women how to fend for themselves before they go into a world blind. She hopes to expand to create community classes in addition to longer courses during the school year. She wants to connect young women with teachers and mentors who can answer the questions she cant. And she wants to ask young men what they wish they knew before the hard lessons hit them, too. Related Woman injured in 3-vehicle crash POTTSVILLE A Pottsville woman was seriously injured in a three-vehicle crash that happened at Gordon Nagle Trail, Route 901, and Red Horse Road in North Manheim Township around 7:40 a.m. Thursday. State police at Schuylkill Haven said the crash happened as Ricky Garland, 44, of Bloomsburg, was driving a 2016 Ford F-250 Supercab pickup truck south on Route 901 when he ran into the back of a 2002 Subaru Impreza driven by Johnna Maley, 26, of Pottsville, who was stopped behind a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Brenda Long, 49, of Pottsville, who was stopped waiting to make a right turn onto Red Horse Road. The impact from the truck pushed the Maley car into the back of the Long SUV. Police said Maley suffered serious injuries and was treated by Schuylkill EMS and then taken to hospital for additional treatment. Garland and Long were not hurt, police said. Pottsville firefighters assisted. Police seek info on hit-and-run crash PALO ALTO State police at Schuylkill Haven are investigating a hit-and-run crash that happened in the area of 212 E. Savory St. around 1:10 pm. April 14. Police said a unidentified driver was attempting to back out of a parking space and in doing so backed into a utility pole and then drove away. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 570-754-4600. Police investigate scattered rubbish SCHUYLKILL HAVEN State police at Schuylkill Haven are investigating a scattering rubbish incident that was reported around 8:40 a.m. April 9 on Route 61 south in North Manheim Township. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 570-754-4600 and refer to incident PA2021-472976. Woman: Someone smashed car windowHEGINS A criminal mischief incident that happened at West Center and Taylor streets in Frailey Township around 11:05 p.m. April 10 is being investigated by state police at Schuylkill Haven. Police said Cheyanne Kuhn, of Minersville, reported someone smashed the front drivers side window of her 2002 Subaru and fled the area. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 570-754-4600. Man cited after left-turn crash FRIEDENSBURG A crash that happened at Routes 443 and 183 in Wayne Township around 11:40 a.m. Tuesday is being investigated by state police at Schuylkill Haven. Police said the crash happened as Christopher Frost, 18, of Pine Grove, was driving a 2010 Suzuki Kizashi east on Route 443 and stopped for a red light at the intersection as Nadine Brown, 74, of Schuylkill Haven, was driving a 2016 Hyundai west and stopped at the same red light. Police said Frost failed to yield while turning left in front of Brown and was struck by the womans vehicle. No injuries were reported and, police said, Frost was cited for vehicles turning left. Man charged with disorderly conduct MAR LIN State police at Schuylkill Haven are investigating a disorderly conduct incident that happened at 17 Maple Ave. in Norwegian Township between 6 and 4 p.m. Tuesday. Police said Charles Miller, 18, of Saint Clair, was charged with disorderly conduct after making concerning statements and using derogatory and vulgar language while in a classroom with other students. Miller will now have to answer to the charge in district court, police said. Police: Road sign painted with graffitiPOTTSVILLE A criminal mischief incident that happened on Tumbling Run Road in North Manheim Township around 3:30 p.m. April 15 is being investigated by state police at Schuylkill Haven. Police said someone painted graffiti on a curve sign and an advisory speed plaque, causing combined damages of $170. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 570-754-4600. Man charged with strangulation PALO ALTO State police at Schuylkill Haven are investigating a report of a choking incident that happened on West Bacon Street around 12:40 a.m. April 14. Police said a husband and wife, both 39, were engaged in a verbal argument that escalated into a physical altercation. As a result, police said, the man was taken into custody, charged with strangulation, arraigned and committed to Schuylkill County Prison unable to post $10,000 straight cash bail. Eggs allegedly thrown at house CRESSONA A disorderly conduct incident that happened on Graeff Street around 12:05 a.m. March 28 is being investigated by state police at Schuylkill Haven. Police said a Cressona man reported someone drove by his house, threw eggs at his window and drove off. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 570-754-4600. Vehicle damaged in hit-and-run crash PINE GROVE State police at Schuylkill Haven investigated a crash that happened at the intersection of Tremont Road and Sweet Arrow Lake Road in Pine Grove Township around 8:55 p.m. Sunday. Police said an unidentified person was driving a Ford Mustang west on Sweet Arrow Lake Road and stopped for a stop sign at the intersection as Jeremy Koch, 24, of Pine Grove, was driving a 2006 Ford Focus south on Tremont Road. Police said the unidentified driver attempted to make a right turn onto Route Tremont Road, took the turn too wide and struck the back passengers side door area of the Koch vehicle. The unidentified driver then fled the area, traveling north on Tremont Road, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 570-754-4600. Student allegedly sent naked photos WILLIAMSTOWN State police at Lykens are investigating a case involving a student sending naked pictures to another student over her cellphone on April 7. Police said they were contacted by school officials on April 20 for a Safe to Say report and learned a 14-year-old girl sent two naked pictures through Snapchat to a 14-year-old boy. Police said the parents of both of the students were notified and the telephones seized and entered as evidence pending further investigation. Earth watchers, like the author of this compelling book, are hoping that the same unified effort launched by world leaders against COVID-19 can be applied to an even more ominous existential threat. Earth watchers, like the author of this compelling book, are hoping that the same unified effort launched by world leaders against COVID-19 can be applied to an even more ominous existential threat. This clarion call to action on the climate issue, coming from award-winning Icelandic poet and novelist Andri Snr Magnason, should be required reading for deniers of the greatest crisis humans have ever faced. On Time And Water, originally published in Icelandic in 2019 and translated by Columbia University alumnae Lytton Smith, is a memoir and polemic featuring mythological stories, Icelandic folklore, cultural histories and science-driven extrapolations which effectively combine to send a strong message about the planetary damage humans are causing. Its a timely publication already widely acclaimed abroad, and follows his philosophical tale A Casket of Time, which helped raise awareness of his literary talent, garnering international recognition and critical acclaim in North America. Referencing his newest books apt title, Magnason writes, "Over the next hundred years glaciers will melt away, ocean levels will rise. All this will happen during the lifetime of a child born today and lives to be 95." His climate activism includes documentary films and intellectual contributions towards Icelands attempts to decrease its carbon footprint, propelling a run for the nations presidency in 2016. Losing the political opportunity to make a difference has only refocused his fight against rising temperatures affecting not only Icelands glaciers, but glacial fields worldwide, especially in the Himalayan Plateau, where excess melt will have dire consequences for an entire continent. Magnason laments that the 2015 Paris Agreement, designed to limit the world to only 1.5 degrees of warming, has been ineffectual thanks to leading polluters such as China, India and the United States. Citing recent scientific data, he shows we are headed towards three degrees of warming and a global catastrophe. Concerns over melting glaciers should alert readers to other ominous signs, such as the increasing frequency of deadly hurricanes and typhoons, record temperatures, prolonged droughts and, recently, a wildly gyrating polar vortex which left sun-tanned Texans shivering in the dark. Messages about imminent dangers to the air we all breathe are often nuanced by mythological stories of destruction and rebirth, instilling a deep appreciation of our partnership with nature. They offer a contrast in style to the tech-based messages found in Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently published How To Avoid A Climate Disaster, which touts plans for using advanced technologies to bring the current 50 billion yearly tons of greenhouse gas emissions down to zero by the year 2050. The hopeful view that evolving technology will be Earths saviour is tempered by Magnasons quest for greater wisdom which he finds in an especially profound interview with the Dalai Lama, who reminds him "no matter how sophisticated our technology is, ultimately we are subject to nature." Decades-old calls by environmentalists to protect our rainforests and wetlands are echoed again, and shown to be immediate priorities because of their roles in capturing carbon and protecting the atmosphere. While climate-change deniers jokingly posit the effects of dinosaur flatulence over millions of years, Magnasons adept coupling of mythology and science clarifies the concept of time. "Human time," he explains, is a mere fraction of "geologic age time," warning its not going to take millions of years for a three- to five-degree rise in temperatures because "the Earth has abandoned geologic speed; it is changing at human speed." His own familys generational experiences document the comparatively short time it has taken for Icelands natural landscapes, flora and fauna to be affected by carbon emissions. In his opinion, the worlds reliance on fossil fuels, coupled with a begrudgingly slow acceptance of renewable energy, maximizes pleasure while sacrificing future generations, ensuring that the human species which launched the current Anthropocene age will bear responsibility in making it one of the shortest geological ages in Earths history. Its a legacy our children wont appreciate. Joseph Hnatiuk is a retired teacher. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Minutes after Omar Cueva shot and killed New Mexico State Police Officer Darian Jarrott along Interstate 10, he called an undercover agent with Homeland Security Investigations to tell him he had been pulled over by the police. Cueva told the agent he did not give them a chance and still wanted to meet up to sell the agent 5 pounds of methamphetamine. Meanwhile, the agent received word that an officer had been killed. A ranking agent with HSI told State Police investigators he knew there was a plan to have State Police pull over Cueva between Deming and Las Cruces if the opportunity came. If not, the 39-year-old would have been busted by multiple HSI agents in armored vehicles when he met up to sell the meth. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Agents told State Police investigators they knew Cueva was armed and had told them he was not going back to jail. Cueva was killed in a gunfight with authorities in Las Cruces shortly after he killed Jarrott. Documents released Friday by State Police detail HSIs undercover operation into Cueva and the events leading up to the killing of Jarrott on Feb. 4. The 28-year-old father of three, with a fourth child on the way, was the first State Police officer shot and killed in the line of duty in more than 30 years. According to New Mexico State Police incident reports: HSI Agent Hector Huerta, an acting supervisor for the Deming Office, told investigators that, a few weeks before the shooting, a confidential informant tipped them off to Cueva and how he wanted to sell a large amount of narcotics. He said that, on Jan. 28, an undercover HSI agent met Cueva at a truck stop in Las Cruces and bought a pound of methamphetamine and 4,000 fentanyl pills. During this transaction, Mr. Cueva was acting paranoid, took a photo of surveillance vehicles, and was armed with a fully loaded Ak-47 rifle, the report states. The undercover agent tried to buy the rifle from Cueva, but he declined, saying it was for protection as he had been set up before. HSI planned to arrest him at the next deal, but that was canceled after Cueva had to go to Arizona to resupply. Cueva said he could meet to sell 5 pounds of meth on Feb. 4 and HSI chose State Police Officer Leonel Palomares, a K-9 officer, to make a high-risk stop and gave him full disclosure on everything they knew about Cueva. Meanwhile, HSI sent out a be on the lookout advisory on Feb. 2 as Cueva was traveling on I-10 between Arizona and New Mexico. By Feb. 3, Huerta told investigators, Cueva was back in Deming and HSI reached out to State Police Sgt. Mark Madrid for assistance in a possible traffic stop. Madrid told him his guys would be available. Huerta said the plan was still for Officer Palomares to make the stop and he did not know where the breakdown in information happened or why Jarrott made the traffic stop. Palomares told investigators he had originally been asked to stop Cueva on Jan. 28. He had been briefed by State Police Sgt. Sean Wood on Cuevas background and was told he needed a second officer with him during the stop. Palomares said the stop was canceled after Cueva sold all the narcotics to an undercover agent. Investigators learned through HSI that there were two plans of action for the Feb. 4 operation. The first involved Officer Palomares pulling Cueva over with a group of HSI agents in an armored SUV ready to act as a quick reaction force. If State Police officers were unable to locate Cueva along I-10 and he reached the meeting place in Las Cruces, the undercover agent would give a signal when he confirmed the meth was there and tactical agents would move in to arrest Cueva. On Feb. 4, HSI held a 45-minute briefing in Las Cruces at 10:30 a.m. The plan was to monitor Cuevas home until he was seen leaving. The vehicle description would be sent out and Palomares, who was onboard, and another State Police unit would make the traffic stop. No State Police officers were at the briefing. I questioned Agent Huerta on why on his Ops plan stated this was not a high-risk operation. Agent Huerta (said) it was an oversight on his part. But, based on everything they had planned for this operation, it was indeed a high risk, one investigator wrote. Palomares said at first HSI told him Cueva was in an SUV with his family. Then, that he was in a truck and alone. As they waited to make the stop, Palomares told his partner he did not have a good feeling about (the) traffic stop and the two began rehearsing how they would make the stop. If they saw a firearm, a felony stop would immediately be executed. At 11:25 a.m., HSI agent Matthew Rodriguez sent out a text message saying that four officers were staged at mile markers 102 and 132. At 11:59 a.m., Rodriguez sent another text that another officer, Jarrott, was at mile marker 98. Within minutes, Rodriguez sent a text that the officer pulled over Cueva at mile marker 102. Two HSI agents were traveling westbound in an armored vehicle when they saw the traffic stop and wondered where the officers back-up was. They stopped 200 yards away and watched as a dark silhouette fell to the ground next to the truck. At first, they assumed Jarrott had taken Cueva to the ground until they saw Cuevas truck pull away. HSI Agent Garrett Olsen told investigators he asked Rodriguez if Officer Jarrott was part of the operation and Rodriguez replied he did not know because he only spoke with Sgt. Madrid who had details on Cueva. Olsen said that, after the shooting, he wondered if Jarrott knew how dangerous this traffic stop could be and the HSI Special Agent in Charge, after viewing Jarrots dash cam video, was concerned that Jarrott did not have all the information with reference (to) HSIs knowledge of Mr. Cueva. Palomares said they were waiting to make the traffic stop when they were advised HSI had reached out to Sgt. Madrid and, soon after, they heard Jarrott make a traffic stop over the radio. Minutes later, reports came through that an officer was down. Sgt. Madrid told investigators he got the BOLO on Feb. 2 of a man coming from Tucson with a load of fentanyl and a gun in the truck, and it was put out to the guys to be on the lookout. Madrid said there was no briefing or criminal history on Cueva. It is the common stuff we do every day, he said of the traffic stop. He said he told Jarrott to keep an eye out for a red Honda Civic or white pickup truck with a headache rack, reminding Jarrott of the BOLO and saying, remember this guy is supposed to be carrying a gun. Madrid said Rodriguez messaged him pictures of vehicles leaving Cuevas home and asked him if he had anyone available. Madrid told investigators he replied that he did and he relayed any further messages from Rodriguez to Jarrott, but never gave Rodriguez Jarrotts number. Madrid said he guessed Officer Jarrott had spotted the truck and the next thing he knew he was running out to the scene after Jarrott was shot. Preliminary autopsy findings reveal that Jarrott had been shot at least six times, suffering wounds to the head, neck, shoulder, side of the chest and back. What did this guy do that was so bad that he had to do this (expletive), Madrid told the investigator. Did the guy even have anything or is he just Who is this dude? I do not know. I do not know anything about it. Then, Madrid began reliving the moments after he pulled up to the scene. Just him there on the ground. They are pumping on his chest. You see his vest. Its laying there. You do not know what the freak to do. You are helpless. Youre supposed to be the guy that helps everybody, and you cannot even help your own guy. You cannot do (expletive). You are watching, youre waiting for them, hurry up, load him, get him out of here, get him the help. The undercover HSI agent told investigators that Cueva called him after the traffic stop and told him he had been pulled over by the police, but did not give them a chance. He said Cueva still wanted to meet to sell the 5 pounds of meth, but would need to ditch his truck and get a ride from the undercover agent. The undercover agent told investigators that he told Cueva to meet him at the desert area near the Loves truck stop to dump the truck and he would pick him up. He said Cueva was not able to do it because authorities were blocking all the I-10 exits and Cueva must have dropped the phone because he only heard dead air. The undercover agent said he later learned Cueva had been shot and killed in a gunbattle with authorities. GURUGRAM: Amid rising COVID-19 cases in the country, the Gurugram district administration has directed all shops to close by 6 pm every day. The new order issued by the Gurugram District Magistrate includes shopping malls, plazas and community markets. However, the order excludes those shops which come in the "essential categories". As per the order, pharmaceutical and grocery shops have been exempted, while restaurants can only operate for home delivery. The latest order was issued after Gurugram recorded the highest one-day spike of 4,319 COVID-19 cases on Friday. The Haryana government had on Thursday announced several restrictions to control the spread, including the closure of shops by 6 pm and a ban on all non-essential gatherings. The restrictions came into effect from Friday. "All shops will remain closed from 6 pm onward in Haryana from Friday, all non-essential gatherings are banned, anybody holding any function within the prescribed limit will have to seek permission from concerned SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate)," states Home and Health Minister Anil Vij had informed through a tweet. The state government had recently capped the number of attendees in indoor events to 50 and that for open spaces to 200. The Haryana government had recently imposed a coronavirus-induced night curfew from 10 pm to 5 in the state after a surge in the cases. Talking to reporters after chairing a meeting of the state cabinet here, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the standalone stores located in less crowded areas would be exempted, but deputy commissioners of the district concerned will take a final decision on this. The order will be strictly applicable to shops located in crowded areas, he said. Khattar reiterated that the Haryana government was not contemplating imposing any lockdown in the state. He said the migrant workers need not worry and should carry on with their work. On April 21, Haryana recorded 9,623 new COVID-19 infections and 45 deaths, the state's highest single-day spike in both cases and fatalities so far. Live TV Microsoft has made a couple of important announcements for Mac and iOS-using enterprises, including moves toward a new perpetual version of Office and improvements to its popular Teams collaboration app. Why it matters: Anything Microsoft does with its productivity suite has a consequence for enterprise professionals, even those using Macs, iPads, and iPhones. After all, 650,000 US companies have standardized around Office, and Microsoft has more than 258 million monthly Office 365/Microsoft 365 users, including plenty who use the suite on Apples products. Boosted by COVID-19 and the shift to remote work, the company in October told us that its collaboration tool, Microsoft Teams, now sees 115 million daily active users. So, whats new in Office? Not every consumer or enterprise wants, needs, or can make use of the companys subscription-based Microsoft 365, but the company wants to retain those customers, so it typically offers what it calls a perpetual version of the suite that doesnt require a subscription and doesnt receive feature updates. With this in mind, Microsoft in February told us it would introduce a pay once, use for five years version of Office to replace Office 2019. Both Mac and Windows versions of Office 2021 will be made. Microsoft also confirmed a business-focused product, Office LTSC, which is basically the same thing, but aimed at enterprises who keep systems offline. The next perpetual version of Office for commercial customers is built specifically for organizations running regulated devices that cannot accept feature updates for years at a time, process control devices that are not connected to the internet in manufacturing facilities, and specialty systems that must stay locked in time and require a long-term servicing channel, the company said when it announced its plans. Both Office LTSC and Office 2021 for Mac have now been made available to enterprises in Microsofts official preview channel, which suggests that the products should be made available in the coming weeks. Office 2021 Standard for Mac (Preview) includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, OneDrive, and Teams. The preview will be updated approximately once a month during the preview period and works natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Enterprises can trial Office 2021 for Mac here. The company hasnt yet told us when it intends to launch Office 2021 for Mac. So, whats new in Teams? Microsoft has also updated Teams for iOS (with some Android improvements). For iOS users, the most important change is the introduction of new ways to manage conversation streams. iPhone and iPad users will be able to view, pin, and manage pinned chats. The update also introduces new emojis and catches up with Zoom by adding the ability to change the background in calls and meetings. Another new feature lets iPhone and iPad users invite distribution lists and groups when scheduling a meeting. What else is new? One recent Microsoft move may not at first seem Apple-focused. The latest Windows 10 build for Insiders lets Windows users run Linux applications natively thanks to the first preview of GUI app support on the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Now, this isnt especially interesting to Mac users, except, of course, when you consider the continued speculation concerning Microsofts plans around Windows for ARM. The reason I think the prognosis seems positive is because Microsofts Linux GUI support represents the extent to which the companys PC strategy has changed. It doesnt want to be the OS for every computer but does want to provide software, services and infrastructure within every ecosystem. Within this context, it makes sense for it to make Windows for ARM available to Mac users running Parallels. It might also make sense to Windows users, given that M1 Macs run the OS faster than most PCs. Of course, Microsoft may have other plans to make its OS available as a cloud-based client system, but its Office plans show it recognizes that not every user wants to be exposed online. Indeed, a recent Microsoft article concerning hybrid workforces stresses the need for flexibility. Apple is rapidly increasing its share of the enterprise market. Its recently announced spring products will appeal to millions of remote workers, so it makes sense to anticipate that Microsoft will want to come along for the ride. One year since we learned Apple planned to migrate Macs to Apple Silicon, might the official introduction of Windows on ARM be one of the highlights for announcement at WWDC 2021? Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe. ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2021 ) :As the COVID-19 situation worsens in India with 2.5 million active cases, Pakistan on Saturday expressed its support and sympathy to the Indian people. "We express our support to the people of India in the wake of the current wave of COVID-19 infections, that has hit our region hard. On behalf of the people of Pakistan, I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the affected families in India," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Twitter. With around 346,000 fresh cases and grim new record of 2,600 deaths in single day on Friday, India has now reported around a million new cases in just three days, while Friday was the fourth day in a row when India reported over 2,000 deaths in 24 hours. The foreign minister said COVIOD-19 pandemic was yet another reminder that humanitarian issues required responses beyond political consideration. "Pakistan continues to work with SAARC countries to foster cooperation to tackle the pandemic," he added. In December 2003, 22-year-old Jon Medland, from Devon, grew irritated by a collection of angry, red pimples decorating his shoulder blades. Topical creams, prescribed by his dermatologist, added to the annoyance, staining his towels and bed sheets. Worse still, they didn't work. Eventually, Jon decided to opt for a stronger treatment and asked for a prescription for Roaccutane a potent drug known to obliterate the painful, stubborn spots seen in acne. By January 2004, the 'spirited' and 'compassionate' medical student was dead. Jon killed himself in his university room days after stopping a three-week course of the drug. According to his father, Jonathan Medland, Jon's death was the result of a sudden psychotic episode brought on by the medication. 'Jon would be the last person in the world to have done such a thing,' Jonathan, 63, told The Mail on Sunday's Medical Minefield podcast. 'He never had a moment of loneliness or depression in his life. He came home from university for Christmas when he'd just started on the drug. He seemed not quite his normal, exuberant self, but there was certainly nothing to indicate what was about to happen. 'He said, 'Oh, yeah, my mate said they got a bit down on it. But I'll be fine. I'll be fine.' What happened a week later was just unthinkable. We knew our son and there was nothing in his life that wasn't perfect, other than a few spots on his back.' Jon Medland, pictured with his mother who blames his suicide on a drug he was taking for acne Over the past two decades, several British families have shared similar tragic stories. Most notably, in 1997 Seamus Todd, the 20-year-old son of the late Irish actor and Dam Busters star Richard Todd, shot himself at his family's home in Lincolnshire. He had been taking Roaccutane, and his father publicly blamed it for his death. In 1998, 18-year-old David Tebby from Newport, Wales, threw himself off a multi-storey car park after being prescribed a second course of the drug. A coroner said there was a 'possibility' it played a role in his death. Then there was 28-year-old Angela Lee, from Ilford, who, before taking her own life in 2008, left a note claiming Roaccutane had made her feel 'there was no way out', and 24-year-old Jesse Jones in 2011, who killed himself after two years of taking the drug on and off. A note Jesse left for his parents read: 'Roaccutane seems to have changed the way my mind and body works in a big way. I can barely bring myself to type its name because I hate it so much.' Today, multiple campaign groups, set up by the parents of those affected, speak of other, life-destroying psychological side effects. Some claim their children can no longer feel happiness, while others say they are blighted by recurrent panic attacks. Most are calling for an outright ban. Despite this, dermatologists have continued to prescribe it to patients with severe acne. And not a single skin health expert has supported a ban. Now, following yet another spate of suspicious suicides linked to the drug ten in 2019 alone the Government's medical regulator, the MHRA, has launched an official investigation into the medicine's safety to try to put the debate to bed once and for all. The review comes as a Mail on Sunday analysis of NHS data for England shows prescriptions are at an all-time high rising 107 per cent in the past five years to more than 75,000 in 2019. And the subject has never been so toxic. This newspaper has heard from patients who claim their GP has refused to refer them to specialists, for fear they may be prescribed Roaccutane. On the other hand, one senior dermatologist, who has spoken in favour of the drug, said he was the victim of vicious online trolling and intimidating phone calls to his clinic. Earlier this month the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) quietly published guidance for its members after some of them had been subject to 'bullying, abuse, trolling, threats and referral to regulatory bodies', such as the General Medical Council, for simply prescribing Roaccutane. The situation is now so severe that BAD refused to provide a statement for this article for fear of 'adding fuel to the fire'. So what is the truth is Roaccutane safe? Roaccutane, or isotretinoin as it is known in generic form, is an undoubtedly potent drug. The medicine, licensed in the early 1980s, uses high concentrations of a Vitamin A derivative to dry out the sebaceous glands under the skin those responsible for producing the oil that clogs pores and causes spots. It also limits the production of keratin the outer scales of the skin which can also block pores, causing spots to form. Rachael Edmunds, a 32-year-old beauty therapist from Windsor, was medicated with anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs last year, after struggling to leave the house because of her 'angry' acne In short, it shuts off acne, which affects 80 per cent of people at some point in life, at its source. And it works phenomenally well. It improves skin in 90 per cent of cases and more than a third experience no relapse. Experts say its use is often undervalued, given the potentially life-wrecking effects of acne. While often considered a rite of passage for teenagers, a quarter of sufferers are in fact adults. Severe acne can be debilitating causing agony, inflammation, bleeding and scarring. Dr Alia Ahmed, consultant dermatologist at Barts NHS Trust in London, says: 'Most people forget that acne isn't a minor skin problem. It is actually very painful. It also causes embarrassment and body-anxiety issues. 'It is far more likely that people who have severe acne will suffer all of these negative symptoms than them having a serious side effect from Roaccutane.' And Dr Christopher Rowland Payne, consultant dermatologist at The London Clinic, agrees, calling Roaccutane one of the great inventions of the post-war period. 'Acne can be utterly disabling,' he says. 'Over the decades, Roaccutane has done an enormous amount of good for an incredible number of people.' Prescribed by consultant dermatologists as a last resort, the drug is thought, for these patients, to be worth its most common side effects, such as the drying out of the skin which can lead to cracked, bleeding skin, lips and nostrils, as well as thinning hair. Sometimes, if the dryness affects the eyes, vision can be impaired too. It is also known to cause birth defects, and strict pregnancy-prevention protocols are in place for women prescribed it. Acne fact Acne is the worlds eighth most common disease, affecting nearly one in ten people around the globe. Advertisement I am more familiar with these dreaded symptoms than most, having taken a course of Roaccutane back in 2011, aged 16. I'd suffered acne-ravaged skin from the age of 12. Antibiotics, ointments and creams and hours spent analysing, squeezing and wincing in front of the mirror had failed to halt the eruptions. My terrible skin severely dented my self-confidence and, ironically, my mental health. When I heard formerly pimply school friends speak of a medicine that had freed them from the crippling shackles of teenage self-consciousness, I was, naturally, interested. So I took the pills which, at first, made my spots worse. I did some cursory research online and came across thousands of horror stories, from dry skin and nose bleeds to erectile dysfunction, anxiety, depression and, of course, suicide. Suddenly I became hyper-aware of every bad mood and spell of anxiety which are a daily occurrence in teenage years. But I stuck with the pills, and as my skin improved over the following weeks, so did my confidence. The only side effects I suffered were dry skin and lips a small price to pay for such a vast improvement in happiness. Ever since, I've wondered about the supposed terrifying side effects. It appeared I'd had a lucky escape. While dermatologists take the reported mental health impact seriously, monitoring patients' state of mind throughout their treatment, they remain sceptical about the weight of the risk. Dr Emma Wedgeworth, a consultant dermatologist and spokesman for the British Skin Foundation, describes the risk of the drug acting on the brain as 'theoretical', adding that large-scale studies have not suggested a link. 'As far as we stand at the moment, the medical literature is not suggesting that there is a causal link,' she says. 'And it would be a shame if Roaccutane was totally removed for the many millions of people that it has helped.' Having finished her course of Roaccutane in January, Rachael believes it's the best decision she has ever made It is a standpoint that is difficult to argue with. Far from ignoring the tragic stories, researchers have conducted multiple analyses into the mental-health impact of the drug over the years. Indeed, its safety has been debated in Parliament three times. Time and time again, they've failed to find a causal link. In 2010, Swedish researchers tracked nearly 6,000 patients taking isotretinoin and found no cause and effect, concluding that any depressive symptoms were a result of lack of confidence due to the acne itself. Last year an analysis of 42 different studies involving more than one million people came to the same conclusion. Other studies, whereby doctors have compared mental-health problems in acne patients taking Roaccutane, versus those taking other strong treatments such as antibiotics, have found similar levels of mental illness across both groups. Some experts have suggested that the relentless reports of suicides may have unwittingly exacerbated the problem, providing a scapegoat for an otherwise unexplained, tragic event, or leading patients to draw incorrect conclusions. High-profile cases are often followed by a string of reports to the Government's Yellow Card reporting system, where patients document side effects they believe to be related to a drug. This chimes with me, having been paranoid that changes in my mood were related to the potent drug I was taking. Dr Ahmed says: 'I definitely think the negative experiences receive far more press attention than the positive. Although I understand why when something goes wrong, you're more likely to tell people about it than if it goes right.' Some suggest patients' mental health problems pre-existed the drug and acne patients are vulnerable to severe depression. In a seminal paper, published in 1997, two dermatologists analysed their patients' mental wellbeing, over the course of 20 years. They noted that 16 had died by suicide, seven of whom had acne. Only two had been prescribed Roaccutane. In another British poll of dermatologists, nearly 200 of their few thousand acne patients had attempted suicide, with 28 patients successfully taking their own life. More recent research has found that at least one in five acne sufferers have considered suicide because of their poor skin, with other studies suggesting acne sufferers are 60 per cent more likely to have mental-health problems, compared to healthy controls. 'I've been a dermatologist for over 30 years so I remember the world before Roaccutane. We had the most awful problems with scarring and depression,' says Dr Rowland Payne. Acne fact A particularly odd and rare side effect of Roaccutane is very dark urine, affecting about one sufferer in 1,000. Advertisement Rachael Edmunds, a 32-year-old beauty therapist from Windsor, was medicated with anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs last year, after struggling to leave the house because of her 'angry' acne. The mother-of-two has been blighted by the skin condition since the age of 13 and has had little success with creams and drugs prescribed by her dermatologist. 'It was agony. I'd wake up and my sheets would be bloody. I couldn't hug people because the acne on my back was so inflamed.' Last spring, it became so bad that she started performing dangerous treatments on herself. 'I was trying chemical peels, putting surgical spirit on my face. I was so desperate I did it,' she says. By the summer, she had slumped into a deep depression. 'I didn't leave the house,' she says. 'My husband had to do everything for me. I had to be put on antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication.' In August, Rachael decided it was time to try the last-resort treatment Roaccutane. 'By that point I didn't care what side effects I suffered,' she says. 'The first few weeks were a total breeze and I had no side effects. But by week three my lips started to dry and I would have at least two nose bleeds a day. In the second month I felt like my skin was on fire, really tight it felt like I was sunburnt.' Rachael noticed her depression worsen in month three, which she believes was related to the drug. She says: 'I was almost like two different personalities one minute up and the next really low. I started to question whether I could keep taking it.' But by October both her skin and her mood began to improve. Having finished her course in January, Rachael believes it's the best decision she has ever made. 'Now I rarely wear make-up. It's transformed me,' she says. But were Rachael and I just two of the lucky ones? What of those with no history of mental illness who find themselves gripped by a sudden psychotic episode? A small number of studies have suggested Roaccutane can alter chemical processes within the brain. In 2005, researchers at Emory University in the US showed the drug reduces activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, an area in the front of the brain known to be involved in symptoms of depression. And in 2007, scientists at the University of Bath found that in mice it disrupted activity of serotonin the 'happy hormone' in brain areas responsible for mood-regulation. Erratic release of serotonin is linked to depression and schizophrenia. But, crucially, scientists have found these brain changes did not predict mental health symptoms in Roaccutane patients. Other studies have found no difference in brain signals between animals given Roaccutane and controls, while human studies have found Roaccutane can even improve some functions, such as memory and learning. While not yet clear-cut, a plausible mechanism does exist. Even so, based on three decades of data, BAD estimates the risk of changes in mood or behaviour at somewhere between one in 1,000 and one in 10,000. The risk of suicide is said to be one in 10,000. The contraceptive pill taken by 11 million British women daily is thought to carry similar, if not slightly higher, risks of suicide and mental illness. A far bigger risk, according to dermatologists, is that disturbing reports will encourage patients not to take it, refusing effective treatment that will, ultimately, benefit their mental health. Dr Ahmed says: 'We stop patients taking it at the first sign of a problem. But what worries me is that there may be somebody with really severe acne who would benefit from treatment but they're afraid of taking it because of what they read, so suffer needlessly.' Rather than a ban, perhaps even tighter surveillance of patients who take the drug is needed, with the risks better explained. Even Roche, the company that makes the drug, recommends it is prescribed 'very carefully', adding that it is 'vital that patients are informed as to what to expect when they take it and are monitored closely to ensure they get the ongoing care they need'. The truth is that most patients blighted by agonising, disfiguring acne, like me, would do anything to sort their skin. My only regret was not having done it sooner. New Delhi: It seems that finally the long-blocked secret files related to the assassination of the 35th President of the United States, John F Kennedy/John Fitzgerald Jack Kennedy (JFK) would be opened to the public for the first time. This was announced by none other than US President Donald Trump who on Saturday said he will allow the files to be made public. John F Kennedy served as POTUS from January 1961 until his assassination on November 22, 1963. His assassination has given rise to many conspiracy theories that even challenge the official version that Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, a lone gunman. "Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened," Trump said in a tweet. Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 21, 2017 Even though there were reports that not all the files would be released but Trump has, of now, decided otherwise. The files are due to be opened in their entirety on Thursday nearly 54 years after Kennedy's assassination in Dallas unless the US president decides otherwise. Also read: WWII Navy Officer who guided Kennedy's rescue dies at 97 Millions of classified Kennedy files have been released under a 1992 law passed in response to a surge in public demand for disclosure in the wake of Oliver Stone's conspiracy heavy movie on the assassination. But the law placed a 25-year hold on a small percentage of the files that expires on October 26. Some reports put the number withheld at 3,100 and say tens of thousands that had been released with portions blacked out are set to be fully declassified. Also read: North Korea threatens US with 'unimaginable' nuclear strike over conducting military exercise with South Korea (With Agency inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A state appeals court on Friday rejected the latest appeal of a man sentenced to death in the murder of an Auburn University student abducted from campus and slain in 2008. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals let stand the capital murder conviction of Courtney Lockhart in the killing of Lauren Burk, a freshman from Marietta, Georgia. Prosecutors argued that Lockhart surprised Burk and forced her into her car at gunpoint, then made her undress in the vehicle and shot her in the back when she tried to jump out of her moving car. She died after being found along a roadside. Lockhart claimed a gun went off accidentally, and he argued in an appeal that his defense was ineffective because it failed to hire a weapons expert. The court rejected the argument. The appeals court also turned away Lockhart's argument that a judge was wrong to reject his claim that the defense did an inadequate job of presenting his argument that previous military service left him with post traumatic stress syndrome or a traumatic brain injury that made him incapable of knowing that what he did was wrong. The defense presented evidence that Lockhart served in combat zones in Iraq and was affected afterward by the experience. A judge cited Lockhart's military experience and training in rejecting claims that he could have shot Burk accidentally. 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. Reports say that President Joe Biden will call Turkey's murder of 1.5 million Armenian Christians as a "genocide." President Biden will answer calls to declare Turkey's crime as genocide even though it will "risk the wrath" of the said country's dictator and "automatically trigger a series of actions" such as "restricting travel for some government officials," PJ Media reported. This in exchange to the "undying thanks of the Armenian people." Calls for the United States to declare the actions of Turkey against the Armenian Christians as "genocide" has been going on for the last 100 years ever since World War II but "geopolitics and the NATO alliance" prevented this from happening, PJ Media noted. Most American presidents did show desire to declare the matter as such but "Turkey was just too vital an ally to upset" being the "second-largest armed forces in NATO" and for having the Bosphorus Strait, which is the "most strategic waterways in the world," PJ Media said. According to Arab News, Turkey is "on tenterhooks" for Biden's declaration and recognition on Armenian genocide through the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24. "Acknowledgment of 1915-1923 mass killing of Christian Armenians by Ottoman Turks would be the first by a U.S. president. Decision would be a setback for Turkish President Erdogan at a time of continuing friction in U.S.-Turkey relations," Arab News said. Arab News also reported that in 2019 the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives has adopted the measure of the Armenian genocide after U.S. political relations became strained after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intervened in northern Syria. There were 38 senators at that time that wrote to Trump to declare the matter as genocide. Arab News explained that the Ottoman Empire ordered the arrest of Armenian intellectuals in 1915 that escalated to the rape, murder, pillage, and deportation of the said ethnic group in 1923. Armenians were then sent on death marches to the Mesopotamian desert away from their homes, deprived of food and water. Ottoman death squads were recorded to have massacred 2 million Armenians by 1914 although Turkey's official records only sow 300,000. In similar news, NBC Los Angeles reported that Biden actually promised to declare Turkey's murder as genocide during his campaign period for the presidency. NBC said Biden has not informed Turkey's government about the matter and could retract his intentions to do so any time. Biden's plans to do so was revealed by an unnamed U.S. official who asked to be kept in anonymity since the matter is still being deliberated internally. NBC Los Angeles added that Biden is being pressured by Armenian-American activists and American lawmakers to make the announcement by Saturday in time for the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. NBC said that it is probable Biden would make the announcement on that day. NBC cited a tweet of California Representative Adam Schiff calling on Biden to make the announcement. "An open letter to @POTUS: This week, the world will mark the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. This is the first April 24 of your presidency, your first chance to keep your promise to hundreds of thousands of Armenian Americans: Recognize the Armenian Genocide," Schiff said on Wednesday. Yet despite world calls on Turkey's murderous actions against the Christian Armenians, Turkey's government justified the matter when it released last month a 290-page document that said they acted "within the boundaries of legitimacy." She's been living it up in Miami with her family celebrating her 47th birthday. And the good times continued to roll for Victoria Beckham, as she shared some sun-soaked shots while enjoying a reading session on her kindle on Saturday. The fashion designer looked impossibly chic in a linen coral beach cover-up, which featured stripes of yellow and white. Luxury living: Victoria Beckham shared some sun-soaked shots while enjoying a reading session on her kindle on Saturday The mother of four styled her beach look with a stylish straw hat and a pair of oversized shades, as she shielded her eyes from the rays. Posh Spice revealed that her sunglasses were from her own range - VB Eyewear - and were apart of her new collection. Victoria appeared to be relaxing on board a yacht as she continued to make the most of her birthday celebrations in the sunny location. Glam! The fashion designer looked impossibly chic in a linen coral beach cover-up, which featured stripes of yellow and white Victoria celebrated her 47th birthday last Saturday and has been sharing an insight into her day via her Instagram page. One of these snaps included a romantic moment with husband David while the couple hit the town in Miami. She took to Instagram Stories to post the gorgeous snap, which showed her embracing David, 45, and staring into his eyes. Loved up: Victoria shared a romantic moment with husband David while the couple hit the town in Miami this week She wrapped her arms around David's neck and fixed her gaze on him as she hid her face from the camera. Victoria and David both sported all-black ensembles, with the former Spice Girls songstress draping a blazer over her shoulders. She amped up the glam with a low cut top and styled her chestnut locks in a sleek up-do, with her curled fringe left down to frame her face. Celebrations: The fashion designer sported an all-black ensemble and draped a blazer over her shoulders while wearing a low cut top The former Manchester United star looked typically suave in a black shirt and smart suit trousers as he beamed at her wife and held her hand. Victoria shared the snap with her 28.9million followers, and simply penned: 'I love you x'. Earlier on Monday, she shared a series of clips of her continuing birthday celebrations as she is presented with a five tier cake. The star appeared to be in great spirits as she was presented with the large gold and white cake which had her name across the second tier. Birthday: Earlier on Monday, she shared a snap of her continuing the celebrations as she is presented with a five tier cake On Saturday, Victoria gushed over David once again as she thanked him for making her birthday celebrations 'so special'. She shared a rare cosy snap with her love as they enjoyed an intimate night with their family on the beach. David also took to social media to celebrate Victoria as he declared that she deserved the 'best day ever'. The couple, who jetted out to Miami, Florida, earlier this year looked loved-up as they cosied up in the snap. Victoria looked effortlessly chic in a white plunging maxi dress while David looked dapper in a grey shirt and jean combo. She captioned her photo with: 'Thank you @davidbeckham for making my birthday so special. I love you so much!!! Kisses @brooklynbeckham @romeobeckham @cruzbeckham #HarperSeven xx.' While David penned: 'Happy Birthday mama we love you so much and you deserve the best day ever.. 'To the best mummy and wife happy 47th birthday @victoriabeckham ( Im still 45 btw ) we Love u x @brooklynbeckham @romeobeckham @cruzbeckham #HarperSeven.' Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy Statement Issued on 24th April 2021 PIPFPD urges the Indian Government to accept the offer of help by Edhi Foundation as an expression of mutuality of humanity and a peoples desire for peace and cooperation. Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) warmly welcomes the heartfelt concern expressed by the people of Pakistan for the people of India as they struggle to overcome the dire impact of the present surge of the Covid 19 contagion which recognises no borders or nationalities. The overflowing of social messages of solidarity, with hashtags #IndianLivesMatter, #PakistanwithIndia and #PrayerforIndia going viral in Pakistan - shows a spontaneous groundswell of support and mutuality of humanitarian distress at the suffering of peoples across the border confronting the Covid health crisis. Prejudices, animosities and competing hurts are shifting and sloughing away in the face of the gravity of the impact of the Covid pandemic and its reminder of our common humanity. PIPFPD greatly appreciates the offer extended by Edhi Foundation, a Karachi-based humanitarian organisation for their support in offering healthcare assistance to the people of India in this massive health care crisis. In a letter to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (April 23, 2021), Managing Trustee Faisal Edhi offered to lead a health mission to India comprising 50 medically equipped ambulances and technical staff. He requested permission to enter India and offered to collaborate with assigned local administrative authorities. According to professionals associated with health care in PIPFPD, this significant token gesture of cross-border people-to-people humanitarian support should be made pragmatically compelling if self-select healthcare establishments bordering Punjab or Rajasthan would come forward to partner with the Edhi Foundation Mission. The Covid pandemic is a huge challenge as it lays waste what we hold dear, but it can be an opportunity to build anew, difficult relationships between peoples and between countries. The pandemic has shown we need each other, in our mutuality of dire need and distress if we are to survive and thrive. Governments of the region have recognised the fundamental importance of working together, but the historical baggage of an unresolved past of interstate Pakistan-India antagonism has repeatedly derailed cooperation. In March 2020 Prime Minister Modi proposed that SAARC nations leadership to chalk out a strong (common) strategy to fight Coronavirus but the visionary project of sharing resources, expertise and best practices, of evolving SAARC Pandemic protocols on our borders floundered on the Pakistan-India mistrust and hostility. People of Pakistan (and India) are showing the way forward based on the mutuality of our fate and of our lives, of the value and imperative of working together, and building peace if we are to survive and thrive. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has tweeted a message of solidarity with those in our neighbourhood (India) battling the dangerous Covid wave and emphasised the need to confront, this global challenge confronting humanity together. PIPFPD urges our governments to build on this opportunity, to respond to this recognition of the mutuality of humanity, our entwined present and future build peace and cooperation within our region. We demand that the government give substance to Covid diplomacy in neighbourhood and facilitate cross-border health missions in true spirit. We once again salute the gesture and offer made by Edhi foundation, a reiteration of the founding values of the institution as laid out by its missionary leader late Abdul Sattar Edhi. Dr Syeda Hameed Tapan Bose Vijayan MJ On behalf of PIPFPD- India pipfpd.india[at]gmail.com Caitlyn Jenner attends the Comedy Central Roast of Alec Baldwin in Beverly Hills on Sept. 7, 2019. Jenner said Friday she would run for governor of California. (Richard Shotwell / Invision/AP) Republicans have a history of turning celebrities into politicians Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sonny Bono (congressman from Palm Springs) and Clint Eastwood (mayor of Carmel) among them. Does Caitlyn Jenner have the same potential? The former Olympian and reality TV star on Friday announced a historic campaign to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in the recall election. On paper, her fame looks just like what the Republicans need: a boldface name at a time when they are struggling in an increasingly deep blue liberal state. But it might not be that simple. From the pages of The Times, here's what you need to know about her run for governor: Who is Caitlyn Jenner? Jenner was born in 1949 in Mount Kisco, N.Y., and attended school in New York and Connecticut before going to college in Iowa. Jenner became a renowned decathlete and later moved to California, breaking records around the world and winning a gold medal at the 1976 Olympics. Jenners triumphs turned the athlete into a celebrity; the star was pictured on the Wheaties cereal box, appeared on television shows and in movies, and posed for the cover of Playgirl magazine. In 1991, Jenner married Kris Kardashian. The couple had two children, while Kris had four children from her prior marriage to prominent attorney Robert Kardashian. The blended family has been part of the Keeping Up With the Kardashians reality television show on E! since 2007, reviving Jenners celebrity. She identified as a trans woman in 2015. Could she be the next Schwarzenegger? Even some in the GOP are not sure if she can be the next Schwarzenegger, who swept into the governorship in a 2003 recall that ousted Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. What credentials are there? said Don Sipple, a political consultant who produced advertising for Schwarzeneggers 2003 campaign. Whats the groundwork thats been laid in the public policy arena to suggest she would be a plausible candidate or a plausible governor? Story continues When Jenner first publicly acknowledged a few weeks ago that she was considering a run, another GOP veteran voiced doubts that she could rekindle the Schwarzenegger magic. Rob Stutzman, a longtime advisor to Schwarzenegger, said he was not sure Jenner's run "would be considered a game-changer." Arnold was the most famous person in the world aside from the pope. Shes famous but not that famous, he said. And Arnold already had some credibility in the public-policy space he had sponsored a statewide ballot measure, had campaigned for candidates, been involved with the presidential physical fitness council. Other GOP candidates who have said they will run in a recall election include former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, businessman and 2018 gubernatorial hopeful John Cox and former Rep. Doug Ose. Why is she running? Jenner has not given any interviews about her candidacy, relying instead on short social media statements. But she seems to be in the camp of people who believe that California is broken and needs fixing. As Californians, we face a now-or-never opportunity to fundamentally fix our state before its too late, Jenner, 71, wrote on Twitter on Friday. Taking on entrenched Sacramento politicians and the special interests that fund them requires a fighter who isnt afraid to do what is right. I am a proven winner and the only outsider who can put an end to Gavin Newsoms disastrous time as governor. Jenner previously toyed with challenging Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2018. But this is the first time she has officially announced a run for office. In her announcement, Jenner slammed Newsoms pandemic closure policies, saying they have harmed schoolchildren and small business owners. This isnt the California we know. This is Gavin Newsoms California, where he orders us to stay home but goes out to dinner with his lobbyist friends, Jenner wrote, referring to a birthday dinner Newsom attended at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant after asking Californians to abide by restrictions on multifamily gatherings. What do we know about her politics? She describes herself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal, and publicly supported Trump in 2016. That early support could be a problem in blue California, where the former president is very unpopular. In 2018, after the president pushed anti-trans policies, Jenner said she made a mistake in backing him. Jenner wrote in the Washington Post that she had hoped to change transphobic attitudes and policies from inside the system but had grown disillusioned by the presidents approach, such as barring transgender people from serving in the military. Sadly, I was wrong, she wrote in an editorial in the Washington Post in October 2018. The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president. I have gotten more flack for being a conservative Republican than I have for being trans, she said during a 2016 appearance at the University of Pennsylvania. The following year, she told CNNs Don Lemon that she was thinking of running for office. I would have to look, over the next year or two ... can I do a better job on the outside, or am I in a position now that I can do a better job for my community on the inside, Jenner said. And if thats the case, if I find us on the inside, I would seriously look at it. As Jenner builds a campaign staff , she is reportedly surrounding herself with Trump loyalists, including a fundraiser associated with the rally that preceded the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Jenner was spotted dining Thursday night at Tuscany il Ristorante in Westlake Village with former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, along with former state GOP chairman Frank Visco, actor John OHurley, businessman Zack Schuler and others. Times staff writers Christie DZurilla contributed to this report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Many countries including US, UK, Kuwait, France and Canada have banned flights from India, citing COVID-19 cases and the "double mutant" virus being found in the country. Iran, Kuwait, Indonesia and UAE are the latest additions to this list of countries that have banned India from their citizens' travel lists. From mandatory RT-PCR tests to compulsory quarantine, here's a lowdown of restrictions imposed on travellers from India to these countries: IRAN Iran has also decided to bar travellers from India and Pakistan from Sunday midnight. "The Indian coronavirus is a new threat we face. The Indian virus is more dangerous that the English and Brazilian variants," Iran President Hassan Rouhani said. KUWAIT Kuwait is the latest addition in the list of countries that have banned flights from India due to the exacerbating coronavirus situation. According to the Kuwaiti directorate general of civil aviation, this ban will be effective from April 24. The statement by Kuwaiti directorate general of civil aviation on Twitter also noted that all those arriving from India either directly or via another country will be barred from coming back to Kuwait if they have not spent at least 14 days out of India. Kuwaiti citizens, their first-degree relatives and their domestic workers will, however, be allowed to enter the country. Freight flights will continue to operate. Also read: COVID-19 second wave: Kuwait suspends commercial flights from India till further notice UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has banned all flights except cargo flights from India for 10 days from April 24 midnight citing unprecedented COVID-19 rise in the country. These regulations can be extended. The flights between India and UAE will, however, continue to operate for transportation of passengers. Those exempted from this ban include UAE citizens, diplomatic missions appointed by the countries, official delegations, those on businessmen-chartered flights and those having the golden residency. INDONESIA Indonesian government has decided to not issue visas to any foreigners who have been in India in the past 14 days to prevent COVID-19 transmission. Indonesians entering from India will be allowed to enter the country but will have to follow stricter protocols and quarantine rules. These curbs come after a chartered plane arrived in Indonesia from Chennai. Twelve out of the 129 passengers onboard had tested positive for COVID-19, according to Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi. The minister added that the samples had been taken for genomic sequencing. FRANCE France has barred flights from five countries-India, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa. Travellers entering France from these five countries will have to undergo a mandatory antigen test on their arrival apart from a pre-boarding RT-PCR test. Also read: COVID-19 second wave: France to impose entry restrictions on travellers coming from India US The US government has issued an advisory to all its citizens to avoid travelling to India amid recent COVID-19 surge in the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its statement, "Because of the current situation in India, even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to India. If you must travel to India, get fully vaccinated before travel. All travelers should wear a mask, stay 6 feet from others, avoid crowds and wash their hands." Also read: 'Avoid all travel to India, even if fully vaccinated': US issues advisory amid COVID-19 spike UK The United Kingdom (UK) has added India to its COVID-19 travel "red list". This effectively bars all travel from the country and makes 10-day hotel quarantine for all UK and Irish citizens coming back from India. UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons that they 103 cases of the Indian COVID-19 variant had been identified in the UK, of which "vast majority had links to international travel". Also read: UK adds India to COVID-19 travel 'red list' amid new variant cases HONG KONG Hong Kong has suspended international flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines from April 20 till May 2. The authorities concerned decided to ban flights from India and Vistara flights on the Mumbai-Hong Kong routes after 50 passengers tested positive for the virus on arrival. According to the new rules, all passengers arriving in the country will have to produce a COVID-negative RT-PCR report, which should be conducted within 72 hours of arrival. Also read: Hong Kong suspends flights from India, Pakistan till May 2 SINGAPORE Since Singapore is on a "heightened alert" against the coronavirus pandemic, it has banned all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors who have travelled to India within the last 14 days from entry or transit via Singapore from April 24. People who have prior permission to enter the city state will also be impacted by this decision, according to Education Minister and co-chair of the multi-ministerial task force handling the pandemic, Lawrence Wong. Apart from this, people who recently travelled to India and have not completed the 14-day stay-home notice (SHN) by April 22 midnight will have to complete the additional seven-day SHN at a dedicated facility rather than their homes. This group will have to undergo three PCR tests: when they arrive, on the 14th day of their SHN and before their SHN ends. Also read: COVID-19 second wave: Singapore bars long-term pass holders, visitors travelling from India CANADA Canadian government suspended international flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days on April due to the unabated rise in COVID-19 cases. The Health Minister Patty Hajdu mentioned that half the people who are testing positive after arriving in Canada via flights came from India. Flights from India account for almost 20 per cent of the air traffic of Canada. She added there are also a disproportionate number of positive cases among those travelling on flights from Pakistan. Cargo flights from India and Pakistan will, however, continue. Also read: Canada suspends flights from India, Pakistan for 30 days amid rising COVID-19 cases AUSTRALIA Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a reduction in flights from nations like India. Morrison said, "We will also be limiting the departure exceptions for Australians travelling to high-risk countries like India. As time goes on and the pandemic continues to rage, there are countries that are frankly of greater risk than others." Also read: COVID-19 second wave: Australia to reduce flights from India Also read: COVID-19 crisis: India reports over 3.46 lakh cases; 13.83 crore vaccines given so far Edited by Mehak Agarwal Manufacturers should focus on producing as many vaccines as possible this year, but the world faces a potential surplus next year in capacity, Moderna's CEO said on Friday. Speaking at a virtual event on vaccine manufacturing, Stephane Bancel said that additional technology transfers might dent their ability to meet production targets. Moderna is on track to make up to 1 billion doses this year and 1.4 billion next year, he said. "Next year there is going to be way too many vaccines for people on the planet," he said. He added that Moderna was working hard to have a booster vaccine against Covid-19 variants approved by the northern hemisphere late summer or early autumn. Bancel, asked about shortages of workers at the Lonza factory at Visp in the Swiss canton of Valais, which has a licence to make ingredients for its Covid-19 vaccine, but was confident that Lonza would close the gap there soon. He also said that Moderna was in talks with the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility which is providing doses to lower income countries, adding: "I hope we are in the final stretch to get an agreement with COVAX." A doctor from the Lehigh Valley has been identified in news reports as the victim of a helicopter crash on Thursday night in a remote area of northeastern Pennsylvania. Sanjay Kansara, of Upper Saucon Township, was the registered owner of the four-seat Robinson R44 helicopter that crashed in state game lands in Wyoming County about 9 p.m. Thursday, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. It departed from Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport shortly after 8 p.m. and was headed for Bradford County Airport in Towanda. Pennsylvania State Police are assisting the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board in the investigation and told lehighvalleylive.com that troopers will not confirm the identity of the lone victim pending DNA tests. However, the Morning Call reported it was Kansara after speaking with a relative. Kansaras employer, Guthrie health network, said in a social media post Friday night that it was deeply saddened by (his) unexpected passing. The Guthrie community is deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Dr. Sanjay Kansara. Dr. Kansara joined Guthrie is... Posted by The Guthrie Clinic on Friday, April 23, 2021 Guthrie said Kansara had a passion for flying and frequently flew himself from his Lehigh Valley home to work at the networks hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania, on the New York state border about 60 miles northeast of Scranton and 15 miles from the helicopters planned destination. A log for Kansaras aircraft on FlightAware.com shows multiple recent trips between Allentown and that region, sometimes twice a day, including Thursday. Kansara, an anesthesiologist, went to medical school in India and served a residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. A colleague described Kansara as friendly, with an upbeat, positive demeanor with patients and colleagues, in Guthries post. The networks head of anesthesiology said we will all miss this fine physician and gentleman. The FAA and NTSB had not published any updated information on the accident as of Saturday afternoon. The initial FAA report said that the helicopter crashed into a remote area due to unknown circumstances. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Admissions to the emergency department of the AIIMS were restricted for around an hour as the oxygen pipelines were being reorganized due to an increased demand for the life-saving gas for COVID-19 patients coming in high numbers, officials said. Around 100 coronavirus-infected patients are already receiving treatment at the emergency department. This is in addition to more than 800 patients who are already admitted at various centres of AIIMS, said the officials of the premier hospital. "Admissions to the emergency of the AIIMS were restricted for an hour as the oxygen pipelines were being reorganized due to increased requirement of oxygen for COVID-19 patients "Admissions are open and the emergency department is functional now," an AIIMS official said. Twenty people died at Delhi's Jaipur Golden Hospital, their lives ebbing away as the hospital waited for oxygen to be replenished, officials said on Saturday, day five of a deepening crisis over the scarcity of oxygen vital to save critically ill COVID-19 patients. Every few hours, as it has been for the last days, hospitals across the national capital and its suburbs sent out desperate messages of help on social media and other platforms, flagging their dwindling stocks of oxygen. Delhi logged 24,331 fresh COVID-19 cases and a record single-day jump of 348 deaths on Friday while the positivity rate stood at 32.43 per cent, according to the latest health bulletin. Also Read: COVID-19 crisis: India reports over 3.46 lakh cases; 13.83 crore vaccines given so far Also read: Support pours in from countries amid India's devastating second COVID-19 wave Also read: COVID-19 second wave: Ladakh makes RT-PCR test mandatory for passengers at Leh airport UPDATE: Proposition B headed to defeat by a narrow margin in San Antonio In an otherwise low-key local election, Proposition B on San Antonios May 1 ballot is arguably generating more debate and heated campaign activity than even the mayoral race. One reason is the intense spotlight on allegations of police misconduct as witnessed recently in courtrooms and via camera footage across the U.S. The protest marches and rallies in San Antonio and nationwide that emerged after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis have now segued to political action about police accountability. Prop B takes aim at the issue by removing some power from the police officers union and giving it to the city. If approved by voters, the proposition worded in opaque legalese would repeal the San Antonio Police Officers Associations right to collectively bargain, which voters granted in 1974. Proponents of Prop B, led by a group called Fix SAPD, say the change would give the city greater latitude in labor negotiations, and they specifically want to put more teeth in the process for suspending or firing officers for misconduct. They also contend that Prop B would give the public some say in the police contract. Ronald Cortes /Contributor Opponents led by the union argue that the disciplinary rules could be altered without eliminating the unions right to collectively bargain. Prop B would make it harder for the city to recruit, leading to fewer officers on the streets and slower response times, the opponents say. Collective bargaining is a tool to make sure we can do our jobs effectively and efficiently, San Antonio Police Department Sgt. Rachel Barnes said at a recent debate about the measure. Its also a tool for recruitment for us. Thats what we need to keep good officers here serving the community. But city officials and one expert on labor law say arguments on both sides are a bit of a stretch. Without the requirement of collective bargaining, the city could switch to a meet-and-confer method. Negotiations would essentially function unchanged except for one major difference. Under collective bargaining, city management is required to bargain with the union; with meet and confer, its optional. Technically, the difference between meet and confer and collective bargaining is very limited, said Julius Getman, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in labor law. The proposals will come in from the police union, said Getman, who served as a lead negotiator for the Connecticut State Police union in the 1980s. The city will reject or accept them. Collective bargaining, without the right for police to strike, is not that different from meet and confer. The Danny Diaz Interview Police unions in Dallas, Houston and Austin negotiate with their respective cities using meet and confer. The same is true for the San Antonio Airport Police and the San Antonio Park Police, whose unions separate from the San Antonio Police Officers Association do not have the right to collectively bargain with the city. Under state law, police officers cannot go on strike. Taking a hatchet to anything having to do with police is a tricky proposition in San Antonio, where police, firefighters and their unions are effective at turning out their supporters for elections. In 2018, the firefighters union obtained enough signatures to get three charter amendments on the ballot. Voters approved two, including one that gave the union the upper hand in negotiations with the city. Early voting for the May 1 election begins Monday. At last count, the outcome for Prop B looked like a toss-up. According to a recent poll by Bexar Facts, which was conducted in partnership with KSAT 12 and the San Antonio Report, roughly 39 percent of Bexar County voters likely to cast ballots said they would vote against Prop B. An additional 34 percent said they would vote for it, leaving 28 percent undecided. (The union has questioned the polls accuracy, as one of the leaders of Bexar Facts is Christian Archer, a well-known political strategist whose consulting firm gave $25,000 to Fix SAPD.) Here are the main points for and against Prop B. Discipline disputes Fix SAPD, a police reform group that helped collect the minimum 20,000 signatures to get the proposition on the ballot, contends that too many officers who were fired for misconduct have won reinstatement to their jobs through the appeal process outlined in the contract. By various estimates, about two-thirds of police officers who were fired returned to the force: They were either reinstated by the police chief or by independent arbitrators, who hear and rule on officers appeals. On ExpressNews.com: Arbitrators have final say in discipline One case often cited by Fix SAPD is that of Officer Matthew Luckhurst, who was accused of giving a homeless man a sandwich of dog feces in 2016. Luckhurst admitted that he handed the man a discarded tray of bread and feces but said he did that so the man could throw it away, not eat it. An arbitrator later reversed the firing because it was not issued within six months of the incident, as required under the union contract. As it turned out, Luckhurst didnt return to the force: He was fired for a second incident involving feces and a brown substance he left in the female officers locker room. That firing was not overturned. Fix SAPD Interview Fix SAPD has said repealing collective bargaining would allow the city to get rid of provisions such as the six-month rule and change the arbitration provisions. Alternatively, if the city and the union negotiated a contract that didnt address those issues, Fix SAPD says, the public could gather signatures to put it on the ballot for a vote forcing the union and city to address the publics concerns. We want to let San Antonio be part of that process, said Ojiyoma Martin, who co-founded Fix SAPD with her brother. In the future, Fix SAPD hopes to gather enough signatures to place another charter amendment on the ballot, one that would repeal Chapter 143 of the Local Government Code to further roll back what the group describes as unnecessary disciplinary protections for police officers. Union officials have argued that the best way to make changes in the Police Department is under collective bargaining. They said theres no guarantee that reforms would happen under meet and confer. If they want reforms, collective bargaining is the fastest way to get reforms, said Barnes, the police sergeant. Meet and confer is not a guarantee, and its not something that will happen quickly. Weve (the city and union) already come to a consensus on several issues, including 180-day rule. The union says the number of officers returned to the force during the appeals process 70 percent, according to the Washington Post is misleading. Only 11 officers have been reinstated by an arbitrator since 2010, the union said. About 20 were reinstated by the police chief. Evergreen clause The citys current contract with the union expires in September, and city and union officials have been negotiating a new one. If both sides dont approve a contract by mid-May, which is likely, the current contract would remain in place until it expires in September, officials have said. On ExpressNews.com: Police, union open contract talks The city says that if Prop B passes May 1, it and the union would revert to the rules laid out in Chapter 143, which provides civil service protections for police officers and governs hiring, promotions and discipline. The union contests this point, arguing that the contracts evergreen clause would take effect and the contract would continue as is for up to eight years or until another one is agreed on. Its likely the debate about the evergreen clause would end up in the courts if Prop B is approved, officials said. Dark money claims Throughout the campaign, the union has accused Fix SAPD of accepting so-called dark money political donations that cant be traced to specific donors. Policing the police, a discussion The bulk of Fix SAPDs money from August to December $250,000 in cash donations came from the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund, an arm of TOP, a progressive grassroots group that specializes in community planning and voter participation. Because TOPs education fund is organized as a 501(c)(3) public charity, it doesnt have to publicly disclose its donors. On ExpressNews.com: Campaign for Prop B gets boost from unknown donors Wherever they get their money from, thats on them, union President Danny Diaz said. My concern and my focus right now is to educate the citizens as much as possible on the truth, and not lies or misrepresentations of our policies and procedures. Fix SAPD has rejected the dark money label. There is no dark money, there has been no dark money in Fix SAPD, there will be no dark money in Fix SAPD, Martin said. Defund the police In its recent campaign material, the union has equated the passage of Prop B with the movement to defund the police, which it warns would lead to more crime. In one campaign ad posted on social media, the union maintains that cities that have defunded the police a phrase that is hard to define but has been used to mean outright budget cuts or redirecting money from police to social services have seen dramatic increases in crime. Case in point, the union said: Homicides in Austin, where the City Council voted in August to cut its police budget by roughly one-third, increased by 54 percent in 2020. But the statistic the union has been citing which was first reported by the U.S. Attorneys Office reflects only homicides in the first 10 months of the year, compared with the same time a year earlier. By the end of 2020, homicides had increased from 36 to 48, or 33 percent, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Robin Jerstad /Contributor Criminology experts have cautioned that there is little evidence that the vote to reduce police funding which occurred in August, more than halfway through the year was connected to more homicides. The cut made immediately to the budget, $20 million, eliminated three future police cadet classes and reallocated money for other purposes: violence prevention, food access and abortion access programs. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio homicide numbers increased in 2020 Its more likely, experts said, that the spike in Austin and in many major U.S. cities was influenced by higher unemployment, additional stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic and racial unrest. In San Antonio, homicides increased by 22 percent last year to 128 from 105 a year earlier, according to preliminary data at the same time more money was allocated for policing. In another post, the union said Prop B would replace police officers with civilian social workers. Who would you rather have responding to an emergency? Back SA Blue wrote in a Facebook post. Yet nowhere in the language of Prop B does it mention replacing police officers with civilian social workers. City leaders including Mayor Ron Nirenberg and City Manager Erik Walsh have been hesitant to make sweeping changes in the Police Department like those the post mentioned. Instead, they have advocated for a longer conversation about the role of police in San Antonio one that is taking place now. Campaign tactics The union has accused Fix SAPD of stealing and vandalizing pro-police campaign signs. However, union leaders later acknowledged that they had no evidence that the people they accused of vandalizing campaign signs were members of Fix SAPD. There are a lot of organizations that are supporting the defund the police movement, said Rory McShane, a political consultant working for the union. It could be members of any one of those groups. Leaders of Fix SAPD said no one in the organization has encouraged its employees or supporters to confront people with opposite views in an aggressive way or to steal or vandalize campaign signs. They did acknowledge they had fired a paid canvasser who was accused of aggressively confronting a police union supporter in December an incident that apparently was captured on a homeowners video security system. As soon as we heard about that issue, we looked over the video, we got all the evidence and we let that person go, said Ananda Tomas, deputy director of Fix SAPD. They are not representative of Fix SAPD and its values. We have never ever trained anyone to act that way. A public vote on contract Fix SAPD has contended that under the meet-and-confer system, the public could have a say in the police contract if it doesnt agree with it. However, it could be a tall order. Ronald Cortes /Contributor Depending on which statute the union decided to negotiate under, the public would have 45 to 60 days after a contract is approved to gather signatures equal to 10 percent of voters in the last municipal or mayoral election. That would amount to roughly 10,000 petition signatures today, city officials said. At that point, a referendum to repeal the agreement would be placed on the ballot in the next election. City Attorney Andy Segovia said the idea is conceptually correct but practically a long shot. In comparison, it took Fix SAPD around six months to collect the 20,000 signatures necessary to put Prop B on the ballot. Negotiate or not One argument against Prop B, the union says, is that the city would no longer be required to negotiate with officers, and it could refuse. After the current contract expires, Segovia said, the union would have to request to meet and confer with the city. City officials have indicated they would continue to negotiate with the union regardless of Prop B. Some of the flavor that you get from the union is that were going to completely abandon them, Segovia said. Thats not the case. We fully recognize that we need a highly effective police force in place, he added. We would have to have sound health care, pay and benefits to attract officers. Getman, the law professor, agreed that it would be highly unusual for a city government to ignore a police union. They are going to make the same points back and forth, Getman said. Yes, the ultimate power is going to be with the city, but they will be reluctant to use it. The people who negotiate for the city dont want to defund the police, he added. Thats not going to happen. The officials dont want to have an angry police force. This story has been corrected to reflect the number of days that the public has to gather signatures to place a contract between the city and union on the ballot for repeal, in addition to the number of signatures needed. Staff writer Joshua Fechter contributed to this report. eeaton@express-news.net The governor of California has proposed a ban on new fracking licenses and an end in all oil production by 2045. California, the most populous state in the United States, produces the third most oil in the world. That will be the first state to stop extracting all resources. Executive Order Gavin Newsom's executive order, signed on Friday, paves the way for California to cease issuing new drilling licenses in the coming years, granting the state's Department of Conservation until 2024 to draft a mandate. The order further instructs the California Air Resources Board to study how to enforce a 25-year moratorium on all mining. The organization will research the environmental and health benefits of stopping oil production and ways to minimize the economic impact. In a tweet, Newsom said, "The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day." "I've made it clear that I don't see fracking playing a part in the future and that California, like the rest of the country, wants to move past oil." NEW: California is now the first state to declare an end to oil extraction in the country. Today, we're announcing that we will phase out all oil extraction as part of a world-leading effort to achieve carbon neutrality and ban fracking by 2024. Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) April 23, 2021 Newsom's decision is a bold move after previously opposing demands to impose a narrower ban on new drilling licenses. Fracking accounts for just around 1% of the state's total oil supply. Related Article: California's Diesel Emission Policy Worked as Proven by the Decrease in Air Pollution Fracking The controversial extraction process extracts fuel from the field by using water and chemicals to break open natural structures and trigger gas or oil leakage, posing the possibility of earthquakes, water pollution, and catastrophic spills. Fracking and other forms of mining are harmful to people who live near drilling facilities, causing a higher incidence of asthma, cancer, and preterm births. Newsom's decision comes as he prepares for a possible recall referendum, as well as pressure from environmental activists, who have criticized his support for wider regulations banning fracking in recent months. Last week, a bill that would have placed stringent limits on oil and gas failed to receive the five votes expected to pass the California senate's natural resources committee. The bill would have needed a 2,500-foot buffer zone between construction facilities and classrooms, playgrounds, and homes, as well as a ban on new fracking permits. 7.4 million Californians live within a mile of oil and gas drilling, with low-income and minority neighborhoods bearing the brunt of the damage. "The health assaults of oil and gas extraction must be addressed immediately," said Martha Dina Agruello, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Revising the Bill To that end, conservation advocates are now negotiating with legislators to pass a revised version of the bill that centers on establishing a boundary between new and permitted fracking sites and areas where children live and play. According to Ress, advocates are now requesting that the governor issue an emergency law requiring that filling sites be at least 2,500 feet away from towns. Other States Texas, Wyoming, Louisiana, Maryland, Illinois, Colorado, and Pennsylvania, among other oil-producing states, have laws limiting how near sites will be to cities. Criticizing Fracking In recent years, oil and gas extraction in California has come under increased scrutiny. Researchers believe the state will need to double down on measures to curb greenhouse gas pollution. It faces increasing droughts, rising sea levels, historic wildfires, and lethal heat waves as it grapples with the climate crisis. Despite Newsom's two-year-old stricter restrictions on the oil and gas industry, the Center for Biological Diversity claims that the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) has proceeded to grant fracking licenses without adequate environmental scrutiny. CalGEM granted 213 drilling licenses in 2019 and 82 in 2020, and almost 2,000 combined permits for new oil and gas wells issued last year. Also Read: All New US Vehicles Can Be Electric by 2035, If Current Sustainable Trends Continue For more Environmental Action news, don't forget to follow Nature World News! The government on Saturday extended the closure of all its offices by three more days till Wednesday in view of a rising number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities in the state. However, all officials and employees have been asked to remain at the headquarters from Monday onwards and keep their mobile phones switched on, so that they can be called to office whenever required. The state government issued an order on April22, closing all its offices for three days from April 23-25 for proper sanitisation of the premises. The period has now been extended. recorded its highest single-day COVID fatalities with 81 deaths on Saturday as well as the highest surge in cases with 5,084 people testing positive for the viral disease. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Orleans-area voters head to the polls Saturday for an election headlined by the run-off for the 2nd Congressional District. Though the race between Troy Carter and Karen Carter Peterson, both Democratic state senators, has been heated, the election is expected to have relatively low turnout. Carter and Peterson are both from New Orleans, and are running to replace former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, who left the seat to join President Joe Bidens administration. The district stretches from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and includes portions of 10 parishes and will be the only Louisiana seat in the House of Representatives or Senate filled by a Democrat. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Polling locations are required to allow anyone in line to vote by 8 p.m. to cast a ballot. Both candidates have similar progressive policy positions and have sought to distinguish themselves mainly in terms of approach, with Carter saying he would try to work across party lines and Peterson seeking to cast herself as the more outspoken progressive candidate. Carter had the lead in the March primary, taking 36% of the vote while Peterson finished second with 23%. Beyond the congressional race, theres a handful of other issues and races that will be decided on Saturday. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up In New Orleans, only voters in the French Quarter will have a second item on their ballot: a decision over whether to reinstate a sales tax that pays for extra police patrols in the neighborhood. French Quarter voters to decide, again, on sales tax for police patrols French Quarter voters will decide in Saturday's election whether to bring back a sales tax that pays for extra police patrols in the neighborhood. Voters in parts of the east bank of Jefferson Parish, including portions of Metairie and Elmwood, will decide whether to elect Edwin Eddie Connick or Laurie Schlegel as their next state representative. The two Republicans are vying to replace former Rep. Charles Henry, who resigned earlier this year. Kenner voters are being asked to renew property taxes for fire, garbage and sewer services for 10 years each. In Westwego, a run-off for the District 5 seat on the City Council pits Republicans Robert Bobby B Bonvillian and Johnnie Lyn Thibodeaux against one another. Some St. Tammany Parish voters will decide whether to approve a $23.11-million bond issue for Slidell Memorial Hospital and Lacombe-area voters will find a 20.01-mill property tax for Fire Protection District No. 3 on their ballots. Another hospital bond is on the ballot in St. Charles Parish, where voters will decide whether St. Charles Parish Hospital should be allowed to issue a $17-million bond. And in St. Bernard Parish, an 8-mill property tax for drainage and a 20.85-mill property tax for fire services, each of which would last 10 years, will be put to the voters. In the wake of recent news about a new coronavirus variant (New, antibody-resistant coronavirus variant discovered in Texas, April 20), it remains unclear when, or if, well reach herd immunity. One pandemic lesson is clear, though: Our health care system needs serious improvement. Manufacturers of medical devices like ventilators routinely restrict hospital and independent biomedical engineers from accessing essential repair materials. This prevents hospitals from servicing broken equipment. In the age of COVID-19, even the slightest delay in repairing a ventilator or other device can have dire consequences. Thankfully, the state Legislature is currently considering Californias Medical Device Right to Repair Act, SB605. This bill focuses on securing the right to a fair and reasonable repair market, which has the potential to improve patient care and even lower health care costs. In enabling timely and cost-efficient repair, and prioritizing patient lives over manufacturer profit, we will be making key steps toward a better-functioning health care system, and will be better prepared for whatever these new variants throw our way. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, is on the committee that will hear the bill soon, and for the sake of patients across California, I urge him to support this critical bill. Ruby Strickland, Berkeley Remembering Mondale After soon-to-be-elected President Jimmy Carter voted in 1976, he was asked whom he voted for. His reply: Walter Mondale and his running mate. Walter Mondale died a few days ago, and he was the first presidential candidate I ever voted for. His brief, shining moment in the 1984 presidential campaign was his first debate blowout of incumbent Ronald Reagan. For a week or so, until the next debate, I really believed Mondale had a shot. He seemed a capable, roll-up-your-sleeves-type individual who would make a good president. Well, Reagan, on the strength of a one-liner about Mondales youth and inexperience, won the second debate and scored the biggest landslide in American history. Before becoming vice president, Mondale was part of the investigative body that looked into the Apollo 1 accident that left three astronauts dead without even getting an inch off the ground. He was a significant personage in American political life, and he should be remembered by Chronicle readers. Charles Birimisa, Watsonville A step toward change It was good to see New push in Legislature to improve policing (April 22), about legislation to advance police reform. I think AB26 introduced by State Assembly Member Chris Holden, D-Pasadena is particularly important because it would mandate that police officers intervene in a situation when another officer is using excessive force. It would also protect an officer who does intervene from retaliation. Such a mandate might have saved George Floyd from being murdered. Police departments need to become professional organizations that relate to and are accountable to the communities they serve. Please urge your legislators to support AB26. Stephen Bischoff, Richmond Board late to learn The school boards promise to behave (School board vows professionalism, April 22) is much too little and much too late. The boards members should have been on their best behavior from the very beginning by working to reopen the schools, not rename them. Howard Epstein, San Francisco Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24) Southeast Asian leaders had a close discussion on the political crisis in Myanmar, leading to a joint call to immediately cease violence and to hold facilitated dialogues. "[We] expressed deep concern on the situation in the country, including reports of fatalities and escalation of violence," said the Chairman's statement on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Leaders' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday. "We also heard calls for the release of all political prisoners including foreigners." The statement came with a five-point consensus to address the turmoil in Myanmar, which included calling for an "immediate cessation of violence" and that "all parties shall exercise utmost restraint." Other points laid out constructive dialogue among all parties that will be facilitated by a special envoy who shall visit Myanmar. ASEAN also vowed to provide humanitarian assistance. Myanmar's military staged a coup on February 1 and had detained state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders for supposedly failing to take action over election fraud allegations. As of April 4, at least 550 people have been reportedly killed in clashes between state forces and protesters. The Philippines' top diplomat Teodoro Locsin Jr. was present in the meeting and described it as "the most candid exchange of views" among Southeast Asia's top officials. "It felt like a close family meeting about a family problem," Locsin said in a tweet. Myanmar Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military takeover, was also in Jakarta to attend the summit. On other matters, the ASEAN also instructed its member Foreign Ministers to conduct meetings with China and the United States as soon as possible - prior to the 54th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting - to further strengthen "ASEAN Centrality and unity in our engagement with ASEAN's external partners." Meanwhile, on the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN reiterated its commitment to coordinate recovery efforts, which covered the use of the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund to procure vaccines. CNN Philippines Correspondent Tristan Nodalo contributed to this report. When Worcester students arrive at the McGrath Elementary School and the Columbus Park School on Monday morning following school break, theyll see brand new playgrounds instead of empty blacktop. The playgrounds have been stood up Saturday as a part of Working for Worcester build day. Created by Jeff Reppucci and Derek Kump in their College of the Holy Cross dorm room nine years ago, Working for Worcester is a nonprofit that brings volunteers together annually for a build day to complete projects that create or revitalize play and educational spaces for kids in Worcester. Ian Williamson and Liam Busconi, the co-executive directors of Working for Worcester, said one of the best parts of this years build day is being able to surprise students with something new. Williamson said McGrath and Columbus Park were the last two Worcester elementary schools without a safe and functioning playground. A lot of these kids havent been able to be at school, be with their friends, so not only are they coming back to school, but Columbus Park and McGrath have two new playgrounds in their backyards which were just blacktop, Busconi said. Monday well find out their reaction and Im sure theyre going to be surprised and just excited to be able to use it. Thousands of Worcester students returned to school buildings last month for hybrid learning after more than a year of remote instruction because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now after a weeklong school break, theyll go back to schools that are a touch more beautiful from the work of volunteers. More than 200 volunteers are participating this year and got started at 9 a.m. Saturday. In a typical year Working for Worcester build day attracts around 1,500 volunteers, Busconi said. As the sun beamed down on the build site at McGrath on Saturday, Busconi said its nice to see volunteers outside of Zoom. The day is particularly welcome for Holy Cross student volunteers, he said, as the college year has been unordinary because of the pandemic. Weve been working for the past nine months to make it safe and successful, Williamson said. Theres just nothing better than, after such a crazy year, being able to come together as a community and just make a difference. Its really powerful. Working for Worcester has strictly outdoor projects this year at a selection of Worcester schools. In addition to the playground projects at McGarth and Columbus Park, there are beautification projects at sites including North High, Heard Street, Burncoat Prep, Lake View, Goddard and Clark Street. With Working for Worcester volunteers able to roll their sleeves up and get to work as vaccines roll out, Williamson said he hopes the day will help signify a light at the end of the tunnel, more than a year into the pandemic. Hopefully more things like this can happen in Worcester, Williamson said. Corporate sponsors of Working for Worcester include Hanover Insurance, Consigli, Fallon Health, UNUM, the United Way of Central Massachusetts, Bay State Savings Bank, Fuller Foundation, Saint Gobain, Polar, Worcester Red Sox, UMass Memorial Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Mirick and College of the Holy Cross. Related Content: SEYMOUR Police on Friday identified the three people, including a young child, who were killed in a head-on accident Wednesday night. The accident killed a female driver, a female passenger and a toddler in the backseat of a Hyundai Accent, Police Chief Paul Satkowski said Thursday. He said the female driver in the other vehicle was extricated and hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The driver was identified as 28-year-old West Haven resident Shanea Leary. Learys 4-year-old daughter, who was in the back seat, was also killed during the crash, police said. Police identified a front-seat passenger who was killed as 35-year-old Nicole Gibson of Ansonia. The 33-year-old Brookfield woman behind the wheel of the Toyota was later extricated with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Satkowski wrote. The vehicles collided on Route 34 near its intersection with Argonne Terrace, police said. In update Friday afternoon, Satkowski said Leary was driving the Hyundai east on Roosevelt Drive toward Derby at an apparent high rate of speed when the vehicle failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway. The Hyundai crossed into the oncoming lane, where the driver of a Toyota Rav4 tried to take evasive action but was unable to completely do so, Satkowski wrote. The two vehicles collided head-on near Argonne Terrace. An initial report by police Thursday seemed to indicate the driver of the westbound Toyota had been speeding. But Satkowskis update Friday later clarified police believe it was Learys car was traveling at a high rate of speed. Police said no other occupants were in the Toyota at the time of the crash. Police, EMS and fire units were called to the scene around 10 p.m. Wednesday night. When first responders arrived, they found both vehicles with significant front end damage, Satkowski said. The Toyota was found on its side and in an embankment, while the Hyundai was found in the eastbound lane of the road facing west. The State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Squad is investigating the accident alongside Seymour Police, Satkowski said. He said the investigation remains active and open, and encouraged anyone who may have witnessed the crash, or who was in the area before it occurred, to contact investigators. The stretch of road, which runs along the Housatonic River from Derbys Lakeview Terrace to the Stevenson Dam Bridge, has been the location of hundreds of crashes in recent years, according to the University of Connecticut Crash Data Repository. Anyone with information is asked to call lead investigator Dave Paratt at 203-915-2517, or the Seymour Police Department at 203-881-7600. In this March 25 file photo, Tanja Erichsen, from the Danish Medicines Agency speaks during a press briefing about the status of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Copenhagen. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting Erichsen fainted from her COVID-19 vaccine. Erichsen collapsed during an April 14 press conference to discuss the countrys decision to discontinue use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but it was not related to the vaccine. The Biden Department of Education has quietly proposed a new rule prioritizing the use of federal tax dollars for K-12 schools that replace traditional education with culturally responsive teaching and learning more commonly referred to as critical race theory. This is the most significant move by the federal government to redefine the nature of state-funded public schools in U.S. history. Although the current effort to push public schools receiving federal funding to adopt a detailed indoctrination agenda may feel new and overwhelming for parents, the truth is that the Biden attempt is simply the last phase in a decades-long effort to control local schools and press the progressive agenda on our children. With the power of taxpayer-funded purse strings, the federal government sends a message to public schools that if they want financial aid they must teach critical race theory and prioritize its ideologically anti-American, anti-traditional agenda over traditional education. Under Obama, public schools were thrust into the controversial world of Common Core, a series of federal mandates that included awareness education involving a progressive view of race, gender, and so-called equity (not to be confused with equality). Under Biden, a far more aggressive level of federal control over our nations K-12 classrooms will replace history (and objective truth) with identity politics and a warped view of American civics and institutions. In many cases, teachers are told to hide the racially divisive curriculum from parents. In others, students are encouraged to report the words and views of their parents and caretakers as examples of institutional racism. The initial goal is the indoctrination of young minds, but the long view is to aggregate power behind an alien political worldview that fed the dehumanizing machines of the Soviet Union and communist China. At its core, critical race theory is the false idea that the United States is a fundamentally racist country and that all of our nations institutions the law, culture, business, economy, education are designed to maintain white supremacy. Politicians and pundits market critical race theory as inclusive teaching, one that promotes understanding and tolerance. When the truth is exposed, they try to repackage it in a series of euphemisms , including anti-racism, equity, or culturally responsive teaching. But the scholars, like Ibram X. Kendi and the 1619 Project behind the related anti-racist rhetoric proposed in the rule the true believers admit the truth. Critical race theory curriculum tells students that they fall into one of two categories the oppressed or the oppressor based solely on the color of their skin. It tells students that if they are white then they are privileged and racist, and makes them affirm this ideology through classroom discussion and assignments. Some school districts take it even a step further and physically segregate students based on their race for lessons, reducing them to nothing more than a set of racial stereotypes. This is not healthy. It erases decades of progress. And it pits our children against each other, teaching them to hate one another. Parents must stay alert because this weeks proposed rule is just the beginning. Senate and House Democrats have already introduced bills, including the Civics Secures Democracy Act, which would require schools to promote critical race theory in exchange for more federal money. (Getty / YouTube) Kate Winslet recently shocked fans when she alerted them to her daughter Mia Threapletons little-known acting career. Threapleton, whose middle name is Honey, is the Oscar-winners 20-year-old daughter. Her name is taken from filmmaker Jim Threapleton, Mias father and Winslets first husband. The pair were married in 1998 and divorced in 2001. She is Winslets eldest daughter and has several siblings. Her step-siblings include Winslets 17-year-old son Joe whom the actor had with ex-husband Sam Mendes and seven-year-old Bear Blaze, whom Winslet had with her current husband Edward Abel Smith. Threapleton who is not on social media is signed with United Agents and has two film credits to her name, including the lead role in the 2020 independent film Shadows. In it, she stars as Alma, a teenage survivor of a catastrophic event. Together with her sister Alex, they reside deep in the woods with their mother who shelters them from an ominous presence called the Shadows, which live in the daylight. Speaking about her breakout role, Threapleton told Variety that she read the script and didnt put it down, which is admitting a lot because Im dyslexic and that means I have to read slowly and steadily to be able to absorb things fully sometimes. Threapleton also made a minor appearance in Winslets 2014 film A Little Chaos, starring alongside her mum as well as Alan Rickman and the late Helen McCrory. Getty/Groenlandia Despite Winslets celebrity status, Threapleton said that as a child she never actually spent much time around sets that my mum was working on. It was always a special treat, she said. The publication reports that Threapleton finished school and her exams between roles, and now has more time to audition on a regular basis. Speaking on Lorraine earlier this week, Winslet confirmed her daughters involvement in a new TV series, which she is currently shooting in the Czech Republic. A title for the forthcoming show is yet to be announced. Story continues Read More Oscars 2021 live: Razzies name years worst films ahead of Academy Awards on Sunday The ultimate list of greatest opening lines in movie history, from Goodfellas to Bridesmaids 34 actors who regret big roles, from Harrison Ford to Robert Pattinson Hands of the Week: Big Pots and Bad Beats in the GGPoker Spring Festival April 24, 2021 Chad Holloway PokerNews is known throughout the world for our industry-leading live updates for both live and online events. In fact, right now we're offering various updates right here. Over the years, weve captured memorable hands, many of which have become a part of poker history. In this new column, we will bring you some of the biggest hands of the week as reported in the PokerNews Live Updates. Remember, if youre playing an event PokerNews is covering, you can get in the updates via the MyStack App. You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in. Click here to download the My Stack app for iPhone, or click here to download the My Stack app for Android. Sousa Scores Big Double Through Parssinen In Level 12 (1,800/3,600/450) of the 2021 GGPoker Spring Festival Super MILLION$$ ME-H: $10,300 NLH, $10M GTD, Rui "OlliOctavius" Sousa raised to 7,920 in the hijack and Eelis Parssinen called out of the big blind. The flop was checked by both and the followed on the turn. Parssinen opted to check and Sousa made it 14,130 to go, only for Parssinen to check-raise to 60,030 total. Sousa came along for the ride to the river on which Parssinen used his time bank and jammed for 255,046 into a pot of 141,300. Sousa also activated his time bank and then called for 206,963 total! Parssinen rolled over for just a pair of eights and Sousa scored a big double with for top set on a straight and flush board. That hand helped propel Sousa to a 67th-place finish for $34,147. A Big River for Baron In the same tournament in Level 15: 3,500/7,000/850, Isaac Baron raised to 14,000 in middle position and Daniel Dvoress called one seat over. Action folded to Aliaksandr Hirs in the small blind, who three-bet shoved all in for 91,300. Baron came over the top for 301,700, almost all of his remaining stack, Dvoress shoved, and Baron called it off for 26,758 more. Aliaksandr Hirs: Isaac Baron: Daniel Dvoress: The flop kept the kings of Hirs in the lead, while Baron was trailing Dvoress for the side pot. The on the turn was a brick, but the on the river certainly not. Baron spiked one of his three outs, crippling Dvoress and eliminating Hirs in the process. Burns Busts to Angelou-Konstas In the GGPoker Spring Festival H-75: $25,500 Sunday 5 Million, it was Level 11 (1,750/3,500/450) in a min-raised pot to a flop of . Kahle Burns check-called for 4,500 against Ioannis Angelou-Konstas and the turn was checked by both. On the river, Burns check-raised from 20,240 to 47,155 and Angelou-Konstas moved all-in for 228,248. Burns had 128,632 behind and called it off with for a straight only to get shown the for the nuts by the Greek. Straight Flush versus Nut-Flush for Parssinen In the GGPoker Spring Festival H-72: $5,250 Bounty Hunters Main Event, it was Level 17 (10,000/20,000/3,000) when Artur Martirosian raised to 44,000 from the button and Eelis Parssinen defended his big blind. The flop came , Parssinen check-called the 39,270 continuation-bet of Martirosian. The turn was the and both players checked to the on the river. Parssinen checked again but Martirosian bet 174,000 for the Finn to shove for 773,650 and get called by Martirosian who held the for the nut-flush but Parssinen held the for the straight flush and the double. Miracle Survival for Kolonias In the Super MILLION$ ME-H: $10,300, $10M GTD it was Level 32 (70,000/140,000/17,500) when Stevan "Steve Austin" Chew opened for 280,000 in the hijack and was called by Julian Stuer on his left. 2019 WSOP Europe Main Event champ Alexandros Kolonias called off his last 24K in the big blind. On the , Chew check-called 252,000. The turn was a and Chew checked again. Stuer bet big this time with 939,702. Chew again peeled, bringing an . Stuer fired a final shell worth 2,126,993 into the side pot, and Chew quickly folded. Kolonias likely figured he had zero shot of survival as he showed but his hand was, amazingly good. Stuer held and scooped the larger side pot with his bluff. Kolonias went on to finish in 12th place for $105,155. To see what all PokerNews is live reporting today, click here. Queensland police have charged a second man with murder after the shooting deaths of Daytona Paul and Aaron Steven Davis north of Brisbane last week. The 21-year-old Kallangur man was originally taken into custody last Sunday, the day after the deaths, after allegedly being found in possession of dangerous drugs at Jindalee in Brisbanes south-west, police said. A second man has now been charged with murder after the fatal shooting on April 17. Credit:Nine News He appeared in the Caboolture Magistrates Court on Monday, April 19, and was remanded in custody. Detectives charged him with two counts of murder on Friday afternoon and he was expected to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Saturday. Adam Jayson Bird, 24, has also been charged with two counts of murder over the matter. He appeared in Caboolture Magistrates Court on Monday and was remanded until his case returned to court next month. The guilty verdict in the murder trial former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin shone a spotlight on killings by law enforcement officers. But the vast majority of police killings across the United States go largely unnoticed. To exemplify that fact, the Associated Press details how at least six people died at the hands of the police in the 24 hours after a verdict was reached in the Chauvin trial. Some of those deaths led to even more calls for accountability, while others have remained so under the radar that the name of the person who was killed isnt even known. In several cases, little is known about the lives of those killed and what happened in their final moments, notes the Associated Press. Advertisement Shortly before the Chauvin verdict was read, officer Nicholas Reardon in Columbus, Ohio killed MaKhia Bryant, a 16-year-old Black girl. Authorities say Reardon opened fire to protect a girl that Bryant had lunged at with a knife. Bodycam footage of the incident was released and the death led to protests in Columbus, with many wondering why the officer apparently didnt hesitate to open fire on such a young girl. Even the White House commented on the killing. The killing of 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant by the Columbus police is tragic, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday. She was a child. In contrast, the president of the National Fraternal Order of Police said the officers actions were an act of heroism. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In San Antonio, Texas, two men were killed in separate incidents. First, two police officers confronted a man on a bus who was allegedly armed. Shots were fired, the man, who remains unidentified, was killed. Later in the day, police were met with fire while responding to a call that a man had killed a person. They returned fire and killed the suspect, who also hasnt been identified. Advertisement In the same evening, a 31-year-old man in Worcester, Massachusetts called 911, claiming he had a bomb and would set it off. Law enforcement officers tried to negotiate with Phet Gouvonvong, who was wearing body armor and appeared to have a rifle. An officer opened fire when Gouvonvong moved toward police. Advertisement The next morning, police in Elizabeth City, North Carolina killed Andrew Brown Jr. while they were trying to serve an arrest warrant. A witness said police shot Brown while he was trying to drive away. Seven deputies have been placed on leave amid protests demanding that authorities release bodycam footage. Gov. Roy Cooper has also called for the bodycam footage to be released as quickly as possible. Initial reports of the shooting in Elizabeth City and death of Andrew Brown, Jr. this week are tragic and extremely concerning. The body camera footage should be made public as quickly as possible and the SBI should investigate thoroughly to ensure accountability. Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) April 23, 2021 Advertisement Advertisement Also on Wednesday, police in Escondido, California killed a white man who, according to police, charged at an officer with a metal pole. Officers had arrived at the area after a call that a man was hitting cars with a metal object. The man hasnt been identified but he was a homeless man who was well known to police and had been arrested 188 times since 2002. There had reportedly been numerous attempts to get him help from mental health professionals but they were never successful, according to authorities. Heres someone the police are saying was very well known to have mental health issues and was rotating through the system many times, and never got the help he needed, homeless advocate Michael McConnell told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Hes dead because our system failed him, plain and simple. It remains to be seen whether any of the officers involved in these killings will face charges, notes the AP. A young Mong ethnic minority man has become the first person in his community to earn a master's degree. Giang Seo Chau, (left) guides agricultural techniques for farmers. VNA/VNS Photo Giang Seo Chau made great efforts in his studies to become the first master's degree holder in Si Ma Cai District, the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, and help his community develop the household economy. The 35-year-old was born and nurtured in a poor farming family of six children in Man Than Commune, Si Ma Cai District. His parents were illiterate and he only went to school at the age of 10, but he always knew that only by studying could he lift his family out of poverty. Therefore, Chau was determined, every day, to travel on tens of kilometres of forest roads for many years to go to school and always try his best in studying. His efforts paid off and after graduating from high school, he passed the entrance exams of two universities. Chau said that when he learned he had passed the entrance exam, he burst into tears. However, his father advised him to stay home because the family did not have enough finances to support him in his studies. After lots of efforts to convince them, his parents finally agreed to let him pursue his education. By choosing to study at Hanoi University of Agriculture (now Vietnam Academy of Agriculture), he hoped to bring what he learned in the school to his homeland. Fortunately, he was exempt from tuition fees thanks to the Government's policy to support ethnic minority people, but to afford living expenses in Hanoi, Chau worked many jobs like washing dishes at a restaurant, as a shipper and on farms. After graduating from university, he went for his master's degree. In 2012, he got a master's in agriculture and forestry in Hanoi University of Agriculture and returned to his hometown, Man Than Commune, Si Ma Cai District. He was Vice-Chairman of the communal People's Committee for five years and helped local people start their own businesses and develop the household economy. Chau's efforts also contributed to making Man Than Commune the first locality in the highlands of Si Ma Cai District to complete a new rural construction programme. In 2017, he was elected to be the Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the communal People's Committee. "If I had the choice again, I would still follow the path of studying and then return to my hometown," he said. I am very proud of my homeland and would like to remind young people that if they are determined and put in their best efforts, they will succeed." His colleague, Chairman of the Quan Ho Than Commune People's Committee, Giang A Phu, said Chau offered effective instructions for local household farmers. These models bring about high efficiency, contributing to increasing income and ensuring local people's lives. With his efforts, Chau was honoured to receive the Certificate of Merit from then Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in 2016. In 2020, Chau won third prize in the nationwide contest 'Innovative rural youth startup project' organised by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and was a delegate at the 3rd National Youth Talent Congress in Hanoi. VNS 1. Yes. Its important to keep my child as safe as possible. We plan to take advantage. 2. Yes. With the school district dropping its mask mandate, its a necessary step. 3. No. Local COVID cases are dropping. There is no good reason to vaccinate my child. 4. No. There hasnt been enough data on vaccinated children. I think Ill hold off. 5. Unsure. I havent decided yet whether to take part in the vaccine clinics. Vote View Results Tottenham have an anxious couple of days ahead as they wait to see if their top man Harry Kane will be fit for their Carabao Cup final clash with Manchester City. Kane picked up an ankle injury on league duty against Everton and it is still unclear whether he'll be available for the final at Wembley. Spurs are looking to end a 13-year wait for a trophy, with the last piece of silverware coming in the League Cup when they defeated Chelsea 2-1 in February 2008. Interim boss Ryan Mason spoke about how a decision will be made between the player and the club over whether he'll feature. "Harry is a top professional and we're taking it hour by hour, seeing how he feels," said Mason. "What we are not going to do and what Harry is not going to do is put his body on the line if he does not think it is suitable. "It is combined effort. How does the player feel, what do the medics say." Kane's quest for silverware Kane will be desperate to play against Manchester City as he attempts to lift his first trophy in a Spurs shirt. Kane rushed himself back for the Champions League final in 2019 against Liverpool and didn't perform as well as he'd have liked. Although this injury isn't as serious, he won't feature if he could potentially aggravate the problem. The repercussions for Kane's future Kane has been linked with moves away from North London, but a victory in the final may convince him to commit his future to Tottenham. Many people argue that a player with Kane's talent needs to be winning trophies, which is something he hasn't been doing at his current club. This makes this cup final all the more important for Kane and Tottenham. Fatalities have been overlooked or downplayed, understating the human toll of the countrys outbreak, which accounts for nearly half of all new cases in a global surge. NEW DELHI Indias coronavirus second wave is rapidly sliding into a devastating crisis, with hospitals unbearably full, oxygen supplies running low, desperate people dying in line waiting to see doctors and mounting evidence that the actual death toll is far higher than officially reported. Each day, the government reports more than 300,000 new infections, a world record, and India is now seeing more new infections than any other country by far, almost half of all new cases in a global surge. But experts say those numbers, however staggering, represent just a fraction of the real reach of the viruss spread, which has thrown this country into emergency mode. Millions of people refuse to even step outside their fear of catching the virus is that extreme. Accounts from around the country tell of the sick being left to gasp for air as they wait at chaotic hospitals that are running out of lifesaving oxygen. Xiaomi India on Friday said it is stopping social media contests, freebies and diverting the promotional funds towards COVID-19 relief. The company has already pledged Rs 3 crore to procure over 1,000 oxygen concentrators for hospitals across states and partnered with Give India to raise Rs 1 crore for COVID warriors. "In light of the current situation, we are cutting down on our budget allocated for giveaways and social media promotions. The money we save will be contributed towards the covid relief," Xiaomi said on Twitter. The company runs a contest whenever it launches products. The announcement from the company came when it unveiled new products- Mi 11 Ultra, flagship Mi QLED 75 inch TV and two new models in Mi11 X series. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan reported 75.01 per cent of the new COVID-19 cases registered in a day. According to official data, India added a record 3,32,730 new coronavirus cases in a span of 24 hours, taking the country's infection tally to 1,62,63,695. Total 2,263 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in the period. Delhi and nine states account for 81.79 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (568). Delhi follows with 306 daily deaths. Several hospitals in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad are reported to have been running out of oxygen. People on social media have been reporting about shortage of several medicines, hospital beds and other facilities. The European Union has dismissed Russian authorities' labeling of Latvia-based independent news outlet Meduza as a "foreign agent" and urged Moscow to end its "systematic infringement" of basic rights and freedoms for the political opposition and other Russians. Russia's Justice Ministry announced the step -- which requires organizations to label themselves as "foreign agents" and subjects them to increased government scrutiny and regulation -- against the 7-year-old Meduza outlet a day earlier. "We reject the decision by the Russian authorities to include independent media outlet Meduza on the list of 'foreign agents,'" the EU's diplomatic service said in a statement on April 24. The bloc cited the media's duty to "report on issues of public interest" and state authorities' "obligation...to ensure they can do so in an atmosphere free of fear and intimidation." "It is extremely concerning that Russian authorities continue to restrict the work of independent media platforms, as well as individual journalists and other media actors," the bloc's spokesperson said. "It goes against Russia's international obligations and human rights commitments." Meduza was formed in 2014 by the former chief editor of Lenta.ru, Galina Timchenko, after she and most of Lenta.rus editorial staff left following an ownership change. According to the independent Medialogia monitoring site, Meduza was among the top 10 most-cited Russian-language Internet sources in 2020 and was No. 1 in the ranking of most-linked-to in social-media posts. The same day that the designation was ordered against Meduza, the Justice Ministry added the little-known, Moscow-based First Anti-Corruption Media project, which describes itself as a federal media outlet specializing in the fight against corruption in Russia, to the same registry. Russias so-called foreign agent legislation was adopted in 2012 and has been modified repeatedly. One of its modifications targets foreign-funded media. In 2017, the Russian government placed RFE/RLs Russian Service on the list, along with six other RFE/RL Russian-language news services, and Current Time, a network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. At the end of 2020, the legislation was modified to allow the Russian government to include individuals, including foreign journalists, on its foreign agents list and to impose restrictions on them. "It is the European Unions longstanding position that the so-called 'foreign agent' law contributes to a systematic infringement of basic freedoms, and restricts civil society, independent media, and the rights of political opposition in Russia," the EU said. "Democracy is a universal value that includes respect for human rights as enshrined in international law." The Russian state media monitor Roskomnadzor last year adopted rules requiring listed media to mark all written materials with a lengthy notice in large text, all radio materials with an audio statement, and all video materials with a 15-second text declaration. The agency has prepared hundreds of complaints against RFE/RLs projects for failure to follow such rules that could result in fines totaling more than $1 million. RFE/RL has called the fines a state-sponsored campaign of coercion and intimidation, while the U.S. State Department has described them as intolerable. This documentary from Lisa Rovner, about women and electronic music, is hardly as goofy as its title makes it sound. Many of the innovating individuals profiled here contend that women have an affinity for digital technology. And that technology had, and still has, the potential to blow up the power structure. Then again, discussing her theremin an electronic instrument that creates sound via hand movements through what looks like empty space the performer Clara Rockmore says: You cannot play air with hammers. You have to play with butterfly wings. By the same token, Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire, 1950s and 60s pioneers of synthesizers and tape loops who both worked for the BBC, are conventionally proper and polite as they explain their innovations in archival interviews. Sorry! This content is not available in your region The contingent is on the way of withdrawal. By Yang Hui DARFUR, Sudan, Apr. 23 -- Fifty-five peacekeepers assigned to the 16th Chinese peacekeeping engineering contingent to Darfur stationed at Golo camp in Sudan successfully withdrew to the main camp in El Fasher after traveling over 280 km in four days, together with 16 vehicles and equipment, on April 14, local time, which marked the completion of the first camp withdrawal mission. During the maneuver, the contingent traversed dry river beds, Myra Mountains, deserts and passed through areas controlled by the anti-government armed forces while overcoming multiple difficulties such as scorching heat and tire punctures. Along the way, the contingent kept marching forward 18 hours per day and ensured the safety of all personnel and equipment. Since the deployment to the mission area at the end of August 2020, these peacekeepers stationed at Golo camp have successively completed multiple engineering support tasks, such as the restoration of the protective facilities in the camp, the building of signal towers in Golo, the construction of the Sortoni camp, and rescue of friendly troops rollover equipment. They have won widespread acclaim from the UN and their foreign counterparts for their professional performance. The Senator Nobody Voted for Has Curious Plan for Joe Bidens America Commentary With Vice President Kamala Harris in the Biden-Harris administration, California Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Alex Padilla to replace Harris in the Senate. Both politicians have backstories that people across the nation and around the world should know. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was a city councilman in Los Angeles from 1999 to 2006, and a state senator from 2006 to 2014. The following year, Padilla became Californias secretary of state, and after the 2016 election, Padilla refused to cooperate with a federal probe of voter fraud, a longstanding practice in California. As a State Department investigation discovered, falsely documented illegals have been voting in local, state, and federal elections for decades. In 1996, 642 illegals voted for Democrat Loretta Sanchez, who defeated Republican Robert Dornan by fewer than 1,000 votes. In recent years, voter fraud has been surging through the states imported electorate. According to a study by scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale, more than 22 million people are illegally present in the United States. Pew Research pegged the figure at 11 million, more likely the number illegally present in California alone. For example, when he announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration in 2019, then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra displayed a sign claiming 10 million immigrants in the state. When illegal aliens get drivers licenses, the California Department of Motor Vehicles automatically registers them to vote. In 2015, Padilla told the Los Angeles Times, At the latest, for the 2018 election cycle, I expect millions of new voters on the rolls in the state of California. True to form, by March 2018, the DMV motor voter plan had given licenses to more than 1 million illegals. Padilla wouldnt say how many illegals voted in 2018, but his previous reference to millions provided a ballpark figure. Many more were on the way. From 2016 to 2018, caravans of illegals began showing up at U.S. ports of entry in California, the place on the U.S. border most distant from Central America. Once in California, the acquisition of a drivers license makes any illegal a registered voter. In March 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered mail-in ballots for every registered voter in the state. That included the millions of new voters that Padilla celebrated. As in 2016 and 2018, the secretary of state failed to reveal how many illegals voted, hardly the only issue in need of investigation. California is also a pioneer of ballot harvesting, and that came into play with Kamala Harris, UCHastings College of the Law grad. Democrat queenmaker Willie Brown struck up a romantic relationship with Harris, 30 years his junior. Brown set up Harris in a lucrative sinecure and backed her run for district attorney in San Francisco. In 2010, Harris was so poorly regarded that the Sacramento Bee, a veritable Democrat newsletter, endorsed Republican Steve Cooley, district attorney of Los Angeles County. Cooley held the lead on election night but the same Service Employees International Union (SEIU) drones who ran Harriss campaign dredged up enough provisional ballots to give Harris a victory of less than 1 percent some three weeks later. If any Californian thought that was ballot fraud, it would be hard to blame them. President Barack Obama called Harris the best-looking attorney general in the country, but her record was undistinguished, especially on public corruption. When whistleblowers called for a criminal investigation over trouble with the new Bay Bridge, Harris took no action. In 2020, Harris often clashed with Delaware Democrat Joe Biden, particularly on his fondness for segregationists, but Biden wound up giving her the nod. Newsom appointed Padilla to replace Harris in the Senate. For a man nobody voted for, Padilla proved rather hostile to senators who had, in fact, been elected by the people. Donald Trump, and a lot of his enablers, must be held accountable, Padilla told CalMatters in January. Asked if he would vote to censure or expel Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) over their Jan. 6 objections to the November presidential elections, Padilla said: Yes, I think they have to be held accountable. I think the nation would be best served if they were no longer in the Senate. Padilla recently went on record that the Electoral College is Americas original sin and one of those long-lasting things that need to be corrected. In his vision, the Electoral College of the Constitution is replaced by an imported electorate. The illegals vote for Democrats and in return get a host of government benefits plus protection from deportation through sanctuary laws. That arrangement is likely what President Joe Biden has in mind when he touts California as a model for the nation. As Biden said in 2014, illegal immigrants are already Americans, so the border is essentially meaningless. The surging caravans are basically drives to bring in more voters. The rule of the Democratic Party replaces the rule of law, and what goes around comes around. When Harris moved on to the U.S. Senate, she was replaced as attorney general by Becerra, once on Hillary Clintons shortlist as a running mate. Becerra is now back in Washington as Health and Human Services boss. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the nation is looking more like California by the day. Lloyd Billingsley is the author of Yes I Con: United Fakes of America, Barack em Up: A Literary Investigation, Hollywood Party, and other books. His articles have appeared in many publications, including Frontpage Magazine, City Journal, The Wall Street Journal, and American Greatness. Billingsley serves as a policy fellow with the Independent Institute. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Can a high dose of vitamin D administered on admission to hospital improve the condition of patients with moderate or severe COVID-19? The answer is no, according to a Brazilian study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The article reports a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, the kind of study considered the gold standard to evaluate drug efficacy. It was conducted with FAPESP's support by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo's Medical School (FM-USP), who recruited 240 patients treated at Hospital das Clinicas (HC), the hospital complex run by FM-USP, and the Ibirapuera field hospital in Sao Paulo City in June-August 2020. In vitro studies or trials with animals had previously shown that in certain situations vitamin D and its metabolites can have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial effects, as well as modulating the immune response. We decided to investigate whether a high dose of the substance could have a protective effect in the context of an acute viral infection, reducing either the inflammation or the viral load." Rosa Pereira, Principal Investigator The volunteers were randomly divided into two groups, one of which was given vitamin D3 in a single dose of 200,000 units (IU) dissolved in a peanut oil solution. The other group was given only the peanut oil solution. All participants were treated according to the standard protocol for hospital treatment of the disease, which includes administration of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. The main purpose was to see if acute supplementation would affect the length of hospital stay for these patients, but the researchers also wanted to find out whether it would mitigate the risks of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), intubation and death. No significant difference between the groups was observed for any of these clinical outcomes. According to Pereira, the study was designed above all to assess the impact on hospital stay and a larger number of volunteers would be needed to achieve a scientifically acceptable estimate of the effect on mortality. "So far we can say there's no indication to administer vitamin D to patients who come to the hospital with severe COVID-19," she said. For Bruno Gualano, a researcher at FM-USP and penultimate author of the article, the findings show that at least for now there is no "silver bullet" for the treatment of COVID-19. "But that doesn't mean continuous use of vitamin D can't have beneficial effects of some kind," he said. Ideal dose Pereira is currently leading a study at FM-USP to find out whether subjects with sufficient circulating levels of vitamin D combat infection by SARS-CoV-2 better than those with insufficient levels of the nutrient. The ideal level of vitamin D in the blood and the daily supplementation dose vary according to age and overall health, she explained. Older people and patients with chronic diseases including osteoporosis should have more than 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood (ng/mL). For healthy adults, 20 ng/mL is an acceptable threshold. "The ideal approach is case-by-case analysis, if necessary dosing the substance periodically by means of blood work, with supplementation if a deficiency is detected," Pereira said. (Newser) Coffee is serious business in Italy, and espresso in particular. Drinking it "is a way of life," per a post at euronews. No big surprise, then, that the nation is seeking to have its espresso tradition enshrined as a unique cultural treasure by a UN agency. But as the Wall Street Journal explains, the effort has been hamstrung by a civil war of sorts. A group in the north submitted a bid to UNESCO that would honor the espresso tradition of all of Italy. But a group in the south submitted a bid of its own asking that the specific coffee culture of Naples and the surrounding region be the one that is recognized. UNESCO threw up its hands, rejected both nominations, and has asked the two groups to figure it out and return with a united bid. Based on the sentiments expressed in the story, that might not be too easy. story continues below The view from the south: "Neapolitan culture can't be understood without coffee," says anthropologist Marino Niola of Naples. "If you imagine Naples as a body, coffee is the blood flowing through it." He calls the northern bid an "act of war." And the view from the north: "They want to say that coffee comes from Naples, but such prevarication is unacceptable," says Giorgio Caballini, founder of a consortium behind the northern bid. "It means appropriating something which isn't only theirs. It is also theirs." Advocates for Naples cite cultural traditions surrounding espresso in the region, particularly one known as the "suspended cup." Patrons pay for their cup, then leave enough extra to pay for somebody else's. A 161-year-old cafe in Naples has begun a petition on behalf of the southern bid that has more than 40,000 signatures so far. Caballini's take: "I am not going to give away a part of the name in favor of a small part of Italy." (Read more espresso stories.) Despite difficulties, the local logistics industry is still on the rise in this years first quarter thanks to many reasons, including the global economic recovery. For CEVA Logistics Vietnam, recovery means the company can boost recruitment and expand its network to ship goods to the US, which considered Vietnam its eighth-largest trade partner in the first quarter of 2021. In Vietnam, the companys total revenue in the first three months from freight shipping grew about 30 per cent on-year, Nguyen Thanh Van, head of Contract Logistics at CEVA Logistics Vietnam, told VIR. It is expected that the rate will be about 20-25 per cent for the whole year. According to Van, many other logistics firms are also performing well thanks to a rise in exports and an increase in global trade, as well as the governments good control of COVID-19 helping raise business confidence and domestic production. Last June, CEVA expanded its contract logistics footprint in Vietnam with a new multi-user facility in the southern province of Dong Nai. Spanning over 10,000 square metres, the warehouse is serving as a distribution centre for the Ho Chi Minh City area and will become a main hub to connect south and central Vietnam. The facility is strategically located with easy access to Cat Lai Port and Tan Son Nhat International Airport. According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), firms like CEVA Logistics Vietnam have contributed greatly to the countrys goods transportation which hit 153.6 million tonnes in March, up 5.3 per cent on-month. The volume in the first quarter of the year reached 472.6 million tonnes, up 10.2 per cent, far higher than the 1.1 per cent growth on-year in the same period last year. Along with uptrends in logistics, the first-quarter manufacturing and processing industry also grew 9.45 per cent on-year in the first quarter, higher than the on-year climb of 7.12 per cent in the corresponding period last year. Manufacturing and processing currently create 80 per cent of Vietnams industrial growth. In an example, Japanese-invested FCC Vietnam Co., Ltd. at Hanois Thang Long Industrial Park is operating three workshops producing a variety of car and motorcycle clutches, related components, and other spare parts for Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha, and also for export to the US. Do Hong Minh is among over 1,200 workers at the company. His average income from the work has increased by another VND1 million ($43.50) per month, as compared to last December. The company will import eight new lathes in May worth about VND50 billion ($2.1 million) for our workshop, meaning another 30 new workers will be needed, Minh told VIR. Since early this year, we have become much busier as the company has landed many new orders from US partners who want to buy new products from FCC. Previously COVID-19 forced the company to reduce production costs. Over 200 local workers faced a layoff but still got 70 per cent of their monthly salary. Currently, all workers are working at full speed, with a rise in income. According to the GSO, the Vietnamese economy in general is bouncing back. In the first quarter of 2021, it grew 4.48 per cent on-year, higher than the on-year climb of 3.82 per cent in the same period last year. On April 15, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted his first government cabinet meeting after the governmnents new personel group made a debut at the recent 11th session of the 14th National Assembly. The PM ordered government members to continue concentrating on building the government and administrative agencies of all levels into a bloc with high solidarity, consensus, integrity, democracy, strengthened discipline and order, and with practical and effective activities in service of the public and enteprises, ensuring openness, transparency, and accountability. Heads of units responsibility in setting examples and exemplariness are to be enhanced. The PM also ordered government members to timely remove difficulties for production and business activities, and develop domestic trade and tourism markets, while ensuring stable development of the local real estate and stock markets. Efforts are to continue being made to improve the domestic business climate and mobilise and effectively use all resources for national development via effective and sound institutions, mechanisms, and policies. The government also agreed to enact a decree on extending time for tax payment and land use payment in 2021. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs is required to review and assess the effectiveness of the implementation of governmental resolutions on measures for supporting those vulnerable to COVID-19. Results must be reported to the prime minister. Positive forecasts A number of high-profile organisations are to revise up the economys outlook for this year and beyond, saying that manufacturing and processing, and a bigger inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) will continue serving as the key pillars for economic growth in the time to come. On April 28, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vietnam will release its updated Asian Development Outlook report, with an expectation that it will revise up its projection for the Vietnamese economys growth this year. Last December, it forecast that Vietnam might grow 6.1 per cent in 2021. The ADB has said that Vietnam is showing stronger resilience than most comparable economies, and the economys outlook over the medium and long term remains positive. Economic fundamentals have not been impaired, and Vietnam looks likely to benefit from current trends in global patterns of trade, investment, and production. According to the ADB, investment in 2021 will be boosted by improving disbursement of public investment, the continuing diversion of production from China to Vietnam, recovery in Chinas economy, and the implementation of a trade agreement with the European Union to greatly liberalise trade. Two weeks ago, former Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who is now State President, said that Vietnam has become a safe destination for investment. Many international organisations have praised the economys potential and outlook for this year, including HSBC with 7 per cent growth projected, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at 6.5 per cent, and the International Finance Corporation at 6.5 per cent in the 2021-2026 period, while Moodys has changed Vietnams economic outlook to positive from negative. As of March 20, total registered FDI reached $10.13 billion, an on-year climb of 18.5 per cent. Total disbursement in the first three months of 2020 is estimated to touch $4.1 billion, up 6.5 per cent on-year. The IMF said that Vietnams economic outlook is expected to remain brighter in 2021 thanks to the governments pro-business policies and good control of COVID-19, which have helped strengthen the confidence of enterprises and investors. Growth is projected to strengthen to 6.5 per cent in 2021 as normalisation of economic activity continues, businesses recover, and private consumption and business climate rebound. Manufacturing and retail sales are expected to lead the recovery, while the travel and hospitality services will remain subdued. Net exports will continue to contribute positively to growth as external demand picks up. FDI remained buoyant, with the increase largely coming from China in the manufacturing sector. By end-2019, total committed Chinese FDI was estimated at around $16.3 billion, accounting for around 5 per cent of total accumulated FDI to Vietnam (20 per cent if Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan are combined), said the IMF report. Last week, Fitch Ratings told VIR they expect stronger economic activity in 2021 [in Vietnam] in which we forecast real GDP growth of 8.6 per cent driven by manufacturing, construction and services, to spur higher loan demand over the year. In particular, trade gains from free trade agreements with the EU and the UK, as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, will provide a further thrust to export manufacturing on top of the gains in production since 2018 which come from manufacturing supply chain relocation from China, Fitch Ratings said. A rise in local production has also prompted Fitch to forecast Vietnams credit growth to be 12 per cent in 2021, in line with the central bank, up from an estimated 10.1 per cent in 2020. In Vietnam, almost all loans of businesses come from bank loans. Expectations One month ago, the IMFs Executive Board wrapped up consultation with Vietnam. The IMF executive directors noted that the pandemic disrupted a prolonged period of high growth and improvements in living standards. They commended the authorities for their decisive and comprehensive response to the pandemic, which, supported by strong fundamentals and policy buffers, has been instrumental in ensuring the economys resilience. Directors stressed the importance of structural reforms to improve the business environment, enhance productivity, and boost post-pandemic potential growth. They concurred that priority should be given to reducing labour skill-mismatches, promoting digital transformation, and ensuring a level playing field. Directors welcomed continued efforts to improve economic institutions and strengthen governance. As for Van from CEVA Logistics Vietnam, he said that all enterprises like CEVA want a level playing field which can help the economy reach higher growth. More administrative reforms need boosting because firms are still facing complicated procedures in tax payment and customs clearance, for example, hampering them from reducing production and business costs, Van told VIR. Meanwhile, Minh from FCC Vietnam told VIR that he felt optimistic over his work, and believed in the economys outlook. Our company is expanding its workshops, meaning we will have more work to do, he said. More administrative reform will help companies like mine perform better. This will also mean that over 1,200 workers at the company will have more income to feed their families. Chinese vice premier stresses developing major Greater Bay Area cooperation platforms Xinhua) 15:27, April 24, 2021 Photo taken on July 11, 2018 shows the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China. (Xinhua/Liang Xu) GUANGZHOU, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng has called for steadily developing major cooperation platforms in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Han, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the leading group for developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, made the remarks while presiding over a meeting of the group in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, on Thursday. Han described building the Greater Bay Area a strong measure to advance reform and opening-up and to help Hong Kong and Macao better integrate into China's overall development. He stressed accelerating the development of the Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin, Zhuhai City, which will help Macao diversify its economy. Han also said a modern service industry cooperation zone in Qianhai, Shenzhen City, should make better use of the supporting policies to boost in-depth cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Shenzhen and Hong Kong are highly complementary in advancing science and technology innovations, the two cities should cooperate closely in planning and building the Hetao zone for science and technology innovation cooperation, the vice premier said. He urged efforts to build a better working and living environment to attract more international professionals to the Greater Bay Area. The meeting was attended by other senior officials as well as Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam and Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region Ho Iat Seng. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) Mumbai, April 24 : Television actor Pankit Thakker, who is currently seen in the show "Aapki Nazron Ne Samjha", says while he misses going to real weddings, he's having a ball 'attending' the fictional one he is currently shooting for. "It's been two years approximately and I haven't attended a real wedding due to the pandemic. But now when we are shooting for a wedding sequence it's helping me enjoy that 'shaadi waali' feeling. I do miss attending weddings and also the special food (laughs). I wish the pandemic ends soon and I'm invited to a real wedding," Pankit tells IANS. The actor is shooting in Goa, after shooting in Mumbai was stalled owing to the rising cases of Covid-19. "The situation as of now is quite sensitive and we all are worried. We are safe in Goa and shooting, just to make sure we can entertain our audience in such a depressing situation," he says. Pankit is known for featuring in popular shows like "Kabhii Sautan Kabhii Saheli", "Dill Mill Gayye" among others. Israeli police clashed with Palestinians for a second night Friday in annexed east Jerusalem, amid mounting tensions over a ban on gatherings during Ramadan and anger fuelled by videos posted of attacks. Officials said 44 people were arrested and 20 officers were wounded in a night of chaos in the holy city, where security forces separately clashed with Palestinians and groups of Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby. Tensions have spiked in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Residents braced for possible further unrest as police stepped up security and the U.S. Embassy appealed for calm. In what seemed a retaliation for the incidents in Jerusalem, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired three rockets toward Israel late Friday. Israeli security forces disperse Palestinian protesters outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on April 23, 2021, amid tensions following yesterday's clashes between Palestinians and far-right Jews. Israeli police say 44 people were arrested and 20 officers were wounded in a night of chaos in Jerusalem Israeli security forces on horseback disperse Palestinian protesters outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on April 23, 2021. Tensions have spiked in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Jerusalem is home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Israeli police officers walk during clashes with Palestinian protesters, as the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan continues, in Jerusalem, April 23, 2021 Residents braced for possible further unrest as police stepped up security and the U.S. Embassy appealed for calm. Pictured: A fire burns in a dumpster as Israeli security forces disperse Palestinian protesters at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on April 23 The Israeli military said two rockets fell near Gaza frontier and the third was intercepted by Israeli air defenses. No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the attack, which came hours after Hamas' armed wing warned Israel 'not to test' its patience. There were concerns the violence could reignite following Friday prayers at a major holy site in Jerusalem, but thousands of worshippers dispersed peacefully after Muslim religious leaders called for restraint. The Islamic militant group Hamas meanwhile staged demonstrations across Gaza reiterating its support for armed struggle. Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The tensions began when police placed barricades outside the Old City's Damascus Gate, where Muslims traditionally gather to enjoy the evening after the daytime fast. In what seemed a retaliation for the incidents in Jerusalem, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired three rockets toward Israel late Friday. Pictured: A Palestinian protester runs from Israeli security forces outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on April 23, 2021 Pictured: Israeli security forces deploy in Jerusalem's Old City on April 23, 2021, amid tensions following yesterday's clashes between Palestinians and far-right Jews. The Israeli military said two rockets fell near Gaza frontier and the third was intercepted by Israeli air defenses Pictured: A Palestinian protesters sits on the ground during clashes with Israeli police, as the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan continues, in Jerusalem, April 23, 2021. After calm during daylight hours on Friday, scuffles broke out again as thousands of Muslim worshippers left Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after evening prayers flared on Thursday outside one of the entrances to the walled Old City, after police had barred access to some areas where Palestinians usually gather in large numbers during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. An Israeli police officer aims during clashes with Palestinian protesters, as the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan continues, in Jerusalem, April 23 Clashes broke out between worshippers and police, with water bottles hurled at officers who fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd. Pictured: Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian protester outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on April 23, 2021 Late Thursday, hundreds of Palestinians hurled stones and bottles at police, who fired a water cannon and stun grenades to disperse them. Dozens of Palestinians were wounded in the melee. Meanwhile, a far-right Jewish group known as Lahava led a march of hundreds of protesters chanting 'Arabs get out!' toward the Damascus Gate. The show of force came in response to videos circulated on TikTok showing Palestinians slapping religious Jews at random. Other videos made in response to them appear to show Jews assaulting Arabs. After calm during daylight hours on Friday, scuffles broke out again as thousands of Muslim worshippers left Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after evening prayers, when they found themselves confronted by dozens of armed police, including officers on horseback. Police used metal barricades to halt the far-right protesters a few hundred meters from Damascus Gate. Later, they used water cannon, stun grenades and mounted police to push them back toward mostly Jewish west Jerusalem. Videos circulated online showed smaller clashes and fires elsewhere in the city. One video showed what appeared to be a group of Palestinians beating an ultra-Orthodox Jew near Damascus Gate. They could be seen punching, kicking and throwing him to the ground before police chased them off. Palestinian protesters throw objects during clashes with Israeli police, as the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan continues, in Jerusalem, April 23, 2021 A Palestinian protester is detained during clashes with Israeli police, as the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan continues, in Jerusalem, April 23, 2021 Pictured: Israeli security forces detain a protester during clashes with Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem's Old City on April 23, 2021 Israeli police officers walk during clashes with Palestinian protesters, as the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan continues, in Jerusalem, April 24, 2021 Israeli security forces deploy outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on April 23, 2021 The police statement did not specify whether those arrested were Palestinian or Jewish and did not refer to any specific instances of violence. The police did not immediately respond to a request for more details. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized by most of the international community. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state. Its fate has been one of the most divisive issues in the peace process, which ground to a halt more than a decade ago. The U.S. Embassy said it was 'deeply concerned' about the violence in recent days. 'We hope all responsible voices will promote an end to incitement, a return to calm, and respect for the safety and dignity of everyone in Jerusalem,' it said in a statement. Tens of thousands of Palestinians attended weekly prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City on Friday. The site is the third holiest in Islam and the holiest for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, condemned the 'police and settlers' attack on Palestinians in Jerusalem' in his Friday sermon. Israeli security forces disperse Palestinian protesters outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on April 23, 2021 An Israeli police officer aims during clashes with Palestinian protesters, as the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan continues, in Jerusalem, April 23, 2021 But he called on worshippers to remain calm and not to give the other side an excuse to storm the compound. They dispersed peacefully after prayers and there were no immediate reports of unrest. The sprawling hilltop compound has seen clashes on a number of occasions over the years and was the epicenter of the 2000 Palestinian intifada, or uprising. The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, meanwhile staged dozens of protests across the territory expressing solidarity with Muslim worshippers in Jerusalem. Addressing the protesters, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar condemned the decision of some Arab states to normalize relations with Israel last year and lashed out at the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank for continuing its security coordination with Israel. 'After a long series of protests and demonstrations, we have reached the conclusion that without weapons, we cannot liberate our land, protect our holy sites, bringing back our people to their land or maintain our dignity,' he said. Streets are set ablaze as members of the Israeli security forces deploy during clashes with Palestinian protesters outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City on April 22, 202 The United States, Israel's ally which under President Joe Biden has encouraged greater rights for Palestinians, said it was 'deeply concerned' by the escalation in violence in the flashpoint holy city. 'The rhetoric of extremist protestors chanting hateful and violent slogans must be firmly rejected,' State Department spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter. The European Union and United Nations also appealed for restraint. Jordan condemned the 'provocations' carried out by the 'extremist' Jewish groups, calling on Israel to prevent such incidents and lift restrictions on access to Al-Aqsa mosque. Videos on social media also showed Palestinians attacking ultra-Orthodox Jews in the early hours of Friday, with reports of Israeli vehicles being stoned in and near east Jerusalem. Jerusalem mayor Moshe Lion said he tried to cancel the Lehava march, but police told him it was legal, noting that 'dozens' of Jews who attacked Arabs had been arrested in the past two weeks. Speaking with public broadcaster Kan, Lion said he was in talks with leaders of the Palestinian east Jerusalem neighbourhoods 'to end this pointless violence'. Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, has said no lady who is financially unstable should consider marriage. The actress said t... Nollywood actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, has said no lady who is financially unstable should consider marriage. The actress said this in a recent interview with BBC Yoruba revealing that she got married at 18 because she was a millionaire. According to her, any woman who is considering marriage without being financially stable is automatically preparing herself to be imprisoned in the union. The actress said: One should not marry a man when one is not financially stable. If one does that, one would be going into slavery or better still, prison. One must apply wisdom or common sense in everything one does. People cannot say that because I married at 18, therefore they can also do the same. The question is, are you ready for marriage? When I was 18, I was ready. I had been working since I was 15-year-old and I became a millionaire at the age of 18. That is a fact that a lot of people do not know. I had my own money. I was not dependent on any man. Moreover, I lost my father at an early age, so I was already responsible for my younger siblings. I was like their mother at that time, so I was very mature and financially prepared. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 09:43:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SINGAPORE, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Friday that the city-state, as a financial hub, can help the global push for sustainability through green finance, fintech and capability building. At the Virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, he said that Singapore has launched a 2 billion U.S. dollars Green Investments Programme, which will support the development of carbon trading and services, sustainability consultancies and environmental risk management. "One promising area is emissions verification, including using new technology to measure the carbon footprints and monitor abatement commitments of businesses," Lee said. "Singapore is happy to share our experience in all these areas." The prime minister also said that the city-state launched the Singapore Green Plan 2030 this year, which is the country's roadmap towards sustainable development and net-zero emissions. "Our strategy goes beyond meeting emission caps or implementing our carbon tax," he said. Lee said that Singapore must also innovate and use technology extensively, so as to overcome the disadvantages such as its small size and lack of resources, and achieve its emission reduction goals. It plans to quadruple solar energy production by 2025. It is opening one of the world's largest floating solar energy systems, which will offset 33,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. And to moderate the rising urban temperatures, Singapore is using computer modeling for more climate-responsive urban design, experimenting with special cooling paint on buildings, and planting 1 million more trees. Enditem HubKonnect, Inc. today announced an addition to its Advisory Board. CEO Michael Koch and The Board of Directors have appointed Christina Aguilera as Senior Advisor of the company, effective April 23rd. Aguilera is currently the Head of Creative Engineering at Amazon.com. Inc., and former Head of Digital Asset Management for The Walt Disney Company where she led the global giant through asset consolidation and optimization across their individual brands, subsidiaries, and properties. Aguilera is one of the worlds most innovative leaders in Digital Asset Management strategy. Christina provides us with unprecedented knowledge in the modernization and optimization of assets, bringing best-in-class processes and technology to our large QSR clients and their franchisees,'' said HubKonnect CEO Michael Koch. LSM has become a data-driven ecosystem and we are at the forefront. HubKonnect is a continuously learning platform that collects and analyzes millions of data points and creates strategic, customized Local Store Marketing (LSM) plans for individual franchise and multi-unit locations. We have evolved to become the next big thing in restaurant technology. Not only do we have the data-driven tech, but we also have the solutions around it to build out custom ecosystems for each of our clients, said HubKonnect Executive Advisor, Kevin Newell, former McDonalds Global Chief Brand Officer. Christinas vast experience at scale will bring unique insights that will continue to advance our business. She is a great addition to our advisory team. Christina will interact with HubKonnect Leadership, the Digital Asset Management team, HubKonnects asset creation studio, data scientists, technologists, and marketing experts to continue accelerating the platform's roadmap to service the worlds leading QSR and retail organizations. HubKonnect brings Local Marketing expertise and innovative technology together to enable local franchises to build intelligent, data-driven, and custom Local Store Marketing plans that deliver on brand, sales, and engagement objectives. Understanding the importance of asset optimization to support the HubKonnect LSM plans and strategic ecosystem through hyperlocal assets is key in today's competitive world, Agulera said. I look forward to helping to build on HubKonnects remarkable success. About HubKonnect: HubKonnect is the leading AI Platform for data-driven Local Store Marketing. The cognitive AI platform suggests customized local marketing ideas based upon an analysis of the specific customers and opportunities within an individual retail location. HubKonnect delivers an immediate benefit for the top franchises in the world by providing local marketing expertise to individual franchise locations. Visit https://www.hubkonnect.com for more information. Its not 2007 again. But apparently no one has told George W. Bush. To coincide with the release of a book of his paintings of immigrants, Out of Many, One, the former Republican president wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post plugging the sort of immigration package that went down to defeat in both his administration and in the administration of his successor, Barack Obama. Bush is an unusually sincere, earnest politician whose views on immigration are deeply felt and honestly come by they are just anachronistic, or should be. If theres any lesson that everyone should have learned from Donald Trumps takeover of the Republican Party, its that the partys old consensus on immigration is no longer sustainable. Yet theres still a reflex toward the lazy conventional wisdom that all that ails the country on immigration is lack of an agreement to give an amnesty to illegal immigrants already here and increase numbers of legal immigrants, in exchange for more bells and whistles at the border, commonly known as comprehensive immigration reform. Bush says not passing immigration reform is his biggest regret, and John Boehner, out with a score-settling memoir of his time as speaker of the House, says it is his second biggest regret (after not forging a big fiscal deal with President Obama). Boehner spends a lot of time meditating on how the GOP became, in his telling, Crazytown, a party of extremists and paranoiacs that eventually threw itself into the arms of Donald Trump. The former speaker spreads the blame widely, but it evidently doesnt occur to him that one major factor driving a wedge between the partys establishment and its grassroots was the elected leaderships insistence on repeatedly trying to pass immigration bills that Republican voters rejected. For his part, Bush sounds as if hes learned nothing. In his Post piece, he cites all the usual measures at the border included in these sort of bills: manpower, physical barriers, advanced technology, streamlined and efficient ports of entry. Thats all fine, but it is no substitute for rigorous enforcement in the interior of the country and cant counteract the open-borders message sent by welcoming illegal immigrants into the country. 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! In that regard, Bush professes to oppose amnesty as fundamentally unfair to those who came legally or are still waiting their turn to become citizens. He then calls for an amnesty couched as, in one of the laziest cliches in the immigration debate, bringing illegal immigrants out of the shadows. This will be achieved through a gradual process in which legal residency and citizenship must be earned, by requiring proof of work history, payment of a fine and back taxes, English proficiency and knowledge of U.S. history and civics, and a clean background check. Such requirements are always promised in comprehensive immigration bills and are always toothless. Bush says that both parties should be willing to get behind increased legal immigration, a characteristic feature of these bills. Bush insists that a higher level of immigration is necessary to bringing more skilled immigrants, never considering that we could also reduce the number of low-skilled immigrants. But supporters of the old consensus arent especially keen on understanding the arguments of opponents. Boehner refers to the far-right crazies who never forgave John McCain for pushing immigration reform, and blames demagogues and sheer stubbornness for blocking a comprehensive bill in 2014. So far this year, Republican senators have talked of a narrower immigration bill focused on an amnesty for so-called Dreamers. Surely, though, the instinct toward comprehensive immigration reform hasnt gone away. Its up to Republican voters to constantly remind the partys officeholders that 2007 is, indeed, a very long time ago. Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review. Yolanda Hadid gushed on Instagram Friday that becoming a grandmother 'awoke a part in my heart I never knew existed.' The 57-year-old was wishing a happy birthday to her daughter Gigi - who last September gave birth to her own daughter Khai. She also shared that her love for her granddaughter helped her 'get by' after losing her own mother Ans Van Den Herik in 2019. Yolanda and Khai: Yolanda Hadid gushed on Instagram Friday that becoming a grandmother 'awoke a part in my heart I never knew existed' Proud mother: The 57-year-old was wishing a happy birthday to her daughter Gigi - who last September gave birth to her own daughter Khai 'I have always been so very proud of the young woman you grew up to be every step of your life time but watching you give birth and become a mother yourself has given "Proud" a whole other meaning...,' wrote the Dutch-born blonde. 'You are extraordinary!!! Thank you for giving me this greatest gift, I wasnt sure how to get by without my mamma but loving Khai awoke a part in my heart I never knew existed,' added the former Real Housewife Of Beverly Hills. Yolanda and her boyfriend Joseph Jingoli, who is CEO of a construction company, were seen out in New York this Friday with Khai in a stroller. Gigi shares her little girl with her on-again boyfriend Zayn Malik who shot to fame as part of the boy band One Direction. So sweet: Yolanda and her boyfriend Joseph Jingoli, who is CEO of a construction company, were seen out in New York this Friday with Khai in a stroller They waited months after Khai was born before announcing her name and they have still not shown her face on social media. A source dished to TMZ in January that Khai was named in honor of Gigi's paternal grandmother Khairiah who died in 2008. Last April after news spread that Gigi was expecting Yolanda told the Dutch talk show RTL Boulevard: 'I can't wait to become a grandmother.' She noted: 'It is even more special, since I lost my own mother so recently. That is the beauty of life: one soul is leaving us and a new one is coming.' 'Our little bunny!': This month Gigi shared a heart-melting snap of the baby in a bunny outfit - with her face obscured - as she rang in her very first Easter Sunday During the coronavirus pandemic Gigi spent a chunk of her pregnancy self-isolating with her sister Bella and their mother at the family farm in Pennsylvania. Yolanda dished to Bravo TV in May that she was 'cooking up a storm' for her household including Gigi. After Yolanda's mother died in August 2019 she and her children were seen traveling to Rotterdam for the funeral. Yolanda referred to Ans as 'my guardian angel' on Instagram and credited her with 'making me the woman that I am today.' ALBERT LEA, Minnesota - It's a project aimed to address water quality issues affecting Fountain Lake and its three bays: Bancroft, Dane's and Edgewater. Phase two of the multi-phase dredging project has officially kicked off, with dredgers cleaning out sediment and heavy phosphoric silt from the lake bed and pumped to an off-site confined disposal facility north of town. The phase includes the west basin of Main Bay, and about 380 cubic yards of sediment is slated to be removed. Site manager Ryan Sands with La Crosse-based J.F. Brennan has been a part of the project since the beginning, and has heard from residents who are adamant about protecting their beloved lake. "Hopefully it's beneficial to help people, recreate more, have better opportunities for fishing." The current phase is slated to wrap up around mid-late August/early September. The next and final phase, which includes dredging the east basin of Main Bay, Bancroft Bay and Creek, is dependant on additional funding. State Representative Peggy Bennett and State Senator Gene Dornink have sponsored bills that would provide $7.5 million as part of the House's 2021 bonding bill. However, that funding was not included in the bill. The Senate has yet to release a bonding bill. St. Mary Student to Attend Honors Academy By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - St. Mary High School student Hannah Anderson has been selected to attend the Commonwealth Honors Academy.Anderson will attend the three-week intensive summer program on the Murray State campus. The program focuses on academic, personal, and social development for outstanding high school students after their junior year.Students who complete the program receive six hours of university credits and the opportunity to earn additional credit during their senior year.Only 120 students across Kentucky and beyond were accepted into the program. To be considered, applicants must have a minimum of a 3.5 GPA and a 25 composite ACT score or better. US media: Allegation of "genocide" in Xinjiang unjustified People's Daily Online) 13:07, April 24, 2021 A local resident involved in tourism awaits customers in the old town of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 12, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhao Ge) On April 20, The US website Project Syndicate pointed out in an article titled "The Xinjiang Genocide Allegations Are Unjustified" that the US falsely accused China of "genocide" in Xinjiang without any evidence, calling on the US administration to change its behavior and withdraw such unwarranted charge. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily press briefing on Friday that we noted the article published by the US-based Project Syndicate, which is objective and informative. We applaud the relevant media and authors for their righteous voice on Xinjiang-related issues. "As the article points out, there is little evidence for allegations of so-called "genocide" in Xinjiang and most are based on false reports, said Zhao. In fact, the Chinese side has repeatedly elaborated on the real situation in Xinjiang. The so-called "genocide" in Xinjiang is the biggest lie of the century deliberately concocted by extreme anti-China forces and a ridiculous farce to smear China, said the spokesperson. "The real purpose is to undermine stability in Xinjiang and curb China's development under the pretext of human rights. Such conspiracy will not succeed," he added. Zhao Lijian noted that the article also points out the backdrop of China's Xinjiang-related policy is counterterrorism. The Chinese side has made clear its position on many occasions. The essence of Xinjiang-related issues is counterterrorism, de-radicalization and anti-separatism. Xinjiang was once a victim of terrorism and religious extremism, which posed a serious threat to people's lives and security, according to Zhao. "Facing such situation, the Chinese government has resolutely cracked down on all forms of terrorism in accordance with the law and made tremendous efforts and sacrifices. These measures have yielded positive results," Zhao said, "There hasn't been any violent or terrorist case over the past four years or so in Xinjiang. People of all ethnic groups there cherish the hard-won peace and stability they enjoy." Recently, more and more people in the world have voiced objective and just views on Xinjiang-related issues, Zhao said, for example, the US independent news website The Grayzone published an article exposing the lies about "genocide" in Xinjiang. The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post published an article describing China's anti-terrorism efforts and laying bare the West's double standards on this issue. We also read French author Maxime Vivas' book entitled "Uyghurs: To Put an End to Fake News", which fully shows that justice can always prevail and lies cannot cover up the truth. We believe that there will be more and more fair-minded people in the world telling the truth about Xinjiang and speaking out for justice, said the spokesperson. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji) Kazakhstan has joined the select number of countries that have produced and made available their own COVID-19 vaccine, as President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev tweeted on Friday (23 April) that the first batch of QazVac vaccine had been despatched to several regions of the country, Euractiv reports. Vaccine production will be increased to make it available to all citizens. Kazakhstan has become one of the few states that have created their own vaccine. I thank the scientists and all the specialists who participated in its development, the president said. Last October, it was Tokayev who gave instructions about the development of the countrys own vaccine. The arrival of QazVac is a strong indication of the Central Asian countrys scientific and industrial potential. Apart from Cuba, all the other countries that have developed COVID-19 vaccines, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, and India, have significantly larger economies and population sizes. The QazVac (QazCovid-in) vaccine is a product of the Research Institute for Biological Safety, according to the prime ministers press service. Deputy Prime Minister Yeraly Tugzhanov, who took part in the shipment of the first batch of QazVac in the Zhambyl region, was quoted as saying that the creation of the vaccine allowed Kazakhstan to become one of the few countries in the world that had developed their own anti-coronavirus vaccines, proving the strong potential of domestic science. The first 50,000 doses of QazVac vaccine will be distributed among pharmacy hubs and delivered to all regions of the country. Vaccination with QazVac is expected to kick off on 26 April. The next batch another 50,000 doses will be produced in May. Reportedly, the plans are to step up production of the vaccine to reach 500-600,000 doses per month in the future. Earlier, the Director General of the Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems, Kunsulu Zakarya, said Kazakhstans vaccine had 100% efficacy in the first stage of clinical trials and 96% efficacy in the second stage of clinical trials. It can be stored at temperatures of between 2 and 8C, making it easier to transport and store for up to one year in a freezer. Kazakhstan has a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases, possibly as the result of stringent measures. On Friday, the number of cases totalled 300,733, with 3,512 deaths, while some 257,278 people have recovered. BRANFORD Investigators recovered 196 spent shell casings and 13 firearms none of them secured from Matthew Lee Walkers second-floor apartment at 241 Main St. after his seven-hour standoff with police, police said. Had Walker continued shooting bullets out of his apartment overlooking the Richlin store and Country Plaza, he had thousands of rounds left, said police Lt. Dominick Eula, who is supervising the investigation. The armed standoff in the neighborhood off Main Street and Cherry Hill Road during which Walker, son of a Darien minister, shot one neighbor in the leg as the man stood in front of his own business ended with Walker, 38, dying by suicide , according to authorities. Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media The spent shell casings were all from .223-caliber rifle bullets and 9 mm bullets that are mostly used in handguns but also are used in some of the rifles Walker had on hand, Eula said. Of the 196 spent casings, I cant even tell you thats how many rounds he fired, but thats how many we seized, Eula said. Police recovered eight handguns and five rifles from Walkers residence. They also recovered one lower section of a rifle, which had a serial number but wasnt a fully-assembled gun, Eula said. Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media The handguns all appeared to be semiautomatic, as were all five of the rifles. Three of the rifles were AR-style rifles that used .223-caliber bullets and two were 9 mm. None of the rifles was classified in Connecticut as an assault rifle and none of the rounds I heard fired were from an automatic gun, said Eula, who supervises the detective bureau and was at the scene as the drama unfolded April 13. All of the firearms in Walkers apartment were immediately accessible, Eula said. There were safes in his apartment but they were open. The bystander who was wounded by a gunshot, Ashwin Patel, owner of Shoreline Wine & Spirits at 181 Main St., two doors down from Walkers home above the Leon James International Hair Salon, was shot in the leg. He was whisked to safety by the owner and employees of Pepes Service Station, located just west of his package store at 177 Main St. Patel was released from Yale New Haven Hospital last Friday and is recovering at home, his family has said. Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Michael Lawlor, an associate professor of criminal justice at University of New Havens Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, who during a 24-year career in the state House of Representatives wrote the 1999 red flag law that resulted from the March 6, 1998, Connecticut State Lottery shootings, said that law was intended to head off situations such as Walkers. Lawlor, a former state prosecutor, said he considers 13 guns to be a whole bunch. 3 1 of 3 Mark Zaretsky / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3 There are a lot of people who have more than that, but its still a lot, he said. With the knowledge that a neighbor previously had complained to police after receiving a troubling text from Walker three days before he sprayed his neighborhood with bullets and then died by suicide, Lawlor said police could have at least temporarily removed Walkers guns and gotten him help. These are classic red flags. Thats why they call it a red flag law, said Lawlor, who represented East Haven and was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 1995-2011 before serving as former Gov. Dannel P. Malloys undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning. You should at that point start investigating. Why check it out? Lawlor asked. Because this guy might start shooting out his window at some point at people walking by. Thats why you should investigate. It may turn out you dont have enough you bring it to a judge and the judge says you dont have enough, Lawlor said. But you have an obligation to investigate. The law, which has been used thousands of times since being passed, gives police a tool when someone has guns and there is reason to believe theres imminent danger to themselves or other people, Lawlor said. Asked about Lawlors comments, We have an independent investigation thats commenced, Police Chief Jonathan Mulhern said Friday , and until we have a full report, Im not going to comment. All I can do is the right thing, said Mulhern, who is bringing in an outside attorney to look at the case after a neighbor of Walker said she complained to police three days before the incident that a text from Walker that made her wonder whether he posed a threat to himself or others. Were going to have an independent investigation and that investigation is just beginning, Mulhern said. Meanwhile, the Branford Counseling Center, which offered counseling to anyone in the neighborhood or in town who was having trouble processing what happened, has handled more than a dozen calls from residents seeking help, said Executive Director Peter Cimino. In some cases, the help involved was just a phone call, while others required more help. Cimino said he wouldnt be surprised if the center received more inquiries as time goes on. People want to kind of process what was going on, Cimino said. While the counseling center continuously receives calls from residents needing help, This is a little different, because were dealing with people who had a traumatic event, he said. We just try to acknowledge that some of the things that they are feeling are a part of this event. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com Photo: CTV News A B.C. senior is on the cusp of concluding a 14-day hunger strike in protest against the Canadian government purchasing 88 new military fighter jets. Dr. Brendan Martin, 69, of Langley is a family physician who shared his story with CTV News Friday, explaining he has been feeling very weak without food for two weeks and is looking forward to his first meal as soon as the clock strikes midnight. Im going to have potato and leek soup and some french beans, Martin said. Yeah, Im looking forward to that. Martin was inspired to take a stand by members of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, hoping to do his own part in sharing his belief that Canada should not be ramping up its military operations. "Im a Canadian of ordinary abilities and I want to convey that point that Canadians of ordinary abilities are needed in this campaign to stop the purchase of fighter jets, he said. The new aircraft have been pondered for over a decade. The federal government will award the contract to a manufacturer in 2022. Martin hopes he and other activists could change that, though he acknowledges it may not happen immediately. We can stop that and were doing everything possible, Martin said. "I don't think my fast, or the fast of others will change the hearts of our representatives in parliament but it may make or help Canadians to talk to their MPs." The fasting movement was put together by a group called No Fighter Jets. Martin was not the only participant and said he would do it again, but needs some time to recover first. -with files from CTV News Vancouver TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Police are investigating reports of a street brawl in Hamad town over social media posts. Authorities have kept three men in detention after the violence, which left a fourth person with serious injuries. The Head of the Family and Child Prosecution said that the Public Prosecution began an investigation upon receiving a notification from the Security Department on the fight. One of the suspects was beaten up brutally by three others following an altercation over a dispute arising from the use of social media. Police said that following heated arguments, one of the suspects drew a knife and stabbed the victim on his face and his hand. The other two suspects, meanwhile, started throwing punches at the victim, injuring him brutally. Investigators took statements from the victim and witnesses of the incident. Police said that the suspects during interrogation confessed to their crimes when confronted with evidence. The investigation is ongoing. Washington: US President Joe Biden used the waning hours of a White House climate summit to hammer home a message aimed as much at Americans as at the dozens of world leaders he had convened: Combating the Earths warming is not simply a responsibility, but a chance to boost battered economies. Todays final session is not about the threat climate change poses, Biden said on Friday morning from the East Room. Its about the opportunity that addressing climate change provides, an opportunity to create millions of good-paying jobs around the world in innovative sectors. World leaders listen remotely during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Credit:Bloomberg Biden touted the new jobs that combating climate change could bring, including building electric cars, installing charging stations, upgrading schools and commercial buildings, constructing energy-efficient homes and producing solar panels and wind turbines. Dr Bui Minh Tuan from the Meteorology and Oceanography Faculty at the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences has been nominated for a Ta Quang Buu Award. The young lecturer nominated for Ta Quang Buu Award Tuan, born in 1988, researched rain forecasting as a masters student at the University of Natural Sciences under the Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Rain is an extremely important factor in the development of most countries in the world, including Vietnam. Excessively high rainfall may cause floods and serious human and material damages. Too little rainfall may cause drought, water shortage and damage crops. Rain forecasting is the top concern of meteorologists around the world, Tuan said. Vietnams meteorology field has made great improvements in recent years, with weather forecasting over a five day period now having the same accuracy as a forecast for one day made 30 years ago. However, this doesnt mean that forecasting in 30 years will be five times more accurate than now, according to Tuan. There are obstacles that meteorology still cannot overcome. Technically, computers can help give forecasts for several months or longer. However, the reliability of the forecasts decreases rapidly after 5-7 days. Basic theories for short-term forecasting have been gradually perfected, so weather forecasting for 1-5 days is relatively good. However, atmospheric changes within a longer time (10-90 days) still cannot be fully understood. At university. Tuan studied the natural laws related to rainfall variation so as to expand weather forecasting capability. In 2013-2019, Tuan spent his time on questions such as: Does rain in Vietnam have cyclical fluctuations, especially 10-90-day cyclical fluctuation? Are the fluctuations different for different climate areas? If rain in Vietnam fluctuates in accordance with a 10-90-day cycle, what are the causes of the fluctuations of these cycles? Tuan said in order to answer the questions, he had to spend one year of reading to understand algorithms and build calculation programs for large atmospheric data over a 30 year period, from 1980-2010. These are complicated algorithms which require high coding skills, he recalled. After Tuan got the calculation results, he had to deal with another challenge analyzing the physical process based on these results. Vietnam's climate is complicated, influenced by large circulation systems with differentiation between regions. The characteristics of rain and the causes of rain in Vietnam remain controversial in the meteorological community. It therefore costs time to select important aspects for analysis. Vietnam's climate is complicated, influenced by large circulation systems with differentiation between regions. The characteristics of rain and the causes of rain in Vietnam remain controversial in the meteorological community. It therefore costs time to select important aspects for analysis. Tuan had to spend one more year analyzing all the results he got. The materials he collected during that time helped him discover the law of rain fluctuations. The physical mechanisms related to the fluctuations were also found. He also found the relation between the fluctuations and the appearance of heavy rains in Vietnam. This was a significant discovery, because heavy rain is difficult to predict. Tuans research serves as an important theoretical foundation for extending rain forecasting to 10-25 days. In early 2019, Tuans scientific article with announcement about the research results was published in the Journal of Climate, a journal of the American Meteorological Society. Research: a lonely path Tuan was a physics major at the High School for the Gifted in Natural Resources. With curiosity about natural phenomena such as typhoons, whirlwinds and thunderstorms, he decided to apply to the Meteorology and Oceanography Faculty at the Hanoi University of Natural Sciences, a member school of the Vietnam National University, Hanoi. When officially becoming a student, I found that meteorology was even more interesting than I thought. Mathematics and physics knowledge, which seem to be abstract, could be applied to explain regular natural phenomena, he said. After obtaining a bachelors degree, he continued for a masters degree and then a doctorate. He said that Vietnams meteorology field has made great strides in the last few years. The agency where Tuan is working is equipped with super-computer systems that serve training and research. The latest achievements in remote sensing, data assimilation, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence have also been applied to weather forecasting. However, Tuan said scientists still need the support of information technology (IT) experts to operate the system well. He said research can be lonely. In Vietnam, the number of scientists in this field remains modest, he said. Tuan said that meteorology seems to "stay outside the general development track". It has been developing slowly and motivated by only several individuals. There are not many researchers in the same field, so it is difficult to find colleagues for academic exchange. One of the reasons, according to Tuan, is the weak support given to young researchers. This may lead to a human resources crisis in the future. Every year, his university only enrolls 30-40 students in the meteorology major. Scientists in this field have to be good at math, physics and coding. But students good at these subjects dont choose to study meteorology. Thuy Nga - Phuong Thu Female scientist with PhD in immunology pursues research on rare diseases Tran Nguyen Kim Thi is a postdoc majoring in AI usage in medicine at the Huge Kaul Precision Medicine Institute at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) in the US. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday hailed US President Joe Bidens recognition of the Armenian genocide on the 106th anniversary of the WWI-era mass killings in the Ottoman Empire. Pashinyan, in a post on Facebook, thanked Biden for the powerful step towards justice and historical truth, and invaluable support for the descendants of the Armenian genocide victims. The recognition sets an encouraging example for all those who want to build a just and tolerant international society, Pashinyan said. Armenians have long sought to have the 1915-1917 killings of up to 1.5 million of their kin during the Ottoman Empires collapse internationally recognised as genocide. The claim is supported by many other countries, but fiercely rejected by Turkey. On Saturday, Biden became the first US president to use the word genocide in a customary statement on the anniversary, a day after informing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he would go ahead with this step and seeking to limit the expected furor from the NATO ally. Yerevan has also demanded financial compensation from Ankara and the restoration of property rights for the descendants of those killed in the 1915-1917 massacres. Turkey denies the killings genocidal nature, arguing that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops. mkh-im/emg FACEBOOK Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly speaks during an event at the Statehouse in Topeka. Kan., on April 21, 2021. (John Hanna/AP Photo) Kansas Governor Vetoes Election Reform, Gun Bills Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on April 23 vetoed election reform legislation and a measure that would have let more people carry guns. Kelly, a Democrat, vetoed two bills that would have changed election laws, such as requiring counties to verify signatures on early voting ballots and making it illegal for any person to knowingly alter a postmark on a mail-in ballot. The bills were House Bill 2183, which the state House passed 8042 and the state Senate passed 2711, and House Bill 2332, which the state House passed 8338 and the state Senate approved 2711. Kelly alleged the bills would have suppressed votes. Although Kansans have cast millions of ballots over the last decade, there remains no evidence of significant voter fraud in Kansas. This bill is a solution to a problem that doesnt exist. It is designed to disenfranchise Kansans, making it difficult for them to participate in the democratic process, not to stop voter fraud, she said in a statement. We also know what happens when states enact restrictive voting legislation. Hundreds of major companies across the nation have made it abundantly clear that this kind of legislation is wrong. Antagonizing the very businesses Kansas is trying to recruit is not how we continue to grow our economy. Kelly also vetoed another bill that would have let teenagers carry concealed guns if they had a proper permit. She said she supports the Second Amendment but that the bill would allow more guns on school grounds, which would drive prospective students away from our schools. Other bills Kelly recently rejected included one that would have banned biological males from participating in womens sports. Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, a Republican, accused Kelly of vetoing the bills to placate the hard left rather than support mainstream policies supported by most Kansans. The election reform bills would have prevented election tampering and limited ballot harvesting while the gun bill would have offered proven gun safety programs in schools, he said in a statement. Each of these common-sense measures were passed by strong majorities. Republicans will respond to the governors veto-a-rama with a veto-over[r]ide-a-rama when we return in May, he said. Republicans currently hold an 8441 majority in the states lower chamber and a 2911 majority in the state Senate. To overturn a veto, a two-thirds vote in both chambers is required. If that is achieved, a bill would be enacted without the governors signature. A broken brake hose on a Vietnam Airlines plane is the latest causality in a series of incidents involving collisions between birds and aircraft in Vietnam. Mechanics found that the brake hose of Vietnam Airlines A321 plane was damaged as it landed in north-central Thanh Hoa Province at 11:11 am on Wednesday morning, following its departiure from Da Lat City in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. They also found a birds body stuck to the rear of the plane. The incident caused a delay of nearly four hours for the return flight from Thanh Hoa to Da Lat since Vietnam Airlines scrambled to find a substitute plane. Collisions between birds and airplanes are not uncommon in Vietnam. On April 11, blood stains and bird feathers were found on the body of an A350 aircraft operated by China Airlines after it landed in Ho Chi Minh City from Taipei. The incident left the aircraft with a 30-centimeter dent, forcing it to remain grounded at Tan Son Nhat International Airport as a crew carried out repairs. On April 7, Vietnam Airlines recorded two bird strikes on two of its A321 aircraft after they had taken off from Phu Quoc Island and Hai Phong City and landed at Tan Son Nhat. The management of Tan Son Nhats flight zone examined runways and taxiways after the two incidents were reported but detected no abnormalities. On March 31, a Bamboo Airways plane bound for Con Dao, off the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau, from Hai Phong City had to make an emergency landing in Hanoi after hitting a bird. Mechanics called to the scene found a dent and traces of blood on the planes engine No. 1. Earlier, a Vietnam Airlines flight from Da Nang City to the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho hit a bird on the runway at Da Nang International Airport at 10:59 am on March 24. The Da Nang flight zone operation center later detected a swallows body on the 35R/17L runway and removed it in order to ensure flight safety. The flight then continued normal operations. According to experts, bird strikes are common in the aviation industry, with the majority of them causing little damage to the aircraft. In theory, large aircraft can continue flying after colliding with a bird weighing two kilograms or less. In some cases, the bird is sucked into the engine, causing considerable damage. The difference in speed between a bird and plane makes the impact of their collision very strong, jeopardizing the aircraft. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A woman who was kept as a slave for three years has revealed the vile threats a couple made to stop her from leaving Australia. The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons - lived in Rockdale, in Sydney's south, with restaurant owner couple Shiela and Joshua McAleer from 2013 to 2016. She was lured to Australia from the Philippines after the husband and wife helped secure her a three-month visa. The woman saw it as a chance of a new life, having never travelled previously as well as an opportunity to earn more money for her family. Shiela and Joshua McAleer (pictured) lured a woman from the Philippines to Australia in 2013 to work in the family home and multiple businesses in Sydney's south Sheila McAleer told the victim not to socailise with another Filipino people and made her work round the clock, often without pay But soon after the victim arrived in Australia, she found herself working at least six days a week and was restricted as to who she could see and where she could go. She was discouraged from socialising with other Filipinos in the local community, forbidden to be in a relationship, and told to use a fake name in public. When her visa expired and she asked the leave, the victim was told she could not leave until she paid back her travel expenses, news.com.au reported. 'If you go back before you pay me back I know people in the Philippines in the police and higher up and who I can hire to harm you or your family if you go home early,' she was told by the couple. And when she wasn't providing round the clock care for the McAleer's children as a maid, the woman was forced to work at the couple's Filipino restaurant or one of their other businesses, including a grocer. 'I did not know when I came that I would have to work 24 hours a day. I also did not get paid for my work,' the woman said in her victim impact statement. 'I felt like a slave but I didn't say anything,' she also said. 'I feel it would have been better not to come (to Australia). I had no power to change my situation'. A few weeks after the woman arrived, Shiela McAleer (pictured) organised a passport and three-month tourist visa, which meant the Filipino tourist was unable to work elsewhere When the victim eventually did flee the home in October 2016, the McAleers hired a private detective to track her down. Court documents show Mr McAleer wrote to the investigator: 'I have friends who have told me they have seen her driving around with another mail [sic] in the Sutherland area over the weekend and I have had my suspicions as well for a while now. 'I would like you to locate his home address and try to see if (the woman) is with him.' The victim also labelled Mrs McAleer a 'cruel person' and admitted she still fears the couple. The McAleers, who pleaded guilty to multiple charges of including conducting a business involving the forced labour of another person, harbouring an unlawful non-citizen and making a false statement for health benefits, offered the victim $70,000 in financial compensation, their barrister told a sentencing hearing on Thursday. They will be sentenced on June 11 and both face a maximum of 10 years behind bars. Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of the U.S. chapter of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, speaks at the anti-celebration of pot legalization rally in Vancouver on Oct. 17, 2018. (The Epoch Times) Clearing the Smoke: A Former Presidential Advisers Fight Against Cannabis Kevin Sabet has never smoked marijuana, but his life revolves around it. As a teen in Anaheim Hills, California, in the 1990s, Sabet saw problems with marijuana use among his friends. But he felt his community didnt take it seriously and avoided talking about drugs in general. A friend of his was hit by a driver who was high on marijuana. As a society, we should discourage [marijuana] use just like we discourage speeding, he told The Epoch Times. We know people will speed; we know people will use marijuana. But you dont get rid of the speed limit because people speed and because people can even speed safely, they would argue. So we wouldnt get rid of marijuana laws just because some people can use it. Now, we wouldnt also put you in solitary confinement if you speed, either. So we dont need to go overboard with marijuana laws. He sees himself as a moderate, nonpartisan voice on cannabis policy, though he is by and large wary of cannabis use, which he sees as harmful in many waysparticularly given the rise in teens using high-potency cannabis products. I think there is a false dichotomy: either legalization or criminalization, demonization or promotion, he said. He stands somewhere in between. Sabet has helped form national drug policy as an adviser to three presidential administrations. He has written books on the issue and formed the nonprofit Smart Approaches to Marijuana to educate about the harms of marijuana use and advocate for good policy. Sabet recognizes that many people see marijuana as harmless. Im very interested in changing minds, Sabet said. I always take a challenge of wanting to change your mind. Im not interested in talking to people who only agree with me. Rise to Fame When he was 17, then-Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates took Sabet under his wing. Sabet joined a community program started by Gates, called Drug Use Is Life Abuse. Gates surprised the young Sabet by throwing him into a debate about marijuana legalization with Jim Gray, a libertarian federal court judge. Sabet won the debate. Thats when I realized that I wanted to raise awareness in multiple forums about the harms of drugs generally, Sabet said. People used to say, We dont have drugs here in Orange County. Theyre all up there, and they would sort of point to LA, Sabet said. And I just knew that wasnt the case. In a place like Orange County, a lot of people wanted to sweep the issue under the rug and I just found that strange. Why wouldnt we want to help people? Why wouldnt we want to get them help? He studied at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley, a famously pro-marijuana area. He started Citizens for a Drug-Free Berkeley, which he said was like forming a Coalition for a Wine-Free France. The name was so outlandish for Berkeley that I think we made a pretty big impact in terms of awareness, he said. He went to nightclubs in San Franciscos Mission district and handed out postcards covered in facts about drugs. He used a slide projector to show people who were on drugs the damage being caused to their brains. He made a name for himself. For example, he was once recognized when he was trying to stay incognito at a pro-legalization conference. He was scoping out the opposition and its ideas. But his cover was blown by former Mens Wearhouse CEO George Zimmer. Sabet said Zimmer charged at him and barked, Ive heard of you! Everyone knew Mr. Zimmer from his cheesy commercials, but how in the world did this somewhat famous guy know me, a Persian kid with black curly hair from Anaheim? Sabet writes in his latest book, Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesnt Want You to Know. The extent of his repute didnt fully sink in until junior year, when Colonel Pancho Kinney, the director of strategic planning at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), contacted Sabet and told him he had seen his work. Once Sabet was convinced the call wasnt a prank, he joined Bill Clintons administration as a research assistant for ONDCP. Between earning his masters and doctorate degrees at Oxford University, he worked as a drug policy speechwriter for George W. Bush. Then in 2009, an op-ed Sabet wrote for The Seattle Times caught the attention of the new ONDCP director under Barack Obama, Gil Kerlikowske. Sabet went on to help author Obamas drug strategy. In 2011, he decided to move on. There was a lot I wanted to say. I felt like I could do a lot more on my own, he said. I wanted to start a movement. Kevin Sabet testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Conflicts between State and Federal Marijuana Laws, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Sept. 10, 2013. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Kevin Sabet (L), president and CEO of nonprofit organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana, arrives for a morning session of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 11, 2018. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Advocacy Sabet wrote his first book, Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana, shortly thereafter. As he saw more enthusiasm for legalization, Sabet sought to engage a new generation across political lines. This ultimately led him to launch Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM). The organizations website states: Marijuana-legalization advocatesnot scientists, doctors, people in recovery, disadvantaged communities or young people affected by marijuana use and its policieshave been at the forefront of changing marijuana laws in the United States. SAM is a group of experts and knowledgeable professionals advocating for a fresh approach that neither legalizes, nor demonizes, marijuana. Sabet said, Science [should be] the basis for marijuana policies. Legalization is a bad idea, but we need awareness and prevention programs and strategies. He said talking about data isnt sexy, but its important. In Smokescreen, he details how cannabis use among youth has risen significantly in California. Emergency room mentions of marijuana have skyrocketed during the pandemic, which is scary, he said. Sabet cited a 2019 study from European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience that examines the increase in marijuana potency over the course of a decade. Between 2008 and 2017, the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the central psychoactive component in cannabis) doubled in marijuana plants and became eight times stronger in concentrates. I talked to people who were hippies. They used to smoke a lot of weed in the 60s, didnt touch it when they had kids, Sabet said. And now they ate an edible and they had to go to the emergency room because they couldnt believe what it did to them. It was nothing like what the old marijuana did to them. What the older generation may remember that the younger doesnt, is how big tobacco marketed itself as safe, Sabet said. SAMs tagline on its website is preventing another big tobacco. Big Tobacco 2.0 While its disheartening to see more states opt for legalization, Sabet said he remains hopeful about SAMs efforts because marijuana remains illegal in most states. He also pointed out that the Biden administration doesnt support legalizing marijuana. California, which became one of the first states to legalize recreational cannabis in 2016, is something of a guinea pig in terms of testing impacts, Sabet said. Were not going to see the full picture for 20 years. But the early signs were seeing five years later are not very good. Sabet perceives a push to glorify marijuana, and hes concerned that its driven too much by corporate interests. Thats why he refers to the current legalization trend as Big Tobacco 2.0. He said younger generations werent around when restaurants had smoking sections, the Marlboro Man was a marketing icon, and cartoon characters advertised cigarettes. He argues that this lack of knowledge prevents millennials and Generation Z from seeing the connection between big tobacco and marijuana legalization. We see the same game being played out for marijuana, he said. Before we had a tobacco industry, we didnt have nicotine and other things injected into cigarettes. But the industry introduced these innovations and made it deadly and said that it was harmless. Marijuana is doing the same thing: Theyre innovating in ways weve never seen before. Unlike the illicit market, Sabet said the legal marijuana industry produces edibles, cookies, candies, gummies, dabs, waxes, capsules, and countless other varieties of cannabis products for consumption. Before big marijuana, we never had these products, and now we do, he said. Theyre following that same playbook of downplaying the risks; saying theyre not targeting kids, because most people would get very upset when you say youre targeting kids. The existence of marijuana products that are enticing to children hits closer to home with Sabet since he became a father in November 2019. It does give you this perspective that this is a cause worth fighting for no matter what happens, he said. It has to be about education and giving every kid a chance to grow up healthy and safe. And now that I have a kid, I want to do that more than ever. While looking for a new hobby a few years ago, Russian designer Katerina Lamteva, or Kate, came upon embroidery and fell in love with the art instantly. She decided to organise a weekend embroidery workshop to share her knowledge and connect people through embroidery. Her class runs from 10am to 1pm on Saturdays at Craft Box Hanoi in Tay Ho District. It is designed for everyone and every level of skill. People came here to learn how to embroidery, improve their creativity and make new friends. SHARING PASSION: Kate enthusiastically instructs her students how to embroider. VNS Photo Nguyen Minh It's not that I have been interested in craft art since a young age. Crafting and embroidery are not as difficult as people often think," said the 31-year-old. And everyone has their embroidery speed, so it doesnt matter what your level is," she added. Before a workshop, Kate chooses themes and prepares essential materials and tools. At the workshop, she explains all the details from introducing materials, drafting patterns on paper, transferring the patterns onto fabric, choosing thread colours and creating stitches. Kate gently pulls the needle and thread up through the fabric to demonstrate stitches to her students. She moves her hands up and down to give her students a clear visualisation of how the stitches look. She is always ready to provide hands-on support if needed. I prefer to keep my class size small with eight people maximum because I want to spend my time with students and help them as much as I can," she said. Under Kates instruction, her students have become more confident and excelled at their embroidery skills. I watched some videos on embroidery on YouTube as I wanted to embroider for my daughter her favourite stuff - carrots and rabbits. But the videos looked very difficult for me," said Chu Tuyet Le, a workshop attendee from Hanoi. INSPIRED BY VIET NAM: Vietnamese ao dai on Kate's work. Photo from Kate's Instagram However, as Kates made everything so much easier, I can follow without any problem though I am a beginner. I will make lots of stitch carrots and bunnies for my little girl," she added. Kate has been running the workshops for 1.5 years and welcoming numerous people. Many of them keep coming back because of her enthusiasm and dedication, though her workshop is not free. She is also reachable on her Facebook page Hanoi Embroidery Meetup, where she posts craftwork photos and workshop schedules as well as helps those embroidering at home by answering questions. Appreciating individuality Kate employs modern embroidery techniques because they offer more freedom for artists due to having fewer rules compared to the traditional way. She contrasts todays innovation with traditional embroidery, which is meticulous and precise. If artists use only one or two threads to make stitches conventionally, modern embroidery allows me to go with one, two or six threads at the same time," Kate explained. And I can choose any colours and materials other than threads for my craftwork, such as dry flowers, ribbons and ink." With a passion for the colours of the natural world, Kate reflects them in her brooches. She also encourages her students to go with whatever they like to make their work. Even when her students make mistakes, she doesnt stop them or ask them to remake their work. LAYER ON LAYER: Japanese culture elements on tulle. Photo from Kate's Instagram In traditional embroidery, your cloth should be knot-free, which means no mistakes. But there is no right or wrong in modern embroidery. A mistake or a knot can be a highlight or add a texture to even the front side of your fabric," Kate said. In the end, art is personal," she added. Its like body positive. My body is mine in both perfect and imperfect ways. So is my embroidery work." According to Kate, modern embroidery is more individualistic, making it more suitable for everyone. It has become an art therapy for Kate and her workshop attendees. Thats why many of her students keep embroidering at home besides taking her weekend classes to de-stress, improve their crafting skill and express themselves. Asian inspiration Vietnam is like a second home for Kate. After a couple of years of living here, she has fallen in love with the country and the local customs. Many of her works reflect Vietnamese culture, like the traditional ao dai, Mid-Autumn festival, Tet holiday and local flowers like lotus and banana. They are also the themes of her weekend workshops. FROM STREETS TO STITCHES: Kate captures Hanoi's street flowers. Photo from Kate's Instagram COLOURS OF NATURE: A colourful lotus features a unique personality. Photo from Kate's Instagram Asian culture is another inspiration for her due to its endless mystical creatures, fascinating rituals and holidays. I used to travel a lot to China with my family when I was younger. Maybe thats why Im interested in Asian culture," Kate said. She has embroidered Japanese koi fish, Chinese dragons and characters on different materials, including cotton, linen, canvas and tulle. She is now working on a book about modern embroidery, of which Asian culture is a crucial part. She also dreams of publishing an embroidery fairytale book and hopes that will be about Vietnamese fairytales. VNS Craftsmen preserve traditional embroidery village In the feudal time, Dong Cuu village in Hanois suburban Thuong Tin district was famous for its embroidery profession. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 07:20:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A health care worker prepares a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a new vaccination site in the California Polytechnic State University in Pomona, Los Angeles County, California, the United States, Feb. 5, 2021. (Xinhua) Members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) agreed the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks from rare blood clots linked with the vaccine. WASHINGTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- An advisory panel to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) voted Friday to recommend resuming the use of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for adults. Members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) agreed the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks from rare blood clots linked with the vaccine. The independent expert panel voted 10 to 4, with one member abstaining, according to media reports. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is expected to sign off on the decision and then the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will prepare an amended emergency use authorization for the vaccine, Amanda Cohn, ACIP's executive secretary, was quoted by media as saying. The CDC and the FDA called for a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine on April 13, after six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot. In these cases, a type of blood clot called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis was seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets. All the cases occurred among women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. YEREVAN. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Ara Aivazian, on Saturday delivered an address at the press center of the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, on the 106th anniversary of this tragedy. Aivazian stated as follows: Each year, on April 24, Armenians all over the world commemorate the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide committed in the early 20th century. As a result of this unprecedented and pre-planned crime, the Armenian people living in the Ottoman Empire were targeted, forcibly displaced and massacred. Over the years, the government of the Young Turks driven by the ideology of Pan-Turkism and their successive governments expanded the policy of the Armenian Genocide to the Eastern Armenia. In 1915-1923, as a result of these actions, 1.5 million people were killed, hundreds of thousands of human lives were destroyed, an entire nation was dispossessed of its spiritual, educational, cultural and economic property and deprived of the right to live in the major part of its historical homeland. In 1878, at the Berlin Congress, the Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire undertook a commitment to ensure the security of the population in the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. By planning and perpetrating the Armenian Genocide, the Young Turk government nullified the international obligations to ensure the security of the Armenian people, set a precedent for "solving" the issue of human rights protection through the execution of an entire nation. These actions later became the basis for the definition of the crime of genocide, enshrined in the International Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Genocide. However, the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide were not brought to international justice. The impunity of the Armenian Genocide continue to inspire those who plan new international crimes today. The recent war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] and the genocidal actions of the Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance during that war demonstrated that their approaches towards "solving" international issues by force have not changed. The crimes committed against the Armenians of Artsakh proved that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is imperative not only for historical justice and truth, but also for the security of the Armenian people. The aim of the Armenian Genocide was the complete annihilation of the Armenian people. Thanks to the collective efforts of the Armenian people, as well as the support provided to the survivors of the genocide by different countries and peoples, the Armenian people survived the greatest calamity of its history with dignity. Today, the Armenian people in Armenia and in Diaspora, demonstrate strong resilience to fight for justice and truth. This struggle once again attests that neither the brutal force of the Young Turk government, nor the denialist speculations of Turkeys successive governments, nor the hostile actions against the Armenian people in the region can consign to oblivion the first genocide of the 20th century and its martyrs. This struggle will continue until the Turkish government finds the strength to recognize the Armenian Genocide and undertake steps towards eliminating its consequences. The man found dead inside a Gold Coast apartment may have stayed with his partner's dead body for days before taking his own life. Detective Inspector Chris Ahearn said on Saturday the state of decomposition of the bodies suggests the woman likely died a week ago, with the man a few days later. Police were called to the Sapphire unit complex in Labrador on the Gold Coast about 10.20am on Friday after a 53-year-old man was found dead. Officers then located the body of a 48-year-old woman inside a furniture chest in the unit. Forensic officers were seen at the scene on the Gold Coast on Friday after the suspected murder suicide of a man, 53, and woman, 48 The apparent murder-suicide happened at the upmarket Sapphire at the Broadway on the Gold Coast 'There is some early indications of the male person being responsible for the death of the female person,' Inspector Ahearn said. 'Their states indicate they have been deceased for a period of time. The female is in a more advanced state than the male. 'The male doesn't appear to have any injuries so we are interested in the results of the post-mortem examination to give us an indication as to his cause of death.' Inspector Ahearn said the two people, originally from Victoria, were in a de facto relationship for the past 10 years. They had lived at the Sapphire apartment building for the past three years. 'Queensland police have not had contact with these people in that time,' he said. 'There are no domestic violence orders in place.' Inspector Ahearn said the man had been identified but as the woman's identity was not yet confirmed, details would not yet be released. The bodies were discovered by the complex's building manager who did a welfare check on the couple when it became clear they hadn't been seen for days. 'We are intent on getting answers for the family on why and how these people have died,' Inspector Ahearn said. Police were called to the unit in Labrador (pictured) at about 10.20am on Friday after a man was found dead. Officers then located the body of a woman at the apartment A note was found next to the man, who died in a bedroom, and the woman's body was found rotting in the storage unit, the Courier Mail reported. Police are still investigating the deaths and are trying to determine if the couple had a history of domestic violence. Residents said the man was a 'really nice guy' and they were shocked to hear of something so horrific happening in their neighbourhood. 'He was always really happy and really smiley,' she said. 'I only knew them to say hello to but he was always lovely.' 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline 13 11 14 A woman believed to have been killed by her partner and carer in a suspected murder-suicide had been placed in a furniture chest in the pairs Gold Coast apartment and may have been dead for at least a week, police say. The 53-year-old man was initially found dead by the manager of the Sapphire Apartments building in Labrador on Friday morning, after they conducted a welfare check on the de-facto couple who had not been seen for some time. Detective Inspector Chris Ahearn said after police arrived the body of a 48-year-old woman, who has not yet been formally identified, was also found. We believe shes been murdered at this stage, Mr Ahearn said. Theres some suggestion to point to that. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 02:02:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KHARTOUM, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Sudan on Friday threatened to sue the Italian company implementing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the Ethiopian government if the second filling of the dam is conducted without a legal deal. "In case the second filling is conducted without reaching a legal deal, Sudan has legal teams, supported with international law offices, that will file lawsuits against the Italian implementing company and the Ethiopian government," Sudanese Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Yasir Abbas twitted. "The lawsuit is based on the fact that the environmental and social impacts and risks of the GERD have not been studied," he said. The minister noted that failure to reach a deal paves the way for filing a lawsuit to the UN Security Council as the GERD constitutes a real danger to the regional peace and security. Reaching an agreement does not reduce the sovereignty or rights of Ethiopia, but provides it with full rights and protects Sudan's interests, Abbas said. Sudan proposed a mediation quartet of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and the African Union regarding the GERD issue. Ethiopia, however, has announced its rejection of this formula. In February, Ethiopia said it would carry on with the second-phase 13.5-billion-cubic-meter filling of the GERD in June. The volume of the first-phase filling last year was 4.9 billion cubic meters. Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been in talks for years over the technical and legal issues related to the filling and operation of the GERD. Ethiopia, which started building the GERD in 2011, expects to produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity from the dam project, while Egypt and Sudan, downstream Nile Basin countries that rely on the river for its freshwater, are concerned that the dam might affect their share of the water resources. Enditem A teenager has been shot and another was stabbed after a gunman opened fire in a cake shop in east London. The shooting happened at Cake and Custard Factory on Kingsland Road in Hackney, east London, at around 10.53pm last night. Both men, 19, were taken taken to hospital but their injuries are not thought to be life threatening. Police are looking for the gunman after being given additional search powers in Hackney until 2.30pm today. Police are searching for a gunman after a teenager was shot and another was stabbed on Kingland Road in Hackney, east London last night. Pictured: Police search for the missing gunman Residents reported helicopters circling overhead last night as emergency services rushed to the scene. No arrests have yet been made, police confirmed. London Metopolitan Police said: 'At 10.53pm on Friday, April 23, officers were called to premises in Kingsland Road, E8 following reports of a male having been shot. 'A 19-year-old man was found suffering gunshot injuries and a second 19-year-old man was found with stab injuries. 'Both were taken to hospital by ambulance. Neither is in a life-threatening condition. 'A crime scene has been established and Trident detectives are leading the investigation. No arrests have been made at this stage. 'Police are appealing for anyone with information or any witnesses to call 101, ref 8869/23apr. To remain anonymous, please contact Crimestoppers. The shooting happened at Cake and Custard Factory in Haggerston, east London, at around 10.53pm last night 'A senior police officer has authorised additional search powers within the London Borough of Hackney under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. 'This will remain in place until 2.30pm on Saturday, April 24.' The teenage violence in east London came on the same day a 14-year-old boy was knifed to death outside a pizza shop broad daylight. Emergency services were called to Barking Road in East Ham, Newham, shortly before 4pm on Friday to reports of a stabbing at a Zzetta restaurant. Despite the efforts of paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and London Air Ambulance, the victim was pronounced dead shortly after 4.30pm. The Metropolitan Police said efforts were under way to inform the victim's next of kin. The victim is the eleventh and youngest teenager to be knifed to death in the capital this year. Third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan today addressed a letter to US President Joe Biden, expressing gratitude for officially recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide in his April 24th statement. The letter particularly reads as follows: Your Excellency, I read your April 24th statement with great excitement. I warmly recall our meeting in 2015 when you attended the interreligious prayer dedicated to the memory of Armenian Genocide victims at Washington National Cathedral as US Vice-President. What was more touching was the fact that you were bearing the Forget-Me-Not pin which was a symbol of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. By fate, six years later, you recognized the Armenian Genocide as the 46th President of the United States and stayed true to your commitment to the supremacy of human rights and fulfilled the promise you had made as a presidential candidate. To date, you have consistently talked about and fought against the historical injustice, feeling the spirit of the crucial struggle of Armenian American survivors of the genocide and their generations who have made tremendous contributions to help the American society and political elite have a complete picture of the Armenian Genocide and the claims. Honorable President, by recognizing the Armenian Genocide, you not only gave a just and clear evaluation of the historic events and irrefutable facts, meeting the expectations that millions of Armenian Americans and 10,000,000 Armenians (scattered across the globe due to the genocide) have had for 106 years, but also took a major step to underscore the commitment of states to prevent and abolish the crime of genocide. Please, accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration. Podemos general secretary Pablo Iglesias, who recently stepped down as Deputy Prime Minister to run in the Madrid regional election, has received letters containing death threats and bullets. On Thursday, Iglesias posted on Twitter an anonymous letter the Ministry of Interior received for him. It said: Pablo Iglesias Turrion, you have let our parents and grandparents die. Your wife, your parents and you are sentenced to the capital punishment, your time is running out. The letter came with four CETME bullets, a rifle used by the Spanish Army, Navy, Civil Guard and National Police. An anonymous letter addressed to Pablo Iglesias at the Interior Ministry with four rifle bullets. (Pablo Iglesias, Twitter) Interior Minister Fernando Grandes-Marlaska and the government-appointed head of the Civil Guard police force, Maria Gamez, received similar letters. Marlaskas letter said: You have 10 days to resign. The days of laughing at us are over. National Police. Civil Guard. Time is not on your side for the taponazos [police slang for loud gunshots]. The envelope contained two 7.62x51 mm bullets. Gamez received a similar message a day earlier, with the same type of bullet and references to taponazos. The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) condemns these letters, which bear all the hallmarks of coming from far-right members of the Spanish security forces. The ICFI has unbridgeable, extensively documented political differences with Podemos, which has implemented herd immunity policies that have caused mass deaths in Spain. However, we call on workers and youth to oppose death threats against Podemos, especially those influenced by far-right parties that have also advocated and implemented herd immunity policies. These are the latest in a stream of threats against Iglesias life, coinciding with rising fear in ruling circles of workers opposition to herd immunity policies on the COVID-19 pandemic. After mass strikes in Italy and across Europe compelled Madrid to agree to a lockdown last spring, fascistic Spanish officers close to the far-right Vox party began conspiring to launch a coup. This went hand-in-hand with hysterical denunciations by right-wing parties of reds and communists. Multiple leaked messages on officers private WhatsApp chat groups revealed the extent of fascist sympathies in the army. Retired generals and colonels proclaimed their loyalty to fascism, boasted of links to active-duty officers and Vox, and called for a coup to murder 26 million left-wing Spaniards. Chats of active-duty officers expressed support for the fascist retired generals, calling Iglesias a hunchbacked rat. Far-right pickets have been organised daily in front of Iglesias house, with some fascists actually prosecuted for entering his property. Last summer, Iglesias cut short his holidays in northern Spain after being hounded by fascists. A former member of La Legion, an elite military unit, was filmed shooting live ammunition at a photograph of Iglesias in an armoury. In recent weeks, these attacks have intensified. Podemos party headquarters in Cartagena was firebombed, its windows sprayed with obscene graffiti and the word Rojos (reds, a derogatory term used by fascists). The Interior Ministry has reinforced Iglesias security, due to a risk of an attack during the regional elections. He is guarded by police snipers stationed atop rooftops, unprecedented protection for a Spanish regional election candidate. At a pre-election debate held at Cadena SER radio, Iglesias walked out of the studio shortly after the debate began, when Vox candidate Rocio Monasterio refused to condemn the letter. She said, Well, I believe little of what Pablo Iglesias says. When it came his turn to speak Iglesias called on Monasterio to rectify her words or he would leave. Monasterio refused, saying: If you are so brave, get up and leave, and leave Spain too. Iglesias left. Vox leader Santiago Abascal supported Monasterio and trivialized the death threats against Iglesias, saying that the letter stinks of a set-up. He also mocked Iglesias in feminist terms for leaving the debate, calling Iglesias a little alpha male who cannot stand if a woman contradicts him. Such threats constitute a serious warning. While Iglesias, Grandes-Marlaska and Gamez are the immediate targets of the death threats, their political target is the growing anger in the working class against deadly herd immunity policies implemented in Spain and internationally. There is deep, historically rooted opposition to fascistic forces and herd immunity policies in the European working class. However, this can only be mobilized if it is organized independently of the union bureaucracies and based on Marxist opposition to pseudo-left parties like Podemos. Indeed, a key reason far-right forces feel emboldened to act is that the Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government has consistently followed a political agenda set by Vox, providing political cover for coup plotters. The PSOE-Podemos government ruthlessly implemented the EUs herd immunity policy, leaving over 100,000 dead and 3.4 million infected of COVID-19 in Spain. Amid a fourth wave, fuelled by variants, it bowed this month to Voxs demands to end social distancing measures over the coming weeks, condemning thousands more to unnecessarily die. It is also preparing to enact pension cuts, labour reforms and other austerity measures dictated by a 140 billion European Union (EU) bailout, which passed in parliament thanks to votes from Vox. This money will be funnelled to the financial aristocracy, which made billions from the pandemic as hunger queues became common in Spanish cities. According to Forbes, Spains billionaires club has gone from 24 to 30 during the pandemic, with its net worth rising from $97.1 billion last year to $137 billion, led by Amancio Ortegas fortune of $71.3 billion. Yet, in a further reactionary gesture, PSOE Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hailed Voxs vote for EU bailouts as statesmanlike. In fact, amid the bourgeoisies murderous response to the pandemic and escalating social inequality, democratic forms of rule are collapsing across America and Europe. It has been nearly two years since German politician Walter Lubcke was shot in cold blood in his house by neo-Nazis for his pro-refugee stance. In the US, a plot to assassinate Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer brought to light a nationwide far-right terror network, just months before then-US President Donald Trumps January 6, 2021 coup attempt involving sections of the US military and the Republican Party. Just as the Democratic Party has worked furiously to cover up Trumps coup attempt, Podemos and the PSOE have downplayed coup threats in Spain and across Europe. On Twitter, referring to his death threats, Iglesias wrote: There has been no consequence for the retired officers who spoke of shooting 26 million Spaniards for being reds. How will they not feel absolute impunity to send us death threats with bullets from an assault rifle? One must reply to Iglesias that he bears considerable political responsibility for far-right impunity. Last December, he publicly downplayed these dangers on television, while social media boiled with anger over fascist threats to kill tens of millions. In a prime-time interview, he brazenly insisted: What these gentlemen say, at their age and already retired, in a chat with a few too many drinks, does not pose any threat. Soon after, this was exposed as lie. Videos emerged of active-duty Spanish soldiers singing fascist songs, and active-duty officers embraced retired generals calls to kill 26 million in leaked chats. La Marea recently interviewed an officer who, in a distorted voice to guard against retaliation, said: We have denounced the existence of a neo-Nazi cell in the Army, and the [the Ministry of Defence] response has been nil. The army has responded by trying to identify the leakers of the report detailing neo-Nazi networks in the army, but in order to expel the leakers. The PSOE-Podemos government has made no attempt to stop this reactionary proceeding. Interview: CPC's leadership, socialist system key to China's success: former Hungarian PM Xinhua) 13:56, April 24, 2021 BUDAPEST, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC)'s leadership and its upholding of socialism with Chinese characteristics are key to China's success, former Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently. As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Medgyessy explained the main reasons behind the party's long-term success. "Every society is looking for a social order that best suits its own history, its own cultural traditions and the character of its people," Medgyessy said. China's success is closely intertwined with the success of the CPC, he said. "The success of the party is based on two things, one is that it has represented a stable set of values that can be maintained in the long run, and the other is its very good ability to renew itself," Medgyessy said. An economic boom, poverty alleviation, advanced high technology like 5G networks, artificial intelligence (AI) and space exploration are very impressive achievements, Medgyessy said. "The quality of life in China has also changed a lot, and this is perhaps even more important than technical progress," he noted. Medgyessy stressed that China has set an example for developing countries, as China has shown that everything is possible if one works together, makes a lot of efforts and has a good leadership. He noted that China's fast development has also created opportunities for markets and investments on a global scale, and China's impact on the world has been "very significant." Medgyessy also spoke highly of China for its successful fight against the pandemic, saying that the CPC's "people first" approach was a key factor in successfully controlling the pandemic. The global changes needed to be dealt with using international cooperation and multilateralism, he said. "The ideal to build a community with a shared future for humanity is very right and important," he added. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) Pimlico Plumbers notched up a record year during the pandemic as the lockdown put extra strain on homes. The London plumbing and heating company, which counts actor Daniel Craig among its clients, is on track for revenues of 48million in the year to the end of May. Profits are forecast to hit 8 million and founder Charlie Mullins told The Mail on Sunday that he intends to take a dividend of '4million to 5million'. Driving force: Charlie Mullins said his business had benefited because people use their plumbing more while at home The tycoon said his business had benefited because people use their plumbing more while at home. In addition, many customers had diverted their holiday money into making home improvements. Mullins caused a stir earlier this year when he announced he was requiring all his employees to be vaccinated against Covid. Some anti-vaxxers labelled him 'a dictator' over his 'no jab, no job' policy. The businessman, who is chairman of his company, credited his Covid-safe stance for much of the surge in business. 'We've been very safe,' he said. 'Customers have been aware of that and it has paid off.' As employees begin to return to workplaces, Mullins forecast an improvement in the commercial side of his business which had 'taken a hit' during the pandemic. Mullins was speaking from his home in Spain after flying in from Dubai where he is assessing whether to launch a new venture. Photo: The Canadian Press Pankaj Kumar and his wife Rupakshi Sharma Pankaj Kumar's wife, who is five-and-a-half months pregnant, was booked on a flight to Canada from India on Sunday. Now Kumar said his wife, Rupakshi Sharma, will be stuck in Punjab due to the federal government's suspension of passenger flights from India and Pakistan. "Her father was diagnosed with cancer and he's undergoing chemotherapy," he said in an interview from their home in Brampton, Ont. "She just wanted to spend some time with her father." The couple is now worried that if the ban is extended beyond 30 days Sharma won't be able to come back because of her pregnancy. Kumar said he feels helpless. "As of now I don't have any plan. It's a mess," he said. "If she wasn't pregnant I would have said 'just stay there'." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said suspending the flights must be done to keep Canadians safe. Trudeau said it was necessary because there has been a surge of COVID-19 cases and the emergence of more variants of concern in certain parts of the world. "A determination was made that there needed to be further steps taken," he said Friday. Testing at border entries has shown that half the people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus after arriving in Canada by plane have come from India, federal officials said. There has also been a disproportionate number of positive cases from travellers arriving from Pakistan. All commercial and private passenger flights arriving in Canada from the two countries were suspended effective 11:30 p.m. Thursday. The new travel measures were announced following pressure from provincial leaders, who said not enough was being done to keep infectious variants out of the country. The B. 1.617 variant that appears to be fuelling widespread infections in India has been detected in several provinces. Kumar said he understands the need for a travel suspension but added that the government should have given people more notice. "You should notify people at least a week earlier. You can't say at 5 p.m. that flights are suspended." The travel measures require people coming from India and Pakistan through indirect flights to get a negative COVID-19 test in the last place they landed before arriving in Canada. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Canada already had significant requirements for returning travellers that have helped reduce the spread of COVID-19. Haiqa Cheema's 77-year-old grandmother, Bibi Bashiran, was looking forward to returning to Pakistan to celebrate Eid. Cheema said Bashiran was "a bit sad" when she was told by her granddaughter that all flights from Pakistan and India had been suspended. Bashiran, who visits her son's family in Edmonton every year, was booked on a flight to Pakistan on May 14. The family had to scramble to get a visa extension for her. "Her visa expires on May 15 or 16," Cheema said in an interview. "We don't want to overextend her visa stay because that creates complications in the future." Flights can go from Canada to Pakistan, she said. But because there are no incoming flights, the airline that she was supposed to fly with cancelled all its outgoing travel too. Cheema and her dad had a chat with Bashiran about the suspension, including the possibility of it being extended. "I think she's waiting and watching," she said. "She lives in an open house in Pakistan. But here because it's so cold, she's inside and she was really looking forward to going back. Technically, she's safer here but the mental health component is huge." Pakistan's High Commissioner to Canada, Raza Bashir Tarar, has asked the federal government to reconsider. Tarar said in a letter to Transport Minister Omar Alghabra that the decision to suspend passenger flights from Pakistan betrayed a lack of understanding about South Asia. "It ignores the fact that both trains and flights are not operational between the two countries (India and Pakistan)," he wrote. "So the ban on flights from Pakistan because a new variant has developed in another country whose population has no possibility of contact with Pakistan, defies logic." He also noted that Pakistan had fewer cases than India and no variants of concern have been detected. More than a year ago, Canada banned all non-essential travel by land and air from abroad and the border with the United States was closed. People returning to Canada are required to present a pre-board negative COVID-19 test, get another test upon arrival and quarantine for two weeks. There are some exceptions for essential workers. Blair said the further restrictions were added based on advice from the Public Health Agency of Canada. "We will always do what's necessary to keep communities safe from COVID." Arati Sood's husband wanted to visit his father who was diagnosed with cancer. Debasish Chakraborty went to Assam, India, on March 30. On Thursday, Chakraborty's father died of a heart attack. "Luckily, he was able to see his dad and help him," Sood said from her home in Mississauga, Ont. "But things happen." Chakraborty was to return to Canada on April 28. She is disappointed with the sudden suspension of flights from India. Sood said the government could have increased the quarantine period, asked people to pay for the stay in hotels or even given more notice before suspending flights. "This last week, we've been struggling with one or another thing. And now, this suspension," she said. "I just want him to come back home." According to Turkish media, the Turkish army launched a military operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party in northern Iraq, where the militants are located. Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist organization. According to Yeni Safak, the operation is taking place near the Iraqi village of Metina. Turkish special forces, artillery and military aviation are aiming the Kurdish militants. According to Milliyet, the Turkish Air Force has already bombed PKK targets not only in Metina, but also in the Zap, Avashin-Basyan and Kandil regions. President Joe Biden spent his first week in office taking action to address economic inequality. But a recent study says that restoring the federal deduction for state and local taxes something strongly supported by Gov. Phil Murphy and other Democrats could make things worse. The argument over economic inequality provides yet another hurdle for proponents of restoring the deduction. Already, they have faced blowback because the tax break disproportionately helps the rich, even though plenty of middle-class homeowners in New Jersey and other high-tax states would benefit as well. The progressive Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said 72% of the benefits of repeal of the deduction, known as SALT, would go to white households, most of them wealthy. In New Jersey, the percentage was 73%, even though 57% of households overall are white. Republicans in their 2017 tax law capped the deduction at $10,000, disproportionately affecting New Jersey and other high-tax states with governments run by Democrats. Murphy and six other state chief executives said the provision was based on politics, not logic or good government. With Democrats now occupying the White House and controlling both houses of Congress, governors and federal lawmakers from those states are pushing to address the cap in Bidens proposed $2 trillion infrastructure proposal. The SALT deduction assists more than just wealthy families in a state like New Jersey with high real estate values, said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist. Many officials have shied away from discussing inequality, however. Asked about it Friday, Murphy responded only: We just think the middle class has paid the biggest price for capping SALT. And we are committed to doing everything we can to lift that cap. But the issue cuts both ways. When there was no cap, state and local officials found it more palatable to raise taxes to help poorer residents, since those paying more could write off part of that increase on their federal returns. With the SALT cap in place, states and localities face downward pressure on their ability to make important investments in things like education, living wages, infrastructure, environmental protection, and social services, said Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-11th Dist. The result will be less spending over time on these priorities, which would be a detriment to reducing inequality and ensuring our economy works for everyone. United Van Lines 2020 moving survey found that more people were leaving New Jersey than any other state. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., suggested many of them were wealthy residents driven out by the loss of the full tax deduction, leaving fewer resources for critical social programs in states like ours, which have historically been ahead of the pack compared to redder states that have weak social programs. Those programs also include education, roads and public safety, said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist. Without the full deduction, our cities and towns will continue to contemplate brutal cuts to these services that will harm millions of our neighbors and reduce the quality of life in our state, Pascrell said. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-10th Dist., made a similar point before the House Ways and Means Committee in May 2019. There will be less state and local funding for critical infrastructure programs and for social services, Payne said. Everyone will feel the impact of rolling back the SALT deduction regardless of whether you took the deduction. If repealing the cap means there will be more tax dollars going to help lower-income Americans, thats a powerful argument, said James W. Hughes, dean emeritus of the Bloustein School of Planning and Policy at Rutgers University. 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: A separate ITEP study found that 30% of New Jerseyans would get a tax cut if the cap was lifted a greater percentage than any other state and 80% of them had average incomes of $216,000 or less. Still, 61% of those nationally who would benefit by repeal earn more than $200,000 and those making more than $1 million would get 52% of the tax break, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. Its another gift to those who need it the least, its not a gift to those who need it the most, said Sheila Reynertson, a senior policy analyst with New Jersey Policy Perspective, a progressive research group. Our congressional delegation needs to be really honest who benefits from the SALT cap repeal. It disproportionately benefits homeowners with homes in whiter neighborhoods. While the Republican tax law gave 65% of its benefits to the richest 20% of households and 21% to the top 1% in its first year, GOP lawmakers have decried efforts to remove the $10,000 cap as a giveaway to the wealthy. At a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing on inequalities in the tax code, the panels top Republican, Mike Crapo of Idaho, said that going the opposite direction of combating inequality in the tax code are efforts to roll back the cap. Crapo is one of the leading sponsors of legislation to permanently repeal the tax that falls solely on estates of more than $11.7 million. None of them are family farms or small businesses, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive research group. And a $568 billion infrastructure proposal offered by several Senate Republicans as a counteroffer to Biden called for keeping the entire tax law in place, especially the $10,000 cap on deducting state and local taxes. NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report. 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. But health experts note the number and severity of outbreaks on ships last year when, for example, more than 700 people became infected with the virus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan and 14 people died. The CDC wants to prevent people from getting sick, and the cruise lines want to go back to business and start making money, said Tara Kirk Sell, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. So theres going to be a central disconnect and tension there as we sort our way through this pandemic, which isnt over yet, and we are still trying to figure out. The first batch of Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus that Russia donated to Moldova arrived in the Chisinau airport on Saturday CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2021) The first batch of Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus that Russia donated to Moldova arrived in the Chisinau airport on Saturday. A Russian Emergencies Ministry plane carrying 142,000 doses of the two-shot vaccine took off in Moscow in the morning. Former Moldovan President Igor Dodon accompanied the shipment. "Thanks to our Russian partners for their invaluable help to the people of Moldova," Dodon wrote on social media. A delegation of Russian lawmakers flew to Chisinau on the same plane. They were welcomed on the tarmac by Moldovan parliamentary speaker Zinaida Greceanii and Russian Ambassador Oleg Vasnetsov. A Russian official told reporters that the next batch of vaccines would arrive in May. New Delhi: Families of all 39 Indians labourers who went missing in Iraq's second largest city of Mosul three years ago have been asked to undergo DNA tests. "All of us have been asked to undergo DNA test; don't know why. We are very nervous", Gurpinder, the sister of Manjinder, who is one among the 39, told ANI. 39 Indians, mostly from Punjab, were reportedly abducted by ISIS in 2014 when they were trying to leave the city. As per the reports from Hindustan Times, External affairs ministry has sent a letter to officials in Punjab asking for the samples as the team is set to visit Iraq on October 23. Read more: Donald Trump commends ex-presidents as 'finest public servants Earlier, Iraqi authorities too wrote to Indian officials for DNA samples as it would serve as great help in the search. Taking these two strands into account, the external affairs ministry decided to request the governments of the states, to which the missing men belonged, to take DNA samples of their relatives, a source told Hindustan Times. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. She has made a name for herself flaunting her sensational physique on social media. And Demi Rose sent temperatures soaring as she put her killer curves on display in a plunging barely-there orange bikini. The model, 26, made sure her ample assets were the centre of attention for the sizzling snaps, which she posted to her Instagram account on Friday. Wow: Demi Rose sent temperatures soaring as she put her killer curves on display in a plunging orange bikini for sizzling Instagram snaps on Friday She paired the bright neon two-piece with a flat cap and a mini skirt that hugged her curvaceous figure as her high-cut bikini bottoms peeked out underneath. The social media sensation posed for the snap in what appeared to be a clothing store, as she played with her hair for the camera. Her brunette locks were plaited in a braid and she wore a natural pallet of make-up with some eyeliner and a glossy lip. Flaunt it: The model, 26, made sure her ample assets were the center of attention paired the bright neon two-piece with a flat cap and a mini skirt that hugged her curvaceous figure The new snap comes after the brunette beauty recently opened up to MailOnline about how she shot to stardom at the age of 14 after being bullied in school. 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.' She experienced her first taste of fame when pictures of her on the beach as a young teenager went viral on Instagram. Sensational: The social media star experienced her first taste of fame when pictures of her on the beach as a young teenager went viral on Instagram Birmingham native Demi shared: 'I only ever got Instagram because someone made a fake profile of me on there with 3,000 followers and I was really envious. 'I was like, "wow, how can someone using my pictures get that much?" And then I started an account and it went from there.' From the age of 18, the bombshell who currently boasts 16 million followers signed with a modelling agency and her career went from strength to strength. Demi has been sharing a slew of snaps from her sunny travels in recent months including trips to the Maldives and Tanzania. She is currently residing in Ibiza. Portuguese and Slovenian defence ministers said Friday Russia remains a threat and a risk to the European Union. The ministers spoke at a news conference following a high level meeting with 14 EU defence ministers and deputy officials along with EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, among others. Slovenian Defence Minister Matej Tonin said that Russia's behaviour is "absolutely a threat to the European Union" and added that the only way to counter it was through European unity. Tonin and Portuguese Defence Minister Joao Cravinho also highlighted the importance of the new trans-Atlantic relationship with US President Joe Biden. The meeting served as a workshop for the so-called Strategic Compass a new roadmap for European security and defence. Some of the key principles are crisis management, resilience, capacities and partnerships as well as protection of citizens. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Leading scientists are calling on the Government to remove all coronavirus restrictions and allow people to 'take back control of their own lives' when the 'roadmap' to freedom ends in June. With real-world data showing vaccines reduce the risk of death by 98 per cent and hospitalisations by more than 80 per cent, the experts say Covid-19 is being turned into a 'mild' disease in Britain, akin to the flu. In an open letter to The Mail on Sunday, they criticise 'confused and contradictory' messages from Ministers and scientific advisers about the virus, which they say are exaggerating the real threat. The signatories of the letter include Carl Heneghan - Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford Professor Sunetra Gupta, professor of theoretical epidemiology, University of Oxford, also signed the letter Professor Hugh Pennington was among the experts to add his name to the letter calling for restrictions to be lifted from June Public health expert Professor Robert Dingwall added his name to the list of signatories The 22 signatories include Professors Carl Heneghan and Sunetra Gupta from Oxford University, Emeritus Professor Hugh Pennington from the University of Aberdeen and Professor Robert Dingwall from Nottingham Trent University. 'We are being told, simultaneously, that we have successful vaccines and that major restrictions on everyday life must continue indefinitely. Both propositions cannot be true,' the scientists write. 'We need to give more weight to the data on the actual success of the vaccines.' The letter came as: Official figures showed that more than half of the UK's population has received at least one vaccine dose with 12 million also having their second jab; There were 32 deaths in the last recorded 24-hour period, down 11 per cent week-on-week, with hospital admissions down 21 per cent to 132 and the number of positive tests falling by almost 3 per cent to 2,061. Britain now has the lowest rate of cases in Europe, apart from Iceland, according to the European Covid-19 Forecast Hub; Government sources suggested mask-wearing could be dropped for the summer; Britain has again outflanked the EU by securing a huge priority order of vaccines from French manufacturer Valneva; An AstraZeneca boss condemned critics of its vaccine as 'inaccurate, wrong and uneducated'; It emerged a top aide to Boris Johnson caught Covid during a trip to India to secure vaccine supplies, sparking fears he exposed Ministers and civil servants to a mutant strain of the virus; A professor of foetal medicine called for pregnant women to be fast-tracked for vaccine jabs because Covid greatly increases health risks for mums-to-be; In India, where experts fear the daily death toll could soon rise above 5,000 and where there have been almost a million cases in the past three days, almost 90 per cent of the nation's oxygen supply is being diverted for medical use. In their letter, the British scientists say major studies support their view that vaccines are almost eliminating deaths and hugely reducing serious illness. One study, presented to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, found that out of 42,788 people who needed hospital treatment for Covid since December, only 32 were admitted three weeks or more after having their first dose. Another, led by Oxford University, found a single dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine cut the risk of suffering symptomatic infections by 74 per cent and 'likely reduces transmission'. The letter's authors added: 'It is time to recognise that, in our substantially vaccinated population, Covid-19 will take its place among the 30 or so respiratory viral diseases with which humans have historically co-existed. 'For most vaccinated and other low-risk people, Covid-19 is now a mild endemic infection, likely to recur in seasonal waves which renew immunity without significantly stressing the NHS.' Now read the full letter: We are writing as scientists and scholars concerned about the confused and contradictory directions currently being promoted in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are being told simultaneously that we have successful vaccines and that major restrictions on everyday life must continue indefinitely. Both propositions cannot be true. We need to give more weight to the data on the actual success of the vaccines and less to theoretical risks of vaccine escape and/or surge in a largely vaccinated population. It is time to reassess where we are and where we go next. Phase One of the Covid-19 vaccination programme will shortly be completed, with every vulnerable adult in the UK having been offered two injections. It is clear that the vaccines are fully delivering on the promise of the clinical trials. We can be very confident that they will reduce Covid deaths by around 98 per cent and serious illness by 80-85 per cent. This level of protection against serious illness seems not to be significantly affected by any of the variants that have been observed, because of the breadth of T-cell responses. There are sound evolutionary reasons why this is unlikely to change in the near future with new variants. In short, the level of population immunity we have now achieved by targeted vaccination and natural infection means that the SARS-Cov-2 virus in the UK has become demonstrably less fatal than seasonal influenza viruses. Given this, it is time to recognize that, in our substantially vaccinated population, Covid-19 will take its place among the 30 or so respiratory viral diseases with which humans have historically co-existed. This has been explicitly accepted in a number of recent statements by the Chief Medical Officer. For most vaccinated and other low-risk people, Covid-19 is now a mild endemic infection, likely to recur in seasonal waves which renew immunity without significantly stressing the NHS. Covid-19 no longer requires exceptional measures of control in everyday life, especially where there have been no evaluations and little credible evidence of benefit. Measures to reduce or discourage social interaction are extremely damaging to the mental health of citizens; to the education of children and young people; to people with disabilities; to new entrants to the workforce; and to the spontaneous personal connections from which innovation and enterprise emerge. The DfE recommendations on face covering and social distancing in schools should never have been extended beyond Easter and should cease no later than 17 May. Mandatory face coverings, physical distancing and mass community testing should cease no later than 21 June along with other controls and impositions. All consideration of immunity documentation should cease. There will be continuing value in investments towards better vaccines with a broader spectrum of action against the virus; in establishing a genuinely voluntary, targeted surveillance programme with a genomic component to monitor the spread and evolution of the virus; and in improving social security provision to encourage people to stay at home if experiencing respiratory symptoms. Just as before the pandemic, it will remain desirable to promote general standards of public hygiene, such as thorough handwashing and surface cleaning, although neither has been shown to be particularly important in reducing SARS-Cov-2 transmission. There would also be value in increasing the ability of the NHS to deal with surges of infection, although these are as likely to come from other respiratory infections as from Covid-19, and to ensure good care for long Covid. We have learned that a good society cannot be created by obsessive focus on a single cause of ill-health. Having endured the ravages of 2020, things are very different as we enter the spring of 2021. It is more than time for citizens to take back control of their own lives. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki briefs members of the media in the White House Press Briefing Room in Washington, D.C., April 23. EPA-Yonhap The United States is working closely during the pandemic with India and other members of a four-way regional forum known as the Quad, the White House spokeswoman said Friday. Jen Psaki, however, suggested that her country has no immediate plans to send vaccines to those countries. "We've made vaccine cooperation a big priority, including with our Quad partners. India is one of our Quad partners, of course, in discussing vaccine creation and distribution for the future," she said in a daily press briefing. But Psaki then went onto describe how much the United States has helped India and others already. "We've also provided US$4 billion to COVAX, and from the earliest stages of the pandemic, we've provided India with emergency relief supplies, medical consumables, pandemic training for Indian state and local health officials, and ventilators," she said, referring to the global initiative partly run by the World Health Organization to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries. Her remarks come amid repeated requests from South Korea to help with its vaccine shortage. Some news outlets here have argued the United States is willing to provide vaccines to Quad members, but not South Korea. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong has proposed what he called a "vaccine swap," where the U.S. will first provide vaccines to its Asian ally and get paid back later with vaccines or other items. U.S. President Joe Biden, while speaking mostly in regard to such cooperation with Canada and Mexico, said the country will first have to see if it will be safe to do so. State Department spokesman Ned Price was more straightforward, saying the country is still focused on vaccinating its own people. "As we are in a more comfortable and competent position here at home with our own vaccination effort, as we've been able to address contingencies that may arise, I expect we may be able to do more, but right now that's our focus," he said earlier. Psaki too noted there may be opportunities in the future to help India and others. "I don't have anything more to preview, but we are in touch with them at a range of levels about how we can help them get through this period of time," she said of cooperation with India. Jalina Porter, principal deputy spokeswoman for the State Department, later said the country had no immediate plans to send U.S. vaccines to South Korea. "Right now we don't have anything to announce, as far as giving U.S. vaccines to South Korea," she said in a telephone press conference. "I mean we certainly value South Korea as a strategic partner ... but right now we have nothing to announce when it comes back to vaccines." (Yonhap) Ontario Premier Doug Ford admitted during a public appearance on Thursday that the government made rash decisions to implement Draconian lockdown measures that have led to abuse, a report says. The 56 year-old Premier explained that such measures were in response to an "extremely troubling modeling that told us we could see well over 15,000 cases a day," causing them to order stricter measures to "reduce mobility," but later realizing that "we moved too fast" and that " some of those measures-especially around enforcement-they went too far." "Simply put, we got it wrong. We made a mistake. These decisions, they left a lot of people very concerned. In fact, they left a lot of people angry and upset," Premier Ford admitted tearfully, Faithwire reported. "I know we got it wrong. I know we made a mistake. And for that, I'm sorry and I sincerely apologize." On April 16, the Ontario Premier ordered for a two-week extension of the stay-at-home order, resulting in a total of six weeks, Yahoo! News reported. At the time, Premier Ford said, "The reality is, there are few options left. The difficult truth is, every public health measure we have left comes with a massive cost to people and their lives." The renewed Draconian lockdown measures, which were made effective April 17, limited outdoor gatherings to one's immediate household only, halted all non-essential construction projects, restricted all outdoor recreational amenities, and reduced big-box retailer capacity to 25%. On April 19, additional measures were put into place. Attendants at places of worship, weddings and funerals were only limited to a maximum of 10 whether indoors or outdoors, and checkpoints were installed at all interprovincial borders, limiting the flow of people between Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec, except for essential workers. The renewed Draconian lockdown measures have led authorities to target places of worship. In a Facebook post, Faytene TV reported that Ontario police forcibly entered the Life Church in Muskoka, ordering ministry leaders to end worship service and close down despite the congregation complying with the 15% capacity limit. This past Sunday, the Ontario Police (O.P.P.) forcibly entered a church in Muskoka by a back door leading to a children'... Posted by Faytene TV on Wednesday, April 21, 2021 The Draconian lockdown measures also enabled Ontario police to randomly ask citizens on the street as to why they are outdoors, demand for their addresses and force them to return home and comply with the health orders. Police also reportedly began aggressively policing citizens, some as young as 12 years old. Rebel News reported that in Gravenhurst, Ontario, a 12 year-old boy was shoved off his scooter by an officer who was enforcing the Draconian lockdown measures. According to the National Post, over 60% of Ontario citizens now disapprove of Premier Ford's response to the increase of COVID-19 cases in the area. A Maru Public Opinion (MPO) poll that was released on Thursday found that the Ontario Premier's approval rating had fallen 13 points since March, coming down to just 35%. John Wright, executive vice-president of MPO, criticized the Ontario Premier's leadership, saying that there's "no plan-it's all reaction." The COVID-19 vaccination drive for people in the age group of 18 to 44 years in is likely to be delayed as the vaccine manufacturer has not yet assured supply of doses on time, a senior health department official said on Saturday. National Health Mission (NHM) Director Dr Siddharth Shiv Jaiswal said that the state government is fully prepared to start the vaccination programme scheduled on May 1 but the vaccine manufacturer is yet to confirm the dates for supply of the doses. "We are in constant touch with the vaccine manufacturer, but they are yet to confirm the exact date of supply of doses. They informed us that the vaccine will be delivered to Maharashtra first as the situation is grave there and then they would consider supplying vaccines to Tripura", he told reporters. Jaiswal said the state government had made all preparations for vaccination of those who are above 18 years of age and below 45 years and funds were also sanctioned for the project. "Until the manufacturer confirms the vaccine supply, it would not be possible to start the vaccination drive from May 1. All the district magistrates of eight districts in the state were informed about the development through video conferencing today and all the political parties were informed about it. We want people not to get confused and cooperate with the administration in this regard", he said. According to the new vaccine rules, states and private entities can buy vaccines directly for inoculations. The Centre will continue to vaccinate frontline workers, health workers and those above 45. When asked, if oxygen supply for the COVID-19 patients was adequate in the state, Jaiswal said the state is prepared to deal with the situation with the increasing demands. "The state has sufficient supply of oxygen which can cater to the needs of the hospitals as of now. There are three refilling stations in the state and a bulk quantity of oxygen is also procured from Silchar in Assam. In case the supply stops from Assam, the state might face difficulties in meeting the need," Jaiswal said. He said that one official was appointed as nodal officer for oxygen management and supply. The state requires around 1,000 cylinders per day and stocks for the next 15 days are available at present. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At the end of President Trump's first term, congressional Democrats impeached and tried the president, and the one and only article of impeachment was for incitement of insurrection. The focus of this charge was a statement made by the president telling the January 6th rally attendees that, "if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore, the operative word there being fight. Of course, the assumption was the definition of the word fight can only include physical violence. The House managers must have never heard anyone say, Im going to fight this cancer with all my energy. They certainly did not anticipate the presidents counsel playing video showing Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer and certain impeachment managers using the word fight and not being charged with anything. The implication was that the president encouraged and incited violence at the Capitol, one of the results of which was the murder of a Capitol police officer. This charge was specifically included in the article. We know now it was a lie and there was no evidence then to make such a charge. The constitutional text covering impeachment requirements includes the phrase high crimes and misdemeanors. The generally accepted viewpoint is that this describes any serious abuse of power, including legal and illegal activities. Any civil officer can be impeached for misconduct, violation of oath of office, or serious incompetence. Joe Biden, in the early days of his presidency, issued executive orders stopping the construction of the border wall and the Keystone pipeline. Regarding the pipeline, this order put Americans out of work with the justification being the claim by so-called environmentalists that pipelines cause irreparable harm to the landscape, the animal kingdom, and the climate. This argument was used decades ago regarding the Trans Alaska pipeline. One notable claim was that the West Arctic caribou herd would be endangered. The fact is that since the pipeline was completed, the herd is now four times larger. While this fact alone may say nothing about Joe Biden, it does tell us that his reason for killing American jobs is based on lies. I would say this qualifies as serious incompetence. We will call this Article 1. It is clear to everyone that a completed border wall will go a long way toward the goal of stopping massive illegal entry into our country, a goal shared by all sovereign nations that understand the purpose of an established border. The prime responsibility of a president as head of the Executive branch is to enforce federal laws. Failure to do so violates the oath of office and is clearly an example of serious incompetence. Here we have Article 2. Also, on day 1 of his presidency, Biden issued an executive order requiring everyone on federal lands or in federal buildings to wear a face mask. Daniel Horowitz explains that masks are designated as experimental medical devices. Vaccines and face masks have only been allowed for use by the FDA via the Emergency Use Authorization. The law covering these devices states, Federal law governing the conditions of authorization of unapproved emergency medical products (21 U.S.C. 360bbb3(e)(1)(A)(ii)(III)) requires the secretary of HHS to "ensure that individuals to whom the product is administered are informed," among other things, "...of the option to accept or refuse administration of the product." Stated simply, masks are experimental medical devices and as such their use cannot be required. I am fairly sure that violation of federal law qualifies as misconduct, violation of oath of office, and serious incompetence -- a trifecta and Article 3! Most recently, the president announced his desire for a guilty verdict in the Chauvin trial saying, I'm praying that verdict is the right verdict, which I think it's overwhelming, in my view. I wouldn't say that unless the jury was sequestered now." So, the head of the executive branch, whose job is to enforce the laws, (and to leave judging guilt or innocence to a different branch) has entered judicial branch territory by deeming the verdict he is dreaming about to be the correct one. This is misconduct at the very least, with oath of office violation and serious incompetence thrown in for good measure. Using racist math, weve now have a total of four Articles of Impeachment. That is a pretty good start. If we want to be thorough, we must consider Maxine Waters for impeachment as well. As noted earlier, President Trump was impeached for incitement of insurrection. Auntie Maxie went to Minneapolis to tell reporters and a crowd of protestors, if the former police officer isn't found guilty of murdering Floyd, "We've got to stay on the street and we've got to get more active, we've got to get more confrontational. We've got to make sure that they know that we mean business." Waters said she was "hopeful" Chauvin would be convicted of murder, but if he wasnt, "we cannot go away." I think urging a mob to commit violence, masked as being confrontational, is greater evidence of incitement than Trump using the word fight. Congressional representatives are also subject to impeachment, so I offer Article 1 for the impeachment of Maxine Waters. But now, as I snap back to reality, it is obvious to me and anyone who has inhabited the planet for more than two days that neither of these two will face impeachment, thanks to the current makeup of the House of Representatives. But until Joe Biden issues an executive order banning them, I can at least dream. Image: Pix4Free.org To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Pope Francis's ambassador to Mexico on Friday visited a Mexican town terrorized by a bloody turf war between rival drug cartels, telling residents they were not forgotten. Hundreds of faithful lined the streets of Aguililla, a flashpoint in the violence-plagued western state of Michoacan, to greet Franco Coppola, the apostolic nuncio. "Don't forget us. We have faith in our lord," they implored the Vatican envoy, following gun battles between rival gangs who have laid siege to their community. On Monday, a suspected member of Jalisco New Generation, one of the country's most powerful cartels, attacked security forces in the town with an explosive-laden drone, wounding two police officers, the government said. Coppola, who was accompanied by a security team provided by the authorities, spoke with residents to hear about their experiences with cartel violence before officiating mass. "Please bear witness to what is happening -- the bad guys take advantage of the silence," Coppola told reporters afterward. He said that the mission of the Catholic Church was "to be close, to be there" when people are abandoned in the face of criminal violence and the indifference of authorities. More than 300,000 people have been murdered in Mexico since the government deployed the military to fight drug trafficking in 2006, according to authorities, who say most of the killings are linked to gang violence. Bloodshed has increased ahead of June midterm elections that have brought a wave of murders of politicians at the hands of criminal gangs vying for influence. str/jla-dr/acb Thala Ajith's new movie Valimai is one of the most awaited big releases of the year. The makers had earlier confirmed that the films first look will be released on actor Ajiths birthday, which had got his fans excited. However, the films producer Boney Kapoor on Friday has released a statement announcing that the first look release is postponed and will not come out on May 1, 2021. According to the statement, the crew decided to take the decision due to the worrisome effects of the second wave of Coronavirus in the country. Filmmaker Boney Kapoor released the statement on his social media handles on Friday. We had announced that we would be releasing the First Look of our film Valimai on May 1, 2021, to coincide with Shri Ajith Kumars 50th birthday. At the time of making the announcement, none of us had even anticipated that the 2nd wave of Corona Virus would spread across India like a tsunami. At this moment, lakhs of Indians are affected by financial hardship and emotional trauma due to loss of family members and friends, he wrote in the official statement. Valimai shoot delayed due to COVID-19 Earlier, the movie had made headlines as the crew was forced to stop the shooting due to an unforeseen splurge in COVID-19 cases. The film crew was supposed to fly to Spain in April for a bike stunt scene, which had to be delayed due to the second wave of the virus in India as well as Europe. However, the fans kept hopes alive as the crew had announced May 1, 2021, as the films first look release. Now, the date has been folded and further shoots have also been delayed. The movie was supposed to wrap its shoot schedule by early May and was expected to have a theatrical release by August this year. Valimai's cast and crew Actor Ajith Kumar plays the lead as a cop in the film. The film will also feature Huma Qureshi and Kartikeya Gummakonda in the lead roles. Shivaji Guruvayoor, Pavel Navageethan, Yogi Babu, Achyuth Kumar, and Sumithra also appear in the film. The film is written and directed by H. Vinoth and it will become his second consecutive movie with Ajith Kumar in the lead and Boney Kapoor in the producers chair after the trio made Nerkonda Paarvai, which was the Tamil remake of the Hindi film Pink starring Amitabh Bachchan. Yuvan Shankar Raja has done the music for the film, while Nirav Shah does the cinematography. Image Source: Ajith FC Twitter 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. Ian Vogler/AP/Shutterstock; Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images Princess Anne will attend two services in London on Sunday in honor of Anzac Day, an annual holiday honoring all Australians and New Zealanders killed in war, as well as retired servicemen and women. Accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth and the late Prince Philip, 70, will begin the day at the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Wellington Arch. There, she will lay a wreath at the Australian and New Zealand War Memorials, and sign a Book of Remembrance. Later in the day, Anne will attend the Anzac Day Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey. Ahead of Sunday's events, Prince William sent a message to the New Zealand and Australian High Commissions in London. "This Anzac Day, Catherine and I join Australians and New Zealanders across the world to remember and honour the service men and women of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps," the Duke of Cambridge said in his statement. Jonathan Brady - Pool/Getty Images RELATED: Kate Middleton and Prince William Make Surprise Outing with Special Tie to Prince Philip This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. "Today we stand together to reflect not only on their sacrifices, but also their courage, sense of duty, and their famously indomitable spirit," his message continued. "Though many will still be unable to come together in person this year, we are heartened in the knowledge that Australians and New Zealanders will continue to commemorate those who have given so much for our freedoms." William, 38, concluded, "The ANZAC qualities of endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour and mateship are admired as fiercely as ever before." Anne and William were last together at the funeral of the late Duke of Edinburgh last Saturday. Jonathan Brady - Pool/Getty Images This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! Story continues Jonathan Brady - Pool/Getty Images The day of remembrance commemorates the first major battle involving Australian and New Zealand forces during World War I. It has been honored in London since the first anniversary of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli in 1916, when King George V attended a service at Westminster Abbey. (Anzac is an acronym, standing for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps). Though the usual commemorative events did not take place last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kate Middleton previously attended the Anzac Day Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey in 2019 alongside brother-in-law Prince Harry. New Delhi, April 24 : As the crisis in treatment of Covid affected people is increasing and hospitals running out of oxygen, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a review meeting on Saturday on the ministry's preparedness to deal with the current situation. He held a Covid-19 situation review meeting with Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs, Defense Secretary, Chairman DRDO, DG AFMS and other senior officials of the ministry. Further, Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) has deployed additional doctors, including specialists, super specialists and paramedics, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) COVID hospital in Delhi to cater to the current surge in Covid cases. As against 294 doctors and health workers in 2020, 378 have been mobilised in 2021. These include 164 doctors in 2021 as against 132 doctors in 2020. Last year, only 18 specialists were mobilised, as against 43 specialists and 17 super specialists this year. The highly-skilled specialists and super specialists have been deployed in the facility this time from the already stretched resources of the service hospitals. This year, when the facility was reopened on April 19 with provision of 250 beds, all the 250 beds were occupied within two hours of opening the facility, owing to the enormous surge in cases in Delhi. All these patients were critical and oxygen dependent. The critical patients admitted this time are in excess of more than 85 per cent at any given point of time. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text San Francisco, April 24 : Microsoft is releasing a preview version of Office 2021 for Mac and Office LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) this week. While Office LTSC is designed for commercial customers, both versions are perpetual versions of Office that don't rely on subscriptions or the cloud. Microsoft announced its plans for Office 2021 back in February and a Windows version -- which won't be available in preview -- will also be released later this year, The Verge reported on Friday. Office 2021 for Mac will support both Apple Silicon and Intel-based Macs and require at least 4GB RAM and 10GB of storage space. It is designed to be a static release of Office, but during the preview, there will be monthly updates that could include new features. Once Office 2021 for Mac is final and released, no new features will be added, according to the report. Current improvements include -- Line Focus, this feature removes distractions to let Word users move through a document line by line. XLOOKUP, an Excel feature that lets you find things in a table or range by row. Dynamic array support in Excel, which has new functions for dynamic arrays in spreadsheets. Record a slide show with narration in PowerPoint. Microsoft's Office LTSC variant will also include things like dark mode support, accessibility improvements and the same Dynamic Arrays and XLOOKUP features found in Excel 2021 for Mac. Office 2021 for Windows will include similar features, the report said. Click here to read the full article. Novelist Michael Chabon has issued a lengthy apology for not speaking up sooner about producer Scott Rudins abuses, saying that he witnessed Rudin mistreat his staff but kept quiet about it because he accepted that was how Hollywood worked. Im ashamed, Chabon wrote on Medium. I regret, and I want to apologize for, my part in enabling Scott Rudins abuse, simply by standing by, saying nothing, looking the other way. Rudin produced Wonder Boys, an adaptation of Chabons novel, and worked with him on a never-realized adaption of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, the novel for which Chabon won the Pulitzer Prize. He also optioned Chabons first script, The Gentleman Host, in 1994. Chabon is among the highest profile figures to criticize Rudin since the Hollywood Reporter published a cover story documenting his abuses on April 7. On Thursday, Vulture added to the record, relaying accounts from 33 former assistants and interns who worked at Scott Rudin Productions. In the Medium essay, Chabon said he was particularly affected to learn of the suicide of Kevin Graham-Caso, who had worked as an assistant for Rudin in 2008-09. I remember Kevin Graham-Caso he was a sweetheart and it was a gut-punch to learn, from his brother Davids recent video, about his suicide, following years of struggle with PTSD, Chabon wrote. I regret most of all that Kevin Graham-Caso is not here for me to tell him personally how sorry I am. Chabon had a 20-year professional relationship with the producer, which came to an end after Rudin hurled a volley of insults at him over the terms of a deal. He said that he knew Rudins reputation as a bully from his first meeting with him, but accepted his conduct, as others seemed to, as part of life in Hollywood. So I didnt just know; I took it for granted, from the first, Chabon wrote. Scott was the way he was, Hollywood was the way it was, and to be a professional, to be a grown up in Hollywood, you could not take Scotts behavior too seriously, even when it was unprofessional and juvenile. But that was just bullshit. He also said he lacked the vision and the courage to call out Rudins behavior. Like so many but, thank God, not all of us, I left that feat of public bravery for other less privileged people to enact, Chabon wrote. Im grateful to them, and I hope, but have no right to expect, that theyll forgive me for my passivity and participation in the interlocking systems of dysfunction, bias and abuse that make, enable, reward and, worst of all, glorify the behavior for which, thanks to their courage, Scott Rudin is now being called to account. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. ELYSBURG Knoebels Amusement Resort is opening for its 95th season on Saturday. The family-owned resort, a hidden gem and vacation mainstay of northeastern Pennsylvania, celebrates the milestone while still facing the COVID-19 pandemic, its greatest challenge since World War II. It will be a low-key celebration with a commemorative logo and maybe an in-park parade on July 4, said Stacy Yutko, public relations director for Knoebels. Were going to save the big celebration for our 100th in five years. Her marriage was also affected by the pandemic. Formerly Stacy Ososkie, she married Robert Yutko, a lifelong fan of Knoebels, on Dec. 26, 2020. Their marriage was a year to the day after Robert proposed to her, and two years to the day after their first date. He plans on making an opening day visit a yearly tradition to get a coffee and loaded baked potato, and take a ride on the Phoenix, Stacy said. As was the case during the parks 2020 season, masks will be required at the park. Knoebels will only be open to 75% capacity, and attractions where its impossible to maintain social distancing, such as the ball pit and the Spacewalk bouncy house, are closed. While the fallout from COVID-19 has dominated the circumstances of the opening, Knoebels has much more planned. A new ride, Tornado, is expected to open at the end of May. Tornado is a family-friendly thrill ride. Guests will be able to control how fast the ride spins. Scheduled to open last season, Tornado was postponed due to COVID-19 related project delays. Knoebels will also celebrate Autism Awareness Day on June 6. After partnering with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards, 2021 will be Knoebels first year as a Certified Autism Center. Staff at Knoebels received training to better accommodate guests on the autism spectrum. For more information including about opening weekend, prices and hours visit www.knoebels.com. Chairwoman of the Reform Party Kaja Kallas arrives at a polling station during a parliamentary elections in Tallinn, Estonia, on March 3, 2019. (Raul Mee/AP Photo) Editor-in-Chief of Estonian Newspaper Apologizes for Running CCP Propaganda on Xinjiang Martin Smutov, the editor-in-chief of evening newspaper Ohtuleht, one of the most influential media outlets in Estonia, has made an open apology for publishing propaganda after it agreed to print an article on Xinjiang by Chinas Ambassador to Estonia Li Chao. On April 15, Ohtuleht carried a full page of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda in its paid advertisement section written by Li, who tried to refute reports of concentration camps, forced labor, and genocide against Uyghurs and other minorities groups in Xinjiang as lies and rumors. The article pushed the CCP-approved narrative on the situation in Xinjiang, igniting controversy in the former Soviet country in eastern Europe. Smutov, who immediately met with backlash over the article, apologized to the papers readers in an interview with ERR news, also known as Estonian Public Broadcasting in English. He expressed that though the advertisement was legally admissible, the editorial staff had committed an error in violating the companys values by agreeing to carry Lis article in their newspaper. The editor-in-chief pledged to make organizational changes and avoid reoccurrence of such incidents. This is not the first time the CCPs influence operations have met with setbacks in Estonia. In February this year, another Estonian newspaper, Eesti Paevaleht, inserted a similar article by Li on Xinjiang in its advertisement section. Afterwards, the advertisement director also apologized, saying Lis article was against the publications content standards, it was published due to an unfortunate organizational error. We have categorically said that we will no longer publish such content and such stories have not been offered anymore, Urmo Soonvald, editor-in-chief of Eesti Paevaleht, told ERR. We make value-based decisions and do not want to contribute to propaganda that ignores and suppresses the most basic human rights. Postimees, a newspaper with a history of more than 150 years, also strongly resists pro-Beijing articles. Mart Raudsaar, the editor-in-chief of Postimees, expressed that despite their love to Chinese culture, they would never run propaganda articles to defend the CCPs repression and persecution policies on the issue of human rights. We do not publish such communist propaganda. As a country, we also have certain values, he told ERR. Raudsaar revealed that a CCP diplomacy agency once reached out to them for the same purpose but without success. That article was the one to appear in Eesti Paevaleht in February. PM: Growing Challenge from China Estonias Prime Minister and Reform Party chairman Kallas told ERR on April 15 that activities by the CCPs organs were posing an increasing challenge for Estonia, like other small countries and democracies as a whole. While she was leader of the opposition in July 2020, Kallas was accusing the CCP of human rights violations in Xinjiang. At the time, she called on the then Estonian government to take a hard stance against Beijing. Chinas repression of its Uyghur minority reminds one of the horrors Nazi Germany inflicted upon the Jews, Kallas said at the time. She had stressed the importance of consistency in the countrys foreign policy, arguing that if Estonia rebukes Russia for its human rights abuses, it should treat China alike. She also complained that the Estonian government had failed to officially acknowledge Taiwan out of fear of displeasing the CCP even after receiving medical supplies from the self-ruled island. The EU was also criticized by Kallas for its failure to outline a coordinated strategy against China and for seeking investments from the communist regime. Intelligence Agency: CCP a Major National Security Threat For three consecutive years, communist China has been highlighted by the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Agency as a major threat. The agencys annual report for 2021 (pdf), for example, gave particular mention to the CCPs overseas influence operations, as well as threats from Russia. The report broke down Xi Jinpings doctrinecreating a community of common destinythe CCPs spread of propaganda and disinformation, and the regimes cyber espionage to steal foreign technologies. In response, the Chinese Embassy to Estonia pushed back on the report with a statement on Feb. 14, expressing its strong protest while demanding that the report be revised. However, Estonias foreign minister, Urmas Reinsalu, stood firm against the CCPs criticism, according to Vision Times. The gathering in Jakarta, home to the secretariat of the Southeast Asian body. Leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei, and the foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand and the Philippines present. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing chooses to wear civilian clothes. Yesterday and today demonstrations in Myanmar, apparently without violence. The demands of the national unity government. Jakarta (AsiaNews) - ASEAN leaders have begun an emergency meeting to search for any solutions that will lead to a reduction in violence in Myanmar, the victim of a military coup for over two months (photo 1). The meeting takes place at the headquarters of the ASEAN secretariat, in the Indonesian capital, and the head of the military junta of Myanmar, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing arrived in the morning, dressed not in military uniform, but in a dark western suit. In front of the ASEAN headquarters, various groups of people, many of them Muslims, demonstrated against the coup d'etat and in favor of democracy in Myanmar (photo 2). Demonstrations against the junta and in favor of the government of national unity (NUG) are also scheduled for today in Myanmar, a kind of civilian government in exile, which would like to be recognized by the international community in place of the military one that emerged from the coup. The Jakarta meeting was strongly supported by Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia, as well as Singapore. The ASEAN countries fear that the violence of the junta will spread instability and avalanches of refugees beyond the borders of Myanmar. According to behind-the-scenes rumors, ASEAN leaders want to wrest a commitment from Gen Min Aung Hlaing's to stop the violence against civilians that have continued to demonstrate in the country's streets since the first day of the coup (1 February 2021). According to the Association for Aid to Political Prisoners, the junta has killed 745 people and made 3,371 arrests to date. An interesting fact: yesterday there were demonstrations in Yangon and Mandalay, but the security forces did not intervene, perhaps for fear of a stronger condemnation by the Asean countries today (photo 3). The leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Brunei were present at the Jakarta meeting, along with foreign ministers from Laos, Thailand and the Philippines. Journalists are not allowed. Until recently, many international organizations hoped that representatives of the NUG would also be invited to the meeting. Dr. Sasa, special envoy to the international community for the NUG, however, made known their requests: ASEAN must ensure that the military no longer kill civilians; stop the bombing of ethnic minority villages; release political prisoners and transfer power to the NUG. In 2019, Illinois passed the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan. It was a bipartisan plan negotiated by a few chosen leaders on both sides. This infrastructure plan set aside $25 million for the SmartBuy program that pays off up to $40,000 of student loans if the recipients of the loan purchase a home in Illinois and hold it for three years. An additional $5,000 is available as a no-interest loan for a down payment or closing costs. Flipping houses and still have student loans? This is the perfect setup for you. A look at what's happening around the majors today: ___ MARQUEE MATCHUP As pitching matchups go, this one is aces. Two of baseballs best arms square off in Cleveland, with New Yorks Gerrit Cole starting against Shane Bieber. The All-Star right-handers met last October in the wild-card round and the Yankees teed off on Bieber, tagging the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner for seven runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. Cole struck out 13 in New Yorks 12-3 win. I wouldnt mind it unfolding like that again, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said with a smile. Bieber has 48 strikeouts and is the first pitcher to fan 10 or more in his first four starts of a season. Hes aiming to match Hall of Famer Randy Johnsons record of 17 straight starts with at least eight Ks. ROLLING A'S The Athletics try for their 13th straight victory when they face Baltimore at Camden Yards. Oaklands string is its best since it won a franchise-record 20 in a row in 2002. This is the longest winning streak in the majors since Houstons 12-game run in June 2018. It's tubular right now, winning pitcher Cole Irvin said after a 3-1 victory at Camden Yards on Friday night. The As improved to 13-1 since dropping their first six games. Chris Bassitt (1-2, 4.43 ERA), who is 2-0 with a 2.18 ERA in three career starts against Baltimore, gets the nod as the three-game series continues. CHECK HIM The Cardinals will see how star catcher Yadier Molina is feeling, a day after he left a game because of soreness in his right foot. Molina homered and doubled, raising his batting average to .339, as St. Louis beat Cincinnati. He exited after batting in the fifth inning and manager Mike Shildt didnt have a report on the severity of the injury postgame. We noticed it looked like he favored something after his swing, and then he came in and we got him treatment and made the decision to get him out of there and get him looked at, Shildt said. TROUT OUT The Angels hope star outfielder Mike Trout is ready to return from a bruised left elbow Story continues Trout was hit by a fastball from Houstons Cristian Javier on Thursday night and exited an inning later. The three-time AL MVP was scratched from the starting lineup Friday night at Minute Maid Park. Los Angeles manager Joe Maddon said he expects Trout to be OK to play Saturday. Trout is off to a great start this season, leading the American League with a .393 average and six home runs. REMATCH Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer and 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell match up for the second time in seven days when the Padres play at Dodger Stadium. Snell is seeking his first win of the season in five starts since being traded to San Diego. Hes 0-0 with a 4.11 ERA, striking out 24 in 15 1/3 innings. Bauer is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in four starts for Los Angeles, fanning 36 in 26 innings. Last Sunday at Petco Park, Bauer limited the Padres to one run in six innings. Snell held the Dodgers to two hits in five innings. San Diego has won three straight early matchups between the NL West rivals, including the first two in this four-game series. CUBS CLUB Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo and the Cubs have won four in a row and twice have scored at least 15 runs in a win. Chicago routed the Mets 16-4 on Wednesday and roughed up the Brewers 15-2 on Friday at Wrigley Field. Milwaukee right-hander Freddy Peralta (2-0, 2.00 ERA) goes on Saturday, making his third start this month against the Cubs. Right-hander Adbert Alzolay (0-2, 6.10 ERA) pitches for Chicago. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports [April 24, 2021] As Farmers Go High Tech, Ag Equipment Demand Continues to Benefit CLEVELAND, April 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Introduction of pricier equipment models featuring advanced technologies will continue to be a driver of growth in the $132 billion global agricultural equipment market, which is projected to expand 3.9% annually through 2024, according to a Freedonia Group analysis. Though from a small base, adoption of smart and automated technologies is growing rapidly in the ag industry as more innovative new models come to market, and awareness of the benefits of these technologies continues to rise among farmers. For instance, use of autonomous equipment such as tractors, drones, and robots can: improve farm efficiency without increasing equipment size earlier efforts to boost productivity often involved the use of larger machines, which can increase soil compaction and hurt crop yields improve farming precision and efficiency, as automated machines hav fewer errors than human operators and are programmed to optimize time lower labor requirements, which are especially important in countries with shrinking labor pools such as Japan and in rural areas of the US Want to Learn More? Global Agricultural Equipment is now available from the Freedonia Group. Global Off-Road Equipment Technology highlighting key trends in the construction, agricultural, mining, and forestry equipment sectors is forthcoming. About the Freedonia Group The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com, is the premier international industrial research division, providing our clients with product analyses, market forecasts, industry trends, and market share information. From one-person consulting firms to global conglomerates, our analysts provide companies with unbiased, reliable industry market research and analysis to help them make important business decisions. With over 100 studies published annually, we support over 90% of the industrial Fortune 500 companies. Find off-the-shelf studies at https://www.freedoniagroup.com/ or contact us for custom research: +1 440.842.2400. Press Contact: Corinne Gangloff +1 440.842.2400 cgangloff@freedoniagroup.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/as-farmers-go-high-tech-ag-equipment-demand-continues-to-benefit-301276252.html SOURCE The Freedonia Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] As the world reiterates support to India after it proved the testament of cooperation by delivering vaccines across the globe, Indian Air Force aircraft airlifted four cryogenic oxygen containers from Singapores Changi International Airport and will reach India on April 24. The Singaporean mission in India said on Twitter while sharing images of IAF aircraft being loaded with the oxygen tanks that would help India to tackle the crippling second wave of COVID-19 pandemic along with the oxygen crisis. Singapore also pledged solidarity with India and said we stand with India to tackle the global health crisis. The Indian Air Force said in a statement that its C-17 aircraft got airborne at 2 AM on April 24 from Hindan Air Base for Changi International Airport, Singapore after it arrived in Singapore at 7:45 AM. We stand with India in its fight against Covid-19. Through a bilateral and multi-agency effort, an @IAF_MCC transport plane picked up 4 cryogenic oxygen containers at @ChangiAirport in Singapore this morning. @PMOIndia @MEAIndia @SpokespersonMoD @IndiainSingapor pic.twitter.com/mU59w1yAw6 Singapore in India (@SGinIndia) April 24, 2021 Acting swiftly to meet the high demand of oxygen requirement, India procured 4 containers of cryogenic O2 tanks from Singapore today. There was active coordination btw @IndiainSingapor and multiple agencies in Singapore to facilitate transfer. @MEAIndia @MoHFW_INDIA @PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/Ae4pdGjGIP India in Singapore (@IndiainSingapor) April 24, 2021 Meanwhile, similar efforts have been made by IAF to meet the dire need for Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) across the nation by airlifting the tanks. Indian Air Force on April 24 also said, Air lift of empty cryogenic oxygen containers from different parts of the country is underway. After the task completion from Begumpet to Bhubaneswar & Indore to Jamnagar, C-17 ac are air transporting the containers from Pune, Indore & Jodhpur to Jamnagar. #IndiaFightsCorona Air lift of Covid-19 testing machinery and equipment from Air Force Stations Chandigarh and Jammu to Leh is underway for setting up additional testing facilities in the Union Territory of Ladakh. pic.twitter.com/KN7tmfAOIM Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) April 24, 2021 At present, the total cases in India have mounted to 1.66 crores with active cases being 25.52 lakh. To date, India has recorded at least 1.89 lakh with 1.38 crore recoveries. Meanwhile, the total number of people who have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is 13.83 crores. On Saturday, Delhi High Court also asked the Centre about the preparedness to deal with the expected COVID-19 second wave peak amid the oxygen crisis and shortage of drugs and hospital beds in several states. The Delhi HC bench termed the massive rise of COVID-19 cases as a tsunami. Indian Railways Steps Up Efforts Amid Crisis Not just the Indian Air Force, Suneet Sharma, Chairman and CEO of the Railway Board on April 23 relayed the steps taken by the Railway Ministry in fast-forwarding the process of transporting Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) to various states amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, he said that the first and foremost thing that Railways is doing its transporting oxygen along with managing the travellers and other goods that are required in these challenging times. Further elaborating on the issues with oxygen transportation in the country, Sharma said most of the plants where oxygen is produced are on the east but they had to stand up to Maharashtras demand to explore the feasibility of transporting LMO through railways on April 15. Government of India is working on all possible options to reduce the travel time and turnaround time of oxygen tankers. For this, Indian Railways has taken an initiative and started Oxygen Express train.#JeetegaBharat pic.twitter.com/kBiUrWsotd Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) April 23, 2021 Image credits: @SGinIndia/Twitter Page Content The year 2021 has brought a flurry of activity surrounding marijuana laws, particularly recreational marijuana use. The number of states approving recreational marijuana continues to grow. New Mexico On April 12, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the state's recreational marijuana bill. The New Mexico recreational marijuana law will take effect in late June. Unlike the recent marijuana laws enacted in New York and New Jersey that provide employment protections for off-duty recreational marijuana users, the New Mexico law does not "prevent or infringe upon the rights of an employer to adopt and implement a written zero-tolerance policy regarding the use of cannabis products." The law permits employers to take adverse employment actions for the possession or use of marijuana at work or during work hours. Additionally, the law specifically permits zero-tolerance policies that impose discipline or termination for a positive marijuana test result indicating any amount of THC. However, employers should take note that the law does not restrict rights afforded to medical marijuana users under state law. Virginia Effective July 1, individuals over the age of 21 can lawfully possess up to an ounce of marijuana in Virginia. The new law creates a Virginia Cannabis Control Authority which will implement regulations for the adult use of marijuana market. In late March, Virginia also amended the state's medical cannabis law to prohibit discrimination against lawful users of medical cannabis oil. The law, which becomes effective July 1, does not restrict employers from taking action based on workplace impairment due to use of cannabis oil. It also contains exceptions for employers if compliance with the law would result in a loss of a federal contract or federal funding and for defense industrial base sector employers. South Dakota The fate of recreational marijuana is yet to be determined in South Dakota. As previously reported, voters approved both recreational and medical marijuana initiatives in November 2020. However, the South Dakota recreational measure was later struck down as unconstitutional. That ruling has been appealed, and the South Dakota Supreme Court will hear arguments on the issue later this month. Catherine A. Cano is an attorney with Jackson Lewis in Omaha, Neb. 2021 Jackson Lewis. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission. With India battling with the second wave of COVID-19 and medical professionals facing the Herculean task of saving lives, a majority of the hospitals urgently need more oxygen cylinders and concentrators to save as many lives as possible. Reuters With this in mind, a group of startup founders known as Gurgaon Entrepreneurs launched the campaign on the Indian online crowdfunding platform, Ketto, to raise INR 2.5 crore for 500 concentrators for hospitals across the country. The initial requirement is listed below: Ketto We have managed to procure 500 concentrators from China, which will be shipped on Monday for India and we will be able to supply them to the hospitals earliest by Wednesday. Initially we self-funded approximately 50 Lacs for this initiative and placed an order for 100 concentrators. However, to process the order for the remaining 400 concentrators by Monday we need another Rs 2.5 Crore and we decided to embrace the power of the crowd and started a fundraiser on Ketto.org, said Rahul Aggarwal, Founder Democracy People Foundation, while commenting on the fundraiser. Please donate or help amplify. https://t.co/a5FC6IMGhK Abhishek Bachchan (@juniorbachchan) April 24, 2021 The campaign went live on Friday night and within 17 hours over Rs 1.70 crore was from over 1400 donors. This is a non-for-profit and charitable initiative. We urge people to come forward and generously donate to the cause. Every bit will go a long way in saving lives, added Aggarwal. Fundraiser link: www.ketto.org/fundraiser/mission-oxygen-helping-hospitals-to-save-lives Help with oxygen https://t.co/R8fkLw9eAT taapsee pannu (@taapsee) April 24, 2021 Want to do your bit and help out? Please check with your respective hospitals (esp. the smaller ones that don't get enough visibility) the quantity they would need and fill this form. Keep in mind that it is first come first serve, as limited stock will be imported in the first lot, which will arrive in Delhi on Monday and will reach hospitals by Wednesday. The form to capture the OC machine requirements of hospitals: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxhkkaV8doaECCb69paDAfnRUisjtWL7hwmd4jiw7RdpZbFg/viewform?usp=sf_link A woman in her 40s is fighting for her life in hospital after she was found unresponsive near the hovercraft slipway in Portsmouth Harbour today. She is now in a life-threatening condition in hospital, according to the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS). The incident happened near to the Hovertravel slipway at Clarence Pier, Southsea, Hampshire, at about 5.30pm on Saturday, the Coastguard said. The UK Coastguard, Military Police, a coastguard rescue helicopter and Gosport and Fareham independent lifeboat were all called to the scene in Portsmouth. A woman in her 40s is now in a life-threatening condition in hospital, according to the South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) A spokesman for SCAS told MailOnline: 'The incident in Old Portsmouth earlier was in relation to a woman in her 40s who was found unresponsive in the water by the Coastguard and recovered to Camber Dock Lifeboat Jetty where they were met by our team comprising two ambulance crews, a paramedic team leader and an emergency doctor. 'After initial treatment the patient was then taken to the Queen Alexandra Hospital where she was handed over to colleagues in the emergency department in a life-threatening condition.' The woman, thought to have been unconscious, has been dragged from the water and CPR was administered. The UK Coastguard, Military Police, a coastguard rescue helicopter, Gosport and Fareham independent lifeboat were all called to the scene in Portsmouth today James Baggott, the coxswain of Gosport and Fareham Independent lifeboat service, told MailOnline: 'We were tasked at 17.30 to a person in the water near Portsmouth Harbour. 'We launched within six minutes and we were on scene four minutes later. The causality was recovered from the water. 'One of my crew members is a Hampshire paramedic. He worked on the casualty with CPR with another of our crew members. 'He transferred that casualty into the hands of the ambulance service. The helicopter team, Portsmouth coastguard rescue, and Hampshire police all attended as well. 'The casualty condition is unknown.' A spokesman from the Maritime and Coastguards Agency said: 'At around 5.30pm on Saturday 24 April, HM Coastguard received multiple 999 calls about an incident near the hovercraft slipway in Southsea, Portsmouth. 'Portsmouth coastguard rescue team, Gosport independent lifeboat and the search and rescue helicopter from Lee-on-Solent were sent, in addition to MOD Police vessels from Portsmouth Harbour and the South Central Ambulance Service. 'A woman was pulled from the water and passed into the care of the ambulance service.' Crew from HoverTravel, which operates a ferry between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, originally called the police after seeing a body in the water. A spokesman said: The Solent Flyer hovercraft was not involved with the incident involving a body in water but the crew were alerted. 'As the craft landed at Southsea this afternoon, the ground team alerted the pilot about a body in the water, as per Hovertravels normal safety procedure. 'The pilot landed safely and the service is operating as normal. The person has subsequently been recovered by the emergency services and the police are dealing with the matter.' YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Aivazian delivered remarks today at the opening ceremony of the "Heritage in danger. Artsakh" exhibition, the MFA told Armenpress. Armenpress presents the text of the ministers speech: Honorable Prime Minister, Honorable Speaker of the National Assembly, Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen! Let me first express my deep gratitude for your readiness to be here, to share our grief, and our concerns, and to support us on April 24th, amid the pandemic that has become an unprecedented challenge for all of humanity. Today, as we commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide, we should remember that a significant portion of the cultural heritage created by our ancestors has also become a subject of the cultural genocide. The crime of genocide is not only the physical annihilation of a national or religious group, but also the destruction of the national culture that is an integral part of its identity - the Cultural Genocide. The cultural genocide pursues two main goals The first is an attempt to tear the souls of the survivors apart, to subject them to psychological violence and the second is to erase the historical traces of the memory of the annihilated indigenous population. In other words, the cultural genocide targets memory, historical justice and human dignity. In 1915, the deliberate, pre-planned massacres and deportations of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire marked the beginning of the cultural genocide, which lasted for decades. According to the official report submitted by the Republic of Armenia at the Paris Conference in 1919, 1860 churches and 229 monasteries had been destroyed. These were very preliminary and incomplete data, and during the following years this number only increased, as the cultural devastation not merely proceeded, but spread to the territories of the Republic of Armenia occupied by Turkey in 1920, including in Ani - "the city of a thousand and one churches". The destroyed cultural heritage includes tens of thousands of medieval manuscripts, cross-stones (khachkars), secular and other religious property. Nowadays, Azerbaijan continued the traditions of Turkey in the territories forcibly evicted from Armenians. A horrifying example of Cultural Genocide is the mass destruction of the Armenian monuments in Nakhijevan, which has no parallel in the history of mankind. Nakhijevan, which carries biblical legend in its name, in 1997-2006 was subjected to a large-scale cultural massacre organized at the state level, as a result of which 28 thousand cultural objects were completely destroyed, 89 of which were medieval churches and about 6 thousand were medieval khachkars. Notably the Azerbaijani authorities first tried to change the Armenian origin of the monuments, then, not believing in their own speculations, decided to completely erase the speechless witnesses of the Armenian identity of Nakhijevan. In 2020, 105 years after the Armenian Genocide, we once again faced a disaster planned and carried out by the same logic and methods. During and as a result of the large-scale war waged by Azerbaijan and Turkey against Artsakh, a part of the Armenian people appeared in danger of annihilation, deprivation of their homeland, and its cultural heritage was on the verge of complete destruction. Therefore, today it is imperative for us to save the thousands of cultural, including religious monuments under the Azerbaijani control in Artsakh, especially since there are already cultural monuments targeted by the Azerbaijani armed forces, such as the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi and Green Hour (Kanach Zham). The endangered cultural heritage includes about 1,500 cultural objects: 161 churches, about 600 khachkars, archeological sites, unique examples of secular architecture - palaces, bridges, about 19 thousand museum pieces. Dear ladies and gentlemen, The imperative of saving the spiritual and material values created by the Armenian people over the millennia has brought us here. Our cultural heritage is the result of our ancestors' sentiments, thoughts and devotion. It has been a part of our destiny, it has gone through all the stages of our national formation, historical development and losses. Even today, our ancestors speak to us through the values they have created; they bequeathed us their wisdom, their sense of beauty, their human dignity. In order to save this cultural heritage, it is necessary to be aware, to have a clear idea of the essence of the problem, its scope and consequences. With this exhibition, we have pursued this very goal - not only to voice our concerns, the statistics of endangered monuments, but also to present their faces, believing that the loss of these monuments will be irreversible for all of us, for the world cultural heritage. The issue of preservation of cultural heritage in Artsakh is on the agenda of the Nagorno Karabakh issue. It is covered by international mediators, as well as many countries, UN specialized agencies and organizations. However, the official statements alone are not enough. It is necessary to unite all efforts to prevent another cultural genocide. We should not forget that even the most protracted conflicts are temporary, but the historical-cultural heritage is eternal. Once again I express my gratitude to everyone, and wish a substantive viewing. Classes in the Wilkes County Schools will start on Aug. 23 and end on May 25 in 2021-22 as a result of a calendar approved by the Wilkes Board of Education on Feb. 1. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the country's sovereign wealth fund, said it has reached an agreement with Egypt's Minapharm, a regional leader in recombinant DNA technology, and its Berlin-based subsidiary, ProBioGen to produce over 40 million doses per year of Sputnik V, the world's first registered vaccine against Covid-19. The parties intend to commence technology transfer immediately, said the statement from RDIF, adding the rollout of the vaccine is expected in the third quarter. RDIF and Minapharm will initially supply over 40 million doses per year. Production will take place in Minapharm's biotech facility in Cairo for global distribution. Minapharm's German subsidiary, ProBioGen, aims to undertake efforts for process optimization to further increase the production scale, taking advantage of its expertise in viral vector technology and manufacturing process development for vaccines and gene therapy, said the statement. To date, Sputnik V has been registered in 61 countries globally covering a total population of over three billion people. Sputnik V vaccine demonstrated efficacy of 97.6%, based on the analysis of data on the infection rate of coronavirus among those in Russia vaccinated with both components of the vaccine, it added. On the deal, CEO Kirill Dmitriev said: "The agreement with Minapharm marks our first partnership in the Mena region to produce Sputnik V. RDIF is in cooperation with the leading pharmaceutical producers globally as Sputnik V is registered in 61 countries." "The Russian vaccine is highly efficient and trusted by regulators around the world and makes a huge contribution in the fight against coronavirus," he noted. Minapharm Chairman and CEO Wafik Bardissi said: "This agreement is a natural expansion to Minapharm's regional leadership in biotechnologies, capitalizing on the vast international experience in cellular engineering and adenoviral vector technology of its wholly owned German subsidiary ProBioGen AG." We are pleased to join the RDIF in combatting the global Covid-19 pandemic," he added.-TradeArabia News Service The first round of proposals led to a combined $67 million in development plans for Austin on the West Side and in Auburn Gresham and Englewood on the South Side. Those winning proposals were announced in March. Final approval of the plans by the City Council could come by the summer, Cox said, and he hopes to see those developers break ground by the end of the year. Dangerous and Jezebel: Bette Daviss 2 Oscars in the 1930s Bette Davis became one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood during the 1930s, largely because she rarely played average heroines. Do the characters she created continue to challenge our expectations today? People who love 1930s cinema are familiar with the Pre-Code Era, which is roughly categorized as 19301934. These first few years of talking pictures have acquired a cult following in the 21st century because of their daring violence, flagrant immorality, and shockingly risque. Then the lawless fun came to a screeching halt in July of 1934, when the Motion Picture Production Code began to be effectively enforced by Joseph I. Breen and the newly formed Production Code Administration. The loss that people mourn the most regarding the demise of pre-Code freedom is strong female characters. They resent how the complex female characters who challenged moral boundaries on the pre-Code screen were replaced by strictly traditional female roles under the Code. However, Bette Davis characters challenge this misconception. In the 1930s, Miss Davis was nominated for four Academy Awards for Best Actress, winning for Dangerous (1935) and Jezebel (1938). Her roles in these films are not only testaments to her amazing talent but also proof against misconceptions about the depictions of womanhood in Code films. A lobby card for the 1935 film Dangerous, featuring Bette Davis and Franchot Tone. (Public Domain) A Dangerous Jezebel At first glance, one might think that Dangerous and Jezebel bear no similarities besides being Warner Bros. pictures starring Bette Davis. After all, Dangerous is set in modern times in 1930s New York, while Jezebel is set almost a century earlier, in 1850s Louisiana. Furthermore, when the films begin, Daviss characters are in very different circumstances. Joyce Heath in Dangerous is an alcoholic, has-been actress who has been left destitute and depressed after a series of unlucky incidents have branded her a jinx. Julie Marsden in Jezebel is a proud Southern belle of position and means, who lives with her Aunt Belle (Fay Bainter) but follows no rules except her own reckless will. However, upon closer examination, the characters reveal how similar they truly are. Both harbor deep affection for their respective leading male characters, but they are selfish and arrogant in their pursuit of love. Their unfeminine way of handling the men in their lives prevents either of them from living happily ever after in the usual sense. Not Your Average Heroine Bette Davis rarely played meek, subservient women. She sometimes played very feminine, kind, and traditional ladies, but her characters were never one-dimensional love interests for male co-stars. Hailed as one of Hollywoods most talented performers, she was valued for her acting prowess above her appearance. Since she often played films central characters, she received top billing above her leading men. That was because she played characters who were very complex, multifaceted, and sometimes even sinister. The only thing they were notas pre-Code female characters wereis obviously unethical or loose in their morals. If they were, like all characters in Code films, they were punished for their sins. Daviss two Oscar-winning roles are very complex. Both women present many characteristics and natures throughout the stories, transforming physically as well as emotionally. Joyce Heath is an alcoholic actress who goes on the wagon when young architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone) believes in her talent. In Dangerous, Joyce Heath (Bette Davis) is an alcoholic actress who goes on the wagon when young architect Don Bellows (Franchot Tone) believes in her. (Warner Bros.) Later, angry that Dons attempts to help her are motivated by pity, Joyce decides to get even with him by capturing his heart and then humiliating him. However, her plan backfires when she finds herself truly falling for him. Julie is a Southern woman of means who scandalizes antebellum New Orleans by barging into the exclusively male bank. When her fiance, young banker Preston Dillard (Henry Fonda), scolds her, she defies him and societal standards by wearing red to an important ball, instead of the obligatory white for unmarried women. Yet the joke is on her when Preston forces her to accept the humiliating results of her decision and then leaves her. Julie and Joyce both experience traumatic experiences before ultimately changing toward the end of their subsequent stories. Bette Davis in a promotional still for the 1938 film Jezebel. (Public Domain) The More Feminine Woman Most movies provide satisfying conclusions by having the leading man and leading lady live happily ever after together. However, Dangerous and Jezebel challenge that formula by having the leading man marry a second woman partway through the film. Ironically, Margaret Lindsay is the other woman in both films. How does the supporting actresss characters beat Bette Daviss for the men in these stories? While Joyce and Julie are hot-headed, rebellious, and manipulative, Lindsays characters display feminine virtues. Margaret Lindsay, circa 1935, played virtuous, feminine characters in both Jezebel and Dangerous. (Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Gail (Lindsay) in Dangerous is engaged to Don before he meets Joyce. When he falls under Joyces spell, Gail kindly releases him from the betrothal, patiently believing that hell return someday. In Jezebel, Preston meets and marries Amy (Lindsay) after he leaves Julie. When he brings his Northern bride back to Louisiana, she is friendly, kind, and patient despite the hostility of her new husbands friends. Like Bette Daviss two roles, Margaret Lindsays characters in these films display very similar characteristics. Instead of reacting with possessiveness, harshness, and hostility, Lindsays characters are completely trusting and understanding toward her leading mens characters. Gail encourages Don to break their engagement because of his fascination for another woman, knowing he would still think of Joyce even if he married Gail. Similarly, Amy endeavors to be friendly to everyone staying at Julies plantation, including the jealous and vindictive hostess herself, despite the guests hostile feelings toward Yankees. Both Gail and Amy display the feminine virtues of yielding their own self-wills and personal desires for the ultimate good of the men they love. Rather than selfishly trying to possess Don and Preston, Gail and Amy relinquish them to Joyce and Julie. It is only by giving them up for their own good that these ladies win the mans heart and hand in the end. In both these films, Daviss characters realize that they must be feminine and gentle, but only after it is too late. In Dangerous, Joyce responds to Dons compassionate concern for her, allowing him to lead her to orchestrate a successful comeback on the stage. However, she remains elusive in setting a date for their wedding, since she hasnt told him that she is still married to another man, Gordon (John Eldredge). When her husband refuses to give her a divorce, she decides to destroy them both if she cant have her way, even though it will ruin Don. In Jezebel, Julie humbles herself before Preston when he returns from the North, only to realize that he has already married another woman. Refusing to admit her defeat, she steers the conversation toward hostility between the North and South to make Preston feel disloyal because of his Northern bride and sympathies. She pits him against her other admirer, Buck (George Brent), provoking them toward the possibility of a deadly duel, since she doesnt care whom she hurts in her selfish pursuits. Bette Davis in a scene from Jezebel. (Public Domain) The True Prize These two characters, actress Joyce Heath and Southern belle Julie Marsden, are comparable in terms of their natures as well as events in their respective films. In both movies, Margaret Lindsay plays the virtuous wife of the leading man, to whom Bette Daviss character loses out. It is easy to see why Joyce and Julie do not earn the hands of the men they love. Although selfish, manipulative women could successfully control and destroy men, they never won happy endings in Code films. However, the dramatic acting required to create such characters could win Academy Awards. Although Joyce and Julie seem irredeemable, their own folly ultimately leads them to redemption and the possibility of future happiness, although not with Don or Preston. Both women realize that their own selfishness and disregard for others has led them to destroy lives, including their own. They also realize that the only way to redeem themselves is by doing something to help the men they loved and lost, even though they are happily married to other women. Fay Bainter (L) and Bette Davis with their Oscars for, respectively, supporting and lead roles in Jezebel. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images) Both women renounce their selfish lifestyles, admitting that they are not as feminine as their rivals, who display gentleness, bravery, generosity, and nobility of spirit. Even though Joyce and Julie lose their men, Bette Davis won her Oscars. Tiffany Brannan is a 19-year-old opera singer, Hollywood history/vintage beauty copywriter, travel writer, film blogger, and ballet writer. In 2016, she and her sister founded the Pure Entertainment Preservation Society, an organization dedicated to reforming the arts by reinstating the Motion Picture Production Code. Kathmandu, April 24 The Ministry of Health and Population has informed that the countrys Covid-19 tally has reached 297,087 as of Saturday afternoon. The ministry says 2,486 new cases were confirmed in the country in the past 24 hours. In this period, 7,525 swab samples were tested. So far, 2 million and 395,725 people have been tested in the country. As of today, 16,828 cases are active. In the past 24 hours, 368 people have been discharged whereas 14 deaths were reported. Of the total cases so far, 277,123 people have achieved recovery. Likewise, 3,136 died, according to the ministry. Over 70 people are quarantined across the country. In this April 23, 2021, file photo, Health workers carry a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India. India is battling the world's fastest pace of spreading infections. Its government has blocked vaccine exports for several months to better meet needs at home, exacerbating the difficulty of poor countries to access vaccine. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade, File) Authorities scrambled anew Saturday to supply medical oxygen to Indian hospitals where COVID-19 patients were suffocating amid low supplies as the country with the world's worst coronavirus surge set a new global daily record of infections for the third straight day. The 346,786 infections over the past day brought India's total past 16 million, behind only the United States. The Health Ministry reported another 2,624 deaths in the past 24 hours, pushing India's COVID-19 fatalities to 189,544. Hospitals in the capital, New Delhi, and some of the worst-hit states like Maharashtra reported being critically short of beds and oxygen. Families were waiting for days to cremate their loved ones at overburdened crematoriums, with many turning to makeshift facilities for last rites. "Every hospital is running out (of oxygen). We are running out," Dr. Sudhanshu Bankata, executive director of Batra Hospital, a leading hospital in the capital, told New Delhi Television channel. At least 20 COVID-19 patients at the critical care unit of New Delhi's Jaipur Golden Hospital died overnight as "oxygen pressure was low," the Indian Express newspaper reported. "Our supply was delayed by seven-eight hours on Friday night and the stock we received last night is only 40% of the required supply," the newspaper quoted the hospital's medical superintendent, Dr. D.K. Baluja, as saying. Multiple funeral pyres of victims of COVID-19 burn in a ground that has been converted into a crematorium for mass cremation, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set a global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. (AP Photo) The government ramped up its efforts to get medical oxygen to hospitals using special Oxygen Express trains, air force planes and trucks to transport tankers. But the crisis in the country of nearly 1.4 billion people was deepening, amid criticism of the government's response and allegations that the scarce supplies of oxygen had been diverted by local officials to hospitals in their areas. The Supreme Court told Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government last week that it wanted a national plan for the supply of oxygen and essential drugs for the treatment of coronavirus patients. The court acted as India's fragile and underfunded health system was tattering, just months after leaders in the world's second most populous country thought they had weathered the worst of the pandemic. Now, hospitals officials are using social media to plead with authorities to replenish their oxygen supplies. Early Saturday, Bankata's Batra hospital reported severe shortage of oxygen for its 190 admitted patients. A man watches the cremation of a COVID-19 victim at a crematorium in Jammu, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. India has confirmed 16 million cases so far, second only to the United States in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) When the news anchor asked Bankata what happens when a hospital issues an SOS call as his had done, Bankata replied: "Nothing. It's over. It's over." Hours later, the hospital received supplies to run for few hours. As the oxygen scarcity deepened, local officials in several states disrupted movement of tankers and diverted supplies to their areas. On Friday, the Press Trust of India news agency reported that a tanker-truck carrying oxygen supplies in Delhi's neighboring state of Haryana went missing. Days before, the news agency reported, a minister in Haryana blamed Delhi authorities for looting an oxygen tanker when it was crossing their territory. "Unfortunately, many such incidents have occurred and have dire effect on hospitals in need of oxygen supplies," said Saket Tiku, president of the All India Industrial Gases Manufacturers Association. A man performs the final rites of a relative who died of COVID-19, at a crematorium in Jammu, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. India has confirmed 16 million cases so far, second only to the United States in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) People remove their protective suits after performing the final rites of a relative who died of COVID-19 at a crematorium in Jammu, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. India has confirmed 16 million cases so far, second only to the United States in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) A family member performs the last rites for a COVID-19 victim at a crematorium in Jammu, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. India has confirmed 16 million cases so far, second only to the United States in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) A family member performs the last rites for a COVID-19 victim at a crematorium in Jammu, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. India has confirmed 16 million cases so far, second only to the United States in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) People stand in a queue to refill oxygen in cylinders in New Delhi, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. India put oxygen tankers on special express trains as major hospitals in New Delhi on Friday begged on social media for more supplies to save COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. (AP Photo) People carry a medical oxygen cylinder at a charging station on the outskirts of Prayagraj, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. India put oxygen tankers on special express trains as major hospitals in New Delhi on Friday begged on social media for more supplies to save COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) People wait to refill medical oxygen cylinders at a charging station on the outskirts of Prayagraj, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. India put oxygen tankers on special express trains as major hospitals in New Delhi on Friday begged on social media for more supplies to save COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) Workers load oxygen cylinders at a charging station on the outskirts of Prayagraj, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. India put oxygen tankers on special express trains as major hospitals in New Delhi on Friday begged on social media for more supplies to save COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe. India's underfunded health system is tattering as the world's worst coronavirus surge wears out the nation, which set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Biden administration's top medical adviser on the pandemic, said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with its counterpart agency in India to provide technical support and assistance. "It is a dire situation that we're trying to help in any way we can," Fauci said at the White House coronavirus briefing. "They have a situation there where there are variants that have arisen. We have not yet fully characterized the variants and the relationship between the ability of the vaccines to protect. But we're assuming, clearly, that they need vaccines," he said. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Greek politician and former National Defense Minister Panos Kammenos on Saturday announced having visited Serbia to get inoculated with Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2021) Greek politician and former National Defense Minister Panos Kammenos on Saturday announced having visited Serbia to get inoculated with Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. "I thank Serbian brothers for giving me the opportunity to reclaim my freedom, along with hundreds of thousands of foreigners. Here, life has returned, everything is open, everyone is vaccinated," the former minister tweeted, attaching a photo of him receiving the shot. According to Greek media, Serbia is a welcome destination for the so-called vaccination tourists. Since Serbia is not an EU member and, therefore, is not bound by the same vaccination agreements, the country was able to place orders not only for the vaccines by AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech but also Sputnik V and the Sinopharm vaccine. The country with a population of 7 million has purchased a total of 15 million vaccines, which has resulted in a surplus that Belgrade decided to share with neighbors and citizens of other countries. Police officers should be held responsible for excessive use of force, period. Citizens should be held responsible for resisting a lawful arrest, period. History, and recent cases in the news, point to the fact that the latter occurs before the former. If citizens were to follow police instructions and not resist, there would be far less excessive use of force by police. Its a no-brainer. If a person believes they have been mistreated by police, the best course of action is not to be confrontational with the officer but rather to write a letter to the chief of police requesting a written response as to what is being done about the complaint and send a copy of the letter to the mayor, who should inquire if the citizen is satisfied with the chiefs response. That letter of complaint will go in the officers personnel file and will go a long way in discouraging the officer from mistreating citizens in the future. Police have a certain amount of discretion. If you follow their instructions, they are more likely to use it in your favor. After all, they are a lot like us. DOUGLAS DEVLAMING Colleton Drive Charleston Highway 41 options As the discussion about the widening of S.C. Highway 41 through the historic Phillips Community continues, it appears that each side seems to feel they are getting the short shrift. I would like the communities to consider a flyover in the Phillips Community, which would allow foot traffic without traffic issues. Why not build a Phillips Community civic and senior center under the flyover? The center could include Senior Day Care for our aging population and include pool aerobics, crafts, Pickleball and assorted activities to include youth in the area to give them a safe space and even after-school care. This plan could meet the needs of communities and lessen the feelings of being taken advantage of by each side. Im sure cost will be an issue. I have lived in Berkeley County near Cainhoy for about 12 years. In our area, which abuts Mount Pleasant, we have no government-provided facilities from either the city of Charleston or Berkeley County. I believe that a cost-sharing agreement could be arranged to show a spirit of cooperation. Its not so much a matter of who gets credit but who gets lifted up as our servant-leaders in government think outside the box before we get boxed in by decisions that might create division and anger. TIM HOPPMANN Harbor Mist Court 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! Charleston Bike lanes not needed I am writing to complain about the recently installed bike lanes on Brigade Street in Charleston. We were not consulted about this change, or even notified in advance. Our business is on the corner of Brigade and Morrison Drive. We have always had customer street parking on Brigade for 40 years, at least. Now, we have none since the bike lanes have been established. Our customers have been complaining that they have nowhere close to park. In addition to the lack of parking, we have seen 18-wheelers go into the oncoming lane across the yellow center line just to make the turn onto Brigade from Morrison. If there is traffic waiting for the light to turn, there is a possibility of the larger truck having to wait or taking the chance of hitting a vehicle. Also, we see very little bicycle traffic on our street, maybe one or two cyclists a month. It seems to be a waste of time, money and effort installing these lanes for such a limited amount of use. The money could have been better spent to install a traffic light at Brigade and Meeting streets, where there have been several serious traffic accidents over the years. BETTY DEVANE Morrison Drive Charleston Capitalizing black, white Thank you, Post and Courier. I really appreciate the manner in which your reporters write articles concerning apparent racial problems and use capital first letters in reference to both black and white persons. (Editors note: The Opinion section lowercases both words.) Articles attributed to The Associated Press and those in many other newspapers only capitalize referrals to black persons. Is that racist? Certainly, it would be if it were the other way around. ED URIE Jerry Court Pawleys Island Downing Street launched a savage counter-attack against Dominic Cummings last night as the former adviser readied a fresh assault on Boris Johnson over Britain's Covid death toll. Allies of the Prime Minister levelled the damning charge that those loyal to the ex-aide had been behind 'nasty and sexist briefings' against Mr Johnson's fiancee, Carrie Symonds, in which they exaggerated the influence she wields in No 10. The Downing Street fightback came amid fears that Mr Cummings is planning to reveal the details of shocking private remarks that Mr Johnson is said to have made about the pandemic. His lurid comment was allegedly made shortly after he ordered November's second lockdown. He vowed never to repeat such draconian measures as he faced opposition from Tory backbenchers alarmed by the economic and social cost. Downing Street furiously denies that Mr Johnson made the graphic remark in which he is said to have ruled out any more 'f****** lockdowns', regardless of the 'bodies' in front of what are said to have been 'shocked' political and civil service advisers. A No 10 source last night described the claim as 'another lie'. Nonetheless, one source indicated that Mr Cummings might repeat it when he appears next month in front of a parliamentary inquiry into the Government's handling of the Covid crisis. Downing Street launched a savage counter-attack against Dominic Cummings (pictured in March) last night as the former adviser readied a fresh assault on Boris Johnson over Britain's Covid death toll The war between Mr Cummings and Mr Johnson first erupted at the end of last year when Mr Cummings lost a power struggle with Ms Symonds. It followed the Prime Minister's decision to make one of his fiancee's friends, Allegra Stratton, the public face of now-abandoned televised Downing Street briefings. It flared up again last week after No 10 briefed that Mr Cummings had been behind damaging leaks such as text messages exchanged between Mr Johnson and entrepreneur Sir James Dyson, and the now-infamous 'Chatty Rat' row about the November lockdown. Mr Cummings hit back on Friday with a 1,000-word blog post in which he claimed the Prime Minister once had a 'possibly illegal' plan for Tory donors to pay for renovations of his Downing Street flat. He also denied both leaks, adding that Mr Johnson had considered trying to block an inquiry into the 'Chatty Rat' in case it pointed to Henry Newman, a friend of Ms Symonds, who works in No 10. In the latest salvos, sources told The Mail on Sunday that during their final conversation in Downing Street, Mr Cummings told the Prime Minister that he hoped they would be able to maintain a constructive relationship but would only do so if Ms Symonds agreed to stop briefing against him to the media. 'I can't control her,' Mr Johnson is said to have replied. 'It's impossible.' But a senior Johnson ally hit back, telling this newspaper: 'This is a completely inaccurate account of that meeting, which was entirely cordial. They agreed to stay in touch. This has proved to be impossible. What followed was a series of nasty and sexist briefings against Carrie.' Allies of Mr Newman also responded angrily, denying that he was the 'rat' and pointing the finger back at Mr Cummings. One source claimed that the intelligence services had identified Mr Cummings as the culprit but 'could not publish their evidence because it would reveal the secrets of their tradecraft, including their penetration of WhatsApp messages'. Mr Johnson faced further attacks over his conduct yesterday from the pro-Remain wing of the party. Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve described him as 'a vacuum of integrity' and accused him of 'smoke and mirrors' over how the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat would be paid for. Mr Grieve claimed it was 'just one illustration of the chaos Mr Johnson seems to bring in his wake If you have someone who is a vacuum of integrity, you're going to get this sort of story coming up over and over again.' He added that Mr Johnson's character 'has been apparent for a very long time', including to the Tory MPs who elected him party leader. Mr Johnson is also facing crossparty calls to go to the Commons tomorrow to update MPs on the 'Chatty Rat' inquiry. He was told MPs must be told if No 10 had unmasked the person who risked lives by leaking plans for the Covid lockdown last year. It is feared the disclosure prompted people to flock to pubs before they closed on November 4, risking further spread of the virus. Allies of the Prime Minister levelled the damning charge that those loyal to the ex-aide had been behind 'nasty and sexist briefings' against Mr Johnson's fiancee, Carrie Symonds (left), in which they exaggerated the influence she wields in No 10 Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, who has branded the leak a 'contempt of the Commons and the British people', also insisted that the Government 'should publish what they have got'. Last year, Sir Iain demanded that any official found to have leaked the information should face the humiliating punishment of apologising in person to MPs in the Commons Chamber. And senior Labour MP Chris Bryant told The Mail on Sunday: 'The Prime Minister should come clean and tell MPs as a matter of urgency whether a culprit has been found. 'And if he now wants to drop the whole thing because the guilty party is a mate of his fiancee, he should tell us that too.' During the leak inquiry, No 10 has been forced to take the unusual step of briefing Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle on its progress under confidential 'Privy Council terms'. Mr Cummings will give evidence on May 26 to the joint parliamentary committee inquiry into lessons the Government must learn from its response to the coronavirus pandemic. In his blog post, Mr Cummings said that he 'was not directly or indirectly a/the source for the BBC/[Laura] Kuenssberg story on the PM/Dyson texts', suggesting that screenshots had been leaked by disaffected civil servants. And he claimed that Cabinet Secretary Simon Case had told the Prime Minister that the Chatty Rat leaker was 'neither me nor the then director of communications' [Lee Cain] and that 'all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman and others in that office'. He added: 'The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards, 'If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends [pause] Perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?' He concluded: 'It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves. 'I will not engage in media briefing regarding these issues but will answer questions about any of these issues to Parliament on May 26 for as long as the MPs want.' The birdsong rings out to lure unwitting victims into nets while others are snared with birdlime, which glues them to the ground unable to escape. Finches, chaffinches, goldfinches, greenfinches and linnets are the targets of hunters who play birdsong to attract these colourful avians. Enthusiasts trap them, then train them to sing in contests in a practice known in Spain as silvestrismo. Once their use in contests is over, most birds are killed and eaten. : wblvhy (BBOY), : Immigration : cover letter : BBS (Fri Apr 23 16:38:48 2021, ) February 07, 2021 Department of Homeland Security National Benefits Center 850 NW Chipman Rd Lees Summit, MO 64063 RE: I-485 Application to Adjust Status Principle Beneficiary: ************** I-485 Receipt Number: MSC********** Derivative Beneficiary: *******, A******* I-485 Receipt Number: MSC********* Type of Petition: I-485 Additional Material: I-693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record Dear Immigration Officer: This letter is respectfully submitted in support of an adjustment of status application for myself and my ****** ******. More specifically, I- 693 Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record for myself and my * **** ****** are included to support our underlying I-485 Adjustment of Status petition. The receipt notices for both of the I-485 petitions are also included. 1, It Is Fine To Submit I-693 Report Of Medical Examination And Vaccination Record After Filing I-485 Adjustment Of Status Petition. Per USCIS Policy Manual Guidance on Review of Medical Examination Documentation: Applicants may submit the Form I-693 medical examination report to USCIS: Concurrently with the immigration benefit application; or At any time after filing the immigration benefit application but before USCIS finalizes adjudication of that application. 2, The Attached Form I-693 Medical Examination Forms Should Retains Evidentiary Value Through 2 Years From Date Civil Surgeon Signed I-693 The attached Form I-693 medical examination forms were signed on ********, after our I-485 Adjustment of Status petition. Therefore, it should retains evidentiary value through 2 years from date civil surgeon signed I-693. With these facts in mind, it is respectfully requested that, the enclosed form I-693 to added to our I-485 Adjustment of Status petitions. Sincerely, ********** -- :WWW mitbbs.com [FROM: 66.] A report of a man carrying a handgun in the west end spurred the deployment of the Brandon Police Service Tactical Response Unit on Thursday afternoon. Advertisement Advertise With Us A report of a man carrying a handgun in the west end spurred the deployment of the Brandon Police Service Tactical Response Unit on Thursday afternoon. At approximately 10:30 a.m., officers responded to a report of a vehicle hitting a man near Wellington Drive, where witnesses reported a gun falling from the mans possession. According to police, the man got into the vehicle that hit him and left the area. Police found the vehicle in the 3500 block of Willowdale Crescent. An investigation led police to get a search warrant for the apartment the vehicle was parked by to find the gun. The Tactical Response Unit and Brandon Police Service Major Crime Services executed a search warrant at approximately 5 p.m, police say. Photos from the scene show the police services armoured rescue vehicle on location along with several police officers with rifles drawn. Police used loudspeakers to communicate with the people inside the apartment. Three people left the apartment without incident, police say, and no handgun was found. A man and a woman kissed on the steps of an apartment before they were arrested by police, photos show. Two of the three people were released without charges. A 21-year-old man, who police suspect was the one hit by the vehicle, was wanted on outstanding charges unrelated to the warrant. The man was uninjured and was charged with assault, possession of a weapon, two counts of failing to comply with release orders and failing to comply with probation. ARMOURED RESCUE VEHICLE DEPLOYED Two people kiss with their hands up during a Willowdale Crescent police operation on Thursday afternoon. A report of a man carrying a handgun in the west end spurred the deployment of the Brandon Police Service Tactical Response Unit. (Liam Pattison Photography) While police didnt find a gun, Brandon police public information officer Sgt. Kirby Sararas said the armoured rescue vehicle was deployed because the warrant involved firearms. "Out of great precaution for both the people inside and the public and ourselves. We dont know what intent people are having with weapons," she said. "If theyre coming into these weapons illegally theres a greater jeopardy for them if theyre caught with them, so we want to make sure we take all precautions for everybody involved." Willowdale Crescent is also heavily populated with houses and apartments, she said, so police want to be extra careful. "It turned out well. So far knock on wood here in Brandon they have turned out well. We have seen in other jurisdictions where they dont. We dont want that to be the case here so we want to take every precaution." The Sun spoke to several neighbours in the area. One woman, who asked not to be named, said she came home to see a large group of people gather at the police barricade at the intersection of Willowdale Crescent and Williamson Drive to watch. "We saw (police) take a few people out of the apartment they had the SWAT team and everything," she said. Police also used a robot during the operation, which Sararas said allows officers to communicate with the people inside the residence and reduce officers contact with them. Justin Boille, who lives nearby, said he saw a constant stream of police officers drive to the 3500 block of Willowdale Crescent before the arrests were made. He estimated 20 officers responded to the call and blocked off several nearby streets. Its not the first time police have been in the area, he said. Officers are in the area at least weekly, he said, as well as ambulances. "Its definitely an ongoing issue." dmay@brandonsun.com Twitter: @DrewMay_ The has registered a case of alleged corruption against former home minister Anil Deshmukh and conducted searches at his premises in and Nagpur on Saturday, officials said. The searches were conducted for nearly 10 hours. In addition to Deshmukh's premises, residence of his PA Sanjeev Palande in was also searched. Deshmukh told reporters in Nagpur that he cooperated with the officials during searches at his residence. The action came after completion of its preliminary enquiry registered on the orders of the Bombay High Court which was hearing a PIL on the allegations of bribery against Deshmukh levelled by former Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh who was shunted out from the coveted post after role of a policeman Sachin Waze surfaced in the explosive-laden SUV found parked near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's house. The agency has booked Deshmukh and others under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and section of Prevention of Corruption Act for "attempt to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of public duty". In his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, after he was removed from Commissioner's post, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked Waze to extort over Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants of Mumbai, they said. "The preliminary enquiry prima facie revealed that a cognisable offence is made out in the matter, wherein the then home minister of Maharashtra, Shri Anil Deshmukh and unknown others have attempted to obtain undue advantage for improper and dishonest performance of their public duty," the FIR alleged. According to the CBI manual, a preliminary enquiry is initiated to assess if there is enough prima facie material in the allegations to proceed with a regular case for a full fledged probe, they said. The CBI enquiry found Waze, assistant inspector of Mumbai police, had been reinstated into the police force after being out of of police service for more than 15 years. Waze was entrusted with most of the sensational and important cases of Mumbai City Police and Deshmukh was in knowledge of the said fact, the FIR alleged. It alleged that Deshmukh "and others" exercised undue influence over the transfer and posting of officials and thereby exercising undue influence over the performance of official duties by the officials, the FIR alleged. After registering the FIR on April 21, the CBI on Saturday carried out searches in Mumbai and Nagpur at premises linked to the former minister who had resigned earlier this month after the high court had ordered a CBI probe against him. In Mumbai, teams of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) searched at two properties linked to Deshmukh. Taking precautions of COVID, the teams searched Dyaneshwari bungalow in south Mumbai's Malabar Hill, which was allotted to Deshmukh, when he was a minister and his flat in Sukhada Apartment on Sir Pochkhanwala Road in Worli. The CBI teams wearing PPE kits and masks arrived early morning and made spot panchnama of recoveries. A similar action unfolded at Deshmukh's hometown Nagpur where the CBI team, which had arrived Friday night, searched his residence at GPO Square in Civil Lines area in the early morning. The team left around 6.30 pm. "I cooperated with the CBI team which came for searches at my house," Deshmukh told reporters. He had resigned as a minister after the high court asked the CBI to probe the allegations. Reacting the CBI action against its leader Deshmukh, the NCP said nobody was above the law, but added that the truth behind the "political conspiracy" against him. Talking to reporters, NCP spokesperson and minister Nawab Malik said, "Nobody is above the law. Anil Deshmukh is cooperating with the agencies." He said he was not aware if any FIR has been registered against Deshmukh. "What was the role of former Mumbai police commissioner (Param Bir Singh) in the case. All these actions are taking place based on the ex-commissioner's letter," he alleged. "This is nothing but misuse of power to malign the state government and Anil Deshmukh. We have full faith in the judiciary and know that the truth behind the political conspiracy will be exposed through the probe," he said. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut also said that nobody was above the law. "It is not correct to comment on CBI's action. Anil Deshmukh had already given his statement in the case. CBI is doing its work, similarly high court and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government are doing their own work," he said. "If there is a political agenda in the case against Anil Deshmukh, then the MVA government will take a stand. Hope the action against Deshmukh is restricted to directives of the high court," he said. On March 25, Singh had filed the criminal public interest litigation seeking a CBI probe against Deshmukh, who, he claimed, had asked police officers, including Waze, to extort Rs 100 crore from bars and restaurants. Sri Lankan Police on Saturday arrested a former minister and his brother for allegedly aiding and abetting the suicide bombers responsible for the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks in which 258 people, including 11 Indians, were killed. Rishad Bathiudeen, the leader of a minority Muslim party that is part of the main Opposition party, the SJB, and his brother Riyaj Bathiudeen were arrested from their respective residences. They have been arrested under the provisions of the prevention of terrorism Act based on direct, circumstantial and scientific evidence," Ajith Rohana, the senior deputy inspector general who is also the police spokesman, said. Read more: Sri Lanka bans ISIS, al-Qaeda and nine other terror groups Nine suicide bombers, belonging to local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS, carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday on April 21, 2019. In May last year, Riyaj was arrested for making contacts with suicide bombers and given bail in October. Rishad, a former Minister of Industry and Commerce, was arrested in October and given bail in November over the misappropriation of state resources. Their arrests came just after the second anniversary of the deadly attacks. Ahead of the anniversary, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, has expressed doubts over the bail being granted to Riyaj. He wondered if the action was due to a political deal. In late October, some of the legislators who are members of Rishads party had voted in support of the government for the twentieth amendment to the Constitution. Ranjith also expressed disappointment over the findings of the government probe panel and demanded action against those named in the report for their negligence to stop the attacks despite having prior intelligence. The government, under pressure from the Cardinal, has maintained that recommendations of a presidential panel on the attack had been referred to the Attorney General for further action and the government would not protect anyone. New Delhi: Raising concern over the rising COVID-19 cases, the Delhi High Court on Saturday (April 24, 2021) said that it is not a coronavirus wave but actually a 'tsunami'. The Delhi High Court also stated that if any official at the central, state or local administration was obstructing in the picking up or supply of oxygen, then it would 'hang' that person. The court told the Delhi government to give it one instance of who was obstructing the oxygen supply and said 'we will hang that man'. "We will not spare anyone," the Delhi HC bench added. The observation by a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli came during a hearing of a plea by Maharaja Agrasen Hospital over shortage of oxygen for seriously ill COVID-19 patients. The Delhi HC also questioned the Centre over its supply of 480 metric tonnes of oxygen to Delhi. "You (Centre) had assured us (on April 21) that 480 MT per day will reach Delhi. Tell us when will it come? The 480 MT per day is still to see the light of the day," the court said. It also asked the Centre about the preparedness to deal with the peak of the second COVID-19 wave expected in May. The High Court told the Centre and the Delhi government to reduce the COVID-19 mortality rate. The hearing comes in the backdrop of several hospitals in the national capital complaining of a shortage of oxygen supply. Most recently being the Jaipur Golden Hospital where at least twenty critically ill patients died overnight amid a serious oxygen crisis. "The oxygen pressure has dipped as we are running out of stock," Dr DK Baluja, the medical director of Jaipur Golden Hospital, was quoted as saying by PTI news agency. Baluja added that the hospital has over 200 patients and they had only half an hour of oxygen was left at 10:45 am. Meanwhile, India recorded 3.46 lakh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours that took the country's total caseload to 1.66 crores, the data by the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday morning. India, the second-worst coronavirus-hit country in the world, reported 3,46,786 new infections. India's April 24 COVID-19 figures surpassed its previous highest single-day rise in the world - 3,32,730 cases - recorded on Friday. (With inputs from agencies) Live TV Just over four and a half months after the West's first COVID-19 vaccine dose was given to 90-year-old Margaret Keenan in Britain on Dec. 8, 2020, a remarkable milestone has been achieved nearly 1 billion jabs, both first and second shots have been administered globally, according to Agence France-Presse's (AFP) database, Daily Sabah reports. The unprecedented inoculation drive is seen as the world's ticket out of coronavirus lockdowns, despite concerns about rare side effects, worries over supply and a glaring inequality between rich and poor. More than half of all vaccinations are made by only three countries: the United States, China and India - 581.7 mln vaccines, or 58%. Laura Sugden immediately knew she was in danger when she noticed dirt marks on her usually spotless cream carpet. Call it a sixth sense, she says today, as she recalls the terrible night in January 2018 that upended her life. She had gone upstairs to switch on an electric blanket. First the mark, then, with growing dread, she saw that her three-year-old daughter Isabelles bedroom door, always left ajar, was closed. Easing it open, inch by inch, a terrified Laura was confronted by a demonic figure standing in the half-light. It was her next-door neighbour, Tony Lawrence, wearing a head torch and holding a crossbow. It was pointing at her. Laura Sugden (right) and her partner Shane Gilmer (left) were attacked by their neighbour Tony Lawrence in January 2018, who was wielding a crossbow. He killed Mr Glimer and shot Ms Sugden in the head. Miraculously, Ms Sugden - who was pregnant at the time - survived the attack, along with her unborn daughter Instinctively, Laura covered her stomach with her hands. She was four months pregnant. Mercifully, Isabelle was away with her father Lauras previous partner. The strange thing is, when I saw Lawrence I was not shocked, says Laura, 30. I didnt just have a feeling that someone was in my house I had a feeling in my gut that he was in my house. Tensions between Laura and her 55-year-old neighbour in the remote hamlet of Southburn, East Yorkshire, were high. Weary of Lawrences deafening music and the stench of cannabis the cause of a year-long feud Laura and her partner Shane Gilmer, 30, had secretly complained to his landlord. Lawrence found out because he monitored the couples conversations using a listening device held against the party wall. In fact he knew many of their intimate secrets, including details of Lauras pregnancy scan. If that wasnt sinister enough, it would later transpire that he was able to slip undetected in and out of Lauras house, which adjoined his own, after removing bricks from the partition wall in the loft. Earlier on the night of the horrific attack, Laura and Shane had enjoyed dinner at an Italian restaurant. As they discussed wedding plans over pasta, Lawrence, a troubled loner hellbent on revenge, was already waiting for them inside their home. Laura recalls everything clearly, as though they were scenes in a horror film. With the crossbow still aimed at her, she slowly edged backwards on to the landing and into her own bedroom. Lawrence followed and pushed her on to the double bed as Shane, hearing the commotion, bounded up the stairs. Spinning round to confront Shane, Lawrence fired his crossbow, the metal bolt ripping through Shanes right arm and lodging deep in his chest. Laura says: I heard Shane say, What the f*** is that? Then I heard his moan from the hall. Somehow Laura managed to dial 999 on her mobile. She let the call connect and then hid the phone in the pocket of her dress, hoping the operator would send help. Meanwhile, Lawrence dragged Shane by the neck into the bedroom. There was blood everywhere, says Laura. Shane slumped down over the edge of the bed. I didnt know what to do. The arrow had gone into his right arm and it was pinned to his torso. I said to Tony, What on earth are you doing? But he had no emotion. His eyes looked black and he had no expression on his face. He told me, I dont give a f*** what you are saying. I said to Tony, Is that going to kill him? and he smirked and said, Yes and Im going to kill you too. Stupidly, I thought I could talk him round. I said, Why are you in my house? He said, Youve had me evicted. Laura denied involvement, but Lawrence replied: Youre a lying bitch. Ive been listening to you both for the last year. Now Laura began pleading for mercy. She says: I said I would ring the letting agent and say we made it all up but he said, No chance. I said we would move out. I said we had looked at a house and he said, Yeah, I know you did but you didnt f****** move did you? I told him I was pregnant and he said, I know. Laura then asked Lawrence to consider her children: I said, Im having a baby and weve both got children. Tony replied, Blah, blah, f****** blah, and then he shot me in the head. Laura was confronted by a demonic figure standing in the half-light. It was her next-door neighbour, Tony Lawrence holding a crossbow. It was pointing at her Laura ducked as Lawrence fired and the 15in aluminium bolt embedded into the top of her skull. Blood was gushing down my face and I felt dizzy, she says. I heard Shane scream and start crying. Lawrence scrambled for another bolt, allowing Laura a vital moment to get off the bed and wrench out the one in her head. Lawrence then wrestled her to the ground and used the bolt as a knife, frantically slashing at her throat. Medics later said the wounds were so deep that they could see her voice box. Despite being only 5ft 2in and soaked in blood, Laura managed to roll on top of Lawrence. I was gasping for breath and I was pushing the bolt back away from me but I could feel it cutting me, she says. I cant work out how I managed to overpower him, but I remember looking him in the eye and for the first time he looked scared scared but angry at the same time. I said to Shane, Ive got him, can you help me? But he looked at me with tears running down his face and said, I cant. He was beside himself. It was absolutely awful. A panicked Lawrence prised himself free and ran from the room. Laura crawled to comfort Shane. He squeezed my hand and said I needed to go and get help. I didnt want to leave him, but he said, If you dont go and keep you and the baby safe I will never forgive you. He squeezed my hand again and said, Be strong. I love you. Those were the last words he said to me. Reluctantly agreeing to seek help, Laura ran downstairs. As she fumbled with her keys to open the back door, she heard Lawrence take a few steps behind her, then stop and turn back. In the cold night, Laura staggered more than 300 yards down the driveway, pleading with the 999 operator on her mobile to send an ambulance. Losing blood and barely able to stand, she knocked on the door of neighbours Zoe and Tim Rymer. Her injuries were so horrific that they assumed she had been thrown through a car windscreen. They probably saved her life by putting pressure on her head and neck wounds to stem the blood. Laura is speaking now as she launches a campaign for tighter controls on crossbows. Currently anyone over 18 can buy one without any background checks. Weapons like the one used by Lawrence are available online for only 150. Police found three in his home Lawrence, meanwhile, had sped off in his car. Shane fearing that Laura had been abducted by their deranged neighbour dragged himself downstairs to call for help. Oh God. I think I am going to die. I need to say something. I love my children, he told the 999 operator. My stomach is killing me. Oh my God, I really, really wanted this baby, I really wanted it. I feel like Im fading. Ive lost so much blood. A paramedic and three police officers smashed into the house at 9.40pm just 30 minutes after the attack began. But confusion at the scene meant the first ambulance to arrive was turned away by armed officers who had not been given clearance to enter the house. It meant the couple did not get to Hull Royal Infirmary until 11.30pm. Despite the frantic efforts of surgeons, Shane died soon after. Laura disagrees with the coroner who, at an inquest held earlier this month, found the delays were inevitable given the remote location of their home. She also disagrees with the results of investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which cleared Humberside Police of any failings. Laura says that over the months before the murder, the couple had called police five times about Lawrence, including about an incident a year earlier when he threatened Shane with an axe. I believe if there hadnt been delays in the ambulance, Shane wouldnt have died, she says. He was strong and he was shot at 9.10pm. He lost so much blood. If hed had a blood transfusion at 10.30pm I think he would still be alive. As Laura was prepared for surgery, she begged for news of Shane and was told he had died from his injuries. On the day of her scan which revealed that her baby had survived the ordeal Lawrence was found dead by police in a camper van in a remote area of North Yorkshire having taken an overdose. Lauras baby, Ella-Faith, is now three, and the image of her father. As she bounces her on her knee, Laura fondly recalls how she and Shane met while working in the housing department of East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Within months, he had moved into her home. Lauras baby, Ella-Faith (left), is now three, and the image of her father. As she bounces her on her knee, Laura fondly recalls how she and Shane met while working in the housing department of East Riding of Yorkshire Council. Within months, he had moved into her home Colleagues teased them, she says, for acting like love-struck teenagers. Shane, who has two daughters from a previous marriage, was thrilled at the prospect of becoming a father again. Laura recalls: He was so excited about it. He constantly said to me, I cant wait to marry you and I cant wait to have this baby. Her composure cracks only when she reflects on the impact of Shanes death. She and Isabelle have had bereavement counselling and Laura has removed all of the doors from the upstairs rooms of her new house so that I can see inside. The remaining months of her pregnancy with Ella-Faith were complicated and her daughter was born a week early by caesarean section in June 2018, weighing 5lb 9oz. I didnt know how I was going to manage on my own, but the minute that Ella was born and I saw her, something in my heart healed, Laura says. Just seeing her changed me. She just looks exactly like her dad. Ella was the name that Shane chose. She talks about him, she does understand. Ive said to her that Daddy is in heaven and that he is a star. She will say to me, Daddy loved me, didnt he? I tell her that he did very much. Laura is speaking now as she launches a campaign for tighter controls on crossbows. Currently anyone over 18 can buy one without any background checks. Weapons like the one used by Lawrence are available online for only 150. Police found three in his home. Laura wants them to be reclassified as firearms, which would require people to undergo police checks similar to shotgun owners. At Shanes inquest, coroner Professor Paul Marks criticised the completely unregulated market for the deadly and vicious weapons and said he would share his concerns with the Government. Laura now plans to lobby MPs and start a petition to regulate crossbows, adding: Im determined to stop another potential lunatic from buying one. I dont want any other family to go through what we have. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has addressed a message on the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Presidential Office told Armenpress. The message reads: Dear compatriots in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora, Today, we commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915. The pain of the immense human and territorial loss suffered by the Armenian people more than one hundred years ago still echoes in our hearts, reminding us that the right of the Armenian people to live peacefully and safely, and develop in their native land was violated: first in the Ottoman Empire, and today in Artsakh. Unfortunately, in international and regional politics, the Armenian Genocide, and the Armenian Question in general, are often used by some people as a means to achieve different goals. However, the world must realize that the policy of silencing the crime of the Armenian Genocide, leaving it in the past, and especially denying it, has long since exhausted itself; genocide is a crime against all humanity, and indifference and impunity give birth to new crimes. Such crimes and their authors should be called by their names; the crime and the perpetrator should be condemned. Today, the events prove once again that the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide are necessary to ensure lasting peace and stability in our region. Dear compatriots, The Armenian Genocide is the result of a policy of xenophobia, the most recent manifestation of which was the Azerbaijani-Turkish war against Artsakh. On the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, while we are still recovering from the severe blow, the aspiration to have a strong, competitive, and reasonable Armenia must be rooted in us. We can and must straighten our backs, stand firm on our own soil, and stay true to ourselves. Violations against our national and moral values, and against our identity are unequivocally unacceptable. As a united people and state, we must be able to be part of the developments taking place in the world today, without retreating from our memory and just demands. Bowing to the memory of our holy martyrs who fell victim to the Genocide, as the President of the Republic, I want to say with confidence that with joint efforts of all Armenians we will achieve our national goals, and make Armenia the country of our dreams. God bless us all. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. More than 100 years after the Armenian Genocide the Christians of Germany are ashamed for this suffering of the Christian Armenians, the Chairman of the Association of Christian Churches of Germany (ACK) Radu Constantin Miron said in a video message to ARMENPRESS on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Radu Constantin Miron quoted American author Katharine Lee Bates poem in the beginning of his statement: Armenia! The name is like a sword in every Christian heart. O martyr nation, eldest of all the daughters of the Word, exceeding all in bitter tribulation. The poem was written shortly before the genocide. It was originally published in the New York Evening Sun, and then in 1918 it was published in the Boston-based English-language The Armenian Herald newspaper. The author is American writer Katharine Lee Bates, who lived from 1859 to 1929. Every American knows her for her America the Beautiful poem, which in some sense is the unofficial national anthem of the United States. Yes, this is the song that Jennifer Lopez sang at Joe Bidens inauguration ceremony. Few people know that the author of this poem raised her voice of protest against the 1915 Armenian Genocide and especially expressed her deep concern on the occasion of the Wests indifference towards the fate of the martyred nation. The above-mentioned poem, which she had written for the New York Evening Sun, was a desperate call and cry for help aimed at her countrymen and the entire world, on the background of the tragedy which the Christian Armenian nation had appeared in, Radu Constantin Miron said. She wrote another poem which begins with the What is Christ? question. Oh, what is Christ, that we should call on Him? Wasted Armenia, in her utter woe, Dies in the mocking desert, calling so. The main motive in both poems is the Wests indifference for the Armenian nations suffering. All Christendom, shamed in her sacrifice, Bates wrote in Armenia!. Indeed, the entire Christian world must feel ashamed for the Armenians sacrifice. One hundred years later, we, Christians of this country, are ashamed for this suffering of the Christian Armenians, Radu Constantin Miron said, expressing the ACKs solidarity to Armenians and as well as admiration for the Armenian nation and their Christian testimony. People in Queensland who have been in Perth or Peel since April 17 must get tested for COVID, self-isolate and comply with Western Australias lockdown restrictions from Friday night. The states chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young issued health directions on Friday night saying those who had been in the WA region would have to self-isolate at home or in arranged accommodation to 2am, April 27, or otherwise announced by WA effective immediately. The infected man travelled on a flight from Perth to Melbourne on Wednesday. Credit:Getty Those who have been in Perth of Peel on or since April 17, are required to get a COVID test. WA Premier Mark McGowan announced on Friday the region will be entering a three-day lockdown from midnight. Noel Thomas spent his 60th birthday behind bars. Tracy Felstead was jailed and plunged into a depression, twice trying to kill herself. Martin Griffiths, hounded by Post Office auditors, actually did leaving a note of apology to his family before stepping in front of a bus. All these and hundreds more blameless former postmasters and postmistresses were pillars of their village communities until being preposterously branded crooks and having their lives torn apart. Former post office worker Janet Skinner (centre), with her niece Hayley Adams (right) and her daughter Toni Sisson, celebrating outside the Royal Courts of Justice Former Post Office sub-postmaster Jo Hamilton reacts to the verdict outside The High Court. The Appeal Court has cleared the names of a group of 42 sub-postmasters Karen Wilson with a photo of her husband Julian who died in 2016. He was convicted following a Post Office prosecution in 2008. He died of cancer in 2016, but his widow Karen has been fighting to clear his name And each was peddled the same cruel lie by Post Office investigators that they were the only one having trouble with the new computer accounting system Horizon. In truth, it was riddled with bugs and glitches that caused baffling shortfalls in post office branch accounts across the land. Post Office bosses knew this and they watched as hard-working community stalwarts were locked up as convicted thieves before mounting a cynical plot to hush up the truth. The Mail has campaigned for justice for the victims for the past decade. Dedicated former postmistress Jo Hamilton, 62, wrongly accused of stealing 36,000 from her branch in South Warnborough, Hampshire, said: 'They told me I was the only one. But after my case went to court others came forward to say it had happened to them too.' An incredible 74 villagers including the vicar turned out to support Mrs Hamilton in the crown court, with many testifying she was the kindest, most honest person they knew. She recalled: 'Even the judge couldn't understand why I was pleading guilty.' So why did she? Because the grandmother-of-three was advised to plead guilty to false accounting in return for a theft charge being dropped, which could have seen her jailed. It is now clear such agreements were a devious tactic repeated many times by the Post Office. Charging terrified postmasters with theft and then offering a last-minute deal to drop it for a lesser charge if they agreed to plead guilty was the 'key to achieving rapid, and inexpensive, asset recovery', it was later revealed in a leaked report. The devastating human cost did not seem to have mattered. Mrs Hamilton said: 'Even though I never took a penny, I have had a conviction for 13 years. But it was the only way to stay out of prison.' Mr Thomas, 72, took the deal to avoid imprisonment but was jailed anyway. He was sentenced to nine months after pleading guilty to false accounting over 50,000 'missing' from his tiny post office in Gaerwen, North Wales, and he turned 60 while in prison. Horizon computer terminals were introduced into post offices in 1999. Many postmasters had spent years running their branches perfectly efficiently using handwritten ledgers, but were now forced to record every transaction on the computer. ostmaster Noel Thomas with his children son Edwin and daughter Sian outside the High Court In London It turned into a Kafkaesque nightmare for some. When Mrs Hamilton found to her shock that Horizon showed 2,000 was missing from her store accounts, she rang the Post Office helpline. However, when staff tried to fix the blip in the accounts, the 'missing' amount simply doubled. Whatever she did, Horizon put her in ever greater debt until to her horror it claimed there was 36,000 unaccounted for. As a sub-postmistress rather than a direct employee of the Post Office she was liable for the shortfall and had to pay the money back by re-mortgaging her house. Between 2000 and 2013, the Post Office successfully prosecuted 736 people over Horizon-related accounting discrepancies. During that period, it denied its Horizon IT system could be faulty, even though postmasters were mystified by their computer terminals declaring branch shortfalls of tens of thousands of pounds. Karen Wilson has attended many of the court hearings clutching a small box containing some of her husband Julian's ashes vowing to seek posthumous justice in his name. The ex-postmaster went to his grave in 2016 bearing the stain of being a convicted criminal. The couple had used their 100,000 life savings to buy a small post office and shop in Redditch, Worcestershire, working from 5am to 8pm every day. But Horizon kept saying there was money 'missing'. It ended with the couple losing everything, including their home. Word began to spread, but to anyone who asked MPs, journalists and even supine ministers the Post Office insisted its Horizon system was 'absolutely accurate and reliable'. Yet bosses knew this was a lie. As the cases mounted up, so did the IT gremlins. By 2006, at least 15 bugs had been found, with names such as 'network banking bug', 'data tree build failure discrepancies' and 'phantom transactions'. Secretly, there was a team of technicians from Fujitsu, the global tech giant which ran Horizon for the Post Office, desperately trying to patch up all the glitches. When postmaster Alan Bates, an experienced businessman also well versed in computers, tried to query a 6,000 discrepancy at his branch in Craig-y-Don on the North Wales coast, the Post Office refused to let him have access to his own branch accounts yet still held him responsible for the unexplained losses. It was the start of a David and Goliath battle which culminated in a series of linked High Court trials between 'Bates and Others' versus the Post Office, in which 555 former postmasters sued over the unfairness of the system. The trials began in 2018 and were due to last three years. The Post Office which is entirely owned by taxpayers blew tens of millions of pounds fighting every single step of the way, apparently untroubled by the costs. Campaigners said the money could have been better spent saving hundreds of local post offices threatened with closure. There was applause yesterday as Janet Skinner, 50, from Hull, walked out of the court crying, cleared after having being jailed for nine months in 2007. There is now a Government inquiry into the scandal, but campaigners fear it will be a whitewash by letting off the hook former Post Office chiefs. It has been obvious for a very long time that Washington, D.C., deserves statehood. It has more people than Wyoming or Vermont and its residents pay more in total federal income tax than residents of 21 other states. But the foes of statehood just seem to get stupider each year. During a recent House hearing on statehood, Georgia Republican congressman Jody Hice, a former right-wing radio host, offered a creative rationale for the status quo. He said that D.C. wants the benefits of a state without actually having to operate like one, because, for instance, it would be the only state in America without a car dealership. Granted, the Founding Fathers failed to foresee the internal combustion engine, but one would search in vain for any amendments that cite car dealerships as a basis for statehood. And its clear that Hice doesnt get out much, because if he were to walk just nine blocks from the Capitol, he could buy a Tesla. Or if he were to stray a few miles north, he could buy a used car at Jimmys Auto. Zack Smith, from the conservative Heritage Foundation, shrugged off the fact that D.C. residents are federally taxed without any representation. Smith contended that the residents have lots of ways of making their voices heard, asking committee members, How many of you saw D.C. statehood yard signs, or bumper stickers, or banners on your way to this hearing today? None of these lame gyrations can mask the conservative opponents true intent: To block the creation of a new state and deny equal rights to 712,000 taxpaying citizens, 53% of whom are people of color and who tend to vote Democratic. Republican clout in the Senate hinges on sustaining the dominance of rural white states. D.C. statehood, in the words of one Kentucky Republican congressman, would be a political power grab, and were going to make sure that America knows what (Democrats) are trying to do. Donald Trump weighed in that statehood would benefit the wrong party. Whenever new states have been proposed, there has been a partisan element. Republicans did it in 1864, when they tried to rush Nebraska to statehood because they wanted three new electoral votes for Abraham Lincolns reelection campaign. And they wildly succeeded with their push for new rural western states late in the century. One historian points out: In 1889 and 1890, Congress added North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming ... This addition of 12 new senators and 18 new electors to the Electoral College was a deliberate strategy of late-19th-century Republicans to stay in power after their swing toward Big Business cost them a popular majority. The ... admission of so many rural states back then helps to explain GOP control of the Senate today. The GOPs power grab argument doesnt hold water, so its next refuge is the Constitution. Statehood opponents claim that the founding document is on their side, but the Constitution requires only that the federal seat of government shall not be located within a state. The current statehood bill would merely shrink the federal district to the two-square-mile area that includes the Capitol, Supreme Court, White House, and National Mall and would make the rest of the district the 51st state. Of course, statehood wont happen unless Senate Democrats dump the filibuster and its artificial 60-vote threshold. The good news is that statehood has more polling support than ever, and that the intertwined movements for equal rights and social justice have made representation for people of color more imperative. Its about protecting and expanding democracy, regardless of car dealerships. April 23 marks the 72nd anniversary of the People's Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN. What is it like, 6,500 km away from home in the Gulf of Aden, for the PLAN crew onboard the Changsha Destroyer? KYODO NEWS - Apr 24, 2021 - 20:23 | World, All A submarine that went missing off Bali with 53 people aboard earlier this week has "sunk," the Indonesian military said Saturday, noting that debris believed to have come from the vessel has been found. Search efforts for the KRI Nanggala-402 had been ongoing for several days since it disappeared early Wednesday, while oxygen supply in the vessel was feared to have run out early Saturday assuming that it had suffered a power outage. "Since several days ago until today, we have found some debris around the location where the submarine was seen submerging that are believed to be components or parts of the submarine," Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono told a press conference. Yudo said the submarine is likely to be at a depth of 850 meters, far below the depth of up to around 500 meters it is designed to withstand. The navy chief of staff said the debris recovered included a prayer mat and a torpedo straightener. "By these authentic pieces of evidence, we've raised the phase from sub missing to sub sunk," Yudo told reporters. "In the sub sunk phase, we are preparing for medical evacuation of possible survivors." He also stressed that based on the evidence, the navy has not been able to determine if a blackout had occurred in the submarine when it sank, retracting his earlier statement that a blackout might have happened. "If there was no blackout, oxygen supply could last for five days," the navy chief of staff said, adding that in a blackout condition, oxygen supply was feared to have run out early Saturday. The German-made submarine went missing about 37 kilometers north of Bali on early Wednesday while preparing for a torpedo drill. Those on board were 49 crew members, one commander and three arsenal personnel. An oil slick was later spotted from the air at the location where the submarine had submerged. Ships and aircraft from Indonesia and other countries have been deployed in the search for the submarine, including an Australian frigate equipped with sonar capabilities. A U.S. surveillance plane has also joined the efforts. Meanwhile, a hydro-oceanography warship equipped with a remotely operated vehicle has been on the site to locate the submarine. The vessel is the oldest active attack submarine in the navy's submarine fleet of five. It was manufactured in 1977 in then West Germany and delivered to the Indonesian navy in 1981. Washington, April 24 : The White House said that President Joe Biden will travel to Britain and Belgium in June, the first overseas visit since he took office in January. Biden will attend the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Cornwall, Britain from June 11 to 13, and hold bilateral meetings with leaders of G7 members, the White House said in a statement on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported. Biden will then travel to Brussels, Belgium to participate in the NATO Summit on June 14. He will also hold bilateral meetings with fellow NATO leaders and attend a US-EU Summit. The G7 gathers Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, and the United States. Australia, India, and South Korea are invited as guest countries to this year's G7 summit. KATHMANDU: The Nepal government has sought second assistance from India for the supply of oxygen, antiviral drugs and intensive care unit beds, as the country's healthcare system is cracking under the pressure of the rising coronavirus caseload. Last year, the Nepal government thanked India for having provided providing medical supplies, including testing kits, as part of the bilateral cooperation to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the country, which reported the first death from the deadly disease. Now, as per officials, a request providing medical supplies was made to New Delhi by the Ministry of Health through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Nepali Embassy in New Delhi has already started taking up the matter with concerned Indian government agencies, officials said. "We have received a list of requirements from the government and have forwarded them to relevant (Indian) government agencies," a senior Nepali diplomat at the Nepali embassy in Delhi told the Post over the phone. The list of requirements includes oxygen, Remdesivir and intensive care unit beds, the Kathmandu Post reported on Saturday. The request, however, has come at a time when India itself is struggling to contain the lethal second wave of the coronavirus, with the daily count of infections soaring over 300,000 and the number of daily deaths hitting a record 2,263. Public health experts say the request to India at this time exposes the government's lack of preparedness against the looming second wave about which they had consistently warned. Nepal too had seen a sudden decline in the number of cases after the daily count hit the highest ever on October 21 last year at 3,439. But from less than 100 new infections on March 12, the country on Thursday reported 2,365 new cases. The Ministry of Health said on Friday the number of new cases in the past 24 hours hit 2,449, with five deaths. Officials say the country's health facilities are already overwhelmed, with hospitals running out of intensive care beds, oxygen and Remdesivir. A Pakistani kid of 4-year-old becomes the youngest Microsoft professional Money laundering case: Nawaz Sharif's younger brother Shahbaz released from Pakistan jail Covid-19 Updates: Ethiopia caseload near 250K, Brazil sees nearly 3,000 deaths Kanker: A group of Maoists on Saturday (April 25) opened fire on Border Security Force (BSF) camp in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh. The firing took place at around 8.30 pm in Koylibeda police station area. The BSF and DRG personnel retaliated to the firing, said Sundarraj Pattilingam, Inspector General, Bastar. The firing lasted for about 15-20 minutes and the Maoists fled taking advantage of the darkness and forest. All BSF personnel in the camp are safe. Meanwhile, in another development, an Assistant Police Sub Inspector, who was abducted by Maoists three days ago from Palnar village under Ganglur Police Station limits in Bijapur district, has been killed by them. SP Bijapur, Kamalochan Kashyap confirmed the report. "Assistant Police Sub Inspector who was abducted by Naxals from Palnar village under Ganglur Police Station limits in Bijapur district on April 21 has been killed by them," SP Bijapur told ANI. Assistant Police Sub Inspector was abducted by Maoists from Palnar village on April 21. Earlier this month, 22 security personnel had lost their lives while 31 sustained injuries in an encounter that broke out between security forces and Naxals along the Chhattisgarh's Sukma-Bijapur border after a party of jawans were ambushed by Maoists near Jonnaguda village. Two days after former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty for the murder of George Floyd, mourners gathered in Minneapolis for the funeral of Daunte Wright, a black man killed by police during a traffic stop. Through the audience of mourners, the collective pain of working class families wronged by police could be seen and felt. Family images play on a screen before funeral services for Daunte Wright at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis, Thursday, April 22, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, Pool) Katie Wright, Dauntes mother, told attendees, The roles should be completely reversed. My son should be burying me, before burying her face into her hands. Wrights parents spoke about their son, through tears, as a loving son and a new father. Wrights son, Daunte Jr., is not even two years old. He always said he couldnt wait to make his son proud, said Katie Wright. Junior was the joy of his life, and he lived for him every single day, and now hes not going to be able to see him. Wright was stopped by Brooklyn Center police on April 11 for having an expired registration tag. Officers attempted to arrest Wright after discovering he had a warrant for missing a court appearance regarding a misdemeanor gun charge. Wright pulled away from officers and sat back down in his drivers seat. Former Officer Kimberly Potter drew her gun, shouted Taser several times and shot a bullet into Wrights chest. Potter claimed she mistook her gun for her taser. Wrights death sparked protests in Brooklyn Center, a working class suburb of Minneapolis, with hundreds gathering every day outside the citys heavily fortified police headquarters for a week. Police and National Guard troops responded to the demonstrations with pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets. More than 100 people were arrested during the protests. Hundreds of people gathered in the Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis Thursday to pay their respects to Wright. The families of other black people murdered by police attended the funeral, including relatives of Oscar Grant, killed in 2009 by a California officer that allegedly mistook his firearm for a stun gun, and the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, murdered by police while sleeping in her own home. The mothers of Philando Castile, who was killed during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb in 2016, and Eric Garner, who died saying, I cant breathe after an officer in New York put him in a prohibited chokehold, were seen as well. The Democratic Governor Minnesota Tim Walz issued a proclamation calling for a statewide moment of silence during the first two minutes of Wrights funeral. Walz offered his condolences in the proclamation and repeatedly called for action against systemic racism. We know that this tragedy is connected to the deep, systemic racism in our society that Black people in Minnesota and across the country face every single day, Walz said. Amid the string of police killings in the past week, the Democratic Party has sought to present police violence as a purely racial issue. However, as the World Socialist Web Site has explained, such efforts seek to mask the class issues behind police brutality. Although racism plays a role, the common factor shared by the overwhelming majority of people killed by police is that they are impoverished workers. Walz called for meaningful change so that every person in Minnesota can be safe and thrive, but he contradicts himself with his own actions, having mobilized the National Guard in response to protests over Wrights killing. Troops repelled and intimidated protesters throughout Minnesota, effectively turning much of the state into a military occupation zone. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar called for police reform, saying, True justice is not done as long as a chokehold, the knee on the neck or a no-knock warrant is considered legitimate policing. Klobuchars comments were entirely hypocritical, considering her political career. While she was the Hennepin County Attorney, she oversaw the systematic coverup of police murders and violence. During her tenure, the city of Minneapolis paid out $4.8 million in legal settlement fees for 122 police misconduct incidents. During the same period, local police killed 29 people, but she never filed criminal charges against officers. Al Sharpton delivered Wrights eulogy, along with attorney Benjamin Crump, whom Sharpton called the attorney general of Black America. Sharpton was heavily criticized this week after he posted a video of himself walking towards a private jet with the caption, Headed to Minneapolis to stand with the Floyd family as closing arguments are set to be made today. With an estimated worth close to $2 million, Sharpton is a longtime Democratic operative with a history of collaboration with the FBI and New York Police Department, proving a useful asset during several police operations in the 1980s. After the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Sharpton infamously declared that too many black youth were sitting around having ghetto pity parties instead of getting positions of power. It is shameful that this conglomeration of politicians and sycophants usurped Wrights funeral for their own publicity. There is a clear degree of separation between the mourning families and the privileged political operatives claiming to represent them. Meanwhile, an alternate juror in Derek Chauvins trial gave the first public indication of the moods and thoughts of the jurors during court proceedings. Lisa Christensen said the testimony of Dr. Martin Tobin, in conjunction with the footage captured by teenager Darnella Frazier, convinced her of Chauvins guilt. Tobin, a pulmonologist, testified that Floyd died of low oxygen due to Chauvins neck restraint. Christensen praised the way Tobin narrated key moments in the video and explained the complex subject in a simple manner. I feel like he could actually point out, going through the video, saying, Hey, at this instance right here is where Mr. Floyd lost his life, she said. Christensen told reporters the trial was emotionally draining and an experience that would stay with her for a long time. It was an experience, I mean it affected me, you know, more than I thought it would. So yeah, itll be with me for a while. I hope we did it right, and we got it right. We really tried to put all of our effort into it, make the right decisions. In Turkey, the question Where is the $128 billion? turned into a political slogan by the nations largest political party and is now inscribed on protesters has rocked the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As per Bloomberg report, The Republican Peoples Party, known by its Turkish abbreviation CHP, accused Erdogans government of blowing through the $128 billion in foreign exchange reserves over the course of two years, which is the time when the Turkish Presidents son-in-law Berat Albayrak was treasury and finance minister. CHP said that the billions of dollars blew in Erdogans failed attempt to prop up Turkish currency, the lira. As it was evident that CHPs campaign against the ruling government has fairly influenced the nation, Erdogan reportedly launched a counterattack on April 21 clarifying that the sum was actually $165 billion. In defence, the Turkish President said that those reserves could be used again when needed. However, the Wednesday remarks by Erdogan came weeks after he angrily denied the reports. Several senior officials of Erdogans government even made failed attempts to erase the slogan altogether by their dismissals. Albayraks successor suggest publishing transactions Weeks later, Albayraks successor, Lufti Elvan said in a televised interview on Monday that it would be beneficial for the central bank to publish the data on foreign exchange transactions in 2019 and 2020. This also reportedly indicates that Erdogan is presently vulnerable to political pressure mounting with the same slogan written on billboards in Istanbul. Turkey is among a handful of nations that still uses reserves to shore up its own currency but reportedly the scale of the sale was saddening as the currencys net international reserves fell by over 75% since the beginning of the last year to just $10 billion in April. At the same time, the report stated that borrowing money from banks under short-term swaps ran into tens of billions of dollars. As per Bloomberg calculations, when money borrowed from local lenders via swaps is stripped out, the net international reserves falls even below zero. Image credits: AP Sen. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles, left, and Sen. Gary Smith, D-Norco, right, talk on the Senate floor during the introduction of Senate Bills, as the Louisiana Legislature convenes for its first day of the upcoming fiscal session, Monday, April 12, 2021 at the State Capitol. Byron Shire Council has voted to formally oppose filming of upcoming Netflix docusoap Byron Baes. The council will write to Netflix stating its disapproval. The Council voted to request that Netflix relocate to another location and community that is supportive of hosting the show. But while the council is not expected to be able to stop NSW approved filming permits it also voted to request the State Government conduct a review of the current NSW filming protocols to better provide local community engagement and offers its support to provide input into the review. Protests against the upcoming show have so far attracted international headlines. Netflix advised Mayor Simon Richardson the show would not be damaging to the local community. Meanwhile Cr Simon Richardson has announced that he will be stepping down as mayor from the end of next week. Source: Byron Shire Echo Photo: NBC Related OTTAWA - It was only a few lines in the federal budget, and the money involved represents a rounding error in the overall scheme of things. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers the federal budget in the House of Commons as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on in Ottawa on Monday April 19, 2021. It was only a few lines in the federal budget, and the money involved represents a rounding error in the overall scheme of things.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA - It was only a few lines in the federal budget, and the money involved represents a rounding error in the overall scheme of things. For defence officials and experts who have been sounding the alarm about North America's aging defences in an increasingly turbulent world, however, it represented an important step: the first real funding to update the North American Aerospace Defence Command. Yet there remain many unanswered questions, including what that those new defences will look like, how fast they will be built and whether the rest of the money required to finish the project will be available when needed. "This is a step forward," said University of Manitoba professor James Fergusson, one of Canada's top experts on NORAD. "There was some money. It's not very much, but at least the government has started to move. The question becomes: How pressing is all this?" The federal budget unveiled Monday included more than $100 billion in new spending over the next few years. Of that, $163 million has been earmarked for what the government calls NORAD modernization. "This funding will enable the enhancement of all-domain surveillance of our northern approaches and renewed investment in continental defence more broadly," Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan's spokesman Daniel Minden said in an email. "Our government is determined to develop better surveillance, defence and rapid-response capabilities in the north and in Canadas maritime and air approaches. We are currently evaluating further NORAD modernization initiatives, which will be announced when finalized." The U.S. and Canada created NORAD in the 1950s to protect North America from a Soviet nuclear attack. Strings of radars and air bases were built to detect and stop incoming missiles and bombers, and placed under a unique joint command. Yet military officials and experts have been cautioning in increasingly loud voices about the state of the current system, which includes a string of radars built in Canada's far north in the 1980s called the North Warning System. Officials and experts have emphasized the physical age of the system's technology and infrastructure, and its inability to find and identify new types of weapons being developed by Russia and other adversaries. Those include low-flying cruise missiles and extremely fast hypersonic missiles, which are much more difficult to detect and stop than the massive intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers for which NORAD was originally designed. In fact, military officials have warned the system can't even detect Russian bombers before they are in position to launch an attack. Canada and the U.S. have talked for years about replacing the existing system, with Justin Trudeau discussing it in his inaugural meetings with both Donald Trump and Joe Biden when they became president. It is also promised in the Liberals' 2017 defence policy. Yet progress has been extremely slow, which has contributed to a sense of frustration in some military circles. The project also didn't have any dedicated Canadian funding attached to it until now. "This is the amount of money that will be invested to sort of get things rolling, retired Canadian diplomat Michael Dawson, who served as an adviser to the commander of NORAD in Colorado Springs, Colo., said of the $163 million. "It strikes me as a pretty good sign that they really do plan to deliver on the NORAD commitment." Fergusson believes the new money will be largely directed at the Defence Departments research arm, Defence Research and Development Canada, to start work on ideas and technology. One question will be what to include in the new system given how fast weapons are evolving, including whether it will revolve around ground-based radars, satellites or other technology. There has also been talk about artificial intelligence and quantum computing to speed up detection and decision-making, while a debate is pending around the degree to which Canada will participate in not just identifying threats, but also stopping them. Canada famously opted out of joining the U.S. in ballistic missile defence system in 2005, which involves shooting incoming nuclear missiles out of the sky. It will likely need to wrestle with the issue again along with what to do about other threats. Such discussions and research will come against a backdrop of growing urgency as the existing system becomes increasingly obsolete and in recognition of the glacial pace of the military procurement system and the challenges of building in the Arctic. "We had some pretty interesting briefings on this about how long it takes to do stuff in the north," Dawson said of his time with NORAD. "And I think the rule of thumb is it takes three times as long and cost four times as much for anything." Yet Fergusson worries that there isn't enough of an appreciation in Ottawa and the Canadian public, in general about the importance of the project, which he suggests is important for relations with the U.S. and sending a message to adversaries about Canada's resolve. Military officials have previously said failing to replace the current system would hamstring any response to Russian or Chinese aggression here and around the world as those countries could effectively hold North America hostage by threatening strikes. There are also questions about whether the government will provide the necessary cash, which some estimates put at more than $10 billion, when it comes time to start construction. That may not seem like a big concern now, when the government is promising $101 billion in new spending over the next three years, but the military has previously seen major spending cuts when governments want to slash the deficit. The fact the government has yet to dedicate any specific funds to the project aside from the $163 million in the budget adds to those concerns about billions more dollars being available for NORAD in the coming years. "Certainly the whole Defence Department probably breathed a sigh of relief when they got the budget, but I'm sure they're sitting there, given past practices in this country, waiting for the other shoe to drop," Fergusson said about the absence of cuts in the document. "Whats the old saying? Someone's got to pay the piper down the road. So I can understand why the government has done what it's done, but we'll see what happens next year." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Apr. 24, 2021. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 11:43:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BUDAPEST, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC)'s leadership and its upholding of socialism with Chinese characteristics are key to China's success, former Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently. As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Medgyessy explained the main reasons behind the party's long-term success. "Every society is looking for a social order that best suits its own history, its own cultural traditions and the character of its people," Medgyessy said. For China, the model of building socialism with Chinese characteristics has ensured that China can keep moving forward in the upcoming years, he added. China's success is closely intertwined with the success of the CPC, he said. "The success of the party is based on two things, one is that it has represented a stable set of values that can be maintained in the long run, and the other is its very good ability to renew itself," Medgyessy said. An economic boom, poverty alleviation, advanced high technology like 5G networks, artificial intelligence (AI) and space exploration are very impressive achievements, Medgyessy said. "The quality of life in China has also changed a lot, and this is perhaps even more important than technical progress," he noted. Medgyessy stressed that China has set an example for developing countries, as China has shown that everything is possible if one works together, makes a lot of efforts and has a good leadership. He noted that China's fast development has also created opportunities for markets and investments on a global scale, and China's impact on the world has been "very significant." Medgyessy also spoke highly of China for its successful fight against the pandemic, saying that the CPC's "people first" approach was a key factor in successfully controlling the pandemic. The global changes needed to be dealt with using international cooperation and multilateralism, he said. "The ideal to build a community with a shared future for humanity is very right and important," he added. Enditem Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has expressed support for Moldovan President Maia Sandu in her efforts to legally defend the rule of law. "Ukraine values a stable, pro-European Moldova. We fully support the democratically elected Maia Sandu & Moldovan people in their efforts to use legal means to defend the rule of law, prevent undermining of Moldova's constitutional order, reforms & European choice," Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Saturday. As reported, Moldova's parliamentary majority decided to dismiss Constitutional Court President Domnica Manole. Manole's dismissal was favored by 53 deputies out of the 68 in attendance. Deputies from the pro-presidential Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) and the Platform DA party walked out in protest at the vote. Earlier, the parliament had approved a political declaration expressing no-confidence in three CC members "who broke their oath by ruling that there were reasons for the dissolution of the parliament." Under the constitution, "Constitutional Court judges are irreplaceable throughout their term, independent and submit to the Constitution only." On April 15 the court ruled that the parliament may be dissolved. Under the ruling, President Maia Sandu must sign a dissolution decree and set a date for early elections. Gurugram: Amid the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic that has resulted in an acute shortage of oxygen in the country, SpiceXpress, the air cargo arm of SpiceJet, airlifted 800 oxygen concentrators from Hong Kong for emergency use and distribution across the country. SpiceXpresss B737 freighter aircraft airlifted the consignment. The oxygen concentrators will reach Delhi via Kolkata, where the aircraft landed at around 7 pm. Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet, said, SpiceJet is firmly committed to the service of our fellow Indians in these most trying and difficult times. Along with SpiceHealth, we have airlifted 800 oxygen concentrators from Hong Kong for emergency use in India and we are looking at bringing more than 10,000 oxygen concentrators in the coming days from across the globe. We carried medicines and medical equipment and fruits and vegetables to all corners of India and the world when the pandemic hit us last year helping our country and our fellow citizens when they needed it the most and we will continue to serve with the same vigour. We have transported a record 88,802 kg of Covid vaccine shipment with a total dosage of 34 million Covid vaccines between January 12-April 12, 2021 and our efforts will only grow stronger from here. SpiceHealth, a healthcare company launched by the promoters of SpiceJet, has been actively involved in the countrys fight against Covid-19. Since its launch in November 2020, SpiceHealth has conducted more than two million RT-PCR tests and has spread its operations across fives states - Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttarakhand. With a network spanning 63 domestic and 50 international destinations and a fleet of 19 cargo planes, SpiceXpress is capable of flying over 600 tonnes of cargo daily to domestic and international destinations. Ever since the lockdown began, SpiceJet and SpiceXpress, has played a critical role and worked relentlessly to ensure that the countrys supply chain remained intact. The airline has helped in the transportation of vital goods and medical supplies to all corners of India and the world. SpiceJet has transported more than 1.5 lakh tonnes of cargo since March 25, 2020. To ensure seamless delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine both within and outside the country, SpiceJet has tied up with multiple partners including Brussels Airport, GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC), Adani Ahmedabad International Airport among others. The airline has also tied up with global leaders in cold chain solutions offering active and passive packaging and has the capability to transport extremely sensitive drugs and vaccines in controlled temperatures ranging from -40c to +25c. Live TV When I finally saw Nomadland after hearing about it for months, I have to say I was a little baffled that more people didnt have the reaction to it that I did. Id read a fair bit of rapturous praise for the film, which is the favorite to win Best Picture at Sundays Oscars, and lately, some thoughtful pushback on whether it deserves all that acclaim. But it seemed to me that the critical establishment had ignored a very important aspect of Nomadland: David Strathairn is in this movie. And he has a little romance with Frances McDormand in it. Um, cute! Advertisement Nomadland, you likely know by now, is about Americas modern-day nomads, a real faction of mostly older people who travel around the country living in their vans, often because they can afford neither a stable place to live nor to stop working. The movie centers on one van dweller, Fern, played by McDormand, and many of the other roles in the film are played by real nomads rather than professional actors. Advertisement Advertisement So I didnt even know Strathairn was in the movie until he showed up at a gathering of nomads in Arizona that Fern trekked to, looking a bit hoary and disheveled, but, lets be honest, still low-key ruggedly handsome. Strathairns handsomeness is unassuming and understatedor maybe I just think so because it took me so many years to realize this. It wasnt until I rewatched a favorite childhood movie, A League of Our Own, as an adult that it dawned on me: that guy. (I think I also kind of had him confused with Tom Amandes.) So yes, I sat up a little straighter in my seat (which was my bed, thanks Hulu) when I saw him. Advertisement I missed it in my initial viewing of the movie, but you first see Strathairn (playing a character named Dave) passing out some food to his fellow nomads, grub that he mentions is vegan. Setting the template for their dynamic for the rest of the film, Fern declines, saying that she is a carnivore. But the scene where I really noticed him came soon after: He and Fern are circling a pile of nomad paraphernalia thats up for grabs, and when she picks up a can opener, he speaks up, gently volunteering that it doesnt work so well and suggesting that she take another one instead. He tries to engage her in conversation, but she keeps politely shutting him down, just like she did with the vegan food. Watching this exchange, I thought to myself something on the order of, well, well, well. Strathairn is not exactly Checkovs gun, but a well-known male actor had appeared on screen and taken a liking to our female protagonist: I could see where this was headed. Advertisement Advertisement My need to root out a hidden rom-com inside every movie may not be my finest critical instinct, but Im sure Im far from the only one so afflicted. I sometimes think of something Mindy Kaling, onetime patron saint of women who like rom-coms a little too much, tweeted around the time the movie Inception came out: I liked when Joseph Gordon Leavitt kissed [Elliot] Page #InceptionWasARomanticComedy. It had almost nothing to do with the rest of the movie, but I liked that part too, Mindy. So I have to appreciate that Nomadland threw a bone to all of us saps out there with this little Dave/Fern storyline. After their not very meet-cute can-opener moment, the next significant interaction between Dave and Fern comes at a bar when he asks her to dance, tripping over his words a little. She says no at first, but then agrees. They head to the dance floor, where his moves are not suave but average, and sweetly slightly clumsy; he doesnt know where to look, and at one point he lets out a little woo! that isnt itself embarrassing but is accompanied by a small but to my mind very embarrassing arm gesture that absolutely slayed me. This is not the dancing of two movie stars locking eyes and falling for each other, but two people old enough to have lived through some hard years, deciding, awkward as it might be, to try to have a good time anyway. Dave disappears for a while after that, but I knew hed be back. Advertisement Advertisement The two meet again later in the movie when both have found seasonal work in the Badlands, where the pattern of Dave reaching out gingerly and Fern hesitating continues. He buys her licorice because he doesnt like her going to get cigarettes alone, and she should quit smoking anyway; she disagrees. He tries to help her move some boxes, but he only makes things worse when he breaks one of her prized possessions. But the two do eventually settle, tentatively, into a friendship. Its entirely chasteI dont think they ever so much as hold handsand the most romantic line of dialogue is almost the antithesis of a rom-com-ending rousing speech in its plainspokenness: I like you, Dave says to Fern when he convinces her to visit his familys house for Thanksgiving. Youre a good person. You get along with people, for the most part. I like being around you. McDormand and Strathairn are movie stars, but it still feels like this is the sort of love story, if you can call it that, you dont often see on screen, one between older people that skips the swoony beats in favor of smaller, more ambiguous but no less weighty moments. Advertisement Theres another movie in this years Academy Awards race thats been said to have a romantic comedy embedded within it, Promising Young Woman. That love story doesnt end well, and neither really, you probably wont be surprised to discover, does Nomadlands. But where PYWs rom-com section becomes part of the movies indictment of toxic masculinity, Nomadlands romance falls apart for much more mundane, and therefore, I think, more heart-wrenchingly sad and convincing reasons: Fern, grieving the death of her husband, clearly struggles with whether shes open to the possibility of romance or indeed any sort of life that doesnt leave ample room for solitude and mourning. I enjoyed PYWs romantic interlude, but Nomadlands was real, and Fern and Daves non-relationship, though by no means the movies main subject, is touching in its sweetness and subtlety. So I consider it my duty to alert those of you out there who might suffer from romantic-comedy brain damage similar to my own and may have been on the fence about Nomadland because of that: Watch this movie. It mostly lacks the -com and the dramatic declarations of love that you might find in an actual rom-com, but it holds pleasures nonetheless for those among us who enjoy watching people fumble in their search for companionship, not to mention crushing on David Strathairn. Read more in Slate about the Oscars. Joe Biden is expected to roll out a proposal to raise taxes on millionaire investors as part of his administrations sweeping domestic policy agenda to combat poverty and fund childcare and education programs. Under his American Family Plan, the president will reportedly propose raising the capital gains tax rate from its current 20 per cent to 39.6 per cent for Americans earning $1m a year from investment income. An additional 3.8 per cent tax on investment income to fund the Affordable Care Act would be kept in place, raising the total increase for some wealthy Americans to as high as 43.4 per cent, as first reported in Bloomberg. Wealthy investors currently pay a 23.8 per cent top rate on long-term capital gains. The proposed rates would impact less than 1 per cent of American households. Roughly 0.3 per cent of American taxpayers reported an adjusted gross income of more than $1m with capital gains or losses on their returns, according to a 2018 report from the Internal Revenue Service. Mr Biden campaigned on bringing the capital gains tax rate more in line with the marginal rate on wages and salaries, which is currently at 37 per cent, effectively treating those earnings as income. The US president aims to bridge that gap to reduce inequities among working families who essentially end up paying a higher tax rate than investors. Tax increases for the American Family Plan would reportedly be used to support paid family leave and childcare costs and make prekindergarten and community college free for all Americans. It would also include an extension of the expanded child tax credit that would give parents with young children up to $300 a month or $250 for children age six and older. Mr Biden and White House officials have repeatedly said that the administration does not intend to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 a year and a capital gains tax plan kicking in at $1m is part of that pledge. People earning more than $1m in high-tax states could see higher rates in New York, combined state and federal capital gains rates would top 52 per cent, or more than 56 per cent in California. The proposal would not touch the tax rates or incomes for most Americans, and would instead address funding gaps across federal and local agencies for programs critical to Bidens agenda. The presidents bottom line is people making 400k should not, will not have their taxes go up, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday. Mr Bidens pitch is a third in the administrations three-pronged $4 trillion plan, along with the American Rescue Plan signed into law, to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, and the infrastructure-focused American Jobs Plan, which Congress is still drafting. The proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure package would be funded by a corporate tax rate increase to 28 per cent. In March, the president signed into law the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill after it was passed by Democratic lawmakers in Congress. White House officials say that the meat of his pitch for the American Family Plan will be included in his joint address to Congress set for 29 April. The speech will discuss expanding and increasing access to healthcare through the Affordable Care Act and in subsidies in the American Rescue Plan, Ms Psaki said. The president is still making final decisions about the contents of the Family Plan, she said, adding that individual announcements and plan outlines will not represent the totality of everything on his agenda. [April 23, 2021] SOLARWINDS INVESTIGATION INITIATED by Former Louisiana Attorney General: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC Investigates the Officers and Directors of SolarWinds Corporation - SWI Former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., Esq., a partner at the law firm of Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF"), announces that KSF has commenced an investigation into SolarWinds (News - Alert) Corporation (NYSE: SWI). In December 2020, news outlets reported that the Company was the target of a massive cyberattack that exploited the Company's monitoring software to infiltrate government agencies and private-sector companies, which the Company confirmed the next day, disclosing that a "vulnerability was inserted within the Orion products and existed in updates released between March and June 2020." Subsequent news reports revealed that the Company had been made aware of the vulnerabilities the prior year and that even after being aware that their software had been compromised, the malicious updates were still available for download, which ultimately ensnared nine government agencies and more than 100 other organizations. Thereafter, the Company and certain of its executives were sued in a securities class action lawsuit, charging them with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws, which emains ongoing. KSF's investigation is focusing on whether SolarWinds' officers and/or directors breached their fiduciary duties to SolarWinds' shareholders or otherwise violated state or federal laws. If you have information that would assist KSF in its investigation, or have been a long-term holder of SolarWinds shares and would like to discuss your legal rights, you may, without obligation or cost to you, call toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or email KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-swi/ to learn more. About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking to recover investment losses due to corporate fraud and malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005594/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Hundreds of people have been placed in quarantine as Western Australia recorded two new cases of Covid-19, Premier Mark McGowan has revealed. However there were no new additional locally acquired cases overnight, with one of the two cases previously identified on Friday and the other a returned traveller in hotel quarantine. Addressing reporters on Saturday, Mr McGowan said the case identified on Friday was a woman in her 40s who tested positive. Western Australia recorded no new cases of community transmission, as Perth starts off its three-day lockdown. Source: AAP The woman is a confirmed close contact of the man who completed two weeks quarantine at a hotel in Perth and later tested positive. Her locally acquired case is officially included in Saturday's numbers, there have been 984 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the state since the start of the pandemic. The other case was a woman in her 50s, who returned from India. Premier's warning to residents While Mr McGowan said the development was promising, he urged residents to stay alert. "These are encouraging signs, but we're not out of the woods just yet, particularly with number of contacts that we are waiting test results for," he said. "Unfortunately Covid is not going away anytime soon." The premier said over 2500 tests were conducted across the state on Friday and said hundreds of people remain in isolation. "In total to date, we have identified 337 contacts, including 71 close contacts. They have all been tested or will be today they will remain in quarantine," he said. "So far 27 close contacts have tested negative. There are currently 109 casual contacts with 60 of those returning a negative result so far. Mark McGowan thanked all West Australians for their response to Perth and the Peel region's snap three-day lockdown and said people have followed the restrictions and adhered to the rules. Story continues The premier encouraged people to stay at home during the lockdown. "During this 3-day lockdown we want as many people to stay home and minimise movement as much as possible," Mr McGowan said. "There are four reasons only to leave home and I asked people to follow the rules." The lockdown is expected to end at midnight on Monday. McGowan calls for Commonwealth quarantine The premier once again stated he wants Commonwealth assistance with quarantine. "I have been calling for the Commonwealth's assistance with quarantine for many months now," he said. "CBD hotels are not fit for purpose quarantine facilities, and quarantine is the responsibility of the Commonwealth government under the Constitution." Mark McGowan has called for Commonwealth quarantine facilities to be used. Source: AAP Mr McGowan said there are "a number" of Commonwealth facilities which would be appropriate for hotel quarantine and said it was "time for the Commonwealth to step up and help". He suggested Commonwealth facilities at Curtin Air Base near Derby could hold 1500 people, or Christmas Island could be used as a quarantine site. He acknowledged while hotel quarantine, as it is right now, is "imperfect" it has worked well with some 45,000 people returning to Australia and being processed in WA. Contacts of WA traveller in Victoria test negative Four close contacts of a Covid-infected traveller who flew from Perth to Melbourne have tested negative along with dozens of fellow passengers. Victoria's Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar confirmed the 54-year-old man's spouse, his two children and one child's friend have all returned negative test results as they continue to self-isolate. The returned traveller tested negative throughout his quarantine period at Perth's Mercure Hotel and then moved freely in the city for five days before coming to Melbourne aboard a Qantas flight. Victoria's testing commander Jeroen Weimar confirmed close contacts of the infected traveller from WA have tested negative for Covid-19. Source: AAP Some 265 fellow passengers, crew and ground staff associated with QF778 have been contacted by Victorian health authorities and told to get tested and self-isolate for two weeks. "We spoke to around 200 of them last night and those conversations have continued this morning, and will continue throughout today and the weekend," Mr Weimar told reporters on Saturday. Of those, 49 people have already tested negative. They will still have to remain in self-isolation for 14 days. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play. Northern Territory border into South Australia, on Oct. 19, 2015. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images for The World Solar Challange) Australias Northern Territory Cash Offer to Attract Tourism Workers The Northern Territory is offering thousands of dollars to help attract hospitality and tourism workers to the Top End of Australia ahead of the coming dry season. The Territory traditionally relies on seasonal workers, international students, and working holidaymakers to fill the roles during the busy tourist season. But COVID-19 travel restrictions have left many businesses with a critical worker shortfall, the NT government says. Its offering $2 million support funding to attract workers to the NT, including travel and accommodation reimbursements, and upskilling opportunities. We have listened to local industry and we know theyre struggling to find workers, NT Minister for Jobs and Training Paul Kirby said. This package will attract interstate workers to the Territory, to work in tourism and hospitality across the busy dry season. Funding will also be available to NT workers wanting to boost their skills with free short courses, such as the responsible service of alcohol and tour guiding. Businesses will be able to apply for grants of up to $20,000, or $1,500 per new employee, to help cover costs associated with attracting them to jobs. English literacy training will also be made available for hospitality and tourism workers. Australias tourism-reliant regions have struggled during the pandemic without the usual numbers of international visitors spending money. The federal governments Jobseeker program cushioned the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by subsidising employers $1,500 per employee, per fortnight. The program ran for almost one year but ended in March. Jobkeeper meant that employees could still receive an income from employers during the lockdowns but was a temporary measure. The Australian government has also implemented measures to bring in seasonal workers from the Pacific Islands to help the fruit picking industry. By Aaron Bunch. Caden Pearson contributed to this report. As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in India, the healthcare system has been left reeling, with dire shortage of medical supplies and resources adding to the woes. At a time when the country is facing its biggest challenge in recent memory, the only silver lining has been to witness people coming together in numbers to provide assistance to Covid patients, even if virtually. Credit: Vishal Bhatnagar Not just within the country, but people from Pakistan have also rallied behind India, expressing their solidarity in these times of desolation. Twitter has been filled with posts from across the border reaching out to their counterparts offering their good wishes and prayers for coming out of the deadly wave of coronavirus. Pakistan-based Edhi Foundation has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering assistance amid the crisis. In their letter, Edhi has offered to send a fleet of 50 ambulances to India to assist efforts to cope with a massive surge in COVID-19 infections. Faisal Edhi of Pakistans Edhi foundation writes to India offering help regarding the surge of Covid cases in India and the resulting lack of oxygen. Humanity before rivalry!! #IndiaNeedsOxygen #CovidIndia #WeCantBreathe pic.twitter.com/EWrYRDP7JD Laraib Shahid Raja (@laraibsraja) April 23, 2021 Pakistani Twitter is seeing outpouring of empathy as the hashtag #PakistanstandswithIndia continues to be the number one trend in the country. Here are some of reactions: All our prayers with Indian people in these difficult times. May Allah make it easier for India and the entire world . Know that we are praying for you ! Heart warming to see #PakistanstandswithIndia as the top trend in Pakistan. Humanity should and did win. Farhan Saeed (@farhan_saeed) April 23, 2021 V in Pakistan watch ur acute suffering with great pain.R duas that by some miracle Allah ends ur pain-that your govt can iA soon/successfully tackle the acute shortage of oxygen etc. Whatever r differences v bond in humanity.R prayers 4 u continue. In solidarity. #Praying4Indians Nasim Zehra (@NasimZehra) April 24, 2021 The hashtag #PakistanstandswithIndia represents the best side of Pakistan. We must choose solidarity and empathy over hate and enmity. Only peace and cooperation in our region can help us prepare for existing and coming disasters. Ammar Ali Jan (@ammaralijan) April 23, 2021 heart wrenching scenes from India. high time that both Pakistan and India grow up and work together together to save their people. If investment had been done in saving lives thru healthcare and not in making bombs things would have been different today! #PakistanstandswithIndia Yaqoob Khan Bangash (@BangashYK) April 24, 2021 After a very long time I have found a trend on twitter that has love and empathy. This is Ramadan and I pray from the Most Raheem for his Rehmat. May we all get through this. #PakistanstandswithIndia Fankar_Feminist (@TakreemaA) April 24, 2021 In this difficult time #PakistanstandswithIndia, stay strong neighbour this shall pass. Prayers Asad Ali Toor (@AsadAToor) April 23, 2021 Heartening to note that #PakistanstandswithIndia is top Twitter trend here.. When its matter of life and death we must stand together and show humanity. Everyone I meet here in Pakistan is genuinely concerned about Neighbours. Waseem Abbasi (@Wabbasi007) April 23, 2021 It's difficult times that bring the best out of humanity and we are witnessing just that. Pakistan is by no means done with its own battle against the novel disease but thousands of messages of hope and support on social media sites has shown how humanity always surpasses hate. Also read: Here Are Some NGOs Aiding India's Fight Against COVID-19 And How You Can Donate In this image from video, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin listens as the verdict is read in his trial for the 2020 death of George Floyd, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 20, 2021. (Court TV via AP) Chauvin Sentencing Date Set as Judge Orders Juror Information Sealed Indefinitely Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will be sentenced on June 16 for murdering George Floyd last year, a Minnesota court announced Friday. The sentencing will take place in Hennepin County at 1:30 p.m. central time. Jurors found Chauvin, 45, guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, and third-degree murder in the May 25, 2020, death of Floyd, a man who was arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 at a nearby store. Floyd, 46, was restrained on the ground after resisting being placed into a patrol car. Chauvin knelt on his neck and back for over nine minutes. By the time an ambulance arrived, Floyd had stopped breathing. Chauvin faces the prospect of 40 years in prison. Under Minnesota law, criminals only face jail time on their most serious crime if all charges are from a single act. Experts believe Chauvin will be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in jail. Sentencing guidelines (pdf) say that Chauvin, because he had no criminal history, would be sentenced to between 10 years and eight months and 15 years in jail. Prosecutors want County Judge Peter Cahill to go higher because of potential aggravating factors, such as the fact that the crimes were committed while a child was present. We believe there are aggravating factors and the sentence should exceed the sentencing guidelines, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, said after Chauvin was convicted. Chauvins attorney has not responded to requests for comment. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is shown in a combination of police booking photos after a jury found him guilty on all counts in his trial for second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn., on April 20, 2021. (Minnesota Department of Corrections via Reuters) Cahill told the parties that they should present briefs about aggravating factors and he would review them before weighing in on the issue. In the last major case in the state that bears similarities to Chauvins, former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor was sentenced to 12 and a half years in jail after being found guilty of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting a woman in 2017. Noor was acquitted, though, of second-degree murder. However long Chauvin gets in prison, he will only serve two-thirds of the time before going on supervised release, per state law. The former officer is being kept in solitary confinement at the states only maximum-security prison because of concerns about his safety, state officials told The Epoch Times. Hes in his jail cell for 23 hours a day. Chauvin will reportedly stay at the Oak Park Heights prison in Stillwater until sentencing. Also on Friday, Cahill ordered continuing restrictions on public disclosure of the identities of the jurors who convicted Chauvin. Cahill late last year noted that a protest on Sept. 11, 2020, demanding justice for Floyd turned violent while a hearing on a motion in Chauvins case was being held in the Hennepin County Family Justice Center. Some of the protesters picketed the homes of at least one defendant, the Hennepin County attorney, and the head of a police union, he also noted, calling such picketing an obvious attempt to intimidate persons involved in the case. In the Nov. 4, 2020, order, Cahill wrote that the court must withhold prospective and selected jurors names, addresses, and other identifying information from all except the attorneys involved in the case. Those attorneys were told to not disclose the information to anyone except their clients or employees and contractors working with the attorneys on the case. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill reads instructions to the jury before closing arguments at the Hennepin County Courthouse, Minn., on April 19, 2021. (Court TV via AP/Pool) Cahill wrote on Friday that the level of media and public interest in Chauvins case has if anything, increased since the juror anonymity order was filed. Additionally, lawyers involved in the case have reported receiving unprecedented levels of emails regarding this case, frequently of incendiary, inflammatory, and threatening nature, while the court has received high levels of emails and calls about the case. In light of all these considerations, the Court finds that continuing restrictions on public disclosure of the jurors identities remain necessary to protect those jurors desiring to remain anonymous from unwanted publicity or harassment, he wrote. Cahill will decide in the future whether to reverse the order and make public identifying juror information. Jurors and the two alternates were informed that they may choose to identify themselves and speak about the case with whomever they wish. One of the extra jurors has already spoken about the case. Lisa Christensen told news outlets that she would have voted to convict Chauvin if she was chosen as one of the 12 jurors who decided on the three counts. The Land Commission, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Yeraly Tugzhanov, decided to extend the ban on the acquisition of agricultural land by Kazakhstani citizens. The moratorium will last for another five years According to Tengrinews, during the discussion of the issue, the members of the Land Commission were divided into three groups: those who offered to allow individuals to buy agricultural land, proponents of the ban and advocates of the initiative on long-term lease of land for farmers. You are here: World Flash Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday communicated with U.S. Council on Foreign Relations via video link. Wang said that the two heads of state had mapped out the general direction to develop ties between the two countries. However, the U.S. policy toward China has not yet overcome its misunderstanding of China, and the country has not found the right path to deal with China. He put forward five suggestions to the United States on how to view the China-U.S. relations from a strategic perspective. First, the United States should understand and view China's development objectively and rationally. Second, the United States should work with China on a new path of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. Third, the United States should respect and tolerate the path and system that China has independently chosen. Fourth, the United States should practice multilateralism in real sense. Fifth, the United States should not interfere in China's internal affairs. The Chinese wisdom goes that "a country practicing hegemonism is doomed to fail," rather than "a country will definitely seek hegemony when growing stronger," according to Wang. He said that the future of the China-U.S. relations depends on whether the United States can accept China's peaceful rise and whether it recognizes that the Chinese people have the right to pursue a better life. Noting that democracy is not Coca-Cola that promises the same taste everywhere in the world, Wang said the United States should respect the path and system independently chosen by China. Wang said he hopes that the United States will practice true multilateralism. Speaking of Taiwan, Wang stressed that playing the "Taiwan card" is "playing with fire," urging the United States to strictly abide by the one-China principle and honor its commitments under the three Sino-U.S. Joint Communiques. Wang said "genocide" and "forced labor" are big lies fabricated for political motives on matters related to China's Xinjiang. In response to latest development in Hong Kong, he said the U.S. side should respect the efforts of the Chinese government to implement the principle of "one country, two systems." China never engages in coercion and opposes coercion by other countries, Wang added. Richard Haass, president of U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, hosted the video meeting, which drew nearly 500 participants in the United States. 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Currently, bilateral ties between South Korea and Japan have slumped to their worst level in years over wartime history issues, leaving little room for the Biden administration to take advantage of the three-way alliance to pursue U.S. security policy in the Indo-Pacific region. "The Biden administration has clearly signaled the importance of trilateral security cooperation between the U.S., Japan and South Korea, as part of its broader security policy in the Indo-Pacific region. They are looking for opportunities to bring the leadership of Japan and South Korea together with the U.S. to focus on shared security interests, most importantly in dealing with North Korea," said Daniel Sneider, a lecturer of international policy at Stanford University. Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University, also said, "The Biden administration will continue publicly hosting three-way meetings while privately encouraging (the) allies to compromise and reconcile in the interest of strategically valuable trilateral cooperation. "Some strategists in Seoul believed that avoiding trilateralism with Washington and Tokyo would make Pyongyang and Beijing more cooperative, but this has been shown to be false. Greater trilateral coordination would strengthen South Korea's diplomatic position and contribute to regional security," he added. The DNA of the Obama administration, which focused on normalizing bilateral ties between its key Asian allies, is being reactivated, experts said. Biden himself served as Obama's vice president for eight years. "The Biden administration will emulate the Obama administration's approach of working behind the scenes to facilitate an improvement in Korean-Japanese relations," said Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst and senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation. "Many of the same officials who assisted in the comfort women agreement and organizing a bilateral meeting between Shinzo Abe and Park Geun-hye are back in the Biden administration. The U.S. will avoid a public mediator role as well as appearing to take sides between our two critically important northeast Asian allies." In 2015, the Abe and Park administrations announced a "final and irreversible" resolution of Japan's wartime sex slavery issue, according to which Japan would provid 1 billion yen to set up a foundation dedicated to supporting the victims. The deal, however, has been criticized for not reflecting the opinions of the victims, and the foundation was disbanded in 2019 under the succeeding Moon Jae-in government. Sneider also said this was similar to the approach taken by the Obama administration. "For example, President Obama held a trilateral meeting with the [South] Korean and Japanese leaders in 2014 on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit. Personally I think it is necessary to address the bilateral issues of wartime history, but that requires a willingness on the part of President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to make concessions and neither leader seems prepared to do so," he said. The South Korean government has strongly protested Japan's decision to dump contaminated water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. The administration said the decision was made without full consultation with neighboring countries and without transparent disclosure of relevant information, raising speculation that Seoul's opposition may prevent Washington from mediating the diplomatic dispute. However, experts added that the government here needs to approach the issue scientifically and not politically, given that it is a technical issue as with vaccine safety. "Quite possible (to negatively affect the U.S.' mediation). But this should be a question of science. If not the IAEA, then perhaps scientists from Japan, South Korea, China and the U.S. might examine the issue to determine whether the water is indeed hazardous," said Robert Manning, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Easley said, "As with vaccine safety, the disposing of nuclear waste water is a technical issue. Rather than be driven by emotional and politically-motivated arguments, policymakers should listen to relevant scientists, transparently share information with the public, and cooperate according to international standards." Sneider also said the South Korean government's eagerness to jump on the Fukushima decision is not helpful when it comes to improving relations and trilateral cooperation. U.S. President Joe Biden, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga hold a press conference at the White House, April 16. They concurred on the importance of trilateral cooperation that includes South Korea in dealing with issues involving North Korea and China. Yonhap Bogdan Corporation, in a consortium with Czech company Tram For Envi, will supply six new autonomous trolleybuses for the transport company in Jihlava (the Czech Republic) following a tender in which the consortium was declared the winner almost a year ago, the corporation said on its Facebook page on Saturday with reference to the Czech media. "For the first time, the Ukrainian manufacturer has managed to penetrate the Czech market with new trolleybuses. The signing of the contract can be seen from the data in the register of contracts. The contract was signed almost a year after the transport company Jihlava had declared the association the winner. The purchase will be financed through a European subsidy," the Czech ezine Zdopravy.cz quoted Bogdan corporation as saying. According to the contract, the Bogdan T70120 trolleybuses must be adapted to the requirements of the Czech market, in particular, the electrical equipment for them must be supplied by the Czech company Cegelec. The delivery time is estimated at 14 months. The Czech newspaper notes that before that, for many years, only Skoda Electric had won contracts for the supply of trolleybuses, and the arrival of other manufacturers began to lead to significant price reductions. As reported, in May 2020, a tender proposal of Bogdan Corporation in a consortium with Czech TRAM FOR ENVI s.r.o. was declared the best in a tender to supply six trolleybuses fitted with traction batteries for autonomous running for a transport company of Jihlava (the Czech Republic). The Czech-Ukrainian consortium offered trolleybuses for CZK 71.4 million (about EUR 2.64 million) or CZK 11.9 million for one trolleybus (EUR 440,300) with an estimated purchase amount of being CZK 82.74 million (EUR 3.06 million). At the same time, Skoda Electric, which participated in the tender, offered a price of CZK 82.17 million (EUR 3.04 million) or CZK 13.695 million for a trolleybus. International Myanmar coup leader urged to stop violence Myanmars junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (L) gestures as he is welcomed upon his arrival ahead of the ASEAN leaders summit. (Reuters) Jakarta, Apr 24 (Agencies) | Publish Date: 4/24/2021 1:38:19 PM IST South East Asian leaders have urged the head of the Myanmar army, which took power in a coup in February, to end the violent crackdown in the country. In his first known foreign trip since the takeover, General Min Aung Hlaing heard calls for the military to stop killing protesters and to release political prisoners. More than 700 people have been killed since the coup in February, BBC reported.The talks in Indonesia were the first big effort to address the crisis. Leaders and foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) took part in the summit in the capital Jakarta. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin called for an immediate end to the violence against civilians and the unconditional release of political prisoners. The deplorable situation in Myanmar must stop immediately, he said. The Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, said the situation was unacceptable and that the violence must end. Despite the risk of massive refugee flows or even civil war, Asean members have been divided over whether to even hold a meeting. There are clear signs of splits between governments that want to take action and those that dont. Asean appears divided along geographical lines, with the mainland countries - those physically closest to China - more opposed to intervention in Myanmar, while the maritime countries - those furthest from China - are more in favour of taking action. Among the latter group, it is host Indonesia that has been pushing hardest for a collective response to the crisis. But persuading the other nine countries to take a unified stance will be just as much a challenge as persuading the Myanmar junta to de-escalate the crisis. While the bloc prides itself on its ability to persuade rather than coerce, that ability is much weaker if the organisation is not united. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for the Asean summit to resolve the crisis and prevent possible grave humanitarian implications beyond Myanmars borders, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. There have been calls for Myanmar, also known as Burma, to be expelled from Asean but the members historically do not get involved in each others internal affairs. The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, is in Jakarta for meetings on the sidelines of the summit. Mass protests have been taking place across Myanmar since the military seized control and declared a year-long state of emergency. The armed forces claim there had been widespread fraud during a general election late last year which had returned elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party (NLD) to power. The military promised instead that it would hold free and fair elections once the state of emergency is over. In the past few weeks, the military has been increasing its use of force against protesters - with one incident earlier this month in the city of Bago seeing more than 80 people killed. Witnesses told local media that soldiers had used heavy weapons and had shot at anything that moved. How did a man who was vociferous in his support for terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and Taliban and who considered Osama bin Laden a better Muslim than myself scale the screenings of Nigerian lawmakers and the countrys State Security Service (SSS) to become a public officer? First as the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency and later the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy? Ali Isa Pantami, 48, has been in the eye of the storm since last week after videos of his preachings about 20 years ago surfaced online. The trigger was a publication by a local newspaper that Mr Pantami had been placed on the U.S. watch list for terrorism. The article was later retracted but the damage had been done. First, documents of him volunteering to command a militia to fight against Christians in a Plateau community went viral online; then reports that he offered public condolences to the notorious Al-Qaeda leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; and yet another claim that Mr Pantami as the Chief Imam of a Nigerian university, issued a fatwa on several Christian students on campus, leading to the eventual killing of one of them. Mr Pantami has renounced his past statements, but calls for his resignation have continued to gain traction. During Mr Pantamis screening in the Senate on July 26, 2019, seven senators grilled him after his introductory speech: none of them queried his Islamist antecedents. And, if those concerns were raised by the SSS (who are mandated to vet appointees to top government positions), there was nothing in the screening to show it on the floor of the Senate. After nearly an hour of speeches, questionings, and banters, he was asked to take a bow and go. The Senate/SSS screenings are compulsory checks before a nominated public officer assumes office. For years, Nigerians have argued that they are a waste of taxpayers funds. Below are some of the public officers who, though had questionable pasts, successfully scaled the Senate and SSS screenings: Peter Afunanya, the SSS spokesperson, and Basiru Ajibola (Osun Central, APC), the Senate spokesperson did not respond to requests for comments. 1. Kemi Adeosun: Mrs Adeosun had served as a commissioner for four years and a federal minister for three years before her cover was blown. A PREMIUM TIMES exclusive report in July 2018 uncovered how she did not participate in the mandatory one-year national service. Instead, she forged an exemption certificate several years after she had graduated. For nearly two months, Mrs Adeosun ignored calls for her resignation. Without lifting his finger to address the issue, President Buhari embarked on his annual vacation more than three weeks after the lid was blown open on the minister. In the presidents defence, information minister Lai Mohammed said appropriate agencies were still investigating the matter. But on September 15, 2018, Mrs Adeosun resigned from office. In her letter of resignation, she said she had no reason to suspect that her certificate was forged. Indeed, I presented that certificate at the 2011 Ogun State House of Assembly and in 2015 for Directorate of State Services (DSS) clearance as well as to the National Assembly for screening. 2. Stella Oduah: Barely three months after Stella Oduah, who was serving as Aviation Minister, was found to have been enmeshed in a N255 million armoured cars scandal, it was found, in January 2014, that she forged the certificates she presented to the Senate during her screening. ADVERTISEMENT Mrs Oduah had claimed, in a seven-page resume that she distributed to the senators, that she was awarded a doctorate degree by the Pacific Christian University, Glendale, in the United States. PREMIUM TIMES found that the university does not exist. Mrs Oduah also falsely claimed on the website of the Ministry of Aviation that she bagged a Masters degree from St Paul College, Lawrenceville, Virginia, U.S. It was discovered that the institution never awarded her the degree as it does not run graduate programmes. On February 12, 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan fired Mrs Oduah from his cabinet. 3. Adebayo Shittu: Days after finance minister Kemi Adeosun resigned her position over the NYSC certificate forgery scandal, Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communications, was found to have skipped the mandatory one year scheme. Mr Shittu, 68, did not participate in the scheme despite graduating at age 25. He studied Law at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, graduating in 1978, and qualifying as a lawyer one year later having finished from the Nigerian Law School. He immediately went into politics, serving as a lawmaker in the Oyo State House of Assembly. Asked about his failure to participate in the NYSC scheme, said he thought his first political post could suffice as national service. Mr Shittu finished his term as a federal minister in 2019, but his gubernatorial ambition was truncated by his party, the All Progressives Congress, because he does not have the NYSC certificate. 4. Bashir Magashi: Before he scaled through the Senate and SSS screening to become the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, a retired army general, stole at least $550,000 while in active service. Mr Magashi, 75, was a former military governor of Sokoto State (1990-1992) and later appointed the commander of the Brigade of Guards in September 1993, two months before Sani Abacha came into power in a bloodless coup. In 1998, he was appointed the commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy. Mr Magashi was among the top military officers affected when Olusegun Obasanjos administration implemented a daring policy that compulsorily retired all officers who had served in government for six months or more. Mr Magashis pilfering with public funds was discovered by a Swiss lawyer, Enrico Monfrini, tapped by the Obasanjo government to help track and repatriate funds stolen and stashed abroad by Mr Abacha and his associates. Mr Magashi was found to have stashed in an account, at the Jessey, U.K., branch of Bank PNP Paribus, the sum of $550,000. The retired military officer, however, admitted wrongdoing and after pleading for a concession, Mr Obasanjo left $150,000 for him, according to a memo by the then National Security Adviser, Abdullahi Mukhtar. 5. Usani Usani: Usani Usani served as the Commissioner for Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development in Cross River State between February 1997 and May 1999, during the military administration of Umar Ahmed, a colonel. It was during this period that he allegedly defrauded the government by refusing to apply government-approved scales when he paid out some money as fees to Gersh Henshaw & Company, a firm that handled the contract for the valuation of vehicles, workshops and equipment belonging to the Cross River Water Board. An investigative committee set up by Governor Donald Duke in 1999 found that the state lost N16.3 million due to Mr Usanis action. His indictment was made official by a government gazette and Governor Duke directed that the money be recovered and he be prosecuted. Mr Usani never challenged his indictment in court. After filing complaints against Mr Usani at the Code of Conduct Bureau, the state government, curiously, asked for the discontinuation of the case. No reason was given. Mr Usani, 59, a pastor, was the chairman of the APC in Cross River State when President Buhari appointed him the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs in November 2015. Editors Note: The earlier report has been updated with our attempts to get a reaction from the Senate spokesperson. Codenamed Guacamole, the update was first spotted nearly two months ago, but more evidence was discovered earlier this week, most likely as the development phase has reached the point where Google started testing the feature with the help of company employees.So what is Guacamole supposed to do? In just a few words, this new feature makes the interaction with Google Assistant more straightforward by eliminating the need to first say Hey, Google before a command.In theory, in the case of an incoming call, you can just answer with a voice command by simply saying Answer. With the current implementation, you would technically have to say Hey, Google, answer the call to do the same thing without relying on touch input.According to the very limited information that Google provides in the internal tests, the feature makes it possible to skip saying Hey Google for help with quick tasks. Guacamole is therefore described as voice shortcuts, essentially making it easier to interact with Google Assistant overall.It goes without saying such a feature would really come in handy for drivers, especially because the hands-free interaction with the technology behind the wheel must be as convenient as possible.It remains to be seen, however, how Guacamole will continue to evolve, especially because its likely it would end up making more quick tasks more straightforward, possibly even including navigation and music playback activities.At this point, its still not known when Google plans to roll out this new capability, so for the time being, youd better not hold your breath for a public launch. The feature is still in the internal testing stage, but its likely to show up in the beta builds of the Google app in the coming months. Apr. 23WILLMAR A Spicer man sentenced to prison last winter for a home invasion and rape in Winona County still faces a slew of felony charges in Kandiyohi County District Court. Zane Robert Pederson, 32, was sentenced on burglary and first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges in connection with a home invasion and rape in Winona County. The current charges include third-degree criminal sexual conduct and criminal sexual abuse of a vulnerable adult in a Kandiyohi County incident in December 2018. In a second Kandiyohi County case, he faces nine felony charges of firearm theft, which allegedly occurred in December 2017. A jury trial is scheduled to begin June 8. Pederson is accused of a sexual assault against a man who lived in a group home where Pederson worked in Willmar. According to court records, Pederson had talked with the man about his sex life on Christmas night. After the man said he'd never had sex, Pederson showed him pornography on the computer. He then allegedly pulled down the man's pants and sexually assaulted him. The man reported the assault the next day. Pederson allegedly told Willmar police that the man had grabbed him, he told him to stop and nothing more happened. When he was asked if his DNA would be on the man's penis, Pederson said it shouldn't be and agreed to provide a sample. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension analyzed the DNA sample in early 2019. According to court records, the DNA sample tied Pederson to both the Winona County and Kandiyohi County cases of sexual assault. Pederson is also accused of stealing nine firearms from a Kandiyohi County home. The homeowner had reported the firearms stolen from his garage in December 2017. He provided descriptions and serial numbers of a number of firearms. When authorities searched Pederson's home in 2019, according to court records, his wife asked them to remove his numerous firearms, too, as she didn't know their origins or if they were related to criminal activity. Story continues Nine of the guns were identified as those stolen in December 2017. The homeowner who reported the firearms theft told investigators that Pederson had done some work in the home and had been unhappy with his pay, feeling he should have been paid more. Pederson was sentenced to prison after he pleaded guilty to breaking into a Winona County home in the night and terrorizing a woman for several hours. According to court records, the woman awoke to find a masked man standing at the foot of her bed holding a gun. He raped her repeatedly over several hours and threatened her life and the life of her child who was sleeping in the house. Pederson is expected to serve at least 12 years of a nearly 21-year prison sentence. State law requires a person to serve at least two-thirds of a sentence in custody, and the rest may be served on supervised release. He will also receive credit for nearly two years he spent in jail after his arrest. In Hennepin County, Pederson also faces gross misdemeanor charges of nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images and using a surreptitious device to interfere with the privacy of a home, plus two misdemeanor theft charges. Pederson is accused of placing a hidden camera in a bedroom and a bathroom in a Minnetonka home. Pederson had remodeled a bathroom in the home in early 2018 and had also updated an iPad belonging to the homeowners. Pederson is alleged to have saved photos of the woman undressing and a video of the couple having sex on his cell phone. The images were found when authorities searched his Kandiyohi County home in 2019. Also found in Pederson's home were blank checks bearing the couple's names, the woman's Social Security card and checks and documents belonging to other people. Click to read more about Crime and Courts. Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua has stressed efforts to boost employment and strive to achieve the employment target for the year. Hu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection trip in east China's Jiangsu Province from Wednesday to Friday. During the trip, Hu visited job fairs, enterprises and shops to learn about the current job market supply and demand, the employment situation at enterprises and the implementation of employment policies. He also inspected employment services for groups such as college graduates, urban residents with difficulties, and the labor force who have just shaken off poverty, as well as the development and social protection status of flexible employment. China's employment situation has been generally stable, said Hu, noting that challenges remain, and enormous efforts must be made to achieve the annual employment target. Work should be done to increase jobs, implement and improve supportive policies, support businesses, especially the medium and small ones, as well as the labor-intensive enterprises, the vice premier said. He also called for giving full play to the role of public and market-based employment service providers and non-profit organizations to better serve the key groups, increasing support for the labor force who have just shaken off poverty, and boosting flexible employment by facilitating new business and employment patterns. China aims to create more than 11 million new urban jobs in 2021, according to this year's government work report. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a press conference about student debt outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Not All Senate Democrats are Convinced Biden Should Forgive Student Loan Debt Progressive Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been leading the effort to have President Joe Biden use his existing authority to cancel $50,000 in student debt, but not all her Democrat colleagues are in agreement with the idea. While many Senate Democrats agree with Biden canceling student loan debt, there are other senators who question how it is fair to the many who have paid off their debt already or ask how the federal government will pay for such a decision. The Biden administration had paused payment requirements for those with student loans. On March 30, press secretary Jen Psaki announced the administration would be expanding the pause on student loan interest and collections to the more than 1 million borrowers who were in default on a loan that was made by a private lender and the old bank back based loan program, known as the Federal Family Education Loan Program. This step particularly protects 800,000 borrowers who are at risk of having their tax refunds seized, thats actually a pretty significant step, Psaki continued. Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote in a Twitter post on April 20, Student loan payments are on pause right nowbut that pause ends September 30. Payments will start hitting families, and that could send millions over a financial cliff. Canceling student debt is good for borrowers and good for our whole economy. The President continues to call on Congress to cancel $10,000 in debt for student loan borrowers. Thats something Congress could take an action on and hed be happy to sign, were still taking a closer look at our options on student loans, Psaki said. However, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) told reporters he does not think Congress needs to enact legislation on the loan forgiveness issue for students because the president has that authority. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks during a news conference introducing the College for All Act in Washington on June 24, 2019. Co-sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders, the bill proposes canceling the countrys outstanding $1.6 trillion in student debt. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) So, we dont believe we need legislative action to do that. With the Higher Education Act, we believe the president has the authority and we have seen different presidents use elements of that authority in different ways under the Act that we believe this is encompassing, said Menendez. Menendez said Democrats tried to lay the groundwork for student loan forgiveness in the last relief bill, the American Rescue Plan. We felt we paved the way by including my provision in the American Rescue Plan that forgoes any taxes on any forgiven amount of student loan, and I know that Senator Warren and I and Senator Schumer, have been militating with the administration to do a significant student loan debt, $10,000 is not significant student loan debt reduction. Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recently echoed Menendezs comment. We also wrote in a provision that you dont have to pay tax when the debt was forgiven. One of the things some of the folks in the Biden administration says: What good is this, you have $20,000 in debt, its forgiven, and youre at 33 percent tax rate, you owe $6,000 in taxes. No more. When the debt is forgiven, its tax-free, said Schumer. Sen. Van Hollen (D-Md.) said he would, like them [the Biden administration] to use their authorities to target that forgiveness to borrowers most in need. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) both said something should be done but that they couldnt comment on a bill, since they had not seen any legislation yet. Hickenlooper added that student loan debt should be addressed because it has a negative effect on the economy. And ultimately figure out how to work it off. How do we help them reduce it So many young people cant buy a house and thats not good for them, its not good for jobs, not good for the country, said Hickenlooper. Meanwhile, Democrats known for a more moderate view on the issue were less enthusiastic about the idea of forgiving large sums of student debt. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said Im not inclined to support because a lot of people have worked very, very hard to pay off their debts and this would set a bad example. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said while college tuition is too high, he is concerned about how the government would pay for that much student loan forgiveness. China administers over 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines 16:03, April 24, 2021 By Shen Shaotie ( People's Daily Citizens register for COVID-19 vaccination at a vaccination site in Xianju county, Taizhou, east China's Zhejiang province, April 14. (Photo by Wang Huabin/People's Daily Online) China has administered over 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines so far, a health official told a press conference on April 21. Authorities have taken into account the demand for the second dose in the allocation of vaccines to localities, said Mi Feng, deputy director of the publicity department of the country's National Health Commission (NHC). He urged local efforts in precise vaccine distribution and supply to ensure that people get their second dose within eight weeks following the first one. At present, China is advancing its mass vaccination campaign with two priorities, said the press conference. It is ensuring inoculation in key areas, including port cities, border regions, and medium- and large-sized cities with high risks of infection, as well as areas where cluster infections had happened. Meanwhile, vaccines are giving to key groups in the country, such as employees in cold-chain businesses, health workers, staff members of government organizations, public institutions and enterprises, students and faculty of colleges and universities, service staff of large supermarkets, as well as those working in the transport, logistics and public service sectors. "So far, the vaccination rate among health workers has exceeded 80 percent," said Li Dachuan, another official with the NHC. China launched its mass vaccination campaign on Dec.15,2020. On March 24 this year, it initiated a daily vaccination report, since which it has witnessed a daily increase of more than 3 million doses. Outside the Donghua Gate of the Palace Museum in Beijing, a mobile vaccination vehicle is put into use, which offers vaccination services for not only local citizens, but also tourists from the rest of the country. Twenty-one days after the first dose is given, the vaccinated will receive a message reminder from the vaccinator, who will also call the tourists to finish the second shot in any neighborhood. In Weishan County, east China's Shandong Province, a mobile vaccination team has been established to administer doses to fishermen offshore. So far, the team has launched 70 operations, giving shots to over 15,000 lakeside residents. Policies and measures have also been rolled out across China to facilitate the vaccination for foreigners. Since March 29, expatriates in Shanghai have been able to volunteer to get the COVID-19 vaccine simply by making an appointment online. Those who have joined Chinese social security enjoy the same treatment as Chinese citizens that have done the same. Those who don't can get the vaccine at 100 yuan ($15.4) per dose. South China's Guangdong Province started administering COVID-19 vaccines to foreigners in the province on April 12 on a voluntary basis. Early in the morning on the next day, 33-year-old Pakistani Shmel Mohamed got the vaccine at the province's Zhuhai People's Hospital. China has donated many vaccines to his country, and his At present, vaccine manufacturers are in full production mode to make the doses. Last month, the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. under the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), which is affiliated with Sinopharm, kicked off the construction of its third-phase production base. Besides, the CNBG is also expanding capacity at six of its institutes in Beijing,Wuhan, Changchun, Shanghai, Lanzhou and Chengdu. The first batch of the Gansu-made vaccines have officially rolled off production line on March 29, and those made in Changchun were also available on April 6. On April 1, a new plant producing COVID-19 vaccines of Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd. was also put into use. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji) Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 19:38:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian health ministry on Saturday reported 18,230 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 2,377,039. The pandemic has so far claimed 69,120 lives in Iran, up by 374 in the past 24 hours, the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education said in a written briefing published on its official website. A total of 1,863,405 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 5,156 remain in intensive care units, according to the note. The ministry said 15,078,540 tests have so far been carried out across the country. By Saturday, 584,736 people have received the first doses of coronavirus vaccines and 157,258 the second doses. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Iran went up by 17 percent during the past seven days, Sima Sadat Lari, the ministry's spokeswoman, said on Saturday in an interview with the ministry's official online outlet. "The average incidence of hospitalization last week was 28.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, and the highest incidence of hospitalization in the country was recorded in the provinces of Hamadan, Ilam, Semnan, Lorestan, and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari," she noted. Also on Saturday, the Iranian interior minister issued a ban on "all freight and passenger traffic with India, direct or indirect," given the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, official IRNA news agency reported. Currently, Iran implements restrictions on businesses and travels in high-risk areas amid a new wave of the virus spread in the country. Iran reported first cases of the disease in February 2020. Enditem (Newser) The New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating what the NYPD describes as a "horrific attack" on an Asian man Friday night. Police have released surveillance images and a graphic video of the attack, which left a 61-year-old man in critical condition, NBC New York reports. Police say the attacker approached the victim from behind in East Harlem around 8:20pm, knocked him to the ground, and repeatedly kicked him in the head, reports CNN. No arrests have been made and police have not confirmed that the attack was racially motivated. A witness tells the New York Daily News that the man had been collecting bottles and "minding his business" before he was attacked. (A bill to combat the steep rise in anti-Asian attacks passed the Senate in a 94-1 vote Thursday.) Today we commemorate the Armenian genocide of 1915. We reaffirm the recognition and condemnation of the Genocide and Great National Dispossession of the Armenian people on the eve of its 106th Anniversary. This is noted in a statement posted Saturday on the Facebook page of the European People's Party (EPP). We join and strongly support the commitment of Armenia and the Armenian people to continue the international struggle for the prevention of genocides, the restoration of the rights of people subjected to genocide and the establishment of historical justice. We invite Turkey to take the necessary measures pursuant to its international commitments to recognize and to condemn the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire, and to face its own history and memory through commemorating the victims of that heinous crime against humanity. We strongly believe that such move will promote long-lasting peace, stability and human rights in the whole region, also reads the EPP statement. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A crowd of several hundred people marched down Forest Avenue Saturday afternoon to protest a BJs Wholesale development slated to be built on the Graniteville Wetlands. Marchers began to gather at the intersection of Forest Avenue and Richmond Avenue in Graniteville just before noon and only days before work could potentially begin at the site. Some who attended held signs that read, Save Our Wetlands and Wetlands Not Warehouses. More than 50 local organizations and community groups took part in the protest, which opposed the 226,000 square-foot project that will house a BJs Wholesale Club, a gas station, a supermarket and other retail, and would include 838 parking spaces in a 28-acre L-shaped lot. You can see the community has had enough and were going to come together. This is too important to just let go by and just say this decision has already been made, said Ranti Ogunleye, a candidate for the boroughs North Shore city council seat and a recognizable presence at protests on the Island. Were going to make a mark right now and let them know that we need to save these wetlands, said Ogunleye. What better fight than to fight for our childrens future? Hundreds of people marched down Forest Avenue Saturday to protest a BJ's Wholesale development slated to be built on part of the Graniteville Wetlands. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) Ranti Ogunleye, a candidate for the boroughs North Shore City Council seat, leading marchers down Forest Avenue. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) The march progressed westward on Forest Avenue as protesters shouted chants in opposition of the development, garnering the support of some passing motorists who honked horns in approval. The NYPD blocked off one lane of traffic on Forest Avenue as the marchers moved down the street. It does not end here, said Kwynn Hogan, a member of the Staten Island Democratic Socialists of America organizing committee. The Graniteville Wetlands are here to stay. The embattled plot of land is part of a larger wetland ecosystem that has seen multiple developments swallow up pieces of receiving lowland that is vital to flood management, said Carl Alderson, a former Staten Islander and the Mid-Atlantic restoration coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Associations Fisheries Habitat Restoration Center. WORRIED ABOUT HURRICANES The continued push for new developments is leaving advocates, many of whom attended Saturdays march, worried that the next Hurricane Sandy-level-storm could cause levels of devastation not seen by the 2012 system. Staten Island has faced the effects of climate change in a very specific and pointed way, said Brittany Ramos DeBarros, who is running for Staten Islands congressional seat. We still have a South Shore that is recovering from Sandy. We have several other environmental justice issues. We have a real opportunity to build a BJs somewhere else. Saturdays march was about making sure our borough is ready to confront the next superstorm that will definitely come, to make sure that we are protecting our wetlands, our green spaces, said Cesar Vargas, a Staten Island Borough President candidate. Staten Islanders are here to support our green spaces because our survival is at stake. Were not going to go without a fight, said Vargas. Rose Uscianowski, the Staten Island organizer of Transportation Alternatives and a former longtime resident of Graniteville, said that the effects of the development which could increase traffic to an already-busy area and worsen pollution will not benefit the neighborhood. We need those wetlands to protect the neighborhood, to protect vulnerable populations, to protect a lot of wildlife that is indigenous to those wetlands and to protect the Island, said Uscianowski. The next time a major storm happens, were not going to have that buffer space. SITE WOULD CREATE JOBS However, Mitchell Korbey, lead counsel to the owner of the site, said the environmental impact of the proposed development has been exhaustively vetted. We look forward to providing hundreds of new local jobs with advancement potential and excellent, lower-cost shopping for Staten Islanders, he said previously. Hundreds of people marched down Forest Avenue Saturday to protest a BJ's Wholesale development slated to be built on part of the Graniteville Wetlands. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) Aly Stoffo, a main organizer of the march. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) BATTLE NOT OVER Aly Stoffo, a main organizer of the march, returned to Staten Island in 2019 after receiving sustainability degrees from Arizona State University. Stoffo discovered the battle to protect the Graniteville Wetlands and said she immediately wanted to get involved. My goal with this event from the start has been to empower and inspire other people who dont have the privilege of having the education that I do to step in for local environmental causes like this, said Stoffo. The destruction of wetlands is not a Staten Island-specific issue, and developments have been replacing these areas for decades. Despite renewed pushes to invest significant amounts of money on green infrastructure, environmental supporters have expressed frustration when pieces of the environment like the Graniteville Wetlands are being destroyed amid a rush to address climate change. Stoffos former high school science teacher, Christopher Chieh, an educator at the College of Staten Island High School for International Studies, said he encouraged his class to attend the march and has closely followed the proposed development for years. Garbed in a green frog outfit, Chieh said the march was a golden opportunity for me to put into action what Ive been teaching in class. Chiehs outfit was matched by other distinctive attendees, some of whom wore Shrek costumes referencing the characters desire to protect his home swamp and some who dressed as turtles and other wildlife. Jade Michaels, a West Brighton resident, brought with her some of the youngest attendees of the march her two children. She said they are learning a lot about civics right now, and I wanted them to see how you put civics into action. The most important thing is protecting your community, said Michaels. Its important for them to see that here on Staten Island theres huge issues they need to attend to, and they can lift their voice up with other community members to make a difference. Hundreds of people marched down Forest Avenue Saturday to protest a BJ's Wholesale development slated to be built on part of the Graniteville Wetlands. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) Gabriella Velardi-Ward, who has been battling to protect the Graniteville Wetlands in court for years, spoke at the end of the march. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) The march concluded adjacent to the wetlands, near the Regal United Arts site that was recently put up for lease. There, Gabriella Velardi-Ward, the leader of the Staten Island Coalition of Wetlands and Forests, spoke to the large crowd about ongoing efforts to protect the area. If we leave nature alone to do its own thing, it will incorporate us, she said. It will not harm us. Velardi-Ward has been engaged in a years-long battle in the courts against the developers of the BJs Wholesale store. Most recently, she challenged the Queens Supreme Civil Courts 2017 ruling that her organization missed the date to file an appeal. A voluntary agreement between both parties has halted construction on the wetlands until at least May 1, 2021. After initial hearings in 2017 which Velardi-Ward previously said she was not aware of at the time did not find significant public disapproval in the project, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) received more than 1,000 letters requesting a public hearing on the land, but the agency later said a hearing was not warranted. The DEC, which said it does not comment on pending litigation, said it subjects all permit applications to a rigorous review to ensure the protection of public health and the environment. Korbey previously made hotly-contested claims that concessions made by the developer to plant additional trees and install bioswales to offset any potential negative impacts on the environment would actually improve the wetlands. Despite the legal challenges, Korbey previously told the Advance/SILive.com that the developers remain confident in our approvals, having received a full and complete sign-off and a permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation based on our wetlands protection program and well-designed site plan and having completed the ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure process) and its own environmental review and Planning Commission approval. Hundreds of people marched down Forest Avenue Saturday to protest a BJ's Wholesale development slated to be built on part of the Graniteville Wetlands. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) Yesenia Mata, the executive director of La Colmena, spoke at the conclusion of the march. (Staten Island Advance/Joseph Ostapiuk) Graniteville, which has a large Hispanic and Black community, could be disproportionately affected by the risks of flooding as a result of recent developments, advocates contend. Why is it that every time that overdeveloping happens, it happens in Black and brown communities?, said Yesenia Mata, the executive director of La Colmena, a community-based organization founded in 2014 to empower low-wage immigrant workers on Staten Island. Lori Honor, a Staten Island Borough President candidate, said the large showing at the march shows that there are citizens who are getting in front of discriminatory practices and poor land use and indiscriminate destruction of wildlife instead of protesting after the fact. This seems like a new dawn of activism in Staten Island, said Honor. RELATED COVERAGE: Environmental news on Staten Island The United States maintains a clear position on the inadmissibility of Russias aggression, as well as other actions against Ukraine. Jalina Porter, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, said this at a press briefing on Friday, April 23, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. We have made clear in our engagement with Russia and their government that they need to refrain from their aggression and escalatory actions, and they need to immediately cease all of their aggressive activity in and around Ukraine, Porter said. She stressed that this includes Russias recent military buildup in occupied Crimea as well as along Ukraines border. The United States, of course, reaffirms its support for Ukraines sovereignty as well as its territorial integrity, extending to its territorial waters, the principal deputy spokesperson added. As Ukrinform reported, the United States maintains a consistent position in support of Ukraine against the background of Russias armed aggression. ish In many places, people without symptoms or those who came into contact with individuals who tested positive and wanted to get checked, were turned away. (Photo: PTI) Hyderabad: Telangana state faces an immediate crisis of underreporting of Covid-19 cases with many testing centres turning people back citing lack of testing kits. Reports from several testing centres in the state indicate that the testing centres staff were instructed to judiciously use them only to conduct tests on people showing clear symptoms. In many places, people without symptoms or those who came into contact with individuals who tested positive and wanted to get checked, were turned away. Earlier in the day, a note circulated by the office of health minister Etala Rajendar said the minister was to write a letter to the Union health minister to airlift testing kits from anywhere in the world to Telangana state. With more and more people turning up to get tested, the government is taking steps to ensure there are no shortfalls, the minister was quoted by the note as saying. The turning away of people from testing centres comes at a time when Telangana is reporting an explosion of fresh Covid-19 cases and increasing number of deaths each day. Infograph Testing times April 17 - 129637 April 18 83089* April 19 - 122143 April 20 - 130105 April 21 - 102335 April 22 - 105602 April 23 - 103770 *Weekend dip in testing Published on: 23 April 2021 Michele Barrett is Professor of Modern Literary and Cultural Theory at Queen Mary Michele Barrett is Professor of Modern Literary and Cultural Theory at Queen Mary Professor Barrett was also appointed to a special committee to probe the early history of the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC). The report, published in April 2021, found inequalities in the way the organisation commemorated the dead of the British Empire from the two world wars. The IWGCs work was defined by the principle of equality of treatment in death which meant that whatever an individuals rank in social or military life, whatever their religion, they would be commemorated identically with their name engraved either on a headstone over an identified grave or on a memorial to the missing. In Europe this aim was largely achieved but elsewhere the story was different. Inequality in commemoration This report found that in the 1920s, across Africa, the Middle East and India, imperial ideology influenced the operations of the IWGC in a way that it did not in Europe, and the rules and principles that were sacred there were not always upheld elsewhere. It is estimated that 45,000 and 54,000 casualties (predominantly Indian, East African, West African, Egyptian and Somali personnel) were commemorated unequally. For some, rather than marking their graves individually, as the IWGC would have done in Europe, these men were commemorated collectively on memorials. For others who were missing, their names were recorded in registers rather than in stone. A further 116,000 casualties (predominantly, but not exclusively, East African and Egyptian personnel) but potentially as many as 350,000 were not commemorated by name or possibly not commemorated at all. According to the report, this is partially because the IWGC were never given the names or places of burial by the military or colonial authorities due to the belief that these men came from communities that would not recognise or value such forms of commemoration. In an interview with the Guardian, Professor Michele Barrett, Professor of Modern Literary and Cultural Theory explained that she had found a document from the 1920s relating to graves in what is now Kenya. It read: Most of the natives who have died are of a semi-savage nature and do not attach any sentiment to the graves of their dead. The report states that although in the vast majority of cases the IWGC did not make the decision to diverge from its principles of equal commemoration unilaterally, it should at least be considered complicit in all of them. For the CWGC to engage positively with this history and to take steps in righting and explaining the wrongs of the past, the Committee made ten recommendations including digital commemorations to reach new generations and educate them about history, as well as adding names to existing memorials where possible. More information Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar took a brief break during his campaign trail to join in with an open-air dance class. The 38-year-old was filmed by one of his campaign staff dancing away with the Saltire Burlesque Academy in a car park earlier today in West Lothian. Though not necessarily dressed in appropriate dancing clothing, the politician put his best foot forward and look at home among the other dancers. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (pictured) took a brief break during his campaign trail to join in with an open-air dance class Standing at the front of the group of dancers, Sarwar is seen boogying away to Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson. In fact, Sarwar almost appears to be leading the amateur dance troupe as he shows no hesitation in wiggling his hips and jumping around. People on social media were quick to heap praise on the Scottish labour leader for letting his personality do the talking. One person joked that Sarwar demonstrated more dancing ability than former Prime Minister Theresa May. Though not necessarily dressed in appropriate dancing clothing, the politician put his best foot forward and look at home among the other dancers Standing at the front of the group of dancers in a white shirt and suit trousers, Sarwar is seen boogying away to Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson While another said: 'He's a born natural leader, they're all following his moves.' A third commented: 'It's so nice to see a politician so happy to express his character, its such an important aspect of our leaders.' Sarwar is currently travelling around Scotland campaigning ahead of the Scottish election on May 6. He was selected as the new head of Scottish Labour in early March, just 10 weeks before the Holyrood elections were set to take place. The party had to decide upon a new leader this close to the election after the resignation of former leader Richard Leonard in January. From toxic ions to single-atom copper Copper remains one of the single most ubiquitous metals in everyday life. As a conductor of heat and electricity, it is utilized in wires, roofing and plumbing, as well as a catalyst for petrochemical plants, solar and electrical conductors and for a wide range of energy related applications. Subsequently, any method to harvest more of the valuable commodity proves a useful endeavor. Debora Rodrigues, Ezekiel Cullen Professor of Engineering at the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, in collaboration with Francisco C. Robles Hernandez, professor at the UH College of Technology and Ellen Aquino Perpetuo, professor at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil offered conclusive research for understanding how bacteria found in copper mines convert toxic copper ions to stable single-atom copper. In their co-authored paper, "Copper Mining Bacteria: Converting toxic copper ions into a stable single atom copper," their research demonstrates how copper-resistant bacterium from a copper mine in Brazil convert copper sulfate ions into zero-valent metallic copper. "The idea of having bacteria in mines is not new, but the unanswered question was: what are they doing in the mines?" Robles said. "By putting the bacteria inside an electronic microscope, we were able to figure out the physics and analyze it. We found out the bacteria were isolating single atom copper. In terms of chemistry, this is extremely difficult to derive. Typically, harsh chemicals are used in order to produce single atoms of any element. This bacterium is creating it naturally that is very impressive." As useful as copper is, the process of mining the metal often leads to toxic exposures and challenges on drawing out substantial volume for commercial use. Approximately one billion tons of copper are estimated in global reserves, according to the Copper Development Association Inc., with roughly 12.5 million metric tons per year mined. This aggregates to roughly 65 years of remaining reserves. Part of the supply challenge comes from limited available copper in high concentration in the earth's crust, but the other challenge is the exposure to sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the copper smelting and production process to concentrate the metal into useful quantities. "The novelty of this discovery is that microbes in the environment can easily transform copper sulfate into zero valent single atom copper. This is a breakthrough because the current synthetic process of single atom zerovalent copper is typically not clean, it is labor intensive and expensive," Rodrigues said. "The microbes utilize a unique biological pathway with an array of proteins that can extract copper and convert it into single-atom zero-valent copper. The aim of the microbes is to create a less toxic environment for themselves by converting the ionic copper into single-atom copper, but at the same time they make something that is beneficial for us too." With a focus in electronic microscopy, Robles examined samples from Rodrigues' findings in Brazilian copper mines and he determined the single atom nature of the copper. Rodrigues and Aquino's groups further identified the bacterial process for converting copper sulfate to elemental copper - a rare find. Research results demonstrate this new conversion process as an alternative to produce single atoms of metallic coper is safer, and more efficient versus current methods (i.e. chemical vapor deposition, sputtering and femtosecond laser ablation). "We have only worked with one bacterium, but that may not be the only one out there that performs a similar function," Rodrigues concluded. "The next step for this particular research is harvesting the copper from these cells and using it for practical applications." ### This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Back in June 2019 when it became clear Boris was sailing to victory in the Tory leadership election, but there were serious divisions between his official campaign and allies of his partner Carrie Symonds I wrote: 'There cannot be two competing Boris campaigns. There cannot be two competing Boris Downing Streets. And there cannot be two competing Boris administrations. At the moment there is Team Boris and there is Team Carrie. The next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is going to have to choose between them.' Boris never chose. Which is why this morning his Government is eating itself alive. Boris Johnson, pictured with his fiance Carrie Symonds, right, is at the centre of a scandal Three political stories have dominated over the past week. Carrie has been at the heart of all of them Over the past 48 hours, the focus has been on Dom Cummings. Allies of the Prime Minister have scrambled to portray him as an unguided missile, careening around Westminster, vaporising anything he comes into contact with. And he is. But he always was, and Boris knew that when he brought him into the heart of government. What he isn't, is a completely deranged fantasist. So we can be sure that the following passage of his explosive Friday afternoon statement is broadly true. 'Last year there was a meeting between the PM, Cabinet Secretary, the Director of Communications and me regarding the leak of the decision for a further lockdown on the Friday evening immediately after the meeting in the Cabinet Room that made the decision (known in the media as 'the Chatty Rat story'). 'The Cabinet Secretary told the PM that the leak was neither me nor the then Director of Communications and that 'all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman and others in that office, I'm just trying to get the communications data to prove it'. The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards, 'If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends [pause] Perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?' ' Whether Newman is indeed the 'Chatty Rat' he denies it is irrelevant. Covid is the biggest single crisis to hit Britain since the war. The decision to lock down had the most profound impact on every man, woman and child in the country. But the Prime Minister was terrified of identifying who in his administration had leaked this momentous announcement for fear of upsetting his fiancee. Dominic Cummings, pictured, who was at the heart of the PM's Number 10 operation has since broken ranks For the past few weeks the Government has been dogged by a series of supposed 'lobbying scandals'. Cameron? Dyson? Amateurs. The real 'lobbying' scandal involves the influence the unelected, unaccountable and according to her numerous allies, irreproachable Ms Symonds has exerted over No 10 ever since the day she and Boris first walked into the building. Three political stories have dominated over the past week. Carrie has been at the heart of all of them. First, the schism between Boris and Cummings. Who was agitating hardest for that schism? Carrie. Second, the decision to axe plans for live Downing Street media briefings, and dispense with the services of media chief Allegra Stratton. Who lobbied strongly for Stratton's appointment, so that she could sideline the candidate preferred by Cummings and his team? Carrie. 'Carrie basically used Allegra,' a No 10 insider told me, 'and then when she didn't need her any more, she dumped her.' Finally, and potentially most damaging, the growing questions surrounding the estimated 200,000 refurbishment of Downing Street, and the decision to fund it via contributions from Tory donors. Who oversaw this attempt to eradicate all vestiges of what Tatler was contemptuously briefed was 'Theresa May's John Lewis furniture nightmare'? Carrie. And these stories represent the tip of the iceberg. Just before the Cummings statement dropped, I was halfway through writing a column about how Ms Symonds was pressing for the removal of Environment Secretary George Eustace seen as being too close to the farmers and insufficiently robust on her cherished animal welfare issues. And how her closest friend and recently appointed government adviser Nimco Ali had launched an extraordinary public attack on Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab for refusing to hold a meeting with her. It's an open secret within Westminster how Ms Symonds's influence extends over government. As another No 10 insider told me: 'It's not that you get a phone call direct from her demanding something. What happens is Boris will suddenly turn up one morning and say, 'Er, what are we doing about badgers?' It won't be something he has any interest in. So we all know it comes from Carrie.' Ministers attempt to appease her and her whims, because they know it's the only way to keep their careers on track. Journalists appease her for fear of being ostracised by the No 10 communications team she helped build. Or because they benefit personally from her briefings. Or because they fear the cabal of sycophants she surrounds herself with will turn on them, and issue one of their ritualistic denunciations of 'sexism'. But worst of all is the way the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom continues to appease her. The strength of Boris's personal feelings for Ms Symonds are solely a matter for him and her. But his tolerance of the continuing mayhem and dysfunctionality that frame the perpetual Carrie Psychodrama have now become a national issue. Indeed I normally hate this hyperbolic phrase a national scandal. People may have their views on Dom Cummings. But on this he is right: 'It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves.' Until last week, I didn't think Labour's 'sleaze' attacks were having much impact. Primarily because the Greensill affair had not managed to lead Boris's enemies directly to the door of No 10. Now they're standing on the doorstep, ringing the bell. And the person who has directed them there is Carrie Symonds. Forget saccharine-coated quotes from friends about how much 'Bozzie Bear' needs his 'Otter'. Britain needs a Prime Minister, and a functioning government. In December 2019, the people handed Boris an overwhelming majority. But they did not hand it to his girlfriend. Carrie Symonds is elected by no one. Mandated by no one. Accountable to no one. Britain's uncodified constitution may be opaque in some areas. But on this it's pretty clear. We vote for Prime Ministers, not their partners. If, as Ms Symonds's cheerleaders tell us ad nauseam, she is 'a sharp political operator in her own right', fine. Then as I advocated a few months ago, she can do what all other sharp political operators do, and get a job in government. But until that happens, she needs to back off. And if she won't, her fiance needs to take a moment out from his day job of running the UK to tell her to back off. Team Carrie needs to disband. The 'friends' need to go. The unofficial press operation needs to go. The lobbying on policy, appointments and strategy needs to stop. And the next roll of wallpaper needs to be paid for out of her own pocket, not from some Tory fat cat. Because if these things don't happen, then it won't be Ms Symonds who ultimately pays the price. The nation will. Back in 2019, I said the Prime Minister had to choose between his team and Team Carrie. Today the choice is even starker. What does Boris care about most? His fiancee? Or his country? .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras Victor Guevara knows people his age have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in many countries. His own relatives in Houston have been inoculated. But the 72-year-old Honduran lawyer, like so many others in his country, is still waiting. And increasingly, he is wondering why the United States is not doing more to help, particularly as the American vaccine supply begins to outpace demand and doses that have been approved for use elsewhere in the world, but not in the U.S., sit idle. We live in a state of defenselessness on every level, Guevara said of the situation in his Central American homeland. Honduras has obtained a paltry 59,000 vaccine doses for its 10 million people. Similar gaps in vaccine access are found across Africa, where just 36 million doses have been acquired for the continents 1.3 billion people, as well as in parts of Asia. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ In the United States, more than one-fourth of the population nearly 90 million people has been fully vaccinated and supplies are so robust that some states are turning down planned shipments from the federal government. This stark access gap is prompting increased calls across the world for the U.S. to start shipping vaccine supplies to poorer countries. Thats creating an early test for President Joe Biden, who has pledged to restore American leadership on the world stage and prove to wary nations that the U.S. is a reliable partner after years of retrenchment during the Trump administration. J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president and director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, said that as the U.S. moves from vaccine scarcity to abundance, it has an opportunity to shape the outcomes dramatically in this next phase because of the assets we have. Biden, who took office in January as the virus was raging in the U.S., has responded cautiously to calls for help from abroad. He has focused the bulk of his administrations vaccinations efforts at home. He kept in place an agreement struck by the Trump administration requiring drugmakers that got U.S. aid in developing or expanding vaccine manufacturing to sell their first doses produced in the country to the U.S. government. The U.S. has also used the Defense Production Act to secure vital supplies for the production of vaccine, a move that has blocked the export of some supplies outside the country. White House aides have argued that Bidens cautious approach to promises around vaccine supply and delivery was validated in the wake of manufacturing issues with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the subsequent safety pause to investigate a handful of reported blood clots. In addition, officials say they need to maintain reserves in the U.S. to vaccinate teenagers and younger children once safety studies for those age groups are completed and if booster shots should be required later. The White House is aware that the rest of the world is watching. Last month, the U.S. shared 4 million vaccine doses with neighboring Canada and Mexico, and this past week, Biden said those countries would be targets for additional supplies. He also said countries in Central America could receive U.S. vaccination help, though officials have not detailed any specific plans. The lack of U.S. vaccine assistance around the world has created an opportunity for China and Russia, which have promised millions of doses of domestically produced shots to other countries, though there have been production delays that have hampered the delivery of some supplies. Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi said this month that China opposes vaccine nationalism and that vaccines should become a global public good. Professor Willem Hanekom, director of the Africa Health Research Institute and a vaccinologist, said wealthy countries have a stake in the success of vaccination efforts in other corners of the world. Beyond the moral obligation, the problem is that if there is not going to be control of the epidemic globally, this may ultimately backfire for these rich countries, if in areas where vaccines are not available variants emerge against which the vaccines might not work, Hanekom said. The U.S. has also faced criticism that it is not only hoarding its own stockpiles, but also blocking other countries from accessing vaccines, including through its use of the law that gives Washington broad authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of the national defense. Adar Poonawalla, chief executive of the Serum Institute of India, the worlds largest maker of vaccines and a critical supplier of the U.N.-backed COVAX facility, asked Biden on Twitter on April 16 to lift the U.S. embargo on exporting raw materials needed to make the jabs. India is battling the worlds fastest pace of spreading infections. Its government has blocked vaccine exports for several months to better meet needs at home, exacerbating the difficulty of poor countries to access vaccine. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2020 annual report also raised eyebrows for a section titled Combatting malign influences in the Americas, which said the U.S. had convinced Brazil to not buy the Russian shot. The U.S. Embassy denied exerting any pressure regarding vaccines approved by Brazils health regulator, which has not yet signed off on Sputnik V. Since March 13, Brazil has been trying to negotiate supply of U.S. surplus vaccines for itself, according to the foreign ministry. There are also concerns that the U.S. might link vaccine sharing to other diplomatic efforts. Washingtons loan of 2.7 million doses of AstraZenecas shots to Mexico last month came on the same day Mexico announced it was restricting crossings at its southern border, an effort that could help decrease the number of migrants seeking entry into the United States. Those sort of parallel tracks of diplomacy will be closely watched as the Biden administration decides with whom to share its surplus vaccine, particularly in Central America, home to many countries where migrant families and unaccompanied children are trying to make their way to the U.S. What we would hope to avoid is any perception that increased access to lifesaving vaccines in Central America is in exchange for increased tightening of border security, said Maureen Meyer, vice president for programs at the Washington Office on Latin America. As the wait for vaccines continues in Honduras, desperation is growing. Last week, a private business group announced it would try to buy 1.5 million vaccine doses to help government efforts, though it was unclear how it might obtain them. In March, authorities in Mexico seized 5,700 doses of purported Russian vaccines found in false bottoms of ice chests aboard a private plane bound for Honduras. The company owner who chartered the plane said he was trying to obtain vaccines for his employees and their families. The vaccines Russian distributor said the vaccines were fake. Lilian Tilbeth Hernandez Banegas, 46, was infected with COVID-19 in late November and spent 13 days in a Tegucigalpa hospital. The first days she struggled to breathe and thought she would die. The experience has made the mother of three more anxious about the virus and more diligent about avoiding it. The pandemic rocked her familys finances. Her husband sells used cars, but hasnt made a sale in more than four months. I want to vaccinate myself, my family to be vaccinated, because my husband and my children go out to work, but its frustrating that the vaccines dont arrive, Hernandez said. Theres plenty of blame to go around, said Marco Tulio Medina, coordinator of the COVID-19 committee at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, noting his own governments lackadaisical approach and the ferocity of the vaccine marketplace. But the wealthy can do more. Theres a lack of humanism on the part of the rich countries, he said. Theyre acting in an egotistical way, thinking of themselves and not of the world. __ Miller reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Christopher Sherman in Mexico City, Cara Anna in Nairobi, Aniruddha Ghosal in Delhi, Huizhong Wu in Taipei, David Biller in Rio de Janeiro, Gisela Salomon in Miami, Sonia Perez D. in Guatemala City and Andrew Meldrum and Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg contributed to this report. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 11:31:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The George Floyd case has brought historic profound ramifications to the issue of racial justice in the United States, U.S. media said Tuesday. An opinion piece in The New York Times holds that the killing of Floyd not only led to massive protests, but also brought salience to racial justice in many aspects of American life, policing and healthcare, for example. "The entire arc of the Floyd case -- from his death and the protests through the trial and conviction of Mr. Chauvin -- played out against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, which further focused attention on the nation's racial inequities: People of color were among those hardest hit by the virus and by the economic dislocation that followed," it said. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty Tuesday on all the three criminal charges in the murder of George Floyd last summer. Enditem John Woodard Everyone knows the major story behind the influence of the Big Tech firms in the United States and their involvement in National politics . We have already written about how these firms received a green light from Congressman Adam Schiff, initially to alter public debate about the origins of the covid-19 virus, which led them to presidential politics and more. What has never been explained was the background of Big Tech firms, the invention of the Web, where they came from and what we can expect in the future under the present circumstances.Briefly, the Web was created in the 90s with the goal that everyone who wanted a voice could have one. All you had to do was to access the global marketplace of ideas by going online and setting up a website which when created belonged to that person. If this person owned his own server, no one could de-platform him. That was intended because the Web, at the time of invention, was competing with other types of online services that were not so free and open. You should remember that the Web, as we now know it today is a network of websites accessed through browsers. Sir Timothy Berners-Lee invented the technology that is the basis of the websites and browsers that created the Web.There were other online services which predated Berners-Lee's invention such as CompuServe and Prodigy. The access points were different than with web browsers and these privately owned networks were open to the public. CompuServe and Prodigy owned all the information on them and could remove anyone that they wanted to for any reason without an explanation.The web however was different. No one owned it, and no one owned the information on it, nor could anyone be removed under any circumstances. That all changed when the Web became controlled by a youthful group of entrepreneurs working out of their parents garage.Back then, there were a few people that used online services. But today, everybody has a computer and multiple devices and there is a lot of content that is flowing through the system. Americans are so used to these devices that it is hard to remember when we got along just fine without them. In the case of cell phones alone, most mobile telephone services firms required you to connect to an operator who would connect you to the person you wanted to talk to, but then everybody heard the conversation. Now however, things have completely changed which is the advancement of technology, with a price.These days Big Tech does not mean solely control over online information. Now we get news and information about stock trades and a whole variety of financial services plus email and the like. Again, this comes with the price of loss of privacy because all these devices track our every move, everyone we talked to, every purchase we make, where we make these purchases and a whole range of issues that most people would like to keep private. The Big Tech firms sell this information and we are the losers in our personal privacy.We know that the issue about Hunter Biden resulted in the eventual banning of Pres. Trump and the coordinated takedown of the social media site Parlor. It is perfectly clear that the objective is political in nature to support Democrats and the candidates for that party that seek office around the country. Big Tech has now become the most powerful election influencing machine in the United States, even more powerful than the news media itself. When we wrote our article about Congressman Schiff, we did not mention then but do so now that it is clear that these Social Media firms are working in concert with the Democratic Party and doing the dirty work so that the Democrats can keep their hands clean.The other issue is that social media can influence people's thinking about who to vote for and why and they can utilize their enormous power to destroy a candidate that has a political view that they do not agree with. This control of voting behavior is detrimental to our election system.They know what we think, what we do, who we associate with, what our religious preferences are and they use that to sell that information to product manufacturers. They know when you are searching for a particular product, then mysteriously an advertisement appears in front of you for that product. These are the same manipulations that they use to influence political opinions.So why are the Social Media giants doing this when they know that their users do not agree with these tactics. The answer is very clear, these companies have made a calculated decision that working with, and helping the winning political party is in their best interest. Questions such as who is going to get government contracts, what tax breaks are going to be provided and how their industry is going to be regulated are all incentives that are needed for this alliance to be successful.By obtaining the data from our online activities, it gives these firms a tremendous competitive advantage.Of course, all of these invasions of our privacy can result in Chinese Communist Party style values which challenge the narratives that are being developed from that information. There is a computer science firm called Network Analysis, which is dedicated to identifying groups of people with shared interest, who read and talk about similar things, who have similar habits and who follow similar people on social media. These systems are growing bigger and bigger, and more sophisticated every day.There is talk about how to control Big Tech's power. Congress can remove the ability of these firms to use filters which are switched on by default. However, if Congress can legislate that these filters be turned off under penalty of losing their section 230 immunity, we might see a change in how our data is collected and sold and how political manipulation occurs. But it is clear that if the Democrats stay in power, this will never happen. Big Tech spends a lot of money on politicians so there is no guarantee that Republicans in control of Congress and the Presidency will make these changes either.These social media platforms, like other social advancements of the past, have benefits to the public good and detriments as well. How this will eventually be resolved is anybody's guess. But if the Democrats have their way, it appears that they are quite comfortable with a takeover of the United States by the Chinese Communist Party then these issues may become moot. She's known for her successful acting career and has a packed awards season schedule. And on Saturday morning, The Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy was spotted making her way through a baggage claim area after her flight arrived at JFK Airport in New York City. The 25-year-old actress notably carried a sizable Fender guitar case with her as she headed towards the transport hub's exit. Loading out: Anya Taylor-Joy was spotted carrying a guitar bag out of the baggage claim area of New York City's JFK Airport on Saturday morning Taylor-Joy was dressed in a sizable plaid overcoat worn on top of a brown blouse - both of which were from Reformation - and a pair of black jeans while spending time in the airport. She added a bit of pop to her outfit with a pair of partially sequined high-top boots and carried a large leather bag. The Peaky Blinders actress' gorgeous platinum blonde hair was tied back in a messy bun at first, although she later let her locks go loose and fall onto her backside. The performer wore a patterned facial covering to keep herself safe as she made her way through the baggage claim area. Jet-set chic: The Peaky Blinders actress wore a large plaid overcoat on top of a brown blouse - both of which were from Reformation - as she picked up her belongings Traveling safe: The performer wore a patterned facial covering for the length of her time in the airport Taylor-Joy is currently prepping to begin principal photography on the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road spinoff, tentatively titled Furiosa. Development on the George Miller-helmed project began during the production of the third film in the post-apocalyptic series, as the director and his writing partner, Brendan McCarthy, came up with enough material for two separate films. Production initially began on a potentially Tom Hardy-led movie entitled Mad Max: The Wasteland, although the 76-year-old filmmaker quickly found himself embroiled in a dispute with Warner Bros. regarding a $7 million dollar bonus. However, Miller, 76, eventually began shifting his interests towards the Furiosa-based story, and in October of last year, it was announced that the project was in advanced stages of development. Moving forward: Taylor-Joy is currently prepping to begin work on the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road spinoff Furiosa; director George Miller is pictured earlier this month Other performers who are currently involved with the film include Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, whose roles have not been announced as of yet. Furiosa is currently set to become Australia's largest-ever film shoot, and its budget will be largely cushioned by financial incentives from federal and state governments. During an interview with IndieWire, Taylor-Joy spoke about how she became interested in the character due to Charlize Theron's work on Mad Max: Fury Road and how she felt that filling the role would be a major undertaking. Stacked cast: Other performers who will be involved in the film's production include Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II; Charlize Theron is seen portraying Imperator Furiosa in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road 'I fell in love with Furiosa because of the way Charlize presented her... It was so beautiful. I cant even think about trying to step into her shoes. It has to be something different because it just cant be done,' she said. The actress went on to express her excitement about being able to take on a role that would test her mental and physical limits. 'I always said that I wanted a role that I would have to give everything to, it wouldnt just be my mind but my body...Im so excited for that and to push myself past the limits of what my brain thought was possible,' she remarked. Furiosa is currently set to be released on June 23rd, 2023. Chinese companies stockpiled raw materials in anticipation of a reopening, but now they are staring at heavy losses. A staff member wearing a face mask following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak helps a customer put on a wig inside the Beijing Department Store at Wangfujing shopping street in Beijing, China September 24, 2020. Chinese wig and false eyelash companies that outsource manufacturing to North Korea will have to look elsewhere after authorities declared that the countrys companies would not be accepting manufacturing orders because young student laborers had been deployed in other jobs, sources in China told RFA. Wigs and eyelashes had been big business for Chinese and North Korean companies prior to the coronavirus pandemic. The Chinese companies could take advantage of North Koreas cheap labor costs, and the North Korean workers making the wigs and eyelashes were paid much more than their peers in other industries. But in January 2020, Beijing and Pyongyang closed the Sino-Korean border and suspended all trade to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The move was disastrous to the North Korean economy, especially for those involved in the purchase and sale of imported Chinese goods. Recent signs that the border could soon reopen prompted the Chinese wig and false eyelash companies to stockpile raw materials, only to be hit with the news that their North Korean business partners cannot accept toll manufacturing orders. A Chinese citizen of Korean descent in Dandong, across the Yalu River border from North Koreas Sinuiju, told RFAs Korean Service that the announcement created difficulties for the Chinese wig and eyelash companies. Early last year, prior to the coronavirus crisis, North Korean trading companies were able to earn a lot of foreign currency by receiving toll manufacturing orders for various types of products from Chinese companies, said the source. The state-run trade companies, local government companies and private factories competed to win Chinese orders, but North Korea suddenly decided not to sign new contracts for toll manufacturing for some items in the near future, the source said. Many of the Chinese companies have begun stockpiling raw materials in anticipation that the border will reopen soon, but now they have been left in the lurch, the source said. In particular, the manufacturers of wigs and false eyelashes have purchased tons of raw materials to ensure that production progresses smoothly after more than a year on hiatus, said the source. But when North Korea notified them that it would not manufacture wigs and eyelashes in the future, they are now staring at huge losses. The reason why North Korea is refusing to make wigs and eyelashes is because the young students who need training in how to make those products have been mobilized for other types of work, the source said. According to the source, the cross-border manufacturing arrangement is good not only for North Korean companies, but also for ordinary residents who can earn a lot of money doing piecework for Chinese companies. They jump into the industry, regardless of whether they are adults or children. Since wig manufacturing and eyelash processing require a young labor force with good eyesight and flexible hand movements, the companies will even hire young middle and elementary school students. Another source, also a Chinese citizen of Korean descent from Dandong, confirmed to RFA that Chinese wig and eyelash makers faced sourcing troubles now that North Korea is refusing to make their products. Because North Korea is in a severe economic crisis, all members of the family who can move must go out and work to make ends meet. Older adults with poor eyesight cannot adapt well to wig and false eyelash making, because it requires attention to detail. But the young students and teenagers can get paid more than 10 days worth of food for making just one wig, the second source said. According to the second source, the fact that North Korea has shifted young students away from this kind of work shows that North Koreas situation is dire. To make sure that the young students dont work in this industry, the North Korean authorities instructed companies not to take orders for wigs and false eyelashes even if trade resumes in the future. It will be difficult for the people to give up on these jobs because wig manufacturing is more profitable than other jobs, said the second source. When the coronavirus emergency quarantine system is lifted and the ban on wigs and false eyelashes ends, North Korean companies will fight tooth and nail with each other to win toll manufacturing orders. According to the second source, wig manufacturing is very profitable. A 20-kilogram (44 pound) box of raw materials costs 7,000 yuan (about U.S. $1,100), but the finished products made from those materials can earn a profit of more than 30,000 yuan (about $4,600). RFA reported last week that North Korea finished a new rail route designed to isolate freight to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Earlier this week a Chinese freight train crossed the Sino-Korean border for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, and Chinese products started to reappear in Pyongyang grocery stores. These developments point to the possibility that official trade between the two countries could resume soon. Reported by Jieun Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Democratic state lawmakers once again unsuccessfully proposed to do away with the states property tax on motor vehicles as part of a wide-ranging effort to shift the tax burden from lower- and middle-income families to the states wealthiest residents. The argument for getting rid of the car tax is rooted in addressing inequality in the states taxation system, proponents say, citing the wide-ranging mill rates across cities and towns. The owner of a car registered and garaged in Westport, for example, is taxed at a much lower rate, 16.71 mills or $16.71 for every $1,000 of property assessed, than the owner of a car registered and garaged in Bridgeport, home to one of the highest mill rates, who is taxed at 45 mills. Its hard to justify why somebody in Bridgeport pays hundreds of dollars more in taxes than someone in Westport, said Sen. Will Haskell, D-Westport, one of the bills main backers. But those who would benefit from the elimination of the tax are car owners who more often than not are more well off residents. Census data shows that in Connecticuts largest cities, vehicle access often relates to income. In Hartford, where the median income is $36,762, nearly 30% of homes dont have access to a vehicle. Whereas in Stamford, which has a median income of $100,713, only 10% of homes lack access to a vehicle. Statewide, the median income is $78,833 and 8.8% of homes are without vehicle access. A part of the reason some of the folks who live in cities dont own a car is because our tax structure makes it prohibitively expensive, said Haskell. Getting rid of the car tax would help attract more young people to move to the state and its ubran areas, the 24-year-old senator said. The bill is often a shock for new residents who are not aware Connecticut is among the 27 states that have the levy, Haskell said. Cities with higher mill rates also have a higher share of homes without vehicle access. Twenty percent of homes in Bridgeport and Waterbury, where the mill rate is 45, have no access to a car. The median income in those two cities is $44,035 and $42,754, respectively. Thats in comparison to Norwalk, where 6.8% of homes dont have cars. The citys median income is $89,881. Haskell and another leading proponent of the bill, Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, who wants to do away with the car tax except on rental vehicles, did not describe the proposal as a tax cut. Calling it a tax simplication, Haskell said families will appreciate paying one tax bill a year instead of multiple. Collecting the tax is often time-consuming for officials. Cities such as Waterbury have hired investigators to ensure cars parked in the city are also registered there, but in many towns, officials dont have the resources to ensure cars are valued appropriately or registered in the right place, Haskell said. The simpler solution is to get rid of the tax all together, he said. But the tax is a major revenue generator for the states 169 towns and cities, bringing in more than $900 million annually, according to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. To make up for the gap, the bill proposed giving municipalities the option of assessing other property, such as land, buildings and equipment, at a higher rate. Currently, most property must be assessed at 70% of its market value. Haskell said hes all ears to other suggestions. We all agree theres a problem here, he said. We need to come together to find a solution. julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com Not everything needs to be turned into a themed bar. Houston is getting its own trailer park-themed bar called Fat Boots Trailer Park Bar, opening May 5, and right off the bat, it seems like a bad idea. I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY: A new '80s-themed club in downtown will bring back all the nostalgia The "drinkertainment" experience, headed by three Las Vegas nightlife industry veterans, is "an ode to trailer park chic" with about "2,000 sq. ft. of endless Polaroid opportunities for the Tik-Tok and selfies generation only we call them trail-fies," according to the Fat Boots website. I'm already out. Themed pop-up bars and "Instagrammable" experiences have become ultra-trendy in the past few years, offering the opportunity to snap the profile pic of your dreams for the low price of $35 admission into a room filled with balloons or whatever. And this latest offering is just cosplaying poverty while slapping a filter on it to make it more palatable for the "selfies generation." Everything about it feels patronizing. The staff will perform and encourage patrons to dance on the bar, you know, like in your regular small-town bar. Menu items reportedly include Twinkies and Cheez Whiz with crackers that will almost definitely cost no less than $25. And cocktails will be served out of Spam and SpaghettiOs cans (why why WHY). (Everything aside, why would I ever want to drink anything out of a Spam can? Even if that $15 drink doesn't taste like ham, it's going to taste like ham.) People's lives and struggles aren't for gawking at and turning into an opportunity for a colorful Instagram photo there's a reason Twinkies and SpaghettiOs are "trailer park food," and it has everything to do with income inequality and food deserts and nothing to do with wanting to be "trailer park chic." And as gentrification runs rampant, some Las Vegas nightclub creators stepping into Houston and selling "trailer park chic" back to you for a very expensive bar tab feels really gross. LIVE MUSIC IN HOUSTON: All the Houston concerts you'll want to jam to this post-pandemic summer Palatable poverty isn't a co-optable theme for a bar. It's demeaning and condescending and patronizing. And I would never pay to eat a Twinkie outside of the comfort of my home anyway. The remains of 120 German soldiers who were killed during fighting to prevent the advance of the Red Army on Berlin at the end of the Second World War have been reburied in a war cemetery. The men died 76 years ago during the fierce Battle of the Seelow Heights, which marked the beginning of the Soviet Union's final push to Berlin after Nazi Germany had been largely defeated. The men who died were hastily buried where they fell, before being discovered and exhumed last year across a 60-mile-wide area. At least a third of the men were identified by their 'dog tags' the common term given for the identification discs given to all soldiers. The soldiers died during fighting on the River Oder, whilst unsuccessfully trying to stop Russian troops from reaching the German capital. It was where Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was holed up in his bunker before he killed himself on April 30, 1945. The men's remains were packed into 92 small coffins, each of which had a small rose put on it, before they were covered over in the ceremony in Lietzen, 40 miles east of Berlin, the Times reported. The remains of 120 German soldiers who were killed during fighting to prevent the advance of the Red Army on Berlin at the end of the Second World War have been reburied in a war cemetery. Pictured: The men were packed into 92 small coffins and buried in Lietzen's war cemetery, east of Berlin The men died 76 years ago during the fierce Battle of the Seelow Heights, which marked the beginning of the Soviet Union's final push to Berlin after Nazi Germany had been largely defeated. Pictured: Soviet troops bombarding German positions during the battle The ceremony, from which descendants were barred because of coronavirus restrictions, was just the latest in a series of reburials of German soldiers which have taken place in recent years. It is part of an effort by Germany's Wolksbund war graves commission since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991 to find war dead on what was the Eastern Front. Astonishingly, 15,000 remains have reportedly been exhumed since 1993 alone, many of them in fields and forests east of Berlin. They were among 50,000 German and Soviet soldiers who died during intense fighting which took place over the course of just three days in April 1945. The men who died were hastily buried where they fell, before being discovered and exhumed last year across a 60-mile-wide area The soldiers died whilst unsuccessfully trying to stop Russian troops from reaching the German capital where Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was holed up in his bunker before he killed himself on April 30, 1945. Pictured: The ceremony in Lietzen last week A pastor offered a blessing and prayer during the ceremony to re-bury the German soldiers The ceremony, from which descendants were barred because of coronavirus restrictions, was just the latest in a series of reburials of German soldiers which have taken place in recent years The conflict saw Soviet troops breach Hitler's defences outside of Berlin. The Volksbund has so far found the remains of 964,329 soldiers who died in Eastern Europe and countries which once made up the Soviet Union. However, there are still 1.5million missing soldiers who investigators hope to find. But because of decades of building work covering up where their bodies are, many are likely to remain where they fell. Russian soldiers are seen marauding into Berlin as a German soldier lies dead in the street, during the final battle for the capital in late April and early May, 1945 This iconic image showed a Russian soldier hauling the Soviet Union's flag above the ruined Reichstag after troops took Berlin Diane Tempel-Bornett, a spokeswoman for the Volksbund, said in The Times: 'We would of course like to find all of them but we assume that a third can no longer be retrieved because shopping centres or whatever have been built on them.' Because the Germans were fighting for the Nazi regime, she said the reburial ceremonies were not about 'honouring' them. Instead, the aim was to give them a 'dignified grave' and allow people to mourn their loss. Human Development Index: 131/189 Hunger: 94/107 Per capita GDP: 142/189 Peace: 139/163 Happiness: 144/153 Healthcare: 145/195 Gender Gap: 140/156 Environment: 168/180 Internet Quality: 79/85 Water Quality: 120/122 Press Freedom: 142/180 This is augmented with the ongoing congregations at elections, Kumbh Mela, and the rising shortage of the medication which are failing both prevention of the disease spread and curing of the disease.At the background of this, the Mother India is also pained by the poor governance to the ongoing Farmers Protest for over eight months now and a number of protests in the recent times over the privatization of the railways banking, insurance , and the exclusionary CAA-NRC The Mother India seems to be in a helpless/failed situation to handle efficiently and effective these issues. The impacts of weak intent, intellect and implementation of the leadership are wide open now in the sudden second Covid surge when the children of Mother India are not only suffering from poor medication facilities but also from poor cremation facilities.In this difficult time, the way election rallies are being carried out looks inhuman to the rising distress of the second Covid surge. To add to the woes, the ignorance led arrogance of the endorsed Kumbh activities speak volumes of the preference to politics over people and ironically looks insane. Mother India is crying and cremating its children 24x7 with a world record of 3.14 lakh tested positive in 24 hours!Have you ever wondered, why the Mother India continues to be in so much pain? My thesis is that it is the sons who have been predominantly managing the Mother India since the independence making things go from bad to worse because, the focus on economy has been way too more than human empathy and earths ecology.The testing times of today is a living testimony of the masculine handling of Mother India as pure water got commodified in the past at the cost of poor/rural people and now pure air is commodified at the cost of human lives. Then, some time ago, these global rankings were out where performance of Mother India is a dismay (gathered from different sources):Mother India may disagree with the rankings and the approach to the ranking system however, there cannot be any smoke without any fire. These world rankings provide some indications of the nations welfare and pushes us to relook at our governance and government should we wish to better the state. In a country, where politicians and people bleakly make a distinction between the government and the governance, it will be like breaking my head on a dead wall talking about it.Nevertheless, in brief, it is known that Governance, a complex phenomenon, is synonym to Democracy and is unlike a comparatively linear phenomenon like Autocracy. While Mother India is drifting from Democracy with the rhetoric of macho New India Development with a 5 Trillion Economy , the impact of exclusion of human wellbeing is evident from poor governance of health and home. As for the last few years, Mother India was bruised with communal matters, it is now burning with covid mortality rather massacre.If Mother India is not in the best countries in the world with respect to women leaderships, it is also not among the worst ones. However, Mother India has slipped 28 places to rank 140th among 156 countries in the World Economic Forums Global Gender Gap Report 2021, becoming the third-worst performer in South Asia. The indicators, economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, are all crucial and have a direct impact on the current covid care approach.In South Asia, only Pakistan (153) & Afghanistan (156) ranked below this while, Bangladesh ranked 65, Nepal 106, Bhutan 130 and Sri Lanka 116. Most of the decline in Mother Indias ranking has occurred on the political empowerment with significant decline in the share of women among ministers, which halved, from 23.1% in 2019 to 9.1% in 2021.Ironically, the current cabinet ministry for 58 has only six women leaders which supposedly fairs better than the other South Asian countries. A home to 0.65 billion women, Mother India has widened its gender gap from 66.8% one year ago to 62.5% this year. Since, this disproportion percolates in other aspects as mentioned in the gender gap ranking and otherwise also like social welfare including safety.Why we need more women leadership at the top? It is a Simple Math. The sex ratio per 1000 Men had 898 Women in 1947 which has improved marginally to 901 Women in 2010 (Census of India). While the child sex ratio is going down and down further since independence and gone worse in this century, it reiterates that we have not done enough to improve the state of girl children and women, but also not enough to subjugate the rising patriarchy.Here are some scathing figures of women in top leadership positions in Mother India since Independence, looking at those pushes to relate to the apathy of the governance and wellbeing. Starting with the Health Ministry, Mother India had only twice Health Ministers in 74 years first Mohsina Kidwai (1984-86) and then Sushma Swaraj (2003-04). The state of health facilities can be certainly linked with this absence of women in the sector with no exaggeration and embarrassment since, even in the state of current emergency men tend to think of economy driven development driving on the thousands of dead Further in 74 years, the Environmental Ministry had only once Meneka Gandhi led for a year in 1990-91; the Water Ministry had twice women ministers, Meira Kumar for 3 days in 2009 and Uma Bharati for 3 years in 2014-17; the Rural Ministry had once, Mohsina Kidwai for four months in 1984 Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry had once, Sheela Kaul for four years 1991-95.While Indira Gandhi has a share of 15 years of Prime Ministership (1966-77 and 1980-84) which is much talked about, but it isnt enough in a span of 74 years going by the simple math of years and population/sex ratio. Then, Mother India had only once woman President Pratibha Patil (2004-07). While there was a talk about a woman Chief of Reserve Bank of India, which did not materialise, recently the need for a woman Chief Justice of India was pointed by the present CJI, whereas Niti Aayog , Navy, Airforce and Army are yet to discuss that matter.The most crucial Home Ministry, which is second to the Prime Minister, had only twice women Home Ministers in the form of Indira Gandhi for a week (in 1966) and then for just over two and a half years (1970 to 1973) when she was also the Prime Minister. The problem of the role and responsibilities start with what is the officially stated in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) internal security, border management, Centre-State relations, administration of Union Territories, management of Central Armed Police Forces, disaster management, etc.In pursuance of these obligations, the Ministry is meant to monitor the internal security situation, issue appropriate advisories, share intelligence inputs, extend manpower & financial support, guidance and expertise to the State Governments for maintenance of security, peace and harmony.While in every house in the country, mostly women are managing the home affairs including the health and happiness of the people in the house; ironically the stated tasks of the MHA miss these two important aspects of human wellbeing. Instead, the tasks outlined implicitly presumes Mother India to be in a constant state of unrest which has been aggravated manifold in the last decade even worse than what we had post-independence with having rages internal disharmony and worsened relations with the neighboring countries.If MHA is not responsible for the internal wellbeing of the people, there is a serious question. As in this worst state of corona catastrophe, the men at the MHA are indifferent to the wellbeing of the people besides being political about decisions on medical supplies.Im noising about women leaderships out of sheer strategy. There is strong evidence why women leadership make a difference in a countrys wellbeing. For example, here is a fact with the similar ranking system of the worlds best countries in terms of happiness . Finland is ranked as the happiest country in the world, followed by Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Norway.It is not a coincidence that six out of eight leading country heads are women. Finland Prime Minister is Sanna Marin since 2019, Iceland Prime Minister is Katrin Jakobsdottir since 2017, Denmark Prime Minister is Mette Frederiksen since 2019, Simonetta Myriam Sommaruga is the President of the Swiss Confederation for 2020, Norway Prime Minister is Erna Solberg since 2013 and the all-time great Angela Merkel is Germanys Chancellor since 2005 to retire in few months.Their priorities more on the human dignity and delivery, care and concern, peace and prosperity, ecology and environment, health and happiness, and even towards gender balance governance have helped them do well even in the economic development. Even a small country like Bangladesh is projected to do better than India and it cannot be a coincidence that it is also led by a woman Sheikh Hasina since 2009.Im spotting somethings this has been proven time and again! Women are better multi-taking than men. They are more equipped to handle complex phenomenon than mens preference to linear thinking and doing. We have had the taste of linear approach such as the Demonetization and the Lockdown which were continuously amended in following days only to worsen situations further.We were still not over them though and then we are hit by the CAA-NRC and the Farmers Bill. Those are augmented with the covid since the beginning of 2020 and still the current leaderships fail to realize the importance of prevention and cure even at the worst time of it through its irrational elections and economy driven covid strategy. It is important to note that the top women leaders are performing extremely well in the Covid response Besides, women are proponents of collective governance and thus a democracy in true spirit. Coming back to the example of best countries, let me provide an example of top best, Finland. Sanna Marin of Social Democratic Party is the worlds youngest sworn in as Prime Minister of Finland who runs a coalition government with four parties. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine against COVID-19 was cleared again for use in Louisiana on Saturday after an 11-day suspension to investigate whether it causes severe blood clots. The state Department of Health said it "has notified all providers that they may resume administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine immediately and encourages all Louisianans to take advantage of the available vaccines, so the state can continue to slow the spread of COVID-19 and put the pandemic in its rear view." The announcement came the day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention completed their review of the vaccine's safety record. Both agencies concluded that the temporary pause in administering the J&J one-shot vaccine should be lifted. The suspension was recommended April 13 amid reports of six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot who had received the vaccine. That was out of almost 7 million people who has received the J&J vaccine in the United States. Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The Health Department said Saturday that the two federal agencies have since determined: Use of the J&J vaccine should be resumed. They have confidence that this vaccine is safe and effective in preventing COVID-19. The FDA has determined that the available data show the vaccines known and potential benefits outweigh known and potential risks for persons 18 and older. More than 1.1 million Louisianans have already completed their vaccinations against COVID-19. About 85,000 received the J&J vaccine, with no reported cases of the rare blood clot, the Health Department said. Residents may call the COVID Vaccine Hotline for information about where to receive a vaccine, help making an appointment and asking questions of a medical professional. The number is (855) 453-0774. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. Ive known and admired Dr. Tedros for 15 years, but we have periodically tangled over his deference to dictators. I asked Dr. Tedros about that, but he didnt want to discuss politics of any kind including whether countries should pressure Ethiopia to stop the slaughter of Tigrayans. He seems deeply conflicted, torn between what he sees as a professional duty to his organization to be impartial, and the horror of an ethnic cleansing of his own people. Presiding over these crimes against humanity in Tigray is Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, who came to power in 2018 and was initially hailed as a great reformer; he even won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. Abiy is a pro-Western figure over whom the United States has considerable influence if we will only use it. The Tigray crisis is rooted in ethnic tensions and a power struggle. For almost three decades, people from Tigray dominated Ethiopias central government; Dr. Tedros became Ethiopias highly regarded health minister in that period, then foreign minister. This Tigrayan-led government ruled effectively, greatly raising living standards, but it was also repressive, torturing critics, imprisoning journalists and stirring deep resentments among other Ethiopians. After taking power, Prime Minister Abiy reined in Tigrayans and dispatched troops in November to crush what he said was a mutiny in the region. That triggered a civil war with Tigray fighters, and Eritreas army entered to back up Ethiopias forces. There is also a risk of a wider war involving Sudan. All sides in the conflict have committed atrocities, but by far the most serious and credible allegations are against the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies and their allies. As W.H.O. chief, Dr. Tedros has tried to get vaccines distributed more equitably around the world, while dealing with President Donald Trumps appalling decision to pull the United States out of the W.H.O. (overturned by President Biden on his first day in office). In public, Dr. Tedros is focused on Covid-19 and has mostly kept quiet about atrocities in Tigray. The public sees Tedros devoting every day to managing the pandemic, but privately he is also managing his pain about Tigray, said Dr. Annie Sparrow, an assistant professor at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine who was an adviser to Dr. Tedros. ADVERTISEMENT The Statue of Mary, Mother of Jesus that the consignment were hidden The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested narcotics couriers who used the statue of Mary, Mother of Jesus, to conceal their illicit drugs. NDLEA operatives embedded in two courier companies intercepted the drugs concealed in the statue and some in auto spare parts to be despatched to Canada and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The agencys Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, stated on Saturday in Abuja that 140grammes of Methamphetamine packaged in the statue of Mary was seized in one of the courier companies. The drug was to be delivered in The Philippines. Mr Babafemi added that 500grammes of heroin concealed in auto spare parts heading to Canada were also intercepted at a second courier company. He stated also that a package of 3.1 kg of Indian hemp concealed inside spices, and another package of one kilogramme of Indian hemp concealed inside local herbs were seized. The two packages were to be delivered at the UAE, In a related development, the NDLEA arrested 31 suspects in Ondo State for being in possession of 276 kg of assorted illicit drugs. Those arrested included seven females. They were arrested during a two-week raid which began on April 6. Mr Babafemi said that the sting operations were carried out to curb the increasing rate of drug abuse among youths and even the elderly in Ondo State. He added that the illicit drugs seized were 74.285kgs of Indian hemp, 267grammes of other psychotropic substances; 201kgs of skuchies (a combination of Indian hemp, tramadol, ethanol, and Zobo). NDLEA dismantled or destroyed most of the vending spots where the drugs were being dispensed, he said. In Akwa Ibom, the NDLEA also seized 62.150kg of illicit drugs in Oron and Uyo. Mr Babafemi quoted the NDLEA Commander in the state, Obot Bassey, as saying that four suspects were arrested in two sting operations conducted on April 22 and April 23. (NAN) New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday (April 24) urged Chief Ministers of all states to provide spare oxygen to the national capital amid acute shortage of life-saving gas. In his letter, the AAP supremo requested his counterparts to treat his message as SOS. Kejriwal also informed due to record rise in daily coronavirus cases, the oxygen provided by the Centre is proving inadequate. "While the Centre is helping Delhi in this regard, the intensity of the spread is so severe that the quantity is proving inadequate," IANS quoted the Delhi CM as saying. "Delhi does not produce any oxygen. Due to the severe rise in Covid cases in the last few days, many Delhi hospitals have run out of oxygen, Kejriwal wrote in the letter. He said that he would be grateful if his counterparts can help him in securing oxygen, along with the tankers. Central government is also helping us a lot in this regard. However, the intensity of the spread is so severe that it is proving inadequate. Therefore, I would be grateful if you could provide us with any oxygen, alongwith tankers, from your state or any organization in your state, he urged. Kindly treat this as an SOS. I would be personally grateful for your support, the Delhi CM appealed. Delhi is one of the worst-affected COVID-19 cities in the country with the positivity rate reaching 32.43 per cent on Friday. Meanwhile, nearly 20 people died at Jaipur Golden Hospital on Friday night due to shortage of oxygen. Delhis Saroj Super Speciality Hospital on Saturday (April 24) stated that they have stopped admitting new patients due to lack of oxygen supply. Facing acute shortage of oxygen, the hospital, situated in Rohini, has also started discharging all old patients. Moolchand Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH), Batra Hospital and Jaipur Golden hospital sent SOS on Saturday morning and urged the government to arrange the oxygen supply at the earliest. (With inputs from IANS) Live TV [April 23, 2021] SHAREHOLDER ALERT: CLAIMSFILER REMINDS LDOS, REGI, VLDR, WKHS INVESTORS of Lead Plaintiff Deadline in Class Action Lawsuits NEW ORLEANS, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors of pending deadlines in the following securities class action lawsuits: Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (REGI) Class Period: 5/3/2018 - 2/25/2021 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: May 3, 2021 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-renewable-energy-group-inc-securities-litigation Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (VLDR) Class Period: 7/2/2020 - 3/17/2021 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: May 3, 2021 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-velodyne-lidar-inc-securities-litigation Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS) Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: May 3, 2021 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-leidos-holdings-inc-securities-litigation Workhorse Group, Inc. (WKHS) Class Period: 7/7/2020 - 2/23/2021 Lead Plaintiff Motion Deadline: May 7, 2021 SECURITIES FRAUD To learn more, visit https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-workhorse-group-inc-securities-litigation If you purchased shares of the above companies and would like to discuss your legal rights and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact us toll-free (844) 367-9658 or visit the case links above. If you wish to serve as a Lead Plaintiff in the class action, you must petition the Court on or before the Lead Plaintiff Motion deadline. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. At ClaimsFiler.com, investors can: (1) register for free to gain access to information and settlement websites for various securities class action cases so they can timely submit their own claims; (2) upload their portfolio transactional data to be notified about relevant securities cases in which they may have a financial interest; and (3) submit inquiries to the Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC law firm for free case evaluations. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Mumbai, April 24 : HDFC Bank on Saturday said it has deployed mobile ATMs across India to assist customers during the lockdown. "At restricted, sealed areas, the 'Mobile ATMs' will eliminate the need for general public to move out of their locality to withdraw cash," the bank said in a statement. "During the lockdown last year, HDFC Bank successfully deployed mobile ATMs in over 50 cities and facilitated lakhs of customers in availing cash to meet their exigencies." Accordingly, customers can conduct over 15 types of transactions using the 'Mobile ATM', which will be operational at each location for a specific period. The 'Mobile ATM' will cover 3-4 stops in a day. "We hope our mobile ATM will provide a great support for people who want to avail basic financial services without having to venture far from their neighbourhood," said S. Sampathkumar, Group Head - Liability Products, Third Party Products and Non-Resident Business at HDFC Bank. "This service will also be of great help to all the healthcare workers, and other essential service providers who have been working tirelessly to combat the pandemic." Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the COVID-19 challenge before the country now is bigger than the last year and called for making efforts to ensure that the infectious disease is stopped from hitting villages "by all means". Addressing a ceremony on Panchayati Raj Diwas during which Modi launched the distribution of e-property cards under the 'SWAMITVA scheme, he said the pandemic was prevented from affecting rural areas last year and exuded confidence that the success can be replicated as local leadership now have experience as well as knowledge. Chief ministers of eight states joined the event, held virtually, while a large number of local body representatives also connected to the ceremony. "I have this confidence that if someone is going to emerge victorious first in this fight against the coronavirus, then it is going to be India's villages, the leadership of these villages... The people of the villages will show the way to the country and the world," the prime minister said. Right now, the mantra of the panchayats should be "dawai bhi, kadai bhi" (medicine as well as caution), he stressed. Modi said villages should follow the guidelines issued by the government and people should also get themselves vaccinated. To help the poor get food, his government has decided to provide them free ration for May and June, the prime minister noted, adding this will benefit over 80 crore people and cost the government Rs 26,000 cr. As many as 4.09 lakh property owners were be given their e-property cards, which also marked the rolling out of the SWAMITVA scheme for implementation across the country. Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar attended the event. Modi also conferred the National Panchayat Awards 2021 on the occasion. The National Panchayat Awards 2021 were conferred under the following categories -- Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sashaktikaran Puraskar to 224 panchayats, Nanaji Deshmukh Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puraskar to 30 gram panchayats, Gram Panchayat Development Plan Award to 29 gram panchayats, child-friendly Gram Panchayat Award to 30 Gram Panchayats and e-Panchayat Puraskar to 12 states. The prime minister transferred the award money, ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 50 lakh, as grants-in-aid, by clicking a button, the PMO said. The amount will be directly transferred to the bank account of the panchayats concerned in real-time, the government said, adding that this is being done for the first time. The SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) scheme was launched by the prime minister on April 24, 2020, as a central scheme to promote a socio-economically empowered and self-reliant rural India. The scheme has the potential to transform rural India using modern technical tools of mapping and surveying. It paves the way for using the property as a financial asset by villagers for availing loans and other financial benefits, a statement said. The scheme will cover around 6.62 lakh villages of the entire country between 2021 and 2025, it said. The pilot phase of the scheme was implemented during 2020-2021 in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and select villages of Punjab and Rajasthan. Also read: Dire situation in India proves no country is safe from COVID-19 pandemic: Anthony Fauci Also read: COVID-19 crisis: India reports over 3.46 lakh cases; 13.83 crore vaccines given so far WASHINGTON Andy Kim remembers the warnings from political professionals when he first considered running for Congress in South Jersey: There was no way an Asian American could win. They just told me flat out, No. No chance, Kim, a Democrat, recalled this month. And that really hurt, because the district I represent is where I went to kindergarten, where my oldest son is going to kindergarten right now. Its our home. And to tell me that people in my own home are going to see me as the other and not see that Im a neighbor? Im glad I proved them wrong. Twice. Kim, whose district in Burlington and Ocean Counties is 79% white, won in 2018 and again last year. Hes now one of four Korean Americans in Congress, part of a growing contingent of Asian American and Pacific Islanders in public office and leading activist groups. Now, as anti-Asian hate incidents spike, some AAPI politicians and analysts predict they will spark even greater involvement from Americas fastest growing demographic group. This will be a pivotal moment in Asian American political participation for decades to come, where youre seeing a community getting politically activated in a way they never have been before, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder of the research group AAPI Data. Asian American officials note their communities have long taken an interest in politics, particularly in Philadelphia, which has two Asian Americans on City Council and long-standing civic groups such as Asian Americans United and VietLead. But politicians, analysts and activists said that presence is growing and reaching new areas, thanks to population growth and a rising generation of Asian Americans often adult children of immigrants, like Kim. Several also pointed to the influence of the countrys wider reckoning with systemic racism and inequality. The AAPI vote grew by about 46% in the 2020 presidential election compared to 2016, according to preliminary estimates from the Democratic firm TargetSmart, one of the largest increases ever among any racial demographic. Among all other groups it was 12%. Some 158 AAPI candidates ran for state legislatures in 2020, the most ever, according to AAPI Data. After last months mass shootings in Atlanta that killed eight, including six women of Asian descent, Kim announced plans for a political committee to recruit and support Asian American candidates. The Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance formed last year, billing itself as Pennsylvanias first statewide AAPI political group, is backing candidates for state legislature. Philadelphia attorney Neil Makhija is now leading the Indian American Impact Fund (IMPACT), a national group that supports Indian American Democrats. And Vanita Gupta, born and raised in the Philadelphia region, was confirmed this week as the first woman of color to hold the No. 3 position in the Department of Justice. Her Senate confirmation came a day before lawmakers advanced a bipartisan bill to combat hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. Weve come an enormously long way where you had multiple Asian American candidates running for president. I would never have conceived of that growing up, said U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who grew up in Bucks County. Khanna, 44, recalled how significant it felt in 2000 when Norman Minetta became the first Asian American Cabinet member. Now, the vice president, Kamala Harris, is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, and Andrew Yang is a leading contender for mayor of New York. Kris Kolluri was one of only a handful of Asian American staffers on Capitol Hill in the 1990s. He went on to become New Jerseys transportation secretary. Kolluri, who came to New Jersey from India when he was 15, said his path is typical for many immigrant families: Parents focus first on economic security and their childrens education. Those children use that foundation for wider civic involvement as adults. My own parents were more focused on making sure they got their roots, he said. Now its about focusing on what it means to be a full participant in our democratic system. Pearl Kim, a Delaware County Republican who ran for Congress in 2018, tries to help others get started in politics as a board member of Korean Americans for Political Action. A lot of folks in general just have such little exposure to our political system, Kim said. The AAPI population grew by 81% nationally from 2000 to 2019 according to the Pew Research Center. The population in Pennsylvania roughly doubled, and New Jersey, already with one of the countrys largest AAPI communities, saw one the biggest increases. The designation encompasses a sprawling, diverse set of backgrounds that span from Indian and Bangladeshi Americans, to Korean and Japanese Americans, Filipinos, Samoans, and many others. Were a very, very diverse community, said Philadelphia City Councilmember Helen Gym, a Democrat. Theres no common language amongst us, we are just as impacted by colorism, immigration status, language status, class status as any other group in the U.S. and sometimes even more so. Asian Americans cast about 4.1 million votes in the 2020 presidential election, up from 2.8 million in 2016, according to TargetSmart estimates. That was about 2.6% of the nationwide vote. In Pennsylvania, the AAPI vote total grew by about 20%, to about 61,000 presidential votes, roughly 1% of the electorate. That was one of the countrys smallest percentage increases, though. New Jerseys AAPI votes grew by 46%, and they were 4% of the electorate. Makhija said that with major elections decided by slim margins, AAPI voters can still have a big impact. In Georgia, where the presidential race was decided by about 12,000 votes, Asian Americans cast more than 134,000 ballots, an 85% jump from 2016, according to TargetSmart. The group leans heavily Democratic, but Ramakrishnan said AAPI voters are a classic persuadable constituency. Because most Asian American citizens are naturalized, they dont have strong party affiliation, because they didnt grow up in a Democratic household or a Republican household, he said. The groups small share of the overall vote presents challenges. Most Asian American elected officials, especially in Congress, do not live in Asian-majority districts, and thats a contrast from when you look at Black members of Congress and Latino members of Congress, Ramakrishnan said. Where Asian American electeds have been able to make headway is by making an appeal to broad constituencies. Activists say the communities are still underrepresented in elected office, and often overlooked politically. Pennsylvanias legislature has just two Asian American members, Makhija said, or 0.08% in a state that is 4% Asian American. API PA, the statewide group, is focused on changing that. We really see the state level as just this massive priority, said Mohan Seshadri, the groups co-executive director. A former adviser to Gov. Tom Wolf, Seshadri said he saw firsthand the importance of being at the table for key decisions. He pointed to data showing that 78% of Pennsylvanias Asian Americans speak a language other than English at home, and the importance of recognizing that challenge when delivering information about voting or COVID-19. AAPI politicians and analysts stressed that while political participation is growing, its not new. Neither is racism or discrimination. Feeling targeted has always been part of the history of Asian Americans in America, said Republican City Councilmember David Oh. That history includes bans on Chinese immigrants in the 1800s and, in 1917, the creation of the Asiatic barred zone restricting immigration from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. Japanese Americans were interned during World War II, and Asians werent allowed to naturalize until the 1950s. Asian immigration was severely limited until 1965. Ending that restriction allowed Asians to arrive in significant numbers, become citizens, and set the stage for the current political surge. But racism has continued. South Asian communities absorbed hatred after the Sept. 11 attacks. Now, COVID-19 has brought a spike in physical and verbal attacks on Asian Americans which many tie to the racist rhetoric of former President Donald Trump. The Republican Party has done a terrible job courting the Asian American community and racial minorities in general, said Pearl Kim, the onetime GOP candidate. A lot of small business owners would identify with the Republican platform but we have to get our message out. While anti-Asian racism has a long history, she said, Trumps rhetoric and hate-filled discourse contributed to this environment. Andy Kim worries that geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China could unleash more xenophobia. He recalled his mother, a nurse, once being told by a patient to go home where youre from, another reminder of how even some neighbors see his family as outsiders. That weighs on you and makes you not feel like you can participate in government and in the political system, Kim said. Years later, however, as a national security aide in the Obama administration, he brought her to the Oval Office to meet the president. I just want to make that more of the norm that people can experience here, rather than the constant erosion of our feeling of belonging here, he said. Amid deepening crisis over the scarcity of oxygen, several hospitals in the national capital have been left with no option but to use their back up stock, with some like Saroj Super Speciality Hospital advising relatives to shift their patients to another facility. While Fortis Hospital (Shalimar Bagh), presently running on its back up supply, urged the prime minister, chief minister and other ministers for "immediate assistance", Saroj Super Speciality, having not received refill for the past 44 hours, is now advising its patients to shift to other hospitals. "We are running low on and using our back up now. We have alerted our patients about the situation, and are advising them to shift to another hospital. Things are really uncertain," P K Bhardwaj, medical director, Saroj Super Speciality Hospital, told PTI. Bhardwaj said the hospital, which needs three metric tonnes of oxygen per day on average, was only getting around one metric tonne for the past few days. Seventy patients at the hospital are on oxygen supply currently. Twenty critically-ill patients died overnight at Jaipur Golden Hospital in amid a serious oxygen crisis. The hospital, which has over 200 patients, had only half-an-hour of oxygen left left at 10:45 am. The situation is equally worrisome at the Fortis Hospital in Shalimar Bagh which is running on its back up oxygen supply, desperately waiting for the refill since morning. "Fortis Healthcare @fortis_hospital #SOS Fortis Shalimar bagh is running out of oxygen. Patients' lives are at risk. We are running on backup, waiting for supplies since morning. We are currently suspending admissions. Request immediate assistance @PMOIndia @ArvindKejriwal @AmitShah @PiyushGoyal @rajnathsingh," tweeted the hospital. The hospital said it is keeping the patients and attendants informed about the "critical situation", and trying to manage admitted patients to the best of their abilities. Other hospitals which got fresh supplies claimed their O2 stock would get exhausted in a few hours only. Batra Hospital in Tughlakabad Institutional area, which received emergency oxygen supply from the government moments after it exhausted its stock around 9 am, said their stock will "last another one-and-a-half hours". "Just now, we received an emergency supply from the Delhi government. It will last another one-and-a-half hours. Our supplier has not been responding to calls," Executive Director of Batra hospital, Sudhanshu Bankata, said, adding that the facility exhausted its oxygen stock around 9 am. There are around 350 patients admitted at the hospital, of which 265 are COVID-19 positive and 30 are in the ICU. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, in the heart of the national capital, which requires a minimum of 11,000 cubic metres of oxygen daily was left with 200 cubic metres when a tanker with 1.5 tonnes of oxygen arrived, officials said. "We were running oxygen at half the normal pressure. This supply of 1.5 tonnes of oxygen will last for may be two hours. The situation is scary," an official said. Twenty-five COVID patients in the elite hospital died in 24 hours and the lives of many more hung in precarious balance on Friday with the scramble for oxygen getting more frantic in hospitals across the national capital and its suburbs. Delhi logged 24,331 fresh COVID-19 cases and a record single-day jump of 348 deaths on Friday while the positivity rate stood at 32.43 per cent, according to the latest health bulletin. The city has reported around 2,100 deaths due to the deadly virus in 11 days. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisers voted Friday to recommend lifting the pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, some Houston providers say they are ready to put it back in use. Johnson & Johnson will add a label to its vaccine warning about the exceedingly uncommon, but potentially dangerous, blood clotting disorder. The vote came after a CDC scientist presented nine new confirmed cases of the disorder, including one in Texas, bringing the total to 15. All the cases have been in women, and 13 have been in women between ages 18 and 49. When federal health officials respond and recommend that states lift the pause, Texas is among those states expected to follow that recommendation. While Johnson & Johnson is not widely administered at Houston-area vaccine sites, the providers that do use it say theyre ready to switch back to the one-dose shot. Many will likely resume sign-ups next week. We anticipate putting J&J back into our strategy within a week of the updated CDC/FDA guidance, said Scott Packard, a Houston Health Department spokesperson. The department has 300 J&J vaccines in stock, and does not expect any significant impact on its operations. Harris County Public Health planned to substitute Pfizer vaccines in place of the J&J shots. The department is ready to return to J&J whenever it receives the go-ahead. Harris County had 60,000 J&J vaccines available when it was put on pause. Nearly 8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have already been administered. It requires just one shot, making it better for use for those who are homebound, homeless or incarcerated. The New York Times contributed to this report. Faith leaders in Ireland are furious upon learning that Health Minister Stephan Donnelly recently signed a regulation banning in-person church worship. Non-compliance to the order would be treated as a criminal offense. The new regulation states that religious services must be conducted virtually including public mass and other religious activities, reports Premier Christian News. At least four Catholic archbishops decided to take action against the mandate. Eamon Martin, the archbishop of Armagh and primate of all-Ireland, Dermot Farrell of Dublin, Michael Neary of Tuam and Kieran O'Reilly of Cashel and Emly told The Times that they will take legal action. "We shall be seeking legal counsel to advise on several questions concerning the extent of the statutory instrument," the archbishops said. The "draconian rule," according to Archbishop Eamon Martin, is "a potential infringement of religious freedom and constitutional rights." He is aggrieved that the government seems to be negligent of people's mental health and spiritual well-being by preventing them to physically congregate. "Together with other churches and faith communities, we have been cooperating fully with public health messages for more than a year now," he said. "At the same time, we have consistently impressed on [the] government that people of faith value highly their spiritual well-being and consider the public practice of their faith as essential - something which has not been sufficiently recognized in statute." The archbishop continued that the "statutory instrument" was highly disappointing because it was introduced without notice or prior consultation with the clergy. He added that two days before the regulation was signed on April 16, the Taoiseach [Irish prime minister] has assured church leaders that he understood the importance of faith and worship to the people of Ireland. "We consider this to be a breach of trust," said Martin. In defense of the move, the health minister told RTe Radio 1 that the government was merely concerned with indoor gatherings as they present a high-risk of COVID-19 spread and potential infection. He added that he would be happy to sit down with the archbishops. Dublin-based pastor of All Nations Church John Ahern told Premier that he will still hold an outdoor service on Sunday. As a pastor, he said that he cannot, in good conscience, continue to bow to the ongoing lockdown seeing the damage it has done on people's lives. "If gathering to worship is a criminal act, all I can say is, I hope the government have plenty of prison space, because there's going to be a lot of ministers who will be willing to go to prison over this. And we've done everything we can, over this last season to engage respectfully with the Irish government." he said. Like the Archbishops, Ahern agrees that the recent regulation was a cynical move on the part of the Irish government. Whether the measure was deliberate or not, the Dublin pastor explained that the officials have criminalized Christianity with the ban on organizing religious services in public. Premier noted that the penalty for breaches of the new law is a fine of undetermined amount or jail time for up to six months. The Irish government, on the other hand, will convene to review the regulation on May 4. Israel is to welcome vaccinated UK tourists from next month as infection rates plummet in the country. (PA) Israel has recorded no new daily Covid-19 deaths for the first time in 10 months as the countrys vaccination campaign drives forward. The death toll remained unchanged at 6,346 on Thursday, health ministry data showed. The last time Israel reported zero Covid-19 deaths was at the end of June last year when lockdown measures helped limit the effect of its first wave. Israels outbreak has eased after hitting a peak in January this year. The Israeli government started to relax lockdown restrictions a month later as vaccinations against Covid-19 were rolled out to the wider population. Israel has the highest vaccination rate in the world and hit has five million Covid-19 vaccinations. The health ministry said more than 53% of the countrys population of about nine million people had received two doses of vaccine. The success of the jab rollout means that vaccinated Brits will be permitted to holiday in the country from next month. Health Minister Yuli Edelstein tweeted after the news of a day with no deaths: This is a tremendous achievement for the health system and Israeli citizens. Together we are eradicating the coronavirus. Last week Eyal Leshem, a director at Israels largest hospital, the Sheba Medical Center, said the country may be close to reaching herd immunity. Herd immunity happens when enough of a population has protection against an infection which stops it spreading. World Health Organization (WHO) experts have estimated that at least 65%-70% of a population need vaccination coverage before herd immunity is reached. Mr Leshem said herd immunity was the only explanation for Israels continued fall in cases as more restrictions were lifted. There is a continuous decline despite returning to near normalcy, he said. This tells us that even if a person is infected, most people they meet walking around wont be infected by them. Israel began its vaccination campaign last December and has consistently led globally on doses per head of population. Story continues The country has so far relied on only the two-shot vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. In February, Israels health ministry said studies revealed the risk of illness from the virus had dropped 95.8% among people who have had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The country is preparing to start vaccinating children aged 12-15 as soon as the US Food and Drugs Administration, a regulator, approves vaccine use for people in that age bracket. But while Israel has surged ahead with its vaccination programme the Palestinian territories have not fared so well. In March, the Palestinians received the first shipment of about 60,000 vaccines doses under the international Covax vaccine-sharing scheme, which helps give poorer territories access to a vaccine. Read More International travel restart at risk due to vague and costly plans Few vaccinated elderly people struck by Covid three weeks after jab 77 cases of Covid variant first detected in India found in UK 5 ways to update your home this spring with help from TikTok News Atlanta, Georgia - An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia has been unsealed charging two businesses and nine of their officers and managers located across the country for their roles in an alleged conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and commit various fraud and criminal immigration offenses for profit. According to court documents, Regal Hospitality Solutions, LLC; Educational World, Inc.; Karen Makaryan, 42, Sargis Makaryan, 42, and Samvel Nikoghosyan, 40, of Destrehan, La.; Artur Grigoryan, 38, of Biloxi, Miss.; Armen Ayrapetyan, 37, of Duluth, Ga.; Jason Hill, 28, of Virginia Beach, Va.; Fremie Balbastro, 49, of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Larisa Khariton, 73, and Jon Clark, 71, of North Port, Fla., were charged in a 36-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on April 8. Each defendant was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud and commit offenses against the United States, including encouraging and inducing an alien to reside in the United States, alien harboring, transporting aliens, and visa fraud. Each defendant also was charged with substantive counts of encouraging and inducing an alien to reside in the United States, alien harboring, and transportation of aliens. In addition, Regal Hospitality Solutions, LLC; Karen Makaryan; Sargis Makaryan; Samvel Nikoghosyan; Artur Grigoryan; Armen Ayrapetyan; Fremie Balbastro; and Jason Hill were also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud. The defendants in this case allegedly engaged in an expansive conspiracy to enrich themselves by exploiting both the immigration system and noncitizen workers, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Systemic fraud and abuse of U.S. visa programs and processes designed to protect American workers and businesses will not be tolerated, and offenders will be held accountable. Hospitality venues often struggle with finding workers, and in recent years that has been an even greater challenge, said Acting U.S. Attorney David H. Estes for the Southern District of Georgia. Agencies that provide workers can be exceptionally helpful in such circumstances but they must provide that assistance in accordance with the law. In this case, businesses in St. Simons Island were among those allegedly exploited along with the illegally provided workers. The Departments Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries by means of educational and cultural exchange, said Acting Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Robert Smolich of the U.S. Department of State, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations. When bad actors corrupt these programs for personal gain, it not only diminishes an important tool of diplomacy, it harms the thousands of individuals who participate in these programs hoping to gain skills and experience to make a better life. Today we took a step forward in restoring integrity back to those programs. These defendants alleged scheme to game the immigration system and defraud the government has backfired and they will now be held accountable, said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Georgia and Alabama. Schemes like this not only exploit the noncitizen workers involved, they also damage the other legitimate businesses in the community. Protecting the integrity of the visa program and immigration system is vital to the security of our nation. According to the indictment, from an unknown date through at least May 2017, the individual defendants enriched themselves by participating in a scheme to recruit and hire noncitizen laborers without authorization to work for defendant Regal Hospitality Solutions, LLC (RHS). RHS allegedly entered into contracts to provide hospitality-related businesses with lawful laborers to work in housekeeping, retail, and food service positions. To fill those positions, RHS defendants hired noncitizens who were not authorized to work for RHS in the United States. In some cases, the RHS defendants arranged for and provided housing and transportation to the workers. The defendants and other co-conspirators also allegedly encouraged and induced noncitizen laborers on expiring and expired J-1 exchange visitor visas to obtain B-2 tourist visas and to work in the United States for RHS, knowing that employing such laborers on B-2 visas was illegal. Educational World, Inc. (Ed World) a visa preparation company and the Ed World defendants, after charging noncitizen laborers approximately $650 per application, prepared and submitted applications for B-2 visas on behalf of the workers, which contained false and misleading statements designed to indicate that the noncitizens intended to obtain the B-2 visa for the purpose of engaging in tourism and that the noncitizens were complying with United States immigration laws. In fact, the Ed World defendants knew that those noncitizens were already present in and intended to stay in the United States for employment, not tourism. The indictment further alleges that the Ed World defendants submitted petitions for H-2B temporary work visas that contained false and misleading information about the location where noncitizen laborers allegedly were to be employed. RHS paid a commission to Ed World for noncitizens Ed World recruited to work for RHS, including those who were not authorized to work for RHS in the United States. According to the indictment, RHS and the RHS defendants also made false and misleading representations that RHS would staff positions at the hospitality establishments contracting with RHS only with laborers who were legally authorized to work for RHS in the United States. Individual defendants have made their initial court appearances and the arraignment of all defendants will be scheduled before U.S. Magistrate Judge Benjamin W. Cheesbro of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. If convicted, the individual defendants face maximum potential statutory penalties of five years in prison on the count of conspiracy to defraud and commit offenses against the United States; 10 years in prison on the counts of encouraging and inducing an alien to reside in the United States, alien harboring, and transportation of aliens; and 20 years in prison on the counts of wire fraud conspiracy and substantive wire fraud. The organizational defendants are subject to a maximum fine on each count of conviction of $500,000 or twice the gross amount of gain or loss resulting from the offense. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. The U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General is investigating the case with assistance provided by HSI and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Trial Attorneys Frank Rangoussis and John-Alex Romano of the Criminal Divisions Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandro V. Pascual IV of the Southern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. United Methodist evangelicals growing amid UMC decline Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment At the United Methodist Church, moneys tight, factions are readying exits, and social justice takes priority in witness. However, the denominations traditionalists so named for their support for the accuracy and authority of the Bible, especially regarding LGBT marriage and clergy are growing in number and telling others how Jesus saves. The Wesleyan Covenant Association, the largest of the groups forming out of the UMC, champions evangelical beliefs and values. WCA President Keith Boyette tells The Christian Post more than 3,000 churches have affiliated with the association, and the number is steadily climbing, though the next General Conference wont be held until August 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns. Theres been no pause at all for us, Boyette says. Were working vigorously toward a new, theologically conservative, global Methodist church. WCA will not be that church, he adds, as he heads the Transitional Leadership Council attempting to bring together scripturally sound Wesleyans from across the world. The association will act as a midwife in launching the resulting denomination, Boyette states. Birth pangs are coming for others as well, with the Liberation Methodist Church proposed by a progressive faction meeting in Dallas, Texas. That wing would be interested in intersectionality and be trauma-informed on racial and sexual diversity issues, and champion people of color and LGBT individuals in leadership, per notes from working groups at the convention. The churn in factions led the UMC to plan a 26% cut in its budget even before the General Conference hotels cancellation of reservations this spring forced a delay in the meeting. Giving has been down across the board both before and after the virus outbreak, with some conferences having to lay off personnel or reduce their hours. Forestalling worse news has been the federal Paycheck Protection Program, in which nearly three-fourths of UMC conferences have participated. More than 750 United Methodist organizations have received PPP funds ranging from $150,000 to $5 million, according to an analysis by the denominations news service. American UMC members account for 99% of the budget for churchwide ministries, it also states. In the United States, UMC membership has dropped, with Caucasians responsible for most of the loss and racial minorities showing a slight increase in numbers. Traditionalists decrying a lack of respect for Scripture have lamented that United Methodist evangelism lately has consisted mainly of spreading the social gospel of good works rather than the spiritual freedom of The Great Commission. In more than 18 months, only a couple stories of well over a thousand on the daily UM News feed have reported people accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Social justice is important the transformation in us never ends but the first step is beginning a relationship with Christ, says the Rev. Thacker Haynes, senior pastor of the United Methodist churches in rural McLean and Heald, Texas. As chaplain for the Clarendon College rodeo team, hes annually led several to the Lord and baptism for more than a decade, with 14 at an event last year. Some of these students havent moved on to a four-year college, and weve seen their lives change dramatically since they were baptized, he told CP. Haynes describes his churches members as 97% conservative. He says they likely will become part of a new evangelical Wesleyan denomination or go independent of any affiliation. Other congregations cant wait. Northside United Methodist Church in Jackson, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly this year to leave the denomination and change its name to Northside Church. It will join the Free Methodist Church, a small Holiness body headquartered in Indianapolis. As the UMC has become so divided and is heading toward a split, we simply decided that God is calling us to remove ourselves from the ongoing conflict and focus on Christs mission for us to share Gods love with all people and lead people to be followers of Jesus Christ, Senior Pastor Don Thrasher wrote in a news release. We are a people with a deep love for Scripture and the long-held biblical traditions of the church. The Wesleyan Covenant Associations Boyette recommends that, if possible, evangelical UMC churches wait on departing until next years General Conference, which he believes will approve legislation allowing them to keep their property and receive a share of $25 million in reserves. He says congregations leaving early have been paying anywhere from six to seven figures in exit fees to the UMC, which rarely allows a speedy conclusion and sometimes wont allow them to keep their real estate or other assets. Well have everything but the light switch turned on with the new denomination when that General Conference convenes, Boyette quips. Churches can save time and money by joining that biblically based body after the vote on the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation, known widely in the UMC as The Protocol. (@ChaudhryMAli88) The Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) leaders has begun a meeting in Indonesia on Saturday to seek a solution to the Myanmar crisis, which has killed more than 700 people since the Feb. 1 military coup JAKARTA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2021 ) :The Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) leaders has begun a meeting in Indonesia on Saturday to seek a solution to the Myanmar crisis, which has killed more than 700 people since the Feb. 1 military coup. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah from Brunei Darussalam, the current chair of the regional bloc, is presiding over the meeting at the office of ASEAN Secretariat in Indonesian capital Jakarta. Saturday's meeting "consists of three segments, namely ASEAN community development, ASEAN external relations, and regional and international issues," the Indonesian presidency said in a statement. Among the participants of the meeting are the bloc's Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi and Myanmar's junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, as well as Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, Philippines Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin Jr. , Laos Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen are also attending the meeting. On Friday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the meeting was an initiative of the host country and a follow-up to Widodo's talks with Hassanal last month. At least 745 people have been killed in a military crackdown against anti-coup protesters in Myanmar, according to the latest figures released by a rights watchdog. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said in a daily briefing late Friday that 3,371 people are in detention, 79 have been convicted and arrest warrants have been issued for at least 1,118 others. The violence has continued despite the ASEAN leaders' gathering to discuss the evolving situation. Around 200 protesters gathered in Almaty on April 24 for an unsanctioned rally to oppose a draft law on land ownership that they say poses a threat to Kazakh sovereignty and national security. Rallies were planned in other cities, too, but many of the organizers abandoned the protests after authorities blocked permits to gather, citing COVID-19 risks. The Kazakh parliaments lower chamber, the Mazhilis, earlier this month approved the first reading of a bill banning the purchase and rental of farmland by foreigners in the Central Asian nation ahead of the expiration of a moratorium on land sales this summer. The five-year moratorium was introduced in 2016 after thousands demonstrated in unprecedented rallies across the tightly controlled nation, protesting the governments plan to attract foreign investment into the agriculture sector by opening up the market. Agriculture Minister Saparkhan Omarov said at a session of parliament on April 7 that current agreements on farmlands rented by some foreign companies or joint ventures with foreign capital will expire in the 2022-25 period and will not be extended. The move comes after President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev proposed the ban in late February. The protests stopped after the government withdrew the plan, but two men who organized the largest rally in the western city of Atyrau, Talghat Ayan and Maks Boqaev, were sentenced to five years in prison each after being found guilty of inciting social discord, knowingly spreading false information, and violating the law on public assembly. The Turkish government, as well as human rights activists and ethnic Armenians, gave a muted response to the news, which leaked days in advance, describing the move as largely symbolic. Later on Saturday, the countrys foreign minister summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest the declaration, state media reported. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly denied that the killings amounted to genocide, had lobbied hard to prevent the announcement, mounting a conference and media campaigns before the anniversary on Saturday. But in a call on Friday, Mr. Biden told Mr. Erdogan directly that he would be declaring the massacre an act of genocide, according to a person familiar with the discussion who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose details of the conversation. A summary of the call provided by the White House said only that the pair had agreed to an effective management of disagreements. The Turkish presidency said in a statement that both leaders agreed on the importance of working together. They are scheduled to meet at a summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in June. In his statement on Saturday, Mr. Biden acknowledged the Armenians who were forced to rebuild their lives. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. The new Russian manned spacecraft Oryol (Eagle), formerly known as the Federatsiya, will make its first flight not to the International Space Station (ISS), but to the future Russian orbital station, the head of Russian state space agency Roscosmos said on Friday SAMARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) The new Russian manned spacecraft Oryol (Eagle), formerly known as the Federatsiya, will make its first flight not to the International Space Station (ISS), but to the future Russian orbital station, the head of Russian state space agency Roscosmos said on Friday. In 2023, an unmanned Oryol mission to the near-Earth orbit is planned, while the spacecraft's first manned flight from the Vostochny cosmodrome is scheduled for 2025. The Oryol lunar missions are expected to start in 2028-2030. "We are planning the launch of our new manned spacecraft Oryol in 2025. It was supposed to fly to the ISS. Yesterday I met with cosmonauts, gathered everyone. And now we are considering the possibility of changing the flight mission, that is, not flying to the ISS, but to our new Russian station," Dmitry Rogozin said. The Oryol spacecraft was developed for deep space missions, primarily in lunar orbit, and may serve as a potential replacement for Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. WA Premier Mark McGowan prepares to speak to media on Friday. Credit:Getty On Saturday, Western Australia recorded a second community case of the virus linked to one of the exposure sites identified by state health authorities. The person went to get tested for COVID-19 after realising they had been in one of the locations visited by the Victorian man and his Perth friend while they were both infectious. The three family members of the Victorian man, who has been moved to hotel quarantine at his own request, tested negative. Forty-nine passengers from the positive cases plane into Melbourne had tested negative by Saturday afternoon. The state government also sent texts to almost 5500 people who have entered Victoria from Perth since April 17 instructing them to get tested and self-isolate for 14 days. This month, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation issued advice preferencing the Pfizer vaccine for those aged 49 and under. But experts say it is right to continue to vaccinate people aged over 50, with the ever-present threat of new coronavirus outbreaks and large supplies of the alternative Pfizer vaccine not expected to arrive until late in the year. The Therapeutic Goods Administration also says there is emerging evidence suggesting the risk of thrombosis (blood clots) with thrombocytopenia (very low platelets) following the AstraZeneca jab is lower in this older age group an assertion backed by experts. The risk posed by COVID-19 also increased as people aged, said Professor Paul Monagle, a paediatric haematologist at the University of Melbourne. Almost one in every 10 Australian aged in their 70s who contracted coronavirus died. The rate rose to almost 30 per cent for those in their 80s and about 40 per cent for those aged 90 and above. There were 882 deaths in Australia in those aged 70 and over, mostly during Victorias second wave. As we have seen this week, we are only ever a little bit away from having COVID in our community, said Professor Monagle. Infectious diseases expert Ben Cowie, who is leading Victorias vaccine rollout, told The Sunday Age authorities were balancing the risk of a very serious but incredibly rare vaccine side effect, with the threat that people could fall sick and die in a third wave of the virus in Victoria. People have questions and theyve got concerns and thats totally OK, he said. Professor Cowie said each of the states six vaccine hubs had space to safely administer at least 2000 shots a day, but extensive work, including bolstering staff numbers, would be required for the hubs to hit tens of thousands doses a week. It comes down to vaccine supply and the workforce that we need to mobilise to actually make that happen, Professor Cowie said. But, with the real estate we have ... weve got the space and the design is able to scale up significantly more than where we are. Dr Jose Perdomo, a senior research officer in the Haematology Research Unit at the St George and Sutherland Clinical School at UNSW, said even though older people had also developed thrombosis with thrombocytopenia, they were also getting this vaccine in much higher numbers. Loading In most places initially, that is how vaccination has started, with the vulnerable and older populations, Dr Perdomo said. The only younger people were those working in risky professions or the health system. About 800,000 Victorians are over 70 and a total of 2.2 million people, or one-third of Victoria, will be eligible on May 3 when walk-in vaccinations open to those over 50. If youre over the age of 50, Id really like you to be planning on how youre going to do your vaccination now, Mr Weimar said. It is so, so important that people now take up this opportunity to get vaccinated. It is the only way we get out of this pandemic, it is the only way we can move beyond these kinds of outbreaks and the kind of restrictions that people in WA are now having to live with. Mr Weimar said he was confident Victoria was on top of any impacts of the Perth outbreak and would not need restrictions beyond the decision to block travel from the red zone of Perth from Friday night. Loading A Health Department message to students and parents at Caulfield South primary school late on Friday to self-isolate was reversed by Saturday afternoon after two students who were on the same flight as the positive case tested negative. Meanwhile, AFL confirmed the Anzac Day blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon will proceed as planned at the MCG despite all Collingwood players getting tested on Saturday because they played in Perth last Friday. Heres a followup to a story we reported over the summer: the sorry state of the new benches on the Pike/Allen Street pedestrian mall. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver had sent a letter to the Parks Department, urging the replacement of the wooden slats in the benches, which had either been broken or removed. The other night, during a community board meeting, Parks Department staff members said theyre working on repairing the benches. Heres what an agency spokesperson told us yesterday about the situation. Apparently there was a problem with the treatment process used on the wood slats. The contractors responsible for the job have agreed to fix the benches without passing on any additional costs to the city. The replacement slats will be made from wood supplied by a different vendor. Once they are approved for exceeding the strength requirements, the spokesperson said, the new slats will be manufactured and installed during the winter. Five blocks of the Allen and Pike Street malls were renovated using funds from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the Borough President, City Council and city Department of Transportation. The project was budgeted at $6.45 million. Trocom Construction was the contractor. Soheil Mosun was the bench manufacturer. Several neighborhood groups, including the Lower East Side BID, Hester Street Collaborative and Asian Americans for Equality advocated for the beautification project and led a local visioning process for the refurbished pedestrian islands. Only five of 13 blocks were funded, so most of the overall project remains incomplete. In the past, the Parks Department has estimated each block would cost $1 million to renovate. Update Tuesday, April 27: Eugene Police confirmed that Whitley McGrady was arrested Tuesday in the Sacramento area, and the children were found safe. Eugene police arrested Jeremy Cantu the previous day. ---- Three siblings went missing Thursday from Eugene, and authorities think they may be in danger. A 1-year-old boy, a 6-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy are believed to be with their biological parents, Whitley McGrady and Jeremy Cantu of Eugene. Oregon Department of Human Services spokesperson Jake Sunderland said the children were not taken away from their foster home, but declined to say where their parents took them away from. But he said its common for biological parents to have visits with their children while theyre in foster care. The Eugene Police Department said the family is believed to be traveling in a 2002 gold Lexus 300 with license plate No. 988LKA. Police said they think the family may be in Grants Pass or Terry, Montana. Authorities ask anyone with information about the children to call 911. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal The U.S. Department of Education has given New Mexico the green light to take some of the pressure off spring testing this school year. The state Public Education Department announced this week that the feds have approved New Mexicos request to waive accountability requirements normally in place, including testing 95% of all students. (That) means no student, school or district will be graded, rated or ranked based on this years test scores, PED officials wrote in a news release. The state wont have to use this years data to identify schools for extra support and students will take standardized tests to the greatest extent possible. The aim of the testing is to give parents and teachers an insight into learning following a year dominated by remote schooling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ This waiver will allow New Mexico educators to get the student achievement data we need to guide accelerated learning programs without adding stressful consequences at the end of an already stressful school year, Public Education Secretary Ryan Stewart said in a statement. Last year, a federal decision waived testing because of the pandemic. (Reuters) - Iran said on Saturday that it would bar travellers from India over a COVID-19 variant to avert its spread in the already stricken country. Officials, however, did not say if any cases of the variant first identified in India in late March had been detected in Iran, the epicentre of the pandemic in the Middle East. The Indian coronavirus is a new threat we face, President Hassan Rouhani said in remarks broadcast on state TV. The Indian virus is more dangerous than the English and Brazilian variants, he added. All the eastern provinces should make sure people infected with the virus do not cross the borders into the country, Rouhani said. Iran's eastern provinces border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. Visitors can also travel Iran by way of the Gulf. Iran's civil aviation organisation announced on local media that all flights to and from India and Pakistan would be halted from midnight Sunday. Health Minister Saeed Namaki has asked the interior minister to halt the direct and indirect transport of travellers from India, Iranian media reported. Most of Iran, whose coronavirus cases have surpassed 2 million, has been under a lockdown for the past two weeks as it grapples with a fourth wave of the pandemic. The health ministry has reported a daily average of over 20,000 infections. Nearly 70,000 have died. The country's vaccination drive, meanwhile, has been slow going. (dubai.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com) SHANGHAI, April 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A few days ago, IM Motors made its first appearance at Auto Shanghai 2021, showcasing a new plan of "3 new car models + 1 exclusive gift for angel-investment-edition buyers + 1 Customer Share Option Plan", solidifying its place as a leader of AI development and setting the blueprint for future growth within the field of smart driving. During the first day of the exhibition, IM Motors officially unveiled its "Intelligent Luxury Sedan"- the IM L7 model available for pre-order - Angel-investment edition, and the pre-sale price at CNY 408,800. across the world in the field of intelligent electric cars, IM Motors has taken the lead in establishing a new trend of intelligent electric luxury vehicles. At the same time, IM Motors has announced that the first 3,000 pre-sale buyers of the new L7 model will become IM Motors'"Angel Investors".IM benefits exclusive to these users include "Angel Investor Crystals", the"IMAD Intelligent Driving Full Capability Pack with a free lifelong subscription and free lifelong upgrades", a high-quality, customized art brand's gift and a guaranteed free refund within seven days of purchase. The "Angel Investor Crystals" are a part of the CSOP (Customer Share Option Plan) specifically for the Angel Investors. In the AI race for data-driven analysis, this benefit will assist angel investors to reap the benefits from the data more quickly, allowing them to become contemporary partners with IM Motors. Worldwide Pre-sale Price of IM Motors L7 Angel-Investment Edition for CNY 408,800, Four High-level Features Defining Intelligent Luxury Vehicles As IM Motors' flagship car model for leading advanced intelligent vehicles, the L7 operates on the baseline logic of "data determining experience, while software defining vehicles" in the era of AI. It utilizes intelligent driving solutions that include a number of industry-leading technologies, while also blends aesthetics and design concepts of artistic geniuses from around the world, paying tribute to the luxury car brands that set a new standard of industrial craft. A newly constructed intelligent driving system, stunning supercar performance, an exceptional customized driver's seat and 5G social media abilities, are all some of the properties that make this intelligent car luxurious. They completely redefine the expectations of a car in the "Intelligent Era". The IM Motors L7 utilizes leading technology from within the industry, including panoramic-viewing and continuous-driving function, to provide a more efficient and user-friendly feeling, so that users are more comfortable with the shared driving experience. IM Motors L7 innovated the DLP + ISC intelligent lighting system, as well as the world's first super-intelligent car filming system, Carlog, letting 5G users share their driving experiences to the world anytime and anywhere. In terms of the traditional environment-friendly, intelligent, and technological aspects of intelligent cars, IM Motors L7 has taken the next step to create a refined, interesting and exciting AI driving experience for high-end intelligent electric cars users with a new choice for a smart trip. During the Shanghai Auto Show, IM Motors will officially start accepting pre-orders for the L7. Delivery will start at approximately the end of the first quarter of 2022. 3,000 Angel Investors Will Enjoy Exclusive Rewards During the press conference, IM Motors has announced that the first 3,000 customers to order the L7 will become the IM brand "Angel Investors". They will become partners with the IM brand and will be the first set of contributors towards developing our data-driven products and evolving the brand. Therefore, they should not only get to test out the joys in data-driven smart driving, but also should share the benefits when IM Motors brand sustains. IM Motors has arranged for the following benefits for "Angel Investors": Angel Investor Crystals IMAD Intelligent Driving Pack, along with a free life-time subscription and free life-time upgrades a high-quality, customized art brand's gift 7 days free refund IM Care 24/7 Hassle-free Service The Officially-launched CSOPCustomer Share Option Plan, Leading Users to Share the Company's Growth On the first day of the exhibition, IM Motors officially launched the CSOP (Customer Share Option Plan). This plan not only uses high tech methods including zero-knowledge proof, differential privacy, database firewall, etc. to protect users data privacy and security, also genuinely shares the value created by the data with its users. The first 3,000 Angel Investors will receive the "Angel Investor Crystals". After paying for the vehicle and driving at least 5,000 km, Angel Investors can receive a voucher for the next generation of laser radar intelligent driving system. IM Motors will provide Angel Investors with a fully integrated upgrade of the original factory's software and hardware one year after the official launch of the new intelligent driving system. After driving regularly for three years, they can choose to upgrade their car battery to the next generation using the users' data, which will ensure that they can drive at least 800 kilometers at a time. After exchanging data for benefits, leftover data will remain in the user's account. Following the logic of leading the race for development, we are building a co-creative relationship between the company and our users. IM Motors' first appearance at Automobile Shanghai 2021 not only demonstrated the value of the IM Motors L7 luxury smart car experience, but also will usher in a new era of user-specific rights. During Auto Shanghai 2021, starting from April 20th, IM Motors Mini Program or APP will start accepting pre-orders at 10 AM every morning, limited to 200 per day. The first 2,000 Angel Investors will have a quota saved for them. In the data-driven race, join IM Motors as partners in the era of AI! View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/im-motors-is-launching-311-plan-at-auto-shanghai-2021-301276282.html SOURCE IM Motors Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 16:27:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A medical worker performs a B-ultrasonic examination to a local resident on a mobile clinic in Turgen village, Kazakhstan, April 23, 2021. The mobile clinic manufactured by a Chinese company arrived on Friday at Turgen for the first stop and then it will reach some remote areas. (Photo by Kalizhan Ospanov/Xinhua) The Aba River, popularly known as Waterside, is located in the valley between Eziama community and Ogbor Ancient Kingdom now called Ogbor-Hill, along Ikot Ekpene Road in Aba North Local Government Area of Abia State. It flows from a place called Ohuru Isimiri in Obingwa Local Government Area of the state across many communities and continues to the famous Azumini Blue River in Ndoki, Ukwa East LGA of Abia State and terminates at the Opobo River, in Rivers State. Residents, many who used the rivers resources in the past, said it flourished with aquatic lives and was the source of drinking water and other domestic uses for the people of the communities on its banks in the 1970s until the emergence of different companies that no channel their wastes into the water body. Worse, the presence of a cattle market nicknamed Ahiaudele (market of vultures) which has an abattoir on the banks of the river became another source of pollution to the river. Now, the rivers resources have declined. The people used to drink from this river around the 1970s but since they began to slaughter cows, defecate and urinate in the river with butchers emptying cow dungs and blood into the river, the people stopped drinking from it. Again, The Nigerian Breweries Plc, 7up Bottling Company Plc, and the International Glass Industry all channel their chemical wastes into the river, Amanze Evuka, a 60-year-old commercial tricyclist said. Forty-nine-year-old Chima Fijo and fifty-one-year-old Ogbo Okoro-Agwu do their carwash businesses on the Enyimba Hotels part of the river bank. They corroborated Mr Evukas claim. I used to know waterside as a clean place, but these cow people have already destroyed the waterside, says said Mr Fijo. Its those people killing cows here that are responsible for the bad state of this river, added Mr Okoro-Agwu. Companies channel waste into the river Pepple Nnanna, a businessman who spent his childhood in Aba, described what it used to be like. When I was younger, we used to go to the waterside, we made use of the water, we used to cook and drink from the water. But presently, we no longer do that because of the environmental wastes from the Nigerian Breweries and other small-scale industries around, most of who directed their wastes to the waterside. Mr Nnanna mentioned 7UP Bottling Company Plc as one of the companies that push their industrial wastes to the waterside: If you go along that road (pointing towards Umuoba Road) youd see their drainage that runs 24hrs waste to the water, even with the residents around, youd see them channelling their domestic waste to the waterside too some dont even have soakaways (septic tanks), he said. Along Umuoba Road is the waste pipe belonging to the 7UP Bottling Company. It runs straight into the river through a compound opposite St. Ambrose Catholic Church where a 46-year-old Oswald Cookie-Arm lives. Mr Cookie-Arm is originally from Rivers State but was born in Aba and has lived in that compound since his childhood. We used to drink water from the river when were still little, he said. Thats where we fetched our water for drinking, bathing, washing of cloths and other things; but thats when it was not polluted by this gutter here (pointing at a flowing drainage) from 7UP Bottling Company, he said. Asked where they now source their water, he pointed at a borehole whose taps were projected near the gutter. Thats our source of water now, he said. ADVERTISEMENT In the company of Mr Oswald, I journeyed on a canoe to the point where the company channeled its waste to the river. The terminal point of the gutter built by the 7UP Bottling Company turned out to be an eyesore of assorted kinds of dirt. We continued our trekking along a winding pathway into compounds and continued on a bush path till we got to the river bank where we saw some women washing clothes on the bank of the river. Right inside the river were young boys swimming. The river was largely overtaken by weeds leaving a small space for the canoe ride as both sides of the river length were a close made by the weeds. Nigerian Breweries, Unilever also culpable Soon, I, with my entourage, went in search of other waste channels from the other companies mentioned. Behind and inside the cattle market, just after the bridge, are discharge channels belonging to both Unilever Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc. But accessing the area nearly got me into trouble except for the quick intervention of my new-found friends, Yusuf Mohammed and Abdullaziz Adamu. I had to settle some hemp-smoking young men to be allowed entry into the area already demarcated with a wooden fence. I was told that not even security operatives were allowed to access that place which I was later told is a den of hoodlums and kidnappers. One after another, they came and inquired from my friends in hush tones, why I was there; and on seeing my camera, one of them made attempts to grab it but was resisted by Messrs Yusuf and Abdullaziz. It was a vast area of serene greenery but a safe habitat for rogues there laid out-of-use pipes which I was told, belonged to the then Lever Brothers Plc, now Unilever Plc. They were used to flush chemical waste into the river before the company left Aba. This was according to Uche Akpan, one of the young men that we met in that secluded area. These pipes belonged to the Lever Brothers, whenever theyre in production their waste water usually runs through these pipes straight into the river, sometimes it affects some fish and they die. I feel that the chemicals are responsible for that; and even we that bathe in the river, after bathing, we do experience itches on our body, said Mr Akpan. Mr Yusuf who spoke in Hausa added, Honestly, this river causes us to sick because when we bathe in it we always have rashes all over our body because of the chemicals being flushed into the river. There used to be fishes in the river and we used to catch them but the chemicals have killed them all. Before now, it was Lever Brothers that made use of these pipes but they have stopped. At present, its the Nigerian Breweries that flushes theirs into the river; lets go there and I will show you the pipe. Searching further, we found the waste channel point belonging to the Nigerian Breweries Plc; it passes into the river with a local eatery by the side. Speaking also in Hausa, Mr Abdullaziz, pointing to the gutter, described what the wastes look like whenever they are flushed into the river. Ive known this place for the past four years now, as it is now, theyve not released the water, when they do, it usually goes higher than this, and some of the substances that appear on the surface of the water are usually oily and boiling, and those are the chemicals. Even at that, the environment is dirty and heres a local eatery they should be careful because germs could fly from this gutter into the food and it becomes a problem. From my findings, the people of Ogbor and Eziama communities jointly instituted a lawsuit against one of the companies the Nigerian Breweries Plc, over the pollution of the river through the discharge of its effluent wastes into the river. The authorities of the two communities declined comments when approached on this matter. They said the matter was already in court, hence they would not comment. I made efforts to have an audience with the management of the Nigerian Breweries in Aba. On the first day of my visit, I was asked to return the following day. After some days efforts, I met with Chukwuemeka Aniukwu, Nigerian Breweries Corporate Affairs Manager-South but he wont speak until he gets a clearance from Lagos. An appointment was fixed for another day. Subsequent calls and text messages seeking the confirmation of a new appointment with Mr. Aniukwu were neither answered nor responded to as of the time of this report. I paid a visit to 7UP Bottling Company, and the story was the same, I was asked to write to Lagos for clearance before I could have anyone speak to me. Contaminated river To ascertain the level of pollution the river has been subjected to, water was scooped from the river for analysis in the laboratory. Raphael Kalu is a chemical pathologist and public health analyst at Vineyard Medical Diagnostic Laboratories located on Okigwe Road, Aba. I contracted him to do the water analysis and in one weeks time, I returned for the results. The result indicated the following: Isolated Escherichia Coli bacteria a human gastrointestinal bacteria Enta amoeba histolytica an intestinal amoeba High acidity level of 5.8 Chloride values of 14.3mm 1/L Calcium values of 7.5mg idl Potassium values of 0.17mm 1/L Sodium level of 123mm 1/L Explaining these terms, the chemical pathologist expressed surprise that despite the flowing nature of the river, there was a high presence of the two microbial: Escherichia Coli bacteria and Enta amoeba histolytica in the water which suggested a serious implication of human faeces pollution of the water. Its even surprising to find these microbials in the water since its a flowing river, it would have been okay if the river was stagnant but to find this level of GIT in the flowing water means that theres a point at which human faeces is deposited inside the water, he said. Mr Kalu explained that the presence of the other chemicals found in the water which necessitated its high-level acidity is a result of the effluent wastes from the industries. We suspect industrial effluents being discharged in the water, normally, natural water cannot come at this levels of high acidity. So, there is proof of an external influence which is increasing the acidity of this water, the chemical expert concluded as he declared the water totally unfit for human use. MOUNTAIN OF SOOTY FUMES Standing on the old, cranky Aba River Bridge that has for long yearned for the governments attention provides one with a clear view of the mountains of fumes billowing into the skies from both sides of the river, covering the atmosphere with soot. Unhindered open burnings whose fumes billow into the air with direct negative effects on the layers of the atmosphere especially, the ozone layer, and thus contributing to the reality of the much talked about global warming or climate change, through greenhouse emissions are a common sights in the area. The once beautiful Aba River ought to have become a tourists attraction a reason the administration of the Late Sam Mbakwe, a former governor of the Old Imo State, built the now abandoned Enyimba Hotels by the river bank. But who finds pleasure in a hotel on a river bank that on a daily basis, gulps huge volumes of sooty fumes? The sooty fumes rise daily from the rubbles of burnt vehicular tyres used as fuel to roast hides and skins known in local parlance as kanda or ponmo, by butchers at the cattle market and abattoir located just on the hotel side of the river bank. Aside from the negative impacts the fumes have on human beings and the atmosphere, the Aba River that once flourished with aquatic life has become barren the fish and other aquatic creatures are all gone no thanks to the industries that discharge toxic effluent wastes into the river. I spoke to a physician, Ugochukwu Okoro, who condemned the use of tyres to roast cow hides. He said the consumption of hides roasted with tyres was highly dangerous to human health as it affects vital organs of the human body and could destroy the motor cells of the nerves. They dont just endanger human lives with roasting those hides with used tyres, they pollute the water and the atmosphere with the blood, cow dungs and the smokes that go into the atmosphere. There should be a government action to end this attack on human life and the environment, said the public health expert. We are aware Abia Government John Kalu, a clinical biochemist, is the Commissioner for Information, Abia State. He said the state government is aware of all these developments and is doing something about them. He discouraged the residents from drinking water from the river stating that the government would conclude the greater Aba Water Scheme before the end of the year. Concurrently, we are working hard to relocate those at the abattoir around waterside Aba, weve located a place in Ukwa West and active work is going on there, as soon as were done with the work were doing, the abattoir will definitely be relocated. On the activities of the industries, the commissioner advised them to always ensure that their effluent waters were well treated. What were saying is that they must evolve to the level where theyre able to treat those effluent water before they get to the river. As has been established, it is highly unsafe to consume these hides roasted with used tyres and washed in a highly contaminated River like the Waterside. It has also been established that there are multiple contributing factors to the pollution of the Aba River which is now highly unsafe for human use. However, putting all these highlighted dangers to check and restoring the glory of the Aba River has become a litmus test to the government of Abia State. This report was produced with support from the Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) through funding support from the Ford Foundation. Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table has released "the way forward" for the province to strategically manage the COVID-19 pandemic, with a list of six things that will reduce COVID-19 transmission, protect the health system, and allow the province to re-open safely, while outlining three policy considerations that will not be effective. One of the things the advisory table says "won't work" has been a big discussion in Ontario recently - outdoor activity. "Policies that discourage safe outdoor activity will not control COVID-19 and will disproportionately harm children and those who do not have access to their own greenspace, especially those living in crowded conditions," the information reads. This comes after the Ontario government rolled back a restriction on playgrounds across the province on Saturday. Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table called out that COVID-19 policies that "harm or neglect racialized, marginalized and other vulnerable populations," will not be effective as the pandemic is disproportionately impacting people in these communities. Additionally, the advisory tables states that "inconsistent policies with no clear link to scientific evidence are ineffective in fighting COVID-19." What will work to fight COVID-19 in Ontario? There are six specific points that the Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table have outlined as things that will actually help fight virus in the province. The six items are: Essential workplaces, only: Only "truly essential" indoor workplaces should be open while "strictly enforcing COVID-19 safety measures," including mandatory mask wearing indoors and when in close contact with others outdoors. Paying essential workers to stay home when they are sick, exposed or need time to get vaccinated: The advisory table indicates that many individuals who go to work when sick or after being exposed to COVID-19 do so because they "have no choice," they need to pay their rent and feed their families, but the federal Canada recovery sickness benefit (CRSB) "does not provide enough financial support." An emergency benefit needs to be accessible and available for essential worker who have been exposed, need to get tested or vaccinated. Accelerating the vaccination of essential workers and those who live in hot spots: Ontarians in hotspot neighbourhoods, vulnerable populations, and essential workers should be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccines, and vaccinations should be promoted with "more intensive and effective on-the-ground community outreach." Limiting mobility: The advisory table stressed that COVID-19 "is not a single pandemic" as different areas are experiencing different problems, and movement between regions creates a risk for new hotspots. Focusing on public health guidance that works: People in Ontario cannot gather indoors with people from another household but they can spend time together outdoors, two-metres apart, wearing masks and while keeping hands clean. Keeping people safely connected: Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table recognizes that "maintaining social connections and outdoor activity" are important, and has advised that small groups of people from different households can meet outside with masking and two-metre physical distancing. "There is no trade-off between economic, social and health priorities in the midst of a pandemic that is out of control," the information from Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table reads. "The fastest way back to work and to all the other things that make life in Ontario great is to get this disease under control as quickly as we can, together." Story continues The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) has also stated its support and endorsement of the six recommendations from the Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, calling on the provincial government to implement this strategy. "People are dying and being hospitalized at staggering rates, but those rates are not equal among all Ontarians," a statement from OMA president, Dr. Samantha Hill, reads. "We call on the government to implement immediately all of the solutions proposed by the Science Advisory Table to stop the virus from transmitting in our workplaces and hotspot neighbourhoods." "Failure to do so allows the virus to continue to spread. Failure to do so allows more Ontarians to fall ill, need hospitalization and die. Failure to do so risks doctors' ability to care for any of us." Press Release April 24, 2021 Lacson: Parlade's 'Loose Lips' Dragging NTF-ELCAC into Trouble More at: https://pinglacson.net/2021/04/24/lacson-parlades-loose-lips-dragging-ntf-elcac-into-trouble/ No thanks to the "loose lips" of its spokesperson, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) may find its budget for 2022 in deep trouble, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said Saturday. Lacson said that while he believes the NTF-ELCAC is doing well in terms of developing areas cleared of the New People's Army, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.'s recent political statements threaten to take away those gains. "The Armed Forces of the Philippines must remain apolitical. Otherwise, the constitutional balance among institutions is skewed and democratic governance is disturbed and even threatened. Lt. Gen. Parlade should just focus on ending insurgency and fighting terrorism. When he retires, he can debate all he wants on political issues," Lacson said. "Because of his commentaries, the NTF-ELCAC is dragged into controversies. Nauuna ang bibig niya sa kanyang ginagawa. Yan ang danger, kasi nakakagulo na. Instead of helping, his loose lips threaten to drag the NTF-ELCAC into the mess," he added, in an interview on DWIZ radio. Lacson said the only consolation is that Parlade's attitude - where he even verbally attacked senators for questioning his statements - does not represent the other members of the armed forces. "If there is any consolation to the senators of this benighted land, arrogance and idiocy will never be doctrinal among the active members of the noble profession of arms," he said on his Twitter account. Lacson said one option for the Senate is to send a strong message to the defense establishment by denying the NTF-ELCAC a budget for 2022 if Parlade is retained as spokesperson. He pointed out that the Senate defense committee, which he chairs, had recommended that Parlade be relieved as NTF-ELCAC spokesperson because the Constitution bars active military officers from assuming posts in civilian bodies like NTF-ELCAC. But the defense establishment ignored this recommendation, he noted. "There is a consensus among senators in the minority and majority, to send a message to the defense establishment that cooperation is a two-way street. They cannot just keep asking without giving back," he said. "Why do they tolerate him? Will they sacrifice the entire establishment just because of one of its officers' loose lips?" he added. Lacson said it would be best if Parlade resigned as NTF-ELCAC spokesperson and "focus on fighting insurgency and terrorism in his remaining months in the military service" as it is "not his mandate as a military man to dabble in politics." He pointed out that if Parlade has evidence that organizers of some community pantries have ties to rebels, he should have quietly gathered evidence and filed charges first before making accusations in public. "If he thinks he has basis to charge organizers of the community pantries with rebellion or even terrorism, he should review the appropriate laws and gather evidence, then file the charges," he said. "Sobrang madada. Hindi na enthusiasm yan," he added. DUNMORE Litterbugs beware. Citing increased reports of rubbish on the sides of area roads, officials from the state police and state Department of Transportation met Friday at PennDOTs district office in Dunmore to issue a warning to those who would toss their garbage out of the window: it could cost you time and money. Keep that trash in your car, said Trooper First Class Bob Urban, a spokesman for the Dunmore-based Troop R. I dont know if people got more lazy during the pandemic when it comes to garbage or anything, but theres definitely more out there. So hopefully today with this press conference, we could drive that home, that were going to be looking, were going to enforce it. Littering generally carries penalties, but drivers who chuck their trash in anything other than a garbage can can expect steeper fines and to spend time performing community service if they do so on specific roads called litter enforcement corridors. Established in June 2018, penalties for convictions on littering and illegal dumping in such a corridor include up to $1,800 in fines and up to 30 hours of community service, Urban said. The Casey Highway, beginning near the Keystone Sanitary Landfill, is such a corridor in Lackawanna County. The bill signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf that established the enhanced penalties designated all scenic highways, including the Casey Highway, as enforcement corridors. Trash snagged on trees lining the sides of the highway near the landfill blew in the wind Friday. Last month, the landfill notified the state Department of Environmental Protection that a torrent of plastic bags escaped through a damaged litter fence. The landfill dispatched 14 employees to clean it up. Asked if litter from the landfill may factor in, Urban noted that they have barriers in place but a lot of times things cant be controlled, whether its wind or acts of God. People who dump their trash intentionally should be wary. A lot of times people, its just second nature, they dont even think anything of it, Urban said. They think theres nobody watching. They flick that cigarette butt out the window, they throw that paper out the window. Nine times out of 10, you know, probably we dont see it, unfortunately. But were out there looking all the time for that and well be enforcing it. Other enforcement corridors in the area include a stretch of Route 6 near Tunkhannock and part of Route 92 in northern Susquehanna County, according to PennDOT. PennDOT District Executive Rich Roman said additional roads can be designated as enforcement corridors. Illegal Dump Free PA, an advocacy initiative launched by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, said counties or municipalities can designate a local route within their borders and PennDOT can designate a state route. Municipalities can petition PennDOT to designate a state route. Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, who attended Fridays news conference, floated the possibility of a study to see where in the city such a corridor could be designated. Main Avenue in West Side could be one road that they might tackle, as well as areas in the citys downtown, she said. Roman said reducing litter doesnt have to be a difficult process. Simply carry a garbage bag in your vehicle. We just implore people to be educated about littering and to simply not do it, he said. Wait to get to your destination, wait to get to your location, then dispose of your garbage appropriately. Western Australia has recorded a second coronavirus case in the community linked to one of the exposure sites identified by the health authorities in relation to the Mercure Hotel cluster. The man, aged in his 40s, dined at Kitchen Inn in Kardinya at the same time as a COVID-positive Victorian man and his friend were at the popular Malaysian restaurant on April 18. The man was tested for COVID on Friday and returned a positive result on Saturday. Credit:Getty Authorities said the man got tested for the virus at one of the states COVID clinics on Friday after realising they had been at one of the locations released by the Department of Health. In light of the latest positive test, the state government has tightened quarantine rules for anyone who dined at six restaurants attended by the confirmed cases. New Delhi, April 24 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday administered oath of office to 48th Chief Justice of India Justice N.V. Ramana in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu and other dignitaries at Rashtrapati Bhavan. As the Chief Justice of India, Justice Ramana will have a term till August 26, 2022. Before his elevation to the Supreme Court on February 17, 2014, Justice Ramana was the chief justice of the Delhi High Court. Justice Ramana was appointed as judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2000. He has also been the acting Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh high Court. On April 6, the President had signed on the appointment of Justice N.V. Ramana as the next Chief Justice of India. Justice Ramana took over as Chief Justice after the retirement of Justice S.A. Bobde on April 23. In October 2020, a huge controversy had erupted as the Andhra Pradesh chief minister had written to the then Chief Justice alleging state's High Court was being used to "destabilize and topple his democratically elected government". The letter alleged that Justice Ramana was trying to control the High Court and also trying to influence cases, which impact the state government. However, an in-house inquiry did not find any merit in these allegations. Justice Ramana has presided over several high-profile cases in the top court. In March last year, Justice Ramana headed five-judge Constitution bench which declined to refer to a larger seven-judge bench a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre's decision to revoke provisions of Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. In Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India, January last year, Justice Ramana expounded on the nature of fundamental rights and declared that the right to freedom of speech and expression over the internet is a fundamental right. This judgment ensured the eventual return of internet in the Kashmir Valley. In Foundation for Media Professionals v. State (UT OF J&K) matter, where petitioners sought high-speed internet, Justice Ramana headed bench which balanced the fundamental rights and the concerns of the state security and appointed a special committee to ensure that restrictions, if required, are narrowly tailored and not permanent in nature. Justice Ramana also headed a three-judge bench which dealt with the legal questions emerging from the resignation of 17 rebel MLAs of Congress and JDS of Karnataka. Justice Ramana headed bench, also ordered expediting trial in pending cases against former and sitting MPs and MLAs. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text BANGKOK (Reuters) - Myanmar's military fired warning shots above a civilian boat carrying Thai border patrol officers amid heightened tensions in border areas since the junta seized power, but Thailand said on Saturday the incident was a misunderstanding. Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said the warning shots on Thursday were used to signal boats for inspection due to the lack of official coordination method on the section of the Salween River where Thailand and Myanmar shared a border. "Its a misunderstanding, the Thai border patrol police hired a villagers' boat to carry things and they were not wearing their uniforms," Tanee said. "The Myanmar checkpoint saw the boat pass by without being inspected so they fired shots into the air to signal inspection and now both sides have spoken and come to an understanding with each other," he said. Thursday's shooting took place near the Thai village of Tha Ta Fung in Mae Hong Son province, near where thousands of ethnic Karen from Myanmar fled military air strikes last month. Thailand prevented most from entering its territory and tens of thousands are sheltering in the jungle on the Myanmar side. Humanitarian groups say Myanmar forces have also opened fire on boats carrying aid to the displaced in recent weeks. A spokesman for Myanmars junta, which seized power nearly three months ago, did not answer phone calls seeking comment on the incident. The Thai Ministry of Defence said all agencies under the ministry and the armed forces had been instructed to "be ready to handle problems and the impact from the violent situation and fighting in border areas." The two security sources said no one was injured in the shooting at the boat, which had hoisted the Thai flag. "The Myanmar military unit was concerned about boats sending supplies to their opponents on the other side so they signalled the boat for inspection," one of the sources told Reuters, adding that Myanmar officers had searched the vessel. Story continues Jumi, 49, a restaurant owner in the area, said the shots were fired into the water beside the boat on the Salween river. "People are very frightened by these shootings and they dont want to take their boats out," she said. The military has attempted to crush protests across Myanmar against its Feb. 1 coup, killing hundreds and fighting with ethnic groups along the border has also escalated. Southeast Asian leaders, including Myanmars junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, are meeting in Indonesia on Saturday for talks on the crisis, which analysts fear could turn into an all-out civil war. Some of Myanmars myriad ethnic armed groups, including the Karen National Union (KNU), which controls territory on the Thai border, have vowed to back the protesters and help overturn the coup. Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the KNU's head of foreign affairs, said in a message the shooting showed Myanmars military was "very aggressive and arrogant". (Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um. Editing by Poppy McPherson, Ed Davies and Michael Perry) Texas is still grasping the full scope of suffering inflicted by Februarys arctic storm. Even as the gruesome statistics come into full focus nearly 200 dead, almost 70 percent of ERCOT customers having lost power this unprecedented winter disaster remains a minor calamity in comparison to a worst-case scenario hurricane. One hurricane season, a massive storm will make landfall west of Galveston and unleash havoc unlike anything our region has ever seen. The counterclockwise churn of the tropical maelstrom will drive a 20-foot-plus wall of seawater up the middle of Galveston Bay and into the Houston Ship Channel. Property damage will be in the tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars. Thousands of people will likely die. If weve learned anything from Winter Storm Uri, its that the best time to prepare for disasters is before they happen. Whether frozen bodies or floating corpses, the threat of mass death must spur policymakers to action. Two Houston-area Republicans seem to have learned that lesson. State Sen. Larry Taylor and state Rep. Dennis Paul have filed companion bills in the Texas House and Senate that would establish a special taxing district to construct a system to protect from storm surge, deemed the Ike Dike, along the upper Texas Coast. With a federal $2 trillion infrastructure bill being discussed in Congress, Texas needs to show were serious about building a storm surge barrier if we want to receive robust federal funding. While divisive wedge issues and partisan red meat may grab the headlines, this is the sort of legislative effort that deserves real attention from voters. The companion bills HB 3029 and SB 1160 are a must-pass package if Texas is going to seriously confront one of the major threats facing our state. The Senate has already passed its version and the House bill has earned bipartisan support, including from representatives well inland, such as state Reps. Doc Anderson, R-Waco, and Cody Harris, R-Hillsboro. The San Antonio delegation needs to get on board, too. The stakes could not be higher. The Houston Ship Channel is home to a nexus of oil and gas refineries, chemical plants, storage tanks, pipelines and other facilities critical to international energy markets. The Eagle Ford Shale outside San Antonio specifically relies on this infrastructure. A storm surge would inundate those facilities and leave them useless for weeks, if not months, delivering a blow to the Texas economy and disrupting global systems. Travel through the Port of Houston, the nations busiest port by tonnage, would come to a halt and sever a critical link in the supply chains that serve San Antonio-area businesses. In fact, the citys own economic development promotional documents tout San Antonios access to the Port of Houston. But this is about more than economic issues. Jet fuel and military grade fuel production around Galveston Bay would be shuttered, presenting a threat to national security. And the environmental damage unleashed by a worst-case hurricane would be on the scale of a Texan Chernobyl. Imagine an oil spill at least three times larger than the Exxon-Valdez but its not just crude oil being washed onto Texas lawns. Texas environmental legend Terry ORourke has warned that a storm surge would knock open legions of undocumented chemical storage facilities, resulting in a toxic stew that could transform the region into a sprawling, carcinogenic Superfund site. Downtown Houston could be flooded with deadly chemicals, entire communities could be displaced, and Galveston Bay would go from the vibrant ecological system that it is to something catastrophic a giant toxic pond, ORourke told Texas Monthly. A threat this large merits massive infrastructure to match, but not everyone is on board. Environmental groups are rightfully cautious about the impact the project would have on the regions ecology. Taxpayer watchdog groups are justifiably suspicious of creating another special taxing district. Their skeptical vigilance is important, but we cannot let past problems paralyze us into inaction.Voters must demand that the Legislature avoid a repeat of the 2011 winter freeze, when reasonable steps that could have saved hundreds of lives were left to die in political debate. Twelve long years have passed since Hurricane Ike. It is just a matter of time until one of these monsters finally strikes. We have to act now, before it is too late. Bill King is a former Houston Chronicle columnist, former mayor of Kemah and emeritus director of the Galveston Bay Foundation. Evan Mintz is a former deputy editor of the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board. Whats new at Jacksonville Public Library: ADULT FICTION Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge: Coming of age in a free Black community in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, Libertie Sampson is all too aware that her purposeful mother, a practicing physician, has a vision for their future together: Libertie is to go to medical school and practice alongside her. Libertie, drawn more to music than science, feels stifled by her mothers choices and is hungry for something else. Is there really only one way to have an autonomous life? ADULT NONFICTION Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives Forever by Kareem Rosser: Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Kareem thought he and his siblings would always be stuck in The Bottom, a community and neighborhood devastated by poverty and violence. Riding their bicycles through Phillys Fairmount Park, Kareems brothers discover a barn full of horses. Noticing the brothers fascination with her misfit animals, Lezlie Hiner, founder of The Work to Ride stables, offers them their escape: an after-school job in exchange for riding lessons. What starts as an accidental discovery turns into a love for horseback riding that leads the Rossers to discover their passion for polo. DVD Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World: This documentary explores the promise of open-source investigation, taking viewers inside the exclusive world of the citizen investigative journalist collective known as Bellingcat. In cases ranging from the MH17 disaster to the poisoning of a Russian spy in the United Kingdom, the Bellingcat teams quest for truth will shed light on the fight for journalistic integrity in the era of fake news and alternative facts. CHILDRENS PICTURE BOOK Anonymouse by Vikki VanSickle: Art for the birds. Art for the ants. Art for the dogs, cats and raccoons. Art to make them laugh, think and feel more at home. But who is creating it? Only Anonymouse knows for sure! CHILDRENS PICTURE BOOK Can I Sit With You? by Sarah Jacoby: What happens when a lonely girl meets a devoted dog? Everything. Fall in love with this tender, lyrical exploration of compassionate empathy, deep understanding and everlasting love. Did you know? In-person Story Time has returned to Jacksonville Public Library. In April, Story Time will be at 10 a.m. each Wednesday. Beginning in May, an additional Story Time will be at 3 p.m. each Wednesday. All Story Times will be held in the librarys meeting room. Safety guidelines will include wearing a face mask, maintaining a 6-foot social distance and following a 16-person capacity limit. Call 217-243-5435 to reserve your spot. Virtual Story Time also will continue each Wednesday. Karen Reilly-Gaffney from Portarlington is a home-schooling parent. When one of her sons, Kai, turned 16 years old, Karen was eager to find a suitable training course where he could obtain qualifications that would take him further in life. When she discovered the National Learning Network (NLN) Centre Portlaoise, it felt like a perfect fit. Karen takes up the story. It was the way the tutor handled the meeting that determined whether or not Kai would attend. Kai didnt have a positive approach to educational establishments, having previously been taught in three different schools. His experience had been that instead of allowing him the time needed to evolve along his timeline, he felt forced to fit into a box that did not define who he was or his abilities. In NLN, the tutor took the time to talk to Kai, instead of at him, and listened to what he had to say. The combination of academics and life skills was exactly the type of course that a child like Kai needed. It was the understanding of Autistic people that convinced Kai to attend NLN. I think most parents will be pleasantly surprised by whats on offer and the level of support and resources available for young adults. The modules around health and safety, risk assessments and other modules relating to the working environment are invaluable for better understanding of what is expected of an employee or employer but the most important skill Kai has learned to date is regarding social interaction and self-advocacy. Previously, Kai found everyday interactions with people exhausting. Since starting in NLN, not only has Kai become more interested in his classmates and their personal stories, but he has learned that interaction can be a positive thing. He has learned the importance of two-way conversation and is more able to instigate and sustain a conversation. As his Mam, I can honestly say that there has been a huge change in him as a young adult. He has gone from a child that did not feel the need for the company of others, to enjoying the banter of his fellow students in class. He comes home full of chat about his day and what he has learned. In his time at NLN, Kai has been afforded the opportunity to learn and develop at his own pace and in his own way, she says. So How to Apply? Applying couldnt be easier. Why not give us a call on 057 8621263 or come and see us on the Dublin Road and we will explain what you need to do. The application process is very straightforward and you will be linked in with the liaison officer who will guide you through the application process and support you with any additional requirements and support needs. Find out more at the website address www.nln.ie LOS ANGELES (AP) - A new federal report says Alameda County in Northern California violated civil rights by failing to provide proper mental health services, especially in a jail where 19 people have committed suicide since 2014. The report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice focused on prisoners with serious mental health issues, especially in the Santa Rita Jail. The report said the county fails to provide proper services to those with mental health disabilities and too often isolates them. Sheriff's Sgt. Ray Kelly says authorities are working on dealing with those issues. (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press Cardinal Leonardo Sandri held a liturgy at the Pontifical Armenian College in Rome on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In his homily, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches called the Metz Yeghern a stain on humanitys history. Cardinal Sandri recalled the pain inflicted on the Armenian people, who suffered "inhuman violence". He also recalled that the Armenian people gave birth to saints such as Grigor Narekatsi, who enlightened humanity far beyond the borders of Armenia. The cardinal compared the Armenian Genocide to the Holocaust. He said that such tragedies make us ask ourselves where God was. At such moments, he said, Divine Mercy comes to our aid through God's consolation. The Gospel gives us the consolation in considering that the sons and daughters of the Armenian people who fell victim to the extermination of 106 years ago are friends of God, conformed to the selfsame existence of Christ. A patrol group of the An Giang provincial border guard forces do their job. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nam. Vietnam is ramping up border control at its southwestern borders next to Cambodia as the coronavirus crisis deepens inside the neighboring country. Kien Giang Province, which shares a 56 kilometer land border with Cambodia and has a 200 kilometer shoreline, has seen many migrants enter Phu Quoc Island illegally via the sea route recently. The provincial People's Committee said over 103,000 Vietnamese are residing in Cambodia, with around 1,700 living in three Cambodian provinces bordering Kien Giang. Due to its close proximity with Cambodia, the Kien Giang Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control said border control is the foremost priority in the coronavirus fight. A total 48 border stations have been erected in Ha Tien Town, which shares 14 kilometer land border and 26 kilometer shoreline with Cambodia, supported by 24-hour patrols. Nguyen Luu Trung, deputy chairman of Kien Giang Peoples Committee, said disease prevention measures were still in place, but it has since prepared for worst-case scenarios by building field hospitals with up to 500 beds. Ho Chi Minh City's Cho Ray Hospital and Pasteur Institute have been requested by the Ministry of Health to provide medical workers and establish Covid-19 testing labs in Ha Tien and Kien Giang general hospitals too. Cambodia has been suffering a spike in infections following its latest wave in late February. Its caseload had jumped to over 8,800 with 61 deaths as of Saturday. There had been just around 400 infections until last year, but 655 on Friday alone, 446 on Thursday and 303 on Wednesday. The countrys capital, Phnom Penh, and a satellite district went into lockdown on April 15 and declared some districts as "red zones," banning people from leaving their homes except for medical reasons. In An Giang Province, which shares a 100 kilometer land border with Cambodia, there are only two official border gates. But the province has many less-traveled paths, which require provincial authorities to keep their guard up, maintaining 200 border patrols with around 2,000 personnel to keep illegal entrants out. Nguyen Thuong Le, head of An Giang border guard forces, said the province has persuaded 33,000 families living near the border to sign documents to guarantee no illegal entry and exit. Since the beginning of this year, the province has found over 600 people trying to illegally enter the country and have put them all into quarantine. Long An Province, which shares a 130 kilometer border with Cambodia, is currently maintaining 40 border stations and patrols. Since the beginning of this year, authorities discovered over 130 illegal entry and exit cases, 95 of whom were foreigners. Pham Tan Hoa, deputy chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said its border once had 36 border stations, but they encountered challenges when the rainy season came. As such, the province has built an additional 13 stations funded through multiple sources and with land donated by citizens to help patrols with their job, he added. Tay Ninh Province, which shares the longest border with Cambodia of all, at around 240 kilometers, currently has 123 border stations with over 600 personnel on duty. Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, chairman of the provincial People's Committee, said the province has deployed multiple measures to prevent illegal entry and exit, including handing out rewards for those who report illegal entry and exit cases and monitoring motorbike taxi services near the border. Tay Ninh receives and quarantines up to 30 people from Cambodia each day on average, said Ngoc. It has also prepared over 3,000 beds for quarantining, he added. "To make the Covid-19 fight more effective, the province has supported three Cambodian provinces bordering Tay Ninh (Svay Rieng, Tbong Khmun and Prey Veng) with medical equipment using the state budget," he said. In a meeting with leaders from 10 localities bordering Cambodia on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam requested Covid-19 prevention measures to be ramped up to prevent the disease from entering the country. "If those infected manage to enter the community and participate in events with large gatherings, the consequences would be unpredictable," he said. Dam also said the government would prefer Vietnamese abroad to restrict traveling. If one needs to return to Vietnam due to dire circumstances, they would need to declare themselves so authorities could receive and quarantine them, he added. He also agreed that those illegally entering Vietnam need to be dealt with in accordance with the law, while stressing that quarantine measures need to be well-implemented to prevent cross-infection in quarantine zones. Under pandemic prevention protocols, a person entering Vietnam needs to be quarantined for 14 days. Illegal entrants are those sneaking through unmanned paths to evade quarantine. Newsfrom Japan Tokyo, April 24 (Jiji Press)--Internal affairs minister Ryota Takeda has asked local government heads across Japan via email to cooperate to finish COVID-19 vaccinations for elderly people by the end of July, it was learned Saturday. Takeda said in the email that the central government will provide full support for smooth vaccinations by carefully responding to challenges facing local governments. At a press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga indicated that his administration will aim to finish giving two vaccine doses to elderly people by the end of July. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] I'm Winston Gieseke, philanthropy and special sections editor for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, hoping you had a great week. Before we start the weekend, let's take a look at some of today's top headlines from here in the Golden State. Have a friend who wants California news delivered to their inbox for free? Let them know they can sign up via this link. Caitlyn Jenner announces bid for California governor Caitlyn Jenner speaks at the 4th Women's March in Los Angeles on Jan. 18, 2020. Jenner, the transgender icon, reality TV star and former Olympic athlete, has declared her intention to run for California governor in the looming recall race to unseat incumbent Democrat Gavin Newsom. Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic athlete-turned-transgender activist and reality TV star, has declared her intention to run for California governor in the looming recall race to unseat incumbent Democrat Gavin Newsom. On her website launched Friday, Jenner says: "I'm In! California has been my home for nearly 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality. But for the past decade, we have seen the glimmer of the Golden State reduced by one-party rule that places politics over progress and special interests over people. Sacramento needs an honest leader with a clear vision." Jenner, a longtime Republican, in 2018 executed a political about-face, turning against President Donald Trump as result of his response to LGBTQ rights. "Sadly, I was wrong," Jenner said. "The reality is that the trans community is being relentlessly attacked by this president ... He has made trans people into political pawns as he whips up animus against us in an attempt to energize the most right-wing segment of his party ..." However, not everyone is convinced. Equality California slammed Jenner on Twitter Friday over her past support of Trump. "Make no mistake: we can't wait to elect a #trans governor of California. But @Caitlyn_Jenner spent years telling the #LGBTQ+ community to trust Donald Trump. We saw how that turned out. Now she wants us to trust her? Hard pass." Who else is running for California governor? Story continues Here are those who have so far thrown their hat into the race for the California governor spot if the recall race takes place: John Cox: The Republican businessman lost to Newsom in 2018 and is running again. California Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox speaks during campaign stop as Rep. Mimi Walters, R-Calif., looks on, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, in Irvine, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) On his website, Cox said he "has stepped forward to run for governor because he is deeply concerned about the decisions being made in Sacramento today." He said he "will work to reduce the cost of living, create high-paying jobs, and fixing homelessness across our state." Kevin Faulconer: The former San Diego mayor has been barnstorming the state to raise his profile. FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2021, file photo, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer speaks during a news conference in the San Pedro section of Los Angeles. Faulconer is one of the Republican candidates running to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, of California, in a likely recall election in fall 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) Faulconers team says he fits the mold of a Republican who can win in a Democratic state, like Gov. Larry Hogan in Maryland or Charlie Baker in Massachusetts. He was elected mayor twice in San Diego, the eighth-largest city in the country by population and a place where Democrats outnumber Republicans. Doug Ose: The ex-U.S. representative last held office in 2005. Ose previously said he was ready to work across party lines to reopen schools and businesses in a state upended by the coronavirus, while taking on the long-running homelessness crisis. In this Oct. 8, 2014 file photo, former California Rep. Doug Ose speaks in Sacramento. Californians are tired of having a governor whose operating themes are hypocrisy, self-interest, half truths and mediocrity, Ose, 65, said in a statement announcing his candidacy. Newsom tells top oil regulator to phase out new fracking by 2024 While we're on the subject of governors, California's current one on Friday directed the state's top oil regulator, the Geologic Energy Management Division, to immediately begin crafting a regulation to halt new hydraulic fracturing permits by 2024. Newsom also asked the California Air Resources Board to study ways to phase out all oil extraction across the state by no later than 2045. The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day, Newsom said in a written news release. As we move to swiftly decarbonize our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, Ive made it clear I dont see a role for fracking in that future and similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, while a hot-button issue nationally, accounts for between 2% and 20% of California's oil extraction. Just a dozen new fracking permits have been issued statewide this year. The governor's announcement did little to appease critics. A top Newsom administration official said last fall that it was up to the legislature to ban fracking, and Newsom said he wanted to work with them to do it. But environmentalists say he has the authority to issue an executive order to halt drilling, especially near residential areas, at once. CDC panel: Use of Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine should resume Rite Aid pharmacy manger Louie Gironella holds a vile of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a Palm Springs Unified School District vaccine clinic on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. The pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine should be lifted, an expert advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The recommendation by the CDC panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, has to be approved by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration before becoming official government policy. The pause, which began on April 13, was in response to reports of a rare combination of blood clots and low levels of platelets in people who had received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The FDA and CDC will make a joint statement Friday evening about resuming use of the vaccine. "This is a serious adverse event. We need to continue to ensure that awareness is raised," said member Dr. Grace Lee, a pediatrician at the Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine, who supported the measure. "But I also think that we have to come out with a clear recommendation." Who will win Sunday's Academy Awards and who should It's been a longer-than-usual road to the Oscars, with Hollywood navigating a year pretty much without movie theaters, a smaller volume of top-notch contenders, a slew of virtual film festivals and an awards season full of delayed shows and Zoom acceptance speeches. But on Sunday at the 93rd Academy Awards, a new crop of winners will be announced for the first time amid a pandemic, and the movie industry will have something to celebrate for a change. Have you seen all the films? Do you know who you're rooting for? If not, USA TODAY writer Brian Truitt has complied a list of the nominees along with his picks for the four major categories. Read his predictions here. And lastly (but not leastly), in Wednesday's "In California," we once again mentioned SafeWise's rankings of the safest cities in California. To see where your city ranks, read the full report here. In California is a roundup of news from across USA Today network newsrooms. We'll be back in your inbox Monday with more of the latest headlines. As the philanthropy and special sections editor at The Desert Sun, Winston Gieseke writes about nonprofits, fundraising and people who give back in the Coachella Valley. Reach him at winston.gieseke@desertsun.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: In California: Caitlyn Jenner, others announce bid for governor Forrest Gump is one of the most quotable Tom Hanks movies. Life is like a box of chocolates. Stupid is as stupid does. I got to pee. Many of those lines come from screenwriter Eric Roths adaptation of Winston Grooms book. However, Hanks improvised some of the films memorable moments himself. [Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Forrest Gump.] Sally Field, Tom Hanks and Daniel C. Striepeke | Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images Hanks was part of a panel for the 15th anniversary of Forrest Gump at USC in 2009. That panel is on the Blu-ray edition, which is also included in Paramounts 10 Best Pictures collection. Here are some scenes Hanks improvised in Forrest Gump. This Forrest Gump quote is a Tom Hanks original Forrest spends much of the movie waiting for a bus on a park bench, telling strangers his life story. Hes waiting to meet Jenny (Robin Wright), who shows him he has a son from one night they spent together. Hanks said he added a line to the scene where he meets Forrest Jr. (Haley Joel Osment). Part of it is absolute we know that its the emotional core of the movie and we sure hope that were hitting the emotional core of the movie, Hanks said. At the saame time were able to ad lib a line. [Director Robert Zemeckis] says, What would Forrest think when he first walks in here, Tom? I think hed say hey, you have air conditioning. RELATED: John Travolta, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase All Passed On Forrest Gump and Missed Out on Tom Hanks $40 Million Pay Hanks proceeded to explain the ad lib, which may seem like a non sequitur. That wasnt in the thing but first of all, it was so hot in South Carolina that day that was something, Hanks said. But thats what Forrest would say because thats a big deal to Forrest. Oh you live in a house with air conditioning. Tom Hanks added this move to an emotional scene Earlier in the film, Forrest asks Jenny to marry him. She says no, but still spends the night with him. The moment Forrest receives her rejection, Hanks did something by instinct. Forrest goes out on the porch through the screen door and slams, Hanks said. He goes out and he stands like this. Bob says, Whyd you put your hands on your hips like that? Its kind of goofy. Pretty serious scene. Its kinda like a silly pose. Gary Sinise and Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump | Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images RELATED: Tom Hanks Paid to Shoot Iconic Forrest Gump Running Scenes Out of His Own Pocket Hanks explained he copied the pose from Michael Humphreys, who played Forrest as a little boy. I said, Well, I saw Michael doing it on the set. He was an eight year old kid standing around like this. I thought that when Forrest has something on his mind, he puts his hands in that very effeminate way on his hips and stands. Bubbas big speech was improvised too Gary Sinise, who played Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump, was on the panel too. He revealed that a major moment was a complete ad lib. When Bubba (Mykelti Williamson) lists all the different ways you can prepare shrimp, he made that up. Forrest and Bubba | Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images An Express train carrying three tankers of liquid medical arrived in on Saturday morning via a green corridor as the state battled a surge in COVID-19 cases. The train arrived from Bokaro in Jharkhand. In view of the high demand for in the country following a record spike in cases, the Railways has decided to run Oxygen Express trains to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country. Tankers are being transported on flat wagons by the trains for quick supply of medical oxygen. Two tankers of medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow around 6.30 am while one was offloaded in Varanasi, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told PTI. Each tanker has a capacity of 15,000 litres, he said, adding that oxygen brought by two tankers may be used in Lucknow. The arrival of two tankers will meet around half the demand of Lucknow for Saturday, Awasthi said. The state capital will now be in a better position. The second Oxygen Express train departed at around 5.30 am from Lucknow for Bokaro with four tankers," Awasthi said. Varanasi District Magistrate of Kaushal Raj Sharma said a tanker carrying 14,000 litres of liquid medical oxygen arrived there. The Railways on Wednesday had said it will run a second Oxygen Express train to after a request was received from the state government. Upon the arrival of the train, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a tweet said, "The Indian Railways is called the lifeline of the country. The Oxygen Express train that arrived in Lucknow and Varanasi due to efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an example of this." Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh said, "The arrival of Oxygen Express train will significantly ease the situation in the state." In view of the rising demand for oxygen to treat COVID-19 patients, the Uttar Pradesh government on Friday appointed three senior officers at the COVID Command Centre to deal with the supply of the life-saving gas to hospitals in the state. CM Adityanath also launched a dedicated website, ''Oxytracker'', for transparent availability of oxygen to hospitals, the state government said. Through this, the movement of oxygen tankers can be monitored, Awasthi said. Software's dashboard will analyse and inform if the tanker is getting delayed," he added. Awasthi said that an app will be designed that will be downloaded on the mobile phone of all oxygen tanker drivers. Through this app, their mobile phone will act as a GPS and their location will be traced, he said. Awasthi said a request has been sent for the requisitioning of a cargo aircraft from the Air Force. We may get two aircraft very soon for a quick transportation of empty tankers, he said. Elaborating on the operational aspect of the train, Sanjay Tripathi, Divisional Railway Manager (Northern Railway-Lucknow), told PTI that the whole process of bringing the oxygen supply to the state took 46 hours. The train had left for Bokaro on Thursday and returned with supplies on Saturday, almost half the time taken through road, he said. "The train operated non-stop and a green corridor was created for it. A GRP team escorted the train," he said. The UP Government in a statement issued here said that oxygen is being supplied to the state from Modinagar, Kashipur, Panipat and Roorkee. (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 the Downing Street pyschodrama raging between Dominic Cummings and Carrie Symonds reached its climax last November, the departing adviser had one final encounter with Boris Johnson before collecting his belongings. According to one version of the meeting, held in Mr Johnson's No 10 office, Mr Cummings told the Prime Minister that he hoped they would be able to maintain a constructive relationship, despite him losing a bitter power struggle with Ms Symonds. It was even suggested that the two men could work together again in the future. But the conversation came to a swift end when Mr Cummings said that he would not maintain cordial relations if Ms Symonds or the FoCs Friends of Carrie briefed against him to the media. 'I can't control her,' Mr Johnson is said to have replied. 'Its impossible.' Unsurprisingly, this version of events is denied by Johnson loyalists. 'This is a completely inaccurate account of that meeting, which was entirely cordial,' a senior Government source said last night. 'They agreed to stay in touch. This has proved to be impossible. What followed was a series of nasty and sexist briefings against Carrie.' According to one version of the meeting, held in Mr Johnson's No 10 office, Mr Cummings told the Prime Minister that he hoped they would be able to maintain a constructive relationship, despite him losing a bitter power struggle with Ms Symonds (pictured with Boris Johnson and their dog Dilyn) The tensions, which came to a head in a row over now-abandoned televised briefings, have continued to simmer in the five months since boiling over again last week when No 10 accused Mr Cummings of being behind damaging leaks such as the text message exchanges between Mr Johnson and entrepreneur Sir James Dyson, and the 'chatty rat' disclosure of plans to introduce a second lockdown in November. 'Nuclear Dom' hit back on Friday, with a 1,000-word blog denying the claims, calling Mr Johnson 'unethical', and accusing him of burying the official report into the 'rat' because it implicated one of Ms Symonds's friends. Despite strenuous official denials, other sources have also suggested that Mr Johnson sometimes finds it 'challenging' to balance the 'expectations' of Ms Symonds with all of his responsibilities. One claimed the Prime Minister had voiced 'despair' to colleagues during November's dramas about being 'hemmed in' by his fiancee over issues such as staffing and her policy preferences. Another said: 'The No 10 private office has noticed that Boris seems to be working later and later into the night. He is not exactly known to be a workaholic, so the interpretation is that he is reluctant to go up to the flat.' Downing Street robustly denies these claims as 'b******s'. But regardless of her actual influence, there is no doubt that Ms Symonds is perceived to hold considerable sway over the Prime Minister. This seemed to strengthen after two of her closest friends, Henry Newman and Simone Finn, won jobs as senior advisers in Downing Street in the wake of Mr Cummings's departure. Applicants for jobs in the administration talk openly about whether Carrie 'likes me enough' to stand a chance of being successful. The conversation came to a swift end when Mr Cummings (pictured) said that he would not maintain cordial relations if Ms Symonds or the FoCs Friends of Carrie briefed against him to the media Many in No 10 trace the origin of Mr Cummings's antipathy to Ms Symonds to her insistence during the chaos of the Covid first wave on making a formal complaint to The Times via the press watchdog Ipso over a report which said her dog Dilyn had behavioural issues. 'Half of the press office was tied up drafting a statement,' says a source. 'The PM was yelling about how it had to be actioned He only realised later how ridiculous it made us look.' Mr Cummings's resentment over the episode is one reason that friends of Ms Symonds blamed him for negative stories about Dilyn, including the allegation that the dog relieved himself over an adviser's handbag and chewed his way through valuable furniture at Chequers. The friends say Mr Cummings is using Dilyn to wage a 'proxy war' on Ms Symonds. While the 'war over Dilyn' lends a faintly farcical air to the feud, it is clearly the Covid pandemic which carries the greatest political threat to Mr Johnson. On May 26, Mr Cummings will give evidence to the joint parliamentary committee inquiry into lessons the Government must learn from the response to the pandemic and No 10 is worried. Sources claim that Mr Cummings has notes of comments made by the Prime Minister shortly after the second lockdown was triggered in which he vowed it would be the last. Political and Civil Service advisers are said to have heard Mr Johnson say he would tolerate a high death toll rather than order another lockdown. Downing Street fears that even if Mr Cummings does not cite the specific language allegedly used by the Prime Minister, he will tell MPs the Government's failure to lock down quickly enough cost lives. In the extraordinary blog he posted on Friday, the former adviser rubbished claims that he was behind the leak of the Dyson texts, saying he 'was not directly or indirectly a/the source for the BBC/Kuenssberg story on the PM/Dyson texts', and that the screenshots had been leaked to the BBC by disaffected civil servants. Despite strenuous official denials, other sources have also suggested that Mr Johnson sometimes finds it 'challenging' to balance the 'expectations' of Ms Symonds with all of his responsibilities This newspaper revealed last week that senior Tories feared that a network of Labour moles dubbed Redthroat was operating at the heart of Whitehall, feeding documents and intelligence to Sir Keir Starmer's aides, who then farmed out the information to favoured media outlets. Mr Cummings also denied being the 'chatty rat', saying Cabinet Secretary Simon Case had 'told the PM that the lockdown leak was neither me nor the then Director of Communications [Lee Cain] and that 'all the evidence definitely leads to Henry Newman and others in that office'. He added: 'The PM was very upset about this. He said to me afterwards, 'If Newman is confirmed as the leaker then I will have to fire him, and this will cause me very serious problems with Carrie as they're best friends [pause] Perhaps we could get the Cabinet Secretary to stop the leak inquiry?' ' Mr Cummings went on: 'I told him that this was 'mad' and totally unethical, that he had ordered the inquiry himself and authorised the Cabinet Secretary to use more invasive methods than are usually applied to leak inquiries because of the seriousness of the leak. 'I told him that he could not possibly cancel an inquiry about a leak that affected millions of people, just because it might implicate his girlfriend's friends. I refused to try to persuade the Cabinet Secretary to stop the inquiry and instead I encouraged the Cabinet Secretary to conduct the inquiry without any concern for political ramifications. 'I told the Cabinet Secretary that I would support him regardless of where the inquiry led. I warned some officials that the PM was thinking about cancelling the inquiry. They would give evidence to this effect under oath to any inquiry. I also have WhatsApp messages with very senior officials about this matter which are definitive.' He concluded ominously: 'It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves. 'I will not engage in media briefing regarding these issues but will answer questions about any of these issues to Parliament on 26 May for as long as the MPs want.' Allies of Mr Newman yesterday reiterated his denials about being responsible and doubled down on the allegation that it was Mr Cummings. One said: 'The inquiry has moved on since Dom left government but even back in November senior officials [ie Civil Servants] dismissed the idea that Henry Newman had been singled out or that Dom or Lee had been exonerated. A senior official said that the investigation is still live. 'It would be wrong to think we have landed on any one individual or, for that matter, completely exonerated anyone.' Mr Cummings's resentment over the episode is one reason that friends of Ms Symonds blamed him for negative stories about Dilyn, including the allegation that the dog relieved himself over an adviser's handbag and chewed his way through valuable furniture at Chequers. Pictured: Cummings leaving Downing Street in November The ally added: 'In fact Henry Newman did not even attend the relevant meeting. In November Newman was not working in Downing Street and did not attend the meetings from which details were leaked. The allegations are false.' Another source claimed the intelligence services had identified Mr Cummings as the culprit 'but could not publish their evidence because it would reveal the secrets of their tradecraft, including their penetration of WhatsApp messages'. In his blog, Mr Cummings accused Mr Johnson's new Director of Communications, Jack Doyle, of being responsible for last week's briefings. However, it has since emerged that it was the PM himself who rang newspaper editors to make the claims which is likely to be interpreted by Mr Cummings as being at the behest of Ms Symonds. The move has been described as Mr Johnson 'striking his foot in to the hornets' nest', with one official saying: 'Never get into a briefing war with Dom. There is only ever one victor.' But a No 10 insider said: 'There is absolutely nothing Boris could do to stop Cummings throwing hand grenades. He is set on trying to bring down the PM.' The drama dovetailed last week with the latest twist in the saga of the daily White House-style televised briefings which hastened Mr Cummings's exit last year. Allegra Stratton, the Symonds ally who was recruited to front the briefings, was transferred to a new position as a spokeswoman for Alok Sharma, the president of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which is being held later this year in Glasgow. It was Ms Stratton's appointment last autumn against the wishes of Mr Cain, Mr Cummings and other senior advisers which triggered the power struggle with Ms Symonds. Friends of Ms Symonds say that, contrary to the 'sexist' caricature, she is a constant support to Mr Johnson, who has come to rely on her expertise in political communications. Her critics say that her 'meddling' is making Mr Johnson's already-stressful existence 'near-intolerable' at times, and that the PM 'loses his temper more frequently than he used to'. Ms Symonds is said to have marched into ministerial meetings to thrust their baby son Wilfred into his arms, and has been described as being 'more interested in badgers than Brexit'. One of her critics said: 'Look at what Boris has to put up with. In the past year he has been through an expensive divorce, an engagement and new fatherhood while leading the Government's response to the Covid pandemic and nearly dying of the virus himself. 'He has tried to save the NHS without wrecking the economy, and he has to deal with a hostile Whitehall trying to block him at every turn, with civil servants and bitter former advisers leaking against him at every turn. 'He doesn't need bust-ups in the bedroom on top of all that.' By Bay City News Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced he has taken action to end the state's issuing of new permits for fracking by 2024. Newsom directed the state's Department of Conservation's Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) to take regulatory action to stop issuing new permits for hydraulic fracturing -- also known as fracking -- by January 2024 and also asked the California Air Resources Board to look into ways to phase out oil extraction across the state by 2045. Newsom last September issued an executive order calling for an end to fracking and to accelerate the state's transition away from fossil fuels. "The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day," Newsom said. "As we move to swiftly decarbonize our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, I've made it clear I don't see a role for fracking in that future and similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil." The action was lauded by state legislators who had previously proposed a bill to ban fracking. State Sens. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara, thanked the governor for taking action. The pair's bill, Senate Bill 467, called for a ban on new permits for fracking by 2022 but was voted down earlier this month by the state Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee. "While we believe an earlier end date is appropriate, at least having a set end date will trigger the long overdue conversation about what a transition away from oil looks like. To date, political paralysis has prevented that conversation from happening. We hope the governor's action today breaks that political logjam," the two state senators said. The environmental groups Greenpeace USA and Center for Biological Diversity said Newsom's move is significant but that more urgent action is needed. Dr. Amy Moas, senior climate campaigner at Greenpeace USA, called it "an important first step" but said "it doesn't do enough to address the increasingly urgent climate and public health crises facing Californians today." Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, said, "We don't have time for studies and delays. Californians living next to these dirty and dangerous drilling operations need protection from oil industry pollution today." Copyright 2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. Copyright 2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Fernando Nelson: Father of the Richmond District by John Freeman Originally appeared in WNP Member Newsletter, Summer 2007 Fernando Nelson was the pioneer residential builder in the Richmond District whose quality construction set a standard of excellence and affordability that drew hundreds of families out beyond the cemeteries to make their homes in this emerging neighborhood in the early 20th century. Because of his influence in those early years of development, he should be recognized as the Father of the Richmond District. By the time Nelson came to the Richmond District, he was a respected contractor who had built a number of quality homes in Noe Valley, upper Castro, and Duboce Park. 1 The first parcels of land that drew his interest out to the "wilderness" north of Golden Gate Park had been the site of the old Bay District Race Track that had served as Camp Merritt, a staging area for troops awaiting deployment to the Philippines during the Spanish-American War in 1898. The advantage of the property was that it was graded, near public transportation, and had just had water and sewer lines completed when he bought it in 1902. In the area of First to Third Avenues, A to C Streets, 2 Nelson would acquire two full blocks and two half blocks for development. There was a simple formula to how Nelson worked. He didn't build a tract of land as a modern subdivision speculator would today---building mostly identical floor plans, advertising and hoping for sales. Nelson's methods were more personalized. He built to the customer's specifications and budget. He only started a project when he had a commitment from the client. If a person wanted to buy just a lot in his blocks so another contractor could build their home, Nelson had no hesitation in selling it. He also generally left corner lots vacant to be sold at a higher price for apartment buildings or commercial space. Nelson's specialty was homes and flats, not apartment houses and stores. He had worked with his brother-in-law as a partner from 1889 to 1891, building flats in the Haight-Ashbury, and understood the design features needed to stack units. 3 He even built his early homes with plumbing in the rear of the structure, so that the single-family house could easily be converted to flats. The properties at 676 and 680-2nd Avenue are perfect examples of the convertibility of a Nelson home. Both were built as homes, but as the building permit for #676 said in 1914, "home originally designed to be turned into flats. One story added to kitchen with porch and outside stairs." This allowed for the addition of a story in the rear for an upstairs kitchen, with a partition alongside the interior stairway to the top floor. The property at 680-2nd Avenue has come full circle, since it was built as a home, converted to flats, and restored to a home again. Nelson generally offered two floor plans, which he carried in his pocket on an index card. On one side of the card was plan A, and on the back was plan B, but in striving to meet customers' needs, he could make additional variations to these plans upon request. 4 The exterior elevation details usually came from a planing mill's pattern book or from Victorian embellishments Nelson designed and bought in bulk. One signature detail, consisting of redwood pieces jig-sawed into circles and attached in a row above the front entry, became known as "donuts" and can be used to identify some Nelson homes in the Eureka Valley or inner-Richmond neighborhoods. Nelson became the consummate developer by acquiring the property, designing the building, and even financing the sale, but he always had an eye to customer satisfaction. In one of his rare ads, in the San Francisco Call, Fernando Nelson nicely summed up his operational credo. The ad read "I will aid you in selecting and perfecting the design, plan all the details, work out all your own personal wishes, gratifying every fancy, and build your home for a small down payment and balance the same as rent." 5 Nelson also carried the mortgage on the property in his early years of operation, even making personal calls to collect cash payments every month. As passionate as he was about his construction business, he was equally passionate about the automobile. By 1900, Nelson became one of the earliest automobile enthusiasts in San Francisco. He loved road challenges and is credited with being one of the earliest people to drive an automobile into Yosemite Valley. His bigger claim to fame was setting a record of eighteen hours and thirteen minutes between San Francisco and Los Angeles over rough, muddy roads in November 1906. In December, the Novelty Theatre advertised "Get Some One to Hold You While You Watch Nelson's Columbia Car Break the Los Angeles Record" and then promised "ten minutes of wild enthusiasm." 6 By 1908, he and his crew of three, in a larger White Steamer, set a new record of seventeen hours and thirteen minutes to Los Angeles. 7 Nelson found little need to advertise, letting his craftsmanship, business style, and auto exploits do it for him. He could always be counted on to drive his automobile in all the Richmond District parades. Nelson developed a method of operation in Eureka Valley that he replicated in the Richmond and in all subsequent projects. He would move into the neighborhood, build a fine home to live in, and conduct business from there, with his shops and lumber storage on adjoining lots. For the first projects in the Richmond, he built his home at 684-2nd Avenue, with a shop adjoining the back of the property facing C Street. By 1909, he had built a fine corner home for his newlywed eldest son William at 694-2nd Avenue, while he lived two lots away with his wife and three younger sons and daughter. From this 2nd and C compound, the Nelson family conducted its business. The earthquake of 1906 interrupted operations when the military confiscated all Fernando's lumber to build temporary housing or storage facilities, and Nelson's car was volunteered for emergency use. By November 1906, the neighborhood newspaper, The Richmond Banner, reported that "F. Nelson is building two story residences on the entire block bounded by Fourth and Fifth avenues, B and C streets. The houses sold before being built." 8 After the earthquake and fire, housing was scarce but reconstruction money was plentiful, so Nelson built most of this block as flats to accommodate the housing demand. The Banner again reported on December 4, 1908, that "Fernando Nelson has purchased the entire block between Eighth and Ninth avenues, A and B streets on which to build flats and houses of any description to suit the purchaser." 9 By 1909, Fernando Nelson was a wealthy man and a pillar of the community. He was an officer in the Richmond Improvement Club and president of the Richmond Masonic Temple. The Richmond Banner, in its neighborhood booster issue of August 27, 1909, took a few liberties in praising Nelson. They claimed "Mr. Nelson has erected upon an average at least one house in the district for every working day in the week for the past six years, and it is agreed that if all of the homes erected by him were placed side by side that the total aggregate would reach nearly eight miles." 10 Although his home volume was greatly exaggerated, still Fernando Nelson was being respected as a leading citizen in the neighborhood, who had done more than any other single individual to effect the phenomenal growth of the district at that time. Buoyed by his new wealth and position, Nelson-the-carpenter/builder would make a dramatic change by moving to the wealthiest enclave in the neighborhood. In 1909, he bought a double lot in Presidio Terrace and had the leading architectural firm of MacDonald and Applegarth design a mansion later described as "an Elizabethan cottage on a mammoth scale." 11 Nelson & Sons would build their first home designed by professional architects, and it would influence their work from then on. While building #30 Presidio Terrace in May 1910, Nelson bought the entire block and a half that had been the Chutes amusement park, stretching from the east side of 10th Avenue and the block across the street between Cabrillo and Fulton streets, 10th and 11th Avenues. 12 At the northeast corner of 10th and Fulton he would build a half-timbered home with heavily textured stucco, leaded casement windows, and a rolled roof resembling a Cornish thatched cottage that was closely modeled after his home in Presidio Terrace. Instead of Fernando moving from Presidio Terrace, William and his family moved in and managed the business, with its lumber storage and carpenter shop alongside and behind the home, facing Fulton Street. The last Victorian-style buildings Nelson had used since the 1890s were built on these blocks in 1911, and his last few flats were constructed there as well. These blocks were also the start of his transition to the then-popular Mission and Mediterranean styles, with greater emphasis on elegant homes. The next eldest son, 21-year-old Frank Fernando, had joined the firm, bringing the asset of having taken correspondence courses in drafting and architectural design, which he would get to apply in all future buildings. Fulton Street offered an opportunity to experiment with building on larger lots, so the Nelson office-home on the corner of 10th Avenue and four homes in the next 3400 block were designed for larger lots. The 700 block of 10th Avenue shows the clearest example of the transition of styles, where wood and shingles give way to stucco, projected brackets, and curving roof lines. In February 1911, while work was moving rapidly on the Chutes property, Fernando Nelson bought a new parcel west of Park Presidio Boulevard, between Geary and Clement. 13 For $90,000, Nelson secured the half-block on the east side of 16th Avenue, the full block in between, and the west side of 17th Avenue at roughly $1,000 per lot. He would have to do the grading and pay for sewer and street work himself, but the frontage on both Geary and Clement streets could be sold for commercial lots, and he would build homes in between. When the project was ready for building near the end of 1912, son Frank occupied the first home at 315-16th Avenue, and the Nelson project management style continued. From that location, the Nelson brothers oversaw two smaller projects in the west side of the 200 block of 15th Avenue and a half block north of California Street between 15th and 16th Avenues. These homes would be the last projects in the Richmond District for the Nelson family. By 1914, they had their eyes on two new parcels in the Sunset District. Both properties required far more sand moving and grading than any project in the Richmond. The first project they called Parkwood Heights stretched up from Carl Street to Parnassus Avenue, between Arguello Street and Hillway Avenue. 14 William again moved in 1915 to a corner home at #1 Hillway to supervise the building of forty homes on a very steep block. Frank remained at 16th Avenue to complete the Richmond District buildings, but moved to Lincoln Way in 1916. Fernando too would leave the Richmond in 1916, selling #30 Presidio Terrace and building a home at 28th and Lincoln Way to supervise the construction of a new development called Parkway Terrace. On the opposite end of that block of Lincoln Way, on the corner at 29th Avenue, the Nelsons built a home for Frank and his family, with the construction yards on the lots in between. Parkway Terrace would provide a greater opportunity for the Nelson family to get away from the restriction of 25-foot-wide lots and build detached homes on wider lots. The plan had been to build six blocks of the Parkway Terrace development, but a new opportunity surfaced that year and they stopped the project at three blocks and sold the rest to finance their purchase of West Portal Park. For thirteen years, Fernando Nelson and his family were involved in building the new Richmond District. He and his sons built sensible homes with character and stability. Some of those homes have succumbed to the bulldozer to allow for building more units on the lots, or have been enlarged by remodeling, sometimes to the extent that today there is no clue to the building's original appearance. But in most cases, the Nelson details have been preserved and cherished to provide a charming texture to the neighborhood. The father of the Richmond District built well and has left us a legacy of buildings of character well worth preserving. Read more on Fernando Nelson Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places.! British Columbia Wrong to Approve School Owned by Company Based in Communist China Commentary Come this fall, Richmond, B.C., will have a new independent school. With construction nearing completion, Chaoyin International School (CIS) will welcome its first batch of K7 students in September. Because CIS is classified as a Group 4 independent school in B.C., it will receive no government funding. Group 4 schools mainly provide services to Canadian students from outside British Columbia, or to international students, according to the provincial government website. With tuition set from $15,000 to $23,000 per year, CIS is clearly focusing on upper-income families from foreign countries who want their children to be advantaged by a B.C.-certified education. As one of its key features, CIS plans to offer a rigorous Mandarin-language program for all its students. Children learn in both English and Mandarin languages daily, its website states. Clearly, CIS is anticipating the bulk of its students to come from China. At first glance, there doesnt appear to be anything overly objectionable about this school. After all, B.C. is well known for its international schools, and this school would simply add another one to the list of options. It also makes sense to give students the opportunity to learn Mandarin, particularly since it is a widely spoken language. In addition, CIS is completely private and will not receive any taxpayer support. Given these facts, what could be the problem with the B.C. government certifying this school? The problem is that this school is, in fact, owned by the Chaoyin Education Group, a company that is based in China and operates eight private schools there. One thing weve seen clearly over the last few years is that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which controls all aspects of life in China, including education, has an abysmal human rights record. As well, the Party is no friend of Canada. Of the CCPs numerous human rights violations against many groups, one of the most egregious is the ongoing persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. The communist regime separates Uyghur children from their families, resettles Uyghurs against their will in re-education camps, and sterilizes and forces Uyghur women to undergo abortions, among other abuses. That is why Canadian MPs recently voted to recognize Beijings campaign against Uyghurs as genocide. Canada has first-hand experience with Chinas evil regime. Its now been over two years since Beijing imprisoned two innocent Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, on bogus espionage charges. Despite widespread international condemnation of its treatment of these two men, theres no indication the CCP intends let them return to Canada anytime soon. Going farther back in time we have the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, the intimidation of Taiwan that continues today, and Chinas egregious one-child policy in which abortions were performed on women without their consent. These are all part of the CCPs horrendous legacy of violating human rights. Its legitimate to ask whether CIS would allow free and open discussion in its B.C. school about these atrocities. Unfortunately, in a recent interview with Richmond News, the head of CIS sidestepped questions about how CCP atrocities such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre would be addressed. He said teachers would need to tread lightly around these topics. Think about this for a moment: Teachers in a Canadian school are being ordered to tread lightly when dealing with matters of fundamental human rights. This flies in the face of everything we Canadians believe about freedom, democracy, and human rights. These are not topics that Canadians can tread lightly on, nor should we. They are essential for well-educated students and for a properly functioning education system. Unlike schools in China, Canadian schools do not take their marching orders from a dictatorship. Teachers must be free to introduce controversial topics, expose students to differing opinions, and challenge them to think for themselves. None of this can happen when teachers must tread lightly when addressing fundamental rights and freedoms. To make matters worse, during the same interview, the head of CIS justified his directive by explaining that discussion of such sensitive topics could lead to parents pulling their kid out of the school. In other words, this school is prepared to limit academic freedom in the name of keeping its enrolment numbers up. This is not how any school in Canada should operate. For these reasons, B.C. must reverse its decision to approve this school owned by a company based in communist China. The last thing we need in our country is a schoolany schoolunder the thumb of the CCP. Michael Zwaagstra is public high school teacher, a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, and author of A Sage on the Stage: Common Sense Reflections on Teaching and Learning. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - In this Feb. 6, 2015, file photo, protesters prepare to take down a makeshift oil derrick that was set up in front of the California State Office Building to protest fracking in San Francisco. On Friday, April 23, 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would halt all new fracking permits in the state by January 2024. He also ordered state regulators to plan for halting all oil extraction in the state by 2045. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil drilling by 2045, using his authority to take on the state's powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election. Newsom's order is the beginning of a lengthy rule-making process that, if successful, would make California the largest state to ban fracking and likely the first in the world to set a deadline for the end of all oil production. California needs to move beyond oil," Newsom said in a news release, arguing it would create a healthier future for our children. California was once one of the largest oil-producing states in the nation, with a robust industry centred in the Central Valley just north of Los Angeles. But by 2020, the states oil production fell to its lowest level in state history, down 68% from its peak in 1985. Now, one of the state's top exports is electric cars. The state has ordered automakers to sell more electric work trucks and delivery vans and, last year, Newsom ordered state regulators to ban the sale of all new gas-powered cars by 2035. Still, California is the seventh-largest oil producing state in the country, with an industry that directly employs about 152,000 people and is responsible for $152.3 billion in economic output, according to a 2019 study commissioned by the Western States Petroleum Association. Friday, WSPA President and CEO Catherine Reheis-Boyd vowed to fight this harmful and unlawful mandate. Banning nearly 20% of the energy production in our state will only hurt workers, families and communities in California and turns our energy independence over to foreign suppliers, she said. Eliminating California's oil and gas industry won't be easy. The state has more than 60,000 active oil wells, and industry executives and their allies have lots of influence at the state capitol. But in the first quarter of 2021, permits for all types of oil drilling in California plunged 90%, according to an analysis of state data by FracTracker Alliance, an environmental advocacy group. The transformation is already happening in front of our eyes, said Jared Blumenfeld, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Newsom's order directs the California Air Resources Board to figure out how the state can end oil production in a very rigorous, open, transparent, analytical process. The board could decide to do it before 2045, but not after. When you look at the science, we cant be extracting oil after 2045, he said. Thats the only way we are going to achieve our carbon goals is by significantly reducing and ending extraction of oil. Fracking short for hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting oil and gas embedded in rock deep underground accounts for a small portion of the states oil and gas production each year. But environmental advocates have long sought its banishment because of its harmful effects on the environment and public health. Last year, Newsom said he did not have the authority to ban fracking on his own and asked the Legislature to do it instead. Two state senators, both Democrats, tried to do it. But last week their bill died in the Legislature because not enough lawmakers supported it. Now, Newsom says he can do it himself, but it's unclear what changed his mind. California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said Friday that Newsom believes the best way to ban fracking is to change the law. But, when it became clear that wouldn't happen, Crowfoot said Newsom directed us through our regulatory authorities to protect the environment and public safety to end the practice of fracking. Newsom did temporarily halt new fracking permits in 2019 after he discovered a sharp increase in new permits since he took office, which also prompted him to fire the state's top oil and gas regulator. That ban lifted in April 2020 after a team of independent scientists reviewed the state's permitting process. Since taking office, the Newsom administration has issued 291 fracking permits, according to an analysis of state data by FracTracker Alliance. Still, some environmental groups were hoping Newsom would act faster. It's historic and globally significant that Gov. Newsom has committed California to phase out fossil fuel production and ban fracking, but we don't have time for studies and delays, said Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute. Every fracking and drilling permit issued does more damage to our health and climate. The Newsom administration said the state's rule-making process, while lengthy, is needed to make sure any new rule survives a lawsuit. We want this prohibition to be durable, Crowfoot said. The California League of Conservation voters praised Newsom, saying the announcement is the consistent leadership our state needs if we stand a chance of preventing major climate catastrophe. But some in Newsom's own party were critical, including state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat from the Central Valley, who said the fracking ban would lead to higher energy prices that would in turn increase food prices. The governor's actions could not come at a worse time for the Central Valley, which is already reeling from a drought that together with this decision may cause a national food crisis, she said. An ambulance technician has died after an object struck his vehicles windscreen as he was responding to a 999 call in Herefordshire. The incident took place at 8am on Saturday at the junction of Moreton Road and the A49, near the village of Moreton on Lugg, north of Hereford. The technician, who was the front passenger of the vehicle, died at the scene, West Midlands Ambulance Service said. His crewmate, who was driving the ambulance, was also injured. West Mercia Police said the ambulance was travelling towards Leominster at the time of the incident. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: Sadly, despite everyones best efforts, nothing could be done to save our colleague, who was the front passenger, and he was confirmed dead at the scene. His crewmate, the driver, was also injured in the incident. He has received treatment at hospital and has subsequently been discharged. The Midlands Air Ambulance, two emergency ambulance crews and paramedic officers attended the incident. West Midlands Ambulance Service chief executive Anthony Marsh said: This is truly awful news, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and colleagues of those involved at this very difficult time. I am enormously proud of all the staff and the university students as part of their clinical placement that worked so hard and professionally to try to save our colleague. I am sorry that despite their best efforts, he could not be saved. West Mercia Police are asking anyone who may have seen the incident or have dashcam footage to contact them on 101 quoting incident 00101i of 24 April. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Bharat Book Bureau Provides the Trending Industry Research Report on Global Cable Carrier Market Research Report 2021-2025 under Telecom Category. The report offers a collection of superior Industry research, Industry analysis, competitive intelligence and Industry reports. A Cable Carrier is also known as energy chain, cable chain or drag chain. Cable carriers are flexible chains/guides that protect the electrical wires from wear and tear. Cable carrier reduces the stress on electrical cables and hoses and prevents entanglement as well as improve operator safety. In the context of China-US trade war and COVID-19 epidemic, it will have a big influence on this market. Cable Carrier Report by Material, Application, and Geography Global Forecast to 2025 is a professional and comprehensive research report on the worlds major regional market conditions, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the main countries (United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China). In this report, the global Cable Carrier Market is valued at USD XX million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of XX% during the period 2021 to 2025. Request a free sample copy of Cable Carrier Market Report @ https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/sample/reports/2486531 The report firstly introduced the Cable Carrier basics: definitions, classifications, applications and market overview; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures, raw materials and so on. Then it analyzed the worlds main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate and forecast etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis. The major players profiled in this report include: Igus Tsubaki Power Transmission, LLC. Gurukrupa Engineering Kumbhojkar Plastic Moulders Tripcon Engineering Pvt. Ltd. CDM Systems, Inc. Hont Electrical Co.,Ltd Shinde Engineering Bay Industrial Group Murrplastik Brevetti Stendalto S.p.A. EKD Gelenkrohr The end users/applications and product categories analysis: On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume, revenue (Million USD), product price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into- Stainless Steel Nylon PVC PEEK On the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Cable Carrier for each application, including- Crane & Hoist Machinery Medical & Laboratory Equipment Industrial Robots Automatic Warehouses Offshore Oilrigs Browse our full report with Table of Content : https://www.bharatbook.com/marketreports/global-cable-carrier-market-research-report-2021-2025/2486531 About Bharat Book Bureau: Bharat Book is Your One-Stop-Shop with an exhaustive coverage of 15,00,000 reports and insights that includes latest Industry Study, Industry Trends & Analysis, Forecasts Customized Intelligence, Newsletters and Online Databases. Overall a comprehensive coverage of major industries with a further segmentation of 100+ subsectors. Contact us at: Bharat Book Bureau Tel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773 Email: poonam@bharatbook.com Website: www.bharatbook.com Tom Hallberg covers a little bit of everything, from skiing to long-form feature stories. A Teton Valley, Idaho, transplant by way of Portland and Bend, Oregon, he spends his time outside work writing fiction, splitboarding and climbing. 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. Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we intend to prove it. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends throughout. Here, they discuss the weeks events with Tom Moran, editorial page editor of The Star-Ledger. Q. After the conviction of Derek Chauvin I spoke with several Black leaders in New Jersey who were relieved, but also anxious that the movement for racial justice might stop with police reform and needs to go much farther. What will the verdict do to the politics around race in America? Julie: I share their anxiety. From housing to education to ballot access to criminal justice, we have a long way to go in treating everyone in this country equally, regardless of race. The verdict is a small victory but its just one step in a long and necessary process. Mike: Growing up, I was naive to race issues. Thats not easy to admit. Sure, I knew the basics about slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement. But then then we passed civil rights laws in the 1960s and then everyone was equal, right? Wrong. It wasnt until adulthood that I was able to focus less on my own personal experiences and reflect upon the struggles and realities of others who dont look like me or share my background. We are still very much in the middle of the struggle to reach the ideals our founders laid out. I guess all I know now is how much I dont know. Maybe all I really know is were better than we once were yet still have a long way to go. Q. President Biden came out swinging on Earth Day, vowing to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent from 2005 levels within the decade. Our nation is resolved to act now, he said. Is that true? Will this really happen? Julie: The United States has historically been the greatest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world. But until the #MAGA crowd in Congress starts listening to scientists instead of to Sean Hannity, we will continue to be a laughingstock on this issue. Biden wont be president in 2050 or even in 2030. Who is to say that the next Republican who comes along doesnt scrap Bidens plans, the same way Trump scrapped previous plans to reduce emissions? Mike: Julie, China emits twice the carbon as the US now. Biden has given a nice goal which rhetorically placates the green new deal movement, but we will only reach these clean energy goals with a realistic and collaborative approach that includes natural gas, nuclear and renewables. Q. President Biden alienated liberals for the first time last week by sticking with President Trumps tight cap of 15,000 asylum admissions per year, breaking a promise amid chaos at the Mexican border. He then half-retreated, saying hell offer a new number in May. Is immigration going to be his Achilles heel? Julie: Its a disgrace and there is no excuse for Bidens retreat on this issue. Zero. None. People are literally fleeing for their lives often the very same people who helped us achieve our foreign policy objectives abroad and now find themselves in danger as a result. Mike: There are solutions on immigration, but they will offend and be controversial and require compromise from both sides. And there are factors well outside of our control, such as living standards in other countries. As long as people are fleeing hunger, poverty and political persecution, the US will be a magnet, thank God. When people stop wanting to come to America, thats when we have the real problem. Q. In New Jersey, police unions won support for a bill that would allow officers to retire as early as age 41, on half salary. Am I turning into a grouchy old man, or is that just outrageous? (Or both?) Julie: You are a grouchy old man who will be happily tethered to your Ledger laptop until they take you out of their feet first. Mike: We have bipartisan agreement on your grouchiness, but in this case, you may have a case. Half-salary retirements after 20 years for people who will live another 40-50 years simply may be unsustainable for taxpayers. That said, given the last year, compensation packages must become more generous if we are to recruit and retain the good, brave men and women we need in the police force. Q. Axios reported that former Gov. Chris Christie is seriously considering running for president in 2024, according to unnamed friends. Why are his friends floating this balloon now? And Mike, was it you? Julie: I dont blame his friends ahem, Mike for floating this balloon now. The presidential election kicks off in 18 months, right after the midterm elections. There isnt much time for any serious contender to waste in locking up support, donors and prospective staff. Mike: How dare you both insinuate I speak to reporters on background. Seriously, Gov. Christie should certainly keep his options open. Christie has a network of national donors and supporters in places like New Hampshire, and he has the intelligence and charisma to win debates and communicate effectively on television each week. And oh yeah, he would actually be really good at the job. Q. Finally, the virus. New Jersey is likely to cross the threshold of 1 million cases in the coming week, but all the trends are good, and I can report that Montclair was packed last weekend, and I hosted a poker game for the first time in a year. Are the vaccines finally winning this thing? What are you seeing and hearing? Julie: I wish I were as optimistic as you, but all reports show that half the American population is reluctant to get vaccinated, even though new COVID strains have the potential to kill many more people. We run the very real risk of having some parts of this country achieve herd immunity, while having other parts severely under-vaccinated. But unless you ban flights from New Jersey to Georgia, all of us are at risk until the nation as a whole has much higher vaccination numbers. Mike: I was feeling better until I read Julies answer. The vaccines are working. Look at Israel where a majority has been vaccinated. Life is back to normal. Closer to home, we still dont have enough schools open, and restrictions should loosen more, but hopefully thats coming from Gov. Murphy as the trends remain good. 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. On Friday, Mayor Tommy Battle started a series of meetings to discuss policing with protesters and community activists. This comes after the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council (HPCAC) released a 248-page report on the protests this past June. WAAY 31 spent Friday at City Hall, working to learn what comes next in the process. A spokeswoman for the city confirmed the mayor has meetings scheduled, but didn't share when they were happening or who they were with. So, WAAY 31 reached out to three groups organizing Friday night's protest in Big Spring Park. They said it was the first time they were hearing about any meetings with the mayor. The leader of Black Lives Matter in Huntsville, Keith Young, said even though he didn't know about any meetings, he's glad to hear some like-minded groups are meeting with Mayor Battle. "The work is going to get done by one of our counterparts that you dont think is working with us," said Young. "It makes it easier, well take the flack so you can fluidly move, and do what we need done. Mayor Battle is meeting with protesters and community activists to talk about policing and how we can become a united community. Young said the city is growing, so it's good to hear that Mayor Battle is working to have it grow together, instead of apart. Ill be way too late to start making changes five years from now when all of the problems that come with a big city are here," said Young. "If we dont start working on them now, were going to have massive issues then. I can just applaud him for seeing that. Young said the findings from the HPCAC report is fueling his fire to stand up for what's right. This has spurred us on among a lot of other things that are going on in the country to keep going, and go a lot harder to be seen, to be heard, and to fight for justice. Not only for people who arent here anymore, whose voices got stolen from them, but the generations yet to come. He said the main thing he wants to see from the police moving forward is more transparency. The mayor's office told WAAY 31 these meetings are just one of many to build the community as one. Every week our Holiday Hero Neil Simpson takes an in-depth look at an important holiday topic, doing all the legwork so you dont have to. This week: New passport checks for long-awaited breaks. The Greek and Spanish islands, the beaches of Portugal and the sunny streets of Malta and Gibraltar are all expected to be on the (very) short list of European destinations we can visit quarantine-free this summer. While the details will be revealed by the Government early next month, check your passport now or your holiday hopes could still be dashed, because the EU has quietly toughened up its border rules. New rules: Chania in Crete awaits but you may need a new blue UK passport to replace your old burgundy EU one Until the end of 2020, the EU was happy with UK passports right up to their expiry date. Now it will accept them only if they have at least six months left to run and will reject any that are more than ten years old a problem for people who have extended-life passports which can last up to ten years and nine months. You can confirm if your passport is EU-ready on the Check a Passport for Travel to Europe function at website gov.uk. Type in your passports issue date, expiry date and the planned date of travel and it will give you an answer. Waiting too long before checking and then trying to renew a passport could spell disaster, as the Passport Office is warning of long delays this summer. Why? It renewed three million fewer passports than usual in 2020, as many were gathering dust in drawers during lockdown. If too many applications are made at the same time this summer there are fears that renewals may take up to three months to be processed. The Passport Office already says it expects renewals to take ten weeks rather than the usual four. The fastest and cheapest way to renew a passport is online at gov.uk where renewals cost 75.50, or 49 for under-16s. It costs 9.50 more if you want to use a paper form, while for an extra 16 you can use the Check and Send service at main post offices. Staff ensure there are no mistakes on the form and that your photo fulfils requirements. If you ignore the new EU rules or try to travel anywhere with an invalid or expired passport, you face a big financial hit. Holding a valid passport is deemed a personal responsibility in the travel industrys terms and conditions, so if you are turned away at a check-in desk you will not be entitled to compensation or refunds from a holiday firm, airline or insurance. Better news for travellers to Europe is that the UKs post-Brexit replacement for the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is up and running. The fastest and cheapest way to renew a passport is online at gov.uk where renewals cost 75.50, or 49 for under-16s The new card, which gives you the same pre-Brexit rights to access state-provided healthcare, is called the GHIC, or Global Health Insurance Card. And although it is no substitute for proper travel insurance, it will continue to ensure holders receive the same emergency care as locals across the EU. Existing EHIC cards remain valid until their expiry date but free GHIC cards are now being sent out for renewals or first-time applicants. The best way to get one is to apply direct at nhs.uk/ghic. Dont be fooled into using middle-man services which charge to process applications. GREENWICH Systemic racism is as old as this country, a leader at the YWCA Greenwich told the dozens of supporters who gathered Friday outside Town Hall for the nonprofits 14th annual Stand Against Racism event. Working toward an anti-racist future is about hope and action, said Erin O. Crosby, director of womens empowerment and racial justice for the organizations new Center for Equity and Justice. Its a system that has denied people of color access to safety, resources and power over the years, she said . More than 100 local organizations have agreed to stand against racism, joining a growing list of supporters thats visible at Town Hall and the YWCA Greenwich, said Mary Lee Kiernan, CEO and president of the YWCA Greenwich. Stand Against Racism is the YWCAs signature event, as people band together across the country to raise awareness about the impact of racism, discrimination and racial violence, while building a stronger community among those who work to achieve racial justice, Kiernan said. She reflected on the conviction of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty on three charges in connection with the death last year of George Floyd, a Black man under arrest. While the verdict gives us a moment of hope for continued justice, and a moment of hope for an end to racial violence, we and other advocates for racial justice will not be resting now, or diminishing our commitment to ending the ugly reality of ongoing systemic racism, in our country, Kiernan said. Greenwich Time asked three attendees to share why they attended the event. Shoma Datta-Thomas Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Data shows significant health disparities among different races during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dr. Shoma Datta-Thomas, a gynecologist in Manhattan. She said she sees those health disparities play out in her work, when women of color who are referred to her complain that other physicians neglected to listen to their concerns or provide less invasive treatment options. I feel like the discussion on options presented, treatments available, resources with health care treatment, somehow is different, for different populations, based on socioeconomics, Datta-Thomas said. Its heartbreaking because I feel like ... were not presenting options equally across the board. Often medical professionals view race as a risk factor, because some racial groups are associated with higher rates of chronic illness or a lack of access to health care, she said. I think what a lot of people are trying to bring about is a change in the conversation where, is race the risk factor, or is racism the risk factor? she said. Danielle Sittol Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Danielle Sittol, youth services bureau administrator for the town, said she was excited to see three young people honored at the event for their dedication to spearheading anti-racism initiatives. Ive had an interaction with every single kid who was acknowledged today, she said. These kids are deeply committed to this work and its authentic and I want other people to follow their lead. Sittol also reflected on the guilty verdicts against Chauvin for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Derek Chauvin confirms that this work needs to be done, Sittol said. And all the incidences, since then, shockingly confirms that we need to continue to engage the youth in keeping each other safe and having these conversations all the time. Kayla Malcolm-Joseph Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Kayla Malcolm-Joseph, a student at Sacred Heart Greenwich who was honored at the event, attended with her mother and teacher. She said she wanted to celebrate how much the racial justice movement has progressed since slavery. I think that being able to stand up here with students of all different racial backgrounds and socioeconomic backgrounds just shows how we are moving in the right direction, she said. The 11th-grader said her generation is entering a new era after the death of George Floyd showed many young people that racism is still a prevalent and pervasive issue. This is an issue that we still face, and it hasnt been left in the 60s, and its probably not going to leave during our lifetime unless we do something now, Malcolm-Joseph said. Honored students Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media Each year, the YWCA Greenwich recognizes students for their commitment to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion in their school and/or community, Crosby said. This year, the students chosen represent that hope and action, she said. Amira Francois, a senior at Greenwich Academy, was honored for collaborating with a classmate to create a lesson plan for her peers on xenophobia and anti-Asian racism during the pandemic. Lauren Harteveldt, a junior at Greenwich Academy, was recognized for developing aspiringally.org, a website that aims to unite young people worldwide by spreading awareness about the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion. Kayla Malcolm-Joseph, a junior from Sacred Heart Greenwich, was celebrated for co-facilitating a workshop on media and race and for helping lead a student and faculty group called Intersections, which hosts lunch discussions on current events and other issues that impact Greenwich and the world. Tiffany Zheng, a senior at Greenwich High School, was awarded for helping school leaders create a coding program and for facilitating a conversation between Greenwich High students and youth at schools in Zimbabwe. tatiana.flowers@thehour.com @TATIANADFLOWERS Reuters DUBLIN (Reuters) -Ireland's finance minister said he remained confident the country's low-tax economy would continue to attract multinational investment and jobs even as an overhaul of global corporation tax rules moved a major step closer on Saturday. The United States, Britain and other leading nations agreed to back a minimum global rate of at least 15% and for firms to pay more tax in the markets where they sell goods and services rather than in countries like Ireland where they book profits. Ireland, long resigned to having more to lose than most from the reforms due to the attractiveness of its 12.5% rate to foreign multinationals, continued to press the case that any final deal must meet the needs of small and large countries. Shah said, "Ahmedabad will also have isolation centres for which private clubs like Karnavati club, ADC, GSC, Rajpath Club, Umiya Pariwar have given their consent. The infrastructural facilities like beds and other expenses will be borne by these organisations. While, services like primary treatment, medicines, meal etc expenses will be borne by the Gujarat government. This initiative will be replicated across Gujarat." Gandhinagar: Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that a 1200-bed hospital will be set up by DRDO here at helipad ground in collaboration with Tata Trust. The Union Minister also informed about setting up of a helpline for Covid-19. Shah said, "A toll free number will be started for Covid-19 related queries. Over 50 medical experts, doctors will attend the calls. For this, seasoned medical professionals will be roped in to cater to such calls. Telephonic guidance will be offered to the patients in home isolation. This service will start within two days." Shah was on a visit to Ahmedabad to dedicate a 900-bed Dhanvantari Covid hospital set up at Gujarat University Convention and Exhibition Centre. The hospital has been set up by the Gujarat government, DRDO and Central para military force doctors and will be opened for the citizens from Saturday. It will also have 250 ICU beds and all the beds will have oxygen facility. After his visit, Shah held a meeting with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and senior officials. Vietnam and China held their seventh defence strategy dialogue at the deputy ministerial level in Dongxing city in the Chinese province of Guangxi on April 23. Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien The dialogue was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien and Lt. Gen. Shao Yuanming, Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission of China. The Vietnamese delegation also saw the participation of Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh. During the dialogue, the two sides exchanged views on the world and regional situation and issues of mutual concern. They held that Asia-Pacific has become an intersection point of interests and competition for influence among big countries both in and outside the region. The emergence of non-traditional issues such as pandemics, the environment, natural disasters, extreme nationalism, terrorism and transnational crime have deeply affected peace, stability and development of nations, they said, adding that international cooperation in coping with the common challenges has become an essential need. In that context, together with partners outside the region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has made important contributions to peace and stability in the region. Cooperation mechanisms led by ASEAN, especially the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM ), has increasingly upheld its efficiency, reflected by the fact that an growing number of partners outside the ASEAN region want to join the mechanism. Both sides agreed that defence cooperation between Vietnam and China has been continuously expanded and conducted via various forms, focusing on different fields such as the exchange of delegations, training, military medicine, UN peacekeeping, and the exchange of experience in Party and political work in the army. They also highly evaluated cooperative ties between border guard forces of the two countries, especially in the management and protection of borderlines, fight against crime and maintenance of security and order in border areas. The two sides also frankly discussed sea-related issues. Chien said that as the East Sea is the lifeblood sea route of the world, which has not only strategic economic, trade and defence-security values but also geographic strategic values, countries involved should actively cooperate with each other and maintain peace and stability in order to bring common interests. Vietnams consistent stance is to address disputes at sea through peaceful measures, in the spirit of common perceptions reached by the two countries senior leaders, and with respect to each others legitimate rights and interests, on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); to implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) fully and effectively, working to reach a practical and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC); and to well control disagreements at sea to avoid complicating the situation and using force or threatening to use force, he stressed. Regarding cooperation orientations in the coming time, both sides agreed to maintain the effective implementation of signed cooperation agreements, especially the statement on joint vision on defence cooperation until 2025 between the two defence ministries, continue seriously implementing three legal documents on the border between the two countries, and closely cooperate in management and control of illegal immigration and border crossing, closely coordinate in the fight against all kinds of crime, and maintain security and order in border areas. Earlier, Vietnamese Deputy Ministers of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien had a meeting with Sen. Lt. Gen. Qi Jianguo, former Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission and Lt. Gen. Shao Yuanming. They all expressed their delight at the development in defence cooperation between Vietnam and China, in which the two countries border defence friendship exchanges have contributed to managing, protecting and building the shared borderline of peace, stability and development./. VNA Artists from across the state have taken aspects of what Mid-Michigan residents have dealt with this past year and turned them into something constructive. A new exhibit at the Midland Center for the Arts, Whats Certain about Uncertainty, demonstrates how the region has found hope in the darkest of times. The exhibit created by the centers director of museums Julie Johnson; Community Engagement Manager Katie Miller; and Senior Development Manager Heather Litle features 47 pieces by 33 artists in 2D and 3D mediums. The collection opened in the centers main lobby and auditorium lobby on April 15 and will travel to three Midland churches throughout the next three months. Gina Schreck, visual arts coordinator at the center, explained making the exhibit mobile will connect different parts of the community that usually dont interact. By doing this, we broaden the focus and broaden the groups that are involved, Schreck said. Among the participating artists is Geoff Burr of Midland with his watercolor painting, Afloat in Uncertainty. The picture depicts the uncertainty felt by residents during the pandemic and dam failures last May. Burr and his family, which moved to the area from Connecticut two years ago, were spared from the floodwaters, but pitched in to help neighbors who werent so fortunate. Our house is our safe spotnow were invaded by the rising water and COVID all around us, Burr said. Burr comes from a family of artists and creates house portraits as a professional business. For him, his art provides a mental escape and allows his mind to focus elsewhere. Its always been something that has allowed me to focus on something that I can control and create something beautiful, Burr said. Near Burrs painting are two photos by Teri Bickmore of Midland. Her favorite piece is Melting Time Zoom, which depicts her on a video call with a section of Salvador Dalis The Persistence of Memory as the backdrop. It was taken during the very dark days of the pandemic last April. Isolation was setting in and time had no meaning, Bickmore said. The second picture, Life on the Street, was taken while Bickmore was helping a friend clean out their house. One of the helpers pulled out a can that had flood printed on the label in big, bold letters, which Bickmore found fitting. She spent the next few days cleaning out houses, cooking meals and helping wherever she could. To this day, she hosts socially distanced porch talks for friends to express what theyre going through, some of which last for hours. Bickmores home was within a few yards of the flood and she experienced the same worries of what to take, what to leave and what would happen next. In contrast, she continues to be inspired by the selfless acts of caring by local, state and national individuals and groups who stepped in to help. The flood was a horrific experience, but there was so much beauty in it people driving through parking areas offering meals, people pulling out drywall in neighbors homes, people helping people they didnt even know, Bickmore said. Were a tight community and we need to stay that way. Ive never seen anything like it. Bickmore considers herself as an art-minded person, but she took the pictures just to process what she was going through at the time. Art helps people process emotions, Bickmore stated. This whole pandemic and flood have hopefully made us realize whats important. The arts are critical, now and not when its during a pandemic. We need to express ourselves. Out in the main lobby is a sculpture titled COVID-19 Sucks by Christine Brennan of Freeland. The sculpture consists of a box with a syringe labeled hope and encompasses the entire pandemic experience for Brennan. The piece is similar to other artwork Brennan features in her business on Etsy, Altered Art, which was launched over a year ago. Brennan explained she was inspired by the common sentiment of being weary by the pandemic. Were all getting tired of it, but theres hope in the vaccine, Brennan said. Art can send messages and be symbolic of our times. The exhibit is proving to be cathartic in multiple ways, both for the artists as they use the art to process their own experiences and for visitors who have been in similar situations. Its nice to see other peoples views. We all experienced the same thing, but from different perspectives, Burr said. Art helps people process emotions, Bickmore said. This whole pandemic and flood have hopefully made us realize whats important. The arts are critical, now and when its not during a pandemic. We need to express ourselves. In addition to the exhibit, the center will host a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 21, where the artists will share what theyve experienced this past year. Many people have used art to move forward. I think that moving forward is particularly important. The reception at the end is the culmination of that. They can express their feelings and we can move on as a community, Schreck said. Whats Certain About Uncertainty will remain at the Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 W. St. Andrews Road, through Saturday, May 29. Hours are 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and admission is free. From there, the exhibit will be on display June 14 to July 25 at Midland Reformed Church, 11000 N. Saginaw Road; June 14-July 25 at New Life Vineyard Church, 1014 E. Ashman St.; and June 21-July 25 at Midland First United Methodist Church, 315 W. Larkin St. For more information, visit www.midlandcenter.org/museums/pop-up-exhibits. New Delhi, April 24 : Chinese behemoth BBK Group's smartphone brand iQOO's upcoming smartphone iQOO 7 5G is reportedly launching in India at Rs 34,999. The company is all set to launch two new smartphones -- iQOO 7 5G and IQOO 7 Legend 5G -- under its iQOO 7 series in India on April 26. GizmoChina, citing other sources, reported that iQOO 7 5G might be a rebranded version of iQOO Neo5, which was announced in February in China. A Geekbench listing suggested that India may receive a 12GB RAM variant of the iQOO 7 5G. However, the device could be also available in lower RAM variants in the country. The IQOO 7 5G is expected to arrive with a 6.62-inch AMOLED FHD+ 120Hz refresh rate, iQOO UI based Android 11 OS, LPDDR4x RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, and a 4,400mAh battery with 66W fast charging support. The iQOO 7 Legend will be powered by the latest Snapdragon 888 series chipset, providing an unmatched gaming experience and enhanced photography capabilities. It may feature a 16MP front-facing camera and its rear camera setup may include an OIS-assisted 48MP main camera, a 13MP ultrawide lens and a 2MP depth sensor. The company has announced that it has partnered with Amazon India for its 6 series in the country. Both the phones will be available exclusively on Amazon.in. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk got candid about Mars exploration in an interview, casually saying that "a bunch of people will probably die in the beginning". Speaking to XPrize founder and chairman Peter Diamandis during a live stream Thursday announcing the $100 million Carbon Removal project, Mr Musk said going to Mars wasn't an "escape hatch for rich people". XPrize describes itself as an organisation that uses large-scale global incentive competitions to crowdsource solutions to the worlds grand challenges. The $100 million XPrize Carbon Removal competition is challenging people to develop projects that will put away and extract carbon dioxide in an effort to draw down the perilously high emissions currently being let out into the atmosphere. Mr Musk cautioned during the interview that travelling to Mars will be "dangerous, it's uncomfortable, it's a long journey, you might not come back alive, but it's a glorious adventure and it'll be an amazing experience". "And your name will go into history," Dr Diamandis interjected. "You might not," Mr Musk responded. "It's going to be uncomfortable and you probably won't have good food, and all these things, you know." "If an arduous and dangerous journey where you might not come back alive, but it's a glorious adventure, sounds appealing, Mars is the place. That's the ad for Mars," Mr Musk said. "And you still have thousands of volunteers, if not millions of volunteers who would want to go," Dr Diamandis said. "Honestly, a bunch of people probably will die in the beginning. It's tough sledging over there, you know," Mr Musk said. "We don't make anyone go," he added. "It's volunteers only," a chuckling Mr Musk said. A barefoot Mr Musk spoke with Dr Diamandis on Thursday in Cape Canaveral on Florida's eastern coast. The challenge announced on the live stream is aimed at tackling the biggest threat facing humanity - fighting climate change and rebalancing Earths carbon cycle, the site for the competition says. "This four-year global competition invites innovators and teams from anywhere on the planet to create and demonstrate solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans, and sequester it durably and sustainably," the site states. The competition is being funded by Mr Musk's philanthropic organisation . $100m will be the biggest amount of money that the foundation has ever handed out. Mr Musk has donated $150m to various charities this year, a sum larger than every year previously combined. He's donating money so fast that he sometimes neglects to notify the beneficiary, Vox's Recode reported. The outlet reported on Thursday that Mr Musk's philanthropic team has no full-time staff and is reaching out to others for advice on how to best donate money. Mr Musk tweeted on 7 January: "Btw, critical feedback is always super appreciated, as well as ways to donate money that really make a difference (way harder than it seems)." Apart from the $100m for the carbon dioxide removal competition, Mr Musk has committed millions of dollars in the next three months to other causes. He has promised $30m to charities in southern Texas, $5m to online learning platform Khan Academy, $5m to coronavirus researchers in Boston, and $1m to food bank operator Feeding Texas. A spokesperson for Khan Academy said the donation came as a "surprise," Recode reported. The Musk Foundation was previously located in California but has been moved to Austin, Texas. Mr Musk confirmed in December that he has moved to Texas as well. The military said it has accounted for a soldier from Valatie killed during the Korean War whose remains were only recently confirmed. Decades after he was reported missing in action after his Army unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea on Dec. 6, 1950, Cpl. Clifford S. Johnson will be laid to rest in Schuylerville on May 19. He was 20 years old. On Friday, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Johnson was accounted for on April 16, 2020. On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the conflict. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were accessioned into the agency's laboratory for identification. U.S. officials have said North Korea has suggested that it holds perhaps 200 sets of American war remains, according to the Associated Press. Thousands more are unrecovered from battlefields and former POW camps. Any progress is good, but at the rate remains are being repatriated, its going to take decades - if not centuries - to get them home, said Mark Yingling, a Clifton Park resident and member of Patriot Guard, a group whose members attend the funerals of veterans. But getting one back is fantastic. Scientists in Hawaii used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence to identify Johnson's remains. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis. In late 1950, Johnson was a member of Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. Following the battle at Hagaru-ri, D.P.R.K. at the Chosin Reservoir against Chinese Communist forces, his remains could not be recovered, according to the military. Johnson's name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for, the DPAA said. The Defense Department did not specify the burial site, but Schuylerville is where the Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, administered by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, is located. The Patriot Guard has previously accompanied repatriated remains to their final resting places, events that are always moving, Yingling said. Its always a huge relief to the family members and its great for the community, Yingling said. Im sure he has not been forgotten, especially in a small village like Valatie. According to Dominick Lizzi, village historian and author of The Valatie: The Forgotten History, Johnsons brother, Nathan P. Johnson, was the villages first World War II casualty, and one of 14 Valatians to die in combat. A San Francisco physician was indicted by a federal grand jury this month and charged with injecting patients with fraudulent medicines used to reduce wrinkles, according to authorities. The U.S. Attorneys Office and the Food and Drug Administration allege that Lindsay Marie Clark, a licensed doctor specializing in cosmetic injections, purchased from offshore pharmacies what were purported to be foreign versions of Botox and Juvaderm. The FDA has approved Botox, Juvaderm and similar medications for use, but the foreign versions the 44-year-old Clark is alleged to have purchased and used do not have FDA approval. The grand jury issued the indictment April 1, but it was not announced until Friday. Clark had practices in San Francisco and San Mateo counties since at least 2015, the indictment said, operating under the name Entrada Medical Group, of San Mateo, where she was medical director. Previous practices were named Physicians Youthful Resolutions and Enhance Medical Group. Clark could not be reached for comment Saturday. According to the indictment, Clark made the illicit purchases for at least four years between April 2016 and February 2020 buying at least $270,951 of the drugs and using them to sell $1,069,880 in services. Clark directed employees to conceal the actual identity of the drugs, the indictment alleges, and had patients sign consent forms that stated the drugs were FDA approved. The indictment also alleges that Clark sometimes used actual Botox and Juvederm products, but charged the same amount for the real and fraudulent medications. Clark faces federal charges of engaging in interstate commerce of a misbranded drug and intent to defraud and mislead patients. She faces up to three years in federal prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Clark made an initial appearance in court Friday, according to the U.S. Attorneys office, and remains out of custody on bail. Her next scheduled appearance is set for June 4. Special Agent in Charge Lisa L. Malinowski, of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement that the use of misbranded drugs endangers patients. The indictment does not mention injuries or illnesses related to the alleged use of the illicit drugs. Health care professionals who dispense and administer misbranded and adulterated prescription drugs and devices of unknown origin put the health of their patients at significant risk, Malinowski said. We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who choose to subvert the safeguards of the legitimate drug and device regulatory regime and supply chain and jeopardize the public health. Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan WHEN the worlds richest man speaks, people tend to listen. When his company is bringing hundreds of new jobs to Winnipeg, his words may interest people here. Opinion WHEN the worlds richest man speaks, people tend to listen. When his company is bringing hundreds of new jobs to Winnipeg, his words may interest people here. Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is US$198 billion, issued on April 15 a lengthy letter to shareholders of Amazon. He didnt mention Winnipeg specifically, of course. The new warehouse opening soon in Inkster Industrial Park is a miniscule part of the Amazon empire, which has 1.3 million employees globally. But Amazon is currently inviting people to interview for jobs at its forthcoming operation in Winnipeg, and the promises made by Bezos in his letter will be relevant to people who are considering whether to apply. Bezos dealt head-on with criticism of his companys treatment of its warehouse employees, some of whom say they work 10-hour shifts on their feet, are pressured to pack boxes and move products at quotas that are unrealistically high, with their breaks monitored to the minute. "I think we need to do a better job with our employees," Bezos wrote. As an example, he said Amazon will this year roll out a job rotation program to protect employees from repetitive-stress injuries. Even as Bezos was pledging to improve working conditions, Amazon was the source of two different controversies, one in Alabama and one in Hollywood. At the annual Academy Awards, which air tomorrow evening, there is an Amazon-centred squabble about the leading contender for best picture. In the film Nomadland, the protagonist is Fern, a 60-something widow who lives in her van and enjoys two separate stints of working at an Amazon fulfilment centre. Fern says she likes to work, she smiles at her friendly Amazon colleagues and she considers it good money. The controversy is that the movie drastically misrepresents the 2017 book on which its supposedly based. Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century is a fiery critique of capitalist exploitation, the gig economy and companies like Amazon that the author portrays as taking advantage of vulnerable people. If the Nomadland movie wins Oscars as expected, the books author, journalist Jessica Bruder, will likely not message her congratulations, although its certainly understandable if Amazon founder Bezos sends flowers. A separate controversy about Amazon deals with its lack of appreciation for employees who try to unionize. Only twice in Amazons 26-year history have unionization attempts reached the stage of a vote. The latest unionization effort dealt specifically with workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., but, in the larger context, it was a widely-watched test of Amazons winning record of defeating union flare-ups before they can spread. When the Alabama vote results were released on April 8, Amazon won decisively, with twice as many workers voting against unionization as those in favour. Amazon commonly answers questions about unionization by saying its employees obviously dont want to pay union dues and feel the company offers them a better deal with its benefit plan, opportunity for career advancement and pay that begins at US$15 an hour, which is double the minimum wage in many U.S. states. This is the type of contentious corporate identity that precedes Amazon as it arrives in Winnipeg and refurbishes the 113,000-square-foot warehouse it bought. The Winnipeg site it will be Amazons first of its kind in the Canadian Prairies will be a last-mile delivery station that distributes packages it gets from other distribution centres. At first, it will deliver just within Winnipeg, but expansion of its service area is possible. As far as logistics and supply chain management, which is the lifeblood of Amazon, Winnipeg is an excellent fit geographically. This city is the hub of CentrePort Canada, which bills itself as North Americas largest trimodal inland port. CentrePort provides an intersection of rail, truck and air travel, a convenience that Amazon will utilize as it transports with maximum swiftness its daily deluge of goods. Its not a coincidence that the warehouse purchased by Amazon is at 11 Plymouth St., near the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. Hiring a few hundred Winnipeggers at this time should be particularly easy, given the large number of Manitobans who lost jobs during the past year and are now nearing the end of government pandemic-relief cheques. The people who are hired will initially be grateful for the job and, as time goes on, can judge for themselves whether its suitable employment. When it comes to Bezos recent pledge that his company will treat its employees better, there remains a lingering question: will Amazon deliver? carl.degurse@freepress.mb.ca Carl DeGurse is a member of the Free Press editorial board. Commentary: Tackling climate change an opportunity for global cooperation Xinhua) 15:10, April 24, 2021 Photo taken on Feb. 1, 2020 shows a glacier in the Weddell Sea off the Antarctic continent. (Xinhua/Liu Shiping) BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Climate change is not a problem for one or two countries, but a defining global issue that requires the joint actions of all human society without delay. Doing so will also bring opportunities for broader global cooperation, which is desperately needed at a time when the world is facing the threats of growing anti-globalization sentiment, populism, unilateralism and protectionism. While addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a six-point proposal on building a community of life for man and nature, including green development, systemic governance, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The proposal reflects China's pursuit of fostering a new man-nature relationship where they can both prosper and live in harmony. As the world's largest developing country, China has attached high priority to dealing with climate change. In September last year, China announced that it would peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Achieving these goals will require extraordinarily hard efforts, but China is determined to take concrete actions to fulfill its commitment. In the meantime, developed countries should make concrete efforts to help developing countries strengthen their capacity for and resilience against climate change, and refrain from creating green trade barriers. As many other pressing tasks are waiting to be undertaken by the international community that is wrestling with COVID-19, joint efforts on decarbonization could be a good start. China looks forward to working with the international community, including the United States, to jointly advance global environmental governance. Recently, China and the United States issued a joint statement, vowing to cooperate with each other and with other countries to tackle the climate crisis. The two countries once conducted fruitful cooperation in response to climate change. As the previous U.S. administration took a big step back in its climate actions, it is time for Washington to fill in the gap created over the last four years and reassure the world that it is serious about climate change. Countries must join hands to tackle climate change rather than point fingers at each other. Climate change should not be a geopolitical bargaining chip, a tool for attacking other countries, or an excuse for trade barriers. No country should expect others to offer their support in bilateral and global affairs if it blatantly interferes in others' domestic issues and undermines their interests. As long as countries unite in their purposes and efforts, and work together with solidarity and mutual assistance, the world will rise above the global climate and environmental challenges and leave behind a clean and beautiful world for future generations. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Mayoral frontrunner Andrew Yang visited Staten Island Friday and introduced his plan to tackle an issue that has decimated the community. As part of his policy plan addressing opioid dependency, Yang stressed the importance of not treating people with opioid addiction as criminals. This is a critical issue that we have to do better on, because people are losing their family members, he said. We have to approach this as the public health crisis that it is. To that end, Yang said he would look to Staten Island, and hopes to take a program that District Attorney Michael McMahon developed to the rest of the city. Yang said that if elected he would launch a citywide Heroin Overdose Prevention & Education (HOPE) program similar to the one thats existed on Staten Island since 2017. The program is a centerpiece in the boroughs fight against drug overdoses. Staten Island and the Bronx have been the boroughs hardest hit by the opioid crisis faced by the nation. McMahons HOPE program is multi-faceted, but, perhaps most importantly, offers low-level, non-violent drug offenders treatment alternatives to the criminal justice system. Yang said Friday that he also wants to expand overdose prevention centers, also known as supervised or safe injection sites. Critics say safe injection sites decrease quality of life in surrounding communities. Proponents say they offer addicts a safe setting to use drugs under the supervision of medical professionals, thus decreasing the likelihood of fatal overdoses or needle sharing. Cities around the U.S. have announced intentions to open supervised injection sites, but none yet exist, as the sites would violate federal law. Yang hasnt addressed that roadblock, but said the sites have been shown to save lives. The truth is there are people who are struggling with this addiction that are going to need a prolonged approach, and they need some place they can go, frankly, thats not going to involve them losing their life, he said. A 2017 study published by the College of Family Physicians of Canada, where safe injection sites exist, found that the sites reduced overdose mortality, led to 67% fewer ambulance calls for treating overdoses, and a decrease in HIV infections. To round out his plan to address opioid dependence, Yang said he would advocate for statewide decriminalization of syringes and drug paraphernalia, expanded access to buprenorphine, and the building of neighborhood action centers that would provide addiction prevention and treatment services. After announcing his opioid plan, Yang continued his tour of Staten Island, visiting the local Asian community and businesses. Hate crimes against Asian Americans have seen an uptick this year. Earlier Friday, Yang addressed comments made on the Bernie & Sid in the Morning radio show that made light of the recent rise in hate crimes. The hosts relished the idea of Yang facing off against Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa in the November general election should they both win their primaries. We got one big hate crime coming, and thats when Curtis Sliwa kicks Andrew Yangs ass, one of the hosts said. Yang took exception to the comments. Thats the kind of language we cant accept or promote here in New York City, he said. There are people who have been victimized and beaten. Elnaaz Norouzi Opens Up About MeToo Allegations Against Vipul Shah, Says She Was Frightened That It would Hamper Her Career When the MeToo movement had started in India, women came out in the open and shared their experience of sexual harassment. Women from all fields seem to have faced harassment in some form or the other. The number of incidents in the film industry had been many. Elnaz Norouzi had been one of them. She had leveled allegations against Vipul Amrutlal Shah and had shared her story. However, after that, she has been pretty much silent about it. Now, she has opened up about it again. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Elnaaz Norouzi (@_iamelnaaz_) In a recent interview with TOI, she was asked why she had gone silent about it afterwards. Elnaaz said, Theres obviously not much to speak about anymore. But for me what was important was that when the movement started, and when I saw a platform to speak about what I had gone through, I took it. For me, all that was important was that I speak about it and that people know about it, that's it. If I wanted to take any kind of action, I could have taken it before or after, or I can take it in 10 years also. This is because after the emotional distress somebody puts you through, you cant be asked as to why didnt you speak earlier, and why youre telling it now. We're humans, we go through different kinds of phases, and then we take a call. But for me, it was just important that I support the other women who are speaking up, and that I just let it out there and let people know what kind of a person I have dealt with. Now, for me, as a person, that was enough. I didn't need to go and file a police complaint; I didn't need to do all of that. For me, it was just enough to speak about it and to let the world know. The respected people who were spoken about also know, and now (they) know how to behave better. So, that movement alone was enough for a lot of change to happen. Sometimes all that is needed is just to speak about something and let it be. You don't have to stretch it. I dont want to stretch the matter further. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Elnaaz Norouzi (@_iamelnaaz_) She also revealed that she had feared that it would hamper her career, but also added that because everyone spoke up, the industry has changed for better. She said, See, you always have that thought that in life, whenever you speak about something critical, that it might hamper your career, or your personal life. But be it in terms of my career, or personal life, I live fearlessly. If you're scared of something, you won't overcome or succeed. At that moment, I thought about who is Elnaaz? Elnaaz is somebody who would like to support other women in such a big movement. Because if only one woman has spoken had spoken up, and nobody else because they were scared, then the movement would not have happened, right? All the other women came in support and shared their stories and that has changed the world. Now, it has changed for the better. Well, it takes guts to talk about something so big and kudos to Elnaaz that she was able to do it. ADVERTISEMENT The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has unveiled guidelines for the forthcoming local government election scheduled for July 24. LASIEC Chairman, Ayotunde Philips, in the guidelines issued on Saturday, said the commission had fixed N150, 000, N100, 000 and N75, 000 as nomination forms fees for the chairmanship, vice-chairmanship and councillorship candidates, respectively. Political parties are required to obtain the following LASIEC Forms: LASIEC 001, LASIEC 002, and LASIEC 008 for their candidates as from May 4. This ends at 12 noon, May 5 at the commissions headquarters, Sabo-Yaba, Lagos. LASIEC form 001 must be completed and returned to the commission by the political parties not later than June 4, Mrs Philips, a retired judge, said. She said that each candidate was required to attach copies of curriculum vitae, birth certificate/affidavit of age, party membership card, sponsors voter registration card, education qualification, and letter of disengagement from previous employment to the completed form. According to her, the minimum age for a councillorship post is 25 years while that of the chairmanship position is 30 years. Mrs Philips said that candidates for the position of chairman must be nominated by 20 registered voters in his or her Local Government (LG) or Local Council Development Area (LCDA). She added that candidates for the position of councilor must be nominated by 10 registered voters in his or her ward. The chairman cautioned political parties against abusive and inciting statements during the electioneering campaign, saying political rallies should focus on party manifestos. Mrs Philips also cautioned against bribery or other forms of inducement to voters directly or indirectly by political parties candidates or agents. The chairman said: Campaigns or addresses should not be based on sectional, ethnic or religious sentiments or prejudices. Political parties rallies must not extend beyond 6 p.m. on any day within the specified period. Election campaigns must end on July 22 by 6 p.m. Failure to comply with any of the above guidelines and other provisions of the law shall attract appropriate sanctions as provided for in the LASIEC Law 2008 (as amended). The chairman urged candidates and stakeholders to strictly adhere to all COVID-19 existing regulations and rules in the state during campaigns. According to her, all political parties intending to field candidates for any of the positions in the 20 LGs and 37 LCDAs must adhere to the guidelines to avoid being sanctioned. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) had called for downward review of the nomination fees to enhance more inclusive participation in the election. (NAN) YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Assembly of the USA underlines that by recognizing the Armenian Genocide, U.S. President Joe Biden had the courage to say what his predecessors for past 100 years have always known, ARMENPRESS reports, reads the statement issued by the Assembly. President Bidens affirmation of the Armenian Genocide marks a pivotal milestone in the arc of history in defense of human rights, stated Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. By standing firmly against a century of denial, President Biden has charted a new course. Affirmation of the Armenian Genocide enhances Americas credibility and recommits the United States to the worldwide cause of genocide prevention, reads the statement. The Assembly emphasized that President Biden stayed true to his 30-year documented record of Armenian Genocide acknowledgement, from the time he began serving as Delawares Senator, through his 2020 presidential campaign, when he pledged: Joe Biden will recognize the Armenian Genocide and make universal human rights a top priority for his administration so that such a tragedy can never again occur. As a Senator, Biden was among the most informed and diligent supporters in using the term Armenian Genocide. President Biden had the courage to say what his predecessors for past 100 years have always known, reads the statement. The Assembly, all Armenians and our friends around the world profoundly thank President Biden for this Armenian Genocide reaffirmation in honor of the victims, survivors, and the principle of universal human rights around the world, said Assembly Co-Chairs Van Krikorian and Anthony Barsamian. China says it's discussing COVID-19 help with India CGTN) 09:37, April 24, 2021 Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. [Photo/fmprc.gov.cn] China on Friday reaffirmed its promise to help India combat COVID-19, and the two sides are currently discussing the matter, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily press briefing. "We are willing to provide support and assistance in accordance with the needs of the Indian side," he said. China has already said on Thursday that it's willing to help India control the recent COVID-19 surge. India on Friday reported over 330,000 confirmed infections, a new record daily spike, and also the world's largest one-day rise in case numbers. Medical oxygen and beds have become scarce during the fresh wave in India. Major hospitals are putting up notices saying they have no room for any more patients and police being deployed to secure oxygen supplies. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji) The US military has turned to an unusual strategy to check for security holes in its networks: it's giving up some power over a key internet resource. Kentik and the Washington Post have learned that the Defense Department gave Florida startup Global Resource Systems control of roughly 175 million IPv4 addresses. The company started managing the long-dormant addresses on January 20th, but that number grew quickly over the next three months. Brett Goldstein, the director for the Pentagon's Defense Digital Service, told the Post that the move was part of a "pilot effort" to study and prevent unauthorized use of the military's IP addresses. It would also help spot "potential vulnerabilities," Goldstein said. The Defense Department stressed that it still owned the IP addresses. It's unclear exactly what officials hope to accomplish, though, and the company itself is mysterious. GRS only established itself in September 2020, and it doesn't even have a public website. Kentik's Doug Madory suggested that a data flood directed at the IP addresses could help the military gather information on threats or exploits. And when some Chinese companies use similar IP address numbering schemes for their internal networks, there's a chance some of their data could be directed to the US. Whatever the reasoning, it could be an important move. The military might use knowledge from the pilot to prevent hostile governments or cybercriminals from hijacking dormant IP addresses. This also makes sure the US can manage the IP addresses so that it can use them if it likes, a Post source said. As odd as this move is, then, it might be important in light of the SolarWinds hack and other threats to government systems. CHICO, Calif. - A tiny home village is on the verge of being built in Chico to help people experiencing homelessness. The Chico Housing Action Team (CHAT) is teaming up with the Butte County and behavioral health services to make this project happen. Robert Trausch, one of the founding members of CHAT, told Action News Now that the goal for the village is to create an innovative space where people can get stabilized and then move onto permanent housing. The biggest need is to move people from the street who have mental illness and create lots of problems in our community, said Trausch. We were sensitive to that, so this particular project is going to address that. The name of the tiny home community will be Everhart Village because Trausch said more people need to have a heart for these people. He adds that it is not like other homeless programs as he wants to give people real change. It will be a place to feel safe, feel secure and ultimately help them have the services to move on and have more services to help them find housing in this community, said Trausch. Some homeless told Action News Now that this might help a lot of people. Being out here I have noticed that most of the people either have a mental disability at some level from slight to very large to addiction problems, said Scott Johnson, who is homeless in Chico. Johnson has struggled with health issues and depression. RELATED: Federal judge extends eviction ban for homeless in Chico He thinks that drug addiction is a big problem. Its a trap and people keep going around and around in circles, said Johnson. Everhart Village plans to be up and running by the fall. "The tiny homes are not going to be very big, said Trausch. They are going to have a porch, a kitchenette, a bathroom just like a regular home, but just very small." The village will not be far from help as it will be just steps away from behavioral health services. Johnson told Action News Now that this type of connection is what the homeless community needs. They can come out and see how everybody is doing and ask questions, said Johnson. Like, are you ok? How are you feeling right now? Johnson might be able to move on and paint a new picture for his future with a tiny home. "I don't need a big house, and I think it will be great if they get enough things like that going and that and other ideas to make a definite trend change, said Johnson. It will take a village to create as the county space needs water, sewage and electricity, but Trausch hopes it will have an immediate positive impact on the entire community. The tiny homes village proposal will go before the Butte County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 27. (Newser) They may not have known how to get to Sesame Street, but two suspected Aussie thieves apparently knew how to get back to the venue where they allegedly swiped a Big Bird costume. The Guardian reports that the nearly 7-foot-tall, $160,000 outfit, said to be made of ostrich feathers and imported from New York, vanished from an Adelaide circus earlier this week, with only a trail of feathers left behind, according to the circus director. Then, on Wednesday, the costume reappeared, dumped near an electrical box on circus grounds, along with a letter of contrition stuffed into the beak. In their note, the suspects, who admitted they "had no idea what we were doing," apologized for swiping the costume, noting they'd hit a rough patch and were just "trying to cheer [ourselves] up." story continues below Their creative therapy seemed to have worked, because "we had a great time with Mr. Bird," they added. "He's a great guy." Per a police statement, cops searched the grounds for the suspects with K9 units but initially found nothing. It's not clear how they eventually busted the self-named "Big Bird Bandits," but South Australia cops say two men, ages 22 and 26, were arrested on Friday evening and charged with theft and being unlawfully on the premises. They've since been released on bail and will next appear in court in late June. Meanwhile, circus patrons are glad to see Big Bird is back. "Very excited and happy," one fan tells ABC News Australia. (Read more strange stuff stories.) Apr. 24ELKHART The League of Women Voters of Elkhart County celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the founding of the organization with a tea Thursday. Although it was delayed a year because of COVID-19, the celebration honored Elkhart resident Helen Beardsley and other Indiana women who contributed to the cause of women's suffrage. The tea featured Indiana Historical Museum panels of Indiana suffragettes, which will be on display at the Havilah Beardsley house until May 6. kAmq62C5D=6J H2D E96 7:CDE H@>2? 6=64E65 E@ E96 t=6?'D C:89ED[ @C82?:K2E:@? 9:DE@C:2?D D2:5 3/8 $96 7@F?565 E96 t=6?'D uC2?49:D6 1/2 628F6 :? 'h'b] w6C 9FD32?5 p?5C6H H2D 2>@?8 E96 >@DE :?7=F6?E:2= @7 E96 q62C5D=6J >6?3/8 w:D 'h'h 2>6?5>6?E H2D @?6 @7 >2?J E@ DFAA@CE DF77C286 3/8 k^Am kAmx? 'h'f[ w6=6? q62C5D=6J 2?5 3/4 6==:6 q2C?6D Wx?5:2?2A@=:DX H6C6 A2CE @7 E96 c' (9:E6 w@FD6 AC@E6DE6CD H9@ H6C6 2CC6DE65 3/8 %96J A2:5 7:?6D 2?5 H6C6 C6=62D65 1/8 3FE 3/4 6==:6 H6?E 324E@ A:46? DE2CE65 >2C49:?8 @? @? E96 (9:E6 9@FD6 2?5 :? 3/4 6H *@C6? H6C6 2CC6DE65 1/8 AFE :? E96 H@C6?'D uC2?49:D6 1/2 628F6 C6AC6D6?E2E:G6D C646:G65 4@>>6>@C2E:G6 A6?D 7C@> E96 'hE9 p>6?5>6?E D:8?:?8 3/8 q62C5D=6J H2D 2? @77:46C :? E96 x?5:2?2 (@>6?'D uC2?49:D6 1/2 628F6 3/8 5/8@C6 E92? '__ H@>6? 2EE6?565 E96 (u{ 4@?G6?E:@? :? t=6?'D uC2?49:D6 1/2 628F6 3642>6 E96 1/2 628F6 @7 (@>6? '@E6CD[ D96 H2D E96 7:CDE AC6D:56?E @7 E96 x?5:2?2 1/2 628F6 3/8 %96 $E2E6 1/2 628F6'D 9625BF2CE6CD H6C6 :? t= 'ha_ E@ 'haa]k^Am On April 14, for the 90th anniversary of the founding of the 193139 Spanish Second Republic, far-right Vox Party leader Santiago Abascal delivered a fascistic rant in Congress, blaming socialists for the 193639 Spanish Civil War, which was triggered by a fascist coup. Santiago Abascal, leader of far right party Vox, addresses supporters gathered outside the party headquarters following the general election in Madrid, Sunday, April 28, 2019. (AP Photo - Manu Fernandez) Abascal denounced the Second Republic, a capitalist state, as a criminal regime controlled by socialists and communists that led Spain to civil war. He was tacitly justifying General Francisco Francos coup against the Second Republic, which plunged Spain into civil war and installed a 40-year dictatorship. This whitewashes the coup and the mass murder carried out by the Francoites, by implying it was a legitimate response to a threat from socialism and the working class. These unprecedented remarks underscore the fascistic character of herd immunity policies pursued by the ruling class across Europe. Abascals speech came amid a debate on lifting all social distancing measures, amid a resurgence of the virus and after over 1 million people have died of COVID-19 in Europe. As he continued his speech in the Congress, Abascal held up a cobblestone, allegedly thrown at him during a rally Vox held in Madrids working class neighbourhood of Vallecas. These provocative rallies are guarded by hundreds of anti-riot police sent by Spains Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government. Abascal told PSOE Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that if Vox had thrown these cobblestones back at workers during the rally, We would go to civil confrontation. This is a threat to the working class based on historical lies. Francos coup, and not his left-wing opponents, triggered the Spanish Civil War. The war shattered cities across Spain, leading to the murder of 200,000 oppositionists and left-wing workers, and the detention of up to 1 million people in concentration camps. For 40 years thereafter, the Francoite regime and its secret police arrested, tortured and killed thousands, banned strikes, political parties and trade unions, and censored the press. Abascals threat is aimed primarily at mounting working class anger at herd immunity and austerity policies. The virus is surging across Europe, fuelled by more contagious variants and the lifting of social distancing measures, and overwhelming already strained hospital systems. In Spain, projections show that the fourth wave will lead to another 500,000 infections and tens of thousands of more unnecessary deaths. In the Congress, Podemos deputies said nothing in reply to Abascals fascistic rant, while Prime Minister Sanchez meekly complained to Abascal: Your party calls on its members to take over the streets, on the army to carry out a coup. The difference is that we condemn all kinds of violence, and you dont condemn the violence suffered by women, immigrants or LGTBI groups. The remarkable statement made by Sanchez has far-reaching political implications. Having stated that a far-right party is working with the army to prepare a coupa charge amply substantiated by leaked WhatsApp chats of discussions between far-right officers and Abascalthe prime minister of Spain proceeded to take no public action whatsoever. Struggling to find a clear difference between his party and Vox, Sanchez only criticized Vox for not verbally condemning violence against women, immigrants or LGTBI groups. This is politically absurd. By endorsing fascist coups and mass murder, Abascal is declaring his hostility to the entire working class, regardless of gender, national origin or sexual orientation. Sanchezs comment is, however, a public declaration that the PSOE-Podemos government is aware that Vox is preparing a far-right military coup, and is taking no action against it. Quite the opposite, they are in fact providing Vox police escorts to march through working class districts of Madrid. At the same time, they issue impotent criticisms of the Spanish right for being politically aggressive. Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias posted a video on Twitter, lamely criticizing the Spanish right: Why are they so obsessed? Why did the [Popular Party] PP, [Citizens] Cs and Vox destroy that memorial, why carry out actions of street violence against [PSOE Prime Minister under the Second Republic] Largo Caballeros statue, why publicly humiliate two members of the Government of the Second Republic? Because they know that the Spanish democratic identity is republican and anti-fascist. In truth, both the PSOE and Podemos are terrified of the working class, and welcome the opportunity to rely on pressure from Vox to impose their policies on the workers. They know a political mobilization of the working class would lead to an explosion of opposition to their own militarist, herd immunity and austerity policies, which are to a significant extent dictated by Vox. They recently co-signed statements imploring Madrid workers not to confront Vox rallies in the streets, but instead to vote for the PSOE or Podemos in upcoming regional elections. On the day Abascal made his fascist tirade, Vox had been redoubling efforts to end the state of alarm, which authorizes social-distancing policies on the pandemic. Abascals motto had been to demand the end of curfews. The PSOE and Podemos responded by saying curfews will end in May, and Sanchez was explicit in that their intention is not to extend the State of Alarm. Coming amid a fourth wave of the pandemic driven by the variants, this all but guarantees that hundreds of thousands more people will be infected and many thousands die in Spain. The PSOE-Podemos government has also bowed to Voxs anti-migrant agitation, adopting Voxs programme of letting them drown at sea, deporting them and covering up physical and sexual assaults of migrants by the security forces. Over 1,700 migrants have drowned off the Canary Islands, a horrific new record, and migrants have protested their appalling living conditions and poor food in detention camps. Sanchez is doubling down on deportations, even demanding that Senegal re-initiate deportation flights. On the campaign to jail Catalan nationalist politicians over the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, the PSOE-Podemos government has implemented Voxs policy. Last month, the PSOE lobbied for a resolution sponsored by Vox in the European Conservatives and Reformists group to lift the immunity of Catalan nationalists who are members of the European Parliament. After they succeeded, Spain announced it was seeking their extradition to incarcerate them for over a decade. As for the far-right coup threat in Spain, until Sanchezs recent about-face in response to Abascal, they had dishonestly ignored it. They reacted to last Decembers WhatsApp chat leaks where senior military officers said they were good fascists and called to start shooting 26 million left-wing voters and their families by sending Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias on television to downplay this danger. On prime-time, Iglesias said: What these gentlemen say, at their age and already retired, in a chat with a few too many drinks, does not pose any threat. Sanchezs reply to Abascal in Congress exposes Iglesias comments as a political lie, designed to hide from the working class the danger of a far-right coup by pro-Francoite officers. The critical task is mobilizing the working class independently, against herd immunity policies, the far-right danger and its pseudo-left accomplices. Independent workplace and school safety committees have the task not only of monitoring and fighting contagion and herd immunity policies, but of opposing the growing danger of war and military rule. This means constructing sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) in Spain and across Europe against the petty-bourgeois treachery of parties like Podemos. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) It is the case that Kevin Brobson cannot get out of his head: the National Rifle Association and gun owners couldnt get Pennsylvanias courts to consider their lawsuits challenging firearms restrictions in cities. Brobson, now running for a seat on Pennsylvanias Supreme Court, is a key figure in an expanding fight over gun laws that is drawing out in the Legislature, the states highest court and the states biggest cities. The fight over gun control is also featuring prominently in the three-way Republican primary race for the state Supreme Court seat, as Brobson and the two other candidates show off endorsements by gun-rights groups, attend the groups meetings or point to pro-gun decisions they made from the bench. The fights in court revolve around a couple things. One is a state pre-emption law vigorously protected by the Republican-controlled Legislature that has long prohibited municipalities from regulating the possession of guns. The other is court precedent that someone must show they were harmed by a municipal firearms ordinance before a judge will consider their legal challenge to it. Lawsuits are multiplying over the drive by cities including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg to write their own firearms laws to try to stem rising gun violence. Harrisburg police Commissioner Thomas Carter said that, since 2016, police have taken 1,067 illegal guns off the city's streets. Some of those guns are displayed on the table. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com, 2020 Its very likely, given the makeup of the Legislature, there are going to be more lawsuits and we need judges who are going to decide lawsuits based on the constitution, said Kim Stolfer, the co-founder and president of Firearms Owners Against Crime, a gun-rights group based in western Pennsylvania. Stolfers group has given a recommended rating to each of the three Republicans on the ballot in the May 18 primary election: Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick, Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough and Brobson, who is the president judge of the Commonwealth Court. Asked by a radio interviewer last month if theres one case that he cannot get out of his head, Brobson raised the National Rifle Associations lawsuit against Pittsburgh. The issue in that case that I had a hard time with was the National Rifle Association and gun owners just couldnt get in the door of the court and that bothered me greatly, Brobson said last month on WWDB-AM in suburban Philadelphia. Court precedent shouldnt make a law-abiding citizen violate a law in order to challenge it, Brobson said. Years later, Brobson went on to author a majority decision in 2019 that challenged court precedent and concluded that plaintiffs in this case, Firearms Owners Against Crime and individual gun owners could indeed challenge four firearms ordinances in Harrisburg without violating them. McCullough went farther. In her lone dissent, she concluded that gun owners should also be able to challenge the mayors legal powers to shut down gun sales during a declared state of emergency, something the rest of the panel decided against. The case is before the state Supreme Court now. In another case, Brobson froze a new state police policy last year requiring a gun store to report a sale of a partially manufactured gun frame, often called 80% receivers or unassembled ghost guns. Philadelphia, along with families of gun violence victims, meanwhile, are in Commonwealth Court challenging the states pre-emption law. They accuse lawmakers of preventing cities from saving lives and stoking the gun violence epidemic in hard-hit communities. Its a big case and, at the end of the day, it will end up in the state Supreme Court, said Adam Garber, executive director of CeaseFire Pennsylvania, an anti-gun violence organization. So the next justice will have something to say about it. Before it gets there, Brobson or McCullough could weigh in on it. As those cases grind on, Brobson, McCullough and Patrick are making their pitch to Republican voters that they are on the side of gun rights. More: Submit your information for the 2021 primary voters guide Tempers ran high as agitated relatives of the 13 patients who lost their lives in the fire incident at a Covid-19 hospital in Maharashtra's Virar gheraod ministers, officials and hospital staff seeking answers for the death of their dear ones. Some of them claimed that the air conditioner was faulty and the administration of Virar's Vallabh Hospital and Medical Research Centre was aware of it. Besides, they also said that the hospital staff was sleeping when the fire broke out and that the patients could not be evacuated in time. There were some problems in the air conditioner yesterdayI also saw some repair work being done, said an employee of the hospital. They set up some fans on a temporary basis, she added. Read: Virar hospital staff asleep when fire broke out, say kin Several relatives complained to Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde about the hospital administration and their attitude towards the patients. The government has ordered a probe and the guilty will not be spared, he said, pacifying the agitated mob. The patients' kin also sought answers from Palghar Collector Dr Manik Gursal and Vasai-Virar Municipal Commissioner Gangatharan D. My sister, Shama Mhatre, was admitted at the hospital. The fire took place in the wee hours and I was informed at 7.30 am in the morning about her death, Dr Ravi Tandel said as he broke down. Even as Dr Dilip Shah, the CEO of the hospital, was speaking to the mediapersons, an agitated mob gheroed him and sought answers. The hospital is responsible for the death of innocent people, said an agitated relative as security was beefed up. Read: Narendra Modi approves Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for next of kin of Maharashtra hospital fire victims Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 1 lakh for treatment of those injured in the fire. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared Rs 2 lakh compensation for next of kin of deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured. NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the Company) today announced that vaccinations with the Company's COVID-19 single-shot vaccine will resume for all adults aged 18 years and older in the U.S., under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), following a decision from the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The decision was based on a recommendation from the U.S. CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which followed a rigorous evaluation of data relating to a very rare adverse event involving blood clots in combination with low platelet counts (thrombosis with thrombocytopenia) observed within approximately one to two weeks following vaccination. "As the global pandemic continues to devastate communities around the world, we believe a single-shot, easily transportable COVID-19 vaccine with demonstrated protection against multiple variants can help protect the health and safety of people everywhere. We will collaborate with health authorities around the world to educate healthcare professionals and the public to ensure this very rare event can be identified early and treated effectively," said Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer of Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson has updated the EUA Fact Sheets for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine (Vaccination Providers), and Recipients and Caregivers for the Company's COVID-19 vaccine, to include information about the diagnosis and treatment of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia. The revised EUA fact sheets is available at: www.janssencovid19vaccine.com. The CDC, FDA and American Society of Hematology have made information available about the proper recognition and management of this medical condition, and the unique treatment required for this type of blood clot. The health authorities advise that people who have received our COVID-19 vaccine and develop severe headache, chest pain, swelling in the leg, abdominal pain, tiny blood spots under the skin or excessive bruising within two weeks after vaccination should immediately contact their health care provider. The Company continues to work with other healthcare authorities and regulators around the world to ensure this information is included in product labels for the Company's COVID-19 vaccine. On April 20, the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) also issued a recommendation, confirming the overall benefit-risk profile of the Company's COVID-19 vaccine remains positive. Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 Vaccine The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine, developed by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, received EUA from the FDA on February 27, 2021, to prevent COVID-19 in individuals 18 years of age and older. This decision was based in part on the totality of scientific evidence, including data from the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study that demonstrated the vaccine was 66.1 percent effective in preventing moderate to severe/critical disease and 85 percent effective in preventing severe/critical disease across all regions studied, 28 days post-vaccination. The vaccine showed protection against COVID-19 related hospitalization and death, beginning 28 days after vaccination. The terms of the EUA allow use of the vaccine while more data are gathered. The Company plans to file for a Biologics License Application (BLA) with the FDA later in 2021. On April 21, 2021, Johnson & Johnson announced the publication of primary data from the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE clinical trial in the New England Journal of Medicine. The primary analysis of the Company's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine follows the topline efficacy and safety data announced in January, showing the trial met all primary and key secondary endpoints and prevented COVID-19 related hospitalization and death across all study participants 28 days after vaccination. The data also show the vaccine to be consistently effective against symptomatic infection, including in South Africa and Brazil where there was a high prevalence of rapidly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. For more information on the Company's multi-pronged approach to helping combat the pandemic, visit: www.jnj.com/covid-19. # # # Authorized Use The Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is authorized for use in the U.S. under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for active immunization to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in individuals 18 years of age and older. IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION WHAT SHOULD YOU MENTION TO YOUR VACCINATION PROVIDER BEFORE YOU GET THE JANSSEN COVID-19 VACCINE? Tell the vaccination provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you: have any allergies have a fever have a bleeding disorder or are on a blood thinner are immunocompromised or are on a medicine that affects your immune system are pregnant or plan to become pregnant are breastfeeding have received another COVID-19 vaccine WHO SHOULD NOT GET THE JANSSEN COVID-19 VACCINE? You should not get the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine if you: had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient of this vaccine. HOW IS THE JANSSEN COVID-19 VACCINE GIVEN? The Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine will be given to you as an injection into the muscle. The Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine vaccination schedule is a single dose. WHAT ARE THE RISKS OF THE JANSSEN COVID-19 VACCINE? Side effects that have been reported with the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine include: Injection site reactions: pain, redness of the skin, and swelling. General side effects: headache, feeling very tired, muscle aches, nausea, fever. There is a remote chance that the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine could cause a severe allergic reaction. A severe allergic reaction would usually occur within a few minutes to one hour after getting a dose of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. For this reason, your vaccination provider may ask you to stay at the place where you received your vaccine for monitoring after vaccination. Signs of a severe allergic reaction can include: Difficulty breathing Swelling of your face and throat A fast heartbeat A bad rash all over your body Dizziness and weakness Blood clots involving blood vessels in the brain, abdomen, and legs along with low levels of platelets (blood cells that help your body stop bleeding), have occurred in some people who have received the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. In people who developed these blood clots and low levels of platelets, symptoms began approximately one to two-weeks following vaccination. Most people who developed these blood clots and low levels of platelets were females ages 18 through 49 years. The chance of having this occur is remote. You should seek medical attention right away if you have any of the following symptoms after receiving Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine: Shortness of breath, Chest pain, Leg swelling, Persistent abdominal pain, Severe or persistent headaches or blurred vision, Easy bruising or tiny blood spots under the skin beyond the site of the injection. These may not be all the possible side effects of the Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. Serious and unexpected effects may occur. The Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine is still being studied in clinical trials. WHAT SHOULD I DO ABOUT SIDE EFFECTS? If you experience a severe allergic reaction, call 9-1-1, or go to the nearest hospital. Call the vaccination provider or your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that bother you or do not go away. Report vaccine side effects to FDA/CDC Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). The VAERS toll-free number is 1-800-822-7967 or report online to https://vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html . Please include "Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine EUA" in the first line of box #18 of the report form. In addition, you can report side effects to Janssen Biotech, Inc. at 1-800-565-4008. The FDA EUA Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine (Vaccination Providers) and full EUA Prescribing Information are available at www.JanssenCOVID19Vaccine.com/EUA-factsheet About Johnson & Johnson At Johnson & Johnson, we believe good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities and forward progress. That's why for more than 130 years, we have aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world's largest and most broadly-based healthcare company, we are committed to using our reach and size for good. We strive to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. We are blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity. Learn more at www.jnj.com. Follow us at @JNJNews. About the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson At Janssen, we're creating a future where disease is a thing of the past. We're the Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, working tirelessly to make that future a reality for patients everywhere by fighting sickness with science, improving access with ingenuity, and healing hopelessness with heart. We focus on areas of medicine where we can make the biggest difference: Cardiovascular & Metabolism, Immunology, Infectious Diseases & Vaccines, Neuroscience, Oncology, and Pulmonary Hypertension. Learn more at www.janssen.com. Follow us at @JanssenGlobal. Cautions Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding development of a potential preventive vaccine for COVID-19. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, and/or Johnson & Johnson. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: challenges and uncertainties inherent in product research and development, including the uncertainty of clinical success and of obtaining regulatory approvals; uncertainty of commercial success; manufacturing difficulties and delays; competition, including technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges to patents; product efficacy or safety concerns resulting in product recalls or regulatory action; changes in behavior and spending patterns of purchasers of health care products and services; changes to applicable laws and regulations, including global health care reforms; and trends toward health care cost containment. A further list and descriptions of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2021, including in the sections captioned "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors," and in the company's most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and the company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson. None of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies nor Johnson & Johnson undertakes to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information or future events or developments. ### SOURCE Johnson & Johnson Related Links http://www.jnj.com/ Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 09:32:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LAGOS, April 23 (Xinhua) -- President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesina has expressed optimism that the Africa continent has vast opportunities for green growth. "Africa is a huge market offering incredible opportunities. The recovery pathway offers enormous opportunities. Recovery must be green and build climate resilience. Recovery must boost green investments," said Adesina in a statement reaching Xinhua on Friday. He spoke at the European Union-Africa Green Investment Forum on Friday, convened by Portugal and the European Investment Bank to mobilize private and public capital toward the green transition in Africa, the bank said in the statement. Adesina identified energy, agriculture and infrastructure as key areas of investment potential for a post-COVID-19 recovery in Africa. With abundant solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy resources, Africa's energy transition alone presents a 100 billion U.S. dollars per year investment opportunity, Adesina said. According to the AfDB chief, agriculture potentially offers massive investments in climate-smart crops to build more resilient food systems and climate-resilient infrastructure offers investment potential of 130 billion- 170 billion dollars. The AfDB is in the vanguard of investment in climate adaptation, he said, but over 70 percent of the financing needed will need to come from the private sector to complement public investments. "The private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, is critical in mitigating climate change and implementing adaptation methods. This calls for innovative approaches to attract and steer financial flows toward low carbon and climate-resilient development," Adesina said. "A greener Africa must also focus on the circular economy, in which waste can be recycled and turned into wealth," he added. Enditem Charlie Brooks has revealed her ex-boyfriend Tony Truman - with whom she shares daughter Kiki, 16 - lives in the flat above hers. Speaking on Kate Thornton's White Wine Question Time podcast amid swirling rumours she is set to return to EastEnders as the villainous Janine Butcher, the doting mother said on Wednesday: 'The dynamic just works.' The actress, 39, said Tony was even a fan of her most recent ex Ben, and they spent Christmas together. She explained: 'We woke up on Christmas Day together. Tony would come down, we'd all get into bed and open presents with Kiki.' Candid: Charlie Brooks, 39, has revealed her ex-boyfriend Tony Truman - with whom she shares daughter Kiki, 16 - lives in the flat above hers (pictured on Kate Thornton's podcast) Charlie sweetly elaborated: 'We are going to grow old together, just in a very different way. He is absolutely my family and nothing will ever change that.' Charlie also revealed she has given up alcohol because she was 'fed-up of feeling s**t'. Charlie said: 'I've partied a lot and really enjoyed it. A glass of wine is never a glass of wine, it's a bottle or three. I thought, "It's time to change. I don't want to do this any more." 'I was so fed up of feeling s***, repetitive behaviour patterns, feeling like I was doing the same thing all the time and actually I felt like my life was standing still a bit. 'The acting world is hard and I've done some lovely stuff but you spend most of your time unemployed and not getting jobs'. According to Charlie, she felt it was necessary to stop drinking to reach her full potential. Happy family: Charlie elaborated: 'We are going to grow old together, just in a very different way. He is absolutely my family and nothing will ever change that' (pictured with Tony and Kiki) She continued: 'I feel like there may have been some things I missed out on. Sometimes I feel the booze robs you of your potential. 'I suppose it was necessary for me to stop drinking in order to invent myself. I feel I'm becoming much more cemented in who I am, and creative and trusting. 'I'm not saying it's for ever, because I f***ing love a drink and a party, but right now it's 100 per cent one of the best things I've ever done.' Earlier this week, it was reported that Charlie would resurrect her role as the murderous Janine on the soap EastEnders, seven years after she departed Albert Square. 'I suppose it was necessary for me to stop drinking in order to invent myself. I feel I'm becoming much more cemented in who I am,' Charlie said (pictured on I'm A Celeb in 2012) It was claimed on Wednesday that Charlie's character Janine would make an explosive return to Albert Square, leaving soap lovers swarming social media to state she would 'save the soap' and likened the news to 'winning a war'. The murderous character is said to be part of a 'huge' storyline planned by BBC bosses, according to The Sun. Actress Charlie explained why she is excited to reclaim the role of Janine on the podcast. She added: 'She's good fun, I love Janine. I always wonder what she's been up to. I think it's really important to sympathise with your characters and for me, she became so layered. 'I honestly believe she's completely misunderstood in so many ways, although she does get more and more difficult to defend. But that is where all the juicy stuff is.' Charlie is reportedly set to reinstate her role as a full-cast member on the soap, with filming set to begin in the next few weeks. Revealing: She continued: 'I feel like there may have been some things I missed out on. Sometimes I feel the booze robs you of your potential' Bad character: It was claimed on Wednesday that Charlie's character Janine would make an explosive return to Albert Square Plot details are not yet known, but Janine has been involved in her fair share of drama during her time on the soap, which first began in 1999. Most notably, Janine married Barry Evans played by Shaun Williamson for his money before pushing him off a cliff. She went on to marry a rich elderly Jewish businessman called David, who died of a heart attack at the ceremony, before tying the knot with Ryan Malloy (Neil McDermott), whom she also tried to kill. Although she was unsuccessful in her murder plot against Ryan, she framed arch-rival Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) for the attempted crime. Janine married a fourth time to Michael Moon (Steve John Shepherd) and had her daughter Scarlett with him, before she eventually set out to kill him too. The evil killer was successful in ending Michael's life, but was found not guilty in court - leading to her being shunned by locals which made her eventually leave Walford. She was last seen at St Pancras as she boarded a train to go to Paris - where she joined daughter Scarlett and sister Diane. According to Charlie, she feels Janine's negative dating reputation has seeped into her own love life as suitors often fear she is secretly a 'b***h'. Single: According to Charlie, she feels Janine's negative dating reputation has seeped into her love life as she talked about co-parenting her daughter Kiki, 16, (pictured in 2016) with her ex Tony Truman She added on the White Wine Question Time podcast: 'There's a reason I'm single for four years men run away.' 'If I don't like something I change it. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, whether that means I run away from commitment and I don't work through something, I don't know. 'I'm 40 and still single so I don't know whether that's a good thing or not.' Charlie split from her partner of five years, architect Ben Hollington in 2017. She shares Kiki, with Ibiza Ocean Beach co-owner, Tony. Family: She confirmed she is still close to her father's child (pictured in 2005) as she said: 'He can be an a***hole sometimes, but nobody's perfect. I love him to bits. He's one of my best friends' While she and Tony are no longer together, she confirmed they remain close. 'He is absolutely my family and nothing will ever change that, no matter how much we fall out, which we have done, big time. 'He can be an a***hole sometimes, but nobody's perfect. I love him to bits. He's one of my best friends,' she gushed. Families around the world are anxiously awaiting the end of COVID-19 travel restrictions so they can finally relocate their lives and businesses to Winnipeg. Families around the world are anxiously awaiting the end of COVID-19 travel restrictions so they can finally relocate their lives and businesses to Winnipeg. While many immigration processes have ground to a near halt during the pandemic, processing for the entrepreneurial route of gaining residency in Canada has pushed ahead under the countrys startup visa program. SUPPLIED Selim Aslan with his wife Nihal and their three children Ilyana, Adem and Omer. Selim Aslan, a civil engineer by training, is waiting to move to Winnipeg with his wife and three children from Istanbul. Along with them, he is looking to bring a business founded on proprietary technology used to build commercial and residential docks and other floating platforms. For three years, Aslan has operated his own business in Turkey, generating about $1 million in revenues last year, he told the Free Press. But as he began patenting new technology, he decided he wanted to branch into the international marketplace, and he decided he wanted to do it from Winnipeg. So in 2020, he established Sanflotec Inc. in Canada. His head office will be based in Winnipeg where design and manufacturing will occur, and satellite sales offices will be set up in the United Kingdom, and one will remain in Istanbul. But in the dock business, Aslan said Winnipeg offers some obvious benefits. "People there use the water for many activities for fishing, for boating, for a lot of uses. This is not available in other areas in the world, but in Canada and the U.S. you have a very good market," Aslan said. The startup visa program was initially created as a three-year pilot program that became permanent in 2018. It allows (up to five) business owners to relocate to Canada with their families per business, and banks on the promise of the company then going on to create jobs and innovative industry in the country. "In the old days, investors that were coming to Canada were very passive. That was considered a big failure, you would get like ultra-rich people who would come here based on their capital, but not really invest it, not really do anything that stimulates job growth," said Vanessa Routley, a lawyer specializing in startup visa applications based in Toronto. "So this is the total opposite, where its all about new technologies that are going to offer employment to people that are going to put Canada ahead of other countries." SUPPLIED Chandan Bhambhani visiting an Indian silk farm. Bhambhanis business, Skivi-Yaan, is looking to genetically modify silkworms. Generally speaking, Routley says Canada is competing with European countries for this type of immigration, principally the U.K., but also the United States which offers the allure of the Silicon Valley pipe dream. "For an investor looking to immigrate, Canada is the No. 1 most competitive offering right now," Routley said. "Most of these other programs have an element of risk where you move to the country on a temporary status, you start up your business. And if the business fails, you end up leaving empty-handed without your capital, without your long-term status. Whereas Canada guarantees if you take a chance on Canada, you will get your permanent residency." Chandan Bhambhani and his wife Kirthan Shenoy are Indian citizens but have been living in the U.S. state of Michigan as they prepare to move north to Winnipeg. Bhambhani has a PhD in molecular and cellular biology and has been working in the field of biotechnology. His business, SkiviYaan, is looking to genetically modify silkworms to produce a new kind of silk-wool blend material. Bhambhani said there are a number of reasons he and his wife chose Canada, one being that the immigration process is much shorter than the drawn-out process in the U.S. But he also emphasized the importance of a cheap, green power supply. "Silk needs very regulated conditions, like temperature and humidity. And obviously, when we open a Canada, we will need an indoor facility. The fact that its one of the most economic power sectors in the whole of North America, plus the fact that theyre very focused on green energy," Bhambhani said. SUPPLIED Chandan Bhambhani and his wife Kirthan Shenoy are relocating to Winnipeg from Michigan. Another luring aspect associated with Winnipeg, Bhambhani and Aslan mentioned, was the support offered by the local tech startup incubator, Manitoba Technology Accelerator. The accelerator is most well-known for its support of Skip the Dishes in its infancy. Marshall Ring, CEO of the tech accelerator, said that currently they have 250 international startups on contract with them, and about half of those are likely to land in Winnipeg or Manitoba. Despite there being no requirement for businesses to succeed in order for the owners to obtain permanent residency, he says so far hes seen very low failure rates of the businesses brought into the country. "A primary motivation for large numbers of people is permanent residency in Canada. But theyre going to try their best, and theyve got probably enough capital to have their company run for two or three years. So, the attrition is not very high. Theyre prepared to make that investment and see if they can launch a company in Canada." In the fall of 2020, federal Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino announced that stepping up immigration numbers would be a part of the countrys COVID-19 response plan with a goal of 401,000 immigrants entering Canada in 2021. "Im really excited about what the future of Winnipeg is going to look like post-COVID, when we have 100, or 150, new technology startups and scale-ups in our community bringing their energy, passion and capital to build companies," Ring said. sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca The ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India may peak between May 11-15 with 33-35 lakh total active' cases and decline steeply by the end of May, according to a mathematical module devised by IIT scientists. On Friday, India saw a single-day rise of 3,32,730 (3.32 lakh) COVID-19 infections and 2,263 fatalities with 24,28,616 (24.28 lakh) active cases. In predicting that the active cases would go up by about 10 lakh by mid-May before sliding, scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur and Hyderabad applied the Susceptible, Undetected, Tested (positive), and Removed Approach' (SUTRA) model. The scientists also said Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Telangana may see a high of new cases by April 25-30, while Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh might already have reached their peak in new cases. We have found that there is a reasonable chance that the active cases in India could peak sometime between May 11-15 with 33-35 lakh cases. It is a sharp slope, but on the way down, it would likely be equally sharp, coming down very fast and by end of May may see a dramatic reduction, Manindra Agrawal, professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT-Kanpur, told PTI. The scientists in the as yet unpublished study said there are several novel features in the SUTRA model.Whereas previous papers divided the patient population into asymptomatic and Infected, the new model also accounts for the fact that some fraction of asymptomatic patients could also be detected due to contact tracing and other such protocols. Earlier this month, the mathematical modelling approach predicted that active infections in the country would peak by April 15 but this didn'tcome true. The parameters in our model for the current phase are continuously drifting. So it is hard to get their value right, said Agrawal. Even a little bit of change each day causes the peak numbers to change by several thousand, he explained. The IIT Kanpur professor added that the SUTRA model's prediction of the new peak is sensitive to the daily new infections data. Agrawal noted that the model uses three main parameters to predict the course of the pandemic. The first is called beta, or contact rate, which measures how many people an infected person infects per day. It is related to the R0value, which is the number of people an infected person spreads the virus to over the course of their infection, Agrawal explained. The other two parameters are reach', which is a measure of the exposure level of the population to the pandemic, and epsilon' which is the ratio of detected and undetected cases. There are other mathematical modules as well. Independent calculations by Gautam Menon and his team at Ashoka University in Haryana have predicted that the peak of the ongoing wave of infections could be between mid-April and mid-May. Menon also cautioned that such projections of COVID-19 cases should really be trusted only in the short term. Any excessively precise prediction, of a peak within just a five-day window would ignore the many uncertainties associated with the inputs to any such calculation, Menon, who was not involved in the modelling, had told PTI earlier. Also read: Second COVID-19 wave: List of countries that have banned flights from India Also read: COVID-19 crisis: India reports over 3.46 lakh cases; 13.83 crore vaccines given so far US House of Representatives Adam Schiff made a statement in connection with US president Joe Biden's statement on the Armenian Genocide. For Armenian-Americans and everyone who believes in human rights and the truth, today marks an historic milestone: President Biden has defied Turkish threats and recognized the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians for what it was - the first genocide of the 20th Century. In so doing, he has cast aside decades of shameful silence and half-truths, and the broken promises of so many of his predecessors, and spoken truth to power. This is a momentous day for thousands upon thousands of my Armenian-American constituents who have been working, advocating, and praying for recognition for their entire lives and I am heartened that this announcement comes at a time when there are still some genocide survivors alive to witness it, though their numbers are very small. It also comes at a time of new dangers to the Armenian people, after Azerbaijan and Turkey made war on the people of Artsakh, he noted. As we commemorate the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, we can now do so now, secure in the knowledge that our nation, both the President and the Congress, speak with one voice: We will never again be silenced. And we will never forget. Schiff has led Congressional efforts to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide for over twenty years, and this year led a bipartisan group of over 100 members of Congress in urging President Biden to take this historic step. The Deer Hunter is fantastic Reply Thread Link The Deer Hunter blew me away when I first saw it at age 15. I was not expecting the ending at all and was devastated. Christopher Walken definitely earned that Oscar. Later on, I read about how the depiction of the vietnamese soldiers caused a lot of outrage. Even as a teen, I thought their characterization was pretty one dimensional. Reply Parent Thread Link Im so split on it. I think the hometown scenes are mostly great but god, the depiction of Vietnamese soldiers is racist. Reply Parent Thread Link It wrecked me. I was very hormonal at the time and just...wow. Too much Reply Parent Thread Link yeah when i did the rewatch i was like 'wait this is actually really great' Reply Parent Thread Link The Sound of Music is still and will always be my favourite movie of all time, idgaf Reply Thread Link I watched both The Godfather and Part 2 recently and its crazy how good they are ! Reply Thread Link when the priest guy asks michael if he renounced satan in part 1 michael and fredo in part 2 the last Michael and kay scenes in both films fredo and anthony and the fishing and the Hail Mary al pacinos FACE robert De Niro Reply Parent Thread Link Yaassssss! Young Bobby DeNiro was hot. And Ive only ever found Pacino attractive as post Sicily Michael Corleone. Reply Parent Thread Link LMAO I was telling my man how Id only seen the newer Al Pacino movies (mid-90s onward) and was so shocked that THAT is how he used to look?!??? Reply Parent Thread Link godfather 2 is the best that Pacino & De Niro both ever looked. love treating this cinematic classic as a thirst watch lol Reply Parent Thread Link PACINOS FACE THO Reply Parent Thread Link those films are perfection, i love them so much Reply Parent Thread Link me too bb!!!! I had never seen them until a few weeks ago take the gun, leave the cannoli Edited at 2021-04-24 05:26 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I hate that my favorite film is such "man's movie" but fuck I could watch it every week and not be bored. I do watch it basically once a month already lol Reply Parent Thread Expand Link they really are as good as everyone says lol, i remember watching both for the first time a few years ago and just being like Reply Parent Thread Expand Link A lot of these placements are basically trolling (even aside from the films the writer admits to not having seen). There's no universe where The King's Speech is one of the bottom ten Best Picture winners. Or Gladiator ranking higher than Amadeus. Reply Thread Link Seriously. This list is just a lot of nonsense. Reply Parent Thread Link Nah the Deer Hunter is a great movie. I definitely want to get into classic movies more, I watch such a lot of nonsense. Reply Thread Link Lol I actually Ctrl+F'ed La La Land to determine if I should take this list seriously, then I remembered that sometimes the deserving actually wins and lo! Moonlight at #1! Reply Thread Link I still vividly remember this guy going "No you guys I'm serious, Moonlight won, this isn't a joke" and realizing the only way anyone was gonna believe that was if he literally the receipts Reply Parent Thread Expand Link wtf Oliver! is #23? That movie sucks. If you were just ranking musicals, it would be on the bottom of the list, but they put it ahead of The Sound of Music, West Side Story, and Chicago. Reply Thread Link Oliver! makes me nostalgic but I know intellectually it's not a great movie. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah oliver being high is... god that movie was terrible Reply Parent Thread Link Crash not being at the bottom is a fucking travesty. Reply Thread Link Green Book should have been last. Crash had that great Bird York song that makes it second worst. Reply Parent Thread Link Ok, Ill grant that Reply Parent Thread Link i'd put Deer Hunter and Unforgiven a lot higher so im not gonna bother looking at the source Reply Thread Link Amadeus too Reply Parent Thread Link Unforgiven in recent years is nearly universally disliked and I have no idea why. I know Clint is a shrivelled raisin of a man but Unforgiven is a great film. Reply Parent Thread Link yea, at first i was like... am i biased? my dad loves Westerns so i've seen a lot of them. but no, Unforgiven is legit. Reply Parent Thread Link So basically a list of personal opinion of movies on whether they live up to the writers views of todays standards or not. Cause in no world is Chicago ranked better than The Sound of Music. Edited at 2021-04-24 05:16 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link The Sound of Music might be a classic, but Chicago is way more entertaining and well done. Reply Parent Thread Link I greatly love both of them (and don't understand people shitting on Chicago these days???) but SOM >>> Reply Parent Thread Link People hate on Chicago? That sucks, I really like Chicago even if Sound of Music is better but man Cell Block Tango is amazing! Reply Parent Thread Link Disagree. Chicago is way more tightly written, like there's not a wasted moment. Sound of Music meanders at points, tho I love the meandering. Reply Parent Thread Link This list seems pretty terrible. Reply Thread Link This list was designed to get people talking and outrage nothing more nothing less. Id be surprised if the author had even seen all of these. Has enough time passed to say that the ending of Moonlight annoyed me? I hate the indie movie trope of cutting to black in the middle of a scene. Finish telling the story you started! Its not interesting or compelling! I wanted to see more of their reunion! Reply Thread Link Id be surprised if the author had even seen all of these. "62. Marty (1955) Havent seen it. Its plonked here as a control, just a completely neutral non-film." lmao Reply Parent Thread Link hmm, this might be the difference between play and screen because I would argue that I too wanted more of the reunion, but in the language of the film the scene WAS finished. i don't think that type of "play" screenplay always leads to satisfaction tho. Reply Parent Thread Link I haven't seen most of the movies on the list and yet I'm pretty sure Crash should be at the very bottom. Reply Thread Link Its not - its near the bottom but it ranks higher than The Deer Hunter, Shakespeare in Love, and Gone With The Wind. Reply Parent Thread Link Uh Sound of Music should be #3, at least. Reply Thread Link It Happened One Night should be #1. Reply Thread Link It's such a fun movie. I think people who refuse to watch old black and white movies would even enjoy this one. Reply Parent Thread Link Yes! As a kid I was really creeped out by black and white movies (some weird irrational anxiety) but in my teens I got lured in by Double Indemnity. Next I saw It Happened One Night and it instantly became one of my favorites. Reply Parent Thread Link ISTANBUL The Afghanistan Turkey Pakistan trilateral meeting was successfully held today in Istanbul, Turkey. Minister Atmar in his opening remarks, praised Turkeys efforts as a valuable and trustworthy friend of Afghanistan in strengthening peace process, convening the trilateral meeting, and holding the next round of peace talks. Minister Atmar also appreciated Pakistans active role in assisting the efforts to lay the groundwork for peace talks, and called the trilateral meeting a substantial platform for expanding relations and cooperation with Pakistan. Minister Atmar said that Afghanistan has fulfilled all its commitments towards paving the ground for achieving political settlement with the Taliban, including releasing 6000 Taliban prisoners. Discussing the peace proposal presented by H.E. the Afghan President, Minister Atmar stated that Afghanistan is fully prepared to share power with the Taliban through the peace government until holding early Elections. H.E. Mevlut Cavusoglu reckoned political settlement as the only possible option to end war in Afghanistan and called for close cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan for the success of peace process. He said that Turkey will also try to convene the Trilateral Summit before commencement of the upcoming peace talks in Turkey. Foreign Minister of Pakistan, H.E. Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Quraishi in his statement said that the Taliban didnt indicate their willingness to participate, but we believe that it is a temporary postponement He hoped that the peace talks resume after Eid-ul-Fitr in Turkey, and that both sides would commit to negotiating an inclusive and comprehensive peace agreement. By the end of the meeting, Ministers of three countries appeared in a press conference and called on the Taliban to return to the negotiating table and resume the peace talks. All three countries deplored high level of violence in the joint declaration released at the end of the trilateral meeting, and emphasized immediate, sustainable, and comprehensive ceasefire as a prerequisite for creating conductive atmosphere for the success of peace talks. The three countries reiterated their commitment to a peaceful, sovereign, independent, democratic, and united Afghanistan. Officials from the three countries also discussed and exchanged views on expanding economic cooperation and implementing regional connectivity projects, joint fight against terrorism and organized crimes, irregular migrations, and enhancing welfare in the region. Delhi's upscale has witnessed 14 per cent decline in rental during the last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic and is ranked 21st in the most expensive high street retail location in Asia Pacific region, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Around 80 per cent of Indian high street retail markets experienced declines in rent during this period, the property consultant said in its latest Main Streets report. The top three most expensive cities for retail remain as Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney. Regionally, among the worst-impacted was Hong Kong's premier shopping district of Causeway Bay, which saw a 43 per cent fall in rent to HK$ 870 per sq ft per month. "Among Indian high streets, saw a 14% decline in 2020 and slipped out of the top 20 most expensive markets in the APAC region," the consultant said. continues to be the most expensive in India with a rent of USD 195 per sq ft, followed by Connaught Place in the capital. Cushman & Wakefiled noted that India entered the pandemic on strong form with upward pressure on rents in main streets across the major cities in the country. However, the start of lockdowns from Q2 2020 stalled the momentum and transactions have declined even as markets gradually re-opened in H2 2020. The ongoing wave of lockdowns that occurred across the country at different times and for varying lengths resulted in an average decline in rents of around 9 per cent, but this ranged from 18 per cent and 14 per cent in Kolkata and Bengaluru respectively to more benign declines of less than 2% in Chennai and Ahmedabad. Anshul Jain, Managing Director India and South East Asia said, The APAC region has world's 64% smartphone users and the largest share of global e-commerce at 2.5 trillion USD of the global total of 3.9 trillion USD. That makes it easier to comprehend why the pandemic forced buyers to tilt towards online shopping. Even in the last quarter of 2020 when the markets began to open and main streets began experiencing improved footfalls, people across the region continued to shop online. "And with the second wave of the pandemic at its peak, partial lockdown imposed in several cities in India, e-commerce will continue to be the obvious preference till we ride out of the current situation," Jain 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.) United Nations, April 24 : United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for strong multilateral action to address the common crisis and threats that the international community is facing. "We need strong multilateral action now, to emerge from the pandemic safely, to address the climate crisis, and to build stronger, safer communities and societies," the UN chief said in his video message marking the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, which falls on April 24 annually, Xinhua news agency reported on Friday. "The Covid-19 pandemic is a tragic reminder of how deeply connected we are," said the top UN official. "There is a clear and urgent need for concrete multilateral solutions, based on common action across borders for the good of all humanity, starting with the equitable distribution of vaccines as a global public good." Guterres noted that this need "goes far beyond the pandemic". "It applies to all the transnational threats we face: the climate crisis; air and water pollution; the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; the development of new technologies in the absence of agreed principles and norms." "We need a more networked multilateralism, with stronger coordination between regional and international organisations, international financial institutions and public/private alliances," the secretary-general said. "We need an inclusive multilateralism, that draws on civil society, business, local and regional authorities and others, and shares power more broadly and fairly," he added. "Today, as we mark the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace, let's renew our commitment to global multilateral solutions that deliver for people and planet," concluded the secretary-general. The International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was established on December 12, 2018 through a UN resolution and was first observed on April 24, 2019. Preserving the values of multilateralism and international cooperation, which underpin the UN Charter and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is fundamental for promoting and supporting the three pillars of the UN - peace and security, development and human rights. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Members of Parliament of the Netherlands have expressed their readiness to work on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide in a video messages addressed on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Genocide. The continued commemoration of the Armenian Genocide is the restoration of justice for the Armenian community, for the history and for the truth. But the truth needs to be recognized, a recognition of sufferings caused to the Armenian community, Greeks and Assyrians. And we should continue working on this path both in the Netherlands and abroad, MP Agnes Mulder said, stating that she stands by the Armenian people. Lawmaker Kees van der Staaij stated that what has happened in 1915 was absolutely a genocide. It is also a genocide with the pain people are feeling from generations to generations. Therefore, we want and are obliged to think about it in order not to forget and to learn lessons for the future, he said, adding: There is only one future, that is to sincerely face history. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Prince Louis, the third child of Britains Prince William and Kate Middleton turned three years old on April 23. To mark the same, members from across the House of Windsor united, sharing wishes and posting pictures of the Cambridge Royal. Taking to Instagram, the official page of the Royal Family shared a brightening photograph of Louis which showed him flashing a wide smile while riding a bicycle. Taken earlier this week by The Duchess of Cambridge before he left for his first day of nursery, The Duke and Duchess are pleased to share a new image of Prince Louis, read the caption along with the picture. According to a report by People, Louis is attending Wilcocks Nursery School in London, the same which his elder sister Princess Charlotte attended. Later, a close source to the Royal Family told the media outlet that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge chose the place because they were impressed by the team who tutored Princess Charlotte. Three-year-old Prince Louis is fifth in line for the British crown. He is preceded by his grandfather Prince Charles, father Prince William, Elder brother George and elder sister Prince Charlotte. The Royal Family channel also posted a clip from Prince George's birthday celebrations. Queen's scaled-down birthday Blanketed by nearly a fortnight of gloom following Prince Philip's demise, the royal family also marked Queen Elizabeth II's birthday on April 21. The Queens public birthday celebrations was also restricted due to COVID-19 restrictions in England. For the second year in a row, Trooping the Colour was cancelled due to the pandemic which refers to the June festivities held to mark Queens birthday. The highlight of the celebrations includes a Royal Family gathering on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. However, reportedly, several plans are currently under discussion for subdued birthday celebrations like the ones that took place last year in the quadrangle at Windsor Castle. However, it still remains unclear if any of her family members would join the ceremony in June. Image Credits: AP Georgetown, SC (29440) Today Mostly cloudy this morning with thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High around 80F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low near 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Accra Mall Limited, organizers of the Future Fashion Fund has launched a pop-up store at the mall for Bright Sena Banini the winner of the maiden Future Fashion Fund which was organized in 2019. Sena, who operates under the brand name SENABRYTE was declared the winner at the runway show organized to climax the Accra Mall Fashion Weekend (AMFW) on Saturday, 31st August 2019. Speaking at the launch, Mr. Anthony Asamoah, Marketing Manager of Accra Mall, reiterated the rationale behind the pop-up store and Accra Malls commitment to startups; "As part of the prize package for the winner of the Future Fashion Fund, Accra Mall assured the winner of a pop-up store at the Mall in addition to many other prizes. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from launching the store last year but thankfully we have been able to commence the trading activities this year in accordance with all COVID-19 safety protocols Speaking after the launch of the store, SENABRYTE expressed deep gratitude to Accra Mall for honoring its promise. This pop-up store at Accra Mall is a dream come true and I cant thank Accra Mall enough for this opportunity and privilege; I still cant believe this but I am so grateful. I also want to thank everyone who believed in me, he expressed. The Future Fashion Fund is an extension of the Accra Mall Fashion Weekend (AMFW) which is an annual two-day fashion event that focuses on the fashion and beauty retail category. The event features a Beauty Expo and a style talk in addition to the runway show. The runway show also features clothing, makeup and accessories from tenants at the mall. The Accra Mall Future Fashion Fund 2019 was supported by Standard Chartered Bank and sponsored by Woodin, Dark & Lovely, and Black Opal Makeup (distributed by Body Basics). 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 China denounces Japan's irresponsible remarks on Diaoyu Islands, Taiwan Xinhua) 14:25, April 24, 2021 BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese spokesperson on Friday denounced Japan's recent remarks on the Diaoyu Islands and Taiwan as "completely reckless" and "highly irresponsible," urging Japan to reflect on itself and refrain from going further down the wrong path. Speaking of China's activities around the Diaoyu Islands, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi reportedly said that China is invading in a subtle way, step by step. He also talked about the Taiwan question. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily press briefing that China always adheres to the path of peaceful development and firmly pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. The Japanese side should stop talking nonsense about China's development and misleading the public, said the spokesperson. The Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands are an inherent part of China's territory, Zhao said, adding that China's patrols and law-enforcement activities in waters off the Diaoyu Island are an exercise of its inherent rights. Zhao said the Taiwan question is a purely internal affair of China. "China will never allow any country to interfere in any way," he said. The erroneous statements of some Japanese people in relation to Taiwan fully expose their sinister thinking, that they do not want to see the peaceful reunification of China and will do everything possible to obstruct that great cause, according to Zhao. "China must and will be reunified. The Japanese side should never harbor any illusion with ulterior motives," he said. Japan has staged various political farces, one after another, to deny and whitewash its history of aggression and expansion in Asia, Zhao said. Certain Japanese politicians wantonly smear China, turning a blind eye to their own deplorable deeds. "The world should be on high alert as to their real intentions," the spokesperson said. He urged Japan to reflect on itself, immediately stop slinging mud at China and refrain from going further down the wrong path. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Bianji) Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Saturday called for an immediate end to the violence in Myanmar. The big picture: ASEAN leaders, who met with Myanmar coup leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in an emergency summit in Jakarta, released a five-point consensus, which said "there shall be immediate cessation of violence" in Myanmar. Min Aung Hlaing did not immediately comment on the consensus. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free Details: The five-point consensus also said that all involved parties "shall exercise utmost restraint." They also agreed that all contending parties must engage in a peaceful dialogue, and a special ASEAN envoy will facilitate it and must be allowed to visit Myanmar to meet with all parties. ASEAN member nations said they will provide humanitarian aid to Myanmar. Of note: The consensus did not mention the release of political prisoners, which some leaders had demanded during the summit, per AP. What they're saying: "We, as an ASEAN family, had a close discussion on the recent developments in Myanmar and expressed our deep concern on the situation in the country, including reports of fatalities and escalation of violence," the member nations said in a statement. "We acknowledged ASEANs positive and constructive role in facilitating a peaceful solution in the interest of the people of Myanmar and their livelihoods." "The situation in Myanmar is unacceptable and should not continue," Indonesian President Joko Widodo said during the emergency meeting, per AP. "Violence must be stopped, democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar must be returned immediately. The interests of the people of Myanmar must always be the priority." ASEAN leaders refrained from referring to the coup leader as Myanmar's head of state, a Southeast Asian diplomat told AP. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Min Aung Hlaing was "not opposed" to a visit from ASEAN officials or to receiving humanitarian aid, BBC reports. Story continues "He said he heard us, he would take the points in which he considered helpful," Lee Hsien Loong said. Worth noting: The messages conveyed during the meeting could be deemed a policy breach for the association as members are prohibited from interfering in other's domestic affairs. But Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that because the Myanmar coup "jeopardizes the peace, security, and stability of ASEAN and the wider region" and there are international calls for an end to the coup, the policy should not lead to inaction, according to AP. Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information on the five-point consensus. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. The results of the empirical work confirm that even though migration contributes to development in the Dominican Republic, the potential of migration is not fully exploited. One explanation is that many policy makers in the Dominican Republic do not sufficiently take migration into account in their respective policy areas. The Dominican Republic therefore needs to adopt a more coherent policy agenda to do more to integrate migration into development strategies, improve co-ordination mechanisms and strengthen international co-operation. This would enhance the contribution of migration to development in the country. The report shows that in Armenia the share of people planning to emigrate is much lower amongst those who benefit from vocational training. Given the lowest skilled occupational group is more likely to plan to emigrate, vocational training programmes may promote upward labour mobility in the domestic labour market and reduce incentives to look for jobs abroad. Remarkably, this is in contrast with the general pattern observed in the other countries surveyed, where such programmes tend to reinforce incentives to migrate. Burkina Faso In Burkina Faso, emigrants make up between 8% and 10% of the countrys population (about 90% of them live in Cote dIvoire) and remittances have grown from 1% of GDP in 2009 to 4% in 2015. At the same time, many Burkinabe returned or immigrated (for those born there) from Cote dIvoire during the decade-long conflict in that country. For this contribution to be fully exploited, the effects of migration on the various sectors have to be systematically taken into account in the process of policymaking, and the same about the effects of sectoral policies on migration. To that end, Burkina Faso adopted a migration strategy in early 2017, providing guidance for public authorities to best enhance the value of migration for the country. Slovakia has decided to expel three employees of the Russian Embassy in Bratislava since they were under suspicion of the country's special services, Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok said on Saturday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2021) Slovakia has decided to expel three employees of the Russian Embassy in Bratislava since they were under suspicion of the country's special services, Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok said on Saturday. On Friday, Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger said that three Russian diplomats in Bratislava must leave the country within a week in accordance with the current geopolitical situation, as well as with the situation in the Czech Republic. Korcok announced that the country would take strong action to support the Czech Republic over the recent diplomatic row with Moscow. "Slovakia's special services are monitoring the activities of foreign special services on our territory, as it happens elsewhere. They do it continuously, no matter what happens. We have recently received the information from our special services that three employees of the Russian diplomatic mission in Bratislava were not acting the way diplomats are supposed to act and a reverent political decision was take," Korcok told the Czech news outlet Respekt. According to the minister, this decision is, of course, connected with the situation in the Czech Republic, from where 18 Russian diplomats were expelled earlier this week amid a undercover spies dispute. "We acted based on the information of our special services. This is a sovereign Slovak decision. But, it is clear that we decided to act this way following the request of the Czech Republic to show solidarity," Korcok added. A year and a half after details emerged about a woman overdosing at the house of Brandons former city manager, there are still unanswered questions about what happened on July 11, 2019. Advertisement Advertise With Us A year and a half after details emerged about a woman overdosing at the house of Brandons former city manager, there are still unanswered questions about what happened on July 11, 2019. The RCMP conducted a 15-month long review of the Brandon police investigation into Christine Mitchells death after overdosing at Rod Sages house, which was given to the justice minister earlier this year. Scant details have emerged. Mitchell was 30 years old when she died. On April 15, current Justice Minister Cameron Friesen put out a statement calling the Brandon police investigation into Christine Mitchells death "appropriate and professional." In a Tuesday morning interview with the Sun, Friesen said he read the entire report and it was a "thorough process." It involved interviewing witnesses, police officers, paramedics and looking for surveillance tapes to determine what happened. "In this case, you had a municipal police service that couldnt appropriately be asked to undertake that work, and so you need that outside authority to ensure there is independence and transparency in the process," he said. The Department of Justice accepts the report and its conclusion, Friesen said. The Sun filed a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act request for the file, but it was denied under multiple exemptions in the Act. The report has not been made public, nor have many details from it. There are still questions about the nature of the police investigation into Mitchells death and what it found. On July 10, 2019, Mitchell was taken to the Brandon Regional Health Centre after overdosing on purple heroin, an especially potent form of the drug that can combine oxycontin, fentanyl, carfentanil and other opiates. The Sun first reported on the drug hitting Brandons streets on July 25, 2019, when Addictions Foundation of Manitoba medical director Dr. Ginette Poulin said it was causing "a lot of concern." The Brandon Police Service was notified of Mitchells death on July 11, 2019 by a member of the public and immediately opened an investigation. On Oct. 4, 2019, then-justice minister and attorney general Cliff Cullen asked the RCMP to conduct a review of the incident. On Oct. 8, 2019, the Brandon Police Service made a request to the Brandon Regional Health Centre for Mitchells medical records. More attention came to the case on Oct. 9, 2019, when media reports came about the death and Sage stepped back from his role on the Brandon Police Board on Oct. 10. Former Brandon city manager Rod Sage. (Brandon Sun photo illustration) Sage officially went on paid leave from his position in mid-October and retired on Feb. 21, 2020. At the time, a statement from Brandon City Council said the decision was "mutually agreed to be in the best interest of all parties." The RCMP review was completed by Feb. 27, 2021, the Sun reported, and the report given to Friesen. Now that the report is complete, Friesen said the original BPS investigation was very thorough in its investigation of Sage. "Yes, its always unfortunate when something like this occurs, but that investigative process must be thorough to safeguard the public interest and to safeguard judicial questions," he said. "If police had found there was a threshold of wrongdoing, then they would have conveyed that information to Manitoba Prosecution Services and determinations would have been made how to proceed. "In this case, in the absence of those things, then we know there is not lasting suspicion. In the end, what we have is a tragic loss of life of someone who struggled with drug dependencies." On Oct. 8, 2019, when the Brandon Police Service asked the Brandon Regional Health Centre for medical records relating to Mitchells death, a production order cited a possible charge of criminal negligence against someone in the case. The document did not name Sage. The charge was investigated and withdrawn, Friesen said, but he couldnt comment on why it was withdrawn. Criminal charges were never laid in Mitchells death. Friesen said multiple times in the interview he couldnt speak to the involvement of Manitoba Prosecution Services in the investigation. "The Minister of Justice cannot comment on whether Manitoba Prosecution Services were contacted by RCMP or police during the investigation that took place," an email from Friesens press secretary read after the interview concluded. While the original BPS investigation was thorough, it was hampered by issues in how the death was reported, Friesen said. "It had to occur without some key evidence that would have otherwise been available to them had the overdose been originally flagged as an overdose and not a medical distress call," he said. The call came in incorrectly at first, Friesen said, which affected the ability to get information and evidence. Those issues were a focus of the RCMP review, he said. "Learnings" from Mitchells death have now been implemented in the health-care system and by Prairie Mountain Health. In an emailed statement, Prairie Mountain Health CEO Penny Gilson said there was inconsistency with how health-care providers interpreted the Fatality Inquiries Act to report overdose deaths to the Chief Medical Examiner for an inquiry. Justice Minister Cameron Friesen. (Brandon Sun photo illustration) "As a result of this, Manitobas Chief Medical Examiner did provide direction that notifying the Medical Examiner about overdose deaths is required under the definition of poisoning in the Act to ensure the cause of death is established and to rule out criminal wrongdoing," Gilson wrote in a statement. "As a result of this clarification and direction, PMHs policy and direction was changed to ensure that all Providers report as required under the Act." Friesen said processes have been strengthened as a result of the investigation so "critical evidence is always maintained" in the future. The lapse resulted in some evidence being contaminated or destroyed, Friesen said, but the public should still have confidence in overall investigation and process. The investigation, and ones like it, are never lost or folded, he said, and the province cares very much about drug trafficking around Manitoba. "While we say the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Ms. Mitchell is concluded, of course we also know that the information gained in the process of it can be reused," he said. Asked to clarify, Friesen said by email on Wednesday "intelligence gained about criminal activity as a consequence of that investigation will be useful to law enforcement agencies." No investigation has been submitted to Manitoba Prosecution Services for the consideration of charges. The Sun reached out to Christines mother, Doreen, who maintained her daughter didnt have drugs in her system when she died. She obtained a copy of these records but has not provided them to the Sun, so her claim cannot be verified. In the wake of Mitchells death, overdose deaths have surged in Manitoba. According to a CBC report, 372 people died in 2020 due to overdoses, an 87 per cent jump over 2019. The Sun asked for Prairie Mountain Health-specific stats from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner but was told they would not be immediately available. Naloxone use in Brandon also surged in 2020. The Sun reported paramedics used the life-saving drug 19 times in 2019, but a total of 45 times in 2020. Naloxone is used in opioid overdoses, such as with heroin. "It is important we understand who is distributing illicit and controlled substances in or community, it is important to know we want to hold those people accountable," Friesen said. "I think in this case, you have to draw that line and say yes, this process in respect of this situation in Brandon is concluded, but the information gained and gleaned through the RCMP D division investigation, that (information) is reinvested to keep our community safe." dmay@brandonsun.com Twitter: @DrewMay_ New Delhi: The Indian Air Force on Saturday (April 24) brought four cryogenic tanks, to be used for transporting oxygen, from Singapore as the country scrambles to meet the spike in demand for medical oxygen amid a surge in COVID-19 infections. The containers were airlifted from Singapore by C17 heavy-lift aircraft of the IAF. The aircraft "with 4 cryogenic containers for storage of liquid O2 from Singapore landed at Panagarh air base" in West Bengal at around 4.30 pm, a home ministry spokesperson tweeted. The C-17 aircraft of the IAF took off from the Hindon airbase on the outskirts of Delhi for Singapore's Changi airport early on Saturday morning. India is struggling with the second wave of the coronavirus infection and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds in view of a rising number of COVID-19 cases. Since Friday, the IAF has been airlifting empty oxygen tankers and containers to various filling stations across the country to speed up the distribution of the much-needed medical oxygen in treating COVID-19 patients. The IAF was also transporting essential medicines as well as equipment required by the designated COVID-19 hospitals in various parts of the country. "The Indian Air Force is taking sorties to reduce the transportation time of Oxygen and other critical supplies. One C-17 has reached Changi airport in Singapore today. These containers of cryogenic oxygen tanks will help boosting the oxygen supply in the country," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's office tweeted earlier. On Friday, the Union Home Ministry said it was in talks for the import of high-capacity oxygen-carrying tankers from Singapore and the UAE. The move came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the coronavirus situation in the country. Live TV The anguish of more than a century was mixed with relief in the local Armenian community following President Joe Bidens announcement Saturday that America formally recognizes as genocide the deaths of 1.5 million of their ancestors. The announcement, which fell on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, recognizes the systematic killings in the early part of the 20th century of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, predecessor to the modern Turkish government. Today is a historic day, said Roxanne Makaskjian, the executive director of The Genocide Education Project, which has fought for formal recognition of the slaughter. We are very relieved and proud in our government and president, she added. It feels like a new day. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a separate proclamation Saturday recognizing the systematic genocide that began in 1915 and the strength and resilience of the Armenian people, many of whom immigrated to the state. Forced to build new lives in all corners of the globe, Armenians bravely forged ahead in the face of unimaginable tragedy, Newsoms proclamation read. Thousands made their homes in California, and we are greater for their contributions. The announcements and commemoration came at the same time that an online campaign said it raised more than $90,000 to rebuild St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church in San Francisco. The church was damaged in a Sept. 17, 2020, arson that authorities investigated as a hate crime and later linked to crimes against an Armenian school and neighborhood. In his announcement, Biden said the U.S. remembers the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and said the country would work to prevent such an atrocity from ever again occurring. The president called the killings a campaign of extermination. It was the first time an American president formally recognized the killings as genocide, a term long rejected by the Turkish government. Past presidents had declined to use the term, reluctant to challenge leaders of Turkey, a NATO ally. Turkish leaders warned that Bidens decision would harm U.S.-Turkish relations and its foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said Turkey entirely rejects Bidens statement. The presidential announcement was celebrated by a larger-than-usual crowd that gathered at the Mount Davidson cross for the annual commemoration. Hopefully this puts the U.S. back on track to restore our role as a human rights champion, Makaskjian said. Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @SteveRubeSF Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission Laredos Rep. Henry Cuellar is among the legislators who introduced the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act on Thursday, a bill aiming to help facilitate the influx of migration at the border. The legislation would establish at least four additional Border Patrol processing centers for migrants, create a pilot program to expedite credible fear and asylum decisions and increase the number of immigration judges, asylum officers and ICE staff, among other initiatives. Cuellar said they need to have a sense of urgency about the uptick in migration at the border. People are coming to the U.S. in large numbers, and Border Patrol doesnt have the ability to hold them all, he said. This proposal is based on advice given to them by Border Patrol, Health and Human Services and non-governmental organizations, Sen. John Cornyn said. Its not enough to criticize what other people have proposed to solve this problem, he said. If youve got a better idea, come forward with one. But this is very unique, at least in these very polarizing and contentious times, where you have a bipartisan, bicameral proposal, Cornyn said. Cornyn and Cuellar have previously introduced the HUMANE Act, a similar bill that never got much support in either chamber. Some Democratic lawmakers worried that the number of detained migrants would have only increased under this bill. With the Bipartisan Border Solutions Act, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, and Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Republican representing Texas 23rd Congressional District, join Cornyn and Cuellar in its introduction. The new bill would also prioritize migrants immigration court cases during irregular migration influxes and disincentivize migrants with week asylum claims from making the journey to the border; implement regular follow-ups on unaccompanied migrant children who are released to sponsors in the the U.S.; and improve coordination between the Department of Homeland Security and non-governmental organizations on the border to prevent the release of migrants in small communities unequipped to handle an influx of migrants. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued their support for the bill on Thursday. Cornyn said its hard to give a timeline for the implementation of this bill because it needs not only to pass through Congress, but also funding needs to be appropriated to pay for it. Plan A is this legislation passing, Plan B is getting aspects of it accomplished through appropriations bills, Cuellar said. We have a lot of work to do in this space (of immigration policy), Cornyn said. Ive worked the entire time of been in the Senate, and its endlessly frustrating, because its so hard, its so complex. Julia Wallace may be reached at 956-728-2543 or jwallace@lmtonline.com Sri Lankan police on Saturday arrested prominent Muslim leader Rishad Bathiudeen over alleged connections to the suicide bombers who attacked churches and hotels on Easter Sunday 2019, Al Jazeera reports. Why it matters: The bombings, which ISIS claimed responsibility for, killed more than 290 people and injured 500 others. Around 200 people have been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into the attack, but no one has officially been charged. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free What they're saying: Police spokesperson Ajith Rohana said detectives took Bathiudeen, a member of parliament, and his brother into custody during raids on their homes in Colombo. Rohana said their arrests were based on "circumstantial and scientific evidence that they had connections with the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks," according to Al Jazeera. The big picture: The high-profile arrests come amid growing criticism against Sri Lanka's government for a lack of progress in the investigation. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free More in the national capital continued to send out SOS calls reporting shortage of and sought help from authorities to ensure supply. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH), Batra Hospital, Jaipur Golden Hospital, Fortis Shalimar Bagh, Mata Chanan Devi, Metro Hospital Preet Vihar and Saroj Hospital made SOS calls about shortage of Around 12.30 p.m., Fortis Healthcare tweeted: Fortis Shalimar Bagh is running out of Patients' lives are at risk. We have been running on backup, waiting for supplies since morning. We are currently suspending admissions. Request immediate assistance." In another tweet, Fortis Healthcare said, "We are keeping patients and attendants informed of the critical situation and trying to manage admitted patients to the best of our abilities." Mata Chanan Devi hospital with over 200 Covid patients is left with 1.5 hours of #oxygen supply. The hospital said that INOX has refused to provide them with the supply and more than three-fourth of these patients need oxygen. Metro hospital in Preet Vihar and Saroj Hospital in Rohini also reported shortage of oxygen. Batra, SGRH, Jaipur Golden has received some supply of oxygen. SGRH received 1.5 tonnes and Batra hospital received 500 liters of oxygen as immediate relief. Now both the hospital once again face shortage. --IANS ssb/in (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.) remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. BTS performed Dynamite at the 2021 Grammy Awards on March 14. The bands spectacular rendition of Dynamite from the awards show is now available for ARMY to watch online. The performance was uploaded to the BANGTANTV YouTube channel on April 21 for BTS fans around the world to relive. BTS | Big Hit Music Fans can rewatch BTS 2021 Grammy Awards performance At the 2021 Grammy Awards, the Korean band was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Dynamite. The septet performed the song toward the end of the awards ceremony. For fans who tuned into the Grammy Awards, BTS performance of Dynamite proved to be a standout of the night. Now, fans who missed the original broadcast of the awards show or fans who want to rewatch it can see BTS Grammy performance. Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, BTS filmed their Grammy Awards performance in Seoul, South Korea. Wearing colorful suits, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook began the performance on a stage that resembled the Grammy Awards setup in Los Angeles. RELATED: Suga Is Comforted by a BTS Song the Group Has Never Performed While singing, the members climbed a staircase to the top of a skyscraper. For the songs finale, they performed outside with the Seoul skyline behind them. What the members of BTS think of their Grammy nomination In the Best Pop/Duo Group Performance category, BTS were nominated along with J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny, and Tainy with UN DIA (ONE DAY), Justin Bieber and Quavo with Intentions, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande for Rain On Me, and Taylor Swift and Bon Iver for exile. The category was announced during the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony, a livestream held online before the main awards show aired on CBS. Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande were announced the winners for their song Rain On Me. BTS appeared on the KBS 2TV talk show special Lets BTS on March 29. On the talk show, the band members shared their thoughts about their Grammy nomination and performance. RELATED: Lizzo Thinks Jimin of BTS Is Hilarious The members first learned they were nominated for a Grammy Award in November 2020, and on Lets BTS, RM revealed what it was like to learn about the nomination. It was the most surprising moment of my life. A lot of the major categories had passed by, and just as I thought that we wouldnt be nominated for a main award, Dynamite came up right in the middle. I really threw my phone. Our parents told us that their hearts used to skip a beat when we first came on the news, he said according to Soompi. The band is working on new music On April 2, BTS released a music video for their new Japanese single Film out. The song will be included on their upcoming Japanese album BTS, The Best, which will be released on June 16. In an interview with ET Canada that took place before the 2021 Grammy Awards, RM revealed that the band is working on new music. Yes, we are working on our new music, and everybody is too for their solo or singles and like personally, he said. ARMYs can expect many things from us for this year too. It sounds like BTS fans can look forward to lots of new music in 2021. Until then, fans can enjoy watching the K-pop groups Grammy Awards performance. Ukraine registers 12,711 new cases of COVID-19, 13,687 recoveries in past 24 hours - health minister Ukraine has registered 12,711 cases of COVID-19, 13,687 recoveries, and 392 deaths in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on Saturday. "Ukraine registered 12,711 new cases of COVID-19 on April 24, 2021. In particular, the virus was contracted by 532 children and 230 medical workers. Over the past day, 3,508 persons were hospitalized, 392 died, and 13,687 recovered," Stepanov said on Facebook on Saturday morning. Ukraine reported 14,277 contagions on April 23, 16,235 on April 22, 12,162 on April 21, 8,940 on April 20, 6,506 on April 19, 10,282 on April 18, and 14,984 on April 17. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ukraine has seen a total of 2,017,341 coronavirus cases, including 42,092 deaths and 1,565,954 recoveries. Over the past day, the highest daily morbidity was registered in Dnipropetrovsk region (1,268), Kyiv (1,027), Kharkiv region (964), Odesa region (841), and Kyiv region (815). Over the past day, 14,339 people were vaccinated for COVID-19 in Ukraine, bringing the total number of vaccinated persons to 522,385. Five people completed their vaccination (received two vaccine shots), including two who received one vaccine shot abroad. Georgia park linked to confederacy views; Gets Their First Black Chair Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday announced that he had appointed the Rev. Abraham Mosley to serve as chairman of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, the state authority responsible for overseeing Stone Mountain Park about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta. The park is a popular hiking and tourist site but is replete with Confederate imagery. Mosley, pastor of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in Athens, Georgia, was previously a member of the associations board. His elevation to chairman comes as the parks Confederate symbols face renewed opposition, with some calling on park leaders to stop maintaining its signature feature a colossal sculpture of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson that is carved into the mountains northern face. ADVERTISEMENT Association CEO Bill Stephens told WSB-TV the board will hear ideas at a meeting on Monday about how to change the park in ways he thinks will balance its historical record. Mosley urged patience. Certainly, there are mounting problems that have been brought before us. But weve got to handle them one at a time, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kemp said in a statement that he was confident Mosley would continue to rely on his experience in bringing people together as chairman of the association. The Stone Mountain Action Coalition, an advocacy group, last year proposed that the association remove Confederate flags at the base of the mountain, change the names of streets and other park features with Confederate affiliations and refocus the park on themes such as racial reconciliation and justice. Meymoona Freeman, a leader of the group, said it wanted to see the carving of Lee, Davis and Jackson transformed into a natural space. The sculpture has special protection enshrined in Georgia law, which calls on the Stone Mountain Memorial Association to protect the site as a Confederate Memorial and public recreation area, according to the associations website. The Stone Mountain Action Coalition said in a statement it was encouraged by Mosleys appointment. ADVERTISEMENT It is our hope that the appointment of Reverend Mosley to this position of leadership is the first of many changes at this public park that will result in the immediate and complete removal of symbols, monuments, flags, street, place and building names, events and activities that honor and celebrate the Confederacy and the Ku Klux Klan, the Stone Mountain Action Coalition said in a statement. Early to mid April is very early to be out paddling in the Adirondacks. Usually its only a handful of hardcores out on the water at this time. Mind you, cold water can make it a great time for fishing, since trout and other cold-water fish are more likely to swim up from the bottom. But it also means that if you fall in, your body is likely to go into shock quickly. As your body uses all its energy to fight the cold, it leaves you with less energy to tread water or swim. If you arent wearing a personal flotation device, you can sink quickly. Hypothermia can set in fast. So can drowning. If you go out in a boat, dress properly, with non-cotton clothing, and wear a PFD. Dont just have a life jacket in the boat with you wear it. In fact, the law requires that. New York state makes every person in a boat shorter than 21 feet (including canoes, kayaks, rowboats and guideboats) not just possess but wear a PFD between Nov. 1 and May 1. The DEC also urges people in bigger boats to wear PFDs at this time of year. Children under 12 years old are required to wear (not just possess) a PFD year-round while on any boat less than 65 feet long. And the law requires a person must wear a PFD sized for them; one thats too big or too small wont do. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 05:40:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau attends a joint press conference in Bucharest, Romania, on April 23, 2021. The foreign ministers of Romania, Poland and Turkey met here on Friday for a trilateral meeting on security issues, which also included a special meeting with their counterparts in Georgia and Ukraine. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua) BUCHAREST, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The foreign ministers of Romania, Poland and Turkey met here on Friday for a trilateral meeting on security issues, which also included a special meeting with their counterparts in Georgia and Ukraine. During the trilateral meeting, issues related to the security situation in the Eastern Neighborhood, as well as the preparation of the NATO Summit on June 14, 2021, were discussed. The three foreign ministers agreed to continue close coordination in areas of common interest in the future, especially in consolidating NATO's deterrence and defense stance, with a focus on the Eastern Flank and the Black Sea region, as well as strengthening resilience and support for partners in the region, especially for Ukraine and Georgia. Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu presented his country's priorities for the NATO Summit and insisted on the need to continue to strengthen NATO's position on the entire Eastern Flank, including the Black Sea region. For the first time for the trilateral format launched some ten years ago, there was also a special working session with the participation of partners - the foreign ministers of Georgia, David Zalkaliani, and of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba. Talks between the five foreign ministers focused on the security situation in the Eastern Neighborhood, including the Black Sea. The Romanian minister, together with his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu sent a clear unitary message reaffirming support for the two partners' Euro-Atlantic aspirations, as well as the common interest in continuing cooperation with these partners in order to strengthen defense capacities and increase resilience. Enditem In view of the rising COVID-19 cases across the country Kuwait government decides to suspend all commercial flights from India. Kuwaits Directorate General of Civil Aviation tweeting about the panic situation due to rise of corona cases on Saturday said that it had suspended all direct commercial flights coming from India. The suspension will be taken in action from April 24 and until further notice, according to Reuters. The motive to suspend the flights is to break the chain of coronavirus as new strain can worse the present condition. The move to cancel flights was on the instructions of health authorities after an evaluation of the global coronavirus status. All passengers arriving from India either directly or via another country will be banned from entering unless they have spent at least 14 days out of India, the statement said. Only, Kuwaiti citizens, their first-degree relatives and their domestic workers will be allowed to enter. Cargo is unaffected. However, it is also noted that the governments of UAE and Canada announced banning of flights from India amid the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country. According to reports, the UAE banned travel from India for 10 days from Sunday. The UAE travel ban came into effect from 11.59 PM on Saturday, April 24, and it will be subject to review after 10 days, the Gulf News reported. The departure flights will continue to operate. UAE citizens, diplomatic passport holders and official delegations are exempted from the above conditions, it said. Meanwhile, Canada also said that it would ban all flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days due to the growing wave of COVID-19 cases in that region. Also Read Covid-19: Nepal seeks India for providing medical supplies to fight COVID-19 Grim Milestone: Cuba sees total Covid infections near 1 Lakh, sets new record Immunologist discovers more potent new airborne Covid strain in Sri Lanka (Natural News) The second victim in the fiery Tesla car crash north of Houston on April 17 has been identified by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences as Everette Talbot, 69. Talbot was killed in the crash along with 59-year-old Dr. William Varner of The Woodlands, Texas the cars owner. Talbots spouse was the person notified after the wreck, according to records. The crash happened at 11:25 p.m. Saturday, April 17, in the Carlton Woods subdivision near The Woodlands. The vehicle, a 2019 Model S, was moving at high speed around a curve when it veered off the road and hit a tree near 18 Hammock Dunes Place. The car immediately burst into flames. (Related: TESLA TERMINATOR: Tesla car autopilot veers off highway, crashes into road signs as driver locked out of all controls.) Authorities found the bodies of two men in the burning Tesla one in the front passenger seat and another one in the back seat. According to Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman, evidence from the scene and interviews with witnesses clearly showed that neither of the men were driving the electric car when the accident happened. We have witness statements from people that said they left to test drive the vehicle without a driver and to show the friend how it can drive itself, Herman said. Dr. Varners brother-in-law confirmed that there were only two passengers in the car and that the car owner was found in the back seat. Search warrant issued to secure data from Tesla The police had issued a search warrant for Tesla to secure data about the crash after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted Monday, April 19, that recovered data logs showed the vehicle did not have Autopilot enabled. If he is tweeting that out, if he has already pulled the data, he hasnt told us that, Herman told Reuters. We will eagerly wait for that data. Teslas Autopilot is a driver assistance system that handles some driving tasks and allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel at times. But Tesla says that Autopilot still requires active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous. (Related: Dont take your hands off the wheel: Teslas autosteer actually INCREASES risk of crashes; previous findings were misinterpreted.) In his tweet, Musk rejected the idea that the vehicles semi-automated driving software was to blame in the car crash. Data logs recovered so far show Autopilot was not enabled & this car did not purchase FSD, he wrote. FSD refers to Full Self-Driving, an enhanced semi-automated driving technology using Autopilot that Tesla is beta testing. Musk added that standard Autopilot would require lane lines to turn on, which the street where the accident happened did not have. Musk was referring to road markers that need to be captured by a vehicles cameras to enable the Autopilot. Tesla has access to operational and diagnostic data delivered to its servers at regular intervals from the car, which has been impounded by police. It is unclear whether investigators will be able to retrieve data directly from the event data recorder in the severely burned vehicle. Just hours before the crash, Musk boasted in a tweet that Tesla with Autopilot engaged is now approaching 10 times lower chance of accident than average vehicle. Federal agencies look into the cause of wreck The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are both looking into the cause of the wreck. The NTSB sent two investigators to Texas on Monday, April 19, to focus on the vehicles operation and the fire that followed the crash. In past Tesla crashes, investigators used the vehicles car log to determine the second-by-second actions before the crash, including details like the speed, distance and whether or not specialty systems, like autosteer, were initiated. According to NTSB, it could take up to two years before the full investigation is complete, although a preliminary report could be released in as quickly as 30 days. 28th Tesla accident to be investigated by NHTSA Meanwhile, the NHTSA has launched a Special Crash Investigation team to investigate the crash. We are actively engaged with local law enforcement and Tesla to learn more about the details of the crash and will take appropriate steps when we have more information. the NHTSA said in a statement. The crash is the 28th Tesla accident to be investigated by the NHTSA. The federal agency told Reuters last month that it had opened 27 special investigations, 23 of which are still active, into crashes of Tesla vehicles believed to have been tied to Autopilot use. (Related: Tesla vehicles are now committing homicide on the streets of America. Why isnt the corporation being held responsible?) Some of the recent cases the NHTSA is investigating include the February crash near Houston in which a Tesla ran into a stopped police vehicle on a highway. It was not clear whether the driver was using Autopilot. Another recent incident happened in Detroit where a Tesla drove beneath a tractor-trailer that was crossing the road, seriously injuring the driver and the passenger of the car. Investigators have not said whether the driver had turned on Autopilot. Follow ElonMuskWatch.com for more news and information related to Elon Musk and his businesses. Sources include: KHOU.com ZeroHedge.com ArkansasOnline.com Reuters.com China's new development philosophy towards low-carbon transition promotes global climate response Xinhua) 15:59, April 24, 2021 -- China has reaffirmed its goal to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. -- China is poised to complete the world's most dramatic reduction in carbon emission intensity, and realize carbon neutrality from carbon peaking in the shortest time in global history. -- Global cooperation should be based on the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," the cornerstone of climate governance worldwide. BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- From tapping renewable energies to upgrading traditional industries, China is walking its talk in a low-carbon transition as part of a global response to climate change. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday reaffirmed his country's commitment to climate action, which has been embodied in China's development strategy for achieving high-quality growth and long-term prosperity. China has also been striving to promote fairness and equality in global environmental governance in a bid to facilitate the sustainable development of all countries, no matter rich or poor. Observers said China helps inject energy and vitality into the global climate movement, with more countries responding to China's appeals and laying out ambitious climate change targets. PATHWAY TO GREEN GROWTH China will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, Xi reaffirmed when addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing on Thursday. Before the Chinese president first announced this ambitious goal last year, the entire country had already been mobilized to embark on the quest for green development. Aerial photo taken on Feb. 24, 2021 shows a molten-salt solar thermal power plant in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province. (Xinhua/Ma Xiping) Since 2016 when China became the world's largest producer and consumer of renewable energy, the installed capacity of renewable energy sources in China has been growing by an average annual rate of 12 percent. According to a report of the Global Wind Energy Council, China installed 71.7 GW of new wind capacity in 2020, accounting for 87 percent of new wind power capacity globally in that year. Moreover, China also tops the world in terms of solar power capacity and sales of new energy vehicles. Such efforts and achievements on green development have reduced China's reliance on fossil fuels and cut its carbon emission intensity by 18.2 percent by the end of 2019 from 2015. Photo taken on June 27, 2019 shows the Baiyanghe wind power field in Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Wang Fei) As a large developing country, meeting these steep targets will be "an arduous task" for China, said Sourabh Gupta, a senior fellow at the Institute for China-America Studies. "But seen through the lens of incentivizing and mainstreaming 'green' technologies within our everyday lives, it can also be seen as a huge commercial opportunity," he said. Kevin Sneader, global managing partner of McKinsey & Company, said "all of this suggests that China is doing its part in the global effort to tackle climate change ... over the past decade, China has become the world's leader in meeting climate commitments." GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE To achieve its climate goals in the future, China is poised to complete the world's most dramatic reduction in carbon emission intensity, and realize carbon neutrality from carbon peaking in the shortest time in global history. Photo taken on Sept. 23, 2020 shows a cloud rail train running in the campus of the headquarters of China's new-energy vehicle manufacturer BYD in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian) Its transition to a greener economy has created huge opportunities for the largest developing country to cooperate with its partners. Through the Belt and Road Initiative and other platforms, China is sharing its development dividends with the rest of the world. In Ethiopia, researchers are monitoring farms, rivers and forests with the country's first satellite, which was designed, built and sent into space by China. Remote-sensing images filmed by the satellite have facilitated the analysis of and response to climate change in the African country. Chinese and Ethiopian engineers go about their work during a satellite launch at Entoto Observatory Center in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Dec. 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) Meanwhile, China has also been developing low-carbon demonstration zones in other developing countries to help them pursue green growth. "Such cooperation has yielded real, tangible and solid results," Xi said Thursday. "China has also made ecological cooperation a key part of Belt and Road cooperation. A number of green action initiatives have been launched ... to bring enduring benefits to the people of all Belt and Road partner countries," Xi added. Aerial photo taken on Sept. 19, 2019 shows staff members examining solar panels on the rooftop of a local automobile maker in Huzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Xu Yu) "China is the number one provider of environment technology in the world" and an important provider of solar energy, said Erik Solheim, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme. The country, which is also leading the world in areas such as electric vehicles, wind energy, and hydrogen, could offer inspirations for global sustainable development, he said. PRINCIPLE OF COOPERATION Climate change is driven by the activities of all humankind, and so should the endeavors to find a solution to it. Every single country, no matter rich or poor, large or small, has a due part to play and a duty to cooperate. Global cooperation should be based on the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities," the cornerstone of climate governance worldwide. Developed countries, which have achieved economic development through burning fossil fuels and emitting greenhouse gases without limits in the past, now need to take more responsibilities to save the planet. No country should use climate change as a bargaining chip for geopolitics, a target for attacking other countries, or an excuse for trade barriers. Photo taken on Dec. 3, 2020 shows a production line of new-energy vehicles in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province.(Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao) "We need to each take stronger actions, strengthen partnerships and cooperation, learn from each other and make common progress in the new journey toward global carbon neutrality," Xi said. "In this process, we must join hands, not point fingers at each other," he said, adding that "we must honor commitments, not go back on promises." The United States, which convened the climate summit, has returned to the Paris Agreement after President Joe Biden took office in January. As the world's largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States has unveiled an infrastructure plan to facilitate its climate action. "China welcomes the United States' return to the multilateral climate governance process," Xi said. Recalling a joint statement released by China and the United States on Sunday, Xi said "China looks forward to working with the international community including the United States to jointly advance global environmental governance." The U.S.-China cooperation on climate change is "a refreshing breath of fresh air," said Gupta. "Just as importantly, their cooperation on climate change shows that both the United States and China can rise above their differences and cooperate together in the better interests of all," he said. (Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji) The Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), independent, not-for-profit policy research and advocacy organisation, has urged smaller political parties in the country to restrategise to reverse their dwindling fortunes in national elections. Mr Kwesi Jonah, a Senior Research Fellow, IDEG, said since 1992, there had been a consistent pattern of poor performance of the small parties in national elections, which was not good for Ghanas democratic dispensation. The last time the small parties had seats in the Ghana Parliament was probably 2012; the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) and the Peoples National Convention (PNC) had one seat each; since then, the small parties have lost their seats in Parliament, Mr. Jonah said on Thursday at a Post-Election Evaluation Workshop with Smaller Political Parties in Accra. Now, they are not represented in Parliament and if people think that this is a development that started only in 2016, this is not the case. The workshop was on the theme Strengthening Smaller Parties in Multiparty Local Governance Which Way Forward? It was organized by IDEG and attended by smaller political parties such as the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), the United Front Party (UFP), and the All Peoples Congress (APC). Out of the 27 registered political parties in Ghana, 25 (93 per cent) are smaller parties but they have no seat in Parliament. Ghanas multiparty democracy has become a two-party or duopolistic system. The duopolistic political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which is the current ruling party, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is the opposition in Parliament, have alternated roles as government and opposition. While the two main parties have dominated the countrys democratic politics, the smaller parties have become increasingly marginalised and powerless. The goal of the workshop was to evaluate the performance of the smaller parties, the reasons for their abysmal performance in the last election, and to understand why the smaller parties campaigned against multiparty local governance reform, which was intended to strengthen them and make them more functional in Ghanas multiparty politics. Mr Jonah recounted that the records showed that there was a time that the smaller parties had nine seats in Parliament, however consistently they had lost the seats gradually and gradually until 2016 when they had no seats and the same thing in the 2020 elections. If you check the presidential election results, it is the same story, there, it is even worse; the percentage of votes that the small parties account for has been declining since 1992, he said. Mr Jonah recalled that in 1992, the small parties all together had about 11 per cent of the valid votes cast in the Presidential election, but, Today what do they have? In the 2020 presidential election, just about one per cent of the valid votes cast. He said their assumption had always been that if the parties were not doing so well in national election, then perhaps if they were allowed to part-take in local elections, it would be good for them. That, he said was because some of the smaller parties were so strong in some districts and constituencies and that if they were allowed to participate in metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) elections, they would probably be able to perform better. Mr Jonah said the smaller parties were relevant because democracy was about inclusiveness, getting everybody involved. If we had a few smaller parties represented in Ghanas Parliament, maybe the situation that we are having now will be slightly different. He said some reasons for the poor performance of the smaller parties in national elections were uneven playing field, fundamental organisational problems, and financial constraints; stating that due to financial constraints, the small parties did not have many offices across the country as the NDC and the NPP. Mr Citizen Ato Dadzie, General Secretary, GCPP, told the GNA that one of the main reasons for the underperformance of the smaller parties in national elections was that their camps were being infiltrated by the two leading parties. He, therefore, urged the smaller parties to ally to contest future national elections. 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 Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - Hornby Bay Mineral Exploration Ltd. (TSXV: HBE) (OTC: HBEXF) ("HBE" or the "Company") announces that further to its press release of March 25, 2021, the Company has entered into a second amending agreement dated April 21, 2021 (the "Amending Agreement") with Frank Guillemette (the "Principal Shareholder"), Jonathan Girard and Jean-Francois Girard (together with the Principal Shareholder, the "Vendors") amending certain provisions of the definitive share purchase agreement (the "Definitive Agreement") dated November 30, 2020 and as amended on March 23, 2021, between the Vendors and the Company providing for the purchase of the shares of 9396-1217 Quebec Inc. The Amending Agreement amends the Definitive Agreement by removing the repurchase option which granted the Principal Shareholder the right, prior to the Company exercising the initial option to acquire a 50% interest in the Philibert Property (the "Option") under an option agreement between 9220-5392 Quebec Inc. and SOQUEM Inc., to repurchase the Option in the event that the Company had not incurred sufficient exploration expenditures to maintain the Option, or if the Option was otherwise going to be terminated or lapse. As consideration for the termination of the repurchase option, the Principal Shareholder has been granted a right of first refusal ("ROFR") in the event that the Company proposes to sell its interest in the Philibert Property. The ROFR expires upon the Company exercising the Option in full and earning a 100% interest in the Philibert Property. In addition, the Definitive Agreement has been amended to provide that the Company can issue a maximum of 29,179,698 common shares in the capital of the Company for each of the additional payments due 12, 18 and 24 months following the closing of the transaction (the "Proposed Transaction") contemplated by the Definitive Agreement. Additional information regarding the Proposed Transaction will be disclosed in a filing statement being prepared in connection with the Proposed Transaction. Updates on the timing of the completion of the Proposed Transaction will be provided in subsequent news releases of the Company. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "Fred Leigh" For further information, please contact: Fred Leigh, President & CEO of Hornby Bay Mineral Exploration Ltd. Phone: 416-861-5933 Email: info@hornbybay.com THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Completion of the transaction contemplated by the Definitive Agreement, as amended, is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance and, if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. The transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the contemplated transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the contemplated transactions may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Further details of the transaction contemplated by the Definitive Agreement will be included in subsequent news releases and disclosure documents to be filed by the Company. The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections. NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81651 Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy this afternoon. High around 90F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 76F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. The National Unity Government, which asserts that it is the legitimate government of Myanmar, also had urged Asean to give it a seat at the summit meeting and refuse to meet with General Min Aung Hlaing until he halted the killing of civilians. Meetings that exclude the people of Myanmar but include murderer in chief Min Aung Hlaing who is murdering the people of Myanmar are unlikely to be helpful, the groups spokesman, Dr. Sasa, who goes by a single name, said in a statement on Friday. A statement from the Indonesian government announcing General Min Aung Hlaings arrival for the summit identified him as the commander in chief of Myanmars military, not as the countrys leader. Many members of the National Unity Government were elected to Parliament in November and would have taken office on the day of the coup. On Thursday, the junta announced that all 24 of the groups cabinet ministers and deputy ministers had been charged with treason and unlawful association. Myanmars ousted civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who before the February coup would have attended a meeting like Saturdays, is now under house arrest. The prime minister of Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, and the prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, earlier called for her release, as did the Philippine government. YEREVAN. During the meeting we discussed the issue of returning the Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan. The speaker of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, stated this at Saturdays joint briefing after his meetingat the NAwith president Gerard Larcher of the French Senate. According to Mirzoyan, the parties stressed that the detention of POWs and civilians and the use of this issue for political trade is unacceptable. "This contradicts all the norms of international law," the NA speaker emphasized. In his turn, Larcher stated that Azerbaijan, under the trilateral statement as well as international treaties, is obligated to immediately release all POWs. He reminded that earlier such a position was adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), too. According to the head of the French Senate, it is necessary to give a new impetus to the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to resolve the Karabakh conflict. Also, Gerard Larcher stated that upon his return to France, he will provide French President Emanuel Macron the details of the discussions he held in Armenia. Click here to read the full article. The Orlando Sentinel published an op-ed on Friday by a loyal Disney fan that condemned the evolving wokeness of Disney World. His claims were met with ridicule from people across the entertainment industry. I love the Orlando Sentinel, but racist journalism is ruining the experience, Frozen actor and frequent Disney employee Josh Gad tweeted. I love the Orlando Sentinel, but racist journalism is ruining the experience. https://t.co/VkWhLLXXbv Josh Gad (@joshgad) April 24, 2021 The guest author of the piece, Jonathan VanBoskerck, is a chief deputy district attorney in Clark County, Nevada; he also disclosed that he is a Christian and conservative Republican. As someone who would have to journey across the country to visit the theme park, VanBoskerck explained that Disney World is going to lose us as customers if it continues down this path. His umbrage was fueled by the changes to the Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise and Splash Mountain rides, which have been implemented to remove the bigoted elements of the attractions. VanBoskerck also voiced his displeasure with Disney Worlds allowance of cast members to don inclusive hairstyles and display tattoos. The parks are less fun because immersion and thus the joy is taking a back seat to politics, he wrote. Disney, please return to the values and vision of Walt. The customer experience should be the core of your business model. Immersion should not be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness and appeasing the Twitter mob. Another frequent Disney employee, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, laid out his view of the op-ed. The wokeness, specifically, is seeing cast members tattoos & removing a character named Trader Sam from Jungle Cruise, he wrote on Twitter. A grown man sees these things (or doesnt see them) & gets all worked up & the experience is ruined for him. Somehow he doesnt see this as HIS problem. See below for more reactions from Patton Oswalt, Franklin Leonard and more. The people who most need to get roasted in a group chat dont have a group chat to get roasted in. https://t.co/d1lvx1JT9F Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) April 23, 2021 i dont even have the fucking energy. https://t.co/UQXjq5KLyI javier grillo-marxuach (@OKBJGM) April 23, 2021 Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Moreover, due to the huge increase in high school graduates, it became increasingly difficult to rely on grade-point averages alone. Did a 4.0 from one high school signal the same information that a 4.0 GPA did from another high school? It is well-known that GPAs vary considerably from school to school. Consequently, GPAs have not been regarded by many university and college faculty and administrators as reliable predictors of how well prepared a student is to undertake a demanding course of college study. My experience in the UC system has been that campuses go out of their way to eliminate any bias in the admissions process. Ms. Yaeger should look to see what UC does to not only eliminate bias from its admissions but also to increase diversity among its student body. She might want to inform herself about the new housing that UC Berkeley is building for students who are the first in their families to attend college and are from low-income families. I believe that the positive efforts the university is making to be inclusive and to increase diversity far outweigh the possible, but poorly documented, negative effects of the SAT and ACT. /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATE/ HAMILTON, ON, April 23, 2021 /CNW/ - Stelco Holdings Inc., (TSX: STLC), a low cost, integrated and independent steelmaker with one of the newest and most technologically advanced integrated steelmaking facilities in North America, today announced that it plans to release its first quarter 2021 financial results on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, after the close of the market. Stelco management will host a conference call to discuss its results on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. ET. To access the call, please dial 1-888-390-0546 or 1-416-764-8688 and reference "Stelco". The conference call will also be webcasted live on the Investor Relations section of Stelco's web site at http://investors.stelco.com. Following the conclusion of the live call, a replay of the webcast will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website for at least 90 days. A telephonic replay of the conference call will also be available from 12:00 p.m. ET on May 5, 2021 until 11:59 p.m. ET on May 19, 2021 by dialing 1-888-390-0541 or 1-416-764-8677 and using the PIN 074150#. About Stelco Stelco is a low cost, integrated and independent steelmaker with one of the newest and most technologically advanced integrated steelmaking facilities in North America. In addition to being North America's only integrated producer of pig iron, Stelco produces flat-rolled value-added steels, including premium-quality coated, cold-rolled and hot-rolled steel products. With first-rate gauge, crown, and shape control, as well as reliable uniformity of mechanical properties, our steel products are supplied to customers in the construction, automotive and energy industries across Canada and the United States as well as to a variety of steel service centres, which are regional distributers of steel products. At Stelco, we understand the importance of our business reflecting the communities we serve and are committed to diversity and inclusion as a core part of our workplace culture, in part, through active participation in the BlackNorth Initiative. SOURCE Stelco For further information: Trevor Harris, Vice-President Corporate Affairs, 905.577.4447, [email protected] Related Links https://www.stelco.com/ COUNCILLORS have offered to part-fund the installation of CCTV cameras and additional lighting at a church which was targeted by vandals on Easter Sunday. The incident at Saint Mary's Church of Ireland in Askeaton was condemned by members of the Adare/Rathkeale Municipal District at their monthly meeting. The entire community are annoyed about it. You could talk forever about it but all I will say is I that have met nobody who condones what has happened, said Askeaton-based councillor Kevin Sheahan during the virtual meeting. A garda investigation is continuing after significant damage was caused by a number of youths who had gathered in the grounds of the church. A Perspex panel was removed on the north side in the chancel area and a rock was thrown through a stained-glass window to the upset of members of the local community. Parishoners were very upset, they were crying at the fact that the stained glass window, that was there for a couple of hundred years, was broken. Its a disgraceful act of vandalism and its something that we would condemn, said Cllr Adam Teskey who visited the church with Cllr Sheahan to see the extent of the damage following the incident. While both councillors received abuse on social media following their visit to the church, Cllr Teskey says they will fully support any efforts to ensure there are no further incidents. We are trying to be proactive in trying to do something that would prevent it from happening in the future and if there is something that needs to be done we wont be found wanting, he commented. Both councillors have each committed monies from their discretionary GMA allocation to be used to fund the installation of additional lighting and CCTV cameras, if required. Cllr Sheahan has also appealed to parents of children living in the locality to take responsibility for their behaviour. U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to make an announcement on April 24 amid speculation that he will recognize the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide. Biden, who as a presidential candidate pledged that if elected he would take the largely symbolic step, is expected to release the statement on April 24, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on April 23 she had nothing to release about Bidens campaign pledge, and State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said only that reporters could expect an announcement on April 24. During and immediately after World War I, Ottoman Turks killed or deported as many as 1.5 million Armenians -- a Christian minority in the predominately Muslim empire. Many historians and some other nations, including France and Germany, consider the killings genocide. Armenians for decades have pressed for the word to be used to describe the killings and deportations, but the label is adamantly rejected by Turkey. The White House said that Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the eve of the expected announcement. Reuters quoted sources familiar with the conversation as saying that Biden told Erdogan that he intended to recognize the mass killing and forced deportations of Armenians as genocide in a statement to be issued on April 24. A White House statement about the call however said only that Biden conveyed his "interest in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements." The leaders also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit in June in Brussels to discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues, the statement added. Erdogans office said during the call that "both leaders agreed on the strategic character of the bilateral relationship and the importance of working together to build greater cooperation on issues of mutual interest. Ankara insists the deaths were a result of civil strife rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate Armenians. Turkey also claims fewer Armenians died than has been reported. Congress voted overwhelmingly in 2019 to recognize the Armenian genocide but the Trump administration made clear that it would maintain the status quo. Other U.S. presidents have refrained from formally using the term genocide amid worry about damaging relations with the NATO ally. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has warned that if Biden recognizes the killings as genocide, it would sour bilateral relations. Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in a statement that Biden would be "effectively ending the longest lasting foreign gag-rule in American history." Hamparian said the recognition would represent a powerful setback to Turkey's century-long obstruction of justice for this crime, and its ongoing hostility and aggression against the Armenian people." He also voiced hope for greater U.S. alignment against Turkish-backed Azerbaijan, which last year fought a six-week war with Armenia, ending with a Russian-brokered cease-fire under which a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces. With reporting by AFP and Reuters Mama June Shannon had a cringe-inducing visit with her daughters Alana and Pumpkin after they drove down to Florida to spend time with her on Friday's episode of Mama June: Road To Recovery. Pumpkin and Alana took a road trip from their Georgia home to Florida after getting an invitation from Geno in last week's episode. But the trip seemed premature after June asked her daughters to 'forget' her months of drug abuse and abandonment of them in order to move forward as a family. Moving fast: Mama June Shannon had a cringe-inducing visit with her daughters Alana and Pumpkin after they drove down to Florida to spend time with her on Friday's Mama June: Road To Recovery The episode opens with Alana excitedly packing for her trip with her niece Ella helping to lay out her outfits on her bed. 'So excited to hang out with Mama,' she gushes to herself. But later when Pumpkin mentions that she'll also have to see her mom's boyfriend Geno, Alana seems more hesitant. 'I don't know how I really feel about that,' she says, as she and Pumpkin have previously blamed him for the drug abuse that tore apart their family. Looking forward to it: The episode opens with Alana excitedly packing for her trip with her niece Ella helping to lay out her outfits on her bed Hesitant: But later when Pumpkin mentions that she'll also have to see her mom's boyfriend Geno, Alana seems more hesitant. 'I don't know how I really feel about that,' she says Back in the master bedroom, Josh helps Pumpkin pack her new bathing suit, but he doesn't have much hope for the trip to Florida. In confessional, he says that June 'never holds her word when it comes to the girls' and expects she'll once again fail to live up to the expectations she set. He's skipping out on the trip due to his animosity toward June and Geno, but he'll have to share the house with Pumpkin and Alana's sister Jessica, who is also staying behind. Pessimistic: Back in the master bedroom, Josh helps Pumpkin pack her new bathing suit, but he doesn't have much hope for the trip to Florida because June 'never holds her word Excited: Meanwhile, June and Geno are excitedly preparing their house for the girls to arrive Stocked up: Geno blows up an inflatable toy while June shows off the groceries she got, which mostly appear to be junk food and sugary snacks that she assumes Pumpkin and Alana will like Meanwhile, June and Geno are excitedly preparing their house for the girls to arrive. Geno blows up an inflatable toy while June shows off the groceries she got, which mostly appear to be junk food and sugary snacks that she assumes Pumpkin and Alana will like. Despite being the object of blame from multiple family members, Geno is surprisingly level-headed and tries to talk June down from her anxieties. Back in Georgia, Mike 'Sugar Bear' Thompson's wife Jennifer has a meeting with June's sister-in-law Janice over gigantic margaritas. Off the mark: Back in Georgia, Mike 'Sugar Bear' Thompson's wife Jennifer has a meeting with June's sister-in-law Janice over margaritas where she says she thinks Sugar Bear is having an affair with June Couch surfing: Now that he's kicked out of the house, Sugar Bear goes to Pumpkin's house and asks Josh if he can stay there for the time being After kicking Sugar Bear out at the end of last week because she assumed he was cheating (despite him just meeting up with Alana), Jennifer is convinced she's figured out who he has been seeing on the side. 'You know whose sausages those are,' she says, pointing to a social media photo that June posted of her newly done nails. Since she found Mike at a nail salon where he previously took Alana, she's convinced that he and June are having an affair. Now that he's kicked out of the house, Sugar Bear goes to Pumpkin's house and asks Josh if he can stay there for the time being. Pumpkin's husband allows him to stay, but only if he'll stay in the tent he brought in the backyard, as the bedrooms are all full. Too soon? The action shifts back to Pumpkin and Alana's drive to Florida, where the older sister worries in a confessional taping that she might be moving too fast Surprise! Once the girls arrive at the house, they get a rude awakening when Geno opens the door, as June had to go to the bathroom just beforehand Freaked out: Alana gives an awkward, surprised look to Pumpkin and pretends that she 'forgot' something in the car while not saying hello to Geno The action shifts back to Pumpkin and Alana's drive to Florida, where the older sister worries in a confessional taping that she might be moving too fast. Once the girls arrive at the house, they get a rude awakening when Geno opens the door, as June had to go to the bathroom just beforehand. Alana gives an awkward, surprised look to Pumpkin and pretends that she 'forgot' something in the car while not saying hello to Geno. 'I was super excited for the girls to come up and see us,' June says later in a confessional. 'And I guess I was overlooking the damage that I have done. You know, I have hurt her a lot, and it's gonna take some time to get through this.' She also confesses that she wants to talk the girls into moving down to Florida with them. Moving too fast: 'I guess I was overlooking the damage that I have done. You know, I have hurt her a lot, and it's gonna take some time to get through this,' June says in confessional Back at the car, Pumpkin tries to calm Alana down by saying that Geno seemed sincere and remorseful when she met with him privately during his trip to Georgia. Once they go into the house, June makes it clear she's not up to date on their lives by showering them with sugary snacks that she bought, even though they're trying to eat healthier food now. Pumpkin complains in confessional that her mother is being overbearing, and she seems to confirm that by cattily complaining when Pumpkin admits they had to stop for fast food during their eight hour drive, which she seems to think is an admission of hypocrisy. During the chat, June deflates the aura around the house by admitting that they don't own it and they're just staying there while it's between tenants. Not their thing: June makes it clear she's not up to date on their lives by showering them with sugary snacks that she bought, even though they're trying to eat healthier food now Short-term housing: She admits they don't own the home and can only stay in it between tenants 'We dont honestly know how long weve got it for, but its just, like, a temp spot for us,' she explains. She and Geno point out to Alana that he spent 'forever' blowing up a large inflatable unicorn for her, not seeming to realize that she's too old for that now. 'I bet,' she replies, leaving everyone in uncomfortable silence. In bed later that night, Geno tells June he wants them to be honest about the possibility of going to prison when talking with the girls, but June doesnt want to worry about it or bring it up with Alana and Pumpkin. Honesty: In bed later that night, Geno tells June he wants them to be honest about the possibility of going to prison when talking with the girls, but she doesn't want to talk about it On different pages: 'We have pending charges and bad s*** can happen,' he says. 'You are killing my vibe,' she replies before leaving the room 'We have pending charges and bad s*** can happen,' he says. 'You are killing my vibe,' she replies before leaving the room. The next day, everyone goes to the beach, where Alana clearly isn't having a great time. Geno tries to get her to play a game of catch, which she reluctantly agrees to. He asks her if she's been able to see her friends amid the coronavirus pandemic, which forces her to admit that she had to leave most of her friends behind when she moved in with Pumpkin and Josh, which is his and June's fault. Whoops: At the beach the next day, Alana admits to Geno that she doesn't see her friends because she had to leave them behind to move in with Pumpkin due to his and June's drug use Return to normalcy: 'Were back to our old self. Were sober. If you could answer your phone youd know that,' June complains to Pumpkin, but her daughter doesn't know if it can be 'repaired' While they play, June tries to get Pumpkin to give up her grudges, which seems way too fast to her. 'Were back to our old self. Were sober. If you could answer your phone youd know that,' her mother complains. 'I dont know if this can ever be repaired, Pumpkin responds. In a confessional, Pumpkin complains that June wants to forget all the bad stuff, even though everybody else cant just forget it. In her own recording after-the-fact, Alana seems optimistic that Geno sounds like the old Geno she used to know, though she worries he could change back to his drug-abusing self at any moment. Not her choice: In a confessional, Pumpkin complains that June wants to forget all the bad stuff, even though everybody else cant just forget it Run-in: Back at home, Pumpkin and Alana's sister Jessica discovers that Sugar Bear is staying in the backyard when he comes in to use the bathroom Even worse: She warns Josh that his wife will 'kill' him if she finds out that Sugar Bear is staying on the property, but he lets slip that she'll also be angry to learn that he quit his job the day before without telling her Back at home, Pumpkin and Alana's sister Jessica discovers that Sugar Bear is staying in the backyard when he comes in to use the bathroom. She warns Josh that his wife will 'kill' him if she finds out that Sugar Bear is staying on the property, but he lets slip that she'll also be angry to learn that he quit his job the day before without telling her. 'Theres too much stuff going on at home, Im too far away from my family, its ruining my marriage,' he says of the job before adding he wants to fix his marriage more than keep the job. Ouch: Back in Florida, June causes a scene after Ella tells her to stop talking to her as if she's a baby, despite Pumpkin often using baby talk with her Pushy: She also urges Alana to eat multiple cheeseburgers at their backyard cookout, even though Pumpkin has been trying to get them family to lose weight Weight watchers: 'Shes at my house, its OK,' June says. 'Thats what we do here, we eat.' Pumpkin is definitely annoyed and says offhand, And thats why youve gotten fat fat,' causing Alana to say she's not hungry Back in Florida, June causes a scene after Ella tells her to stop talking to her as if she's a baby, despite Pumpkin often using baby talk with her. She also urges Alana to eat multiple cheeseburgers at their backyard cookout, even though Pumpkin has been trying to get them family to lose weight. 'Shes at my house, its OK,' June says. 'Thats what we do here, we eat.' Pumpkin is definitely annoyed and says offhand, And thats why youve gotten fat fat.' Alana then looks uninterested in her food and dramatically says, 'I think I'm done.' Fantasy: June makes things worse by telling untruths about their living situation and claiming that she and Geno are going to get a bigger house that's by the beach even though they can't afford that Wisdom: 'Im at the age now where Im old enough to just blow off the lies that mama says, but I know Alana is not,' Pumpkin says in confessional June makes things worse by telling untruths about their living situation and claiming that she and Geno are going to get a bigger house that's by the beach in hopes of Alana moving in with them. 'Im at the age now where Im old enough to just blow off the lies that mama says, but I know Alana is not,' Pumpkin says in confessional. She knows that her mother doesn't have enough money to upgrade their living situation after blowing so much of it on drugs, and where they're staying now would probably be too much for them to afford if they were paying full price. Alana gives her sister the stink eye after she brings up the possibility of legal charges for her mother and Geno. Bearer of bad news: Alana gives her sister the stink eye after she brings up the possibility of legal charges for her mother and Geno Tapping the breaks: Geno tries to get June to be more realistic, but Pumpkin complains she's taking 'toddler steps' instead of 'baby steps' Not happening: She ends the episode on a defiant note by putting her foot down and saying Alana is 'not moving back down here' June gets wild eyed as she says she's going to get another lawyer and she claims that the charges will likely be dropped, though it doesn't appear to be anywhere near as certain as she makes it sound. Geno tries to get June to be more realistic, but Pumpkin complains she's taking 'toddler steps' instead of 'baby steps.' She ends the episode on a defiant note by putting her foot down and saying Alana is 'not moving back down here.' The Santa Clara County district attorneys office has charged a former San Jose elementary school teacher with assault, saying she intentionally coughed into the face of a 1-year-old baby in a San Jose yogurt shop last June. Nancy Nordland, 66, of San Jose, is facing a misdemeanor assault charge after surveillance footage from a San Jose Yogurtland on June 12, 2020 shows her approach a stroller, pull her face mask down, and cough three times into the face of a baby strapped in the stroller, officials said Friday. San Jose police said she was upset that a woman with the stroller was reportedly not maintaining social distance protocols while in line at the shop. Nordland left the shop without paying for her yogurt, district attorneys officials said. Police initially released surveillance footage to the community for tips in identifying the suspect, who was later identified by residents as Nordland, a local teacher. She was a teacher at Alex Anderson Elementary School in San Jose, which is part of the Oak Grove School District, district attorneys officials said. Nordland was working on the day of the incident, district attorneys officials said, citing comments from the school principal to police. Last June, the school district said she was still an employee but currently off of work and not providing any services to our District students. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said All of us must practice empathy and patience as we work together through this pandemic. The incident happened within months of the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and after public health officials said droplets from coughing, sneezing and breathing can spread the coronavirus even from people who are asymptomatic. Taking your frustrations out on someones child is unacceptable and criminal, Rosen said. Nordland is scheduled for arraignment at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, authorities said. Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo (second from left) and Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (first from right) join other leaders and officials from ASEAN states at a special meeting on Myanmar, at the blocs headquarters in Jakarta. Updated at 5:06 p.m. ET on 2021-04-24 Southeast Asian leaders called for an immediate cessation to killings in Myanmar and the opening of ASEAN-brokered talks between its military regime and parallel civilian government, as they and the Burmese junta chief met in Jakarta for an emergency summit Saturday on that countrys post-coup strife. A statement from the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the end of the one-day talks, which lasted about three hours, indicated ASEAN would appoint a special envoy to facilitate talks aimed at a peaceful solution in the interests of the people. It said the regional bloc would also provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar. We, as an ASEAN family, had a close discussion on the recent developments in Myanmar and expressed our deep concern on the situation in the country, including reports of fatalities and escalation of violence, said the chairmans statement issued by Brunei, the current holder of ASEANs annual rotating chair. In the blocs pursuit to strengthen our regional solidarity and resilience, we reiterated that the political stability in ASEAN Member States is essential to achieving a peaceful, stable and prosperous ASEAN Community, the statement also said. It went on to say that the member-states reaffirmed a collective commitment to the principles enshrined in the 54-year-old blocs charter, including adherence to the rule of law, good governance, the principles of democracy and constitutional government, respect for fundamental freedoms, and the promotion and protection of human rights. The Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar called for the immediate cessation of violence with all parties exercising utmost restraint; a constructive dialogue among all parties; the mediation of such talks by a special envoy of the ASEAN chair, with assistance from the blocs secretary general; provisions of humanitarian assistance coordinated by ASEAN; and a visit to Myanmar by an ASEAN delegation, headed by the special envoy, to meet with all parties. However, the five points did not include the release of political prisoners as the president of Indonesia the largest country in ASEAN and the prime minister of Malaysia had demanded in their speeches during Saturdays summit. The statement, nonetheless, was the strongest collective one issued to date on the crisis in Myanmar, and a rare show of consensus that tested the 10-nation blocs founding principle of non-interference in members-states domestic affairs. "Yes, it is true that we as ASEAN Member States uphold the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other ASEAN Member States, as embedded in the ASEAN Charter," Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said during his official remarks at the summit, according to a copy of his speech. "However, that does not mean that we should ignore a serious situation that jeopardizes the peace, security, and stability of ASEAN and the wider region. This principle of non-interference is not for us to hide behind, it cannot be a reason for our inaction." Although the chairman's statement said that the ASEAN family had agreed to the five points, it was not immediately known how Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the Burmese junta chief, whose forces have killed hundreds of civilian protesters since the Feb. 1 coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyis civilian government, responded. Min Aung Hlaing did not give a formal statement, according to Agence France-Presse. The meeting, which was the first high-level in-person meeting among ASEAN leaders since the coronavirus pandemic broke out early last year, was closed to the press because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols. "It's beyond our expectation," Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters after the summit. "We tried not to accuse his side too much because we dont care whos causing it," Reuters quoted Muhyiddin as saying. "We just stressed that the violence must stop. For him, its the other side thats causing the problems. But he agreed that violence must stop." Blunt words from Indonesia's leader Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo was blunt in his remarks during the meeting, which he later conveyed during a post-summit news conference. The situation in Myanmar is something that is unacceptable and should not continue, he told reporters. Violence must be stopped and democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar must be restored immediately. Jokowi said that at the meeting, Indonesia demanded Myanmars junta make three commitments: end its use of force, start an inclusive dialogue among parties by releasing political detainees at once and open access to humanitarian aid, under the coordination by ASEANs secretary general. Indonesia is committed to overseeing the continuation of this commitment so that the political crisis in Myanmar can be resolved immediately, Jokowi said. In his speech, Prime Minister Muhyiddin echoed Jokowis remarks. Apart from immediately stopping the violence, my second point is to call for a meaningful, inclusive political dialogue which can only take place with the prompt and unconditional release of political detainees, Muhyiddin said. This would be a good starting point and ease international pressure on Myanmar and ASEAN, he said. Muhyiddin said the ASEAN chair and secretary general must be given access into Myanmar to meet with all parties. This is much needed for ASEAN to provide an honest and unbiased observation. If ASEAN is allowed access, this can demonstrate to the world that it is on track in helping Myanmar restore normalcy in the country, the Malaysian PM said. The leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia had called for the emergency summit after the junta failed to heed demands to end the violence and release political detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (left) arrives at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, April 24, 2021. [Handout photo from Indonesian Presidential Palace] Min Aung Hlaing arrived at Jakarta airport on a Myanmar Airways International flight in the early afternoon. The general headed to the ASEAN Secretariat building, where the meeting was being held, after undergoing a COVID-19 test, the Indonesian presidents office said. Apart from the junta chief, the other ASEAN states were represented in person by their top leaders, except for the Philippines, Thailand and Laos, which all sent their foreign ministers. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cited their preoccupation with worsening COVID-19 outbreaks at home as their reason for skipping the meeting. Also on Saturday in Jakarta, Christine Schraner Burgener, the United Nations special envoy on Myanmar, met with Bui Thanh Son, the foreign minister of ASEAN member-state Vietnam, on the summits side lines, Vietnamese media reported. The U.N. envoy was going to the Indonesian capital to engage ASEAN leaders in discussions focusing on a political solution to the crisis in Myanmar, the world body had said earlier this week. Human rights groups, meanwhile, had criticized ASEAN for allowing the Burmese junta chief to represent Myanmar at the summit and exclude officials from the newly formed parallel National Unity Government (NUG) from attending it. In a statement posted late Saturday on Facebook, the NUG said it welcomed the encouraging news that ASEAN leaders have reached consensus that the military violence in Myanmar must stop and political prisoners be released. But it was not immediately clear whether the parallel civilian government was responding to the ASEAN chairmans statement or to the speech by Jokowi. We appreciate the strong words from President Widodo of Indonesia calling for the release of our heroes, Dr. Sasa, the union minister of international cooperation and spokesman for the NUG, said in the statement. We look forward to firm action by ASEAN to follow up its decisions and to restore democracy and freedom for our people and for the region. Muzliza Mustafa in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report. The government knew in early April that the Mercure Hotel needed work to continue to be used for quarantine, she said. They ignored this report, continued to use an unsafe facility, and that decision has led to community transmission and a snap lockdown for millions of West Australians. The Premier was elected on a promise to keep WA safe yet his government has let the people of Western Australia down and now we are all paying the price for the Labor Governments complacency. The Mecure hotel in Perth. Credit:Peter de Kruijff Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson had known from at least April 8 that the Mercure, Four Points Sheraton and Novotel Langley were high-risk for transmission because of ventilation concerns. Loading WA Health had received an interim report on March 10 regarding the ventilation which became an issue on January 31 when a security guard at the Four Points got the virus while sitting near a room with an infected quarantine guest and a final report on March 31 before providing summaries to the CHO on April 8. Mr Cook defended the eight-day time gap before he and the Premier were notified by the CHO that the Mercure should be shut as a hotel for returned travellers and transitioned to a facility for low-risk arrivals such as seasonal farm workers from countries without the virus. Obviously the Chief Health Officer was considering that advice in terms of providing his recommendations to the government, he said. They are complicated issues, they involved analysis by a range of engineers, public health, and ventilation experts and as a result of that the CHO had to analyse that work and amongst all his other obligations and duties provide that advice to the government. Timeline January 31 Perth goes into a five-day lockdown because of case 903 where a security guard at the Four Points Sheraton tests positive to COVID-19. February 4 Professor Tarun Weeramanthri provides initial advice and calls for an immediate independent expert review of airflow and ventilation in all WA quarantine hotels. February 24 Independent reviewers, Glossop Consultancy, recommend to the government that the Four Points be retained until it could be replaced by the Adnate Hotel in the quarantine system. March 10 Initial ventilation review completed. March 31 Final ventilation report provided to WA Health. April 3 A 54-year-old Victorian man arrives in Perth from China and starts hotel quarantine at the Mecure Hotel. April 8 Summary reports on hotel ventilation provided to Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson which states the Mercure is the most at-risk hotel and the Four Points and Novotel Langley are also high risk. April 16 Premier Mark McGowan and Health Minister Roger Cook receive advice from the CHO on ventilation saying risks at the three high-risk hotels could be mitigated by closing them or bringing in other measures. Dr Robertson suggests transitioning the Mercure to taking low-risk international arrivals such as seasonal workers from countries with no COVID-19. A nurse and her daughter, staying at the Mercure since April 3 after returning from the United Kingdom, in quarantine test positive to the virus. April 17 The Victorian man, who was in an immediate adjacent room to the positive cases, is let out of quarantine after testing negative for the virus and not showing any symptoms. He is a tourist in Perth and visits several cafes, restaurants and sightseeing locations, while staying at St Catherines on Park in Crawley. April 21 Genomic sequencing reveals the UK family cases are linked to a returned couple from India who are in a neighbouring room and tested positive for the virus a few days after going into quarantine on April 10. The government tells 16 other people who were staying on the same floor to self-isolate until they return a negative test. Two other people who were guests in adjacent rooms to the positive cases told to isolate for two weeks. Victorian man flies home to Melbourne on QF-778 but is immediately told to go into isolation by health authorities. April 23 The Victorian man returns a positive test for COVID-19 as does a woman from Kardinya he stayed with on April 17. Mr McGowan announces a three-day lockdown from midnight. Concerns about the hotel ventilation and related advice had been floating around since mid-March but Mr McGowan defended the performance of health authorities when asked on Friday if they still had his confidence. Masks had not been mandatory for security staff prior to the January lockdown, despite reviews of hotel systems in other states recommending the measure, and now it appeared health bureaucrats had known for weeks before the latest outbreak the risks of the Mercure still being used in the nine-hotel quarantine system. International quarantine guests only stopped being accepted into the Mercure at the start of the week despite the Premier receiving advice before the weekend that the hotel should be transitioned to low-risk arrivals. Mr McGowan was adamant the government had been doing its best to make hotels fit-for-purpose in the light of the reports it had received. Loading He laboured that having the hotel system at capacity, with about 1000 new arrivals every week, the government could not just turf people out onto the street or simply find other rooms for them at the drop of a hat. Were dealing with a system that is already operational and full and were trying to improve it whilst we have these people actually in the hotels, Mr McGowan said. Weve ensured all the staff in the hotels wear masks. Weve made sure they dont have second jobs, were requiring them to be vaccinated, were doing a daily testing regime of all the staff in our hotels. All these things weve done progressively to make sure the system is as safe as we can make it. The Premier has tried to keep everything in perspective and pushed the fact WA has only had two hotel quarantine incidents where the virus was out in the community compared to 12 months of no spread. Mr McGowan further highlighted the states were just doing what the federal government would not, which is run quarantine despite there being military and other assets around the state and at places like Christmas Island. This is an obligation the states have put upon us, he said. Weve had around 45,000 Australians return and weve had two incidents ... in hotels that were not built for this purpose but weve had to use them for this purpose. Regardless of who runs quarantine the virus is now out there in Perth. Case 903, the security guard who sparked the January lockdown, turned out to not be a spreader of the virus leading to a short pause in the WA economy, but more cases in this instance could lead to a longer shutdown depending on just how far it has spread. Mr McGowan said as the situation unfolded the restrictions could get harsher. Well be able to make a decision on Monday as to whether or not we extend or what other rules we put in place, he said. The South West region has not been included in the third lockdown, unlike the second, but regional communities are sweating over whether any cases will pop up in their towns after Perth residents were allowed to leave the city for the Anzac Day long weekend. Meanwhile Perth, a city of two million people, holds its breath. The development and distribution of three government-approved COVID-19 vaccines have given widespread hope for the nation. Although there is still a lot to be learned about the side effects and effectiveness of the vaccines, the more people that get vaccinated, the easier it becomes to manage and ultimately eliminate the coronavirus threat. While this is good news for businesses that require in-house staff, employers face yet another dilemma. To Mandate or Not to Mandate? The federal government allows employers to develop a vaccine mandate. Essentially, companies can require that their employees must get vaccinated to continue working for the company. In the grand scheme of things, this seems like a good idea. A fully vaccinated workforce would reduce the risk of a coronavirus outbreak. Although it would seem like a no-brainer, the reality is requiring employees to get the shot could hinder their civil liberties. Potential Outcomes Can you force someone to get vaccinated just to work? What if they have existing medical conditions or religious beliefs that prompt them to turn down a COVID-19 vaccine? Don't people have a right to do as they please with their bodies? Lastly, how will this affect the bottom line? Unfortunately, the answers aren't cut and dry. Here's a closer look at how company-mandated vaccines may impact your organization. Discrimination Suits While businesses can mandate employees receive COVID-19 vaccines, it's not across the board. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title VII ultimately protects individuals that aren't willing to take the vaccine due to religious reasons. The American Disabilities Act also protects individuals with disabilities or medical conditions that hinder their ability to get the vaccine. Should an employer violate these rights in any way, it could lead to a messy legal battle. Turnover Increase There are some individuals that simply do not want to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Whether it's the uncertainty of the vaccine's effectiveness, or merely not wanting to get a shot, not everyone is on board. If you were to mandate vaccinations, this would mean that employees that didn't comply would eventually lose their jobs. As good workers can be hard to come by and high turnover rates slow productivity this may not be a route you're willing to take. Not to mention the time and money you'll have to invest in posting on job boards, screenings, interviews, employee background check, and the onboarding and training process to find new staff. Worker's Compensation On the other side of the coin, if employers don't mandate COVID-19 vaccines, they could be looking at an increased rate of worker's compensation claims. If an employee contracts the virus while on the job, they are entitled to paid time off until they can return to work. An Outbreak Another reason an employer might consider mandating the COVID-19 vaccine is to reduce the chances of an outbreak. Should the virus be detected in the workspace, operations could be shut down for several days, weeks, or more. Not to mention, if someone passes the coronavirus on to a customer or an employee takes it home to their families, this creates communal spread. In Conclusion Now that you have a clearer understanding of the pros and cons of employer-mandated vaccines, you may be wondering what the best option is for your company. At the end of the day, you want nothing more than to keep your employees safe and get back to "business as usual". Most employers have found that the best way to master this is to strongly encourage, but not mandate that employees get the vaccine. They've also incentivized it by offering paid time off or funds to cover transportation and vaccines for employees to make things more manageable. If you do decide that mandating vaccines is the best approach for your organization, consult an attorney and human resources expert. You want to ensure that you're not violating anyone's rights and that you're in compliance with both federal and state laws. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 09:04:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SAO PAULO, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Friday reported 2,914 deaths from COVID-19 in 24 hours, raising the national death toll to 386,416. According to the Health Ministry, 14,237,078 people in Brazil have so far tested positive for the virus, after tests detected 69,105 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Brazil's state-run medical research facility, reported that 14 states and the capital Brasilia registered over 90 percent occupancy of intensive care units (ICU) in the past week, while seven other states saw more than 80 percent occupancy of ICU beds. Hospital service has collapsed to a "critical" degree, Fiocruz said, noting COVID-19 deaths rate soared during the past two weeks. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's top tourist destination, the mayor's office relaxed lockdown measures to allow people to visit the town's famous beaches from Monday to Friday. Beaches remain closed on weekends and nighttime restrictions on mobility are still in place. Enditem US State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter on April 23 reiterated Washingtons support for India as the nation battles the crippling second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. During a press briefing, the United States official said that the US will work closely with India to facilitate the movement of essential supplies during the challenging times and even provided an update on Indias request regarding Americas position of the lifting of raw materials for the COVID-19 vaccine. Porter said, We have continued to work closely with India to facilitate the movement of essential supplies and also address the bottlenecks of their supply chains. But we'll also continue to collaborate with our partners in India to battle this at the highest level." "We don't have any specific update to raw materials, but we'll just reiterate that we understand that the COVID situation in India remains a global concern," she added. Porters remarks came after on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar regarding the lethal second wave of the novel coronavirus. Addressing the same, Porter said, We know Secretary Blinken spoke to his counterpart on Tuesday, and we remain deeply engaged with India at all levels as we work to combat this crisis of the pandemic together. COVID-19 in India At present, the total cases in India have mounted to 1.66 crores with active cases being 25.52 lakh. To date, India has recorded at least 1.89 lakh with 1.38 crore recoveries. Meanwhile, the total number of people who have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is 13.83 crores. On Saturday, Delhi High Court also asked the Centre about the preparedness to deal with the expected COVID-19 second wave peak amid the oxygen crisis and shortage of drugs and hospital beds in several states. The Delhi HC bench termed the massive rise of COVID-19 cases as a tsunami. Meanwhile, Bhutans Foreign Affairs Minister Tandi Dorji offered deepest prayers and pledged complete solidarity with the Indian government. As per news agency ANI, he also noted that India is currently facing the most difficult phase of the pandemic and prayed for a speedy recovery. Dorjis remarks came on April 24 when India recorded 3.46 lakh new COVID-19 cases which is the worlds highest one-day surge in coronavirus infections for the third consecutive day. Image credits: AP/PTI/Pixabay TV presenter Kate Garraway has revealed the heart-breaking text messages that her husband sent her before he was put into an induced coma during his year-long battle against Covid. In her new memoir edited extracts of which are being exclusively serialised by The Mail on Sunday from tomorrow she tells in raw detail about Dereks ordeal and pays tribute to the brilliant team of doctors and specialists whove looked after him and how what theyve learnt has helped the treatment of others. The 53-year-old Good Morning Britain presenter describes how the toughest experience of her life began in March last year when Derek, then 52, was taken to hospital with very low oxygen levels. TV presenter Kate Garraway (pictured above), 53, has revealed the heart-breaking text messages that her husband sent her before he was put into an induced coma The Good Morning Britain presenter describes how the toughest experience of her life began in March last year when Derek Draper (above), then 52, was taken to hospital As he was lifted into an ambulance, Kate said he told her: This is not the last time you will see me. It isnt. But she admits he would never have said that if at least a small part of him hadnt been wondering if it was. During the rollercoaster next few days, Kate truly feared her political lobbyist-turned-psychotherapist husband was going to die. In one phone call, he told her: I want you at the funeral. Kates book, The Power Of Hope, includes examples of her husbands texts from hospital, revealed in tomorrows Mail on Sunday. She writes: His messages became more and more desperate. They were heart-breaking to read. After more 373 days in hospital, Derek was allowed home earlier this month. He has not regained his speech and remains seriously ill. Doctors say he was the most seriously sick patient to have survived the virus. Last week, Kate told viewers on Good Morning Britain: It has been wonderful having Derek at home. There have been lots of little positives - moments of recognition and reaction. Kate and Derek pictured in December 2019. Kates book, The Power Of Hope, includes examples of her husbands texts from hospital, revealed in tomorrows Mail on Sunday After more 373 days in hospital, Derek (pictured in hospital) was allowed home earlier this month. He has not regained his speech and remains seriously ill Explaining why she had written the book, Kate, who is also a Smooth Radio presenter, says: Im painfully aware that Derek would have wanted to tell his own story if he could - and one day he still may. I have tried to do him and all those who love him justice, and his love and life are present in every line. On an emotional level, I hope readers will also draw something from how we, his family, have struggled to cope. The Power Of Hope by Kate Garraway (Transworld Publishers Ltd, 20). To order a copy for 16 go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193. Free UK delivery on orders over 20. Promotional price valid until April 28. Despite obstacles including the ongoing coronavirus quarantine and the consequent absence of international humanitarian staffers in North Korea, aid and food distribution continues in the country, with the latest food distribution having taken place in March 2021, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) told Sputnik on Friday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) Despite obstacles including the ongoing coronavirus quarantine and the consequent absence of international humanitarian staffers in North Korea, aid and food distribution continues in the country, with the latest food distribution having taken place in March 2021, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) told Sputnik on Friday. The last remaining staffers of humanitarian organizations, including the UN World Food Programme, have left North Korea because of the coronavirus quarantine, as not a single batch of humanitarian assistance has arrived in the country since 2020, Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organizations Director Pyotr Ilyichev said in an interview with Sputnik, calling for lifting the "draconian" sanctions on Pyongyang. "Since the beginning of 2020, we have been confronted with obstacles just like those we have been experiencing elsewhere in the world. Despite this, in 2020, our food and nutrition assistance reached nearly 730,000 people, including vulnerable women and children in need of humanitarian assistance. In 2021, we also conducted food distribution up until March," WFP Spokesperson for Asia and the Pacific Kun Li said. Chinese vice premier stresses boosting employment Xinhua) 11:19, April 24, 2021 NANJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua has stressed efforts to boost employment and strive to achieve the employment target for the year. Hu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection trip in east China's Jiangsu Province from Wednesday to Friday. During the trip, Hu visited job fairs, enterprises and shops to learn about the current job market supply and demand, the employment situation at enterprises and the implementation of employment policies. He also inspected employment services for groups such as college graduates, urban residents with difficulties, and the labor force who have just shaken off poverty, as well as the development and social protection status of flexible employment. China's employment situation has been generally stable, said Hu, noting that challenges remain, and enormous efforts must be made to achieve the annual employment target. Work should be done to increase jobs, implement and improve supportive policies, support businesses, especially the medium and small ones, as well as the labor-intensive enterprises, the vice premier said. He also called for giving full play to the role of public and market-based employment service providers and non-profit organizations to better serve the key groups, increasing support for the labor force who have just shaken off poverty, and boosting flexible employment by facilitating new business and employment patterns. China aims to create more than 11 million new urban jobs in 2021, according to this year's government work report. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) The first sequences of the Indian Covid-19 variant, B.1.617, that is being attributed as a possible cause behind the countrys new wave of infections, was first observed in December 2020. Anurag Agrawal, director of CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), made the curious revelation to The Indian Express. He said that the variant was discovered in samples taken from Maharashtra last year but was not flagged since it was detected when infections were witnessing a decline and its characteristics were unknown. It was simply classified as a variant of interest. Read more: India reports 3.46 lakh new Covid-19 cases, 2,624 deaths in another record single-day spike The first sequences of the so-called Indian variant B.1.617 were seen in December, but we were in a declining phase. We see hundreds of mutations every time we sequence. There was absolutely no reason to flag a variant or a mutation of an unknown character in a declining phase of an outbreak, he said during a webinar about genome sequencing on Friday. From a part of Maharashtra, L452R mutation was being seen along with E484Q in an increasing number of samples during the outbreak that started in January and it was flagged," he said. India had not started genome sequencing until the UK had disclosed information about a new variant doing the rounds there in November 2020 as part of their second wave. Following the disclosure, Indian scientists assembled and started genome sequencing. The SARS CoV2 Genome Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG) body, a 10-institution 'task force', has since been conducting the same and keeping watch for further developments. DH previously reported the variant not being flagged but at that time genome sequencing data was not available. 15,135 samples have been sequenced by the body so far, with variants of concern being found in 1,735 samples. In March 2021, the previously classified variant of interest was flagged as variant of concern. A variant of interest was identified and all necessary tests were performed. By the end of March, this variant was moved from a variant of interest to a variant of concern. After obtaining the samples from cases and vaccines, we can now co-relate backward in an outbreak starting in January and till March-end, Agrawal added. Read more: Hospitals choking on oxygen shortage Shekhar Mande, director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) stated that virus mutations are a natural phenomenon. Others in the webinar said that people becoming casual about following Covid-19 norms and losing immunity led to the resurgence of infections. National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Chief Dr Sujeet Singh could not confirm if the UK variant was solely responsible for the surge in Delhi. We cannot say this as the number of samples were less. We have more runs that have taken place and are analysing more data, he told The Indian Express. Doctors at the webinar emphasised fast vaccination as all Covid-19 vaccines have been found to reduce the severity of infections and deaths, even when infections are being attributed to variants. DOHA, Qatar, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- For travellers with an eye for art, Qatar offers some of the most unique cultural experiences in the Middle East. The country has a long-standing commitment to making exceptional art accessible to all and is home to a diverse range of some of the world's most impressive public art by globally known, thought-provoking creatives, including Richard Serra and Damien Hirst. With a number of contemporary sculptures and statues in the country, the progressive style of many of the monuments makes Qatar a haven for fans of modern art. With world-class art free to all exploring the eclectic streets of the capital, Doha's outstanding collection of public sculptures, such as the Miraculous Journey by Damien Hirst and '7' by Richard Serra, make the city a walking museum for keen culture enthusiasts. Venturing out to the desert will not disappoint, as East-West/West-East - a truly epic and mind-blowing art installation - can be seen on a visit to the limestone rock formations outside Zekreet. Other impressive pieces can be spotted before visitors have even left the airport, such as the giant Lamp-Bear, which takes centre stage in the grand foyer at Hamad International Airport. To celebrate the seventh International Sculpture Day (24th April), Qatar National Tourism Council shares the best of Qatar's outstanding public art to see in 2021. Top 10 sculptures to visit in Qatar in 2021: 1. East-West/West-East monoliths, by Richard Serra Qatar is home to four monoliths, built in a secretive fashion until they were unveiled by Richard Serra. Comprising of four steel plates, each of which is over 14m in height, the installation spans over 1km and the monoliths are nestled between limestone rock formations in the desert outside Zekreet. 2. Lamp Bear, by Urs Fischer Tourists passing through Doha on a stopover can experience the unique mix of art and culture before even leaving the airport; located in Hamad International Airport's duty-free area is a 23-foot plush teddy bear sitting under a lamp. The sculpture, created by Urs Fischer, is designed to be both humorous and comforting, reminding travellers of childhood or precious objects from home. 3. The Miraculous Journey, by Damien Hirst The Miraculous Journey, housed at Sidra Medical and Research Centre, comprises 14 monumental bronze sculptures illustrating the development of a foetus. The piece ends with a statue of a 46-foot-tall anatomically correct baby boy, and attests to the beauty of an extraordinary process. 4. Maman by Louise Bourgeois A giant spider made of marble, bronze, and stainless steel, Maman by Louise Bourgeois can be found inside the Qatar National Convention Centre. Taking its name from the French word for 'mother', the sculpture explores the meaning of motherhood and strength and includes a sac containing 32 marble eggs. The colossal structure is among the world's largest sculptures, measuring over 30ft high and over 33ft wide. 5. Gandhi's Three Monkeys by Subodh Gupta Centrally located in Katara Cultural Village, the thought-provoking Three Monkeys by Subodh Gupta features three head-shaped sculptures in military gear: one wears a gas mask, another a soldier's helmet, and a third a terrorist's hood. Each piece is made of cooking implements, used pails, traditional Indian lunch boxes and glass bowls. Together, they recall Gandhi's visual metaphor of the three monkeys that represent the 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' proverb. 6. '7' by Richard Serra Soaring nearly 80-feet above the MIA Park, '7' by Richard Serra, at the Museum of Islamic Art Park, is a steel homage to the spiritual significance of the number seven in Islamic culture; a metaphor for infinity or completion. 7. Smoke by Tony Smith Smoke, by Tony Smith, sits at the entrance to the Doha Exhibition & Convention Centre (DECC). Open and inviting, profound yet serene, the giant geometric components of this 24ft tall sculpture, which includes five tetrahedrons and forty-five extended octahedrons, dominate the space. 8. Flying Man by Dia al-Azzawi Designed by Dia al-Azzawi, the Flying Man at Hamad International Airport consists of two sculptures commemorating flight. Both are inspired by Bin Firnas or Armen Firman, an early flight experimenter whose derring-do included leaping from the Great Mosque in Cordoba in 852 AD to test his new machine made of a silk cloak reinforced with wooden rods to form wings. 8. Pouce by Cesar Baldaccini Pouce by Cesar Baldaccini is a giant thumb marking a crossroads in Doha's authentic and vibrant marketplace, the Souq Waqif. Its highly polished bronze patina reflects the surrounding light and is a cheeky addition to the bustling atmosphere of the otherwise traditional location. 10. The Force of Nature II by Lorenzo Quinn The Force of Nature II sits at the Katara Amphitheatre on the waterfront. The large bronze sculpture, which has sister installations in London, New York and Shanghai, was created by Lorenzo Quinn. It depicts Mother Nature as a woman hurling the planet in circles. To find out more information on Qatar's sculptures and public art, please visit https://www.visitqatar.qa/en/things-to-do/art-culture/public-art Related Images east-west-west-east-monoliths-by.jpg East-West/West-East monoliths, by Richard Serra gandhis-three-monkeys-by-subodh.jpg Gandhi's Three Monkeys by Subodh Gupta 7-by-richard-serra.jpg '7' by Richard Serra SOURCE Qatar National Tourism Council Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 86F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Flash The foreign ministers of Romania, Poland and Turkey met here on Friday for a trilateral meeting on security issues, which also included a special meeting with their counterparts in Georgia and Ukraine. During the trilateral meeting, issues related to the security situation in the Eastern Neighborhood, as well as the preparation of the NATO Summit on June 14, 2021, were discussed. The three foreign ministers agreed to continue close coordination in areas of common interest in the future, especially in consolidating NATO's deterrence and defense stance, with a focus on the Eastern Flank and the Black Sea region, as well as strengthening resilience and support for partners in the region, especially for Ukraine and Georgia. Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu presented his country's priorities for the NATO Summit and insisted on the need to continue to strengthen NATO's position on the entire Eastern Flank, including the Black Sea region. For the first time for the trilateral format launched some ten years ago, there was also a special working session with the participation of partners - the foreign ministers of Georgia, David Zalkaliani, and of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba. Talks between the five foreign ministers focused on the security situation in the Eastern Neighborhood, including the Black Sea. The Romanian minister, together with his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu sent a clear unitary message reaffirming support for the two partners' Euro-Atlantic aspirations, as well as the common interest in continuing cooperation with these partners in order to strengthen defense capacities and increase resilience. President Xi Jinping talks with officers aboard a submarine during an inspection of a submarine unit in Qingdao, Shandong province, in June 2018. LI GANG / XINHUA President Xi Jinping's close attention to the People's Liberation Army Navy can be traced back to his first days as general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in late 2012. On Dec 8, 2012, less than a month after Xi was elected the Party's general secretary and the military's commander-in-chief, he boarded a guided-missile destroyer that took him to the South China Sea. It was his first inspection of a PLA unit as the armed forces' top commander. In the next nine months, Xi paid two visits to separate PLA Navy units, boarding new naval vessels such as a new-generation nuclear-powered submarine and the aircraft carrier CNS Liaoning. In May 2017, Xi visited the PLA Navy headquarters in Beijing. He said that the Navy should continue to speed up its transformation into a world-class force, ordering all Navy commanders to honor their mission of building a modern and strong force. During the inspection, the president said that the Navy's development is strategically important and crucial to national interests and security. He asked the Navy to focus on strengthening its combat capabilities and carry out joint operation exercises in line with modern naval warfare. He called on the Navy to use systematic thinking in making development plans. Innovation in science and technology must be used to inject momentum into the Navy's sustainable growth, he said. In April 2018, Xi presided over his first sea parade, which took place in the South China Sea. Addressing more than 10,000 naval personnel from a giant combat ship, he ordered the Navy to seize every minute and second and spare no effort to become a world-class force, because the country needs a powerful navy as an essential pillar of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Xi told the Navy to continue to focus on combat training and stay on high alert to safeguard national interests and make more contributions to the peace and stability of the region and the world. Two months later, during an inspection tour of the naval headquarters under the PLA Northern Theater Command in Qingdao, Shandong province, the president said that the Navy should use allout efforts to improve its combat readiness and focus on operational planning, training, hardware development and optimization of its command chain. Navy units should carry out more large-scale exercises on combat capabilities and enhance targeted and realistic training, he said. Moreover, Xi stressed that the Navy should take advantage of the country's military reform to implement its transformation and beef up the construction of elite combat units. He asked the Navy to give attention to building naval aviation forces. During the inspection tour, the president visited a submarine unit and boarded a new-generation nuclear-powered submarine that participated in the sea parade in the South China Sea. Talking with the submarine's crew, he said submarine forces must be given priority and make big strides in their development. He said that the sea-based nuclear force should achieve stronger growth. During his most recent inspection tour of a Navy unit in October 2020, Xi visited the headquarters of the Marine Corps in Guangdong province. The commander-in-chief urged the Marine Corps to turn itself into an elite force that must be integrated, capable, flexible and fast-responding. He said that to achieve this goal, the Marine Corps should fully implement the Party's military thought and strategies for the new era, study and explore its own management and operational patterns, speed up its transformation and improve its combat capabilities. National sovereignty He said that the Marine Corps bears significant responsibilities in terms of safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity, marine rights and overseas interests. The president ordered that the Marine Corps must enhance strategic planning for its growth and ensure that it can better serve the country's development, security and military strategies. He added that the force should keep pace with the PLA's modernization endeavors, the interservice joint combat system and the Navy's transformation efforts. Timeline Dec 2012 South China Sea May 2017 Navy headquarters in Beijing Apr 2018 South China Sea Jun 2018 Qingdao, Shandong province Oct 2020 Guangdong province Itanagar/Aizawl, April 24 : Amid the rising Covid-19 cases in the region, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has hit some semi-wild mithuns in Arunachal Pradesh, while African Swine Fever (ASF) has struck some pigs in Mizoram, leading to their deaths, officials said on Saturday. The Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department of Arunachal Pradesh has deployed several teams to the districts to assess the extent of the outbreak of FMD. Though the officials did not specify the number of mithuns that died of this disease, the villagers have said at least 12 animals have died and a large number of the animals have fallen sick in Riga, Pangkong, Riew and Sitang villages in Siang district. The Deputy Director of the animal husbandry department, Tachi Taku, said that an outbreak of FMD has been reported from many districts, though the animals have been infected mostly in the districts by the Siang river. According to the official, over 100,000 animals were vaccinated in the first phase in October last year and they are waiting for vaccines from the Centre for the second phase. The FMD, an infectious viral disease, has also infected some vaccinated cattle and pigs, but the mithuns are the most affected species. Local media reported that deaths of several mithuns due to FMD were reported from various villages in Upper Siang, East Siang and West Siang districts earlier this month. The tribals of Arunachal Pradesh are traditionally linked to mithuns, a bovine species, and they also consume their meat. The milk of mithun is considered nutritionally superior to cow or goat milk. There is a traditional practice in Arunachal Pradesh where the family of a man tying the nuptial knot provides one or two mithuns to the bride's parents as a gift. Officials in Aizawl said that ASF, the dreaded pig disease, has currently affected animals in five districts - Aizawl, Lunglei, Serchhip, Mamit and Siaha - out of the mountainous state's 11 districts. Over 1,000 pigs have been killed due to the ASF in Mizoram during the past one month. This is the second outbreak of an animal disease in the northeast region this year. The ASF had also killed more than 1,200 pigs in Mizoram earlier this year, causing a loss of about Rs 5 crore to farmers in four districts in the state. For the 11th year in a row, I have watched several of the movies nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Unlike many prolific movie watchers, I am more of a seasonal film watcher and primarily watch just a few of those nominated for an Oscar. But I once again enjoyed seeing some this year and was enriched and/or entertained in some way by all of them. This year was different because most people have not seen the films at theaters due to the pandemic and the fact many megaplexes are just starting to reopen in recent weeks. Watching several of them online via streaming before they really come out in the theaters also costs close to $20 instead of the usual $5 or $6 that has been the cost after they have been at theaters. Also different this year is that of the ones I saw, none really jumped out at me as being overly entertaining like several Best Picture winners in the recent past, such as The Kings Speech, The Artist, Spotlight, and Twelve Years a Slave. Nomadland, which I did see, is considered the favorite to win Best Picture. Others nominated this year include The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Below are my brief reviews of four of the Best Picture-nominated movies I saw in ascending order and culminating with my favorite. I hope to see some or all of the other four that were nominated and look forward to watching the Oscar ceremonies this Sunday night on ABC. It gives us all a chance to feel like we are part of the Hollywood glamor world at least briefly. Or it simply lets us see internationally accomplished people and dream of such a life for ourselves. * * * * * Judas and the Black Messiah Before I saw this movie but after watching the video promotion for it, I somehow thought it was a fictitious movie about a Black leader of some kind of kingdom or country that did not exist in the real world. Only after I reached the end and looked up some information online did I realize how true the film was. It follows the story of the Illinois Black Panther leader, Fred Hampton, and his hard-nosed efforts to bring about change and improvement for Black people in the late 1960s. Those who love the stories of Dr. Martin Luther King, John Lewis and others accomplishing such noble goals of equality and civil rights through non-violent means might flinch at this movie, as the good guys and bad guys do not seem to be as clearly defined to me. That is because it involves dirty or mean-spirited tactics on all sides, including the Black Panthers, the FBI, Chicago police and even a Black man named Bill ONeal, who infiltrates the Black Panthers as an informant for the FBI. Mr. Hampton with his oratory skills is considered the Black Messiah, while Mr. ONeal is considered the Judas. The latter is due to the fact he is paid by the FBI and drugs Mr. Hamptons drink to make the leader sleep heavily and be easily shot and killed during a law enforcement raid. Like Judas in the Bible, Mr. ONeals character apparently has guilt or at least mixed emotions over his involvement in bringing about Mr. Hamptons death. The movie says at the end that Mr. ONeal gave his one and only public interview for the PBS documentary, Eyes on the Prize, 20 years later and died shortly after it aired. Some believe it was suicide. While the movie gives some neat attention to the late 1960s with period automobiles and even fascinating old buildings used for Black Panther gatherings and meetings, the movie focuses too much on the dark side of Americas racial conflict. I am just too much of an eternal optimist for this storyline or to rank it among my favorite Best Picture nominees for this year. However, the movie overall is enlightening and makes one ponder all aspects of Americas history of race relations. And it has some good acting, as Mr. Hamptons character, played by Daniel Kaluuya, and Lakeith Stanfield as Mr. ONeal have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. * * * * * Minari This movie deals with a South Korean immigrant family who has decided to move to a farm in a rural community in Northwest Arkansas from California after the father dreams of finding a successful living as a farmer. And for the next two hours, viewers are shown the struggles and occasional triumphs of this familys quest to capture the American dream. They live in a modest and uninteresting trailer, but their farmland around them which was actually filmed in Northeast Oklahoma -- is simply gorgeous. Despite the beauty of the land, it lurks of danger primarily due to drought issues and struggles to keep it irrigated. There are plenty of other conflicts with which they must deal during the movie, too. These include tensions in the marriage over the fathers challenging dream, a boy with a genetic heart defect, and language and cultural barriers that resulted in subtitles being often used. However, there is an eccentric man who was a veteran of, yes, the Korean War, who manages to help them with the farm, and so does the grandmother with the two children. She comes from South Korea and cusses like an American sailor. Unfortunately, they have to help her after she suffers a stroke. There are countless examples in which a viewer feels for their struggles. And I even got a little sentimental realizing that the little male chicks in the hatchery where they also have to work are soon put to death, since they dont lay eggs. And then there is the minari leafy plant used for Korean food and medicine that the grandmother plants along the creek, and it eventually comes out. I read that it usually takes minari awhile to start producing well, and that might have symbolized the familys struggles, according to one story. Toward the end, good news seems to come when the family learns their sons heart is doing better and the father gets a contract to sell some of his produce in a big city. However, as they are returning, the disabled grandmother accidentally sets the barn where the picked produce is stored on fire. But after that, they still decide to persevere and stay, a trait appreciated in any culture and a move that gives the film a somewhat happy ending. * * * * * Promising Young Woman I actually read up a little on this movie before I watched it, but evidently not enough. I had assumed It was about a 30-year-old woman who had been greatly bothered by a now-deceased best friends rape several years earlier and eventually helps bring justice to the case. That is basically what happens, but in a much darker and much more intense way than I initially thought. The woman, played in an outstanding manner by British actress Carey Mulligan, who displayed no British accent on her way to a well-deserved Best Actress Academy Award nomination, initially tries to act drunk to tease men who pick her up. This is to think they can take advantage of her before she tells them she is sober. But she eventually tries to bring attention to her late friends gang rape, an event that was so traumatic that Ms. Mulligans character becomes obsessed over trying to solve it. This is the most creative aspect of the movie in that female director and writer Emerald Finnell tells the story of how she meets people familiar with the case from old medical school classmates, to a dean, to a lawyer and finally to the suspect himself. She also dates a former medical school classmate, and later discovers he was an observer to the incident. The final act, in which she confronts the accused man at his bachelor party, is to me almost like a scene out of a horror movie, it is so intense and dark. And to my surprise, the woman actually died. But in another creative twist, she had left behind enough evidence including a tape of the incident a female former classmate gave her that the man is arrested at his wedding. So, justice prevails over her deceased friends and her own death, which seems more important to Ms. Mulligans character than to saving her own life. I made this my second favorite movie only because it was so intense that I could not stop watching it for nearly two hours. It was quite uncomfortable to watch, though, and I will likely not watch it again. But maybe that is appropriate to bring attention to the issues of acquaintance rape and helps men especially understand fully the trauma of the crime, which college campuses and other places are now trying to spend more resources preventing or prosecuting. And maybe that is the lasting legacy of this movie. If so, it will be a worthwhile one. * * * * * Nomadland This movie is somewhat unique in that it is based on a non-fiction book about the culture of people living fulltime out of their vans or recreational vehicles either by financial necessity or a spirit of adventure or independence. A documentary could have easily been made instead of this first-class drama. It is also unusual in that many of the characters were real vehicle dwellers, not actors. But the main character, played by Frances McDormand, is definitely an actress, and she portrayed her role well enough to be the frontrunner to receive the Best Actress Oscar. The story follows her having to live in a van after a factory closes down in Nevada and her husband dies. She finds seasonal work at places like an Amazon Fulfillment Center and a national park, but she has to constantly travel around the West looking for work. But it is not as lonely an experience as one thinks, as she meets and befriends other people in similar situations and learns of the subculture. She even meets a male acquaintance and briefly lives in a guest house with his extended family before deciding she prefers the road. She also has to embarrassingly ask for money from her sister with whom she has not been particularly close in recent years after her van needs repairs. She realizes after briefly staying with them how different her sisters and friends lifestyle is from hers. But she and her sister still connect positively. Besides getting to see the pretty outdoor Western landscape, a viewer gets some insight into this not overly attractive vehicle-wandering subculture that I did not know really existed. And a viewer is also left with an appreciation for the unconquerable human spirit evident in these people, who try to persevere through obstacles of life. And maybe that is why it is considered the leading contender to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture. Jcshearer2@comcast.net ADVERTISEMENT The United States government has issued a travel advisory, warning its citizens against travelling to Nigeria over the worsening security situation in the country. This was posted on Tuesday, via MyTravelGov, a travel advisory platform managed by the Department of States Bureau of Consular Affairs. The advisory also identified some high-risk zones in the country, where kidnapping for ransom, terrorism and other security threats are recurrent. Reconsider travel to Nigeria due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime. Some areas have increased risk. Do Not Travel to: Borno, Yobe, and northern Adamawa states due to terrorism and kidnapping Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Zamfara states due to kidnapping, Coastal areas of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, and Rivers states (with the exception of Port Harcourt) due to crime, kidnapping, and maritime crime, the American government advised. It further stated that violent crime such as armed robbery, assault, carjacking, kidnapping, hostage-taking, banditry, and rape is common throughout the country. Kidnappings for ransom occur frequently, often targeting dual national citizens who have returned to Nigeria for a visit, as well as U.S. citizens with perceived wealth. Kidnapping gangs have also stopped victims on interstate roads. Terrorists continue plotting and carrying out attacks in Nigeria, especially in the Northeast. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting shopping centers, malls, markets, hotels, places of worship, restaurants, bars, schools, government installations, transportation hubs, and other places where crowds gather. Terrorists are known to work with local gangs to expand their reach. There is civil unrest and low-level armed militancy in parts of Southern Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta region. Armed criminality, including kidnapping and maritime crime, is also pervasive in this region. Violence can flare up between communities of farmers and herders in rural areas. The advisory acknowledged the U.S. governments limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Nigeria due to security conditions. Kidnapping for ransom has been on the rise in different parts of the country lately. In some cases, the victims are expatriates. Despite several promises by security agencies and government officials to curb the menace, the situation has continued to worsen. The annual search to find the country's best personal finance teachers begins tomorrow. Wealth manager Interactive Investor is launching its Personal Finance Teacher of the Year Awards to recognise those individuals who are finding the best ways to teach children about money. A prize pot of 25,000 will be shared among the winning teachers' schools, and the first 250 teachers who enter the awards will receive a 50 Amazon shopping voucher. Good lessons in personal finance at school can be invaluable and help set young people's attitudes to money for life. Savvy saver: Good lessons in personal finance at school can be invaluable and help set young people's attitudes to money for life Yet many schools do not teach it or roll it up in other lessons such as maths. Of the children who do learn about money in schools, only a quarter enjoy it, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England last year. The Personal Finance Teacher of the Year Awards celebrate the teachers who find innovative and engaging ways to spark up their lessons. Guy Acres, a teacher at Joseph Hood Primary School in South West London, won one of last year's awards. He used his origami skills, acquired while teaching in Japan, to encourage his ten and 11-year-old students to set up a paper aeroplane business. The students had to borrow money for paper, pay interest on the loans and taxes on profits, and grapple with the challenge of marketing internationally and the perils of moving exchange rates. Darren Collins, another winner and teacher at The Sittingbourne School in Kent, held an imaginative series of online assemblies during the first lockdown. He taught his pupils how the stock market works, the power of compound interest and the importance of disciplined saving. Moira O'Neill, head of personal finance at Interactive Investor, says: 'I never cease to marvel at how creative teachers can be in putting together ambitious lesson plans that drive lifelong personal finance messages home.' Parents and pupils can nominate teachers by emailing teacher@ii.co.uk providing the teacher's name, as well the name and address of the school. The deadline is July 2. The teacher will then be asked to submit a lesson plan and supporting statement by July 15. Teachers can also nominate themselves. Courtesy Kings Cross Coffee We'll have to hoof it all the way to Universal Orland's Wizarding World of Harry Potter the next time we're in the mood for a pint of butterbeer Kings Cross Coffee, San Antonio's Harry Potter-themed coffee trailer, is hanging up its broom -er, wheels. The 7-by-14 foot trailer, which was a fixture for area military bases and pop-ups, emblazoned with their family in Hogwarts garb is now up for sale. In a Facebook post, owners Christina and Steven Grever shared the sad news. The trailer, named after King Cross Station where Harry boards the Hogwarts Express, will be sold. Christian university faculty issues vote of no confidence after board upholds biblical hiring policy Franklin Graham applauds univeristy 'taking biblical stand' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Faculty at a private Christian university in Washington cast a vote of no confidence after its board of trustees announced it would continue a hiring policy that prohibits hiring full-time faculty members who are gay. Seattle Pacific University, a private evangelical Christian and Wesleyan institution in Seattle affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, enrolls around 3,500 students and adheres to the biblical definition of human sexuality, according to a university statement. SPUs Faculty Senate obtained responses from around 90% of the faculty on the boards decision last week to maintain that policy despite objections from some in the school community. Around 72% of the faculty who responded agreed with the no confidence vote regarding the board and its decision, according to a statement released Monday, according to The Seattle Times. The Boards decision to maintain SPUs discriminatory hiring policy related to human sexuality, as well as its manner of delivering that decision, have regrettably compelled the faculty of SPU to pass a vote of no confidence in the SPU Board of Trustees, the faculty senate said. We presume that each member of the Board like each one of us wants this institution to thrive. But we fear that the Boards actions imperil the ability of SPU and its community to flourish. Franklin Graham, a prominent evangelical leader and president of the evangelical humanitarian organization Samaritans Purse, applauded the Christian universitys leadership in a Facebook post. I appreciate that the Board of this Christian school is willing to take a stand on biblical and moral issues when so many today are caving, Graham wrote. Im thankful to see that this Board has stood against the winds of culture and now their own staff and students and I pray that they will continue. Despite the facultys criticism of the boards adherence to the biblical definition of sexuality, the schools statement on human sexuality published initially in 2005 is explicit in explaining its position that sex should remain in the context of a husband and wife. The statement is also referenced in the schools Behavioral and Community Expectations page. In particular, we affirm the institutions of marriage and family as central to the purposes of God, the schools statement reads. We believe it is in the context of the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman that the full expression of sexuality is to be experienced and celebrated and that such a commitment is part of Gods plan for human flourishing. Within the teaching of our religious tradition, we affirm that sexual experience is intended between a man and a woman. The statement also addresses how issues surrounding human sexuality are controversial and must be considered with personal and spiritual sensitivity and scholarly care. Student members of the schools LGBT support club, Haven, have called on the university to remove or edit the sexuality statement as detailed in an April 12 Instagram post. A few years ago, the university changed the statement after the club petitioned, but Haven claims the school did not remove all homophobic elements. We, the queer and allied students of Seattle Pacific University, have waited long enough for SPU to step up and take responsibility for the homophobia steeped into the schools administration , Havens statement read. Each of us feels unwelcome and unwanted by the administration of our school. The student club said if SPU is truly concerned about diversity, it should include LGBT students. Haven asked the university to remove the Statement on Human Sexuality by May 1, National College Decision Day. In January, adjunct nursing professor Jeaux Rinedahl sued SPU, claiming the school did not hire him as a full-time professor because of his sexual orientation. Rinedahls attorneys wrote the university, claiming its policy was discriminatory, and called on them to hire him full-time at the university. The employment attorneys started a petition urging SPU to hire Rinedahl as a full-time professor. Daniel Martin, SPUs president, recently resigned from the university on April 5 after serving the university for nine years to enter into a leadership role for a national health system, according to the schools website. SPU was one of the first universities to cancel in-person classes due to the pandemic and the university will return to in-person instruction in the fall of 2021. Pharmacy Technician Synclaire Anderson vaccinates Joe Freed with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 on Saturday, April 24, 2021 at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis. With a green light from federal health officials, several states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday. Among the venues where it's being deployed is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where free vaccinations were available to anyone 18 or older. (Michelle Pemberton/The Indianapolis Star via AP) With a green light from federal health officials, many states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday. Among the venues where it was being deployed: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Among the other states ordering or recommending a resumption, along with Indiana, were Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Those moves came swiftly after U.S. health officials said Friday evening that they were lifting an 11-day pause on vaccinations using the J&J vaccine. During the pause, scientific advisers decided the vaccine's benefits outweigh a rare risk of blood clot. "The state of New York will resume administration of this vaccine at all of our state-run sites effective immediately," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Saturday morning. "The vaccine is the weapon that will win the war against COVID and allow everyone to resume normalcy, and we have three proven vaccines at our disposal," Cuomo said, urging New York residents to take whichever one is available to them first. "The sooner we all get vaccinated, the sooner we can put the long COVID nightmare behind us once and for all," he said. The Indiana Department of Health announced resumption of a free COVID-19 mass vaccination clinic Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, offering the J&J vaccine to anyone 18 or older. The clinic will be operating at least through April 30, when there will be a family vaccination day at which 16- and 17-year-olds also can be vaccinated. People drive up for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccination on Saturday, April 24, 2021, at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis. With a green light from federal health officials, several states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday. Among the venues where it's being deployed is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where free vaccinations were available to anyone 18 or older. (Michelle Pemberton/The Indianapolis Star via AP) "I can't think of a better way to welcome the month of May in Indiana than getting your vaccine this week at the Yard of Bricks," said Dr. Chris Weaver, chief clinical officer for Indiana University Health, which is partnering with the state in running the speedway clinic. By early afternoon, 1,415 doses had been administered at the speedway, the Indiana Health Department said. Virginia health officials also told providers to immediately resume their use of the J&J vaccine. "This extra scrutiny should instill confidence in the system that is in place to guarantee COVID-19 vaccine safety," said Dr. Danny Avula, the state's vaccine coordinator. "As with any vaccine, we encourage individuals to educate themselves on any potential side effects and to weigh that against the possibility of hospitalization or death from COVID-19." People drive up for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccination on Saturday, April 24, 2021, at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis. With a green light from federal health officials, several states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday. Among the venues where it's being deployed is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where free vaccinations were available to anyone 18 or older. (Michelle Pemberton/The Indianapolis Star via AP) Avula received the J&J vaccine himself on April 1. Missouri officials made a similar announcement, saying providers with J&J vaccine in stock can immediately begin administering it and that shipments from the federal government will resume next week. Just over 105,000 doses of J&J had been administered in Missouri before the pause. In Michigan, where local health departments have a key role in vaccination decision-making, the state's chief medical executive, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, recommended resuming use of the J&J vaccine. In Los Angeles County, the nation's most populous county, public health officials told vaccine providers they could resume administering J&J doses on Saturday, as long as they provided an updated fact sheet to recipients. Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the county's Department of Public Health, said the county has been working on developing additional materials to explain the clotting issue that prompted the pause. A sign is on display at the The Indianapolis Motor Speedway for people to receive the COVID-19 vaccination on Saturday, April 24, 2021 in Indianapolis. With a green light from federal health officials, several states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday. Among the venues where it's being deployed is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where free vaccinations were available to anyone 18 or older. (Michelle Pemberton/The Indianapolis Star via AP) In this April 8, 2021 file photo, the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is seen at a pop up vaccination site in the Staten Island borough of New York. With a green light from federal health officials, several states resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, April 24. Among the venues where it's being deployed is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where free vaccinations were available to anyone 18 or older. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) Those will "include what we think is really important information about what to look forthe signs and symptoms if you were to have this, again, very rare reaction," he said. "And we are going to underscore that this is a very rare reaction." The federal government uncovered 15 vaccine recipients who developed a highly unusual kind of blood clot out of nearly 8 million people given the J&J shot. All were women, most under age 50. Three died, and seven remain hospitalized. But ultimately, federal health officials decided that J&J's one-and-done vaccine is critical to fight the pandemicand that the small clot risk could be handled with warnings to help younger women decide if they should use that shot or an alternative. 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 Green Economy will create jobs and income across the country, Minister Pippa Hackett has told a meeting of business leaders. Minister Hackett was addressing a Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) event entitled Accelerating the Journey to Net Zero. The Green Party Senator said particular sectors of the Green economy will expand significantly over the coming decades, creating jobs and income across the country, according to the Minister. She pointed to renewable energy as a major export, organic farming, horticulture, and retrofitting, which will create a huge number of jobs and opportunities for business. Globally, over the next few decades, there will be a decoupling of economic growth from carbon emissions. Ireland can get in on the ground floor and carve out a space for Irish businesses, she said. She said there will be opportunities for all sectors of the economy. We need to make it as easy and as profitable as possible for everyone, every business, every family, every worker, to make the changes that are needed. That means system change, and that is the change the Climate Bill will deliver, she said. The Minister of State at the Department of Agricuture said businesses can make their views known on the path to carbon neutrality by emailing ClimateConversation@decc.gov. ie. She said small or medium enterprise can get information on the various supports provided by the government at www.SupportingSMEs.ie. She said state supports include grants from Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, and the Local Enterprise Office. Loans are available through schemes such as the Future Growth Loan Scheme and the Covid-19 Working Capital Scheme New Delhi: In yet another incident of crime against women, a minor girl was allegedly molested in Nehru Nagar area of Mumbai on October 17. When the girl protested to assault she was badly beaten up. The entire incident was captured on CCTV installed nearby. Police have registered the case under IPC Sections 324 and 506. #WATCH #CCTVVisuals: Minor girl allegedly molested in #Mumbai on Oct 17, beaten up as she protested. Case registered by Nehru Nagar Police pic.twitter.com/Qo2T8VZCN4 ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2017 A similar type of incident happened last month when two men were arrested for molestation of a minor girl in Madhya Pradesh. The horrific incident, which took place on September 24 in Sadar Bazar area in MP's Shivpuri, was caught on camera. In a video footage, a man can be seen molesting a girl, while another person looks on and then walks off. However, the girl managed to escape before anything worst could happen. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Rescue operations for a missing Indonesia submarine that is thought to have sunk in the deep waters north of Bali continue as oxygen is running out for the 53 crew onboard. Indonesian rescue teams have pinpointed a possible location for the submarine. Around 25 miles north of Bali, a navy ship discovered an object 164 to 328 feet below the surface with an oil slick. Missing Indonesia submarine runs out of oxygen The submarine vanished 60 miles north of Bali on Wednesday morning during a military drill, the Indonesian navy said. Officials thought the submarine was more than 2,000 feet underwater at the time, making rescue impossible, authorities said. Although the new location gave optimism that the submarine was not as deep as previously thought, the oxygen supply would be depleted by Saturday, naval authorities said. Indonesia's navy is continuing its mission while an Australian warship armed with sonar arrived on Friday to assist, as per the Associated Press. The U.S. is sending "airborne assets" to help, Reuters reported. The KRI Nanggala-402 submarine was believed to be at a depth of 2,000 to 2,300 feet, dangerously close to being crushed. When Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering refitted the submarine's internal structures and systems in 2009-2012, the collapse depth was 200 meters or 656 feet, according to Ahn Guk-Hyeon of the shipbuilding firm. During a naval drill on Wednesday morning, the submarine disappeared. According to the Indonesian navy, an oil leak near the submarine's last location may signify fuel tank damage or a warning from the crew. Russia Pulls Back Troops in Ukraine Border but Keeps Weapons Near the Area When contact was lost, the German-built submarine was performing a torpedo exercise. It is thought to be along the Bali Strait, which connects Bali and Java. According to Frank Owen, secretary of the Submarine Institute of Australia, the submarine could be too far for a search team to reach. The Indonesian vessel was not equipped with a rescue seat around an escape hatch intended for underwater rescues, said Owen, a former submariner who built an Australian submarine rescue system. He explained that a rescue submarine would make a waterproof connection to a disabled submarine by fitting a "skirt" over the rescue seat, which would allow the hatch to be opened without the disabled submarine filling with water. CNN confirmed that 21 warships, three submarines, and five planes are looking for the submarine. According to the United States Naval Institute, Malaysia, Singapore, and India have dispatched submarine rescue ships. The U.S. Navy, Australia's navy, France's navy, and Germany's navy have all volunteered to help. The Indonesia navy operates five submarines, including the KRI Nanggala-402. Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, a German company, founded the submarine in 1977. Indonesia purchased it in 1981. Missing Indonesia Submarine: Unidentified Object Found Floating in Seas North of Bali Indonesia President asks prayers for the missing submarine's crew Officials said Indonesian President Joko Widodo canceled a visit to Banyuwangi port, where several rescue ships had left earlier, to prepare for a regional summit this weekend in Jakarta. He requested Indonesians to pray for the crew's safe return, and he ordered a full-scale search for the submarine. Oil may have leaked from a break in the submarine's fuel tank, or the crew could have released fuel and fluids to lower the vessel's weight so it could surface, said the Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono. According to Margono, an unexplained object with strong magnetism was discovered at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (165 to 330 feet), and officials hoped it was the submarine. However, the navy claims the submarine sank to a depth of 2,000-2,300 feet, much lower than its collapse depth, where water pressure would be too high for the hull to bear. A South Korean firm that refitted the vessel in 2009-2012 measured the failure depth to be 655 ft. The reason for the disappearance remains unknown. According to the navy, an electrical malfunction could have prevented the submarine from performing emergency resurfacing procedures, CBS News reported. ASEAN Summit to Address Myanmar Crisis as Citizens Suffer Hunger, Entrepreneurs Struggle to Stay Afloat @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. ROSEBURG, Ore.--Douglas County health officials are hosting a mass vaccination clinic on Saturday for those 16 and up. The clinic will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. Public health officer Bob Dannenhoffer said they have 1,500 Pfizer vaccines ready to give out. For this clinic, he said they hope to focus on getting the younger generation vaccinated. Over the last three weeks, weve seen a huge increase in young people getting the disease and an increase in the number of young people getting hospitalized, he said. This is an importance vaccine for everyone to get, but especially those under 30. Dannenhoffer said there are still appointments available for tomorrows clinic. You can sign up by phone or on the Douglas Public Health Network website. As Liana Henderson-Semel tapped the button to send a $300 down payment over Apply Pay for a French Bulldog puppy to a woman shed never met, the 23-year-old realized that she was never going to see her money or the puppy ever again. Henderson-Semel, who lives in Fairfield County, had been looking to buy a puppy this past fall when she came across a Craigslist ad that included an Instagram handle. The account had photos of cute French Bulldog puppies for sale. Henderson-Semel contacted the breeder, and connected with a woman who told her the puppies required a down payment of $300 and a total payment of $900 significantly cheaper than a normal French Bulldog which costs between $1,500 and $3,000. She also told Henderson-Semel she could come pick up her puppy on October 2. All she had to do was send a down payment through Facebook or Apple Pay. But as soon as the money was sent, the messages stopped. Looking back you see all those red flags you ignored in the first place, Henderson-Semel said. They really get you with the emotions. I think, certainly, some red flags I overlooked sort of in the excitement of it all. Henderson-Semel is not the only one to fall victim to a pet scam in the state. In fact, experts have noted a significant increase in online pet scams since 2017, with victims paying top dollar for designer dogs, kittens, and even parrots that never materialize. In the past three years, an estimated 8,632 pet scams were reported in the US and Canada, with a monetary loss around $5.28 million, according to the Better Business Bureau. Last year, at the start of the pandemic, it got even worse. People were lonely, stuck at home, and looking for love and connection. Some figured lockdown was a great time to buy and train a new dog. Shelters were emptied, breeders were in high demand. And pet scammers took their opportunity to prey on unsuspecting victims online. More Information Date Reported Town Monetary Loss 3/19/2021 Watertown $700.00 4/9/2021 Seymour $0 1/26/2021 Seymour $1,680 11/18/2020 New Milford $500 10/11/2020 New Fairfield $1,180 9/23/2020 Danbury $300 11/28/2020 Danbury $750 9/15/2020 Waterbury $150 5/29/2020 Danbury $850 8/11/2020 Ansonia $0 2/20/2021 Shelton $1,740 7/10/2020 Shelton $1,000 12/1/2020 Fairfield County $0 10/19/2020 Fairfield $0 Jun-20 Easton $0 6/10/2020 Bridgeport $3,250 3/29/2021 Stamford $1,800 8/17/2020 Greenwich $250 5/1/2020 Norwalk $200 8/20/2020 New Haven $150 6/8/2020 Branford $865 5/9/2021 New Haven $0 4/12/2021 Waterbury $1,000 9/15/2020 Waterbury $150 12/19/2020 hartford $0 11/23/2020 Glastonbury $750 8/29/2020 Bristol $590 8/17/2020 South Windsor $700 8/11/2020 West Hartford $0 8/11/2020 New Britain $860 6/29/2020 Hartford $0 6/18/2020 Avon $1,200 6/18/2020 Avon $800 6/11/2020 West Hartford $750 4/30/2020 Hartford $0 1/22/2020 South Windsor $1,300 1/6/2020 Avon $600 1/28/2021 Granby $0 12/9/2020 Granby $750 2/9/2021 New London County $0 1/28/2021 Windham County $850 8/13/2020 Griswold $0 6/17/2020 Ledyard $500 4/5/2021 East Hampton $2,300 4/5/2021 East Hampton $2,300 2/23/2021 Killingly $800 2/17/2021 Stonington $750 2/10/2021 Putnam $0 2/8/2021 Ashford $0 1/26/2021 New Haven $350 1/25/2021 Clinton $750 1/20/2021 Hartford $2,050 11/26/2020 Mashantucket $650 11/21/2020 Moosup $750 11/19/2020 Norwalk $0 10/12/2020 Bloomfield $0 10/8/2020 Avon $0 10/6/2020 Manchester $400 10/2/2020 West Haven $0 9/17/2020 East Haven $1,300 9/15/2020 Griswold $500 9/15/2020 Waterbury $150 9/8/2020 Southington $0 8/31/2020 Scitico $2,000 7/14/2020 New Britain $1,400 7/14/2020 Groton $0 7/7/2020 Stamford $820 6/21/2020 Somers $1,806 5/26/2020 East Hartford $500 5/21/2020 Thompson $0 5/3/2020 Waterbury $1,200 4/30/2020 Voluntown $1,000 4/12/2020 Meriden $0 2/18/2020 Naugatuck $800 2/10/2020 Colchester $560 2/5/2020 Manchester $0 4/13/2021 New Britain $925 9/23/2019 Stamford $1,500 11/8/2019 West Simsbury $850 9/5/2019 Simsbury $245 8/30/2019 Bristol $0 1/2/2019 South Windsor $0 6/27/2018 Rocky Hill $700 9/20/2019 Bridgeport $500 1/17/2019 Fairfield $2,500 5/10/2018 Shelton $500 Information courtesy of Better Business Bureau for Connecticut. See More Collapse In a December report, the Better Business Bureau projected more than $3.1 million in losses, and logged 4,000 reports of pet scams in 2020. There was a huge explosion in puppy scams last year, said Steve Baker, international investigations specialist at the Better Business Bureau. So theres, as you could imagine, a massive problem. Connecticuts pet scam problem Hearst Connecticut Media found at least 77 pet scams throughout Connecticut between 2020 and 2021, the vast majority relating to puppies. At least nine others were reported between 2018 and 2019. Puppy scams are extremely popular in Connecticut, said Luke Frey, media spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau serving Connecticut. I would say theyre one of the top two that come across the state. At least three pet scam cases were reported in Danbury, and one in New Milford. Five were reported in Waterbury, four in Avon, and three in New Haven and Stamford. The total losses to these scams were calculated to be more than $57,000, which Frey said probably only represents about 10 percent of the total losses in the state. The average amount lost was $600, but that estimate includes several reports where victims caught the scam before paying the scammers. The highest monetary loss was a Bridgeport victim who paid $3,250 for a 12-week-old Yorkshire terrier named Monica. The report to the bureau said costs included alleged puppy vaccines, insurance, transport, and the puppy herself. The victim reported that they paid through Zelle. Beyond the monetary impact, pet and puppy scams are particularly painful because they involve an emotional aspect that isnt always connected to other online scams. Its a real emotional wallop, said Baker. Baker heard from a victim whose 9-year-old daughter cried herself to sleep for days after learning their puppy never existed. The monetary impact adds to the emotional loss. Esther Ehrman, a teacher living in Danbury, lost $750 to a scam for a Maine Coon kitten she planned to name Kyle. She said the loss of the kitten made her very distraught and was a huge distress monetarily. I mean, gosh, were in the middle of a pandemic, Im a school teacher, my husband was laid off, my mother lives with us and she was laid off, Im the sole financial provider for my home, she said. One New Milford victim lost $500 trying to buy a Great Dane puppy online from Super Great Dane Puppies. Ive lost $500 deposit of my hard work money that was supposed to be my children XMAS present and now I dont have anymore, the victim wrote in the report to the bureau. The makings of a pet scam Pet scams arent very complicated. Typically, there is a network of scammers and developers who work together to carry out the crime. Someone is paid to create a website, others create and register phone numbers to make the site look legitimate. Another person runs the scam. When a victim reaches out, scammers usually ask for some sort of down payment, and possibly transportation costs, then communication cuts off. There are often tell-tale signs like language lifted from other sites, photos copied from elsewhere, and payment through wire transfers and other cash-sending apps like Zelle and CashApp. But sometimes even the most careful shopper and scam-proof tactics fail. When Ehrman decided to look for a new kitten online during the pandemic, she knew to be wary of scams. She came across Maine Coon Paws and thoroughly researched its background, even checking the Better Business Bureau, doing a reverse-image search, and connecting personally with the breeder before deciding to move forward with payment. She paid $750 through Zelle to the breeder, but when they began asking for even more money for shipping costs, she realized something was wrong. It was just scary, said Ehrman. I thought I had done all my due diligence and I still got taken advantage of. The scammers are generally hard for law enforcement to track. While some occur in the U.S., the bureau and other legal agencies have also tracked the majority to countries outside of the U.S. Its hard to track down these guys because usually they arent even in our country, Frey said. We havent in particular seen any operation out of Connecticut. Bakers research leads him to believe many of the scams come from organized crime groups centered out of West Africa, and specifically Cameroon. Seeking and finding pet scammers Scammers are adept at changing tactics to continue stealing from victims without detection. Im very wary about giving out advice, said Paul Brady, founder of PetScams.com, a website that investigates and publishes information on sites running known pet scams. Once Brady speaks to media outlets about specific tactics, he said the scammers change their ways and adapt. Its an arms race. Whatever we say, they will work around. Brady began working in the Cybersecurity space over 20 years ago, and then pivoted to focusing on pet scams because they were relatively formulaic. But the industry has changed significantly in the years Brady has been working in this area. Five years ago, Brady noticed operations really ramping up, with scammers making more professional websites, implementing the scams on a more industrial scale by spending less time on individual victims and more on the number of victims. When the pandemic hit, experts noticed pet scams exploding. Brady noted a 700 percent increase in visitors to his site in March of 2020. Frey called it a puppy boom. And Bakers research projects that at the current pace, the bureau will receive 4,300 complaints, suggesting that pet scams have quintupled since 2017, which was the first year the bureau conducted an in-depth study of the issue. People dont visit our site by accident, Brady said. Now, PetScams.com has about 200,000 visitors per day with about 40 comments from people. The huge step, and its well documented, was this time last year when people started to feel emotional because of loneliness. Now, because of COVID, people were feeling lonely. Thats a very strong emotion, Brady said. Scams work on emotion. Recently, Brady was combing through the websites registered within the past seven day period, and had already found 130 new sites. Tomorrow, Ill find another 100, 130, 150, he said. The work is non-stop. The main advice from experts is the same: go see the dog in person. At the very least, its important to have an authentic video chat with your new puppy. Our advice now is have a face-to-face video chat with the breeder. Make sure that you are introduced to the puppy and the breeder, Brady said. It has to be a video chat. Frey recommends doing thorough research and verifying a breeder on the bureaus website before purchasing a puppy. Frey also urged people to report scams to the bureau. Ehrman plans to look for another kitten to join her brood of cats back at home, but said this time shes going to go to a local shelter where she can meet the cat in person and talk to the people there. I think I learned my lesson. A member of the Tibetan Youth Congress poses for a photograph before embarking on a motorcycle rally to create awareness about the Panchen Lama in Dharmsala, India, April 23, 2019. China should disclose the whereabouts of Tibets Panchen Lama, who vanished into Chinese custody as a young boy 26 years ago, and let him meet outside observers in person, the U.S. State Department said in what Tibetans hailed as a strong show of support for their beleaguered traditions. Tibets Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was recognized on May 14, 1995 at the age of six as the 11th Panchen Lama, the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989. The recognition by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama angered Chinese authorities, who three days later took the boy and his family into custody and then installed another boy, Gyaincain Norbu, as their own candidate in his place. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a news briefing that on his 32nd birthday on Sunday, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima would be forced to spend another year disappeared, separated from his community, and denied his rightful place as a prominent Tibetan Buddhist leader. We call on the PRC Government to immediately make public the Tibetan-venerated Panchen Lamas whereabouts and to give us this opportunity to meet with the Panchen Lama in person, said the spokesman, who underscored U.S. support for Tibetans religious freedom and cultural identity. We respect Tibetans right to select, educate, and venerate their own leaders, like the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, according to their own beliefs, and without government interference, added Price. U.S. officials have made similar appeals to Beijing in the past, but Lobsang Sangay, the Sikyong, or leader, of Tibetan Central Tibetan Administration said this year remarks were one of the strongest so far. I particularly want to thank the State Department for urging the PRC to make the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama known to the public, and to create an opportunity for the U.S. government to meet with the Panchen Lama, he told RFAs Tibetan Service. 'Absurdity and ruthlessness' The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reiterated its call for the Chinese government to release Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. It has been nearly 26 years since the Chinese Communist Partys enforced disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was only six years old at the time of his abduction. As Gedhun turns 32 on April 25 this year, his whereabouts and wellbeing remain unknown. This lack of information is unacceptable, said noted USCIRF Commissioner Nadine Maenza. USCIRF renews its call for the Chinese government to allow an independent expert to visit and confirm the wellbeing of the 11th Panchen Lama, and to release him immediately and unconditionally, she added. "It is despicable that the Chinese Communist Party continues to interfere in the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, added USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel. The combination of the level of absurdity and ruthlessness in the CCPs persecution of the Tibetan community should alarm the international community, which should stand united in calling for the release of the Panchen Lama. Bhuchung Tsering, interim president of the International Campaign for Tibet, told RFA that the strong statement from the U.S. government will be helpful in garnering more attention around the world. The Tibet Policy and Support Act of 2020, passed in the U.S. Congress in December and signed into law by then President Donald Trump, establishes as U.S. policy that the selection of Tibetan religious leaders, including future successors to exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, is a decision to be made only by Tibetans, free from Chinese government interference. Concerns over the advancing age of the Dalai Lama, now 85, have renewed uncertainties in recent years over his possible successor after he dies, with Beijing claiming the right to name his successor and the Dalai Lama himself saying that any future Dalai Lama will be born outside of China. Tibetans remain bitter about Chinese intervention in the selection of the current 11th Panchen Lama, whose predecessor died in 1989, and the Panchen Lama installed by Beijing remains unpopular with Tibetans both in exile and at home. Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against Chinas rule. Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings. Reported and translated by Kalden Lodoe for RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Paul Eckert. Election workers sort vote-by-mail ballots for the presidential primary at King County Elections in Renton, Wash., on March 10, 2020. (Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images) California Lawmakers Propose Permanent Vote-By-Mail Elections Vote-by-mail elections that require all registered voters to receive mail-in ballots may become permanent in California following the introduction of a new proposed bill in the State Assembly. The California Assembly Committee on Elections recently voted 61 to refer Assembly Bill 37 (AB 37) to the Appropriations Committee, moving it forward in the legislative process. The bill would mandate that all state voters receive vote-by-mail ballots for all elections, a practice implemented in the 2020 general election in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocates say sending out vote-by-mail ballots to all registered citizens encourages more people to vote, while opponents say the procedure has already opened the door to potential widespread voter fraud. Ruth Weiss, the director of legislative oversight for Election Integrity Project, California (EIPCa), told The Epoch Times that the combination of completely out-of-control, unmaintained voter rolls and new emergency regulations that basically make it impossible to challenge the validity of signatures on vote-by-mail ballots opens the door to an even greater risk of fraud. Every ballot getting turned in is much more likely now to be accepted without question, Weiss said. Those two things put together are really increasing the potential for fraud, and that disenfranchises the legitimate voters whose ballots are being watered down by a whole lot of votes that are getting through that should never get through. Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park) authored the bill. He said at an April 15 committee hearing that the states vote-by-mail mandate for last years general election resulted in greater voter access and higher voter turnout. Berman said 86.5 percent of the 17.5 million Californians who participated in the November 2020 general election voted by mail-in ballots, according to the Secretary of State. Similar to provisions in my AB 860 last year, AB 37 makes a number of other important accommodations to help facilitate the expected surge in voting by mail in future elections, Berman said. The proposed bill would allow counties to begin processing returned vote-by-mail ballots earlier, so that they can better manage their workloads and get more ballots counted on election night, according to Berman. It would also extend the deadline for receipt of mail-in ballots, and make it easier for voters who need replacement ballots or who want to receive a ballot in their preferred language. Gov. Gavin Newsom used his emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic to issue an executive order last June, requiring all counties in the state to send vote-by-mail ballots to every registered voter for last Novembers general election. When a California Superior Court judge granted a temporary restraining order against Newsoms mandate, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 860 (AB 860) to replace the executive order and require vote-by-mail ballots be sent to all registered voters. In January, Senate Bill 29 (SB 29) extended the vote-by-mail provision for all special elections held in 2021. AB 37 would be a permanent extension of those laws. A woman holding her ballot walks past a Vote by Mail Drop Box for the 2020 U.S. Elections in Monterey Park, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) Questionable Integrity EIPCa, a nonpartisan watchdog group, has opposed all vote-by-mail elections from the outset. Colleen Britton, a representative for the organization, said the proposed bill doesnt prohibit the state from sending vote-by-mail ballots to 4.5 million inactive registered voters. Besides the outrageous waste of taxpayer money associated with such an act, this invites voter impersonation on a grand scale, Britton said, adding that the groups main objection lies in the continued disarray of VoteCal, the statewide voter database. This issue should be of prime importance to every legislature, and until it is resolved, no further laws that rely on VoteCal integrity should be passed. Until VoteCal can be shown to be considerably more reliable and voter roll maintenance levels can be shown to be legitimate, the mailing of ballots to all registrants is reckless and extreme, she said. Last year, the state mailed ballots to over 400,000 registrants who had not voted or updated their registration in 12-plus years, Britton said, contrary to the mantra that there is no evidence of problems. According to EIPCa, over 40,000 of those inactive voters had either died, moved, or failed to respond to notices sent to them, but were sent a ballot anyway. Ballots were mailed to 3,342 individuals on the death index, and 68 of those voted, Britton said. Recent amendments to AB 37 would mandate acceptance of mail-in ballots up to seven days after the election deadline, she said. This is clearly a gift to bad actors and a threat to election integrity. Britton also questioned the accuracy of signature matching on ballots and urged the state to be more cautious in its use of electronic voting machines to ensure legitimacy. Supporters Speak Up Dean Logan, Los Angeles Countys Voter Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, spoke on behalf of the LA Board of Supervisors, who supported the bill. Its beneficial for the state to continue to put in place provisions that ensure our elections are safe and accessible for all California voters, Logan said. Two labor unions representing public employeesthe California Faculty Association and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employeesalso supported the bill. Dozens of Californians called in to oppose the bill during the 10 minutes allotted for public comments. Assemblyman Berman responded to the comments. I believe that our election system here in California is remarkably secure. If anybody has evidence or proof of any election tampering at all, please let the Secretary of States Office know. You can reach out to my office and let us know. You can let law enforcement know, he said. We want to prosecute anybody who is tampering with our elections. But the evidence of that hasnt been brought to anybodys attention yet. I think that our system of electronic voting in California is remarkably secure, and voters should feel confident that their vote has been counted and that only people who can vote are voting. A voter receives assistance from an election worker at a voting center in Grand Central Market in Los Angeles on Nov. 3, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) Voter Suppression Assemblyman Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) challenged Bermans dismissal of concerns over voter fraud in vote-by-mail ballots. We do want to eliminate voter suppression, but on the other side of that, there is a tremendous amount of people that have concerns about the integrity part, Seyarto said. And thats why it pains me when people just dismiss the concerns of many people who want to be sure that when they go to the polls, their vote actually does countbecause if they lose that confidence in the voting system, thats also voter suppression. Berman said it was lies told by the former president of the United States and other elected officials that threatened to suppress voters in California. I think its important that we directly address the why, and the why is that the president of the United States and elected officials have lied to the American people about the integrity of our election system, Berman said. And its a darn shame that they did that, and that they are creating uncertainty in the hearts and minds of millions of Americans about a remarkably safe election system. Berman said it would be a travesty for democracy if those lies and the uncertainty resulted in laws that make it harder for people to vote. The state needs to do more to express to people and explain to people that our election system in California is remarkably secure, he said. Vote-by-Mail Problems According to EIPCas Weiss, voter rolls are not kept current because changes to state law more than 20 years ago allowed voters to remain permanently registered to receive vote-by-mail ballots rather than having to request a vote-by-mail ballot in writing for every election. We havent had legitimate absentee ballots since 1998, when we switched to no-excuse vote-by-mail, she said. At that point, we lost control because you dont have to reapply for each election. You now apply once, and its ad infinitum, she said. She suggested that a preferable course of action would be to wait until the voter rolls have been cleaned up before proceeding. Until the legislature does something to hold the Secretary of State accountable for cleaning the voter rolls, we need to take a step backwards, she said. Even if the Secretary of State orders a recall election for Newsom, SB 29 already covers vote-by-mail provisions for this year, Weiss said. So now theyre trying to extend that forever, and were saying theres no reason to make this decision right now. Weve had one election where everybody was mailed a ballot. Lets take time to evaluate more thoroughly what that meant, she said. Weiss also objects to a recent amendment to AB 37 that would allow mail-in ballots to be accepted a week after Election Day. The law was changed to accept them three days after Election Day, and then for 2020, they accepted them 17 days after Election Day, somehow alleging that COVID was going to slow the mail down. And now, instead of reverting back to the three days, they want to go to seven days after electioneven though the law says they still have to be postmarked by Election Day, she said. The law also says if theyre not postmarkedwhich most ballots arent, because theyre bulk mailor if you cant read the postmark, then it will be considered to be timely mail if the date the voter puts on the inside is Election Day or before. Well, that allows for the voters to put any date they want and mail it one, or two, or three days late. To say that theyre acceptable seven days after the deadline is just ridiculous. Yunnan gears up for biodiversity protection 15:46, April 24, 2021 By Zhang Fan, Yang Wenming ( People's Daily Photo shows protected wildlife in the Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve, including crestless monal (upper left), black snub-nosed monkeys (lower left), and blood pheasant (right). (Photo provided by the Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve) Southwest China's Yunnan Province is one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world. It has all types of ecosystems except for marine and desert ecosystems. It is home to 2,242 vertebrates and 19,333 known land plant species, 51.4 percent and 50.1 percent of the country's total, respectively. In recent years, new species have been found in the province every one or two weeks. For instance, on Gaoligong Mountain of Yunnan's Baoshan, over 100 new species were discovered in the recent 10 years. Zhang Ting, a staff member with Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), told the People's Daily that the discovery of new species in Yunnan Province was not a coincidence. He attributed the rich biodiversity of the province to the local mountainous and fluvial landforms. Besides, the province's low-latitude plateau has created both tropical rainforests and talus slopes, he said. Hornbills are gliding in monsoon forests, while black snub-nosed monkeys are swinging between firs. Zhang and his team spend around four months each year in the fields, collecting seeds for a national germplasm bank of wild species. They have gathered 85,046 seeds of 10,601 species, which is a huge backup for Chinese plants. "It's like buying an insurance for wild plants and saving their seeds in the bank. Once needed, these seeds would go back to the fields, which is another way of protecting the species," Zhang said. Apart from the collection and preservation of germplasm resources, rare animal species are also well protected in Yunnan Province. Green peafowl is a critically endangered species. There are only less than 600 of them in China, all of which are distributed in Yunnan Province. According to monitoring data from the Kunming Institute of Zoology, CAS, the number of green peafowl in the Konglonghe Nature Reserve in Shuangbai County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture of central Yunnan has risen from 52 in 2015 to nearly 100. In addition, an artificial breeding and reintroduction program was launched last year, which has created brighter prospects for the population restoration of the species. There are also many other rescued species. For instance, the number of black snub-nosed monkeys has grown to over 3,000 from 1,400 some twenty years ago, and that of black-necked cranes which spend winter in the province has also exceeded 3,000, from around 1,600 in 1996. Today, nearly 1/7 of Yunnan's territory is protected as nature reserves. According to statistics, the province has approved and built 362 nature reserves, and 90 percent of important ecosystems and nature reserves for endangered and protected species of the country are effectively protected. Besides, Yunnan Province has also been improving institutions and mechanisms related to biodiversity protection. In 2019, it launched a local regulation on protecting biodiversity, trying to maintain species variety in terms of legislation. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Aivazian held a meeting President of the Senate (upper house of the Parliament) of France Gerard Larcher and his delegation in Yerevan, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress. Minister Aivazian thanked the French Senate President for visiting Armenia these days, which are symbolic for the Armenian people, and for participating in the events dedicated to the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. He stated that their visit reaffirms the commitment of Armenia and France to the centuries-old friendship of the two peoples. The sides praised the development dynamics of the Armenian-French relations, highlighting the importance of the mutual visits at high levels and the continuation of effective dialogue. Touching upon the close parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, the officials specifically attached importance to the significant contribution of the friendship groups operating in the Armenian and French Parliaments. The officials also touched upon the current humanitarian situation in Artsakh caused by the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression. And in this context the Armenian FM highlighted the adoption of the resolution by the French Senate on the need to recognize the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The Armenian FM also drew the attention of his guest to the important issue of preserving the historical-cultural and religious heritage in Artsakh and the importance of engaging respective international organizations to these processes. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan This year is special for France, since this day marks exactly 20 years since France recognized the fact of the Armenian Genocide by force of law, French Secretary of State for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, noted during his speech in Yerevan. According to him, the French president was not satisfied with what had been achieved and decided to go a little further. For three years now, the day of commemoration of the victims of the Armenian Genocide has been marked as a memorable day in the official state calendar of France. And everyone in France pays tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide in his own way," he noted adding that this day has a special meaning for France for another, no less significant reason. According to him, in this way France expresses its gratitude to the Armenian community of the country, which has become an integral part of French society and made a significant contribution both to the country and to the people of France as a whole. Secretary of State Jesse White is warning people of two scams that are making the rounds. In the first scam, White said, residents are receiving text messages claiming to be from the Illinois Secretary of States Office. The message refers to a problem with a persons information and includes a link. White said the link should not be clicked because it could place malware on the device or cause the recipient to disclose personal information. The second scam is a series of websites offering vehicle registration renewals for license plate stickers and charging additional fees for the service. One website in particular, IllinoisCarReg.com, is charging a fee of $39.99 in addition to the cost of the sticker. The company is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission with concerns about how they are using the personal data being obtained from its customers. White is asking that all online purchase be made through the Secretary of States website. People can protect themselves from online scams by deleting suspicious emails or texts, hanging up on suspicious calls, asking to use other identifying information aside from a Social Security number, and keeping all system software and anti-virus software up-to-date. Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree The New Jersey gym owner charged with storming the U.S. Capitol in January and assaulting a police officer will be held without bail pending the outcome of the criminal case, despite his attorneys claims that his alleged crimes are being blown out of proportion. Senior U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth made the ruling Friday after a federal prosecutor described Scott Fairlamb as a violent actor at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and someone who presented a danger to the community due to his lack of remorse for storming the government building and a violent criminal history. Lamberth agreed, saying the violent way Fairlamb is seen on video assaulting an officer combined with his criminal history, which includes multiple assault charges, warranted detention. After being initially arrested in January, Fairlamb, 44, was indicted on 12 charges last month, including assaulting a federal officer, entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds with a deadly weapon, and acts of physical violence on the Capitol grounds, among other charges. Authorities initially identified Fairlamb after multiple people sent the FBI tips alleging he participated in the attempted insurrection and documented parts of it on social media. In one Facebook video, Fairlamb, who was carrying a collapsible baton he picked up at the Capitol, can be heard saying, What (do) Patriots do? We f----- disarm them and then we storm the f----- Capitol, according to the complaint. After allegedly being one of the first people to breach the western front of the Capitol, Fairlamb later harassed a line of police officers outside the building by shouting in their faces and blocking their movement, according to citizen video and body camera footage. Are you an American? Act like a f------ one! Fairlamb can be heard shouting, according to the video. ... You guys have no idea what the f--- youre doing! Fairlamb, a former mixed martial arts fighter, forcefully shoved one officer and stuck his finger in the officers face, the videos show. When the officer pushed Fairlambs hand away, Fairlamb punched him in the face, according to the videos. Fairlamb can be seen screaming at police officers moments before video shows him punching one of them. Prosecutors said Fairlamb showed an absolute disregard for the rule of law coupled with a willingness to engage in violence based on his actions on Jan. 6 Authorities have painted Fairlamb as someone who appears to subscribe to the QAnon conspiracy theory and traveled to the Capitol prepared to commit violence, and that he has no remorse to the events that occurred, according to a memo filed last month seeking Fairlamb be detained. On Jan. 9, three days after he was seen storming the Capitol, one Instagram user, according to prosecutors, asked Fairlamb what would happen if Trump did become the new president on March 4, a popular false QAnon conspiracy theory that the former president would regain power. War Vs patriots, he reportedly said. They dont want that lol. After declining to be interviewed by the FBI on Jan. 14, he messaged an individual the next day saying the agency was aware he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, authorities said. All good, Fairlamb reportedly said. Id go again. Fairlambs attorney, Harley Breite, claims that prosecutors are overblowing Fairlambs actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and said his client was not a de facto leader of the riot. If my client were truly the predatory wrecking machine as he is portrayed by the Government, he would have intended and actually caused something far greater than what is routinely referred to as a misdemeanor simple assault, Breite wrote in a memo earlier this week. Breite argued that Fairlamb, who reportedly had a heart attack while in custody in February, should be released on strict bail conditions. He cited that a magistrate judge already ruled to release Fairlamb on conditions after his initial appearance in court in January. However, prosecutors quickly moved to appeal that ruling, and Fairlamb has been held in jail since. In ruling for detention Friday, Judge Lamberth said the original magistrate judge made an incorrect judgement. Breite said he was very disappointed in Lamberths ruling to keep Fairlamb detained. Fairlamb, whose brother was previously a secret service officer assigned to protect Michelle Obama, runs a gym in Pompton Lakes. He is one of more than a dozen individuals from New Jersey who have been charged for their roles in the attempted insurrection. All cases are being heard in federal court in Washington, D.C. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us: nj.com/tips. Banks take too long to process a loan application and are usually not interested in a loan of $ 500. Off-store pawnshops and payday loan offices are more flexible. But sometimes they also charge extremely high fees on top of the money you owe. Your friends may want to give you a 500 dollar loan regardless of your bad credit history. But your relationship with them is probably worth more than the money itself. Some direct lenders are more than willing to hire someone who is desperate for a 500 dollar loan. However, there is no need to fall into their traps: legitimate, customer-friendly payday loans do exist. Some of them don't even require a minimum credit rating. What Types of 500 Dollar Loans Are Available? Most loans are designed to cover pre-planned expenses: buying or renovating a home, going to college, and so on. Therefore, they are for loan amounts well in excess of a couple of hundred dollars. A typical traditional direct lender might not even consider a $500 loan. They also make it very difficult to get any type of loan with a bad credit score unfairly excluding many people from the world of loans. Luckily, more innovative lenders, like the ones you can find here https://directloantransfer.com/payday-loans-online-same-day-deposit/ make it easy to get a $500 loan which usually comes in one of the following types: Payday Loans are often the easiest way to get a 500 dollar loan even without a "hard" credit check. These loans are short-term and the lender expects to get their money back within a few weeks. Car Loans allow you to borrow a couple hundred or even a few thousand dollars for a few months. Basically, you are pledging your car but you are still allowed to drive it. Thus, you could lose it if you miss payments. Personal Loan of $500 is an example of an urgent loan which means you pay it off monthly instead of straight away. Previously offered mainly by banks, you can now choose between numerous companies that will provide you with a $ 500 installment loan online. Can I Get a $500 Loan With a Bad Credit Score? The financial industry is constantly evolving. Previously, any direct lender studied the character and reputation of an individual long before conducting a credit check. Decades later, your credit score was leading, and legitimate bad credit was almost as common. Today, many companies have realized that having a bad credit history does not necessarily mean that a person is not reliable enough to pay off a small loan. This is especially if it only lasts for a short time. The $500 amount is slightly above the average of payday loans. Loans with bad credit are often of this nature precisely because these lenders want to consider factors other than credit rating (although most of them do a basic credit check). Applying for a loan through an MFI often means pre-approval along with final authorization taking an hour or two longer. Thereafter, money showing up in your checking account the next business day. Some of the things you can do to improve your chances of getting a $500 loan (even if some lenders have told you that you have too bad credit to lend) include: Contact a large number of payday loan companies. They each have different requirements. This way you can easily borrow a $500 loan from one even if the other doesn't want to work with you. Gather any documentation that proves that you are a responsible person. Some factors that at least a few lending companies are willing to take into account are home ownership, army veteran status, long-term employment, and so on. Create a basic personal budget to show that you can get your money back as well as any fees and interest on time. Be prepared to prove your income. Some lenders only accept clients with a steady source of income such as a paid job or social security. Others are willing to think outside the box and will keep an eye on self-employment income, assets and investments that you can sell if needed, or government benefits to which you are eligible but have not yet been processed. What Are The Risks of Getting A $ 500 Loan? When we need $500 now and not a day later, it is easy to see loans as the simplest solution. However, lenders would like you to think about the short-term and future implications. It is easy to get 500 dollar loans that have really given people financial and legal problems. It might not sound like a big deal but if you can't get that money back, fines and interest could end up blowing that amount up to something much less manageable. Aside from having to pay back more than $500, your credit rating will suffer considerably if your case is referred to a collection agency. It is important to understand that you are signing an agreement with your lending company or other lending institution. It is optional and will tell you what happens if you are unable to make a payment. The lender clearly wants to force you to get your money back on time so it is better to avoid these clauses coming into effect. Paying off $ 50 on top of a $500 loan might work in your best interest if you really need money. But that amount can go up to $100 if you can't cover it from your next paycheck. In other words, you have to separate wants from needs and emergencies from inconveniences when considering a payday loan. If you don't cover the costs now, it will cost you much more in the future: fixing your car to get to work, or having a doctor check on something that could get more serious if left untreated. Getting a loan can save you money. On the other hand, if your TV starts to look fuzzy, you don't need to buy it on credit. If you can't pay your regular home bills, a $500 loan may temporarily help. But the only real solution is to study your spending habits and cut them down a bit. After receiving the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination, clinic attendees must wait for 15 minutes before leaving the Carlson Center to make sure they suffer no side effects. As a result, Google Maps has been updated several times on Android and Android Auto in the last few months, and April, in particular, has been pretty busy for Google users.Google has released no less than 10 different Google Maps updates so far this month for both stable and beta channels, with the most recent builds landing earlier this week.The most recent version of Google Maps beta is 10.66.1 (up from 10.64.1 beta on March 31), while for those running the stable build, the latest update is Google Maps 10.65.2 (the last March release was version 10.63.0).So its pretty clear Google is working non-stop on polishing the experience with Google Maps on all fronts, and while the company hasnt provided any detailed changelogs on these updates, we already know several big features are currently being developed.First and foremost, its the driving mode that comes bundled with Google Maps and which turns the navigation app into a full replacement for Android Auto for phones. The Google Maps driving mode offers one-tap access to phone calls, messages, and music apps, all from the same screen, while the navigation UI remains the core of the entire experience.The driving mode is only available for Android and has recently been expanded to several new regions, presumably thanks to one of these recent updates (though keep in mind its also powered by a server-side switch as well).Then, its the new routing model that Google has already announced and which the company is currently working on and probably refining with the latest Google Maps releases. The app would no longer determine the fastest route to a user-defined destination but try to look for a more fuel-efficient alternative , all in an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint of each car. Users will still be allowed to re-enable the fastest route model as the default setting from the configuration screen.The rollout of the latest Google Maps updates takes place gradually on the Google Play Store, but if you want to download the newest builds without waiting, you can find both the stable and the beta stand-alone APK installers on this page While millions of Americans are still waiting to get the third round of stimulus checks, President Joe Biden is planning two new proposals that may lead to more money in your pockets and/or less debt to your name. The president is preparing the American Jobs Plan, according to CNET. The plan is to put over $2 trillion to create new jobs focused on U.S. infrastructure and putting money back into the economy. According to The Washington Post, the American Families Plan is currently a $1 trillion bill and will focus on supporting struggling families and individual Americans. The plans are still in development. Though, these economic relief bills could lead to more stimulus checks and student loan debt forgiveness. As for the first upcoming bill, the American Jobs Plan wouldnt include a fourth round of stimulus checks. Though, the White Houses fact sheet stated, The American Jobs Plan is an investment in America that will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our countrys infrastructure, and position the United States to out-compete China. Public domestic investment as a share of the economy has fallen by more than 40 percent since the 1960s. The American Jobs Plan will invest in America in a way we have not invested since we built the interstate highways and won the Space Race, the statement added. The plan will focus on: Fix highways, rebuild bridges, upgrade ports, airports and transit systems. The Presidents plan will modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main-streets. It will fix the ten most economically significant bridges in the country in need of reconstruction. It also will repair the worst 10,000 smaller bridges, providing critical linkages to communities. And, it will replace thousands of buses and rail cars, repair hundreds of stations, renew airports, and expand transit and rail into new communities. Deliver clean drinking water, a renewed electric grid, and high-speed broadband to all Americans. President Bidens plan will eliminate all lead pipes and service lines in our drinking water systems, improving the health of our countrys children and communities of color. It will put hundreds of thousands of people to work laying thousands of miles of transmission lines and capping hundreds of thousands of orphan oil and gas wells and abandoned mines. And, it will bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American, including the more than 35 percent of rural Americans who lack access to broadband at minimally acceptable speeds. Build, preserve, and retrofit more than two million homes and commercial buildings, modernize our nations schools and child care facilities, and upgrade veterans hospitals and federal buildings. President Bidens plan will create good jobs building, rehabilitating, and retrofitting affordable, accessible, energy efficient, and resilient housing, commercial buildings, schools, and child care facilities all over the country, while also vastly improving our nations federal facilities, especially those that serve veterans. Solidify the infrastructure of our care economy by creating jobs and raising wages and benefits for essential home care workers. These workers the majority of whom are women of color have been underpaid and undervalued for too long. The Presidents plan makes substantial investments in the infrastructure of our care economy, starting by creating new and better jobs for caregiving workers. His plan will provide home and community-based care for individuals who otherwise would need to wait as many as five years to get the services they badly need. Revitalize manufacturing, secure U.S. supply chains, invest in R&D, and train Americans for the jobs of the future. President Bidens plan will ensure that the best, diverse minds in America are put to work creating the innovations of the future while creating hundreds of thousands of quality jobs today. Our workers will build and make things in every part of America, and they will be trained for well-paying, middle-class jobs. Create good-quality jobs that pay prevailing wages in safe and healthy workplaces while ensuring workers have a free and fair choice to organize, join a union, and bargain collectively with their employers. By ensuring that American taxpayers dollars benefit working families and their communities, and not multinational corporations or foreign governments, the plan will require that goods and materials are made in America and shipped on U.S.-flag, U.S.-crewed vessels. The plan also will ensure that Americans who have endured systemic discrimination and exclusion for generations finally have a fair shot at obtaining good paying jobs and being part of a union. However the second proposal, American Families Plan, could bring you more money. The plan will reportedly includes not only $1 trillion in spending, but $500 billion in additional tax credits. According to The Washington Post, Michael J. Gwin, a White House spokesman, said the details are still being worked out. President Biden has already put forward the first part of his historic plan to invest in the strength of Americas economy and families, and hell be outlining the second element of that proposal in the coming days. The details of that package are still being finalized, so speculation as to its final contents is premature at this point. Though, here are some of the items that could be included in that package. Two years of community college free: The president also said he would like to make two years of community college or training programs free. Eliminating student loan debt: Elizabeth Warren and other progressive lawmakers are pushing for President Biden to forgive up to $50,000 in student loan debt. However, the president has campaigned for eliminating only $10,000. As for eliminating any debt, the president has been hesitate to take executive action on the matter. Hence, student loan debt forgiveness may be present in the American Families Plan. Extension of the child tax credit: While the child tax credit is part of the American Rescue Plan signed in March, it could be extended until 2025. Hence, this could potentially help families in need for years to come. A fourth round of stimulus checks: Millions of Americans are still waiting to receive round three of stimulus checks worth $1,400 per individual. Though, lawmakers started talk of a fourth round of stimulus checks before the plan was approved. This may be the bill that the fourth package of stimulus checks would be included in. Read more of what could be included in the two proposals via CNET and The Washington Post. READ MORE: Indigenous people and buyers turn to the Zio 1 prefecture and town hall to be heard A once peaceful locality in the western part of Djagble in Zio prefecture, the village of Gbamakope is shaken by a land conflict that does not speak its name. At the heart of this dispute, more than 366 hectares coveted by the Kpassra Collectivity. This land drama that pointed out and this time in a virulent way in 2019 where this community, which according to the natives arose one fine morning like a cold sore, supported by law enforcement and security forces, decided the re-subdivision of this territory, however well occupied for several years by several thousand people to whom other communities including the Gbama, claiming to be the true natives, have sold the land, seemed to know a respite at the approach of the presidential election in February 2020. A little over a year after this election, the land conflict in question is playing out a new episode. In fact on the ground, the Kpassra came back to the charge again and this time, with a reinforcement, it is said of 600 dressed bodies, who would not hesitate to beat anyone who opposes their intervention. , in view of the execution, it is said of an ordinance held by the bailiffs Missite, Dzoka and Djeri, acting on behalf of the Kpassra Collectivity. Fearing a situation that might not be manageable if the populations (especially the buyers) decide to retaliate, the families or indigenous communities in a process of appeasement went Thursday to the Town Hall of the Municipality of Zio 1 and the prefecture to meet the heads of places. If at the prefecture of Zio, they were able to submit a document which sets out the situation prevailing on the ground, at the Town hall, they obviously had the right to an attentive ear and the Mayor and his Councilors who, already informed of this tragedy which was played on the municipal territory, quickly interrupted their current session for transport to the scene in order to see firsthand what is at stake and think about the approach to be adopted. If the problem remains unresolved, and the inscriptions on the fences of the houses sufficiently demonstrate the work of the representatives of the Kpassra Collectivity, as well as one of the people beaten, a pregnant woman, and some houses gutted, others still whose portals are systematically sealed, we can from the reception that these populations in anxiety, reserved for the Mayor and his suite, feel a slight relief on their part, since their sorrows are to a certain extent shared by the authority. Explanations that support the situation ... Initially, it is the Chief of the Village, the chief of the village, Emmanuel Afandjiga Gbama, whose Palace and hence his appointment decree, seems to be called into question by this conflict and if it turns out, by the The very authority that had delivered it to him, falters, finds it difficult to wake up from his sleep and save himself from his nightmare. He does not understand how justice seems to remain unmoved despite their multiple and vain claims for transport to the scene by the judges, until then if it is only to take for granted what the Kpassra tell them. Despite the desolation, the crowned head supported in its efforts by the Canton chief of Djagble, Togbui Donou Fiohouassi Adonsou, continues to play at appeasement. "It is we who are calming the populations otherwise we would have already arrived at bloody clashes. All those who invest in this issue only dirty the rich policies of Faure Gnassingbe, whom we support elsewhere. We are trying to meet the head of state so that there is peace in my area, "he said. First spokesperson for the communities of Gbamakope, concerned by this dispute, Kodjo Kpessou Gbama, confided that for three weeks already, Gbamakope has been invaded by agents of the security forces of 600 men, they break down the houses, trace the streets instead. and place, smash the gates, enter the houses and rooms, picking up tiles, which they take away, leaving inscriptions on the houses as being on the property of the Kpassra community. We do not understand anything. Gbamakope is an ancient locality bequeathed to us by our ancestors since 1720 . Which agents, according to what they told the village chief, were acting on the basis of a document submitted to them by Minister Payadowa Boukpessi. In the history of the community, made by Mr. Kpessou Gbama, the village of Gbamakope was created in 1720, has an administrative certificate on all its domain since August 3, 1995, under the then prefect of Zio Mr. Hevi Doglan, with the effectiveness of all the neighboring communities confirming the right to property during the public inquiry . And it is therefore "oddly that individuals claiming to be from the Kpassra community have created a dispute covering an area of 5 hectares first, then 21 hectares and finally the entire area of the village". And, "from the court of first instance of Tsevie to the Supreme Court of Lome via the Court of Appeal of Lome, there is never any mention of the area of an entire village as being the property of the said community", we advise. All the delegation that made the trip to the premises of the prefecture of Zio, and the Town hall of Zio 1, before following the Mayor and his retinue in their descent on the ground, Thursday, did not hide its desolation, faced with the fact that today, "despite everything, the dispute has taken on new dimensions and continues to cause confusion" and that "today the whole village is in the process of dividing up for the benefit of the Kpassra community supported by the security forces and that they be asked to buy back their own land near those they qualify as impostors and forgers . Of the various cases pending or known by the courts on this land dispute opposing them to this community that they seem to know neither from Adan, nor from Eve, beforehand, the natives also accuse their face of maneuvers made by not transmitting not the various summons given to them for those with whom they had differences. To hear Mr. Kpessou, if the populations have kept their calm until then on the advice of traditional chiefs, we do not know until when this calm will be maintained. He says he considers what is happening to be a hassle. We are indeed one of the 7 million Togolese . And to continue, They (The Kpassra and supporters, editors note) say that it is the authorities who send them. We have convinced ourselves that before the law, these lands belong to us ", therefore," we will continue to cry out until justice is done and the impostors leave our lands alone. " Who are ultimately behind this drama ? In the context of this re-subdivision planned by the Kpassra on the disputed territory, we would speak of a plan with administrative reserves promised to the State for the construction of a gendarmerie and police camp and others. Is it ultimately a veiled expropriation ? If so, do we need more than 366 hectares to install these public utility structures ? Who manipulates or what black hands would she hide behind this drama with a Kpassra face, to the point that government ministers, accustomed to the use of brute force, come to injunction a human rights defender not to get involved in such a case, assisting the victims ? How The Kpassra, whose history finally recognizes one of their ancestors, as having been a visitor welcomed by a neighboring community to the Gbama, the Awouya who only own about 5 hectares of land in the area, come to proclaim themselves as easily as owners of 366 hectares, and that justice does not come to say the right correctly ? This, by purely and simply asking the Awouya and their visitors, the Kpassra, to be satisfied with their previous 5 hectares ? All these questions rightly remained without the resignation of the lawyer of the Gbama, after having exhausted without success, all the remedies yet recognized by the law, to bring justice to reason, sufficiently prove that this The land file ultimately goes beyond the legal framework to take on a different color that only the Kpassra and supporters must clearly admit. The reason for the Strongest ? For everyone to judge. In any case, in Gbamakope, we are still a long way from this rule of law that the governance Faure Gnassingbe has been shouting at the top of their lungs and all day long for these 16 years of reign over Togo, following his father, and it is not the Mayor and the Municipal Councilors of the Municipality of Zio 1, traveling to the scene last Thursday who would deny us, in view of the situation on the ground and their great astonishment that only one ancestor, however powerful - he comes to claim the paternity of such an expanse of land. From all of the above, it can be concluded that a tragedy is looming on the horizon in this village of several thousand inhabitants and in the event that the populations decide to respond piecemeal to the mandates of the Kpassra and supporters. And no one would benefit from bloodshed because of the land. Otherwise, the governmental authorities as well as the judicial authorities or the administrative structures seized by the natives, as evidenced by the discharges of the mails deposited and of which we were able to obtain copies, will only be held responsible for what would happen. We will come back to this, in case our various steps to obtain the opposing partys version of the facts were to be conclusive. T228 Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 04:04:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday discussed bilateral relations in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the White House said. Biden conveyed "his interest in a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements," the White House said in a statement. The leaders agreed to hold a bilateral meeting on the margins of the NATO Summit in June to discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues, the statement added. The phone call came as multiple reports said Biden on Saturday will officially recognize the mass killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a century ago as a "genocide." Turkey, the Ottoman Empire's successor state, has claimed the mass killings did not constitute genocide. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a local media earlier this week that Biden's statements are not legal-binding and would only harm bilateral relations. "If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs," he said. The move could further complicate the already strained relations between Washington and Ankara. The two NATO allies have been at odds over Turkey's acquisition of the Russian S-400 air-defense systems and other regional issues, such as the Syria conflict and the dispute in the eastern Mediterranean. Enditem New Delhi: With many hospitals struggling with dangerously low levels of oxygen supply, the Delhi government has decided to maintain a buffer stock of the gas to be used during extremely critical situations. The Centre has enhanced the daily quota of medical oxygen for Delhi from 378 MT to 480 MT. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had on Thursday appointed three senior IAS officers as nodal officers to ensure smooth distribution and supply of oxygen to various hospitals in the city. "The hospitals will be able to receive liquid medical oxygen from the buffer stock only under critical situation when their supplies are alarmingly low to meet the needs of three hours or less," said a Delhi government officer. Each hospital will designate one of their senior staff to serve as a nodal officer related to oxygen matters, who will also maintain data and make request for emergency supply from buffer stock in critical situation. The hospitals will also have to conduct an oxygen audit to find out reasons for excess use of it. Some hospitals have been found using more oxygen than the prescribed guideline of the central government, the officer said. A detailed record of liquid medical oxygen and cylinders, consumption and delivery will be maintained by the hospitals and shared with the health department on daily basis, he stated. The hospitals are being assigned a daily quota of oxygen that will be reviewed and revised periodically. Also, the suppliers of liquid oxygen will require to maintain and share daily reports to the concerned officials on daily basis, he added. Live TV A world expert on internet freedom has been extradited to Australia to stand trial accused of sexually abusing underage boys in the 1980s Simon Davies, 65, was arrested in The Netherlands after Interpol issued a global alert for his capture, and flown back to Sydney on Friday night. He was charged with 18 child sex offences allegedly committed in Sydney between 1981 and 1987 after a 10-year investigation. Four NSW police officers from Strike Force Boyd, party of the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad, flew to The Netherlands to bring Davies to Australia to face trial He was charged with more than 18 child sex offences allegedly committed in Sydney between 1981 and 1987 after a 10-year investigation He is accused of sexually abusing dozens of homeless children while running the Homeless Children's Association in Darlinghurst, in Sydney's inner east. It is understood some of the charges relate to a period in the 1980s when men allegedly paid workers at the homeless shelter for access to boys for sex. NSW Police detectives flew to The Netherlands to escort him top Australia and took him to Surry Hills Police Station where he faced Parramatta Local Court by video link on Saturday. He was denied bail on all 18 charges and remanded in custody to appear again on June 1. Davies, a British citizen, is believed to deny all charges against him. An Interpol 'Red Notice' was issued for Davies in 2017 and he was arrested two years later and held in custody in The Netherlands while Australian authorities worked on his extradition. Four NSW officers flew to the The Netherlands a week ago to collect Davies. Child abuse and sex crimes squad commander Detective Superintendent Stacey Maloney paid tribute to the bravery of sex assault victims. Simon Davies, 65, is accused of sexually abusing dozens of homeless children while running the Homeless Children's Association in Darlinghurst, in Sydney's inner east, in the 1980s 'I think the conversations that everyone is having around sexual violence in the community at the moment is important and just demonstrates the importance of reporting to police but certainly assuring we will take action and no-one is immune from the result of justice being served,' she said. 'It is a testament to the strength, bravery, and patience of the victims, together with the determination and dedication of police, that charges have now been laid in relation to these alleged crimes.' Ms Mahoney said detectives worked tirelessly to ensure justice is served for the victims in these matters. 'This result could not have been achieved without the assistance and support of our interstate and international partner agencies particularly the Dutch Police, Australian Federal Police and Attorney-General's Department,' she said. 'This has been a complex and exhaustive investigation for police, who have spent nearly 10 years investigating these matters and a further 16 months navigating the extradition process.' Davies (pictured right) has been a commentator, adviser and journalist on a range of technology issues over the last 20 years and claimed to have been voted one of the world's most influential voices on internet freedoms Davies has been a commentator, adviser and journalist on a range of technology issues over the last 20 years and claimed to have been voted one of the world's most influential voices on internet freedoms. He became a high-profile figure in the privacy industry as well as his efforts to overturn Australia's controversial national ID card proposal in the late 1980 According to Davies' website, he received numerous awards and relating to internet freedom and claimed to have spoken publicly thousands on privacy and appeared on 'almost every major current affairs program and newspaper in the world'. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian assessed the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by U.S. President Joe Biden a courageous and inspiring step, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Facebook page of the President's administration. ''Thank you, President Biden. Recognizing the Armenian genocide is a courageous and inspiring act. Its Important for Armenian nation and for all those who seek justice worldwide. It opens new prospects for US-Armenian relations. It also makes this world a better place! The process of international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide will contribute to the prevention of genocide as a crime against humanity and elimination of impunity around the world'', reads the statement. In his April 24 address, President Joe Biden said '' Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring. Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination... The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today''. Robin R. Meyers Oklahoma City The writer is a retired minister. To the Editor: Bret Stephens makes an eloquent case for a misguided notion that has sunk the United States into multiple foreign policy quagmires: that U.S. behavior in one part of the world will serve as a useful signal to allies and enemies about what the U.S. will do elsewhere. Mr. Stephens is right to point out that U.S. withdrawal will likely have tragic consequences for many Afghans, which should not be minimized. It is absurd, however, to think that either Moscow or Beijing are taking cues from whether the United States stands up to the Taliban, when both have richly benefited from the U.S. being bogged down in its forever wars. Mr. Stephens asks whether Ukrainians and Taiwanese will find comfort in the Afghanistan withdrawal. My bet is that they will. Over the last two decades, nothing has more threatened the credibility of U.S. deterrence in Eastern Europe and East Asia than being tied down in Afghanistan and Iraq. Deterrence theorists would tell Mr. Stephens that overcommitment jeopardizes credibility just as much as underdelivery. Andi Zhou Berkeley, Calif. To the Editor: Theres an unexamined aspect of the Biden administrations decision in Bret Stephenss analysis: To what degree does the continued presence of American soldiers actually perpetuate the deterioration of the Afghan governments position? Could it have anything to do with the Afghans long history of strong aversion to foreigners within their country? Why is government support among the Afghan people declining? How is it that after decades of conflict the Taliban continue to attract fighters? You can argue from the safety of the United States that their choice is a terrible one, especially for women, but it is their choice. Recognize that. Leave now. Bill Lindenfelser Rochester, N.Y. To the Editor: Re I Was With Biden in Kabul in 2002, by Thomas L. Friedman (column, April 21): Mr. Friedmans conclusion that our nations effort there was worth a try is contradicted by historical fact. Our invasion following the 9/11 attacks was sold by the administration as an effort to apprehend or kill the perpetrators. The real effort, however, became one of nation building, importing a Jeffersonian democracy at the point of a gun. STAMFORD A Norwalk man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage girl multiple times over two years. Efrain Saravia-Cruz, 30, pleaded guilty on Thursday to second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor as a part of a plea bargain with the state. Under the deal, Saravia-Cruz will face up to a 10-year prison sentence suspended after three-and-a-half years on each of the charges, which are both Class B felonies. Paul Ferencek, states attorney for the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District, said Saravia-Cruz will also be required to register as a sex offender and undergo at least 10 years of probation should he remain in the country after being released from jail. Saravia-Cruz, an El Salvadorian native, has been imprisoned since his arrest in October 2016. Saravia-Cruz was arrested by Norwalk police in 2016 after a then-15-year-old family member came forward and accused him of repeated sexual assaults. According to a warrant, the victim told police that Saravia-Cruz been making advances toward her when she was 7 years old and lived in El Salvador. When the victim moved to the United States, Saravia-Cruz aggressively continued to fondle her and try to have sex with her, the warrant said. The victim told police she had been raped by Saravia-Cruz at least three times from 2014 to 2016. Saravia-Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced during his next appearance in court on May 17. Thousands of Australians rose early on Sunday to commemorate Anzac Day, but it will be many hours before the shops open. April 25 falls on a Sunday this year which means only people from the ACT, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland will get Monday off work, but big retailers have still adjusted their hours nationwide. Those who are planning a big day on Sunday were encouraged to stock up on breakfast supplies on Saturday to avoid being caught out, with most stores closed until lunch time - or not open at all. Woolworths around NSW and Victoria will open at 1pm on Sunday, while stores in Tasmania open from 12.30pm Pictured: Participants march during the Anzac Day parade in Sydney on April 25, 2019 Woolworths and Coles around NSW and Victoria will open at 1pm on Sunday, while stores in Tasmania open from 12.30pm. Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane supermarkets will not open at all, but some stores outside of the city centres will open from 12pm. Australians hoping to occupy their time on Sunday by working on DIY projects will be able to head to Bunnings all day in NSW, Victoria, WA, SA and NT, and from lunch time in Tasmania and ACT. Kmart will also be open from lunch time on Sunday in most states, and all day on Monday across the country Anzac Day events were cancelled for the first time last year since they began in the 1920s due to Covid-19. Pictured: Anzac Day in Sydney before Covid-19 Kmart will also be open from lunch time on Sunday in most states, and all day on Monday across the country. But Queenslanders will have to wait until Monday to buy groceries or visit Kmart and Bunnings as all shops will be closed on Sunday. Anzac Day this year is in stark contrast to the event in 2020, which saw the first ever cancellation of events since they began in the 1920s due to Covid-19. Some states will not run parades in 2021, but others will take place with social distancing precautions. Sacked veterans minister Johnny Mercer is expected to go to Belfast on Monday to support two ex-soldiers who face a murder trial over a shooting risking a clash with the Government. Sources suggest the MP intends to publicly back the elderly men, known as Soldiers A and C, just days after he accused the Government of having 'abandoned' those who served during the Troubles in his resignation letter. Veterans and legal experts claim that the prosecutions of soldiers over incidents in Northern Ireland are 'political' and an attempt to appease Sinn Fein. Sacked Johnny Mercer is expected to travel to Belfast to support two elderly men, known as Soldiers A and C They cite a focus on shootings involving the security services even though many of those at the hands of the Provisional IRA, who were responsible for most of the deaths during the conflict, remain unpunished. Mr Mercer's intervention could inflame tensions in the province, with veterans also planning protests outside Belfast's Laganside Courts and the Houses of Parliament before the trial starts on Monday. The MP was sacked from his defence post by text on Tuesday, hours after threatening to quit over the treatment of Northern Ireland veterans. In an open letter to the Prime Minister afterwards, the former Army captain warned: 'Veterans are drinking themselves to death and dying before their time simply because the Government cannot find the moral strength or courage we asked of them in bringing peace to Northern Ireland in finding a political solution to stop these appalling injustices.' Soldiers A and C, now in their early 70s, are due to stand trial on Monday accused of the murder of Official IRA commander Joe McCann in Belfast in 1972. Mr McCann, who was unarmed, was shot dead while evading arrest. A third soldier who fired shots has since died. The former Parachute Regiment soldiers are the first British servicemen to be prosecuted over the killing of an active member of the IRA, and the first to stand trial since the Good Friday Agreement. They were cleared at the time but the Police Service of Northern Ireland reopened the case in 2016. Soldiers A and C, now in their early 70s, are due to stand trial on Monday accused of the murder of Official IRA commander Joe McCann in Belfast in 1972 Their lawyers have successfully argued that they must remain anonymous because their lives are at risk. Philip Barden, of Devonshires Solicitors, who has represented other Army veterans over Troubles incidents, said: 'Johnny Mercer going over for the trial shows that the whole thing is political. This is not an ordinary trial. These are two elderly men accused of shooting and killing a man connected with terrorism.' The Mail's Witch-hunt Against Our Heroes campaign supports persecuted veterans. In the 2019 Tory manifesto, Boris Johnson pledged to bring in a law within 100 days of entering office to protect Northern Ireland veterans from 'vexatious' prosecutions. The promised Bill has not been put forward, but the Government is due to unveil its plans in next month's Queen's Speech. Mr Mercer did not respond to a request for comment. New Delhi: An astrologer on Saturday was sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment by a court in Odishas Balasore for sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl in 2015. 48-year-old Sanyasi Mandal was awarded the jail term by Ajanta Sarangi, Special judge of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court. Fine of Rs 5,000 was also slapped on the accused. In default, he would be imprisoned for three more months. Mandal had sexually assaulted the girl on March 24, 2015 after he visited the victims house on the pretext of reading palms of her family members. The FIR was lodged by the victims mother after she came to know about Mandals act. (With PTI inputs) ALSO READ | Odisha: Class 9 tribal student 'gangraped' by BSF jawans in Koraput, claims family For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. A new massive cyberattack is allegedly targeting Phone House's customers. Some security experts claimed that more than 13 billion consumers are currently affected by the latest malicious activity. Various security researchers explained that the involved hackers used a ransomware attack to obtain sensitive details of Phone House's consumers. They added that these cybercriminals contacted the tech giant company to threaten it, saying that if Phone House won't pay a financial ransom, it will reveal its users' sensitive data. The latest massive cyberattack started on Sunday, April 11. Phone House confirmed that it is now investigating the massive breach, confirming that it is working with a cybersecurity company. What Information About Phone House was Leaked? According to Explica's latest report, the new cyberattack might have accessed the email addresses, date of birth, telephone numbers, physical addresses, and full names of Phone House's customers. Also Read: Ransomware Demands Two Bitcoins: Attack Disguises as Security Software Exploiting VPN Weakness, Two Manufacturing Plants Down "Downloading such information would be partial, and would not affect all the data processed by Phone House, but some of your data may have been compromised," said Phone House's spokesman via Euro Weekly News. Aside from these, security experts, who are involved in the current investigation, claimed that the alleged hackers might have also leaked consumers' bank account numbers. Although this is the case, they confirmed that the massive hack wasn't able to access Phone House consumers' bank cards. This was prevented since the giant company doesn't store their passwords and other ultra-sensitive details. Phone House explained that the users have nothing to worry about since its internal teams are now working with the world benchmark and leading company in cybersecurity services. Is the Cyberattack Serious? As of the moment, security experts haven't confirmed the new cyberattack's threat level. Right now, Phone House still didn't provide the cyberattackers' requested financial ransom. Although this might sound like a bad idea, security experts said that this is the right thing to do since it is not 100% guaranteed that the malicious actors will not leak Phone House consumers' data, even if they receive the amount of money they are asking for. On the other hand, involved security researchers said that the data of more than 13 billion Phone House customers are now published on the Dark Web. If you want to know more details, all you need to do is click here. For more news updates about Phone House cyberattack and other massive online breaches, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Your Internet-Connected Device Could Be at Risk of Bug Exploitation--Singaporean Security Firm Identifies Possible Infected Devices This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. As many as 18,230 people have been infected with the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the past 24 hours in Iran, this was announced by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran, Trend reports. In addition, 374 more people have died from the coronavirus over the past day. At the same time, the condition of 5,156 people is critical. So far, more than 15 million tests have been conducted in Iran for the diagnosis of coronavirus. A total of 741,000 people have been vaccinated in Iran. About 584,000 people were vaccinated in the first stage, and 157,000 people were vaccinated in the second stage. Iran continues to monitor the coronavirus situation in the country. According to recent reports from Iranian officials, over 2.37 million people have been infected, and 69,120 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 1.86 million people have reportedly recovered from the disease. Kolkata, April 24 : After the Indian Army along with Assam Rifles personnel rescued two abducted ONGC employees from the clutches of the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) late on Friday night, the separatist group said on Saturday that two of the three ONGC employees were safe, but the third one had gone missing. ULFA-I spokesperson Rumel Asom said in a statement that since the three ONGC employees, all ethnic Assamese, were 'picked up' by their fighters from a rig site at Lakwa in Assam's Sibsagar district on Wednesday, 500 soldiers and armed policemen mounted a massive operation to rescue the abducted staff. Asom claimed that the 73 Brigade of the Indian Army, 35th Battalion of Assam Rifles and Nagaland armed police were involved in the operation. He said the forces encircled the ULFA fighters at Totok in Nagaland's Mon district and a series of encounters took place in and around the Chinkgu village in the area on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. "Keeping in mind the security of the abducted ONGC employees, our fighters left them in the safe custody of the local Tangsha Naga villagers. Alokesh Saikia and Mohini Mohan Gogoi were recovered safely by the security forces but we have no idea what happened to Ritul Saikia," the spokesperson said. He said the ULFA is checking whether Saikia, an assistant junior engineer with ONGC, had been hit during the encounters, while disowning responsibility for such an eventuality. In a series of tweets on Wednesday morning, ONGC had said the employees were driven away by "unknown armed miscreants" in a vehicle belonging to ONGC at gunpoint. The vehicle was later found abandoned near the Nimonagarh jungles, close to the Assam-Nagaland border. "All the three abducted persons are local residents of Assam," Sivasagar SP, Amitava Sinha, told IANS. While Mohini Mohan Gogoi (junior technician, production) hails from Sivasagar district, Alokesh Saikia (assistant junior egineer, production) is from Jorhat district and Ritul Saikia is from Golaghat district. In December last year, ULFA-I and the Myanmar-faction of NSCN (K) had abducted two employees of Quippo Oil and Gas Infrastructure Limited from the Kumchaikha drilling site near Innao in Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh. They were released in April after long negotiations conducted not so secretly. The ULFA-I had insisted that Quipppo should only employ locals. Public sector behemoth ONGC is India's biggest oil and gas exploration and production company. Richard Wilkins candidly discussed his family's connection to the Anzac legacy on Saturday. Ahead of Anzac Day on Sunday, the national day of remembering Australians and New Zealanders 'who served and died in all wars', he became emotional as he spoke about his father and grandfather's military roles. The 66-year-old revealed on Weekend Today that he was recently talking to his sister about their grandfather who went to Gallipoli, Turkey, in World War One. Remembering: Richard Wilkins became emotional on Saturday, as he discussed his family's strong connection to the Anzac legacy on Weekend Today. The 66-year-old talked about his late grandfather George William Thomson who went to Gallipoli, Turkey, in World War One His grandfather, George William Thomson, was a qualified dentist was part of the New Zealand medical corps and tended to injured and dying soldiers. A black and white photo of his father appeared on screen, causing the TV host to hold back his emotions. 'That's my dad there, who was in Vancouver learning to be a pilot in 1944, aged 21. Amazing. I hadn't seen him for some time,' he proudly said. Emotional: Then a black and white photo of his father appeared on screen, causing the TV host to hold back his emotions. 'That's my dad there, who was in Vancouver learning to be a pilot in 1944, aged 21. Amazing. I hadn't seen him for some time,' he proudly said Returning to talk about his conversation with his sister about their grandfather, Richard continued: 'She found one (photo) of my grandfather off to war and his mother sending him away. It's all there, amazing.' 'It's a great time for all of us to reflect I think a little bit,' he told his co-host Jayne Azzopardi. Richard previously visited Gallipoli in 2015 with Today to mark the sombre occasion and pay his respects to the fallen. 'It's quite overwhelming': Richard visited Gallipoli in 2015 with Today to mark the sombre occasion and pay his respects to the fallen Memories: Richard told Daily Mail Australia at the time of his immense pride at the role his grandfather played and at seeing the medals and reading his diary at the war memorial in Auckland. Pictured is Richard with his grandfather George He said at the time: 'It's quite overwhelming, I was keeping a stiff upper lip until tonight, when we visited a Turk memorial at Ari Burnu.' 'When you're working, when you are shooting a story, it's about doing a piece and you've got to do it right, we are doing your job... but it just happens to be about your granddad, it changes things,' he added. Richard also spoke to Daily Mail Australia at the time of his immense pride at the role his grandfather played and at seeing the medals and reading his diary at the war memorial in Auckland. 'It was something I thought about doing for some time because I was aware he was a young dentist, straight out of uni, who had enlisted in the war went to Egypt and found himself here at Gallipoli, helping to mend soldiers so they could continue to serve,' he said. The Abu Dhabi Judicial Academy concluded its second Basic Training Programme for Conciliators on Amicable Settlement of Real Estate Disputes, with the participation of 14 members from the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities- Municipalities of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi and Al Dhafra. This comes in line with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department to encourage litigants to use alternative resolution, especially in commercial and economic disputes, intending to reduce the burden of litigation on all parties, and saving time, effort and costs, hence contributing to accelerate the circulation of capital and attraction of investments. Yousef Saeed Al Abri, the Under-Secretary of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department and the Chairman of the Academys Board of Directors said: "Organisation of the real estate conciliator programme is part of our plan to contribute to the efforts of Abu Dhabi government, aimed at enhancing confidence and stability in the real estate sector, being one of the most important pillars to enhance the international competitiveness of the emirate at the regional and international levels." The basic training programme for conciliators aims to prepare an efficient cadre of mediators and conciliators by providing them with the knowledge, skills, and capabilities necessary for negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and early neutral evaluation between the parties to a dispute, to reach an efficient and effective amicable settlement of the real estate and municipal disputes, he stated. The programme includes 16 courses reflected in four main themes- general legal foundations for real estate conciliators; specialised real estate and municipal legislation; skills development and the organisation of the profession as an auxiliary to the judiciary, and practical training in managing alternative resolutions.-TradeArabia News Service 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. P.M. writes: I am enquiring about the Choices Bond, yielding a fixed 7 per cent a year. Have you heard of these people and are they any good? Avoid: Your Options simply baits the hook, reels you in, then passes you on to someone else Tony Hetherington replies: The sales pitch you copied to me is hugely misleading. It comes from a company called Your Options Limited, based in Halifax and run by Ashley Parkin-Beacher, and it tells you: 'There are few opportunities in the current marketplace that match both the returns and the security the Choices Bond offers.' In what it calls 'a simple comparison', the Choices Bond Isa which it is promoting promises 7 per cent interest compared to 'the average Isa returns from the ten largest high street banks at just 0.25 per cent.' But this is a false comparison. A Cash Isa with a bank is completely secure, while the scheme offered by Your Options is an Innovative Isa which lends your money to businesses with the risk that they may not be able to repay you. Your Options claims: 'We are experts who specialise in the field of financial services.' It adds: 'We are whole of market providers for Isas and pensions, with access to a myriad of providers.' And it reassures clients, saying: 'We plan an investment strategy to achieve your personal requirements.' You might think from all this guff that you were dealing with a genuine firm of fully authorised financial advisers, approved by the Financial Conduct Authority. Wrong. Small, faint print explains: 'Please note, we do not give financial advice.' Your Options simply baits the hook, reels you in, then passes you on to someone else. Its advertising reassures investors that FCA-authorised 'Northern Provident Investments will oversee any investments throughout their duration.' And NPI 'have all of the relevant protections and permissions needed to facilitate Isa investments and savings'. What it fails to spell out is that this does not mean you can claim compensation if the value of your Isa shrinks. A clearly annoyed NPI boss Paul Crawford told me: 'We have no involvement with Your Options and have not provided any kind of approval to them. We will be contacting Your Options immediately to demand that they cease the misuse of our name and that they withdraw any promotional collateral that refers to us.' Your Options and Ashley Parkin-Beacher did not respond to repeated invitations to comment. Company records describe Your Options as a 'market research and public opinion polling' business, with no mention of financial expertise. It seems likely it works on commission, drumming up business for some middleman, but its claims are too flawed to be trusted. Steer clear. A voucher from easyJet won't help me rebook D.W. writes: In February last year, I booked a package holiday to Rhodes, to celebrate my 80th birthday in September. After the pandemic hit, easyJet altered our flights two weeks before we were due to travel, which was not acceptable. They offered a 12-month voucher in place of the 692 I had paid, but I have since found most tour operators, including the one for our Rhodes trip, will not accept the voucher. Tony Hetherington replies: EasyJet was providing the flights for your package holiday, but accepting a voucher means that in effect you now have to put together your own package deal, booking flights to an easyJet destination and making your own arrangements for hotel accommodation and travel between there and the airport, with no courier. You have told me that at your age, and with health issues, this is an unlikely scenario. I asked easyJet to reconsider and the airline explained there may have been some confusion as you dealt through a travel agent and not directly with easyJet, which may have been simpler and cheaper. EasyJet has now refunded your 692 in full. WE'RE WATCHING YOU Company bosses alleged to be responsible for cheating investors out of many millions of pounds are facing fraud charges following a lengthy international investigation. Spot Option, owned by Israeli businessmen Pini Peter and Ran Amiran, is said to have been behind a worldwide network of scam firms that marketed binary options as investments. Peter, who was convicted of fraud, forgery and money laundering in Israel in 2005, later became a prominent businessman and charity patron, with links to the country's government which gave Spot Option grants of over 200,000 to expand abroad. Links: Pini Peter, right, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Spot Option's investments, dressed up to look like genuine trading in shares, currencies and commodities, were actually a spin of a coin. If the value of the investment rose above a certain point, the investor won, but if it fell, the investor lost everything. And the coin was allegedly rigged to spin in favour of the binary options firms that marketed the scam, according to court filings. Spot Option, based in Ramat Gan in Israel, licensed firms to use its scheme, training them in how to operate under their own names, giving the appearance of genuine investment businesses. One of the biggest of those businesses was Banc de Binary, which cheated British investors out of tens of millions of pounds. The Mail on Sunday repeatedly warned against Banc de Binary, starting soon after it began targeting British victims in 2013. We exposed the company's claim to be based in London offices as false. Its only real representative in Britain was Mattison PR, a London public relations firm that issued a stream of false claims on behalf of the Israeli cheats. The bad news for victims is that the fraud charges against Spot Option, which showed Banc de Binary how to run the scam, are not being brought in Britain, but in the US by its financial watchdog, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Last Monday, the SEC unveiled court documents alleging that Spot Option showed its offshoots such as Banc de Binary how to raise obstacles preventing investors from withdrawing their money. Spot Option is said to have assured its offshoots that the average investor would lose 80 per cent of their money within five months, producing huge profits for the cheats. In contrast to the SEC, which succeeded in forcing Banc de Binary out of America, our own Financial Conduct Authority assisted the cheats. It included Banc de Binary on its public register of authorised investment firms. In 2014, it told me it was compelled to do this because the company was licensed by the Cypriot regulator, and an EU directive meant the Cyprus licence had to be respected. In 2020, it admitted this was wrong. The FCA did have the power to kick Banc de Binary off its register, but by then, trusting the FCA, British victims had lost millions of pounds. The SEC has asked a court in Nevada to order Spot Option to refund investors, with added interest. If the court grants the order, the beneficiaries will be American investors. No similar action has been taken in Britain against Spot Option, Banc de Binary, or any of the companies' bosses. 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. Communist and socialist groups in Michigan say a growing resentment of the status quo is bringing more people around to their ideas. Once viewed as un-American and even dangerous, communism and socialism look like better alternatives to young people worried about converging threats of inequality, climate disasters, police brutality and fascism. Anti-capitalist groups in Michigan say the Red Scare has passed; calls for social justice and economic reform are sparking a rediscovery of Americas long relationship to radical leftist movements. Thats always a question that comes up with conservatives, like who radicalized you into being a socialist? Growing up in America in the 21st century, said Andy Argo, chair of Socialist Part of Michigans Kalamazoo chapter. Everyone my age or younger, all weve known is consistent recurrent economic collapse. Christian Davenport, a political science professor at the University of Michigan, said Americans are more open to criticisms of the countrys economic and social systems. People arent running away from communist and socialist labels, he said, but anti-communist rhetoric has still been effective in purging those associations from mainstream politics. I think thats the difficulty with some of these social movement organizations; they need to repackage some of these ideas away from some of the perceived threatening and offensive language, which I dont think will receive mass support, at least not for another generation, Davenport said. Anti-capitalist groups see room to tap into public dissatisfaction with business as usual in America. Pew Research found 47% of Americans believe the political system needs major changes, while 18% are looking for complete reform. The survey was taken between Nov. 10 and Dec. 7, 2020. Two years earlier, Gallup found Democrats have a more positive view of socialism than they do of capitalism for the first time in a decade. Another Pew Research survey in 2019 found 61% of Americans believe there is too much economic inequality in the country. The gap between rich and poor in the U.S. is the highest of all the G7 nations, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Davenport said public sentiment against monopolies and corporations is more popular, but most people would have a hard time defining communism and socialism. The concepts are somewhat amorphous, associated with the Soviet Union or Sweden by different generations of Americans. Universal healthcare, free college education and a $15-an-hour minimum wage are being seriously discussed among Democrats, but public ownership of the means of production isnt a mainstream talking point. People are asking the right questions, they just dont seem to know where to go for answers, Davenport said. I think its an interesting space to be in from the idea of having an opening to have conversations that weve long needed in society. The Communist Party USA was founded in 1919. At its 100th anniversary convention in 2019, the party committed to replacing capitalism with socialism first. According to the partys platform, the idea is to make important sectors of the economy socially owned and controlled. Under socialism, key industries will be nationalized, but there will be other forms of socialist ownership: public ownership at many different levels from national to state to municipalities, private ownership of small businesses, joint ownership cooperatives, and other mixed-economy forms that best fit production and social needs, the partys platform states. And of course, every individual will privately own their personal possessions and personal property. Communist, socialist, democratic socialist -- anti-capitalists who spoke with MLive dont draw much distinction between the terms. The common thread is a desire to create a society that prioritizes meeting peoples needs instead of making a profit. We seek a world where working people democratically control their workplaces and their communities, Argo said. Socialism is not about big government. Its about more or less trying to dismantle the current power structure of the government and putting it into the hands of working people. Looking for answers Argo said hes witnessed a paradigm shift since the 2016 presidential election. The feeling that powerful elites may not act in the best interests of the working people is more accepted across the political spectrum. All the younger people I see now are way more advanced in their political understanding than I was at their age, Argo said. Theyre starting their own groups, asserting their own more militant base of labor organizing. Sammie Lewis is an organizer with Detroit Will Breathe, a grassroots activist group formed by demonstrators who took to the streets after George Floyd was murdered by a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020. Lewis said the coronavirus pandemic made it clear that the government doesnt care about us. I think that its going to take a mass movement similar to what we saw last year with the uprisings in the streets, Lewis said. A lot of people are going to have to decide to come together, because without the masses its just not going to happen. The other thing is, it cant just be something that happens here. It has to be a worldwide thing. To dismantle capitalism, it has to be global. Then we want to replace it with socialism. Laura Dewey, executive committee coordinator with the Communist Party USA in Michigan, is among an old guard of red babies raised by parents who were heavily involved in union and peace organizations. The Detroit resident led a number of young communist and workers liberation groups as a student at Wayne State University in the 1980s. Four decades later, Dewey said the Communist Party is in a rebuilding phase. The focus is on establishing local clubs throughout Michigan and educating people instead of winning elections. Still, old concerns about the historic blacklisting of Communist Party members made Dewey hesitant to share details of the organizations size in Michigan. Dewey said shes seen a declassified file about her parents compiled by the FBI and a now-disbanded political surveillance unit in the Detroit Police Department. Democratic socialism became a household term after Bernie Sanders launched his first presidential bid. The Vermont senator identifies as an independent but ran for the Democratic Partys nomination in 2016 and 2020. In a 2019 speech, Sanders said democratic socialism is a commitment to providing basic economic rights like the right to quality health care, education, good-paying jobs, affordable housing, a clean environment and the ability to comfortably retire. Reigning in unfettered capitalism was a core message of his presidential campaigns. Sanders argued the richest Americans and corporations broke the U.S. economy, allowing them to get away with hoarding wealth at the expense of working people. Sanders influence is often cited by people leading social movements and running for office. Landis Spencer is running for a seat on the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, a nonpartisan law enforcement oversight body, as a democratic socialist. The 24-year-old credits Sanders and the coronavirus pandemic for opening his mind to leftist causes. I think what folks are realizing is that the current system isnt working, and by extension capitalism itself isnt working, Spencer said. (Millennials) were sold this bill of goods that when they grow up, as long as they work hard, theyll be able to have a white picket fence; have a house; have a 401K. For people in my generation, none of that is becoming true, yet were seeing people like (Amazon CEO) Jeff Bezos get richer. Were seeing the elites get richer. The first cases of coronavirus were found in Michigan on the same night Sanders lost the states Democratic primary. Over the next year of the pandemic, Landis said, people were given a clear example of how universal health care, guaranteed sick leave and affordable housing policies could help. Anti-capitalists say the pandemic -- and a public debate over the merits of shutting down businesses to protect essential workers -- exposed the inequalities of Americas economic and social systems. The federal government responded with massive stimulus bills to blunt a severe economic downturn that put millions of people out of work. The stimulus increased unemployment benefits and sent checks to adults. No other moment has put into stark (terms) how screwed up our system is, said Jessica Newman, a lead organizer with the Greater Detroit Democratic Socialists of America. I dont think its lost on people that things have to change and I think youre seeing that push in the Biden administrations willingness to go so bold. Spencer said he was skeptical of universal healthcare or free college proposals until learned European countries have implemented those policies. In his view, America is lagging behind the rest of the developed world in providing its citizens with a high standard of life. Capitalism as a system, with how it just drives money upwards, is very ill-equipped to address a lot of the inequalities within our country and within our society, Spencer said. Because money trickles upwards, those with money also have influence over our politics. Newman worked on Sanders campaign before joining the Democratic Socialists of America. She said the organization is rapidly growing and now boasts 1,500 members across Michigan. There was a very vicious, concerted campaign done by the federal government to red bait and call communism evil, Newman said. With distance from that agenda, our generation has been able to develop a different relationship and to also examine what weve been taught about the history of socialist movements. Detroit is home to the largest chapter in Michigan. DSA membership nationally jumped from 6,000 to 100,000 members in the last five years. The nonprofit organization isnt a political party, but a volunteer-driven network of activists. We need to be as strategic as possible in winning campaigns, Newman said. I dont think that building a third party is strategic. I think contesting for power, where its possible, is the way that you build socialism. The Democratic Party ballot line is a terrain that can be contested. The DSA generally works within the Democratic Party. DSA-backed candidates like U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. were elected in 2018 as Democrats. In the 2020 elections, 36 DSA members won offices across the country, earning more than 3.1 million votes. However, the DSA did not endorse President Joe Biden. Argo was among four 2020 candidates for different offices endorsed by the Socialist Party of Michigan. The others were officially Green Party candidates but promoted socialism during the campaign. None were elected. Third-party candidates have historically struggled to find electoral success. Socialists and communists are aware of their low chance of victory, particularly in statewide elections, but they see benefits in running regardless. Were really trying to look at how can we use these elections, whether we win and get into the seats or not, as a tool to educate, organizing and agitate working people in Michigan toward organizing for their rights, Argo said. Organizers with Detroit Will Breathe encourage people to work outside the Democratic and Republican parties. Both work to support the corporate elite, they argue. I feel like Biden can almost be worse than Trump; you know, Trump held a lot of hatred, but he was also stupid and didnt understand the system, Lewis said. Biden, he understands it, and hes using that he knew that he could make these false promises. I think that says something about the Democratic Party and about liberals as well. I would say, a revolutionary party would be more of a third party. Social movements criticize capitalism Criticism of capitalism has gone hand-in-hand with demonstrations against police brutality in the wake of George Floyds death at the hands of police in Minnesota last year. Organizers continue to draw a connection between the movement for social justice and dismantling capitalism. Protesters carrying Soviet Union and Communist Party USA flags were among a crowd of hundreds who marched through the streets of Lansing on March 20. A diverse crowd of around 100 Detroiters gathered in a grassy park on a recent weekend to hear speakers from local civil rights organizations. Nearly all of the speeches blamed capitalist institutions for disenfranchising the poor and people of color. Dewey joined a few dozen demonstrators outside the Detroit Police Department headquarters shortly after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering Floyd. She carried a sign reading Defund the Police. Laura Dewey, executive committee coordinator with the Communist Party USA in Michigan stands outside Detroit Police Department headquarters at Third and Michigan in Detroit after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty for the murder of George Floyd on Tuesday, April 20, 2021.Nicole Hester/ MLive.com Christine Turner, an activist with By Any Means Necessary, was relieved to see the guilty verdict and said there wont be any freedom for working-class Black people until we completely dismantle this whole system. This is about capitalism, she said outside the DPD headquarters. This is about the oppression of working-class people. Activists in Detroit have also criticized tax breaks for multimillion-dollar housing developments, arguing the city is subsidizing gentrification. Critics called it a form of corporate socialism that isnt available to working people. The DSA supported workers who went on strike at a 7UP bottling plant in Redford Township in March and held events advocating for a $15 minimum wage. Organizers are pushing senators to support the PRO Act, union-backed legislation that would block right-to-work laws that exist in Michigan and other states. Capitalist contradictions are piling up, and people are starting to seek out some of these older ideological tools that were very effective and useful for our predecessors, Argo said. Radical labor organizing did end up getting a lot of concrete gains for working people. Thats really the tradition we try to follow. Joshua Morris, an organizer with Communist Party USA in Michigan, said achieving grand political goals like dismantling capitalism is very difficult to achieve, especially at the national level. The primary goal is to create local networks of activists who can educate others interested in a growing socialist tendency among leftists in the U.S. Meanwhile, Republicans are raising concerns about the rise of socialism and communism. Critics of Bidens $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill labeled it as such. Former President Donald Trump declared America will never be a socialist country in his 2019 State of the Union address. Trump and his surrogates often repeated the pledge on the campaign trail in Michigan last year. I would imagine that most people who subscribe to the idea that communism is fundamentally evil are not likely to entertain the plausibility of it in any sort of way, Morris said. There are people who are not going to be reached on that topic. Its more about expanding your involvement in your community and trying to show with actions what youre doing that is positive and beneficial for people at that point. The coronavirus pandemic also provided an opportunity to promote mutual aid projects, which connect people to resources rather than leaving individuals to fend for themselves. Housing assistance, community food banks and demands for a moratorium on evictions and water shutoffs rose up when millions of people were temporarily laid off. I think the discussion of mutual aid is directly relevant to the whole problem; you have people showing up for other people, corporations arent involved, governments arent involved its just civil society looking out for civil society, Davenport. Thats kind of threatening in many respects to government and to corporations because youre now saying that you could live without them. READ MORE ON MLIVE: Butt pinches, threesome requests and a glass ceiling: sexism is systemic in Michigans political culture 15.6% of U.S. adults are COVID-19 vaccine hesitant, how does Michigan stack up? Guilty: Michigan reacts to George Floyd murder trial verdict US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide, a historic declaration that infuriated Turkey and further strained frayed ties between the two NATO allies. The largely symbolic move, breaking away from decades of carefully calibrated language from the White House, will be welcomed by the Armenian diaspora in the United States, but comes at a time when Ankara and Washington grapple with deep policy disagreements over a host of issues. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey "entirely rejects" the US decision which he said was based "solely on populism". His ministry said it opens "a deep wound" between the two countries. Biden's message was met with "great enthusiasm" by the people of Armenia and Armenians worldwide, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote in a letter to the US president. In his statement, Biden said the American people honour "all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today." "Over the decades Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic history," Biden said. "We honour their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated." In comments that sought to soften the blow, a senior administration official told reporters that Washington continued to see Turkey as critical NATO ally and was encouraging Armenia and Turkey to pursue reconciliation. For decades, measures recognising the Armenian genocide stalled in the US Congress and most US presidents have refrained from calling it that, stymied by concerns about relations with Turkey and intense lobbying by Ankara. Ronald Reagan, the former US president from California, a hub for the Armenian diaspora in the United States, had been the only US president to publicly call the killings genocide. Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide. In Montebello, California, a city in Los Angeles County that is home to many Armenian-Americans, members of the community held a small and somber ceremony during which they placed a cross made of flowers at a monument to the victims. Some attendees wore pins reading "genocide denied genocide repeated." 'RELATIONS ALREADY IN SHAMBLES' A year ago, while still a presidential candidate, Biden commemorated the 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children who lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman Empire and said he would back efforts to recognise those killings as a genocide. Ties between Ankara and Washington have been strained over issues ranging from Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 air defence systems - over which it was the target of US sanctions - to policy differences in Syria, human rights and a court case targeting Turkey's majority state-owned Halkbank. Biden's declaration follows a non-binding resolution by the US Senate adopted unanimously in 2019 recognising the killings as genocide. Previous US presidents have abandoned campaign promises to recognise the Armenian genocide for fear of damaging US-Turkish relations, said Nicholas Danforth, non-resident fellow for The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy. "With relations already in shambles, there was nothing to stop Biden from following through," said Danforth. "Ankara has no allies left in the US government to lobby against this and Washington isn't worried whether it angers Turkey anymore." Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan had established a close bond with former US president Donald Trump, but since Biden took over, Washington has grown more vocal about Turkey's human rights track record. It has also stood firm on its demand that Ankara get rid of the Russian defence systems. Biden had also delayed having a telephone conversation with Erdogan until Friday seen largely as a cold shoulder to the Turkish president when he informed him of his decision to recognise the massacres as genocide. Erdogan and Biden are due to meet in June on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels. Saturday's announcement was slammed by the Turkish government and several opposition politicians. Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter that Biden's remarks "only repeat the accusations of those whose sole agenda is enmity towards our country." The US Embassy in Turkey said its missions in the country would be closed on Monday and Tuesday for visa services due to the possibility of protests. Everyone above 18 years of age will be vaccinated free of cost at government hospitals in Haryana, said Haryana Chief Minister on Saturday after chairing a state-level meeting of the COVID Monitoring Committee. A registration portal will be started from April 28 and everyone has to register themselves for vaccination. Registration is a must to get vaccinated. Further details on how and where the registration can be done are awaited. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has said that the government of India's procurement price of both the COVID-19 vaccines will remain Rs 150 per dose and the Centre will continue to provide it totally free to states. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Southern Pines, NC (28387) Today Partly cloudy with a slight chance of thunderstorms. High near 85F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. As India battles a devastating second wave of coronavirus, support from other countries continue to pour in. The European Union has expressed its solidarity, while France President Emmanuel Macron said that the country stands with India against this struggle that seems to be sparing no one. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that they are looking at what they can do to help India, while Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the country stands ready to help fight the virus. The Chinese government has also extended its support, while Pakistani citizens have called for help for India. Pakistan's Edhi Foundation wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting permission to enter India in order to help people infected with the virus. Russia has also offered Remdesivir and oxygen to India to fight coronavirus. The European Union will discuss its support to India in the upcoming EU-India Leaders' Meeting on May 8. President of the European Council Charles Michel said, "The #EU stands in solidarity with Indian people amidst resurgent #COVID19 pandemic. The fight against the virus is a common fight." The #EU stands in solidarity with Indian people amidst resurgent #COVID19 pandemic. The fight against the virus is a common fight. We will discuss our support and cooperation at EU-India Leaders meeting on 8 May with @narendramodi and @antoniocostapm Charles Michel (@eucopresident) April 23, 2021 Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar responded to the tweet and said, "Appreciated the support offered by EU on Covid challenges currently faced by India. Confident that EU will help strengthen our capabilities at this critical juncture." "I want to send a message of solidarity to the Indian people, facing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. France is with you in this struggle, which spares no-one. We stand ready to provide our support," said French President Emmanuel Macron, as tweeted by Ambassador of France to India Emmanuel Lenain. I want to send a message of solidarity to the Indian people, facing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. France is with you in this struggle, which spares no-one. We stand ready to provide our support. President Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Lenain (@FranceinIndia) April 23, 2021 Also read: 'We stand ready to provide support,' says France to India amid second COVID-19 wave UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, "We're looking at what we can do to help and support the people of India," during a press briefing. He said India is a great partner and that the help could include providing ventilators or therapeutics. Meanwhile, Matt Hancock said that heartbreaking scenes have emerged from India. "We stand ready to help fight this awful virus," he added. Heartbreaking scenes from India. My thoughts are with our Indian friends. We stand ready to help fight this awful virus. https://t.co/9lX9x5hok9 Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) April 23, 2021 China too has extended help to India. During a press briefing Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian was asked what help China is extending to India. Lijian said, "We have noticed the relevant reports and China expresses sincere condolences to the recent deterioration of the situation in India. The Chinese government and the Chinese people firmly support the Indian government and people in fighting the pandemic, and are willing to provide support and assistance in accordance with the needs of the Indian side." He said that the Chinese government is communicating with India on this and believes that Indian people will overcome the pandemic soon. Also read: Pakistan's Edhi Foundation offers to help Indian govt manage COVID-19 crisis Pakistan's civil society has also called for help for India even as they continue to face oxygen shortage challenges. Edhi Foundation offered help in these trying times. Chairman Faisal Edhi wrote to PM Modi seeking permission to enter India. "We are very sorry to hear about the exceptionally heavy impact that the pandemic has had on your country, where a tremendous number of people are suffering immensely... we would like to extend our help in the form of a fleet of 50 ambulances along with our services to assist you in addressing, and further circumventing, the current health conditions," he said in a letter. Edhi added that they only seek permission to enter the country and would arrange all necessary supplies required by their team themselves. According to media reports, Russia has offered Remdesivir and medical oxygen to India. The country said that it can deliver 3-4 lakh Remdesivir injections in 15 days. India, too, has sought help from various countries under 'Oxygen Maitri' to replenish the dwindling oxygen stock. Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) have identified several countries for procurement of high capacity tankers and oxygen gas cylinders. Government is coordinating with Singapore and UAE to lift high-capacity tankers by Indian Air Force transport planes. Lack of containers is posing a problem in quick transportation of oxygen. Twenty-three mobile oxygen generation plants will also be airlifted from Germany to be used in Armed Forces Medical Service hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, four cryogenic oxygen containers sourced by Tata Group have landed in India. The Indian Air Force flew them in from Singapore. Each container, made by British multinational chemical company Linde, has a capacity of 20 tonnes of liquid oxygen. Twenty more are such containers in the pipeline. Also read: 'Looking at what we can do to help, support India,' says Boris Johnson K-9 Titan and partner Officer Tim Ullrich. Titan was put to sleep this week after taking ill. Great Barrington Force Mourns K-9 Titan's Passing GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. The Police Department said goodbye to a four-legged member of the force this week and plans to continue his legacy. K-9 Titan, the partner of Officer Tim Ullrich, was euthanized on Wednesday because an untreatable mass discovered on his chest. "It is with profound sadness that the Great Barrington Police Department announces the untimely passing of K9 officer Titan," the department wrote in a Facebook post. "A few days ago K-9 Titan fell ill and a mass was discovered in his chest. It was determined to not be treatable and the difficult decision was made to end his suffering. K-9 Titan faithfully served his partner, Officer Ullrich, the GBPD, and his community since 2017." Since Titan lived at home with Ullrich and his family when he was off duty, Ullrich said they spent most of their time together and reflected fondly on their "tight bond." "It's been tough, it was it was very unexpected," he said on Friday. "[Titan] was a special guy, he was almost the perfect blend between the sociability and the high drive to do the job." Titan, German shepherd, arrived at the department from Hungary at just 15 months old. He was cross-trained in patrol which consists of obedience, tracking, area searches, building searches, article searches, criminal apprehension, and handler protection and in detecting and alerting his handler of five different narcotics. During his career, the four-legged officer was credited for potentially saving the life of an individual who was threatening to hurt themself by jumping off a mountain. Titan located the person in their moment of crisis before they were able to complete the act by following their scent. "I would deploy him on a search and he would he would find the human odor," Ullrich explained. "He'll follow the human odor to that person, this person was off the trail, so if you or I were just to walk up the trail looking for them, we wouldn't have found them." In 2018, Titan secured 8th place out of 3,000 entries in an online Instagram photo competition sponsored by a company called Aftermath. This resulted in a $500 check from the company and Ullrich said it shows that a "little town" such as Great Barrington can be recognized nationally. "Over the course of 30 days, he was most popular in the country," Ullrich added. In his off time, Titan enjoyed playing with his tug toy and swimming. Titan will be cremated and rest in Ullrich's home office with the ashes of his previous K-9 partner, Jori, also German shepherd. Some 1,300 people have interacted with the department's Facebook post announcing Titan's passing and more than 360 people have commented with their condolences. Ullrich said the force has had discussions with the town and is going to continue its K-9 program. It will be accepting donations for the purchase of a new pup. "The community has been behind this program since day one," Ullrich said. "And we want to continue it." Amid a corporate media blackout about the harms of chemical and surgical sex changes for children and teens, a new mobile billboard campaign is highlighting the story of Keira Bell, a young British detransitioner who won a court battle against a gender clinic that encouraged her to take puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which she wound up regretting. Set in motion earlier this week, a mobile ad emblazoned with the message Who is Keira Bell? will be seen throughout the Los Angeles metro area to draw attention to the 24-year-old British woman who once identified as transgender, in hopes that passersby will be inspired to research her story. The ad campaign will run in LA for one month. Accompanying the message is the website address for the U.S. branch of Our Duty, an apolitical non-religious group that describes itself as an international support network for parents who wish to protect their children from gender ideology. The Los Angeles-area parents of trans-identifying teens are sponsoring the campaign, which comes on the heels of a previous initiative where the same group erected billboards promoting journalist Abigail Shriers book,Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, near medical institutions where these experimental practices are taking place. Since the corporate media have largely avoided reporting on health concerns raised by parents about the prescribing of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children seeking help for gender dysphoria at pediatric transgender clinics one of the largest being the Childrens Hospital-Los Angeles they have resorted to unconventional means to alert the public about the myriad medical risks and harms, including those that Bell suffered. Its getting people to ask questions, to ask themselves, What is this?' said a Los Angeles mother who's backing the mobile ad campaign and spoke with The Christian Post on condition of anonymity. Source:The Christian Post The second lawsuit over the Seacor Power catastrophe has been filed by the fiancee of a Lafayette man presumed dead since the lift boat capsized in the Gulf of Mexico with 19 crew members aboard. Krista Vercher filed the suit Friday in Texas state court in Houston on behalf of herself and Beckhym Guevara, minor son of her fiance, Jay Guevara Jr. She seeks more than $25 million from the jackup barge's owner, Seacor Marine LLC, and Talos Energy Inc., which had commissioned Seacor to work on its platform near the mouth of Mississippi River. Both companies are headquartered in Houston. The Seacor Power left Port Fourchon on April 13 and flipped three hours later and eight miles to the south during a ferocious storm, killing six. Six others were rescued. Guevara and six more crew are presumed dead, but their bodies have not been found. Vercher alleges negligence because the vessel left port despite warnings of tropical storm-force winds in the Gulf. Her suit blames "the decisions of these defendants to put money over his life." "Krista Vercher has lost her better half, and B.G. has lost his father," her suit says. 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 Talos has tried to distance itself from the decision to sail, saying the Seacor Power "was fully under the command of its captain and Seacor Marine, including when to depart the port." Seacor Marine's president, John Gellert, has said the "go/no-go decision" to depart Port Fourchon in bad weather was "entirely the captain's. Vercher's attorney, Frank Spagnoletti, questioned why Seacor and Talos didn't attach emergency tracking devices to the crew members. The devices would have enabled searchers to find them more easily and likely brought a sense of closure for their loved ones, he said. "This was not a natural disaster," Spagnoletti said. "This is a man-made disaster." A Subway fanatic who pops into his local store every second day for a footlong roll boasts one of Australia's weirdest collections. Trevor Ross, 86, has a metre-high stack of more than 2,000 Subway napkins piled up in his kitchen. He's collected them from the store in Pinjarra, about 80km south of Perth, where he has been the most regular customer for the past 10 years. 'The grandkids are always pestering to be allowed to have one from my stash,' Mr Ross told Daily Mail Australia. But he's not letting them go. Not even one. Trevor Ross (pictured) has a one-meter-high stack of Subway napkins piled up in his kitchen The Subway fanatic pops into his local store every second day for a foot-long sandwich and boasts one of Australia's weirdest collections What footlong does Mr Ross order? Sandwich: The Subway Club with Turkey, ham, beef or the Subway Tuna Bread: Rye Bread Salads: Lettuce, pickles, carrot, tomato, black olives, and beetroot Salt and pepper: Yes Sauce: No Advertisement In fact, if you went to his house for a cuppa and spilled tea on your shirt, he says: 'Id offer you a regular napkin, but not one from my collection!' Every other day he heads in to pick up a footlong Subway Club cut in two. He eats one for lunch that day and saves the other half for tomorrow. When Mr Ross gets home he adds his latest collector's item to the pile. 'Some people collect button, others collect coins or rocks, I collect these napkins and Im proud of the collection Ive amassed,' the retired boilermaker told Daily Mail Australia. 'It helps make people cheery, and we talk about something that's unique - who else saves napkins? 'People are actually quite interested to see the collection in all its glory.' But his one-of-a-kind collection does have a serious side. Mr Ross was married for 62 years to a woman he had been close to since they were 'little children'. Mr Ross has collected napkins from the Pinjarra store, about 80km south of Perth (pictured), for the last 10 years and now has about 2000 The couple had two children, seven grand children and four great grandchildren. But in recent years she battled a 'long illness' and he became her full-time career. During that time Mr Ross said going to his local Subway was actually 'a bit of outing'. Sadly, his darling wife lost her battle in January this year. The sandwich artists who provide Mr Ross with a new napkin every time he stops by said he had to be the most dedicated customer in the country. 'Trevor is our best and most loyal customer he always makes our sandwich artists' day when he pops by for a chat and to grab his Subway favourites,' Subway Pinjarra franchisee David Wills said. 'He truly is a very special member of our extended Subway family.' UW Graduate Publishes Work on Native American Caregivers Kyliah Ferris, third from left, presents her thesis study at a poster presentation at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention in 2019 in Orlando, Fla. (UW Photo) Kyliah Ferris, of Rawlins, a recent graduate of University of Wyomings Division of Communication Disorders, recently had part of her masters thesis accepted for peer-reviewed publication in the journal Topics in Language Disorders. Ferris earned her Bachelor of Science in speech, language and hearing science as well as her Master of Science in speech-language pathology. I was provided many opportunities to not only expand my clinical knowledge, but to develop my own research projects, say Ferris, expressing appreciation to her cohort and all of the faculty members in the division who supported her growth as a speech-language pathologist. Ferris primarily has been involved in research pertaining to culturally and/or linguistically diverse children and their families. This research aimed to identify potential culturally competent early-language intervention strategies. She recently completed a qualitative research article with Professor Mark Guiberson, division director, and Erin Bush, assistant professor of neurogenic communication disorders, describing the developmental priorities of Native American caregivers and their clinical implications. Ferris Northern Arapaho and Hispanic cultural background shaped her decision to pursue this research. She hopes to use her research experience as a way to give back to her community. I hope my research can contribute to the cultural competence of other speech-language pathologists and providers to better serve children and families from diverse cultural backgrounds, says Ferris, who believes that providers will be better able to serve children and families from diverse cultural backgrounds. Asked what advice she would share with health care providers, Ferris encourages those working with individuals from Native American and other diverse backgrounds to always continue to expand and grow their cultural competence. She says ethnographic interview techniques could be a valuable tool in understanding the cultural background, values and/or beliefs of any individual or family, leading to intervention strategies and approaches that are more culturally inclusive. Ferris is now a clinical fellow speech-language pathologist at Project Reach Early Intervention Center and Preschool in Rawlins. Her favorite part about the profession of speech-language pathology is the wide scope of practice, as she is able to do something different every day. I also really enjoy working with clients and their families, she says. It is rewarding to see their growth. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Facebook have partnered to help global destinations make use of the power of digital marketing as they look to welcome tourists back safely. Over the past year, the United Nations specialised agency for tourism has been supporting its Member States on a series of initiatives relating to market intelligence and marketing. Now, as tourism begins to restart in some parts of the world, a series of special sessions were held jointly with Facebook to deliver a range of key insights into how the effective use of digital marketing can help destinations gain a competitive advantage in the challenging months ahead. Three sessions, one each in English, Spanish and French, welcomed participants from 30 countries. The sessions focused on Facebook and Instagram Communication Insights and Best Practices, with participants also given an overview of digital tools and tips for communicating with their target audiences, including through Messenger and WhatsApp. Alongside this, the sessions highlighted the importance of metrics and other key tools in measuring the success of digital marketing campaigns, and role of advertising and creativity in reaching new audiences. Sandra Carvao, UNWTO Chief, Market Intelligence and Competitiveness, said: We are very happy to have Facebook on board with us to bring the fundamentals and best cases of digital marketing to our Members. Our partnership will help destinations be better prepared for a new market framework and allow them to use data and digital marketing to reach new audiences and restart their tourism sectors." Nicolai Gerard, Facebook EMEA Government Politics & NonProfit Marketing Solution Director said: We are very pleased to work with UNWTO to help global destinations take advantage of all the benefits that digital solutions and tools can offered. In the times we are living, it is key for the travel industry to implement digital marketing strategies to accelerate the road to recovery. With this partnership, we believe that travel destinations will gain the necessary tools and skills that will allow them to use all the services available through our family of apps. - TradeArabia News Service In support of the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital, the countrys first well-equipped private oncology centre, GE Healthcare has completed the delivery and installation of advanced radiology and radiopharmacy equipment in Nigeria which will accelerate diagnostic care for cancer. Founded by renowned physician, Modupe Elebute-Odunsi, and her financier husband, Bolaji Odunsi, MRCC combines the highest standard of care with the latest treatments and technology in comfortable surroundings designed to promote healing. The clinically trained members of the founding team all qualified from medical colleges in Nigeria and completed postgraduate training specialized in oncology and hematology overseas. The exceptional team of highly skilled personnel includes consultant medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, family physicians, radiation therapists, nurses, pharmacists, imaging technicians, laboratory scientists, nutritionists, counsellors, and healthcare administrations, working together to treat and care for patients. Supporting the planning, development, building, and equipping of the oncology diagnostic and treatment facility at MRCC, GE Healthcare is providing the comprehensive suite of solutions such as the award-winning Senographe Pristina 3D, the first patient-assisted compression device in mammography; the advanced LOGIQ F8 ultrasound, the comprehensive radiation therapy solution Discovery RT; and the BRIVO XR575 X-Ray and OEC 785-C Arm, two easy-to-use systems that deliver superior image quality. All of MRCCs medical professionals have completed advanced training on the machines. Commenting on the Facility, Modupe-Odunsi, said: We built the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital to help address the gap in the treatment and diagnosis of cancer in Nigeria. Patients who previously would have had to travel abroad to receive world-class treatment are now able to get the critical care they need here at home. Early detection is vital to the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. The Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist hospital has finalized partnerships with the leading healthcare insurance providers in Nigeria including BUPA, Allianz, AXA Mansard, AETNA, CIGNA and UnitedHealth Group. Bolaji Odunsi, Co-Founder, commented: We are delighted to see our vision of the MRCC finally come to life. Our mission was simple: bring together an exceptional team of Nigerian medical professionals with international training and experience to deliver the highest quality care to patients here in Nigeria. This expertise supported by new technology now makes world-class treatment here in Nigeria possible and affordable. Eyong Ebai, General Manager of GE Healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa, said: We are proud to continue supporting the development of Nigerias healthcare infrastructure. Our partnership with the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital is a true landmark as it underlines the role that the private sector can play in delivering world-class healthcare delivery in the country. These new solutions are designed to expand capacity and improve quality for diagnosis and treatment at MRCC and help meet the needs of the community within the country and region. According to a study by the World Health Organization it is possible to prevent a third of cancer cases and treat many other cases with early diagnosis and treatment. The latest statistics reveal that cancer accounts for 18.2% of premature deaths attributable to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and in 2018, of the 115,950 cancer cases reported, 70,327 patients did not survive. GE Healthcare is a long-term partner in building Nigerias healthcare infrastructure and continues to provide external expertise in hospital design, hospital planning, and training. More than 5,800 GE Healthcare technologies are deployed in hospitals and clinics across the country. About Dr Modupe Elebute MBBS MD FRCP FRCPath Co-Founder and CEO, Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital Dr Elebute is a consultant haemato-oncologist. She qualified from the College of Medicine, the University of Lagos in 1986 following which she completed postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Haemato-Oncology at centres of excellence in London, including St Bartholomews Hospital, St Georges Hospital and The Royal Marsden. She received a prestigious fellowship from the Leukaemia Research Fund and gained a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of London for her ground-breaking work. In the UK, Dr Elebute held Consultant and Honorary Senior Lecturer posts at St Georges Hospital, the National Blood Service, and was Clinical Lead for a Specialist service funded by the UK Department of Health at Kings College Hospital. She also had a well-established private practice at the Spire and Lister Hospitals. About Bolaji Odunsi Co-Founder and Chairman, Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital Mr Odunsi is a Co-Founder and partner between 2002 and 2018 of Stirling Square Capital Partners, a leading midmarket European private equity firm. He is a Non-Executive Director of UAC Group of Nigeria PLC and Interswitch Limited. Mr Odunsi graduated in Civil Engineering from Kings College, University of London in 1984 and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. About Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre and Specialist Hospital ADVERTISEMENT The hospital opened to provide world-class, one-stop services for the comprehensive treatment of cancer and other special conditions. At the purpose-built premises on Victoria Island, Lagos, the team offers the highest standards of care with the latest treatments and technology, in comfortable surroundings designed to promote healing. The hospital is named in honour of the co-founders mother/mother-in-law, Mrs. Marcelle Ruth Odunsi (1931-1998), previously Vice-Principal, Igbobi College, Lagos, and Founding Principal, Government College, Agege. For more information please visit www.marcelleruth.com. About GE Healthcare GE Healthcare is the $16.7 billion healthcare business of GE (NYSE: GE). As a leading global medical technology and digital solutions innovator, GE Healthcare enables clinicians to make faster, more informed decisions through intelligent devices, data analytics, applications, and services, supported by its Edison Ecosystem. With over 100 years of healthcare industry experience and around 50,000 employees globally, the company operates at the center of an ecosystem working toward precision health, digitizing healthcare, helping to drive productivity, and improve outcomes for patients, providers, health systems, and researchers around the world. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Insights, or visit our website www.gehealthcare.com for more information. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 23) Two Muntinlupa courts granted detained senator Leila De Lima an immediate furlough or leave for three days to get a medical examination after she experienced headaches and weakness, which her doctor said could be a mild stroke. An order from the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 stated that after an evaluation, De Lima's on-call physician Dr. Meophilia Santos-Cao "left an impression" that the lawmaker experienced a transient ischemic attack or a mild stroke and prescribed to get an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) which was not available at the Philippine National Police General Hospital. The court initially allowed De Lima to start her furlough on Saturday, but Regional Trial Court Branch 256 later modified the order to permit her to leave at the soonest time possible after a review of her motion. The recent order noted that De Lima had been experiencing symptoms since April 20. The jail warden of the police's Custodial Service Unit was likewise ordered to bring De Lima to the Manila Doctors Hospital, during which no media interviews shall be entertained. The court also told De Lima's lawyers to submit a report on the senator's medical status before the furlough ends. De Lima also took a one-day medical furlough in February to get a check-up. The 61-year-old senator has been detained since 2017 on drug-related charges, which she describes as trumped up. One of the three charges against her has since been dismissed. Prince William has paid tribute to the 'indomitable spirit' and 'courage' of Australian and New Zealand forces as he marked Anzac Day in London. William and his wife Kate will be among a reduced number attending a dawn service at Wellington Arch on Sunday morning and later the Anzac Day Service at Westminster Abbey. 'This Anzac Day, Catherine and I join Australians and New Zealanders across the world to remember and honour the service men and women of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps,' the Duke of Cambridge said. 'Today we stand together to reflect not only on their sacrifices, but also their courage, sense of duty, and their famously indomitable spirit. William and his wife Kate (pictured on Wednesday) will be among a reduced number attending a dawn service at Wellington Arch on Sunday morning 'Though many will still be unable to come together in person this year, we are heartened in the knowledge that Australians and New Zealanders will continue to commemorate those who have given so much for our freedoms. 'The Anzac qualities of endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour and mateship are admired as fiercely as ever before. 'Lest we forget.' William's words were sent in a message to the New Zealand and Australian High Commissions in London, along with some Anzac biscuits. Anzac Day has been commemorated in London since the first anniversary of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli when King George V attended a service at Westminster Abbey. Since then, the services have become an important moment for thousands of expatriates and visiting New Zealanders and Australians. Prince William sent a special pack of traditional Anzac biscuits (pictured, right) to the Australia and New Zealand High Commissions in London, along with a note (left) The Governor is under pressure from political parties and social groups to order the postponement of the elections as, otherwise, the lives of thousands of people would be at risk. DC file photo Hyderabad: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday sought a detailed report from the State Election Commission on the holding of polls for the Warangal and Khammam municipal corporations and five municipalities that has been scheduled for April 30. The Governor, who is presently in Puducherry, called State Election Commissioner C. Partha Sarathi and discussed the polls amidst media reports on the rapid increase in Covid-19 positive cases due to public gatherings in connection with the polls. She was also reacting to representations made by the Opposition parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress urging that the elections be postponed. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy wrote a letter to the Governor to stop the elections to the urban local bodies in view of the pandemic and the Supreme Court itself declaring it as a national emergency. Official sources told this correspondent that the Governor was concerned about the safety of people and wanted to know the measures taken by the SEC to ensure that the political parties strictly follow Covid 19 restrictions. The Governor is under pressure from political parties and social groups to order the postponement of the elections as, otherwise, the lives of thousands of people would be at risk. The SEC is said to have briefed the Governor about various precautions taken by the commission including making social distancing and mask mandatory for voters on polling day. He referred to the Panchayat Raj Act necessitating the SEC to take concurrence of the state government on conducting polls. He explained that the campaign in municipal polls was very localised. When contacted, Partha Sarathi said he was constantly monitoring with collectors and top police officials on whether or not the candidates were following Covid regulations. There are no public meetings, he said adding that the campaign would end three days before polls instead of the regular 48 hours. Elections are held in West Bengal also with all precautions and there are no precedents of elections being postponed after notification was issued, he added. ADVERTISEMENT Although the Nigeria Army says it inflicted heavy casualties on Boko Haram/ISWAP fighters who launched an attack on Geidam, Yobe State on Friday, a federal lawmaker disputes this. The lawmaker said the insurgents were still in charge of the town while Governor Mai Mala Buni has called for more military presence in Geidam and the northern part of Yobe. The spokesperson of the army, Mohammed Yerima, in a press release Saturday evening, had attributed the success of the operation to the air component of Operation Lafiya Dole. He said a gun-truck and assorted weapons were recovered from the insurgents during the fight. He also commended the efforts of the soldiers for successfully engaging the insurgents. Not true? However, the lawmaker representing Geidam, Yunusari and Bursari Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Lawan Shettima, said the insurgents were still in control of Geidam town. Authoritatively I can tell you that these insurgents have taken over Geidam. You can see the videos and the pictures as they move about burning what they want, Mr Shettima said. The lawmaker also said his constituents have been under the mercy of Boko Haram for more than 24 hours without any credible challenge. My people are helpless, you cant imagine that as a full Nigerian citizen you can be at the mercy of Boko Haram for the past 24 hours and nobody cares to do anything about it. They will send jet that will go and bomb innocent people instead of the Boko Haram. This is the kind of thing that is going on now. The military formation that is stationed there does not care to react to what is happening or to counter them. They military are sitting at the western side of the town while Boko Haram are busy moving round town destroying government structures and other things belonging to our people, attacking or harassing innocent people sent out of their houses. The only word I can use here is that people are helpless in their motherland. This is very terrible, he said. Buni seek special military intervention Meanwhile. Governor Mai Mala Buni has sought for special military intervention to safeguard Geidam and other communities bordering Borno State to the North. The governor, through a statement by his spokesperson, Mamman Mohammed, commiserated with the people of Geidam over the attack on the town. He added that efforts were being intensified to curb the incessant attacks. The governor said he had since Friday been liaising with security authorities to find a lasting solution to the resurgence of attacks on the community. He promised to work closely and support the security agencies to find a new approach to safeguarding the lives and property of the citizenry. His Excellency has urged people of the state to use the holy month of Ramadan to continue to pray for Allahs mercy for the state and country to have a lasting peace. Gov Buni has equally directed the State Emergency Management Agency SEMA to provide the people with relief materials, the statement said. (CNN) US President Joe Biden will embark upon his first foreign trip in June, the White House said on Friday, with plans to attend the Group of 7 summit in southwestern England and diplomatic meetings in Brussels. Any president's first venture abroad is closely watched for its symbolic nod to foreign policy priorities. Biden's plans amount to a sign that after a tumultuous period under President Donald Trump, transatlantic ties are at the forefront of his agenda. Despite his long-standing interest in foreign policy, Biden hasn't yet ventured outside the United States since becoming president, as Covid-19 limited travel overseas. Typically, new presidents begin foreign travel a few months into office. But as vaccinations ramp up in the US and abroad, aides are laying plans for Biden to leave the country. This year's G7 summit is hosted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and will be held along the Cornish coast. Biden has engaged with the other leaders in the group by telephone, in virtual meetings and in one in-person visit with Japan's prime minister. But the summit will be his first time greeting them all together in person. His presence is likely to produce a more relaxed atmosphere than when Trump was at the table. Over the course of summits in Sicily, Quebec and the Atlantic coast of France, Trump was a consistently disruptive presence, haggling with his counterparts over climate change, global trade and the prospect of re-inviting Russia to join the group. By the end of his presidency, Trump questioned whether he really needed to attend, deeming the summits a waste of time. Biden, meanwhile, joined a virtual G7 meeting early in his tenure and has voiced a desire to reinvigorate the gathering of the world's leading economies. In its announcement, the White House said Biden at the summit would "reinforce our commitment to multilateralism, work to advance key U.S. policy priorities on public health, economic recovery, and climate change, and demonstrate solidarity and shared values among major democracies." He'll also meet independently with Johnson and some of the other G7 countries, which include the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. In Brussels, Biden plans to attend a NATO summit, which the defense alliance formally announced on Thursday. He'll also participate in a summit with leaders from the European Union, also headquartered in the Belgian capital. That, too, will likely look markedly different from Trump's first appearance at NATO headquarters, where his antagonism was neatly illustrated when he shoved aside the Montenegrin Prime Minister before a photo-op. "This trip will highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure America's interests," the White House said. Not on the schedule, at least for now, is a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Biden has invited for talks this summer in Europe. Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the prospective summit with his Russian counterpart this week but told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview that details like the date, location and agenda had yet to be settled. In its statement announcing Biden's trip, the White House said "potential additional elements" could be tacked on later. For decades, it had been traditional for a new president to visit either Canada or Mexico as his first foreign trip. But Trump abandoned that, and Biden has been restricted in his travels by the pandemic. Trump's first foreign destination was Saudi Arabia, with subsequent stops in Israel and Europe. He and his aides framed the trip around visiting the capitals of three major religions: Islam, Judaism and Christianity. President Barack Obama, after visiting Canada early in his term, made stops at a G20 summit in the UK and NATO meetings in Strasbourg during his first major foreign trip. But he went onwards to Turkey and a surprise visit to Iraq, a reflection of the Middle East's pull on his foreign policy even as he and his aides sought to focus more on Asia. Biden, too, is hoping to shift resources and focus away from the Middle East and other long-term American concerns, including the war in Afghanistan. This story has been updated with additional information. This story was first published on CNN.com "Biden set to make first foreign trip in June to UK and Belgium". Jack Phillips faces third lawsuit over refusal to make gender transition cake Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Christian baker Jack Phillips of Colorado is facing a third lawsuit over his refusal on religious grounds to make certain cakes, the latest legal battle for the Masterpiece Cakeshop owner. Transgender woman Autumn Scardina filed a second lawsuit against Phillips last Wednesday in District Court for the city and county of Denver, Colorado. In the new lawsuit, Scardina claimed that Phillips violated Colorados Anti-Discrimination Act and Consumer Protection Act by refusing to bake what the plaintiff labeled a birthday cake. The birthday cake as described in the lawsuit, which was to be blue on the outside and pink on the inside, was supposed to symbolize Scardinas transition from male to female. Scardina is being represented by attorneys Paula Greisen and John McHugh. In an interview with local outlet CBS 4, Greisen said that the dignity of all citizens in our state needs to be honored. Masterpiece Cakeshop said before the Supreme Court they would serve any baked good to members of the LGBTQ community. It was just the religious significance of it being a wedding cake, claimed Greisen. We dont believe theyve been honest with the public. Jim Campbell, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented Phillips in his past litigation, said in a statement that was mere harassment. A new lawsuit has been filed against Masterpiece Cakeshop that appears to largely rehash old claims. The State of Colorado abandoned similar ones just a few months ago, stated Campbell, as reported by CBS. So this latest attack by Scardina looks like yet another desperate attempt to harass cake artist Jack Phillips. And it stumbles over the one detail that matters most: Jack serves everyone; he just cannot express all messages through his custom cakes. Over the past few years, Phillips and his Masterpiece Cakeshop have been the subject of litigation aimed at forcing the baker to provide services for events that he is opposed to for religious reasons. Last year, the United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission that Colorados Civil Rights Commission was wrong to punish Phillips for refusing to make a same-sex wedding cake. The Supreme Court ruled that the Commission violated Phillips' right to free exercise of religion due to the bias showed in their application of civil rights law. To describe a man's faith as 'one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric that people can use' is to disparage his religion in at least two distinct ways: by describing it as despicable, and also by characterizing it as merely rhetoricalsomething insubstantial and even insincere, wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority. This sentiment is inappropriate for a Commission charged with the solemn responsibility of fair and neutral enforcement of Colorado's anti-discrimination lawa law that protects discrimination on the basis of religion as well as sexual orientation. Soon after, Scardina filed a complaint with the Commission against Phillips over his refusal to make a cake celebrating Scarindas gender transition. In response, Phillips sued Colorado last August. In March, Colorado and Phillips both agreed to drop their respective litigation, with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser stating that both sides agreed it was not in anyones best interest to move forward with these cases. The larger constitutional issues might well be decided down the road, but these cases will not be the vehicle for resolving them, said Weiser earlier this year. Equal justice for all will continue to be a core value that we will uphold as we enforce our states and nations civil rights laws. The third lawsuit is allowed because the agreement between Colorado and Phillips provided Scardina the right to pursue separate litigation against the Christian baker. When four Black City Council candidates arrived at Rogers Park on Friday morning, they were greeted with vandalism. Tents and equipment belonging to Beaumont mayoral candidates Robin Mouton and Lashon Proctor, Ward II candidate Miles Haynes and Ward IV candidate Charles Durio, Jr. had been damaged. In one of the damaged set-ups, pieces of concrete that had been holding down a tent were broken and the legs of the tent itself had been snapped. All four candidates are Black, and their tents were located in different parts of the campaigning set up, next to others that saw no damage. While not all equipment belonging to candidates of color was damaged, no equipment belonging to white candidates saw the same fate. Beaumont police investigators were on the scene Friday morning, talking with candidates and volunteers. A BPD spokesperson said investigators were looking to talk with any who has information or video related to the incident. Related: Early Voting kicks off with quiet first day Ward II Councilman Mike Getz, who is running to be re-elected to the seat, said he plans to talk to the council about getting cameras and WiFi installed at the citys parks with community centers. Instead of pointing fingers or diving headfirst into looking for the culprits, candidates those who saw damage and those who were spared worked together to repair the setup and move forward. This is a bully tactic. Its unfortunate, but they want to shift the narrative away from getting people to come out and vote. Im not going to give into them, Haynes said. Voter turnout is low, and thats about as disappointing as my tent being vandalized. We need people to come out and vote. Through Friday, 4,733 people had voted in polling places across the city of Beaumont. In 2017, 6,636 Beaumont residents voted early, and in 2019, 9,681 residents voted early. Teej Rodman, 2019 at-large candidate speaking on behalf of at-large candidate A.J. Turner, said he sees the destruction as a manifestation of the racial tension and division in the city that hasnt been confronted. Top hits: Get Beaumont Enterprise stories sent directly to your inbox Like the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol or the election of Donald Trump after Barack Obama, he said the vandalism seen at Rogers Park on Friday seems to be the last gasp of air of an old guard still clinging to power the last grasp of white nationalism, white power, white anger. However, watching all of the candidates come together to help fix the tents gave him hope that the next council that will be voted into office will bring the city together. He noted that the candidate slate gives voters the opportunity to elect three people of color to the body making the council more representative of the community it serves. Nearly 47% of the citys residents are Black and 46% are white, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. But only two members of the seven-seat elected body are Black. Current At-large Councilman Randy Feldschau, who is running to be re-elected to his seat, said he wants to see Fridays deplorable behavior become a push to achieve real racial reconciliation across the city. We need leaders that will set the example of the kind of behavior were looking for, he said. Maybe this situation can become a positive in the sense that it will bring us to the table to have an honest conversation and address the bigger picture of what we all know is happening in Beaumont and has happened for many years. kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/KaitlinBain American multinational technology conglomerate will be releasing a preview version of its upcoming Office 2021 for the Mac and Office LTSC this week. According to The Verge, while Office LTSC (Long-Term Servicing Channel) will be designed for commercial customers, both versions will be perpetual versions of Office that won't rely on subscriptions or the cloud. had announced its plans for Office 2021 back in February, and a Windows version as well, which won't be available in preview, but will be released later this year. Office 2021 for Mac will support both Apple Silicon and Intel-based Macs and will require at least 4GB of RAM and 10GB of storage space. It's designed to be a static release of Office, but during the preview, there will be monthly updates that could include new features. Once Office 2021 for Mac is final and released, no new features will be added. Its current improvements include: - Line Focus, this feature removes distractions to let Word users move through a document line by line. - XLOOKUP, an Excel feature that lets you find things in a table or range by row. - Dynamic array support in Excel, which has new functions for dynamic arrays in spreadsheets. - Record a slide show with narration in PowerPoint. As per The Verge', Microsoft's Office LTSC variant will also include things like dark mode support, accessibility improvements, and the same Dynamic Arrays and XLOOKUP features found in Excel 2021 for Mac. Office 2021 for Windows will include similar features. (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.) Indianapolis, IN (46208) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 68F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. DHA unveils final solicitation for $1.4B workforce contract The final solicitation was released Thursday for the Defense Health Agencys $1.4 billion Workforce 3.0 contract. DHAs Program Executive Office Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS) has created the contract to turn the agency into what it calls a world-class technology organization. To do that, it needs a workforce that can bring innovation to how it develops and procures health care products and solutions. Workforce 3.0s role in that mission is to provide a vehicle for training and maintaining the workforce so it has cutting-edge skills around engineering, design and data science capabilities and access to companies that supplement those capabilities. Those capabilities are critical to driving innovative procurement methods and attracting new, commercial technologies to the government market, DHMS has said. In its Beta.Sam.gov posting, DHMS described a strong health care system as critical to the nation for the economy, military readiness and to support veterans. A healthy society is the engine for these activities, the agency wrote. Companies have until May 24 to submit proposals. DHMS is tasked with fielding the single electronic health record to the Defense Department through the contract with Cerner. But while a massive undertaking, that is not the agencys sole charter. Workforce 3.0 focuses on health management, advanced data applications, improved usability, reduced provider and patient burdens, and other priorities. The contract will drive the talent pool that will support and implement that vision, but government workers alone cannot achieve that result. This contract will form the relationships with industry necessary to deliver those capabilities; subject matter expertise; and related studies, assessments, plans, and models, DHMS wrote. Workforce 3.0 will be a managed solution to deliver digital workforce capabilities. The contract will have two lots and companies can only hold a prime position in one lot. Lot 1 will likely be a single award and that team will be responsible for program management functions and delivery of a new workforce paradigm. The prime contractor in Lot 1 cannot be a subcontractor in Lot 2. Lot 2 will be multiple-award, then companies compete on task orders to take on specific projects. Bidders will need to clear five gates or factors. Factor 1 will have bidders submit information on disruptive outcomes, product prowess and talent management. Factor 2 will be a description of their transformation approach, including small business participation. Factor 3 is something DHMS calls the "Behavior Model." Factor 4 is the price proposal. Factor 5 is a challenge scenario, which will be a recording of a live response to a challenge scenario. Bidders must clear Factor 1 before moving to Factor 2, which they must pass through to move to Factor 3 and so on. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 20:38:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RAMALLAH, April 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland Saturday called on Israel and Palestine to avoid escalation in East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. "I condemn all such acts of violence, and I reiterate my call upon all sides to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further escalation, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan," he said in a press statement sent to Xinhua. Over the past two days, violent clashes broke out in East Jerusalem between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police forces during their protests against assaults of extreme Israeli groups in the city. In support of the protests in East Jerusalem, militant groups, including the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), fired a barrage of more than 35 rockets and projectiles from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel. Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said Israeli fighter jets struck early Saturday military posts and facilities that belong to militant groups in Gaza in response to the rockets fire. "I am alarmed by the recent escalations in Jerusalem and around Gaza," Wennesland said. "The provocative acts across Jerusalem must cease and the launch of rockets toward Israeli population centers must stop." Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 23:03:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- For a long time, many of the poor and vulnerable communities across Zambia viewed access to justice as a preserve of the elite and privileged in society. To this end, many people were often denied justice because of not being able to afford the services of a lawyer. However, this situation is slowly changing because of the coming on board of paralegals, who are now offering a range of legal services to the indigent and marginalized populations in the country. In Zambia, paralegals are individuals that have received basic training in law and human rights. They are found in townships and villages, at correctional facilities and police station desks, or at legal advice desks run by civil society organizations. They work to provide free legal aid services to members of the public, the majority of whom are poor. The primary duties of paralegals are to provide basic legal education, legal information, mediation, orientation and referrals. While some work in established law firms, the majority of them belong to organizations affiliated to Paralegal Alliance Network (PAN), which is an umbrella organization that provides coordination services for legal aid service providers in Zambia. For many low-income communities in Zambia, the term paralegal is now synonymous with access to justice because of the role paralegal officers are playing in ensuring vulnerable populations have access to justice. Conversations with beneficiaries of free legal aid services offered by paralegals in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia as well as Kabwe, central Zambia revealed that communities are increasingly appreciative of these foot soldiers' work. A case in point is 20-year-old Margan Mulenga, a young farmer in rural Kabwe, who recounted how a paralegal office helped him recover properties that were grabbed from him after the death of his father. Mulenga said a paralegal officer helped him understand what the law provides in a situation like his. Upon learning his entitlements, Mulenga went on to seek redress in a court of law, a move that saw him regain his inheritance. And Monica Zulu, a small-scale trader based in Lusaka, said a paralegal officer helped her secure child support for her two children whose father had abandoned his responsibility. Zulu narrated how a paralegal officer arranged for a meeting with the father of her two children, which resulted in him (the father) agreeing to take responsibility. "It has been two years and the father of my children has provided support since," an elated Zulu revealed. Tomaida Ziba, a paralegal officer based in Chipata, eastern Zambia, observes that more and more people are gaining knowledge about their rights as a result of the many outreach programs conducted by paralegals. "We now have a lot of people reporting cases of human rights abuses in the Eastern Province. This was not the case a decade ago. Communities are now aware of a range of human rights issues," explained Ziba, an officer with Eastern Province Women Development Association. She further added that the presence of paralegal officers, who work hand in hand with local authorities in rural places, has also enabled rural communities to prevent a range of child and women rights abuses that are often rife in low-income environments. Sefelino Mangimela, a paralegal office working with Prison Care and Counseling Association explained that the justice system and the courts, in particular, are becoming less congested because of mediation and negotiation services being offered at paralegals across the country. "Many members of the public are now aware that it is not every case that has to be taken to the court of law. Some disputes can be settled through mediation and negotiation. That alone helps to decongest the justice system," said Mangimela. He was, however, quick to point out that while paralegals are able to offer for free a range of legal aid services that one would otherwise pay for in some settings, they do not exist to take the place of qualified lawyers, who by law are mandated to represent a person in a court of law. Mangimela's sentiments were echoed by his royal Highness Chief Chikwanda of Chikwanda Village in Mpika district, Northern Zambia who further pointed out that human rights education programs were helping bring about desirable transformation in rural areas as they encourage people to participate in development processes. "Chikwanda Gender Justice Foundation, an initiative of royal administration, decided to incorporate paralegals in its programs and that has worked well for the community in terms of fostering human rights and development. To this end, we have witnessed a reduction in a range of gender-based violence cases in the chiefdom," the traditional leader revealed. And Paralegal Alliance Network Coordinator Phillip Sabuni reiterated the fact that many members of the public are becoming aware of the services offered by paralegals as evidenced by the increase in the number of people seeking help from paralegal desks across the country. "It is good to note that paralegals in Zambia are now recognized both by the law and the legal aid policy. The recognition shows that their work is of great help to the justice system and communities," Sabuni asserted. Enditem New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High 89F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low around 75F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Tammy Hembrow's relationship with Ironman Matt Poole has grown from strength to strength. And after a slew of big celebrations for her 27th birthday this week, the social media sensation opted for a relaxed end of the week with her beau and her children. On Friday, she shared a sweet photo on Instagram of her son Wolf, five, and daughter Saskia, four - who she shares with ex-fiance, Reece Hawkins - hugging Matt. Sweet: Tammy Hembrow said her 'heart is full' as she shared a sweet photo of her children embracing her Ironman boyfriend Matt Poole on Friday Tammy, who turned 27 on Thursday, wrote in the caption of her post: '2nite heart and tummy full.' Matt replied back: 'Love you, love them,' to which she sweetly responded: 'We love you.' Elsewhere in the post, she shared a series of photos of herself, putting on a busty display in a green crop top and high waisted jeans. Hugs all around! She shared a sweet photo of her son Wolf, five, and daughter Saskia, four - who she shares with ex-fiance, Reece Hawkins - hugging Matt Keeping it cute! Tammy wrote in the caption of her post: '2nite heart and tummy full'. Matt replied back: 'Love you, love them,' to which she sweetly responded: 'We love you' The fitness mogul accessorised with a Dior shoulder bag and sneakers. Tammy and Matt appeared to have a enjoyed a date night out together as she shared a picture of the delicious looking desserts. Her Instagram post comes after she, her beau and her children enjoyed the afternoon together at the beach. Racy! Elsewhere in the post she shared a series of photos of herself on Instagram, putting on a busty display in a green crop top and high waisted jeans, accessorised with a Dior shoulder bag and sneakers Yum! The couple appeared to have a enjoyed a date night out together as she shared a picture of the delicious looking desserts The foursome where headed back home when they began to play a cute follow-the-leader game, which Tammy shared on her Instagram Story. Matt led the group on the stroll and swerved left to right on the foot path as Wolf and Saskia adorably followed his shadow. The sweet outing comes after she hinted that she wants to have a baby with Matt. Following the leader: The foursome where headed back home after a day at the beach when they began to play a cute game, which Tammy shared on her Instagram Story. Matt led the group as Wolf and Saskia adorably followed his shadow Earlier this year, she shared a sweet throwback photo of her son Wolf when he was a baby, and admitted: 'Okay I want another one.' She then followed that with a cheeky video of her unassuming beau Matt, who was clearly unaware of her post, as she giggled at him. 'Looking at you buddy,' the Instagram sensation wrote in the caption. Reminiscing: The sweet outing comes after she hinted that she wants to have a baby with Matt. Earlier this year, she shared a sweet throwback photo of her son Wolf when he was a baby, and admitted: 'Okay I want another one' Hint, hint! She followed that with a cheeky video of her unassuming beau Matt (pictured), who was clearly unaware of her post, as she giggled at him. 'Looking at you buddy,' the Instagram sensation wrote Tammy and her ex-fiance Reece split acrimoniously in 2018, but have since moved forward as co-parents. Tammy spoke about her newly-improved relationship with Reece in a YouTube video last year, telling fans: 'We're friends'. After the split, Reece moved on with his Instagram model wife, London Goheen. They recently welcomed a son named Stone. Moving on: Tammy and her ex-fiance Reece split acrimoniously in 2018. Now they co-parent their two children. After the split, Reece moved on with his Instagram model wife, London Goheen. They recently welcomed a son named Stone Tammy has also moved on, debuting her new relationship with surf lifesaver Matt Poole in September during a trip to the Whitsundays. That same month, Matt also made his debut in a video on Tammy's YouTube channel, in which he confessed to saying 'I love you' first. The pair met at an event in Bali in 2019. A woman will face court accused of stabbing a teenager at the wheel of his car during an apparent ambush attack after the pair met online. Police say the 19-year-old drove to a street at Casula, in Sydney's southwest, to meet a woman he had been communicating with on social media, on Thursday night. As she entered the passenger seat, however, three armed men approached the rear of the Subaru. The girl who stabbed a 19 year old driver at Casula was refused bail and appeared at Parramatta Local Court on Saturday As the youth accelerated to escape, the woman allegedly produced a knife and stabbed him in the stomach. Injured, the man crashed into a parked trailer and two parked cars before fleeing his own vehicle and jumping a fence into a nearby street where he was found and helped by a resident who then dialled triple zero. The man was taken to Liverpool Hospital and underwent surgery. He remains in a serious but stable condition. Liverpool detectives arrested a 20-year-old woman at a home in Casula on Friday afternoon and charged her with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. She was refused bail to appear before Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said President Joe Biden's first 100 days 'have been impressive' and 'exceeded' the expectations of Democrat progressives. The New York congresswoman said during a virtual town hall meeting: 'The Biden administration and President Biden have definitely exceeded expectations that progressives had. 'I'll be frank, I think a lot of us expected a much more conservative administration. 'While there are areas of just plain disagreement, I think that the actual conduct of the administration has been in good faith and active incorporation of progressives.' AOC specifically praised the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to help the country recover from the coronavirus pandemic. But she said the infrastructure legislation that's being shaped right now will be will be a 'key indicator' if the administration is 'raising its ambitions or if the ARP was a one and done situation.' She said: I think the infrastructure bill is too small. I have real concerns that the actual dollars and cents, and programmatic allocations of the bill, don't meet the ambition of that vision, of what's being sold. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised President Joe Biden's first 100 days, which is officially next week, during a virtual town hall. Ocasio-Cortez said last month that Biden's massive $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal isn't 'nearly enough', as far-left Democrats demand the president increase that spending up to $10 trillion. 'This is not nearly enough,' Ocasio-Cortez lamented on Twitter. 'The important context here is that it's $2.25T spread out over 10 years,' the progressive New York Democratic congresswoman continued. 'For context, the COVID package was $1.9T for this year *alone,* with some provisions lasting 2 years.' Ocasio-Cortez concluded: 'Needs to be way bigger.' Joe Biden boards Marine One as he headed home to Delaware for the weekend on Saturday Recently, Ocasio-Cortez was mocked by right-wing officials after she suggested that climate change is a product of racial injustice during the relaunch of her controversial Green New Deal. With Green Week upon us, she took seized the opportunity to speak in front of the Capitol to promote her plan and said climate change must be viewed through the lens of race. 'Which means that we must recognize in legislation that the trampling of indigenous rights is a cause of climate change, that the trampling of racial justice is a cause of climate change,' she said. 'Because we are allowing people, and we are allowing ourselves, to deny ourselves human rights and deny people the right to health care, the right to housing and education.' Her conservative critics teed off. Mike Berg, deputy communications director for the Republican National Convention, simply tweeted: 'Wut?' in reaction to her speech. Commentator Mark Steyn appeared on Fox News on Wednesday night and called it 'rubbish' and laughable. The host, Tucker Carlson agreed. A report released on February 23 by two prominent criminologists highlights the brutality with which the Canadian state treats those held in federal penitentiaries. The report exposed, in particular, the phony nature of the measures the Justin Trudeau Liberal government has implemented with the purported aim of abolishing solitary confinement under pressure from prisoner support groups, human rights organizations and, ultimately, the courts. A solitary confinement cell at the Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick in 2017 (Credit: Office of the Correctional Investigator) Entitled Solitary Confinement, Torture, and Canadas Structured Intervention Units, the report by Anthony Doob of the University of Toronto and Jane Sprott of Ryerson University concludes that Canada, despite the Trudeau governments assertions to the contrary, continues to practice solitary confinement in federal penitentiaries, which amounts to torture by another name. According to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules), solitary confinement is the confinement of prisoners for 22 hours or more a day without meaningful human contact. The Nelson Mandela Rules state that solitary confinement should be used only in exceptional cases as a last resort and be prohibited for persons with mental or physical disabilities. Prolonged solitary confinement, that is, for more than 15 consecutive days, constitutes torture according to the UN. In 2018 and 2019, rulings by the Ontario Court of Appeal and the British Columbia Court of Appeal declared that the method used by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) under the euphemism of administrative segregation constituted solitary confinement within the meaning of the Nelson Mandela Rules and cruel and unusual punishment. The latter is expressly prohibited under Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The courts also ruled as unconstitutional the provisions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act that authorized administrative segregation without limiting the duration of segregation to 15 days or less and without providing a mechanism for independent oversight and review of segregation decisions. The courts description of administrative segregation is shocking: inmates are confined for 22 hours a day in cells as small as seven square meters and often without windows, with no meaningful human contact and no access to the physical, social, and intellectual activities of the prison, nor to assistance or rehabilitation programs. It is not uncommon for prisoners to remain incarcerated in these conditions for hundreds of days. There is evidence of prisoners being held in solitary confinement for 1,000 days and, in one case, 6,000 days (over 16 years). According to experts heard by the courts, solitary confinement causes severe and terrible psychological effects, some of which can be permanent. Specific harms include anxiety, withdrawal, hypersensitivity, cognitive dysfunction, hallucinations, irritability, aggression, rage, paranoia, hopelessness, and feelings of impending emotional breakdown. Individuals in solitary confinement are at increased risk for self-harm, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. In 2007, a 19-year-old inmate, Ashley Smith, hanged herself in her isolation cell in a federal penitentiary in Ontario while four guards looked on. They did not intervene, as they had been ordered not to enter the cell until she stopped breathing so that she would not seek attention. At the time of her death, the young woman had spent 11.5 months in solitary confinement. Various reports and investigations concluded that her death was preventable and constituted a homicide. In 2010, a 22-year-old aboriginal man named Edward Snowshoe hanged himself in his isolation cell at Edmonton Penitentiary in Alberta after spending 162 days there. Pressed by the public in the wake of these tragic cases and forced by court rulings to remedy the laws unconstitutionality, Justin Trudeaus federal Liberal government announced its intention to reform administrative segregation. On October 16, 2018, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale introduced Bill C-83, which was passed by Parliament on June 21, 2019, despite strong criticism from experts that the changes it brought were grossly inadequate. The Liberal reform is mere window dressing, with the main change to the legislation being purely semantic. New structured intervention units (SIU) replaced administrative segregation, without prohibiting the placement of mentally ill persons in them or seclusion periods exceeding 15 days. The restrictions and monitoring measures put in place are minimal, largely cosmetic, and not even respected by CSC. For example, the new legislation states that an inmate placed in an SIU should spend at least four hours a day outside his or her cell and should have an opportunity to interact with others for at least two hours a day. Yet the report by criminologists Doob and Sprott reveals that nearly 39 percent of inmates in SIUs do not have access to four hours outside their cells every day. For those who spend 16 or more days in the SIU, the four hours of out-of-cell time per day is not allocated for 76 percent of the days spent in segregation. Doob and Sprott also conclude that more than 28 percent of stays in SIUs still constitute solitary confinement since inmates do not have access to meaningful human contact for at least two hours per day, and that 10 percent are torture since these conditions last for at least 15 consecutive days. This represents hundreds of cases of cruel and unusual punishment and torture. Finally, Doob and Sprott also report that the independent committee established by the new legislation has no real oversight of SIUs and almost never intervenes to reverse a decision to place an inmate in segregation or to shorten its duration. The CSC has sought to impede any meaningful oversight of its use of SIUs, including by systematically failing to provide data on their use. For this reason, caution the experts, their report only scratches the surface of the problems associated with solitary confinement in Canadian penitentiaries. Due to the dearth of information a thorough review is simply not possible. The reaction to the February 23 report demonstrates the Canadian governments indifference to the revelations of torture and the CSCs resistance to any real change. The supposed progressive Trudeau made a terse statement that ending solitary confinement was important to his government and that he intended to move forward without specifying how or when. CSC falsely stated that SIUs were fundamentally different from the previous model of administrative segregation. It also blamed the inmates themselves, stating that often the failure to meet the daily requirement of four hours out of the cell occurs because the inmates refuse to avail themselves of the opportunity. If an inmate refuses to leave his or her cell for safety reasons, however, the responsibility lies with CSC. It should be providing a safe environment for all inmates without having to lock them up in a tiny cell virtually all day. But the reality is quite different. Life for the more than 13,000 people incarcerated in Canadas penitentiaries is unhealthy and dangerous. Food is inadequate and of very poor qualityCSC allocates a food budget of $5 per day per prisoner. Crime and violence are rampant. Mental health disorders are 2 to 3 times more prevalent than in the general population and about 60 percent of inmates may suffer from them. On average, more than 10 suicides occur each year in penitentiaries, a rate seven times higher than in the general population. In 2017, there were 70 drug overdoses. Along with the mentally ill, minorities are overrepresented in Canadian penitentiaries. Aboriginal people, who comprise about 4.3 percent of the Canadian population, make up 30 percent of the prison population. They are also more likely to be placed in isolation. Over the past few decades, all sections of the political establishmentfrom the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois to the social-democratic NDPhave been clamoring for tougher sentences. This shift is part of a rejection of the liberal-capitalist conception of rehabilitation. Rooted in the conquests of the Enlightenment, this conception was based, at least to some extent, on the understanding that violence and crime, as well as drug addiction with which they are often associated, have deep social roots. In the final analysis, solitary confinement and prison conditions in general are nothing more than an expression of the brutality of the Canadian capitalist state, along with militarism and police violence. The gargantuan security apparatus exists to suppress any social and political opposition to the monopolization of all social wealth by the financial oligarchy. It is an integral part of Canadian capitalism that cannot be reformed and must rather be overthrown along with it. A security team made up of officials of the Nigerian Army, the police and the State Security Service (SSS) has raided the headquarters of the Eastern security Network (ESN), the militant arm of the outlawed pro-Biafra group, IPOB. At least 11 people were killed in the ensuing battle including four security operatives and a man described as the second in command of the ESN, an official said. According to a statement by the army spokesperson, Mohammed Yerima, the second in command of the ESN, whose name was given as Ikonson Commander, was killed in the gun battle with the security team. Six other ESN commanders were also killed, he said. The statement also said sophisticated weapons and operational vehicles of the ESN were also recovered. The latest development is coming on the heels of attacks on police officers and police facilities, lately, in the South-east and South-south regions, which has compounded the security challenges in the two regions. Apart from more than a decade of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, several states in Nigeria have been struggling with kidnapping for ransom, banditry, frequent clashes between farmers and herders, and inter-communal conflicts. Due to the repeated attacks on security outfits in the two regions, the governors and heads of security agencies in the five states in the South-east had a regional summit on security, where they agreed to establish a joint security outfit to check the insecurity in the region. IPOB, a pro-Biafra group, has been accused of being responsible for some of the attacks against the police in the South-east, but the group has denied any involvement. According to the statement by the army, some of the terrorists who were arrested during the raid have confessed their complicity in the various attacks in the regions. It also stated that one army officer and three police men lost their lives in the process. Read full statement from the Army: SECURITY FORCES BUST IPOB/ESN OPERATIONAL HQ, NEUTRALISE IPOBS NO2 MAN A combined team of security forces led by troops of the Nigerian Army have raided the operational Headquarters of the IPOB/ESN terrorists in Awomama Village, Oru East LGA of Imo State. The early morning raid by troops of Nigerian Army, Nigerian Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) was launched in the early hours of Saturday 24 April, 2021, following a detailed intelligence report on the location of the terrorists Operational Headquarters and the movement of the overall Commander popularly known as Ikonson Commander. The IRT and DSS teams along with troops of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army have been on the trail of the terror group since the unfortunate attacks on the Imo State Police Command and the Owerri Correctional Center on 5 April 2021. The said Ikonson Commander who was the mastermind of those attacks in addition to multiple attacks in the South East and South South regions, was neutralised along with 6 of his top Commanders. The joint intelligence team had earlier interviewed several arrested IPOB/ESN terrorists in connection with the April 5 attacks and they all confessed that Ikonson Commander who was named as Vice President by their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was the one that mobilized men and resources as well as ordered and orchestrated the attacks on Owerri. They equally revealed that Ikonson was responsible for many other attacks on Police stations across the two geo-political zones. The intelligence team later tracked the IPOB/ESN top leader to his exact location in Awomama village where he (Ikonson) and his to Commanders were hibernating and plotting dastardly acts against the Nigerian state. On noticing the presence of the joint operations team, IPOB/ESN terrorists brought heavy volume of fire on the raiding team who swiftly responded and overwhelmed them with superior fire power that neutralised Ikonson and six of his top Commanders. Sadly however, a Second Lieutenant and three IRT operatives paid the supreme price in the fire fight that ensued. The four officers who fought gallantly have already been evacuated to a military facility in Owerri. ADVERTISEMENT So far, 3 AK 47 riffles, a Toyota Sienna van belonging to the terrorists and several other items of value including drugs suspected to be psychotropic substances were recovered and are being processed by the intelligence team to assist in further investigations and operations in the area. The joint security team is already dominating the general area while preparations for further operations are in top gear. The neutralised Ikonson Commander had in several occasions posed for photographs with the fugitive leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru has commended the troops, the Police IRT and DSS operatives for their determination in ensuring that the operation was a success. He prayed for the repose of the souls of the gallant officers who lost their lives in the operation, stressing that their sacrifice will never be in vain. The Nigerian Army along with other security agencies will sustain intelligence-based kinetic operations in the South East and South South until the regions are free of terrorist activities. Mohammed Yerima Brigadier General Director Army Public Relations 24 April, 2021 The hearing may not have been packed to the gills, but it was refreshing to hear how citizens, and not just elected leaders, want to spend the Read more NEW HAVEN Reporting a slack in demand for vaccines that protect against COVID-19, a top medical official with the Yale New Haven Health system said he is worried about the state reaching herd immunity. Right around 55 percent of the state vaccinated: half is there and half has not yet been vaccinated, said Yale New Haven Heath Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Thomas Balcezak. A slack in that demand tells us the second half of the state isnt seeking vaccinations with the same ferocity as the first half did. I hope that trend changes, Balcezak said. Balcezak and other top officials with the health system spokes to the media Friday to share updates on the state of COVID-19 in Connecticut. According to Balcezak, herd immunity for COVID-19 or mass protection against the spread of a virus should occur when around 75 percent to 80 percent of a population is vaccinated. He said currently about 80 percent of the Yale New Haven systems staff are vaccinated against the virus. Marna Borgstrom, the health systems chief executive officer, said the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the system has decreased by 14 in the last two weeks and currently stands at 194 patients. Nevertheless, she said the hospitals themselves are very full. Yale New Haven Hospital, she said, is at 97 percent capacity. We know at least some of our busyness now is due to delays in care from spring last year and throughout summer and the fall, Balcezak said. Now were playing catch up. Borgstrom agreed that many of the people currently hospitalized represent a backlog of people who did not seek out medical attention for fear of being in a hospital during a pandemic. She said it is busy in many specialties, especially behavioral health and psychiatric departments. There are so many people with needs and relatively few resources in some communities to meet those needs, she said. Despite the relative plateau of people hospitalized with COVID-19, health system staff said they have noticed a shift in demographics. When we look at the profiles of these patients, which also says to me the vaccine is doing its job, is that we are hospitalizing many, many fewer people in older age groups. Those over 75 and 65 and 55 are declining, Borgstrom said. The in-patient hospitalizations for people between 18 and 54 has been increasing, and that obviously is the group who has been vaccinated latest in the state rollout. Borgstrom held this up as evidence that the vaccines are incredibly effective at reducing serious illness from COVID-19. Earlier this week, she said, the health system administered its 300,000th dose of the vaccine. Balcezak said that in November, about one month prior to the start of the mass vaccination program, 30 percent of the patients in the health systems hospitals were over age 75; today they make up 10 percent of patients. In November, patients between 65 and 74 years old were about 20 percent of the in-patient population, and today that figure is also 10 percent. As a means of addressing the slack in demand for vaccines, Balcezak said the systems vaccination clinics will drop the barriers and allow walk-up, same-day registration appointments. Balcezak also confirmed there have been about a dozen cases across the system of people who are fully vaccinated who nevertheless were hospitalized for COVID-19. Balcezak said one of those people later died, although the patient had underlying respiratory illnesses. Borgstrom said those cases are infinitesimal examples, and evidence points to the overwhelming effectiveness of the vaccine. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com In this Wednesday, July 15, 2015 file photo, Caitlyn Jenner accepts the Arthur Ashe award for courage at the ESPY Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) Caitlyn Jenner Files Paperwork to Run for Governor of California LOS ANGELESFormer Olympic gold medal winner-turned reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner filed paperwork April 23 to run for governor of California in a likely recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom later this year. California has been my home for nearly 50 years. I came here because I knew that anyone, regardless of their background or station in life, could turn their dreams into reality. But for the past decade, we have seen the glimmer of the Golden State reduced by one-party rule that places politics over progress and special interests over people, Jenner said in a statement. I have been a compassionate disruptor throughout my life, from representing the United States and winning a gold medal at the Olympics to helping advance the movement for equality. As Californians, we face a now-or-never opportunity to fundamentally fix our state before its too late. Taking on entrenched Sacramento politicians and the special interests that fund them requires a fighter who isnt afraid to do what is right. I am a proven winner and the only outsider who can put an end to Gavin Newsoms disastrous time as governor. Organizers of the recall effort have focused on Newsoms handling of the coronavirus pandemic, criticizing the governors lockdown measures as too restrictive. Jenner latched onto that theme, saying, Small businesses have been devastated because of the over-restrictive lockdown. An entire generation of children have lost a year of education and have been prevented from going back to school, participating in activities, or socializing with their friends. Taxes are too high, killing jobs, hurting families, and putting an especially heavy burden on our most vulnerable people. This isnt the California we know. This is Gavin Newsoms California, where he orders us to stay home but goes out to dinner with his lobbyist friends. The recall requires valid signatures from 1,495,709 registered voters, 12 percent of the 12,464,235 votes cast in the 2018 gubernatorial election, according to the Secretary of States Office. Newsom said in March that he expects the recall to qualify for the ballot. He also criticized the need for a special recall election, calling it a waste of time and money because the 2022 gubernatorial primary will be a few months later. On April 23, Newsom political adviser Dan Newman issued a statement saying, We always knew the Republican recall would be a ludicrous circus full of Trump supporters, which only reinforces how much Californians appreciate Governor Newsoms competent, compassionate, experienced leadership during an unprecedented series of crises. Newsoms campaign quickly circulated a fundraising email, saying Jenner is working closely with Donald Trumps former presidential campaign manager. The Los Angeles County Democratic Party also responded to the announcement, writing on Twitter, You know whatCalifornia is worth fighting for, thats why were going to do everything we can to stop this Republican Recall. The party referred to Jenner and other announced Republican candidates, saying they are set to waste taxpayer time and money. Jenner is a Republican but has never sought public office. In recent years she has been a vocal advocate for the transgender community after coming out as a trans woman in 2015 and changing her name from Bruce to Caitlyn. The other candidates in the race so far are also Republicans: businessman John Cox, who lost to Newsom in 2018, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, and former Rep. Doug Ose, R-Sacramento. The last time California held a recall election for governor, in 2003, 135 candidates officially ran for the seat held by Democrat Gray Davis. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger won the race with 48.5 percent of the vote. Schwarzenegger was re-elected to a full four-year term in 2006. One of the candidates in that race, retired adult-film actress Mary Carey, has also announced that she will compete in the Newsom recall election. GET THE niggers, was their slogan, / Kill them, burn, them, set the pace. / Let them know that we are white men. /Teach them how to keep their place. AJ Smitherman, The Tulsa Race Riot and Massacre (1922). I had just left Harvard University as an assistant professor and was doing Time to Talk, a series of interviews for T&T Television. Advertisement At least seven vaccination sites across the U.S. are closing amid falling demand for COVID-19 shots. A Kaiser Family Foundation report warned this week that the U.S. is approaching a 'tipping point': most people who were eager to get vaccinated already have been. As of Friday, just shy of 42 percent of Americans - and nearly 53 percent of adults 18 and older - have had at least one dose of vaccine. More than 35 percent of adults are fully vaccinated, or about 27.5 percent of the population. Some 20 percent of the U.S. population is considered 'vaccine hesitant.' It's not entirely clear what is driving the current drop-off in daily vaccination rates ahead of the U.S. reaching 80 percent of eligible people getting vaccinated - but it seems to be widespread. After rising to more than three million a day for at least a week, the seven-day rolling average of daily vaccinations is now below that figure, according to data from both Bloomberg and the CDC. Some of the sites, like a mass vaccination site at Cal State in Los Angeles, California, were only slated to be open for an eight-week window after being installed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). But others, like a mass vaccination site in Summit County, Colorado, are closing voluntarily and earlier than expected due to 'decreased demand' for vaccines. At least seven vaccination sites across the U.S. are closing amid falling demand for COVID-19 shots, including some in Florida, Montana, Texas and Las Vegas Closures are also happening in Ohio, Nevada, Florida, Texas and California. Meanwhile, officials in Kansas and Mississippi are asking federal officials to send them less vaccine. All of these states are seeing declines in the number of vaccinations being given a day. In most of these locations - and nationwide - daily Covid infections have fallen precipitously since the vaccine rollout picked up pace in January. But in recent weeks, those declines have slowed, in a similar trend to the pace of vaccinations. Some places have even seen moderate increases. In Ohio, where a mass vaccination site in Mercer County is set to close on May 7, the New York Times reported. Officials there told the times that just 27 percent of adult residents of the county have had at least their first doses. With fewer than 40 percent of people in Ohio partially vaccinated and less than 30 percent of its population fully vaccinated, most people in Ohio are still vulnerable to infection, and vaccinations have fallen off over the course of the month But slots for vaccinations just aren't filling up. The mass vaccination's appointment times were booked up within two hours of becoming available in the early days of the rollout. Now, fewer and fewer of the 400 timeframes it offers a day are being used. 'It wasn't fair to ask our volunteers to keep showing up there when they weren't being fully utilized - they like to keep busy,' Jason Menchhofer, the county's health administrator told the Times. Meanwhile, new daily infections in Ohio have increased slightly since mid-March. Then, the Midwestern state, which has been a hotbed for anti-mask protests, was seeing about 1,500 new infections a day, according to Johns Hopkins data. By April 11, its seven-day rolling average of cases had risen to more than 2,100 a day. In the past week, daily infections dipped again to 1,600. But with fewer than 40 percent of people partially vaccinated and less than 30 percent of its population fully vaccinated, most people in Ohio are still vulnerable to infection. After rising consistently to 1.8 million vaccinations a day for four weeks, last week just 1.3 million shots were given in Texas In Texas, a vaccination site in Galveston is closing down. After rising consistently to 1.8 million vaccinations a day for four weeks, last week just 1.3 million shots were given in Texas. So far this week, only 575,000 shots have been given in the Lone Star State. It's unlikely that enough shots will be given before the week is out to equal the previous week's vaccinations. And daily infections increased in Texas this week, to a seven-day rolling average of nearly 4,300 on Thursday - up from 3,371 a week earlier. In most counties in Texas, between 18 and 22 percent of people are considered 'vaccine hesitant,' according to CDC data. About half of Texas's population is vaccinated with at least one dose - suggesting it may be approaching its point of diminishing returns on vaccination campaigns. Nevada's daily vaccinations have tanked this week, falling to just 19,000 a day on average yesterday, compared to the peak of nearly 24,000 a day on April 15 Las Vegas, too, is shutting down one of its sites too. Nevada's daily vaccinations have tanked this week, falling to just 19,000 a day on average yesterday, compared to the peak of nearly 24,000 a day on April 15. And Mississippi officials have asked the federal government to send small packages of vaccine so that they can be shipped to their respective clinics with less waste, according to the Huffington Post. This week's vaccine supply dipped amid the 11-day pause on distribution of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine - but most states have not used all of their supply. On Thursday, 8,555 shots were administered in the state, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's data. That's only about half as many doses as were given the previous Thursday Some experts worried that the pause - which was lifted on Friday night - has already fueled an increase in skepticism about vaccines in general, despite the U.S. health officials' deeming it safe and the risk of blood clots extremely low. Notably, the investigation into blood clots linked to the J&J vaccine also looked into rates of clots after vaccination with Moderna's or Pfizer's shots. No blood clots were linked to either of the two mRNA shots. 'I do feel like there has been more hesitancy across the board since [the pause],' Corinth, Mississippi, pharmacist Austin Bullard told the Huffington Post. And Kansas officials told the Huffington Post they have turned down shipments of Covid vaccine at least twice in the past month. So far, 37.5 percent of Kansas residents have been vaccinated with at least one dose of vaccine. Daily rates there are falling off, too. On Thursday, 8,555 shots were administered in the state, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment's data. That's only about half as many doses as were given the previous Thursday. 'It is kind of stalling. Some people just dont want it,' said Stacey Hileman, a nurse with the health department of Decatur County, a rural part of Kansas told the Huffington Post. She said only about a third of people there have gotten their first dose. And in some parts of small-town Mississippi, the first shipments only just arrived this month - to very little fanfare from residents. Pharmacist Robin Jackson told HuffPo she had to throw out more vaccine than she administered, because her community just wasn't interested. 'Nobody was coming,' she told the outlet. 'And I mean no one.' The systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century was genocide, the United States formally declared on Saturday, as President Joe Biden used that precise word after the White House had avoided it for decades for fear of alienating ally Turkey. Turkey reacted with furor, with the foreign minister saying his country will not be given lessons on our history from anyone. A grateful Armenia said it appreciated Bidens principled position as a step toward the restoration of truth and historical justice. Biden was following through on a campaign promise he made a year ago Saturdaythe annual commemoration of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Dayto recognize that the events that began in 1915 were a deliberate effort to wipe out Armenians. While previous presidents have offered somber reflections of the dark moment in history, they have studiously avoided using the term genocide out of concern that it would complicate relations with Turkey, a NATO ally and important power in the Middle East. But Biden campaigned on a promise to make human rights a central guidepost of his foreign policy. He argued last year that failing to call the atrocities against the Armenian people a genocide would pave the way for future mass atrocities. An estimated 2 million Armenians were deported and 1.5 million were killed in the events known as Metz Yeghern. The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today, Biden said in a statement. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated. Rene Leonian, president of the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches in Eurasia, told CT he salutes the courage of the US president. Biden will open a new page for the American nation. This new page will also allow other countries to follow his example, he said. I deeply hope that in the future, the Turkish State will do an in-depth work collectively with its own people, to acknowledge the guilt of the Turkish authorities of 1915. In a Christian spirit, reconciliation is possible when the culprit recognizes his fault, regrets, and asks for forgiveness, Leonian told CT. What is impossible for men is possible for God! I believe that through prayer, patience, and perseverance, we will get there. Paul Haidostian, president of evangelical Haigazian University in Beirut, Lebanon, told CT he found Bidens word choice to be gratifying. Late recognition is naturally better than no recognition. However, for me the use of the term genocide in a statement is not a simple sound bite, he said. It is a commitment to justice, and those who have recognized genocide as a historical fact must know that this is not a posthumous medal on a coffin; rather, a commitment for pursuing the matter in various ways, academic, political, curricular, economic, etc. Haidostian described how he has expected a US pronouncement every year of his adult life, as has the wider Armenian diaspora. Having to wait year after year for 106 years for presidents or parliaments of countries of the world to remember and call the atrocities in the proper way has been painful and has represented the defeat of a sense of justice in the face of political strategy, he told CT. Armenian advocacy is not a political act or maneuver. It is the voice of the Armenian heart that has ached for so long. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a letter to Biden that recognition of the genocide is important not only in terms of respecting the memory of 1.5 million innocent victims, but also in preventing the repetition of such crimes. Turkish officials struck back immediately. We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the President of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups, stated the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted that words cannot change history or rewrite it and Turkey completely rejected Bidens statement. In the past, Turkey has acknowledged the deaths and displacement of Armenians as a tragedy. Yet the admission is often couched within a context of international meddling and Armenian agitation, during a time of Ottoman weakness. This stance is offensive to Harout Nercessian, the Armenian Missionary Association of America representative in Armenia. Euphemizing a genocide into wartime collateral damages is a lie, he told CT. It is sinful and immoral. Getting Turkish recognition of the genocide is the ultimate goal, said Nercessian. This would involve an official apology, and then amends and reparations. But minutes before Bidens announcement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to the Armenian community and patriarch of the Armenian church calling for not allowing the culture of coexistence of Turks and Armenians to be forgotten. He said the issue has been politicized by third parties and turned into a tool of intervention against our country. The answer, said Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of Turkeys parliament, is to preempt them. Confronting this history would remove the significance of what any other parliament says, he stated. The Armenian Genocide happened on these lands, and justice for the Armenian Genocide can only be achieved on these lands, in Turkey. During a telephone call Friday, Biden had informed Erdogan of his plan to issue the statement, said a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss the private conversation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The US and Turkish governments, in separate statements following Biden and Erdogans call, made no mention of the American plan to recognize the Armenian genocide. But the White House said Biden told Erdogan he wants to improve the two countries relationship and find effective management of disagreements. The two also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Brussels in June. Further progress will depend on more than US recognition, Nercessian said. But Biden showed moral leadership. God is the God of the weak and expects the strong to stand up for the rights of the defenseless, he told CT. America stood up for justice, and that is pleasing to God. In Armenia on Saturday, people streamed to the hilltop complex in Yerevan, the capital, that memorializes the victims. Many laid flowers around the eternal flame, creating a wall of blooms seven feet high. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts, speaking at the memorial before Biden issued his statement, said a US president using the term genocide would serve as an example for the rest of the civilized world. Hrayr Jebejian, the Armenian director of the Bible Society of the Gulf, told CT he was happy and encouraged because he had expected Biden to dodge such a pronouncement at the last minute, as other US presidents have done before. The timing of this endorsement is very important because of the geopolitical situation, he said, citing the recent 44 days of conflict in Artsakhthe Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakhthat resulted in Azerbaijan regaining control of much of the disputed territory. We were so demoralized, we were seeing the whole world as black, said Jebejian of the Armenian nation. At this juncture of our history, [Bidens statement] boosts our morale and paves new opportunity for our cause. He hopes that Armenian activists can capitalize on the opportunity and push for more justice via international tribunals. But he doesnt expect any progress on reconciliation. You need two hands to clap, Jebejian told CT. If Turkey continues in denial, we cannot do much more [on reconciliation]. But as Christians we need to push for justice. Lawmakers and Armenian American activists had lobbied Biden to make the genocide announcement on or before remembrance day. The closest that a US president had come to recognizing the World War 1-era atrocities as genocide was in 1981 when Ronald Reagan uttered the words Armenian genocide during a Holocaust Remembrance Day event. But he did not make it US policy. California is home to large concentrations of Armenian Americans. Salpi Ghazarian, director of the University of Southern Californias Institute of Armenian Studies, said the recognition of genocide would resonate beyond Armenia and underscore Biden seriousness about respect for human rights as a central principle in his foreign policy. Within the United States and outside the United States, the American commitment to basic human values has been questioned now for decades, she said. It is very important for people in the world to continue to have the hope and the faith that Americas aspirational values are still relevant, and that we can in fact do several things at once. We can in fact carry on trade and other relations with countries while also calling out the fact that a government cannot get away with murdering its own citizens. Haidostian doesnt expect Bidens recognition to impact efforts at reconciliation between Armenians and Turks, as Turkey would first need to change how it teaches the history of that time period. My focus has always been the fact that as faithful Christians, we have to rise from the ashes and from the graves of history, he told CT. Our faith is based on the resurrection of Christ, his work for us. Being people of this new life, however, is not a utopic unreal life. Working for justice, working for peace, has to have a base, also on this earth, said Haidostian. Being healed is not an emotional state. It has be based on fairness in all aspects. Reporting for the Associated Press by Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee from Washington, and Zeynep Bilginsoy from Istanbul, with writer Avet Demourian in Yerevan contributing. Additional reporting for CT by Jayson Casper from Beirut. Valkyrie Digital Assets is getting ready to launch its bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) filed a 19B-4 Form on behalf of the investment firm for its bitcoin ETF late on Friday. The form kicked off a 45-day review period when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acknowledges the filing. During that time, the SEC has to either approve or disapprove the application, or extend the review period. This is something that Ive wanted to do for five years now, said Steven McClurg, chief investment officer of Valkyrie Investments. It wasnt until recently that I believed that the SEC would probably approve a bitcoin ETF. So we started working on that in earnest probably in August. Related: Marathon Appoints Fred Thiel as Chief Executive Officer The SEC has rejected every bitcoin ETF application, but Gary Gensler, the SECs new chairman, could change the regulators attitude to the novel investment product. Gensler is a former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman who taught crypto and blockchain courses at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In January, Dalia Blass, the director of the SECs division of investment management, left the agency. In 2018, Blass wrote a letter expressing concerns that the bitcoin market wasnt large enough or liquid enough to be ready for an exchange-traded product. Several firms have applied for a bitcoin ETF in anticipation of the new administration. Earlier in March, Valkyrie proposed an ETF that would invest the majority of its capital into companies that have bitcoin on their balance sheets or are otherwise connected to crypto, and it filed a registration proposal called Valkyrie Bitcoin Trust in January. Valkyrie is the at least the fourth firm to file a 19B-4, following VanEck, which filed one in March and had its 19B-4 acknowledged by the SEC on March 18. The SEC is also reviewing WisdomTree and Kryptoins ETF applications. Related Stories Delhi Chief Minister on Saturday urged his counterparts in other states to provide to the national capital, saying all available resources are proving to be inadequate owing to the severity of COVID 19. Kejriwal's request for supply of came following the death of 20 patients in Jaipur Golden Hospital here as Delhi's desperate hunt for the life-saving gas continued amid rising COVID-19 cases. "I am writing to all CMs requesting them to provide to Delhi, if they have spare. Though Central govt is also helping us, the severity of corona is such that all available resources are proving inadequate," Kejriwal tweeted in the evening. The deaths at Jaipur Golden took place when the hospital was waiting for oxygen to be replenished, officials said on Saturday. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Photo : DADO RUVIC / REUTERS) Pfizer's logo is reflected in a drop on a syringe needle in this illustration taken November 9, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Dr. Barney Graham disclosed that the reason he joined the National Institutes of Health is because he is seeking for the United States (US) to gain leverage on public funding. He believes that this will greatly help solve issues the country's public health has. US Patent on Pfizer Vaccine Compel Pharma Companies to Heighten Global Production--Dr. Graham According to Common Dreams, a renowned National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientist who helped develop a key technology used in Pfizer and Moderna's coronavirus vaccines said that the U.S. government's ownership of the patent for the invention has given the current administration significant leverage to compel pharmaceutical companies to aid increase global production. Deputy director of the NIH's Vaccine Research Center Dr. Barney Graham said that everything that comes out of the government's research labs is a non-exclusive licensing agreement. This is made so that it doesn't get blocked by any company. "Virtually everything that comes out of the government's research labs is a non-exclusive licensing agreement so that it doesn't get blocked by any particular company." says Dr. Graham. Dr. Graham took part in the formulation of a technology with a team of scientists, which by 2016 conceived the spike-protein technology being utilized in the highly-effective mRNA vaccines. Graham stressed that "one of the reasons" he joined NIH was "to be able to use the leverage of the public funding to solve public health issues." Pfizer, on the other hand, has two partners namely BioNTech and Moderna laboratories. Related article: FDA, CDC Halts J&J COVID-19 Vaccine's Use: Vaccinated People With These Symptoms Advised to Contact Health Experts US to Enforce Patent Pfizer's partner BioNTech is licensed from the U.S. government and is currently paying royalties, meanwhile its other partner, Moderna has not paid any of the royalties yet. Despite this, the current administration has not attempted to enforce the patent. Researchers at New York University School of Law and Moderna, according to Financial Times, could be subject to more than a billion dollars in compensation should the U.S. decide to sue the pharmaceutical giant. Moderna. The company was reported to have sold most of its doses to rich countries. However, the researchers responded in a new report that instead of taking Moderna to court for patent infringement, the U.S. government should "use the threat of litigation of the '070 patent to bring Moderna back to the negotiation table and convince Moderna to share its own patents, trade secrets, and other intellectual property on [its vaccine] with the U.S. government and with vaccine manufacturers around the world." In that regard, the researchers say this would help "accelerate scale-up of global mRNA vaccine manufacturing, vaccinate the world, and bring the Covid-19 pandemic to a conclusive end." Dr. Graham commented that with this issue, it will come down to the political will and the use of public dollars from the country's technologies to solve these problems. He also said that it should be solved with global coordination, and with the recognition that the whole world is "all in this together." Read more: Pfizer Vaccine First Shot Only 85% Effective? Israel Successfully Vaccinates Two-Thirds of Population This article is owned by Tech Times. Written by Gabrielle N. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The death toll rose to 8,988 with five new fatalities, while 358 people are in intensive care units, according to a statement by the Ministry of Health. Rabat, April 24 (IANS) Morocco's Covid tally climbed to 509,037 with 507 fresh cases recorded in the last 24 hours, health officials said on Saturday. The total number of recoveries from Covid-19 in Morocco increased to 494,872 after 457 new ones were added, the statement said. The Covid-19 fatality rate in Morocco stands at 1.8 per cent while the recovery rate is 97.2 per cent, Xinhua reported. Meanwhile, 4,723,635 people have received so far the first vaccine shot against Covid-19 in the country, and 4,217,485 people have received the second dose. The North African country launched a nationwide vaccination campaign on January 28 after the arrival of the first shipment of China's Sinopharm vaccines. --IANS int/ STORY: Peru Virus Squatters - Pandemic fuels rise in poverty, squatting in Peru LENGTH: 02:55 FIRST RUN: 2209 RESTRICTIONS: TYPE: Spanish/Natsound SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS STORY NUMBER: 4322494 DATELINE: 22-23 April 2021 - Lima SHOTLIST: RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Villa El Salvador, Lima - 22 April 2021 1. Various of plastic tents and shelters at squatters settlement 2. Family having breakfast outside their tent 3. Settlement 4. Family outside their tent 5. Mother and daughter at settlement 6. Various of plastic tents and shelters at settlement 7. Group of women holding banner reading (Spanish) "The economic crisis has left us in the street, help, help us to have a home" 8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Claudia Pauccar, waste picker: "We are not invaders; we are not traffickers, neither criminals nor gang members, we are mothers in real need, there are single mothers, there are widows among us, who have lost their husbands during the pandemic." 9. Women standing at settlement entrance 10. Sign reading (Spanish) "Peruvian leaders, we ask for decent housing for our families, without violence, without confrontation, we need your help" 11. Women at settlement entrance ASSOCIATED PRESS Lima - 23 April 2021 12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Javier Diaz-Albertini, professor and researcher at the University of Lima: "Peru has never had a popular housing policy. If you go to other major Latin American cities, you will find large housing blocks or other types of housing. Here the system that has always prevailed since the 1940s is to occupy land." ASSOCIATED PRESS Villa El Salvador, Lima - 22 April 2021 13. Various of plastic tents and shelters at settlement 14. Various of view overlooking 10-year-old settlement with brick houses 15. Family cooking outside their tent 16. Various of settlement on hillside 17. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Claudia Pauccar, waste picker: "We are 9,000 people who are already living here. We have already built houses made of straw mats. Some have even built of plywood." 18. Women at settlement entrance 19. Police officers around the area STORYLINE: Thousands of people left without homes amid the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic are now occupying a temporary settlement on the outskirts of the Peruvian capital Lima. On a bare hillside in Villa El Salvador, metres from the Pacific Ocean, those living in the camp say their numbers have now reached 9,000. Plastic tents and shelters adorn the sandy slope, with families steadily arriving over the course of recent weeks. Authorities have urged them to leave peacefully, but many have no alternative. The women of the settlement are the ones who guard the entrance to the camp night and day in the hope they will be left alone. "We are not invaders; we are not traffickers, neither criminals nor gang members, we are mothers in real need, there are single mothers, there are widows among us, who have lost their husbands during the pandemic," said Claudia Pauccar, who finds work as a waste picker. According to a report by non-profit research center the Group for the Analysis of Development, Peru has a housing deficit of almost two million dwellings, putting it second in Latin America, after Cuba, in terms of levels of informally land occupation. Javier Diaz-Albertini, a professor and researcher at the University of Lima, said a lack of a popular housing policy in Peru dating back to the 1940s continues to contribute to the issue. =========================================================== Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com (ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Indonesias armed forces on April 24 said that search teams have recovered some debris or items that they believe are from the missing military submarine that disappeared off the Bali coast. Navy Chief Yudo Margono said rescuers found several items from the KRI Nanggala 402, which disappeared after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island of Bali, including parts of a torpedo straightener, a grease bottle believed to be used to oil the periscope and prayer rugs. The announcement came as the KRI Nanggala 402 was estimated to run out of oxygen reserves by Saturday morning. With the authentic evidence we found believed to be from the submarine, we have now moved from the sub miss phase to sub sunk, Margono said at a press conference in Bali where the found items were displayed. The 43-year-old military submarine went missing on April 21 during the exercises off the coast of Bali triggering a frantic search to locate the vessel. The United States has also joined the efforts of the rescue teams of several other nations as the worry over crew not having oxygen resources heightened. As per BBC report, an oil slick where the submarine is thought to have submerged suggested that the fuel tank might have been damaged which led to the vessel going missing. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that the US is deeply saddened by the recent turn of events. He said in a statement, Our thoughts are with the Indonesian sailors and their families. At the invitation of the Indonesian government, we are sending airborne assets to assist in the search for the missing submarine." Indonesia militarys development in locating submarine On late April 22, the Indonesian military reportedly said that it had detected some signs of an object at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres (165 to 330 feet). It further deployed its ships with the ability of sonar-tracking to locate the KRI Nanggala 402. Indonesia military spokesperson Achmad Riad has reportedly said, We've only got until 0300 tomorrow [Saturday] so we're maximising all of our efforts today...Hopefully, there will be a bright spot." As per reports, at least six warships have been already deployed in search of the missing Indonesia submarine with over 400 people involved in the mission. Singapore and Malaysia have also dispatched their ships to the area and Australia, France and Germany have also offered assistance. Ratih Wardhani, whose brother Major Wisnu Subiyantoro among the KRI Nanggala 402 crew told BBC said, "We keep waiting, we keep praying...We hope that God will ease the effort of the joint rescue team from the Indonesian Navy and other countries. Image credits: AP Photo: The Canadian Press Striking Port of Montreal workers brave the elements to walk the picket line in Montreal on Monday, August 17, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson A general strike at the Port of Montreal is set to begin on Monday after the union representing dockworkers issued the required 72-hour notice to the Maritime Employers Association. Barring a last-minute reprieve, the 1,150 port workers affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees will be in a legal strike position as of Monday at 7 a.m., which would paralyze the port. The dockworkers have been on an overtime strike and refused to work on weekends since April 17 and 18. They say the actions are in response to a change in work shifts the Maritime Employers Association wants to impose as of Monday. That would see thwork seven-hour shifts, up from five hours and 20 minutes. The union said it is responding to "frontal attacks" from the employer "to try to bend" the workers. "If the employer agrees to lift its measures, we would normally lift our overtime strike, our weekend strike and our Monday morning indefinite general strike notice and operations would resume immediately in the port," said Michel Murray, CUPE union adviser, at a Friday news conference. He said the Maritime Employers Association does not want to negotiate and is pursuing a position of provocation in order to force Ottawa to react. The MEA said it was disappointed with the union executive's decision, adding that it is reviewing its options and wants a quick resolution to the impasse. Quebec's minister of the economy and innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon, on Twitter called on the federal government to intervene quickly, without specifying exactly what he wants. The port is "a strategic public service for the revival of our economy," he tweeted. "Now is not the time to cripple it with a strike. Our companies have already suffered enough from this labour dispute. Federal Labour Minister Filomena Tassi wouldn't say if she will intervene in the dispute and her office said she was not available for an interview. In a written statement, the minister describes the events of Friday as "a very worrying escalation." Businesses and the economy "need to see this situation resolved quickly," she said, adding that "we are currently looking at all options." In Ottawa, the New Democratic Party called for the Trudeau government to stand up for workers' rights and asked it not to introduce back-to-work legislation. Ottawa has already suggested that such a law is in the works; nothing surprising coming from the Liberals who have at heart only the interests of the richest, said deputy leader Alexandre Boulerice. Montreal Board of Trade CEO Michel Leblanc, said that "the union is taking the economy hostage," a situation he considers "totally irresponsible and unacceptable." Meanwhile, the Quebec Employers Council noted that the Port of Montreal is "an essential link" in the supply chain. For us it is an essential service that cannot stop functioning. The federal government has all the tools to act," and should do so, president and CEO Karl Blackburn said. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimated that the strike will be "very damaging." The dockworkers at the Port of Montreal have been without an employment contract since December 2018. They started a first strike last summer, which ended in a truce that lasted seven months. As India continues to battle the unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases, some help is coming from across the border in Pakistan. On Friday, Edhi Foundation, Pakistan's largest charity group wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi offering a fleet of 50 ambulances and services to address the Covid crisis. For providing services, the Karachi-based humanitarian group wants permission to enter the country as well as necessary guidance from local administration and police departments. We are ready to deploy our team in any critical area of concern at your direction without hesitation, the letter states. Humanity First, May Almight Allah Have mercy on innocent people of india who suffering from Covid. we are in this Together, We pray For thier Speedy Recovery Pakistan Is with You #Getwellsoonindia #indianeedoxygen #PakistanstandswithIndia pic.twitter.com/fjapHKed0S Mehran Ahmed Soomro (@Mehran_s12) April 24, 2021 It is not just the Edhi Foundation, there is a growing call on social media in Pakistan asking the government to help India at the time of crisis. Hashtags trending on social media Hashtags like #IndianLivesMatter, IndiaNeedsOxygen and #PakistanstandswithIndia have been trending on Pakistani cyberspace. In this difficult time #PakistanstandswithIndia, stay strong neighbour this shall pass. Prayers #pakistanstandswithindia pic.twitter.com/ukiehXhf66 __! KhAlil (@as_a_afridian) April 24, 2021 India is really struggling with Covid-19. Global support needed. Health care system is crashing. Its a Pandemic, we are all in it together. Must become each other's support. Full video: https://t.co/XmNp5oTBQ2#IndiaNeedsOxygen #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/vX1FCSlQjs Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) April 23, 2021 Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday expressed support to the people of India and said the COVID-19 crisis is yet another reminder that humanitarian issues require responses beyond political consideration. "We express our support to the people of India in the wake of the current wave of #COVID19 infections that has hit our region hard. On behalf of the people of Pakistan, I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the affected families in #India," Qureshi tweeted. #COVID19 is yet another reminder that humanitarian issues require responses beyond political consideration. Pakistan continues to work with SAARC countries to foster cooperation to tackle the pandemic. https://t.co/hgpp0vxjSM Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) April 24, 2021 Pakistan continues to work with the SAARC countries to foster cooperation to tackle the pandemic, he said. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan also tweeted saying "We must fight this global challenge confronting humanity together." I want to express our solidarity with the people of India as they battle a dangerous wave of COVID-19. Our prayers for a speedy recovery go to all those suffering from the pandemic in our neighbourhood & the world. We must fight this global challenge confronting humanity together Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 24, 2021 Pakistan is coming forward to help its neighbour even as the country is also witnessing a spike in new COIVD-19 cases. Pakistan on Saturday reported its highest COVID-19 death toll in a single day. Authorities reported 157 deaths, bringing the overall fatalities to 16,999. A total of 5,908 additional cases pushed the toll to 790,016, as authorities complain of routine violations of social distancing and mask-wearing rules. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday announced that military troops will be called to help police enforce the restrictions in public places. Asibi Gede, 55, a smallholder farmer and mother of two in the Federal Capital Territory, owns two and half acres of land. She has been practicing crop production for over 40 years. She cultivates cassava, maize, Guinea corn and yam and also practices animal production, with nine goats and two sheep. In this episode of our Women in Agriculture, Mrs Gede shares her experience. PT: You cultivate several crops; seeds are difficult for farmers to get, how do you overcome the challenge? Mrs Gede: I bought seeds from the markets but it was until 2019 that I was able to buy seeds from the ministry and we bought fertilizers from them too. When I buy seeds from the market I just hope on luck on which will germinate and manage it like that. After harvest, I store some seeds and during the rainy season I now plant them. PT: Land is a vital part of farming but difficult for women to own, how are you able to get land to do your farming? Mrs Gede: I rent land all the time and sometimes when I rent the land which is weak I try to resuscitate the land and the moment they notice youve gotten good products from it they come and tell you to leave the land that they want to use. PT: Before you had access to fertilizer from the government, how did you buy it in the previous years? Mrs Gede: Getting fertilizer is very difficult. We are supposed to get fertilizer during the dry season in preparation for the raining season, so that when the rain starts and we are setting up we have the fertilizer to use then but by the time we actually get the fertilizer, the product might have been out. For example, maize would have started producing products and the fertilisers wont work again but in our community what we do is to pour our cassava chaff into the farms and let them decay then farm to produce better results. PT: As a farmer with over 40 years experience, what challenges have you faced as a woman farmer? Mrs Gede: I have faced lots of challenges and there are some that are just basic because Im a woman. As a woman, I dont have a mans strength so I hire labour on my farm. It is quite expensive and sometimes the crops dont do too well to cover the labour expenses. And when I do any tedious work I feel the effect within my body system. For example, I couldnt come to the farm yesterday due to the work of the previous day. I had some serious back aches that I had to get medications for. These stress makes us grow older than our age. So we hire labour to help in some aspects. They make the ridges while we do the weeding. We sometimes buy chemicals but I realised that the chemicals are really not advisable on the farm as sometimes it leads to sickness. We are supposed to get machines to do this work but before you can hire the machine as a woman maybe 100 men have hired the machines. When you finally get the machines, time is already far spent. Again, water is another challenge, as we dont have water so I have to keep buying. Cassava needs water when youve harvested. You soak it immediately you peel it unless it wont ferment well and you wont make the expected gain. In my house I lack water and at a time in 2019, the rural development people came that they will dig boreholes and since then weve been waiting for them to come dig it. PT: Aside these challenges, when planting on your two and half acre how much does it cost you to run the farm which includes all the labour, seeds, fertilizers, etc; from beginning till harvest? Mrs Gede: For maize, I buy seeds worth N3,000. For yam, I spent over N20,000. For rice, I buy a bag at about N15,000. This therefore is dependent on the crop in cultivating. For labour, I spend at least N35,000 on my two and half acres. PT:Have you heard of improved seeds? Mrs Gede: Yes, I have. PT: Have you used them before? Mrs Gede: The seeds I bought from the government are improved seeds. PT: You have two children, do they support you on the farm? Mrs Gede: The female is married so has moved to her husband while the male supports me. He comes to the farm and helps out in carrying out some farm operations. ADVERTISEMENT PT: Nigeria has been battling with different forms of insecurity, herders problem is the most prominent for farmers. Can you share your experiences so far? Mrs Gede: I face security issues on the farm and in the house. On the farm, I travelled to Nasarawa to purchase cassava stem for cultivation and after cultivating I left the crop to grow and refused to harvest waiting for the rain to fall on them before I harvest. Presently, the herders have vandalised the farm and even uprooted the cassava from the ground. Whats left on the farm cant even make half of what I have invested. I have invested over N50,000. PT: Are you a member of any farmers association? Mrs Gede: Yes. Im a member of Small scale Women Farmers Association of Nigeria (SWOFAN). PT: As a member of SWOFAN, can you tell us what benefits youve got being a member? Mrs Gede: I thank God for this association as theyve been very supportive. When we go for meetings, we are educated on things to do and things not to do. We get educated in farming as a business among other things taught. We were enlightened on how to run the business, keeping records and notting the profits and losses in the business. PT: Have they helped you in benefiting from any government support? Mrs Gede: The seeds and fertilizers we get from the government is a result of the association. Besides, the machine inputs we are expecting from the government is also a result of the association. PT: Men have this ego in them that makes them believe they can control women, this makes women discriminated against, have you been discriminated against by male farmers because youre a female farmer? Mrs Gede: Yes, I have. They dont want us to do anything in agriculture. When they get fertilizers, they dont want us to have a share in it. Even land, when we are given land after a short while they recover it from us. PT: You mentioned earlier that you rent land for your business, how much do you pay for land that you hire? Mrs Gede: It depends on the owner. I once hired at N10,000 for one acre but now its about N15,000. After all the investment; the land, labour, inputs, etc, when youre about to gain, the herders will not let you have it. PT: Whats the market like after cultivation and harvest? Mrs Gede: I take my products to the market at Kwali to sell after Ive finished harvesting and processing. I process the cassava to a consumable level before selling to maximise the profit I can make from it. For the maize, I buy chemicals to preserve it. PT: You have a small size of land, but multiple crops, Whats the quantity of products you harvest? Mrs Gede: Last year, I harvested about four 100kg bags of maize but this year, due to delayed rain I could only harvest two bags. For rice, I cultivated a small piece of land so I harvested just three bags. PT: Agriculture is the new oil, young people seem to shy away from the noble profession, what advice will you give a young person who wants to venture into farming? Mrs Gede: Going into farming is very good and even when you dont make profit what you get from your farm is way more valuable than what youll buy in the market. The younger ones should venture into farming. It is very strenuous at start but in the long run it gets better. For salary earners, they can venture into farming as a side work because like last year during the lockdown, they suffered but farmers could go and produce no matter how little something they and their family could consume. PT: Generally, what do you need as a woman farmer? Mrs Gede: I need financial support which will go a long way in helping me. Loan is not a bad one but I prefer grants as I know that my mind and heart will fully be on the work but loan will keep me thinking if I am not able to payback what happens? Ill just get high blood pressure. Some of the stories from a big week for mining news in a snapshot ( ) has commenced drilling under the Juri joint venture with partner Newcrest Mining Ltd ( ). The Juri joint venture is in the highly prospective Paterson province of Western Australia. ( ) said production in the first quarter was in line with guidance despite significant rainfall hampering iron ore output in Australia. The international mining group also retained its output expectations for the year and continued to show contrition for the destruction of a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site in Juukan Gorge. ( ) said revenue in the first quarter increased 20% year-on-year to US$593mln (426mln) as a result of higher gold and silver prices and improved production. ( ) said its coal production fell in the first quarter and reduced its full-year output guidance for both metallurgical and thermal coal. Thermal coal production dropped 20% from the year-earlier quarter to 4.9 million tonnes (Mt), with guidance for the year cut to about 14 Mt, from about 24 Mt, reflecting the diversified miners plans to spin off its thermal coal operations in South Africa. ( ) identified an electro-magnetic anomaly in Target Area A in the Hukuntsi section of the company's Kalahari Suture Zone project in Botswana. (LON:BHP, ASX:BHP) said total iron ore production grew 4% to 188 million tonnes (Mt) in the nine months to end March 2021, helped by record output at Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO) and expects volumes for the year to come in at the upper half of the 244 Mt to 253 Mt guidance range. ( ) said its copper production and costs in the first quarter were in line with guidance as it reported a 5.7% decline in output due to anticipated lower grades at its Los Pelambres mine. The Chilean miner produced 183,000 tonnes of copper in the first quarter and conditionally retained its full-year guidance of 730-760,000 tonnes. PLC ( ) said it has opened its second mine in Madagascar at the Vatomina project, where it remains on track to start commissioning the first 9,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) processing plant in the second quarter. ( ) said the government of Azerbaijan has approved the first of two five-year extensions of the production sharing agreement for its Gedabek contract area. Shanta Gold Ltds ( ) gross debt of US$11.1mln (8.0mln) has been reduced to US$1.4mln following the repurchase of all outstanding convertible loan notes and early repayment of an Exim loan facility, the East Africa-focused gold producer said in a first-quarter update. PLC (LON:CMRS) said a phase 2 drill programme has been approved for the Troulli project to broadly define the limits of the gold mineralisation and to drill deeper into the Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposit. ( ) noted a significant increase in indicated resources at the Lake Rebecca gold project in Western Australia. ( ), owner of the project, said indicated resources had jumped 50% from the maiden JORC estimate last February to 815,000 ounces of gold. ( ) reported additional high-grade lithium pegmatite drill intersections, including multiple drill intersections over 2% lithium oxide, at new targets adjacent to the Ewoyaa lithium project in Ghana. Landore Resources Limited ( ) has reported another bonanza gold intersection from its drilling programme at the BAM Deposit, Junior Lake, Ontario 's ( ) gold production slumped 49% in the first quarter mainly due to a previously flagged issue with a lack of third-party concentrates. Total gold production sank to 95,600 ounces, from 186,200 ounces in the year-earlier quarter BlueRock Diamonds PLC ( ) reported higher production, grades and prices from its Kareevlei diamond mine in South Africa in the first quarter. ( ) has subscribed for just over seven million shares in ( ) at an issue price of A$0.042 per share, for a total consideration of approximately A$300,000. ( ) announced first-quarter net income of A$4.8mln (2.7mln) from its flagship Hellyer mine in Tasmania. Galantas Gold Corporation ( ) increased the ceiling on its proposed private placing to C$8mln from C$6mln, due to strong investor demand. Earlier this week the company said it would raise at least C$5.1mln to bring its gold mine up to commercial production volumes ( ) announced it raised 200,000 in a private placing. The company sold 1.66mln new shares priced at 12p each, marking a 20% premium to the last placing price in December. ( ) announced high-grade drilling results from the Bailieston gold project in the Victoria Goldfields, Australia. ( ) said the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Mina do Barroso Lithium Project in Portugal is now ready for public consultation. Earlier in the week, Savannah raised 10.3mln through an oversubscribed placing and direct subscription. ( ) has unveiled another significant copper intercept in its second drill hole at the Minemba prospect within the Kalengwa area in Zambia. The copper-gold exploration and development company has a 30% interest and acts as operator in the project. ( ) announced a new hire, plant manager for the La Parrilla project, and also updated on recent concentrate shipments from the mine. The company noted that it has made three shipments in the quarter to date and a fourth is scheduled later this month. ( ) said Sandra Stash is to join the board as an independent non-executive director at the beginning of May. PLC ( ) said it has completed an earn-in for a 40% direct project interest in Kalahari Key Minerals Molopo Farms project in ) said it has completed an earn-in for a 40% direct project interest in Kalahari Key Minerals Molopo Farms project in Botswana." target="_blank">Botswana. Orlando Octave is vibrating on what is for him a new philosophical frequency. Octave recently embarked on a spiritual journey. The groovy soca artistes open search for truth and enlightenment led him through the teachings of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism then eventually towards the Hebrew Israelites a group who believe they are the descendants of the ancient Israelites written of in the Torah and Bible. Octave was introduced to their teachings by a friend in 2014. He developed a deeper understanding for the groups philosophy during a pilgrimage he made to Israel in 2016. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba believes that membership of Ukraine and Georgia in the EU and NATO is a matter of time. He said this during the talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia David Zalkaliani, Ukrinform reports with reference to the Foreign Ministry's press service. The membership of Ukraine and Georgia in the European Union and NATO is only a matter of time, Kuleba said. The parties agreed on further cooperation and coordination of actions to bring Ukraine and Georgia closer to joining the EU and NATO, in particular, obtaining a Membership Action Plan. The interlocutors discussed security in the region, the buildup of Russia's military presence near the borders with Ukraine and in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea. They paid special attention to strengthening security in the Black Sea region, in particular, deepening the interaction of the navies of Ukraine, Georgia, and NATO member states in the Black Sea region. The foreign ministers strongly condemned Russia's numerous violations of international law, in particular the blocking of the Kerch Strait, the ongoing occupation of Ukrainian and Georgian territories, the borderisation in Georgia, and the Russian Federation's reluctance to reaffirm its commitment to a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. In addition, the Georgian minister welcomed Ukraines Crimean Platform initiative and confirmed his country's readiness to actively participate in its activities. As Ukrinform reported, on April 23, Ukraine took part for the first time in a working meeting of the foreign ministers of the three NATO member states - Poland, Romania, and Turkey. ish The pandemic also exposed the fragility of Egypts health care system, with doctors lamenting shortages in protective equipment and testing kits while patients died from lack of oxygen. With over 12,000 deaths, Egypt also recorded one of the highest fatality rates from the virus in the Arab world. With a growing number of cases, health officials in Egypt have recently warned of a third wave of the virus. Authorities have also canceled large gatherings and festivals, and promised to fine those not complying with protective measures like mask-wearing, but many Egyptians do not abide by these rules. Travelers are required to have a negative Covid-19 test taken 72 hours before arriving in Egypt, and hotels are mandated to operate at half capacity. The crisis affected not just big companies like Travco but also smaller ones that had started betting big on the growing tourism industry. Passainte Assem established Why Not Egypt, a boutique travel agency, in 2017 by interviewing prospective travelers and customizing itineraries for them. But after the pandemic began, most of her clients, who are from Australia, Canada and the United States, canceled their plans, she said, pushing her to suspend the business for now. The experience left her feeling that tourism is not stable at all, she said. It cannot be the only source of income. I have to have a side hustle. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Aqua Membranes novel water-filtration technology could soon help Micron Technology Inc. significantly lower water and energy consumption throughout the semiconductors global manufacturing operations. Idaho-based Micron, a publicly traded giant in the semiconductor industry, announced a joint investment Thursday in the local water-purification company in partnership with Boston-based Clean Energy Ventures. The companies didnt disclose the amount committed, but Aqua Membranes CEO Craig Beckman said it will help speed the startups efforts to adapt its technology for use in the semiconductor industry and other industrial markets. Aqua Membranes filtration product allows users to pump a lot more water at much lower cost through home, commercial and industrial purification systems. That can immensely cut down on the amount of water used in manufacturing, while significantly reducing energy consumption to purify, manage and move water through systems. Micron uses a lot of water, so its very focused on re-use and conservation, Beckman said. Its pushing hard to adapt new technologies for more sustainable, high-purity water production. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Micron ranks as the worlds fourth-largest semiconductor manufacturer. Its focused on memory and storage products for data management, employing about 40,000 people at 13 manufacturing sites and 14 laboratories in 17 countries. Its global operations consume about 55 million cubic feet of water per year, equivalent to annual consumption of about 450,000 U.S. households, said Micron Director of Sustainability Marshall Chase. We need a lot of ultra-pure water to manufacture semiconductors, and we often operate in water-constrained environments, Chase told the Journal. Aqua Membranes technology can help us manage, reduce and limit our water footprint. The company recently launched a yearslong sustainability strategy to invest up to $1 billion in water- and non-carbon energy-saving production, encouraging the new partnership with Aqua Membranes, said Micron Director of Venture Capital Andrew Byrnes. We can wait for new technologies to emerge, or we can be pro-active to help pull them into the market faster, Byrnes said. We explored more than 100 technology startups for investment, and Aqua Membranes bubbled up to the top. Aqua Membranes produces novel spiral-wound membranes that provide more internal space for a lot more water to pass through filters. Its a drop-in replacement for todays spiral-wound membranes, which use closely weaved netting that impedes water flow and leads to fouling, or biofilm buildup, requiring users to frequently replace them. The company employs 10 people at a 14,000-square-foot facility in the north I-25 industrial corridor. Clean Energy Ventures, which joined Micron on the new investment, previously committed $2.1 million to Aqua Membranes. The company will use the new funding to ramp up production capacity, possibly hiring up to eight more employees over the next year, Beckman said. Denton, TX (76205) Today Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms this evening. A steady rain arriving overnight. Low 69F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Yangon, April 24 : The head of the Myanmar military is set to meet international leaders on his first known foreign trip since the army took power in a coup on February 1. General Min Aung Hlaing is to attend a summit of the South East Asian regional body Asean in Indonesia, the BBC reported. The military seized power after claiming there had been voter fraud in the 2020 General Election. Since then, more than 700 people have been killed in protests against the military government. The talks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta will be the first international effort to address the crisis. Leaders and foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) will take part. Despite the risk of massive refugee flows or even civil war, the 10 members of Asean have been divided over whether to even hold a meeting. There are clear signs of splits between governments that want to take action and those that don't. Asean appears divided along geographical lines, with the "mainland" countries - those physically closest to China - more opposed to intervention in Myanmar, while the "maritime" countries - those furthest from China - are more in favour of taking action. Among the latter group, it is host Indonesia that has been pushing hardest for a collective response to the crisis. But persuading the other nine countries to take a unified stance will be just as much a challenge as persuading the Myanmar junta to de-escalate the crisis. While the bloc prides itself on its ability to persuade rather than coerce, that ability is much weaker if the organisation is not united. Thailand's Prime Minister as well as the President of the Philippines have said that they would only send their foreign ministers. The bloc's other members include Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, host Indonesia and Myanmar itself. There have been calls for Myanmar, also known as Burma, to be expelled from Asean but the members historically do not get involved in each other's internal affairs. The United Nation's Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the Asean summit to resolve the crisis and prevent "possible grave humanitarian implications beyond Myanmar's borders," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, will be in Jakarta for meetings on the sidelines of the summit. Mass protests have been taking place across Myanmar since the military seized control and declared a year-long state of emergency. The armed forces claim there had been widespread fraud during a General Election late last year which had returned elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party (NLD) to power. The military promised instead that it would hold "free and fair" elections once the state of emergency is over. In the past few weeks, the military has been increasing its use of force against protesters - with one incident earlier this month in the city of Bago seeing more than 80 people killed. Witnesses told local media that soldiers had used heavy weapons and had shot at anything that moved. Defence Minister on Saturday reviewed efforts by various wings of the ministry in contributing to India's battle against a fast-spreading second wave of Singh carried out the review at a virtual meeting attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and DRDO chairman G Satheesh Reddy among others. The three services as well as other wings of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) ministry have been extending support to various state governments and union territories in dealing with the massive surge in COVID-19 cases. "Raksha Mantri Shri is reviewing the MoD's efforts to deal with the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country," the defence minister's office tweeted. Since Friday, the Indian Air Force airlifted empty oxygen tankers and containers to various filling stations across the country to speed up the distribution of the much-needed medical oxygen in treating COVID-19 patients. The IAF has also been transporting essential medicines as well as equipment required by the designated COVID hospitals in various parts of the country. On Saturday, one C-17 transport aircraft of the IAF reached Changi airport in Singapore to bring high-capacity oxygen containers to boost the oxygen supply in the country. "The Indian Air Force is taking sorties to reduce the transportation time of Oxygen and other critical supplies. One C-17 has reached Changi airport in Singapore today. These containers of cryogenic oxygen tanks will help boosting the oxygen supply in the country," Singh's office said. India is struggling with a second wave of the infection and hospitals in several states are reeling under acute shortage of medical oxygen and beds in view of a rising number of COVID-19 cases. (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.) COOS COUNTY, Ore. A man driving recklessly on Highway 101 intentionally collided with an oncoming vehicle Thursday morning, killing himself and two people in the other vehicle, authorities said Friday. Cory M. Orsenico, 32, of California was reported multiple times Thursday morning for increasingly dangerous driving, before he crossed the highway into the path of a vehicle containing Dawn Adams, 54, and Jeffrey Adams, 78. Both were from Bandon and died in the crash. The fatal crash happened shortly after officers located Orsenico, who was northbound on Highway 101. When an Oregon State Police trooper turned around to follow Orsenico, there was a minor collision before Orsenico sped off, now heading south. Officers believe Orsenico traveled across the highway from the slow lane to the fast lane, then crossed the double yellow line before intentionally colliding with the Adams vehicle. The fatal crash happened at 8:17 a.m., 5 miles south of the intersection of Highway 101 and Highway 42. Beginning at 7:15 a.m., about an hour before the fatal crash, police began receiving reports in Port Orford about Orsenicos red Mitsubishi Eclipse being driven recklessly. Reports of increasingly dangerous driving continued for an hour. The calls included reports of speeding, swerving in and out of lanes, passing on corners, making sudden u-turns and cutting off vehicles. In Bandon he reportedly drove through a school zone at over 60 mph and ran red lights without slowing down. KEZI also learned Orsenico was arrested in Humboldt County on March 10 for allegedly brandishing and a knife and threatening to stab someone at a motel. According to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office, he was booked on four different charges including vandalism and exhibiting a deadly weapon other than a firearm. The crash is still being investigated by several agencies. Anyone who witnessed the crash or saw the red Mitsubishi Eclipse on the highway prior to the crash is asked to call 541-396-2106 and leave your name and a contact number. Helpful information would include any contact with Orsenico in the last three days, video footage of Orsenico or the red Mitsubishi, or any other witness information. NASA reports that global warming has done more damage to the planet in the last 75 years than in all of the previous years of human civilization. The change in our climate can be measured in an unprecedented increase in the earths temperature. Our oceans are heating up, our ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising at alarming rates. It is a fact that climate change threatens the very existence of the planet. It is also a fact that man-made emissions have accelerated climate change dramatically. Our burgeoning industrial economies and the energy required to propel them have given us the luxuries of modern civilization. But they have also given us scorching summers, frigid winters, and dwindling water resources. Forests have become tinder boxes and high-rent coastal properties are watching their shoreline disappear. Most scientists agree that current climate realities are unsustainable. Common sense says that we should do something about it. To that end, President Joe Biden convened a summit of industrial countries to jump-start discussions on ways to reduce emissions on a global scale. The U.S. target is now a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030. The ultimate goal already endorsed by China and other major polluters is net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2060. Pennsylvania has a special stake in this effort for two reasons. First, our heritage requires it. Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution grants every Pennsylvanian a right to clean air and clean water. The only way to protect this right is to assure that our own behaviors do not spoil the environment. Secondly, Pennsylvania proudly participated in the industrial revolution. We were at the forefront of every innovation that provided opportunities to workers and new products to the world. There is a price to pay for mining coal, making steel, and producing the goods and services that the world needed. In the 1950s, headlights and streetlights were necessary to see through the smoke that belched from steel plants in Pittsburgh even at high noon. Growing up in Johnstown, I thought that the natural color for the hillsides was the rust-orange of sulfur emissions that covered them year-round. Just as Pennsylvania built a robust economy in the last century, we have a chance to reshape it into something better an economy that taps into our abundant energy resources and into our proven ability to innovate. Heres where real common sense comes in. Coal provides 20% of our energy needs. The 2019 Coal Report of the US Energy Department notes that there are 5,400 coal jobs in Pennsylvania. We produce 7.1% of the nations coal supply. It is just not possible to turn that switch off immediately. Instead, we should be embarking on a phased-in migration away from coal that includes the use of existing waste coal and other clean coal technologies. We should accommodate miners with new opportunities in related industries and fund the training required. Similarly, we cant ignore the huge potential of Pennsylvanias natural gas industry. The Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania is thought to be the largest source of natural gas in the country. Underlying this shale is the Utica formation with another 60 years of drilling life. A recent downturn caused by oversupply has caused some belt tightening in the industry but 32,000 jobs have already been created and the upside is still enormous. Wages average about $60,000 per job, and industry sources say the total impact of natural gas on Pennsylvania is about $11 Billion per year. Yes, we must transition to lower emissions and we have the technology and research support to do that. But common sense says that our approach to climate change has to take into account the realities of both coal and natural gas on the states economy. There is one other consideration. Pennsylvania is well on its way to hosting a state-of-the-art cracking plant in Beaver County. This facility, funded by Shell Oil and tax breaks from the federal and state governments, will consume huge amounts of the Marcellus Shale gas to make plastic from its ethane molecules. The whole enterprise offers a closed loop type of manufacturing that utilizes local raw materials to manufacture products without emissions like we have seen from steel manufacturing or from coal fired boilers. It is encouraging that the United Mine Workers of America have already engaged in the discussions about what paths are appropriate for the coal industry. The shift to natural gas is well underway in our state and, from an environmental perspective, that is a good thing. What remains for elected officials and for all of us is to deal with the reality of climate change without fear or rancor. When we reason together, our common sense can prevail. Mark S. Singel is a former Democratic Lieutenant Governor and Acting Governor of Pennsylvania. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Johnson & Johnson is back in the coronavirus vaccine business. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration lifted the temporary suspension of the companys one-dose vaccine Friday after an independent advisory panel recommended that the shot is safe despite rare cases of blood clots linked to it. The panel voted 10 to 4 in favor of lifting the pause with one abstention. It decided the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks, and it is safe to give to anyone over the age of 18 without restrictions. However, the CDC advisory panel did propose that the FDA consider adding a warning label for women under the age of 50. Fifteen women have been diagnosed with a rare blood clotting disorder, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), linked to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the panel. Three of the women have died, and seven remain hospitalized. Thirteen of the cases occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 49. No cases were found in men. The recommended pause announced last week by the CDC and the FDA was a precautionary measure as government regulators investigated the cases of blood clots. Health officials hope the vaccine not only boosts national supplies, but also alleviates hesitancy among those on the fence about getting immunized. The White House has more than 9 million doses ready to go, CNN reported. Stephanie Silvera, an infectious disease expert and professor at Montclair State University, said the outcome was essentially what she anticipated. The bottom line: Do the benefits outweigh the risks? The answer, according to U.S. health regulators, is yes. As was stated at various points during the meeting, that the risks of while significant and important were still fairly rare, and they werent out of line with risks that we take with other vaccines and with other medications, Silvera said. And so to pull it would have done a lot more damage in terms of risk for COVID than allowing it to go forward. But its still unclear how the public will respond. The interesting part of the conversation was really around how do you try to express the potential for risk without having people afraid of not just this vaccine but all of the vaccines? Silvera said. Only time will tell how the news will impact those hesitant to get the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, the New Brunswick-based pharmaceutical giant. Silvera thinks there will be some people who will think twice. I think its probably going to slow down the uptake of the J&J vaccine, she said. But I think well likely get back to a pretty steady state (a) number of people getting that vaccine over the next month or so, unless something else comes up. Johnson & Johnson admitted earlier this week that it must win back the publics trust after the reports of rare but life-threatening blood clots among women who had received the vaccine. The pause was just the latest misstep for Johnson & Johnson, whose reputation has also been marred by production difficulties at a manufacturing plant in Baltimore. A contamination issue last month forced it to destroy 15 million vaccine doses and halt production. The plant then shut down new manufacturing of the vaccine Monday at the request of the FDA following an unsatisfactory inspection. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was found to be 66% effective in clinical trials, well behind the 95% efficacy of the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines. But it was hailed as a game-changer by health officials because its easy to store and administer given it requires just one shot instead of two. Have a news tip or story you want to tell about COVID-19 or the vaccination process? Contact us on our tip form. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can now resume in Massachusetts after U.S. health officials lifted an 11-day pause on the vaccine due to blood clot concerns. The Department of Public Health has begun notifying providers they may resume administering the Johnson & Johnson immediately, according to Kate Reilly, a spokeswoman for the states COVID-19 Response Command Center. Following the CDCs decision today to resume use of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is notifying all providers they may resume administration of the J&J vaccine, effective immediately, Reilly said. The federal government had recommended the pause out of an abundance of caution due to an extremely rare condition reported in a small number of individuals nationwide, and the Administration appreciates their careful review of this matter. In all, the government uncovered 15 vaccine recipients who developed a highly unusual kind of blood clot out of nearly 8 million people given the J&J shot. All were women, most under age 50. Three died, and seven remain hospitalized. But ultimately, federal health officials decided that J&Js one-and-done vaccine is critical to fight the pandemic and that the small clot risk could be handled with warnings to help younger women decide if they should use that shot or an alternative. The one-shot vaccine has been considered a key part of speeding up vaccinations. As of Friday, about 47% of the states population had received at least one shot of vaccine, but only 32% are fully vaccinated. The state saw a mini-surge in cases in the beginning of April, but cases appear to be back on the decline. The U.S. decision similar to how European regulators are rolling out J&Js shot comes after advisers to the CDC debated in a daylong meeting just how serious the risk really is. Panelists voted 10-4 to resume vaccinations without outright age restrictions but made clear that the shots must come with clear warnings about the clots. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low 68F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%. An illustration shows vials with COVID-19 vaccine stickers attached and syringes with the logo of US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson. Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images/TNS A violent mob beat a disabled driver with a cane after he accidentally hit a car that was pulling donuts on a street in Los Angeles, video posted to Instagram shows. They were filmed squaring up to him even as he wailed 'Sorry! Sorry!' and 'I'll give you everything I got bro.' His pleas ended up falling on deaf ears, with one man seen punching the terrified Honda driver in the face even after realizing he was disabled. The incident began after the driver tried to brake his silver Honda to avoid hitting a red Chevy SS doing donut spins in the middle of the road. But he was unable to stop in time, and struck its driver's side door. In a disturbing video uploaded to Instagram earlier this week, an angry mob was filmed instantly swarming on the Honda, denting its bodywork and smashing its windows. A violent mob beat a disabled driver who uses a cane after he accidentally hit a car that was pulling donuts on a street in Los Angeles The crowd had gathered at the intersection of Broadway and 121st Street to watch the red Chevy SS spin in circles A grey Honda tries to break - screeching as it ultimately hits the Chevy The mob who witnessed the wreck swarmed the Honda After the Chevy is hit by the Honda, it was seen attempting to drive away with its airbags deployed while the mob who witnessed the wreck swarmed the Honda. When the Honda driver opens his door, it is forcefully kicked closed again by a member of the angry mob while people shout out 'what are you doing?' 'You can't go nowhere, you can't go nowhere,' people scream as the Honda driver tries to move the car from the middle of the road. One man was filmed breaking one of the car's windows, and getting inside. He was attacked by a member of his own mob after exiting the car again moments later in an apparent case of mistaken identity. The crowd appeared to calm down on seeing the Honda driver's cane and cast - but one man continued to confront the terrified driver, and landed at least one blow on him. At one point, one attacker appeared intent on robbing the man's cane, but moments later he appeared to have a change of heart, and returned it. The scene ends with the crowd fleeing as police make their way to the incident. The disturbing series of clips was first posted to Instagram earlier this week, and has since gone viral, with many commenters angry at the person who filmed it for not stepping into help. Others have asked for help identifying the man who was attacked in an attempt to fundraise to help him. The incident was first reported by TooFab. An LAPD spokesman told the publication they had not received any reports related to the attack. DailyMail.com has also contacted the LAPD for a comment. Another person climbs into the vehicle through the broken back window Another person climbs into the vehicle through the broken back window He is then knocked out cold by another member of the furious mob who witnessed the crash The driver of the Honda is seen getting assaulted my members of an angry mob in Los Angeles By William Schwartz | Published on 2021/04/23 The somehwat questionable ethical premise to "Drama Stage 2021 - EP, Hi Dorothy" is that reporter Jeong-hoo (played by Kim Joo-hun) is morally culpable for the popularity of a secretly filmed sex tape because he wrote an article about it. While I can appreciate the sentiment behind this outrage, blaming the matter on Jeong-hoo doesn't really make sense. Reporters, in theory at least, write about stuff that's already happening. They don't will the news into existence by selectively choosing what subjects to cover. But as far as this aspect goes I'm probably overthinking "Drama Stage 2021 - EP, Hi Dorothy" as Jeong-hoo's character exists chiefly as a paternalistic cipher to show how a man can dismiss a woman's complaints or concerns without necessarily being a bad person. Do-yeong (played by Han Ji-eun) is the woman who calls him to task. She's trying to erase the online record of gross sex tape stories that Jeong-hoo creates. Which is another plot point that's both factually and ethically questionable, although again, that's probably overthinking it. So which parts of this short drama are worth thinking about? Well, mostly, that would just be the sheer existential dread of knowing that someone you care about might be driven to suicide because of a sex tape that was posted online. This isn't something I can much relate to, as I feel neither the need to make sex tapes nor the need to watch them. Interestingly, writer Baek Yi-shin appears to have anticipated this complaint by making the sex tape around which the action centers a rape tape. This once more puts the drama at cross-purposes because the fact that there was a rape seems to be of greater importance than the fact that there was a tape. Although this does finally get to the drama's main strong suit- the oppressive sense of invisible voyeurism. With one brief exception at the end, we never get a good look at anyone involved in this marketplace of online sex tape distribution. It's a perpetratorless crime, with the leading members of the community objectifying women in the most literal possible sense. They don't actually seem to understand that the women who nonconsensually appear in these tapes are people at all. Consequently, any time "Drama Stage 2021 - EP, Hi Dorothy" gets into cyberspace, whether it's by abstract conversation or disembodied computer imagery, the whole feel of the drama turns otherworldly. It's viciously tense, and genuinely inhuman in terms of cold unempathetic logic. This design is further intensified via juxtaposition with the ongoing suicidal thoughts narrative, which plays off the same atmosphere in reverse. Where the creepy sex tape community is united in their love of creepy sex tapes, their victims are convinced that the whole world just consists of the creepy sex tape community. The result is self-hate, not just for being an exposed victim, but simply for being human at all. This dark compelling direction makes up for the holes in the writing, rendering "Drama Stage 2021 - EP, Hi Dorothy" an outstanding piece of work. Review by William Schwartz ___________ "Drama Stage 2021 - EP, Hi Dorothy" is directed by Kim Yoon-jin-I, written by Baek Yi-shin, and features Kim Joo-hun, Han Ji-eun, Choi Ji-su, Jung Kang-hee, Kim Kyu-baek, Cha Ji-hyun. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/03/10, Wed 00:10 on tvN. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Yair Lapid, Member of Parliament (Knesset) of Israel, Yesh Atid party chairman, believes in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Israel. He has proposed a bill in the Knesset, calling on to officially recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide, his spokesperson told Armenpress. Yair Lapid called his bill Our moral responsibility as the Jewish State. The Knesset member believes that the Never Again is a moral imperative which requires recognition of the past and commitment to prevent atrocities in the future, the spokesperson said. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan The Armenian National Committee of the Netherlands has issued a statement on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, also, presenting the respective messages by a number of prominent European figures addressed to the Armenian people and the world. "The crime committed against the Armenian people is an insurmountable decline of human justice, as it has not found its recognition and compensation after 106 years. 106 years later, Turkey and Azerbaijan have not given up [their] devilish plan to exterminate the Armenian people, and another attempt to suppresswith weaponsthe Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] liberation struggle is a vivid proof of that. () it is impossible to break the will of the Armenian people and their desire to live freely. (). () there are millions of righteous people who defend our sacred struggle. Today we publish here the words of these noble people of Europe addressed to the Armenian people and the entire world," the aforesaid statement reads, in particular. Indonesian Navy's KRI Singa-651 leaves the Tanjung Wangi port as the search continues for the missing KRI Nanggala-402 submarine in Banyuwangi, East Java Province Indonesia, on April 24, 2021. (Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters) Rescuers Find Debris Thought to Be From Sunken Indonesian Submarine DENPASAR, IndonesiaA missing Indonesian submarine carrying 53 people is believed to have sunk in the Bali Sea after search teams found debris floating around the vessels last location, a navy official said. With the evidence we found believed to be from the submarine, we have now moved from the sub missing phase to sub sunk', Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono told reporters, according to Indonesian media Tempo. The exact location of the 44-year-old submarine was unknown but its presence had been detected, he said. Footage of the press conference showed officials holding debris that had been found including fragments of prayer mats and a bottle of grease used to lubricate the submarines periscope. Several Indonesian officials, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, posted condolences to the families on social media. Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala sails in the waters off Tuban, East Java, Indonesia, on Oct. 6, 2014. (Eric Ireng/AP Photo) The KRI Nanggala-402 lost contact on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill. We are still carrying out the search the depth of the sea we have detected is at 850 meters (2,790 feet), which is very tricky and presents many difficulties, Margono told reporters, adding that he expected the dive taken by the vessel had led to cracks. Rescuers have sent more than a dozen search helicopters and ships to the area where contact was lost, with the United States, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and India providing assistance. Experts say it is likely the submarine was crushed by water pressure. Now itll be up to the investigators to establish the chronology of events and determine the cause. At the same time, plans would have been made to assess the feasibility of retrieving the sub at such extreme depth, said Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. Its technically possible to do it, though I believe Indonesia will have to engage foreign assistance in this. An Indonesian navy patrol ship sails to join the search for submarine KRI Nanggala that went missing while participating in a training exercise on April 21, 2021, off Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia, on April 24, 2021. (Achmad Ibrahim/AP Photo) Indonesias navy has said it is investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 meters (1,968-2,296 feet), well beyond its survivable limits. One of the people on board was the commander of the Indonesian submarine fleet, Harry Setiawan. Indonesia operates five submarinestwo German-built Type 209s including Nanggala and three newer South Korean vessels. It has been seeking to modernize its defense capabilities but some of its equipment is old and there have been fatal accidents in recent years. By Sultan Anshori A COVID-19 outbreak has prompted a St. Vital school to close its doors as cases of the virus continue to climb in Manitoba at alarming rates. A COVID-19 outbreak has prompted a St. Vital school to close its doors as cases of the virus continue to climb in Manitoba at alarming rates. On Saturday, the province reported 276 cases of the coronavirus, 183 of them in Winnipeg. The number of highly contagious variants jumped by 108, bringing Manitobas total 1,309. Of those, 558 are considered active. Saturday's COVID-19 breakdown: Manitoba provincial health officials announced 276 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday: click to read more 11 cases in the Interlake-Eastern health region; 21 cases in the Northern health region; 34 cases in the Prairie Mountain Health region; 27 cases in the Southern Health-Sante Sud health region; and 183 cases in the Winnipeg health region. Three new deaths related to COVID-19 were announced Saturday: a man in his 40s from the Winnipeg health region; a woman in her 60s from the Winnipeg health region; and a man in his 80s from the Prairie Mountain health region, linked to the outbreak at the Russell Health Centre. Public health officials have reported a total of 1,309 variant of concern cases in Manitoba including 858 cases of B.1.1.7, 20 cases of B.1.351, four cases of the P.1 variant and 427 uncategorized variant of concern cases. There are 1,891 active cases in Manitoba, with 140 people in hospital, 34 of them in intensive care. Close Test-positivity rates also climbed to 6.8 per cent in Manitoba and 7.2 per cent in Winnipeg the highest in the city since January while three more Manitobans died. Parents with children who attend Ecole Marie-Anne-Gaboury received a letter Friday evening from the Louis Riel School Division, announcing the school would move to remote learning beginning Monday. Seven positive cases were identified in the kindergarten-Grade 8 school across multiple cohorts last week, with more expected to be confirmed. "As part of our continued discussions with public health officials, we are anticipating additional potential positive cases over the weekend," superintendent Christian Michalik wrote Friday. Anna Ryan, who has a child in Grade 5 at the school, said parents were first alerted to a positive case last week. The school said Manitoba Health would be in touch with families if their child was deemed a close contact. "Id seen that once before, earlier in the year. And the first time, that was kind of the end of it, we didnt hear anything more. So I was hoping it would go similarly this time around," Ryan said. Cases were originally found in a Grade 3/4 class and a Grade 5/6 class. But as the week progressed, seven were identified across six cohorts of students spanning the whole grade spectrum at the school, according to a bulletin published online by the school division. "So, of course, that was extremely concerning, that it had managed to get to other cohorts, when those cohorts have been put in place to try and stop that kind of thing from happening," Ryan said. In the last two weeks, 244 positive COVID-19 cases have been identified in Manitoba schools, according to provincial data (which sometimes lags behind the information schools have available to them). Of those cases, 50 were identified as staff members, while 194 were students. "I frankly, really feel for the schools and the teachers and administrative and support staff at the school. They have a really, really difficult job, I cant imagine how stressful it must be for them. And honestly, aside from my concerns for the health of my own child and the other children at the school, I really feel for the people who are out there providing this service to all of our children, and the risks that theyre constantly putting themselves in by being in that kind of public space," Ryan said. Another parent, who spoke to the Free Press on the condition of anonymity because shes an educator in Winnipeg, said shes frustrated by the lag time in communicating outbreaks in schools. She pulled her children out of Ecole Marie-Anne-Gaboury last week after she learned a number of staff members werent able to attend work. She recognized the pattern because of her work as an educator, and knew the situation could get worse. The educator said she and a number of other parents with kids at Ecole Marie-Anne-Gaboury work at different schools in Winnipeg. She fears the lag time in communication from the province will lead to the spread of the virus in other educational facilities. Provincial guidelines have mandated that teachers, as essential workers, continue to attend work unless they test positive for COVID-19 themselves or are specifically instructed not to go to work. "Theres so many kids in the classes affected that have parents who are teachers or administrators or just school staff in general, and theyre going right out back to their schools on Monday and Tuesday," the woman said. Both mothers expressed concern that teachers and other school staff have not been prioritized by the provincial government for vaccination. Ecole Marie-Anne-Gaboury will be closed for at least two weeks. School administrators will re-evaluate in early May. Schools outside of Winnipeg including in Gimli and Pilot Mound have also switched to online learning in recent weeks. Public health officials on Friday said a return to remote learning was not yet being considered for all Manitoba schools. sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @SarahLawrynuik In a bid to tackle the situation, deputy commissioners of six worst-hit districts in may prohibit the gathering of four or more people and order "work from home" in all corporate and IT offices, an official statement said. Deputy commissioners of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Hisar, Karnal, Sonipat and Panchkula have been asked to impose, if needed, Section 144 of the CrPC to control the COVID surge, CM Manohar Lal Khattar told reporters after chairing a state-level meeting of the control committee here. He, however, ruled out the imposition of a lockdown in the state but said there will be "lockdown-like conditions" in place in the worst-hit six districts, if needed. IT and corporate offices should avoid crowding, he said, asking employees to adopt the "work from home culture" to break the chain of the infection. The CM also ordered a restriction on gatherings in functions with the maximum limit fixed at 50 people for both indoor and outdoor events in the state, the statement said. He said for funerals, only 20 people will be allowed. Earlier, the limit for outdoor gatherings was 500 and indoor 200. He asked people to postpone marriage functions. "The authorities will only allow gatherings if it is necessary with a limit of 50 people," he added. He said private hospitals have been asked to keep 50 per cent of their beds for infection patients. A provision for 1,000 beds have been made at the PGI in Rohtak, he said. He said there will now be at least 2,250 beds with oxygen facilities in government hospitals. On the issue of medical oxygen, the CM said the situation is under control and there is no shortage of it in hospitals. We had demanded 180 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen a day from the Centre, who fixed our quota at 162 MT, he said, adding that the state government will submit a revised demand of 200 MT tonnes per day to the Centre. Khattar said his government had placed an order for 6,000 MT of liquid medical oxygen from the Bokaro steel plant, which will arrive soon by a special train. The use of liquid oxygen in the industry for non-essential items has been banned, he said. Besides, OPD services have been curtailed in government hospitals across the state. Khattar said only 50 per cent attendance will be allowed in government and private sector offices across the state. He said the supply of oxygen to Delhi from the Panipat plant will continue uninterrupted. Six small plants manufacturing liquid oxygen will be operational in the state in the next two days, he said. Stressing that the state government was "alert and on toes", he asked the public not to create panic over the issue of oxygen. He said anti-COVID injections will be administered to those above 18 years free of cost at government facilities from May 1. The registration process for those who want to be inoculated will start from April 28, he said. The sharp surge in cases and fatalities continued in the state with on Friday recording 60 deaths and 11,854 cases, the highest daily figure so far. More than one-third of the fresh infections were reported from Gurgaon, which along with Faridabad and Sonipat, is among the worst-hit districts. (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 Morrison governments new Employer Reporting Line, labelled the dobseeker hotline by critics, allows employers to dob in jobseekers not only for rejecting employment offers but for behaving badly in interviews, missing appointments or voluntarily quitting their job. The scope exceeds what the government foreshadowed in February when it announced a phone number for bosses to report jobseekers who turned down suitable job offers. The Employer Reporting Line became active earlier this month. Credit: Launched earlier this month, the hotline also allows employers to notify the government if a jobseeker has demonstrated misconduct or unsuitable behaviour at a job interview, submitted an inappropriate job application, failed to attend an interview or voluntarily left a suitable job. People deemed not to have a reasonable excuse face having their unemployment benefits cancelled. They can reapply but have to wait at least four weeks. FMs of 5 countries meet on security situation Xinhua) 14:35, April 24, 2021 Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau attends a joint press conference in Bucharest, Romania, on April 23, 2021. The foreign ministers of Romania, Poland and Turkey met here on Friday for a trilateral meeting on security issues, which also included a special meeting with their counterparts in Georgia and Ukraine. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua) BUCHAREST, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The foreign ministers of Romania, Poland and Turkey met here on Friday for a trilateral meeting on security issues, which also included a special meeting with their counterparts in Georgia and Ukraine. During the trilateral meeting, issues related to the security situation in the Eastern Neighborhood, as well as the preparation of the NATO Summit on June 14, 2021, were discussed. The three foreign ministers agreed to continue close coordination in areas of common interest in the future, especially in consolidating NATO's deterrence and defense stance, with a focus on the Eastern Flank and the Black Sea region, as well as strengthening resilience and support for partners in the region, especially for Ukraine and Georgia. Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu presented his country's priorities for the NATO Summit and insisted on the need to continue to strengthen NATO's position on the entire Eastern Flank, including the Black Sea region. For the first time for the trilateral format launched some ten years ago, there was also a special working session with the participation of partners - the foreign ministers of Georgia, David Zalkaliani, and of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba. Talks between the five foreign ministers focused on the security situation in the Eastern Neighborhood, including the Black Sea. The Romanian minister, together with his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau and Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu sent a clear unitary message reaffirming support for the two partners' Euro-Atlantic aspirations, as well as the common interest in continuing cooperation with these partners in order to strengthen defense capacities and increase resilience. Enditem (Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji) WILLIAMSPORT -- A Williamsport woman has pleaded guilty and placed on five years probation in a thwarted murder-for-hire plot. While pleading guilty to a charge of criminal use of a communication device, Annette Marie Kriner, 23, admitted on Friday she used a cell phone to try to contact a person she thought would kill Howard Blackburn. She was described as intermediary in the plot allegedly hatched by Dillian Mikel Weaver, 20, and Angelina Grace Peluso, 17. Blackburn, who is Pelusos stepfather, agreed to the plea agreement with Kriner, Lycoming County District Attorney Ryan C. Gardner said. Kriner must write a letter of apology to him as part of the sentence Judge Nancy L. Butts imposed. She also must perform 150 hours of community service. She could have received up to seven years in prison on the charge to which she pleaded guilty, the judge told her. Kriner, who has been free on supervised bail, has cooperated with investigators from the outset, Butts was told. The plot to kill Blackburn failed because an individual contacted to help carry out the killing went to state police. It resulted in a sting operation in which Weaver, not knowing he was being recorded, outlined his plan to an undercover trooper. Weaver is awaiting trial on charges of criminal solicitation to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and criminal use of a communication device. Peluso and Kriner were charged with the same counts. Peluso was adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile of aggravated assault and received detention time. The plot, according to what Peluso told police, was hatched after Blackburn slapped and punched her when he discovered her in bed with Weaver in the Trout Run area house. Weaver was the protagonist, Gardner alleged. Kriner told police when he came to her house on April 22, 2020, he said he wanted Blackburn killed because he had raped his girlfriend two nights earlier. When Pelsuo was interviewed she admitted Blackburn had not sexually assaulted her but she had lied to Weaver to make him angry at her stepfather, arrest documents state. She claimed it was Weavers idea to kill her stepfather but she was on board with it, an arrest affidavit states. She later claimed she did not want him killed, just injured, the document states. Indonesia navy declares lost sub with 53 aboard sunk View Photo BANYUWANGI, Indonesia (AP) Indonesias navy on Saturday declared its missing submarine had sunk and cracked open after finding items from the vessel over the past two days, apparently ending hope of finding any of the 53 crew members alive. Military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said the presence of an oil slick as well as debris near the site where the submarine last dove Wednesday off the island of Bali were clear proof the KRI Nanggala 402 had sunk. Indonesian officials earlier considered the vessel to be only missing, but said the submarines oxygen supply would have run out early Saturday. Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono said at a press conference in Bali, If its an explosion, it will be in pieces. The cracks happened gradually in some parts when it went down from 300 meters to 400 meters to 500 meters. If there was an explosion, it would be heard by the sonar. The navy previously said it believes the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet), much deeper than its collapse depth of 200 meters (655 feet), at which point water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand. With the authentic evidence we found believed to be from the submarine, we have now moved from the sub miss phase to sub sunk, Margono said at the press conference, in which the found items were displayed. The cause of the disappearance was still uncertain. The navy had previously said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface. Margono said that in the past two days, searchers found parts of a torpedo straightener, a grease bottle believed to be used to oil the periscope, debris from prayer rugs and a broken piece from a coolant pipe that was refitted on the submarine in South Korea in 2012. Margono said rescue teams from Indonesia and other countries will evaluate the findings. He said no bodies have been found so far. An American reconnaissance plane, a P-8 Poseidon, landed early Saturday and had been set to join the search, along with 20 Indonesian ships, a sonar-equipped Australian warship and four Indonesian aircraft. Singaporean rescue ships were also expected Saturday, while Malaysian rescue vessels were due to arrive Sunday, bolstering the underwater hunt, officials said earlier Saturday. Family members had held out hopes for survivors but there were no sign of life from the vessel. Indonesian President Joko Widodo had ordered all-out efforts to locate the submarine and asked Indonesians to pray for the crews safe return. The German-built diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 had been in service in Indonesia since 1981 and was carrying 49 crew members and three gunners as well as its commander, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said. Indonesia, the worlds largest archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands, has faced growing challenges to its maritime claims in recent years, including numerous incidents involving Chinese vessels near the Natuna islands. ___ Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia. Associated Press writer Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report. By EDNA TARIGAN and FADLAN SYAM Associated Press Bicyclist taken to hospital after Friday crash with vehicle Feel-good values, old world charm, good-looking characters and realistic plot Turkish dramas have discovered the perfect recipe to winning our hearts. These endorphin-inducing shows have become an absolute rage with the Indian audience, and for good reason. One Turkish show in particular, The Promise, has a dedicated fan base of its own. After multiple requests from fans on social media MX Player has now announced season 3 of this larger-than-life show! An absolute crowd pleaser, The Promise is brought to viewers as a part of their recently launched content category - MX VDesi, an initiative that hosts the largest catalogue of international shows dubbed in local languages. So what is it that makes these Turkish shows a force to reckon with amongst Indians? 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Good Looking Characters MX Player Lastly, we love Turkish shows for their sophisticated and sombre characters these gorgeous looking characters imbued with values make it a delight to watch Turkish shows. Whats not to like, right? Click here to start streaming one of the most popular Turkish dramas The Promise on MX Player, for free. OTTAWA, TRADITIONAL UNCEDED ALGONQUIN TERRITORY, ON, April 23, 2021 /CNW/ - Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) is closely monitoring the number of COVID-19 cases reported in First Nations communities across the country. As vaccine efforts ramp up, the curve of infections is trending down overall. Since the first doses of the vaccine were administered in First Nations communities over three months ago, there has been a more than 80% reduction in the number of active cases. In First Nations communities, as of April 22, ISC is aware of 26,539 confirmed positive COVID-19 719 active cases 25,514 recovered cases 306 deaths There is one active case in Nunavik, Quebec. As of April 22, the Government of Nunavut is reporting 36 active cases of COVID-19 in Iqaluit and Kinngait. As of April 21, 2021, more than 13.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed across the country. As of April 23, 346,108 vaccine doses have been administered in 651 First Nations, Inuit and territorial communities. Based on Statistics Canada's 2020 population projections, over 57% of adults in First Nations communities, as well as over 70% of adults living in the territories, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. There are many examples of success across the country as vaccines continue to be rolled out. In Quebec, all First Nations communities have started mass vaccination. Most have administered all the doses they have received and are planning for second doses. In Atlantic Canada, all First Nations and Inuit communities have hosted their first dose immunization clinic, and most have or will soon have completed their second dose clinics by the end of April for those who are eligible. The territories also continue to lead the way in demonstrating leadership, which has led to the high levels of success in their vaccine campaigns. Urban vaccine planning continues to be a priority across the country. In Montreal, Indigenous vaccination clinics opened this week, and they will be open to all Indigenous Peoples aged 18 and older. New COVID-19 vaccination clinics also opened in Toronto last week, with appointments available to eligible populations, including First Nations, Metis and Inuit adults. Even with the increasing availability of vaccines, there is a continued need to follow public health measures, including minimizing in-person interactions with people outside your immediate household, avoiding crowded places, wearing a mask, and washing your hands frequently. These public health measures remain imperative, even after being vaccinated. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of Operation LASERthe Canadian Armed Forces' (CAF) response to the global pandemicthe CAF has provided support to the numerous First Nation communities across Canada. As a result of the vital medical support provided by the CAF, many COVID-19 outbreaks in communities were controlled. As part of Operation VECTORthe CAF's support to the federal, provincial and territorial governments for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinesthe CAF assisted provincial vaccination authorities tasked with vaccine administration in more than 25 communities of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation in Northern Ontario. Last week, the CAF assisted Sachigo Lake First Nation, this week the CAF is assisting Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation and next week it will support Wunnumin First nation. The CAF also continues to assist vaccination teams with the accelerated pace of immunization in a number of on-reserve Indigenous communities in Northern Manitoba. The CAF has provided support to nine communities. This week, it will assist with vaccination clinics and community outreach in two communities: O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation (CAF support started today, April 21, and so far approximately 80 vaccines have been administered by community healthcare professionals) and Northlands Denesuline First Nation (CAF support started today, April 21, and so far approximately 215 vaccines have been administered by community healthcare professionals). Budget 2021 proposes to provide an additional $1.2 billion in 202122 to continue supporting the COVID-19 response in Indigenous communities as follows: $478.1 million on a cash basis to support the ongoing public health response to COVID-19 in Indigenous communities, including support to hire nurses, help at-risk people isolate and distribute personal protective equipment, as well as an additional $760.8 million for the Indigenous Community Support Fund to help First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Nation communities, and urban and off-reserve Indigenous organizations that serve Indigenous Peoples meet the unique needs of their populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding will help prevent the spread of COVID-19, support elders and vulnerable community members, provide mental health assistance and emergency response services, address food insecurity, and support children. Associated links Stay connected Join the conversation about Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Twitter: @GCIndigenous Facebook: @GCIndigenous Instagram: @gcindigenous Facebook: @GCIndigenousHealth Twitter: @Min_IndServ You can subscribe to receive our news releases and speeches via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit www.isc.gc.ca/RSS. SOURCE Indigenous Services Canada For further information: media may contact: Adrienne Vaupshas, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, [email protected]; Media Relations, Indigenous Services Canada, 819-953-1160, [email protected] Related Links https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca Pioneering politician Betty Boothroyd is being investigated by Parliament's ethics watchdog for failing to attend a sexual harassment course at the age of 91. Last night a row erupted over the Lords' decision to open a formal probe into Baroness Boothroyd, despite knowing that she has been recovering from open-heart surgery. MPs described it as 'political correctness gone mad' and accused officials of harassing the peer, who made history as the first and only female Commons Speaker. Pioneering politician Betty Boothroyd is being investigated by Parliament's ethics watchdog for failing to attend a sexual harassment course at the age of 91 She is one of 60 peers under investigation by the Standards Commissioner for failing to attend a training session called Valuing Everyone, run by a controversial consultancy firm that uses giant blue puppets in some of its courses. The online training, which is voluntary for MPs, was made compulsory in the Lords last year. Baroness Boothroyd is regularly described as a pioneer for women's equality. One MP who has attended the course said: 'It's bonkers. Betty Boothroyd is someone to whom statues will be built in the future. This would be like prosecuting the suffragettes for failing to vote.' In what should have been the final word on the matter, Baroness Boothroyd replied: 'My medical condition has prevented me from attending the course online.' Remarkably, the following day Ms Scott-Moncrieff announced she was investigating the baroness anyway After she was first contacted by the standards watchdog, Baroness Boothroyd replied, in correspondence she has shared with this newspaper: 'The reason I have not been able to respond to requirements is due to the fact that early in March 2020, I was advised by two consultants to leave London and isolate at my home in the country. 'I have had [an] aorta valve replacement followed by [a] leak in [the] mitral valve. The respiratory consultant in particular insisted I stay out of London and in isolation in the country.' She went on to say: 'I was born in 1929 I remain in shielding which is a requirement. I neither indulge in Zoom or remote [meetings].' But she offered to answer any questions about standards that the commissioner might have. Commissioner Lucy Scott-Moncrieff responded: 'As it is a requirement of the Code of Conduct for all members to have done the training session by April 1, could I clarify whether you mean to convey that your medical condition has prevented you from attended the course online?' In what should have been the final word on the matter, Baroness Boothroyd replied: 'My medical condition has prevented me from attending the course online.' Remarkably, the following day Ms Scott-Moncrieff announced she was investigating the baroness anyway. The peer told The Mail on Sunday: 'I'm very happy to be trained when this is all over you're never too old to learn.' Tory MP Neil O'Brien said: 'The idea that Betty Boothroyd, who is one of the most widely respected parliamentarians of her generation, is some kind of threat because she hasn't done some online course is beyond laughable. 'Actually this isn't a joke. This is not the way to go about raising standards in Parliament. There are real problems in some cases, but I can't think of a worse way to go about addressing them than by harassing a 91-year-old who is held in the highest esteem across all parties.' Another Tory MP said: 'The entire parliamentary world will be aghast at the lack of self-awareness of anybody investigating an icon like Betty Boothroyd under these circumstances. It's breathtaking.' Baroness Boothroyd's possible penalties include being banned from the Lords or from claiming its daily allowance. Asked yesterday whether it will consider dropping the investigation, the commissioner's office declined to comment on 'active investigations'. Other peers under investigation for skipping the course, run by Challenge Consultancy, include breast cancer campaigner Baroness Morgan, Lord Trimble and Lord Heseltine. Last year the Lords made the training compulsory for all peers, despite criticism from MPs that the sessions are run by 'expensive consultants who are laughing all the way to the bank'. Challenge Consultancy has received more than 750,000 in contracts from Parliament for running two online courses. Another, called Unconscious Bias, encourages MPs to take on young black men to act as 'reverse mentors'. The firm, whose clients include the BBC and Bafta, has also used a giant blue puppet called UB as part of its unconscious bias courses. A Tory MP said: 'This is the latest example of woke consultancies trying to milk the public sector and hoover up taxpayers' cash for highly questionable services.' Challenge Consultancy did not respond to a request for comment. NEW CANAAN Nearly 80 percent of eligible town residents have received a first dose of the COVID vaccine, the first selectman said Friday. First Selectman Kevin Moynihan pointed out the state Department of Public Healths data that shows just 53 percent of New Canaan residents have received the first dose is factoring in all 20,233 people who live in town. Moynihan said 77 percent of the towns eligible residents those 16 and older have received the first dose when you remove the 6,000 people who are 15 and younger. Since only Pfizer is available to those 16 to 18 years old, our percent vaccinated would be even higher if state DPH gave us Pfizer rather than Moderna, Moynihan said. Pfizer is the only COVID vaccine approved for everyone 16 and older. Town officials expect more residents will be vaccinated next week at a Pfizer clinic at New Canaan High School. Students 16 and older who attend private schools, including those outside of New Canaan, are also eligible to participate. Those interested can contact New Canaan Health Department. On Monday, the town will hold a Moderna vaccine clinic to target workers of restaurants, stores and personal service businesses. There will be 1,170 appointments for the Pfizer vaccine available, New Canaan Health Director Jenn Eielson said. Moynihan is optimistic the town will reach over a thousand students with the Pfizer vaccine next Wednesday. This week, however, only a third of the appointments were used for a clinic at Lapham Center. The clinic had 600 doses available, but only vaccinated 200 people, Moynihan said. At that clinic town vaccinated only 200 people, but had 600 doses available, which prompted Moynihan I have no idea why the Moderna clinic did not fill on Wednesday, Eielson said. Most area health departments I have spoken to reported the same thing for this week. Could be due to the fact the age group most in need of appointments is the 16-17-year-olds that can only have Pfizer and we did not have Pfizer this week, the health director added. Eielson said she has also been contacted by some residents who were waiting for the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause to be lifted, which happened on Friday. Street art has become a mainstream cultural phenomenon, thanks to artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Banksy and Kaws. But outdoor murals are vulnerable to vandals, who mar their beauty with unwanted graffiti. A group of chemists in Italy have developed a groundbreaking new method to wipe away graffiti while keeping the art underneath intact. The process involves loading nontoxic cleaners onto a thin sheet of polymers known as hydrogels and applying it to a surface of a vandalized piece of street art. The hydrogel releases the cleaning agents slowly to just the top layer, only a few microns deep, allowing the overpainting to be removed quickly without damaging the work. Cleaning graffiti off street art is difficult because the chemical composition of both is so similar its nearly impossible for a solvent to erase one without the other 'For decades, we have focused on cleaning or restoring classical artworks that used paints designed to last centuries,' said Piero Baglioni, a chemist at the University of Florence who worked on the project. 'In contrast, modern art and street art, as well as the coatings and graffiti applied on top, use materials that were never intended to stand the test of time.' The difficulty with restoring street art is the spray paint used by vandals is usually so chemically similar to the original workboth use acrylic, vinyl or alkyd polymers as paint binders. That makes it nearly impossible to develop a solution that will remove the former while preserving the latter. Researchers at the University of Florence have developed an environmentally friendly solvent that can remove an overcoating of graffiti while preserving the art underneath. Previously, restorers have had to resort to scraping, sandblasting or chemical solvents, all of which damage the original work. To tackle the problem, researchers at the university designed a nanostructured fluid using nontoxic solvents and loaded it into highly retentive hydrogels. The hydrogels have been formulated as thin foil sheets, which can be cut and shaped as needed, and adhere to walls. Once placed on a surface, they release cleaning agents very slowly to just the top layer of a surface, only a few microns deep. The solvent is loaded onto thin sheets of hydrogels that slowly release it onto just the top layer, only a few microns deep As a result, the undesired top layer is removed in minutes, sometimes even seconds, with no damage to the work underneath. The researcher team shared their new method last week at a virtual meeting of the American Chemical Society. In some ways, the process is simple, co-creator Michele Baglioni said, since scientists already knew what chemicals are in the paint. 'The challenge is combining them in the right way to get all the properties we need,' he said. 'We have to know exactly what is going on at the surface of the paintings if we want to design cleaners.' The team used infrared spectroscopy to characterize the binders, fillers and pigments in three common classes of paints. They tried out combinations of low-toxic alkyl carbonate solvents, pairing them with biodegradable surfactants, which reduce a liquid's surface tension. The results were loaded onto thin sheets of hydrogels, which stick to walls and can be cut and shaped as needed. After a few minutes, you can peel a sheet off and the over-paint should be 'softened and swollen,' Ars Technica reported and easy to wipe off. The scientists tested their cleaners on fake 'art' in the lab, then tried their best option out on a real piece of street art in Florence, successfully removing some black tags without affecting the original work. The hydrogel that worked best included 2-butanol as a solvent and alkyl glycoside as a non-ionic surfactant. The researchers plan to make the hydrogels commercially available The combination that worked best included 2-butanol as a solvent and alkyl glycoside as a non-ionic surfactant. The researchers say the process could also be used to remove top coats of paints on works of art that were intended to restore the painting but ended up damaging it. 'They seem to be quite far apart, but science and art are very strictly connected,' Michele Baglioni told Ars Technica. 'Talking about art restoration, art preservation, is like talking about materials.' The researchers plan to make the hydrogels commercially available through their company, CSGI Solutions for Conservation of Cultural Heritage. There is nothing to do but look on helplessly as India gasps for breath. On Friday, the country recorded 332,730 new infections. Four million people have been infected in April alone, and 24,452 have died. These official numbers are assumed to be a massive undercount. With the crisis in many states only just beginning, no one knows when the peak will come. People are dying in parking lots of hospitals while their loved ones plead with medical staff to let them in. They are dying in the backseats of cars where they have been hooked up to oxygen tanks by their children who drive from hospital to hospital in search of a bed. They are dying inside ICUs when oxygen supplies run out. They are dying as they live tweet their drastically falling oxygen saturation levels because no doctor is available to take their calls. Alongside the older population, they are now dying in their 20s and 30s. This week Indian Twitter has revealed the true meaning of the term doom scrolling. My newsfeed has been filled with desperate appeals for blood donations, plasma from recovered patients, ICU beds, ventilators, oxygen and even the drug Remdesivir, all of which are in woefully short supply. In the absence of assistance from the government, strangers are turning to one another on social media. The sense of panic and urgency is so palpable that even people in Pakistan, Indias greatest political enemy, have started a hashtag called #indianeedsoxygen to implore their prime minister to send help to their neighbor. In this darkest of hours, those of us who are Indian immigrants living in the U.S. are wracked with worry for friends and families back home and feel guilt for the fact that here we at least are safe. As an Indian national who lives in Michigan, I watch from afar as the images pour in of an elderly woman sitting in the middle of the road hooked up to an oxygen cylinder, of people sleeping on sidewalks outside hospitals, of a stone-faced mother squatting next to her sons dead body, of grown men sobbing as they beg strangers for help, of mass funeral pyres in crematoriums. A couple of weeks ago, the city I was most worried about was Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra, which was reporting more than half of the total number of infections in India. This week, my friends in Delhi have stopped responding to my WhatsApp messages. A few nights ago, growing increasingly alarmed at the radio silence of a journalist friend, I finally called him. He answered the phone and managed somehow to say hi from his hospital bed. The thought of calling others now fills me with dread. In a few short weeks, India has gone from a mood of triumph over low COVID numbers to one of despair. Whose fault is it exactly? Is it the people who celebrated too soon and decided to resume normal lives? Is it the national BJP government which, instead of preparing for this crisis, actively encouraged thousands of Hindu supporters to attend the Kumbh Mela earlier this month for a holy bath in the Ganges River? Is it the political parties that, until yesterday, continued brazenly with their massive election rallies? Is it the new double mutant variant B1617? Or is it the years and years of neglect of the public health infrastructure by successive governments that has today left millions of Indians without basic medical resources in their hour of greatest need? For those who survive these weeks, there will be plenty of time in the years to come for recriminations and reflection, to talk about denial and selfishness and stupidity. Right now, they need whatever support the international community can give them. Individual donations are always valuable, but what India really needs is large scale interventions from foreign governments. It needs vaccines, oxygen and medical personnel. And it needs something else. I am an atheist. Nearly all my life, I have been irreverent about religious rituals. Now I find myself asking people to pray. Perhaps one of the numerous gods Indians pray to might have mercy on my writhing country. Mukherjee worked as a journalist for Indias oldest English language newspaper, The Statesman. She earned a PhD in creative writing from the University of Houston and teaches at Grand Valley State University. ROCHESTER, Minn. - This week, the U.S. Senate passed a bill taking aim at anti-Asian hate crimes. Rochester Diversity Council Board Member Albert Lun said Asian-Americans have been discriminated against long before the pandemic and the bill is a step in the right director The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support, passing 94 to 1. It would strengthen federal efforts to address hate crimes, would create a position at the Department of Justice to help review them and encourage creating state-run hotlines to report them. Lun said it's important that lawmakers acknowledge the problem and take action. He believes it's important to start a conversation with others. "It's only the beginning or maybe the awakening so we can continue using it to shine a light on knowledge sharing and also provide some common solution and a conversation about how we can build a more perfect union," he said. The bill will next move to the House of Representatives. Bulawayo based lawyer, Nqobani Sithole, has lodged an application with the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe, challenging the passage of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.1) Bill H.B. 1A, 2017) in Parliament. Sithole of Abammeli argues that parliament failed to exercise its legislative authority by reviving Bill on March 24, 2021, when the Constitutional Bill had lapsed at the end of the previous parliament. Legal experts say the life of a bill is subject to the life of a parliament. In the Zimbabwean context, parliament has a five-year term, which means a bill raised during the eighth parliament (2013 2018) is rendered dead when a new parliament is sworn in. This current ninth parliament was opened on September 18, 2018. The 2017 bill, renamed as the Constitutional Amendment Bill (Number 2) of 2019, sailed through both the National Assembly and Senate and now awaits Presidential assent. In his application filed April 22, 2021, Sithole argues that by restoring the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No.1) Bill (H.B. 1A, 2017) to the Order Paper, parliament violated Section 147 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. Sithole cited Parliament, the Speaker of National Assembly Jacob Mudenda, president of the Senate Mabel Chinomona, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliament Affairs Ziyambi Ziyambi and President Emmerson Mnangagwa as respondents. The lawyer said the motion to restore the said bill to the Order Paper on March 24, 2021, when the Constitutional Bill had lapsed on July 29, 2018, by operation of Section 147 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe is a violation of the law. In terms of Section 117(1) of the Constitution, all respondents are vested with the legislative authority of Zimbabwe, which implies that the respondents are not expected to violate any provision of the constitution. The same section places a duty on Parliament to ensure the provisions of the constitution are upheld and that any bill, which parties seek to be enacted is presented in and passed by the lower and upper houses without violating the constitution. As such, Sithole argues parliament erred in its constitutional obligation under Section 131(2), as read with Section 117(1) of the constitution by reviving a bill which lapsed on July 29, 2018, that is the last parliament. He further argues that on April 6, 2021, Parliament, through the senate, debated and passed the said bill when the same had lapsed on July 29 by operation of Section 147 of the constitution that is upon the dissolution of the eighth parliament. Sithole is seeking a declaratory and consequential order in terms of Section 167(2)(d) of the constitution and seeks that the Constitutional Court declares the passing of Constitutional Amendment Bill (No. 2) of 2019 to be of no force and legal effect. He contends that if parliament desired to steer through the said bill, it should have commenced the process afresh in keeping with the procedures prescribed in Section 131 of the Constitution. In an interview with CITE, Sithole said the parliament had amended Zimbabwes constitution illegally and thus violated the constitution. This Bill was brought in parliament in 2017 which was then dissolved, so all bills that were not passed then must be restarted. When they sought to challenge the constitution, Zanu pf needed a two-thirds majority which they failed to get. So in the process of amending failed to get that, then the Constitutional Court said they must vote again but the ConCourt doesnt have that power. It must only declare whether the process was done properly or not so everything is wrong about that bill, he said. The Bill seeks to remove a clause on running mates and retain the present system of the President appointing vice-presidents, extend the quota of extra women MPs by two more terms, add 10 more seats reserved for people aged 21 to 35 and extend the tenure of judges beyond 70 years of age. Last year in December, Sithole also sued the Registrar-General over errors and misspellings of IsiNdebele words on the Zimbabwean passport. CITE Gangs hired by local authorities. Demolitions began in November. Some victims suffered serious injuries; others continued the protest. Similar cases of aggression also occurred over the demolition of sacred places. Beijing (AsiaNews) - A group of thugs hired by local authorities beat up villagers who were protesting the forced demolition of their homes. Radio Free Asia reports the incident took place on April 21 in Xiaotangshan (Changping district), just outside the capital. The perpetrators of the attack (more than 10) were led by Wu Longli, the deputy head of the village. They left the scene before police and rescue arrived. Some victims of the beating were found unconscious and needed medical attention; others continued to protest. House demolitions began in November; since then the residents have camped on the rubble in protest. According to Xiaotangshan officials, the construction contract signed by local authorities in 1998 was illegal. There are often cases of aggression against those who demonstrate against government ordered demolitions and expropriations in China. On several occasions they have concerned places of worship. In 2005, 16 Catholic nuns from Xian were beaten and wounded for defending a school from being demolished. In 2013, a team of "thugs" and government officials savagely beat a group of Christians in Lincheng County (Hainan): the faithful were only trying to prevent the theft of the land on which their church was to be built. President Joe Biden has formally recognized that the the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in 1915 amounted to 'genocide'. For decades the White House has avoided using the term to describe the atrocities that occurred during the First World War over concerns that it could damage relations with NATO ally Turkey. The historic declaration has been celebrated by Armenians, but triggered an angry response in Turkey, where it was said that the move 'will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship.' An estimated two million Armenians were deported and 1.5 million were killed in the events known as Metz Yeghern. President Joe Biden made the historic declaration that the the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in 1915 amounted to 'genocide' American Armenians carry an arrangement of flowers as they gather in remembrance of the 1915 genocide at the Armenian Martyrs Monument in Montebello, California Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide. In his statement, Biden said the American people honor 'all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.' He added: 'Over the decades Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic history ... We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.' With the acknowledgement, the president followed through on a campaign promise he made a year ago on the annual commemoration of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day to recognize that the events of 1915 to 1923 were a deliberate effort to wipe out Armenians. In a letter to Biden, Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote that the president's message was met with 'great enthusiasm' by the people of Armenia and Armenians worldwide. 'The acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide is important not only as a tribute paid to the 1.5 million innocent victims, but also in terms of preventing the recurrence of similar crimes against mankind,' he added. People take part in a ceremony for 1.5 million Armenians killed in the Ottoman-era slaughter at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial complex in Yerevan In his statement, Biden said the American people honor 'all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today Pashinyan said that recognition of the genocide is a matter of security to Armenia, especially after events that took place in the region last year when a war in Nagorno-Karabakh broke out. A statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry called on Biden to correct what it described as 'a grave mistake.' It read: 'We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the President of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups. 'It is clear that the said statement does not have a scholarly and legal basis, nor is it supported by any evidence. 'This statement... will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship. In Armenia on Saturday, people streamed to the hilltop complex in Yerevan, which memorializes the victims. Many laid flowers around the eternal flame, creating a wall of blooms that reached 7ft high Biden's full statement for Armenian Remembrance Day. He said the American people honor 'all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today Ties between Ankara and Washington have been strained over issues ranging from Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems - over which it was the target of U.S. sanctions - to policy differences in Syria, human rights and a court case targeting Turkey's majority state-owned Halkbank. Sources revealed that during a telephone call on Friday, Mr Biden informed Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan of his plan to issue the statement. The US and Turkish governments, in separate statements following Mr Biden and Mr Erdogan's call, made no mention of the American plan to recognise the Armenian genocide. But the White House said Mr Biden told his Turkish counterpart he wants to improve the two countries' relationship and find 'effective management of disagreements'. The two also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting at the Nato summit in Brussels in June. Politicians and Armenian American activists have been lobbying Biden to make the genocide announcement on or before remembrance day. The bodies of deportees who died of typhus and other diseases in a forest near the Mother See of Etchmiadzin, about 15 miles from the capital of Yerevan, in 1915. An estimated two million Armenians were deported and 1.5 million were killed in the events known as Metz Yeghern In Armenia on Saturday, people streamed to the hilltop complex in Yerevan, the capital, which memorializes the victims. Many laid flowers around the eternal flame, creating a wall of blooms 7ft high. Armenian deputy foreign minister Avet Adonts, speaking at the memorial before Mr Biden issued his proclamation, said a US president using the term genocide would 'serve as an example for the rest of the civilized world'. Mr Biden's call with Mr Erdogan was his first since taking office more than three months ago. Erdogan had established a close bond with former U.S. president Donald Trump, but since Biden took over, Washington has grown more vocal about Turkey's human rights track record. It has also stood firm on its demand that Ankara get rid of the Russian defense systems. In 2019, Biden accused Donald Trump of betraying US allies, following Mr Trumps decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria, which paved the way for a Turkish military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish group. As the spread of coronavirus seems to have plateaued across South Carolina, the state's nursing homes are also seeing a drop in new cases. But with over 50 facilities reporting an active outbreak as of April 23, health officials have tallied over 20,000 cases since the pandemic's beginning. According to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control's latest data, a total of 20,015 patients and staff members at long-term care facilities have tested positive for COVID-19. Of those, just 184 cases were reported over the past 30 days. Two patients and no staff members died of the virus in that period. It's a welcome relief for the industry that's seen more than 1,950 staff and patients die of the virus. Statewide numbers New cases reported: 511 confirmed, 331 probable. Total cases in S.C.: 478,739 confirmed, 95,487 probable. Percent positive: 5.3 percent. New deaths reported: 10 confirmed, 0 probable. Total deaths in S.C.: 8,289 confirmed, 1,125 probable. Percent of ICU beds filled: 71 percent. How S.C. ranks South Carolina ranks 41st in the nation in the number of vaccines administered per 100,000 people as of April 23, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 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! Hardest-hit areas In the total number of newly confirmed cases, Greenville County (78), Richland County (64) and York County (47) saw the highest totals. What about tri-county? Charleston County had 30 new cases on April 24, while Berkeley County had 20 and Dorchester County had 15. Deaths Three of the deaths from COVID-19 confirmed April 24 were patients age 35 to 64. Seven were patients 65 or older. Hospitalizations Of the 522 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of April 24, 142 were in the ICU and 65 were using ventilators. What do experts say? Dr. Danielle Scheurer, chief quality officer at the Medical University of South Carolina, said with demand for the vaccine beginning to wane, the health system needs to "switch strategies." Scheurer said in an internal publication that mass vaccination sites at MUSC are not filling up as much as they used to, so it has become imperative for the hospital to "go to the people instead of having them come to us." "Instead of us looking at this as 'if we build it, they will come,' we need to get it to them," she said. Deliveries of the Citroen C5 Aircross have commenced across dealerships in India. The flagship SUV from Citroen is assembled in India at the companys plant in Thiruvallur, near Chennai. The model is available in four body colours and an optional black roof, with prices starting at Rs 29.90 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). To enhance the Citroen ownership, the company has launched Citroen Future Sure for Indian customers. This package allows customers to own a Citroen vehicle with a monthly payment of Rs 49,999, including an assured future value on the new Citroen C5 Aircross SUV. The package also includes routine maintenance, extended warranty, roadside assistance, and on-road financing for up to 5 years. Commenting on the start of deliveries, Roland Bouchara, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Citroen India, said, The new Citroen C5 Aircross SUV embodies all the elements of the Citroen Advanced Comfort program. This ties up very well with our brand ethos of Citroen 360-degree comfort to enhance the overall customer experience. We are focused on improving the well-being of people by the seamless customer experience, human-centricity, and how well we are integrated digitally through our La Maison Citroen phygital network. Through our disruptive products and services, we are challenging the status quo and reinventing the car buying and distribution model in India. With over 1,000 pre-bookings till date, the C5 Aircross is clearly one of the most anticipated SUVs in India and we are looking forward to our journey in India. Citroen C5 Aircross 29.90 Lakh Onwards Citroen | C5 Aircross | Citroen C5 Aircross (Newser) Dr. David Fowler's testimony about the death of George Floyd was so far removed from mainstream forensic practice that a review of his past work for Maryland should be conducted, hundreds of doctors have told the state. The state Attorney General's Office agreed that an investigation is needed, the Baltimore Sun reports, after receiving a letter signed by 431 physicians. The letter, which came from Roger Mitchell, a former Washington, DC, medical examiner, criticized Fowler's testimony in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin that Floyd's death "should be certified with an 'undetermined' manner." The letter added that that opinion "raises significant concerns for his previous practice and management." Fowler was Maryland's chief medical examiner for 17 years, retiring in 2019. story continues below All cases involving in-custody deaths from 2003 to 2020 will be reviewed, the Attorney Generals Office said. Independent experts will review the cases, with the Attorney General's Office coordinating the effort, per WJZ. While several experts told the Minneapolis court that a lack of oxygen killed FloydChauvin had kept his knee on Floyd's neck for more than 9 minutesFowler testified that the cause of death was a sudden heart rhythm problem due to heart disease. Chauvin was convicted Tuesday in the case. Fowler said Friday that when he held the Maryland office, he wasn't the only person determining cause of death. "There's a large team of forensic pathologists, with layers of supervision, and those medical examiners always did tremendous work," he said. (Read more George Floyd stories.) Advertisement Australians have gathered across the country in the chilly dawn to mark Anzac Day at public ceremonies for the first time since 2019. Last year Anzac Day was marked by televised services only and no marches for the first time in more than a century as the COVID-19 pandemic kept people indoors. Services and marches were back with limited crowds in most parts of the country. Only services in Western Australia's Perth and Peel regions were cancelled after a hotel quarantine outbreak led to community virus transmission and the imposition of a three-day lockdown. Sunday marks the 106th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli, a campaign which ultimately cost more than 8700 Australian lives. Like last year, many Australians paid tribute at home by standing at the end of their driveways at dawn. Outside of the Sydney CBD, a maximum of 5000 people - excluding spectators - can participate in an outdoor Anzac Day march or dawn service. Australians have gathered across the country in the chilly dawn to mark Anzac Day at public ceremonies for the first time since 2019. Pictured: People attend the consular corps wreath-laying ceremony commemorating in Sydney NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian poses with members of the Sydney Maori Choir during the Sydney Dawn Service on Sunday morning Montana Seaman with her partner and serviceman Luke Williams share a moment after the dawn service at Coogee Beach A young on-looker stands for the Australian national anthem during the Sydney Dawn Service on Sunday morning A veteran walks next to police officers as they attend the consular corps wreath-laying ceremony commemorating Anzac Day in Sydney Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra that the nation faced a defining moment 12 months ago when the pandemic first reached Australian shores. 'A moment of uncertainty and danger, when the future seems so uncertain, masked by fog,' he said in front of about 3,000 people. 'We could not gather, but we held candles in driveways and on balconies and we played the Last Post on radios and iPhones as some, especially in our west, will do again today. 'And together we called on our past to light up the dawn, and in doing so, we rediscovered a deep truth about who we are - our strength is found in each other. 'When we are threatened, when our peace and our safety and our security are imperilled, in these moments our differences fade away.' Mr Morrison acknowledged the service came as Australia prepared to withdraw its last troops from Afghanistan. 'It has been our longest war. The world is safer from the threat of terrorism than when the Twin Towers were felled almost 20 years ago, but we remain vigilant. However, this has come at a great cost.' Australia lost 41 Australian Defence Force members in Afghanistan out of the more than 39,000 who served. Anzac Day services overseas were cancelled, including Australian and New Zealand-led services in Turkey and Australian services in France. People attend the consular corps wreath-laying ceremony commemorating Anzac Day in Sydney An Australian Army soldier stands as people attend the consular corps wreath-laying ceremony commemorating Anzac Day in Sydney New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian attends the consular corps wreath-laying ceremony commemorating Anzac Day in Sydney Australians are seen paying their respects at the eternal flame at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne Crowds gather during the Sydney Dawn Service The Victorian government placed restrictions on attendance numbers at Anzac Day services in Melbourne. Pictured are two sldiers chatting through a fence Melburnians paid their respects on Sunday by standing behind a fence after the city's dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance of restricted to 1400 Attendees waited outside Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance before 1400 were allowed through the gates Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who attended a dawn service in Balmain, said it was a difficult time for current and former service personnel with the release of the Brereton report into alleged Afghan war crimes, the announcement of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and pending royal commission into veterans' suicide. 'This is why it is important this Anzac Day to show our respect for all those who serve, but particularly the current generation of men and women who keep us safe in an increasingly challenging world,' he said in a statement. Mr Albanese said for many war does not end when they leave the battlefield. 'It comes as some relief that, after a long campaign by relatives who've lost love ones, there will finally be a royal commission into veteran suicide,' he said. 'This year alone, we have already lost 18 to suicide - and it is only April. 'To them, and all those who have gone before, and those who are at any risk now, we owe them this much at the very least.' He said many veterans had been fortunate to 'turn the weight of war into something else', noting the life and work of his mentor and friend WWII veteran Tom Uren. Anzac Day services overseas were cancelled, including Australian and New Zealand-led services in Turkey and Australian services in France. Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the manner of commemoration was less important than the act of doing so. 'In remembering the original Anzacs - and those that followed them - we not only recall their deeds, but also recognise the best qualities that defined them.' A strong presence of police enforced the 1400-crowd limit at a dawn service in Melbourne while many others paid their respects behind fences Wreaths are laid to commemorate Anzac Day at the Auckland War Memorial Museum Sunday marks the 106th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli, a campaign which ultimately cost more than 8700 Australian lives Alastair Tomkins, joined by his wife Katie and their sons Hugo, 9, (left) and Lyndon, 6, stand in silence after playing The Last Post in their driveway, at dawn, as neighbours stand outside their homes to commemorate Anzac Day in Brisbane Australia lost 41 Australian Defence Force members in Afghanistan out of the more than 39,000 who served. Pictured: Sydey dawn service People gather on Currumbin beach to watch surf boats perform a burial at sea Crowds gathered on Currumbin beach on the Gold Coast to pay their respects to the fallen Diggers Anzac day is traditionally marked by a dawn service held during the time of the original Gallipoli landing and commemorated with ceremonies and parades throughout the day. Pictured: crowds on Currumbin beach People gather on Currumbin beach to watch surf boats perform a burial at sea on April 25 in Currumbin on the Gold Coast Mr Dutton also paid tribute to all past and current Australians who have served in the military, saying they had 'fought to end evil and topple tyranny', with many returning home physically or mentally scarred. Chief of Defence Angus Campbell said current members of the ADF have a lot to be proud of. 'Every day I see our people humbly carry out their duty with excellence and initiative, and display great mateship. This is the essence of the Anzac Spirit,' he said. 'We remember and honour those who went before us from the Gallipoli landing in 1915 through to the campaigns and operations of today.' Governor-General David Hurley and Mrs Hurley spent Anzac Day in the NT, attending the Darwin dawn service, before travelling to Katherine. Mr Hurley said Anzac Day was 'not just about history, it is very much about the here and now'. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian recited a poem before the Anzac Day address by Air Vice-Marshal Joe Iervasi, Air Commander Australia. Like last year, many Australians paid tribute at home by standing at the end of their driveways at dawn Families take to their driveways with candles to pay their respects to the fallen Diggers in Brisbane Chief of Defence Angus Campbell said current members of the ADF have a lot to be proud of. Pictured: A soldier gathers at Currumbin beach People gather on Currumbin beach to watch surf boats perform a burial at sea early on Sunday morning NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian recited a poem before the Anzac Day address by Air Vice-Marshal Joe Iervasi, Air Commander Australia Australian soldiers take their positions next to the Cenotaph national war memorial during the Anzac Day dawn service in Sydney Indigenous Elder RAAF, Harry Allie speaks during the Sydney Dawn Service The Last Post was then played in the Sydney dark. Air Vice-Marshal Iervasi told the story of Lieutenant George Merz, an Australian aviator supporting the British World War I effort in Mesopotamia in 1915 when his plane was forced down along the Tigris-Euphrates river. Lt Merz and Kiwi co-pilot Lieutenant William Burn were then attacked by Arab Bedouin, becoming their nations' first air crew killed in combat. 'The stories of these Australians are the stories of service,' he said. 'They exemplified our values of courage, respect, integrity and excellence ... none sought glory, but all sacrificed their lives in the service of our nation.' At Currumbin beach on the Gold Coast, hordes of Queenslanders gathered at dawn to pay their respects to the fallen Diggers. At Currumbin beach on the Gold Coast, hordes of Queenslanders gathered at dawn to pay their respects to the fallen Diggers People braved the frigid temperatures to watch on as surf boats performed a burial at sea as the sun rose People braved the frigid temperatures to watch on as surf boats performed a burial at sea as the sun rose. As one of the few surviving 9th Division ex-servicemen of World War II, Dennis Davis - who at Tobruk in 1941 helped defend the Libyan city's port from Nazi control - on Sunday marched alongside RSL NSW president Ray James. 'It's first of all a remembrance of what we went through,' Mr Davis said. 'We didn't know we were making history ... I was a Rat of Tobruk, the siege of Tobruk, one of the longest sieges in the British Empire.' And for Ms Brown, April 25 is about family as much as service. 'I absolutely love travelling into town with Pop and being with Pop and just the way people respond to him, the thanks people give,' she said. Joined by a handful of other residents, Mr Davis stood outside with candle in hand and Australian flag nearby, listening to The Last Post via radio. He was glad normal service has resumed in 2021, with the coronavirus largely contained in NSW and life returning to something resembling normal. 'We tried to get the whole village out but it wasn't possible,' he said. 'Three or four of us went out, we kept distance at the time.' Xi's climate speech wins global acclaim China Daily) 11:01, April 24, 2021 President Xi Jinping addresses the Leaders Summit on Climate via video link from Beijing on Thursday. Xi delivered an important speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together" at the two-day event hosted by the United States. [Photo/Xinhua] President Xi Jinping's speech on Thursday at the Leaders Summit on Climate, where he set out China's ambitious pledges, has won praise from world leaders and experts. In the speech, Xi talked about how man and nature should build a community of life together and vowed the country will take aggressive measures to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, including to begin phasing out coal. "I think what President Xi had to say about the harmony with nature was absolutely vital," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a speech shortly after Xi's. "If we're going to tackle climate change sustainably, we have to deal with the disaster of habitat loss and species loss across our planet and we want to see even more examples of government and private industry working hand in hand as with the newly launched LEAF Coalition to reduce deforestation and the multitrillion dollar Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero," said Johnson, referring to global initiatives to protect tropical forests and speed up net zero transition. The United Kingdom will host COP26 in Glasgow in November while China will host the UN Biodiversity Conference in October. In his speech, Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, praised China and the US for their pledges at the virtual meeting, which was hosted by the US and drew 40 world leaders. "We are grateful that the United States and China have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and we look forward to swift action in their transitioning into carbon neutral economies," Browne said. Nicholas Stern, chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said that Xi repeated China's commitment to peak its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, but also added for the first time that China will strictly limit the increase in coal consumption during the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and will phase down coal during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30). "This suggests that China could reach its peak emissions by 2025, or soon after, which would be a significant advance in ambition," said Stern, a British economist. Hege Fjellheim, head of Norway-based Carbon Research at Refinitiv, said that Xi's speech "adds to the positive momentum for global climate change mitigation in the year of COP26". "The reference to some regions and sectors to peak emissions earlier could hint towards an aim of China achieving carbon peak ahead of 2030," Fjellheim said. Anri Sharapov, a professor at the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies in Uzbekistan, said that Xi's speech demonstrated that China is always an active participant in facing global climate change. "As a major power with responsibility, Xi's remarks showed the world the determination by China to protect the environment and solve climate change problems, which will definitely increase the confidence of the international community to jointly face the challenges of climate change," Sharapov said. Hiroshi Onishi, an economics professor at Keio University in Tokyo, said it is of crucial significance to see that China and the US work together to tackle climate change. "By doing so, it sends a clear signal to the world that we do need to worry about climate change and sometimes take harsh measures to fix it," Onishi said. Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Delovoy Kazakhstan, said that it was remarkable that in the recent years China was following the new development philosophy and adhering to the path of green and low-carbon development. Kelly Gallagher, professor of energy and environment at The Fletcher School of Tufts University based in Massachusetts, US, said Xi "essentially confirms that China will stay the course, continuing to reduce coal as a percentage of primary energy through 2030". She noted that China's newly added capacity in renewables dwarfs its newly added coal capacity. "China's added capacity in renewables in 2020 was almost twice as large as US added capacity," she said on social media on Thursday. Xi's vision of a community with a shared future for mankind has climate action at its core. But the building of this common future must also be a shared responsibility, by all countries and all sectors, to keep the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees, said Renato Redentor Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities. (Web editor: Bianji, Liang Jun) Louisiana legislators have made multiple assaults with little success over the years against the vast array of tax exemptions, credits, deductions, and rebates that annually pull hundreds of millions of dollars out of the state Treasury. Legislative leaders need that money to reduce corporate and personal income tax rates, thereby simplifying the states Byzantine tax structure and make the state more enticing to business. But business lobbyists themselves have put up some formidable obstacles to eliminating a lot of those tax breaks. Federal income tax deductibility is perhaps the most vulnerable and certainly its elimination has become one of the key pieces in the sweeping tax revamp package. The break allows taxpayers to reduce their tax burden to the state by claiming deductions they were able to take on their federal returns. Its used primarily by our wealthier neighbors and forgives about $1 billion in revenues that otherwise could be used to pay for annual expenses. Some years like after the Trump tax cuts of 2017, which reduced some federal tax deductions benefit the states Treasury. Other years it costs the state big dollars, thereby making the states annual operating budget beholden to what happens in Washington, D.C. The furthest along is Senate Bill 159, which was sent to the House Ways & Means committee Thursday after passing the full Senate on a 36-3 vote Tuesday. Tax swap breezes through Senate. 'We're trying to move the state forward,' says senator A revamp of Louisianas income tax code powered through the state Senate Tuesday, giving hope to supporters that the overall plan which invo Two similar, but not quite the same, measures advanced out of the House Ways & Means Committee and now require vetting in another House committee before moving to the floor for a vote by the entire lower chamber. Franklin Republican Sen. Bret Allain, who as chair of the Senate Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee has taken a lead on the tax revamp effort, says hes hoping to link in voters minds lower rates with the removal of federal deductibility. Under Allains SB159, when coupled with companion legislation, most people would pay about the same amount of tax, and the state would collect about the same amount of revenue. Allain, who has the backing of public policy advocates of all political stripes, wants to reduce the top rate for individuals from 6% to 5% and for corporations from 8% to 6%. Eliminating federal deductibility, which only Louisiana and Alabama allow in this way, would pay for the lower rates, Allain contends. But its in the state Constitution and would need a two-thirds vote in each legislative chamber, plus a majority vote in a statewide Oct. 9 election before federal deductibility could be removed. And thats basically what this bill would do, said Robert Scott, president of Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a 70-year-old Baton Rouge policy think tank. It needs to be removed from the constitution to allow the Legislature the flexibility to do better tax policy. In 2016, the last time lawmakers tried to drive a stake through the heart of this particular tax break, at least as it applies to corporate income taxes, more than 1 million Louisiana voters said no way. Former state Rep. Julie Stokes, a veteran of past tax battles, suggests keeping federal deductibility a simple up or down vote. I would strip every other issue from it, Stokes said. Since all tax measures impact everyone differently, adding other issues to the legislation means energizing those hurt by the changes. Federal deductibility already has a base, albeit comparatively small, of taxpayers who pay less because of it. If you pit any one group against another group, youll lose, Stokes added. Legislative committee rejects tax hike on top earners, approves corporate tax swap A complicated tax swap supported by the legislative leadership passed an important step Monday when it won approval from the state House Ways An accountant by trade, the Republican Stokes was known during her four years in the Louisiana House, when she was representing Kenner, for whipping out massive spreadsheets to augment her in-the-weeds approach to arguing the impact of this or that nuance in some proposed change to tax law. Sidelined by breast cancer in 2017, now resolved, Stokes heads a new policy analysis group called Ellevate Louisiana. Where the Louisiana Budget Project generally views financial issues from a liberal point of view, the Pelican Institute for Public Policy from the conservative side, Stokes said Ellevate is looking at issues from a womans perspective. Federal deductibility seems the only tax break whose removal has any traction in the Legislature. Powerful House Ways & Means Committee Chair Stuart Bishop, R-Lafayette, bowed to opposition to his 100-page proposal to eliminate a lot of tax breaks. The business community is on board with getting rid of every single tax break that doesnt affect them, but adamantly against those that do. We have credits on there that make zero sense, Bishop said. But he also acknowledged that his House Bill 444, which has yet to clear the committee he chairs, is the most controversial bill Ive ever handled. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Former vice president of the parliament of the Basque Country, former member of the Spanish Congress, politician Rafael Larreina expresses his readiness to make efforts for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, he said in a video-conference with ARMENPRESS. On the occasion of this new anniversary of the Armenian Genocide I express my solidarity and support to the Armenian people, including in Artsakh and the Diaspora. And I think that particularly this year we have to support the Armenian people, because both the Azerbaijani and Turkish Governments continue propagating genocide and disseminate hatred against the Armenian people'', the politician said. Larreina thinks that just for this reason it's necessary that the democratic nations of Europe express support to the Armenian people and their right to have their own culture, life and history. ''I think the democratic nations of Europe should prove greater and real support to the Armenian people'', he said, adding that it's necessary to continue making efforts for preventing future genocides in Armenia and other parts of the world. The governors of Osun, Oyo and Ekiti states on Saturday said the legacies left behind by the late Afenifere spokesperson, Yinka Odumakin, would forever be remembered and cherished. Governors Gboyega Oyetola of Osun, Seyi Makinde of Oyo and Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti made the remarks in their tributes during the funeral of the late Afenifere spokesman in Moro, Osun. In his tribute, Mr Oyetola said that the deceased left a legacy to be cherished in his fight for what is right as a visionary and phenomenal leader. We are grateful for his life, he came, he saw and he conquered. I never knew he came to make a farewell visit when he came visiting me. He did not live a wasted life and was always fighting for what is right. We feel the pain of the family and we are with you as a state and may God grant him eternal rest, Mr Oyetola said. The Osun governor thanked all the other governors for their tributes toward the deceased and prayed God to grant his family the fortitude to bear the loss. Also speaking, Governor Makinde said the people of Oyo came to honour Mr Odumakin for his integrity, tireless service to humanity and his consistency in talking truth to power during his lifetime. He spoke truth to power; I want to say a life lived with integrity, committed to dignity and ideal will be shining stars to light the path for others coming behind and that was what Yinka did for this generation. His struggles will continually be a shining path to light the way for us until we have the Nigeria he dreamt of. To the family, I pray God gives you the strength to carry on, Mr Makinde said. Earlier, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, described the late Odumakin as a patriot who consistently defended the defenceless relentlessly for the growth of the nation, especially in the South-West. Odumakin worked relentlessly for my coming to office and when we called on him on the issue of restructuring, he never broke the chord that existed between us. As Afenifere spokesperson, he was a democrat to the core, a nationalist without question, not a secessionist. He was a man who believes in regional autonomy, offers the best route to progress and development in the country . He left the legacy of speaking the truth to power and an unrelenting campaigner for restructuring in this country; he was a fighter for keeping the democracy going . He never succumbed to the merchants of division and secession. That is what we can do to keep the memory of our brother alive. On behalf of the chairman of South West Governors Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu and other governors, I salute the courage of conviction, pursuit of restructuring and all those issues he took up when alive and we shall continue to pursue relentlessly until we have that country he dreamt. ADVERTISEMENT This is the legacy Yinka is leaving behind and we must all continue to push the agenda forward until we have a new Nigeria we all clamour for, Mr Fayemi said.(NAN) Most people who think the practice of nepotism is no big deal tend to put forward an argument that it's absolutely okay for a parent to help or provide access to their own child. But in Bollywood, where talent and hard work should win, many incredibly talented actors miss out on opportunities simply because a star kid's parents are hogging those opportunities for their kids. For some other talented actors, it could be matters of fate or sheer bad luck and not just favoritism or preferential treatment. But that's the thing about honesty and talent, it can't be hidden for very long and that's what happened with these spectacular actors who couldn't make it big in Bollywood but now rule OTT shows like complete rockstars. These actors can now boost how they are part of more meaningful and award-winning projects that not only showcase but honor their craft. Get to know them, below. 1. Manoj Bajpayee in The Famiy Man It's tragic how Bollywood failed to recognize Manoj Bajpayee as one of the finest actors of our time. Even with films like Aligarh and Bhonsle to his name. But what is Bollywood's loss is OTT and the public's gain. The success of The Family Man is all due to Manoj Bajpayee's spectacular portrayal as an intelligence officer. Srikant Tiwari is juggling his professional and personal life. The web series truly put on display what a fine actor Manoj Bajpayee is and now even a part 2 of the series is slated to release later this year. 2. Shefali Shah After working in Bollywood for over 25 years, actor Shefali Shah got the chance to deliver one of the most memorable performances on OTT. As a powerful cop in Netflix's Delhi Crime, Shefali Shah proved to everyone that she is an impeccable actor. It's no wonder why that Shefali rightly called the Richie Mehta-directed show the turning point of her life." OTT platforms have opened gates for all creative actors where they have broken out of the box of hero and heroine. OTT is all about characters and good stories. They do feel that women above 45 have someplace in it besides playing grandmothers. Would you have thought of a Shefali Shah playing the lead earlier? Probably you would, but youd never cast her. So here she is in the lead and shes proved herself," said Shefali about how OTT helped the audience rediscover her talent. 3. Pankaj Tripathi It was in 2004 when Pankaj Tripathi made his Bollywood debut with the film Run. He was only paid his due for being an actor with solid talent after the release of Mirzapur. He himself is convinced the only reason he is successful and people recognize him is because of his work on OTT platforms. The contribution of OTT is huge for my career. In terms of reach, its huge. Even the people in my village watch my shows. The cinema hall is 26 kilometers away from my village and it was not possible for them to catch all my films. But thanks to OTT, people are watching in my village. OTT ka nahut yogdaan hai mere career mein, shared Pankaj Tripathi in an interview with TOI. 4. Radhika Apte Initially, a poster girl for regional, indie, and art-house cinema, Radhika Apte proved through the years that she is equally exceptional at doing Marathi, Telugu, Bengali, Hindi, and English films. But one can't ignore that if there were has to be a queen of OTT, it will be Radhika without a shadow of doubt. Radhika Apte has a magical presence that is perfect for OTT- think short narratives, high drama, lots of skin, and passion. Apte provides that intensity and raw quality to her performances that audiences have loved and demand to see again and again. 5. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Nawazuddin Siddiqui's act as Ganesh Gaitonde, a Mumbai don with God-complex in Netflix's smash hit show, The Sacred Games was path-breaking. It wasnt that Nawazuddin hadnt played a gangster in films, but the fact that he was cast as a lead without having any experience of headlining a project before got a lot of people to sit up and take note. What his casting stood for is that an actor just had to master his craft in order to get work on OTT instead of delivering meaningless 100 crore film that Bollywood values. 6. Sobhita Dhulipala Not many recognized or understood the acting talent of Sobhita Dhulipala in her debut film Raman Raghav 2.0. It took a few years, uncountable rejections, and small roles in Bollywood for Sobhita to finally land the role that would change her career trajectory forever. As Tara Khanna in Zoya Akhtar's 'Made in Heaven', Sobhita delivered a masterful performance that made her an overnight sensation. The show is also due for a second season that fans are eagerly waiting for. 7. Pratik Gandhi Indian audiences will never forget Pratik Gandhi for his portrayal as Harshad Mehta in Scam 1992 The Harshad Mehta Story. The 40-year-old actor spent months with no income, giving more than ten auditions every single day has now been recognized as a force to reckon with not just in OTT but Bollywood and Gujarati cinema as well. Talking about how the shows immense success changed his life, Pratik shared with Indiatimes, I didnt realize itd become this huge. It was so overwhelming. And when Shabana Azmi maam told me it was the best performance shed seen in 20 years, I was in tears. Its been 5 months since Scams release & my life has taken a 180-degree turn. People see me as a lead actor now." 8.Rasika Dugal A terrific actor, Rasika Dugal was a delight to watch in Nandita Das's film Manto. But because the film didn't garner 100 crores, producers never lined up to cast Rasika Dugal in projects. But talent can never be ignored. Dugal rose to new heights of fame after her impeccable work in web series like Mirzapur and Delhi. She is certainly the actor to watch out for. 9. Jaideep Ahlawat In his decade-long career, Jaideep Ahlawat has consistently given critically acclaimed performances but received little acknowledgment or credit for his work. But because the spotlight was finally on him in Anushka Sharma produced web series Paatal Lok that declared Jaideep a powerhouse performer. He proved his acting talent yet again in Karan Johar's Ajeeb Dastans as a macho, hidden gay man. Truly exceptional! 10.Kirti Kulhari After featuring in films like Mission Mangal, Uri: The Surgical Strike, and Pink, Kriti Kulhari found her true standing as an artist in OTT shows. With a bunch of releases lined, Kriti Kulhari can't stop praising what OTT shows have done for her career. Working for the web is different because one can experiment with different subjects. It also helps makers, directors, writers, and actors explore a subject in greater detail. That freedom is most encouraging. Besides, work for OTT platforms reaches all over the world. They also motivate an actor to do ones work with utmost sincerity and honesty because there is no burden of box-office numbers. That is the true space for any artist. 11. Divyendu Sharma Divyendu Sharma made his debut with the film Pyaar Ka Punchnama. While it was Kartik Aaryan who rose to fame and made it big in Bollywood, Divyendu didn't have the same opportunities. But then came Mirzapur and the rest they say is history. Viewers can't even imagine the show without him and that is bigger validation of your work as an actor than churning out 100 crore films. The daily lives of female religious workers in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, changed quickly in 2020. Increasingly, emails arrived with reports of new coronavirus infections among nuns of their Roman Catholic order Felician Sisters around the country. Emergency medical vehicles arrived at the Greensburg center, or convent, where they lived. Long-time friends died. Prayers seemed to go unanswered. How many of us, thought Sister Mary Jeanine Morozowich, will be left? The nuns do much unpaid work in the community. In Greensburg, they teach, nurse and care for children in their quiet convent. The Felician order in America has lost 21 nuns to COVID-19. Vaccines provide hope for an end to those dark days. But the sadness created by the loss of so many fellow sisters is difficult. Theres got to be a reason, Morozowich says of her survival. What is God asking me to do? Before lives turned inward and face covers hid smiles, before the COVID-19 death count began, there were things you could count on at the Greensburg convent. Like Sister Mary Evelyn Labik, who had been taught by the Felicians as a child. Now I desire to be one of them, she wrote as she entered the convent in 1960. She was a kindergarten teacher and a nurses assistant. She also worked as a caregiver to disabled children and as a helper to older children in high school. Students called her Mama-E, for Evelyn. Many wrote to her long after they left school. She lived in the small convent in a very small room for 26 years. When Felician sisters at a convent in Livonia, Michigan, began going to the hospital last March, Labik became worried. On April 2, Sister Mary Luiza Wawrzyniak of Livonia died of COVID-19. It was Good Friday, a high holy day for Catholics in honor of the death of Jesus. My heart just leaped, said Sister Nancy Marie Jamroz, 79, who had known Wawrzyniak since entering the convent and was one of her closest friends. On Easter Sunday, it was Sister Celine Marie Lesinski, a teacher, and Sister Estelle Printz. Then, Sister Thomas Marie Wadowski, and Sister Mary Patricia Pyszynski, who worked as a teacher for 60 years. Others were desperately sick. The sisters were forced to stay in their small rooms all the time Five sisters died the first week, five more the second week. Each death was filled with sadness. Some sisters lost someone they had known since they were very young women, or with whom they had shared a home for tens of years. The deaths were painful to hear about, but they came to a community that believes death is a time of comfort and salvation. But each death broke a promise: No one dies alone. As the end neared again and again, they could not hold their sister and say the Hail Mary, which has the words Now and at the hour of our death. And then, finally, after 13 died in Livonia, it appeared the worst was over. Some convents remained locked down, but the Greensburg, Pennsylvania, convent found happiness in gathering for meals and morning and evening prayers. Then, they had a party. Labik wore flowers to celebrate her 60th anniversary at the convent. There was a dinner in her honor. It was the last time they would gather together. The second wave of coronavirus hit. It killed sisters in Buffalo, New York; Enfield, Connecticut and in Greensberg. It was happening so fast, said Sister Mary Elizabeth Mackowiak, 76. She watched from her window in Buffalo when an emergency vehicle appeared. It really was an awful, helpless feeling, she added. Jamroz saw the dark days of the spring returning, and prepared to face the death of her dear friends. Some of them, you grow closer to than even your own blood siblings, she said. No women took final vows with the Felicians in 2020. There are now 455 sisters in North America. During the pandemic, fifteen sisters died of other causes in addition to the 21 who died of COVID-19, including Sister Mary Evelyn Labik, who was so loved. She was buried simply in the Franciscan tradition, wearing the ring she received when she took her vows. Deus meus et omnia, was written on the ring. My God and my all. She was the only sister to die in Greensburg. Im Susan Shand. The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. _________________________________________________ Words in This Story convent - n. a place where female Catholics live to devote their lives to God kindergarten - n. the first year of school for a child leap - v. to jump up salvation - n. the state of being saved from sin or evil in the Christian faith siblings - n. brothers and sisters of a person vows - n. the reciting of holy orders to join a religious order We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page. CENTEREACH, NY (OnSachem.com / OnTownMedia.com) A Centereach man is among 12 individuals, several of whom are members of the 18th Street gang, indicted in connection with an alleged drug distribution operation, according to prosecutors and federal investigators. On Friday, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and members of the District Attorneys Offices East End Drug Task Force (EEDTF) announced the indictments. This was a multi-agency effort that resulted in the takedown of major drug traffickers selling crack cocaine and powder cocaine, and doing so in a way that was terrorizing the community, Sini said. They were selling in front of retail establishments and in public areas, and the people selling those drugs were dangerous gang members. This dealt a major blow to drug dealing going on in the Riverhead area and throughout the East End of Long Island. We will continue to utilize innovative investigative techniques and work with all of our law enforcement partners to take drug dealers and gang members off our streets. The fight against transnational criminal organizations such as the infamous 18th Street Gang begins with partnerships on the home front and is exemplified by the combined efforts of the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the East End Drug Task Force, said Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations. As alleged in the criminal indictment, members and associates of the 18th Street Gang were responsible for and financially benefited from the distribution of narcotics throughout the east end of Long Island. By leveraging our combined resources, we illuminated their narcotics network and brought this investigation to a swift conclusion with the arrests of key individuals from this transnational criminal organization. These are some of the most dangerous gangs in Suffolk County and in the nation, and the excellent cooperation between law enforcement agencies in rooting criminal drug activity and bringing these people to justice will make Suffolk County safer for all, said Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr. This case, once again, underscores the persistence of dangerous drug traffickers in our area and the need for coordinated law enforcement action to stop them, Southampton Town Police Chief Steven Skrynecki said. These defendants put our residents at high risk through the deadly products they peddle and the methods of their operations. The Southampton Town Police Department is committed to working with the East End Drug Task Force to prevent these dangerous operations in our communities. The Suffolk County District Attorneys Office, HSI and EEDTF began an investigation in July 2020 into alleged drug dealing by several members of the 18th Street gang and other associated individuals in the Riverhead area. The investigation involved the use of undercover officers, roving surveillance, electronic surveillance, and court-authorized eavesdropping. The investigation revealed that the defendants were allegedly selling powder cocaine and crack cocaine to hundreds of buyers primarily in the Riverhead area, as well as in the Hamptons and various locations in the Town of Brookhaven. The investigation revealed evidence that the alleged drug operation was making approximately $75,000 each month through the illicit sales. Pursuant to the investigation, search warrants were executed Thursday at seven locations in connection with the alleged drug operation, during which law enforcement seized approximately 300 grams of cocaine, approximately 50 ecstasy (MDMA) pills, seven grams of methamphetamine, a .38 revolver handgun, and approximately $70,000 in cash. Law enforcement also seized half a kilogram of powder cocaine during the course of the investigation. The DA announced the following charges: Marvin Javier Ruiz Paz a/k/a Pulga, 39, of Centereach, is charged with three counts of Operating as a Major Trafficker, a class A-I felony; Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, a class A-I felony; Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony; and two counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Deris Denilo Matamoros Alvarado a/k/a Derry, 35, of Riverhead, is charged with two counts of Operating as a Major Trafficker, a class A-I felony; Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, a class A-I felony; two counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, a class A-II felony; Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, a class A-II felony; two counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony; six counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony; Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony; and two counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Support Local Journalism Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reportingbut good journalism isnt free. Please support us by making a contribution. Contribute Kennedi Octavio Gonzalez Paiz a/k/a Kenni, 37, of Riverhead, is charged with two counts of Operating as a Major Trafficker, a class A-I felony; Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony; and two counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Elvin Naun Bonilla Morales a/k/a Elvito, 39, of Southampton, is charged with two counts of Operating as a Major Trafficker, a class A-I felony; Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony; and two counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Marvin Javier Bonilla Morales, 33, of Southampton, is charged with two counts of Operating as a Major Trafficker, a class A-I felony; Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony; and two counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Christopher Emmanuel Millan Marin a/k/a Cuervo, 35, of Riverhead, is charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony, and two counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Brian Jefferson Toro Maldonado a/k/a Torro, 27, of Mastic, is charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony, and two counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Wilmer Wilfredo Godoy Chacon, 34, of Westhampton, is charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony, and two counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony. Jose Roberto Alvarado Romero a/k/a Robertito, 40, of Riverhead, is charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree, a class B felony; two counts of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony; and Criminal Facilitation in the Second Degree, a class C felony. Three additional alleged co-conspirators will be arraigned at a later date, the DA said. Matamoros Alvarado and Gonzalez Paiz have been identified by law enforcement as members of the 18th Street gang. Marin has been identified by law enforcement as a member of the Surenos gang. If convicted of the top count, Matamoros Alvarado, Ruiz Paz, Gonzalez Paiz, Elvin Morales and Marvin Morales each face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. If convicted of the top count, Millan Marin, Toro Maldonado, Godoy Chacon and Alvarado Romero each face a maximum sentence of eight and one-third to 25 years in prison. The Suffolk County District Attorneys Offices East End Drug Task Force includes law enforcement officers and detectives from the New York State Police, Suffolk County Sheriffs Office, Suffolk County Police Department, Suffolk County Department of Probation, East Hampton Town Police Department, Riverhead Town Police Department, and Southampton Village Police Department. Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has said Nigeria is pretending not to know that it is at war. In a statement on Saturday titled The Endless Martyrdom of Youth, Mr Soyinka said the country is on the brink unless an urgent action is taken. Mr Soyinkas statement came following the killing of three kidnapped students of Greenfield University by bandits in Kaduna and rising insecurity and violence across swathes of the nation. Mr Soyinka, who said the nation is on the brink of chaos due to the unending bloodshed across the country, urged the nations leadership to seek assistance in the face of its apparent helplessness to curb the trend. Ones greatest fear, with this latest feat of cowardly savagery is that the nation must brace itself for a Beslan scenario, yet strive to avoid Nigeria become Africas Cherchnya. Those who have been proven weak and incapable must learn to swallow their vain pride and seek help. Again, this is no new counseling, but of course the dog that will get lost no longer heeds the hunters whistle. I envy no one the task ahead, terminating the toxic harvest of past derelictions. Blame laying is for later. Right now is the question of what needs to be done, and done urgently. We keep avoiding the inevitable, but that very unthinkable now hammers brutishly on our gates, the blood ransom arrogantly insatiable. This nation is at war, yet we continue to pretend that these are mere birth-pangs of a glorious entity. They are death throes. Vultures and undertakers hover patiently but with full confidence. Read full statement below: THE ENDLESS MARTYRDOM OF YOUTH Abukakar Atiku has summed up the nations feeling this most recent savagery against our youth is heartbreaking. More than the heart is broken however, more than millions of individual hearts that still lay claim to bonds in a common humanity. The already over-stretched sinews of moral restraint have been snapped off the casing of nation being, and nothing is left but the collective wails of impotence. Not for the first time, what many hoped was a Natural Law of Limitations has been contemptuously, defiantly breached. We need to remind ourselves of hideous precedents. We must remember Chibok. And Dapchi. And numerous antecedents and after, unpublicized, or soon relegated to the sump of collective amnesia. The wages of impunity never diminish, on the contrary, they distend. Ones greatest fear, with this latest feat of cowardly savagery is that the nation must brace itself for a Beslan scenario, yet strive to avoid Nigeria become Africas Cherchnya. Those who have been proven weak and incapable must learn to swallow their vain pride and seek help. Again, this is no new counseling, but of course the dog that will get lost no longer heeds the hunters whistle. I envy no one the task ahead, terminating the toxic harvest of past derelictions. Blame laying is for later. Right now is the question of what needs to be done, and done urgently. We keep avoiding the inevitable, but that very unthinkable now hammers brutishly on our gates, the blood ransom arrogantly insatiable. This nation is at war, yet we continue to pretend that these are mere birth-pangs of a glorious entity. They are death throes. Vultures and undertakers hover patiently but with full confidence. The dogs of war stopped merely baying years ago. Again and again, they have sunk their fangs into the jugular of this nation. The plague called COVID has met its match on the earth of some nation space once known as Nigeria. I grieve with the bereaved, but mourn even more for our youth so routinely sacrificed, burdened with uncertainty and traumatized beyond youths capacity to cope. To this government we repeat the public cry: ADVERTISEMENT Seek Help. Stop Improvising with Human Lives. Youth that is, the the future should not serve as Ritual Offering on the altar of a failing State. Its unfortunately quite common for children in Vietnams remote mountainous areas to drop out of school because they simply dont have anything for lunch. In response, one young man launched a project offering them free meals so they could stay in class, and he hopes such help wont only be limited to disadvantaged children in the country in the future. IDEAS MAN: Hoang Hoa Trung and children in Nam Po District, Dien Bien Province. Hoang Hoa Trung, a lifelong volunteer, has found widespread support for his initiative. Tens of thousands of kids have received free lunches since his project got underway, which helps them study better. Having started to do charity work at the age of 17, Trung founded a number of volunteer projects, such as Light of the Mountains, Power of 2000, and Nuoi Em. In 2009, he and his friends travelled often to mountainous schools and began to learn of the difficulties facing teachers and students in remote areas. They began to raise funds to donate books and other necessities to the children and even build toilets at the schools. REASON TO STAY: A simple lunch can encourage children to remain at school all day. In 2012, when he had just turned 20, he raised enough money to be able to replace 20 makeshift bamboo classrooms. While doing all this, he found that many students not only live far away but also have nothing for lunch. Many went home at lunch-time and didnt come back in the afternoon, while many others dropped out altogether. In 2014, we helped build some satellite schools, but many children were still dropping out, he said. Some classes had 20 students in the morning but only four or five remained in the afternoon, because they had nothing for lunch and would just go home. Some would go into the forest looking for fruit. Their parents worked in the fields, and didnt go home to cook lunch. This is why we started the Nuoi Em project, which aims to help children in schools in remote areas have a proper lunch so they stay in class for afternoon lessons. With just a small amount of money, around VND1.5 million a year, a sponsor can provide a student with lunch every day. Sponsors can help as many children as they wish, but each child receives support from only one sponsor. Sponsors are updated monthly and can visit the boy or girl they support. In the projects first three or four years, it supported less than 100 children. Gradually, news of the project spread throughout the community and a large number of people responded. Anh Dao, a teacher at the Golden Leader centre in Hanoi, is one of the enthusiastic sponsors. At first, I only helped a few children, but one day Trung told me that there are 334 children that had their sponsorships disrupted. I told him I would sponsor 10 more and would ask others for help. I always say to my students: we have a comfortable life here in Hanoi, but in the mountains there are many children who dont have the chance to go to school. Without a proper education, they might become involved in deforestation or drug smuggling. City kids would then be among the first affected. So, we can protect our children by helping disadvantaged children elsewhere. TANGIBLE SUPPORT: A child and her sponsor. Photos Nuoi em Project The project helped 5,400 children in 2018, then 12,000 in 2019 and 20,000 last year. Trung hopes the figure will reach somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 this year. He also runs the Power 2000 project, where small sums are donated every day and many people have worked together to build more than 4,000 satellite schools in remote areas around the country. His team has mobilised as many resources as possible to get the job done. Our core team has only 10 members, but we have more than 300 volunteers as well, he said. We use chatbots to send childrens information to sponsors and messenger group chats for sponsors to communicate with teachers at schools to offer better support. The Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union also supports us in legal matters, auditing, and surveying, as well as in our operations. We have adopted a range of management measures and coordinate closely with local authorities, so while we only have 10 members we can manage tens of thousands of childrens records. The project also has ambitious goals of helping children outside of Vietnam. I have spoken about the project with many other volunteers at international forums, he said. Many found the idea worthwhile and successfully replicated it elsewhere around the world. I hope to be able to develop it to help children in Africa. My plan is that for every 10,000 children that are supported in Vietnam, there will be 1,000 children in Africa receiving similar help. And for every 100 schools built in Vietnam, one will be built in Africa. When I shared the idea of helping children in Africa on Facebook, 800 people said they were willing to help. Trung was honoured this year as a Model Young Vietnamese in the field of social activities and was also included on a list of 30 people under 30 with outstanding influence and achievements in 2020 by Forbes Vietnam. VNS Hanoi's Com 2k serves up a healthy portion of respect We eat a meal for just VND2,000 (US$0.09) at Tiem com An Phuc (An Phuc Charity Restaurant) on Hanois Giai Phong Road every Saturday afternoon, said Nguyen Thi Phuong. May Day 2021 will mark the second year in which the international day of working class solidarity is held under conditions of a global pandemic. The International Committee of the Fourth International will mark this day with an Online Rally. It will issue a call for the formation of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC). The ICFI and its affiliated Socialist Equality Parties are advancing this initiative to begin and develop a global counteroffensive of the working class against the homicidal policies of the governments controlled by the capitalist ruling class, which are responsible for the worldwide catastrophe. The formation of the IWA-RFC is a critically necessary response to a global crisis that has exacted a terrible toll in human life. When May Day was observed in 2020, the global death toll stood at just under 250,000. It is now 12 times that number, at more than 3,000,000. The death toll in individual countries and regions is staggering. More than 850,000 people have died in North America, including more than 583,000 in the United States and 213,000 in Mexico. In South America, 640,000 people have died, with more than half, 350,000, in Brazil. One million lives have been lost in Europe, including 130,000 in the UK, 120,000 in Italy, 110,000 in Russia, 100,000 in France and 80,000 in Germany. In Asia, the death toll is approaching 500,000, led by India with nearly 200,000 victims, Iran with 70,000, Indonesia with 44,000 and Turkey with 37,000. More than 120,000 have died in Africa, with nearly half of the dead in South Africa. Beyond the immediate death toll, the long-term consequences for those who have survived are colossal. Nearly 150 million people have been infected worldwide, with millions suffering with persistent symptoms long after they have nominally recovered. According to one recent study, those who have been infected but were not hospitalized have a 60 percent greater risk of death within the next six months than those who were not infected. Nearly a year and a half into the pandemic, the virus is raging throughout the world. Fueled by the spread of new and more contagious strains of the virus, the average number of new cases worldwide is at its highest level ever. Health workers carry a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh COVID-19 hospital at Virar, near Mumbai, India, Friday, April 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade) In India, daily new cases have surged to more than a quarter of a million people. The health care systems of major cities are breaking down, and crematoriums are overwhelmed as the dead pile up. In Brazil, daily new cases and new deaths are at record levels. In Iran, an initial epicenter of the pandemic, new infections are at far higher levels than at any point since the virus first emerged. The United States is the richest and most powerful of all the imperialist countries. But despite its wealth and its control of the most advanced technologies, the pandemic has exposed the reactionary backwardness of its political system and social organization. From its earliest stages, the response of the United States to the pandemic has been determinedfirst, foremost and alwaysby the economic interests of the ruling oligarchy. Government policyfirst under Trump and now under Bidenhas been directed not toward the eradication of the coronavirus, but toward the perpetuation of the Wall Street boom and the advancement of American imperialisms drive for global hegemony. The result of market-driven policies is a staggering rise in the annual rate of deaths. The number of excess deaths in 2020 is greater than that incurred during the 1918 Flu Pandemic. Despite all the advances in science and technology in the course of a century, more Americans will die in the COVID-19 pandemic than during the pandemic of 1918-19. At nearly 600,000 dead in the US, the toll from the virus is rapidly approaching the number of soldiers killed in the Civil War, the deadliest conflict in American history. More than 70,000 new cases are reported every day, with nearly 750 new deaths. Many states, particularly in the industrial Midwest, are in the midst of a surge of cases, with outbreaks centered in schools, child care facilities and factories. The distribution of the vaccine is as uncoordinated and haphazard as every other aspect of the ruling class response to the pandemic. Even in many of the advanced capitalist countries, the percentage of those who have been fully vaccinated is in the single digits. In many parts of the world, a vaccine will not be broadly available for months or even years. The uncontrolled spread of the virus means that new variants are constantly emerging, undermining the vaccination efforts everywhere. The ruling class response to the pandemic The virus is a biological phenomenon, but the response by governments throughout the world has been determined by political calculations and class interests. All those who hold powerthe governments and political parties, the banks and corporations, the markets and the mediabear the full weight of responsibility for what has happened. From the beginning of the pandemic, the ruling class has refused to take the measures necessary to stop its spreadmass testing and contact tracing, the shutdown of nonessential production and schools, the provision of full income to workers and real assistance to small businesses. Its concern was not the impact of the pandemic on the health of millions, but the financial impact of the measures required to save lives on the profits of the corporations and the wealth of the rich. Millions of lives have been lost, but billions of dollars have been accumulated. For the working class, the pandemic has been a human tragedy. For the ruling elites, it has been a financial bonanza. The collective wealth of the worlds billionaires exploded 60 percent from last year, from $8 trillion to more than $13.1 trillion. The massive growth of debt will be paid for through an enormous intensification of the exploitation of the working class. In the course of the past 16 months, it has become absolutely clear that the response of capitalist governments to the pandemic is strictly determined by economic and geopolitical considerations. In justifying its policies of malign neglect, the American ruling class differs from others only in the extent of its cynicism and deceit. In its rationalization of its criminal negligence, the US government can count on the collaboration of the media. Rejecting scientifically guided and realizable proposals for the global eradication of the COVID-19 virus, capitalist policy asserts that the pandemic must be accepted as a perpetual condition, an inescapable reality that the working class has to live with, or, more accurately, die with. In the media, reports of daily deaths and the rise of new cases have receded into the background. The population is to be desensitized to mass death and human misery and encouraged to adopt a mood of passivity and fatalism. To the extent that its policy encounters opposition in the working class, the response of the ruling elites is to resort to repression and violence. Outright fascists and neo-Nazis are being mobilized around the banner of opposition to any restraint on business activity. Trump in the US and Bolsonaro in Brazil are naked expressions of an international phenomenon. The declaration of a Sri Lankan minister that the president should be more like Hitler expresses the authoritarian tendencies of the ruling elite in every country. And even amid mass death and social misery, the United States is intensifying its campaign against Russia and China. The latest military budget, approaching $1 trillion, is the largest in history. The past year has witnessed a dangerous escalation of imperialist provocations against Russia and China. The American media, in particular, has attempted to incite popular hatred against China with entirely fabricated claims that the pandemic was caused by a virus manufactured in a Wuhan lab. This lie has been supplemented by a vicious propaganda campaign accusing the Chinese government of carrying out genocide against the Uyghur people. The deliberate incitement of anti-Russian and anti-Chinese hatred is obviously directed toward legitimizing American and European preparations for war in pursuit of global imperialist interests. However, such propaganda and the military conflicts to which they lead serve an additional critical purpose: the deflection of growing domestic popular anger away from national governments and outward toward foreign enemies. Governments will exploit the danger of war to escalate domestic political repression of mounting internal social opposition. For a counteroffensive of the international working class! The pandemic is a world historical event that will reverberate for decades to come. In its impact, the pandemic can be compared to World War I. When the war broke out in July 1914, following the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, soldiers went off to the battlefield with the expectation that they would be home by Christmas. But the war continued, month after month, year after year. The death toll climbed from the thousands to the tens of thousands and then to the millions. The savage barbarity dragged on because it served the geopolitical interests of the capitalist powers and the profit interests of the war profiteers. It was brought to an end only through the intervention of the working class, culminating in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Nurses walk out of Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital to go on strike over safe staffing issues during the coronavirus pandemic, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, in New Rochelle, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) As with the war, so too with the pandemic. The pandemic will continue until there is a conscious and independent intervention of the working class to remove control of the management and direction of the response to the virus from the capitalist ruling elites and into its own hands. Already, workers have begun to fight back, from autoworkers, health care workers and educators in the US and Europe, to oil and railway workers in Brazil, to public transport workers in India. There is a growing understanding in the working class that the pandemic will not be stopped without emergency measures to implement lockdowns and school closures. Every effort of the working class to resist the policies of the ruling elite, however, comes into conflict with all of the institutions of the state and the entire framework of official politics. Whether explicitly right-wing or nominally left, the official parties and political organizations in every major capitalist country have rejected the measures demanded by scientists and public health officials to stop the pandemic. As for the official trade unions, far from organizing opposition to the policies of the ruling class, they have helped implement them. These organizations are unions only in name. In actual practice, they long ago abandoned any defense of the interests of the workers they claim to represent and now function as co-conspirators of corporate management and the state. While the corporatist degeneration of the unions and their complete integration into the framework of management and the state is perhaps most grotesque in the United States, the same conditions prevail in every country. There has not been a single struggle waged by the unions against the ruling class policy of herd immunity and massive handouts to the rich. The International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees For the working class to fight back, a path must be created to coordinate its struggles in different factories, industries and countries in opposition to the ruling class and the corporatist unions. For this purpose, the International Committee of the Fourth International and its affiliated Socialist Equality Parties are initiating the formation of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC). Los Angeles port drivers on strike The IWA-RFC will work to develop the framework for new forms of independent, democratic and militant rank-and-file organizations of workers in factories, schools and workplaces on an international scale. The working class is ready to fight. But it is shackled by reactionary bureaucratic organizations that suppress every expression of resistance. It will be a means through which workers throughout the world can share information and organize a united struggle to demand protection for workers, the shutdown of unsafe facilities and nonessential production, and other emergency measures that are necessary to stop the spread of the virus. The ICFI is initiating the formation of this alliance on a global scale, which is the only way that the pandemic can be fought. The International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, with the political assistance of the Fourth International and the Socialist Equality Parties, will strive to unify workers in a common worldwide struggle, opposing every effort by capitalist governments and the reactionary proponents of the innumerable forms of national, ethnic and racial chauvinism and identity politics to split up the working class into warring factions. Naturally, conditions confronting workers vary from region to region and country to country, and these may affect the choice of tactics. But it is undeniably true, in all countries, that the existing bureaucratized trade unions function as an institutionalized police force, determined to protect the corporate and financial interests of the ruling elites and their governments against growing popular resistance. New pathways for mass struggle must be created. More than 80 years ago, at a point in history when the degeneration of the existing trade union organizations was far less advanced than today, Leon Trotskythe greatest strategist of world socialist revolutionwrote that the task of the Fourth International was to create in all possible instances independent militant organizations corresponding more closely to the tasks of mass struggle against bourgeois society, not flinching even in the face of a direct break with the conservative apparatus of the trade unions. The fight to develop the network of globally interconnected rank-and-file committees is not limited to factories, schools and workplaces where trade unions exist. In actual fact, the overwhelming majority of present-day work sites are not unionized. This social fact means that rank-and-file committees will emerge as the initial and sole form of practical organization in innumerable work locations. The development of these committees will inevitably attract the support of broader sections of the working class, including the youth and the unemployed. This is an international struggle. The emergence of new variants where the pandemic is spreading, potentially resistant to vaccines, demonstrates that the pandemic cannot be eradicated in any single country unless it is eradicated globally. National competition between the capitalist powers has blocked a globally coordinated response to the pandemic. Now the life-saving vaccine is being hoarded by the dominant capitalist countries and used as an instrument in their geopolitical intrigues. The fight for socialism The International Committee of the Fourth International advances the proposal for the formation of the IWA-RFC within the framework of the perspective of world socialist revolution. The development of a network of workers committees is absolutely essential. It is not, however, a substitute for the building of the revolutionary party. Action is required, but serious action must be based on program and principles. Sustaining and developing a network of independent organizations requires the development of a socialist leadership in the working class. Just as the spread of the pandemic is inseparable from the enrichment of the financial oligarchy, the ending of the pandemic is inseparable from the expropriation of the oligarchs. The vast wealth piled up by the financial elite must be used to finance emergency measures to save millions of lives. The fight against the pandemic, and against war, inequality, exploitation and dictatorship, is a fight against the entire capitalist social and economic order. Workers of all countries must be united in a common political offensive to take power, expropriate the oligarchs, and establish a socialist society based on the rational, scientific and democratic control of production for the purpose of serving social need, not private profit. The International Committee of the Fourth International calls on workers throughout the world: Take up this fight! Develop rank-and-file committees in every factory and workplace! Apr. 24Mainers are familiar with the "mystery cat" phenomenon, and many of us have our own tales to tell. Some of those include critters that we're absolutely sure were mountain lions, even though there's no real proof that mountain lions live here in the Pine Tree State. As it turns out, we're not alone. Big cats are interesting, and when we're not able to positively identify one, it's natural to seek the opinions of others. Today's "trail cam" photo isn't from a trail camera, but it does feature a cat you might find interesting. A reader named Sarah, who lives in Iowa, sent it along seeking the help of other readers. "I was searching around for who could help identify the animal," Sarah said. "I came across your article from earlier this month. I'm not finding many resources that are available to help here. Do you know of anyone that could help confirm anything with photos and videos?" Well, Sarah, I'm glad you asked. And yes, I do know who can help: Your fellow Bangor Daily News readers. After a quick session of Google-based research, I learned that Iowa is a little bit ahead of Maine when it comes to confirmed mountain lion sightings, and since 1995, more than 20 mountain lions have been spotted. In fact, one mountain lion wound up on home security cameras in the state capital, Des Moines, two years ago. So, BDN readers, here's your chance to help Sarah out. Give the photo a good look, and let her know what you see by commenting below. Mountain lion? Bobcat? House cat? And keep those videos and photos coming! Do you have a trail camera photo or video to share? Send it to jholyoke@bangordailynews.com and tell us "I consent to the BDN using my photo." In order to prevent neighbors from stopping by to try to tag particularly large bucks, moose or bears, some identities and towns of origin may be omitted. If you are unable to view the photo or video mentioned in this story, go to bangordailynews.com. Members of the Islamic State for West Africa Province (ISWAP) hit Geidam overnight, the second assault after security forces repelled an att... Members of the Islamic State for West Africa Province (ISWAP) hit Geidam overnight, the second assault after security forces repelled an attack on Muslim faithful breaking fast Friday evening. Geidam is the hometown of the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, and former Yobe Governor, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam. The terrorists earlier retreated after ground troops and the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) engaged them with firepower and airstrikes. Several were killed. Within a few hours after the battle, the fighters moved back to the community late light. They preached to locals and put fire to houses and public facilities. In the first strike, an ISWAP convoy of ten gun trucks entered Geidam, the local government headquarters and opened fire. The area is predominantly Muslim. An intelligence officer told PRNigeria that after the NAF airstrikes, the terrorists withdrew, but later sneaked into the community. They gathered the residents and preached to them. They later looted foodstuff in the towns market, burned down vehicles and telecommunications mast to avoid their phones being tracked by security agencies. Some of the terrorists hid in residents houses disguising themselves while others in gun trucks withdrew and joined other fighters at Tarmuwa and Bololo districts, few kilometres away from Geidam, the source said. ISWAP fighters entered the Yobe town through different routes including Layi Kareto Tamsu Kori Talau Kawuwa Futchimiram Fukurti Dajina Subdu Degeltura Danga Bari, Tumbalji Daro. The areas are around the Lake Chad region. Those who moved in were joined by their colleagues already hiding in Geidam and environs. Part of Boko Haram and ISWAP strategy is to plant informants across communities and rent houses. They surveil a location and use their spies to confirm the best time to invade. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 04:09:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a decree on countermeasures to "unfriendly actions" of foreign states amid an intensified diplomatic row with the United States and some European countries. In accordance with the decree published by the Kremlin, Putin ordered the government to make a list of foreign countries "committing unfriendly actions" toward the Russian Federation, Russian citizens or legal entities. Russia will put a cap on the number of locally hired employees and even completely ban such employment for diplomatic missions and representative offices of state bodies and institutions of the blacklisted countries. The Russian government will decide the ceiling on their local staffers. The decree has come into force immediately. Enditem According to Japanese media, an Uzbek student Eldor Urinboev saved a local teenager in Ginowan (Okinawa Prefecture). A Japanese teenager swam with friends in the sea sector where it is prohibited to swim, and when the waves became too strong, he went down. He was noticed from the shore by a 21-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan, who is getting higher education in Japan. He rushed to help the local boy. He managed to get to the teenager, grab him and pull back to the shore, Sputnik-Uzbekistan informs. 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. Approximately 200 full-time faculty at the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) in Klamath Falls in southern Oregon may strike on April 26 if an agreement is not reached between the university and Oregon Tech-American Association of University Professors (OT-AAUP). The union said 92 percent of members voted in favor of the strike authorization on April 2, with nearly the entire membership taking part in the vote. In a last minute effort to block a strike, management has sought an injunction with the Oregon Employment Relations Board. OIT has also filed an unfair labor relations complaint against the OT-AAUP, claiming failure to bargain in good faith. The union said its lawyer was reviewing the OIT filing, calling it a delay tactic. Among the objectionable actions cited by the university was a no confidence vote by the Faculty Senate for OIT President Dr. Nagi Naganathan. The resolution cited the fact that Naganathan had increased salaries for administrators while allowing faculty pay to stagnate. Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech) campus in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Purvine Hall (Wikimedia commons) OIT faculty are seeking salary increases, preservation of health benefits, tenure-track job security, and clearly defined workload limits. The average faculty salary at Oregon Tech was just under $70,000 in 2020, below other major universities across the state. As math instructor MaryLou Wogan stated in an open letter in Herald and News, Presently OIT faculty earn only 87% of what their counterparts do at other Oregon institutions. During this same time period the OIT administration salaries increased by 18.7%. The union has denied a statement by the university that staff are demanding a 20 percent pay increase, merely stating their intent to win a salary that is closer to the state average. OIT faculty are also requesting stable health care benefits, with contract language to prevent the university from increasing costs or cutting benefits in the future, along with tenure-track protections for adjunct faculty. Further, they are seeking clearly defined workload limitations for faculty to include all of their responsibilities as part of the calculations, including things like research and student advising, not just classroom hours. This would be the first contract since the unions formal recognition by the university in 2019. The OT-AAUP was formed in 2018 and covers all full-time faculty, instructors and librarians. If OIT faculty walk out on Monday, it would be the first time faculty at any public university has gone on strike in Oregons history. Other faculty unions that reached the point of taking strike authorization votes ended up settling before the strike date, including at Western Oregon University and Eastern Oregon University in 2006. Faculty at Portland State University authorized a strike under the AAUP in 2014. As in the case of previous strikes that were blocked by AAUP with the last-minute settlements, the main goal of the union is to isolate, not expand, the fight of OIT faculty. No attempts have been made to reach out to faculty and university staff at other institutions who face similar conditions. Moreover, the AAUP leadership has admitted they are doing everything they can to prevent a strike, assuring the university that a walkout is highly unlikely. The strike vote was called after OIT administration declared an impasse on March 10 and canceled bargaining the following day, triggering a statutory, state-mandated, timeline for exchanges of final offers, continuation of mediated negotiations, and a formal strike authorization process. The university has proposed a merit-based pay structure, as well as calling for a 10 percent reduction in health care premium coverage for faculty members with families. As of Thursday, April 15, some tentative agreements were reached on association rights, notices of appointment, and discipline, said Andria Fultz, an associate professor of communication and member of the OT-AAUP executive committee, but more work needs to be done. Support for the faculty is widespread among students and community members, many of whom have sent letters to the president and provost urging Oregon Tech administration to settle a fair contract as soon as possible. More than 100 students signed a petition in late March in support of faculty members. One of those students, Alex Zendejas, told the local press that every time he hears the university administration say they are fighting for students, he rolls his eyes. Youre using students like a shield when it hurts studentswhen our education is worse whenever professors are treated worse. The events at OIT give another indication of a growing wave of working class struggle across the US and internationally, including recent strikes of grad student workers at UC Santa Cruz, Harvard, Yale, University of Michigan, and University of Chicago, as well as a current strike at Columbia University. Faculty have struck at universities around the globe in recent months, from Youngstown State University in Ohio to the University of Sydney in Australia. These strikes and walkouts are organized not only in opposition to job cuts but also to low wages and overwork. The struggle over these basic university issues now takes place under conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a year of government officials prioritizing the profit needs of the capitalist economy above human life, the world is entering the fourth wave of the virus as cases, hospitalizations and deaths are quickly rising, fueled by the spread of more contagious and deadly variants. Oregons average daily case count is now well above 700, nearly triple the states low in February, marking the highest level of coronavirus spread since January. In response to the renewed health crisis, Democratic Governor Kate Brown announced the labeling of 23 counties across the state as high risk, which tightens some restrictions on retail and dining establishments. She has not, however, closed schools and college campuses, reiterating the false claims that children and young adults do not comprise a significant share of those infected and seriously ill. In fact, since January, the share of new cases in Oregonians age 10 to 19 has grown by roughly 50 percent while the proportion of those infected age 20 to 50 has shrunk, according to data from the Lund Report that follows national and international trends. The danger of the pandemic greatly sharpens the character of the facultys struggle. They face not just a local contract, but the ongoing threat of a deadly pandemic, which is not at all being addressed by the union. Instead, the AAUP is focused on a limited number of bread-and-butter issues, framing everything through a local- or university-level lens. The refusal of the AAUP to raise these broader issues points to the need for faculty and staff to form a rank-and-file strike committee to take the struggle directly into their own hands. OIT faculty must not allow their struggle to be isolated, but must seek support from faculty and teachers across the US and nationwide. The OIT faculty must see their contract fight as part of a growing wave of struggles in the US and internationally as workers enter the second year of a deadly pandemic in which the ruling class has subordinated all consideration of workers health and livelihoods to the pursuit of profit. Continue Reading Below Advertisement In reality, we'd have to flip our entire society on its head to get to this point. In 2019 Detroit budgeted $321,681,648 for the police department. That accounted for 29.4% of the city's total budget. Meanwhile, silly notions like housing and economic development accounted for a measly combined 4%. But this isn't all too different from most cities in America. "According to a 2017 analysis by the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, Detroit spent $727 per capita in 2017, close to the average of $747 and slightly above the median of $699." It's hard to put in perspective just how far off we are as a country from an underfunded police force. It's basically our most funded thing. It'd be like trying to imagine if the Yankees were underfunded. Does it mean they're broke? Or does it mean they just can't afford to sign Gerrit Cole to a $324 million contract? Can they even afford cleats anymore? Or does it just mean they're the Padres now? What does it even look like?! Continue Reading Below Advertisement But the actual dollars and cents part of the "funding" is just one part of it. Police receive billions of dollars worth of military equipment from the government for free because of a program called 1033. It transfers the military's extra or outdated gear to any local authorities who apply for it, the only cost being the price of shipping. The program started in 1997 presumably because Bill Clinton was too stoned to understand the point of RoboCop, or maybe just because he didn't care, but either way, we have this now: Continue Reading Below Advertisement So if RoboCop got anything wrong, it is simply that it assumed the excessive expenditures on policing would come from corporations rather than the government. Who'd have thought that the status quo would make a place like OmniCorp look redundant? Follow Dan on Twitter to learn more about his upcoming projects and find him on his podcast The Bachelor Zone to hear him talk about The Bachelor like it is a sport. (Because it is.) Top Image: Orion Pictures Xiaomi, the world's third-largest smartphone manufacturer in Q1 2021, has set its eyes on entering the electric car market. With that, the Chinese smartphone giant is looking to invest in the technologies required to run electric vehicles. In line with that business strategy, Xiaomi is allegedly mulling over participating in a $231 million investment round for Black Sesame Technologies, Inc., according to anonymous sources, Bloomberg reports. Black Sesame, a company based in Shanghai specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) and chips for autonomous driving, could be valued up to $1.5 billion once the fundraising round is completed. Apart from Xiaomi, Tencent Holdings Ltd., a China-based multinational technology company, has already backed Black Sesame in its previous investment round, the sources claim. Representatives from Xiaomi, Black Sesame, and Tencent declined to release a statement amid the investment talks. Black Sesame has been taking into account an IPO (initial public offering) in the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market--China's equities market focusing on science and technology--next year. The company, however, still needs another investment round before going to IPO. Xiaomi's possible deal with Black Sesame would mark the smartphone maker's next move as it drives closer toward the EV market after billionaire co-founder Lei Jun disclosed a $10 billion plan to manufacture EVs over the next decade in March, as per BBC. Apart from Xiaomi, Apple and Huawei are the two other smartphone makers that have expressed their interest in joining the automotive industry, foreseeing that future cars will become more autonomous and connected, thanks to 5G and upcoming mobile network standards such as 6G. Currently, Tesla, spearheaded by its founder and CEO Elon Musk, has been at the forefront of self-driving EV space with its lineup of electric car models such as the Model S and the Model X. Using the same business strategy for its successful smartphone models, Xiaomi could outsource car manufacturing to contractors. Read Also: Xiaomi Will Unveil Their Electric Vehicle On December 2016 What Is Black Sesame? Established in 2016, Black Sesame is an AI company focusing on system-on-a-chip (SoCs) design, perception algorithms, and image processing, according to its website. Eighty percent (80%) of the company's 300-employee workforce is dedicated to research and development (R&D). Black Sesame has business relationships with auto industry companies, namely Chinese automakers BYD Auto Co., Ltd., and SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, as well as the more established Robert Bosch GmbH of Germany. China has a growing number of Chinese tech giants and chipmakers needing capital to develop and create semiconductors employed in AI algorithms. Besides Black Sesame, other AI chipmakers in China include Enflame and Horizon Robotics Inc. The two companies were able to raise $1.2 billion during Q1 2021 along, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance Limited (BNEF). China is determined to bolster its local semiconductor industry and lessen its dependence on American technology amid the sanctions imposed by the United States government under the previous Trump administration. Sanctions are unlikely to change despite the election of President Joe Biden. The current AI chip market worldwide is dominated by American technology companies, namely Amazon, Google and NVIDIA. AI chip demand tremendously increased in recent years, driven by cryptocurrency mining, graphically rich video games, and other data-intensive applications. Related Story: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS Luxury Electric Car: Specs, Interior, and More First Look Behind the Wheel Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Mixed clouds and sun this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. High 82F. NE winds shifting to SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. When Delhi-based architect Akmal Hussains elderly uncles oxygen level fell to 70 (95 and above is considered normal), he posted on Twitter seeking help. Urgent Help needed. Urgently needing a bed for Covid+ patient. My Number is +91 9810358996, he wrote on April 17, tagging politicians and journalists with more than 200,000 followers. Ankit Gupta, a social activist, saw Hussains tweet and reached out to him. He almost succeeded in arranging for a bed at the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, but it fell through. The next morning, on Sunday, Hussains uncles oxygen level fell to 40. Gupta did everything he could to help, but the 82-year-old died the same evening, at home. Advertisement Before their interaction on Twitter, Hussain and Gupta hadnt even heard of each other. Advertisement Advertisement In this crisis, its not the politicians, but people like Ankit who are running this country. He really tried his best to help me, Hussain told me. Crematoriums and graveyards are overburdened. Ambulances are queuing up outside hospitals as COVID patients wait for hospital beds to free up. Indias second COVID wave picked up sometime in the second half of February, and within weeks, health infrastructure in the country has collapsed. On Tuesday, the country recorded 2,023 new COVID-related deaths and total COVID-related deaths were 182,553, according to the health ministry. On the same day, India had officially recorded 2,157,538 active cases and 294,337 daily cases. But experts widely believe these numbers to be huge underestimations. Major Indian citiesincluding Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Lucknow, and Kolkataare experiencing severe shortage of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, medicines, and plasma donors. India faced its first COVID wave in March last year, though the distribution was uneven and different states were hit at different points in time. The first wave peaked in September, but afterward, complacence set in, and the government failed to plan for another surge. Advertisement The new wave is connected to a series of factors. For one thing, many virologists believe that new mutations could be helping the virus to spread more quickly. The government had reserved a bucket of money called the PM CARES funds for pandemic response, to which individuals and organizations had contributed, but the government has refused to disclose details of how the funds have been used. Large gatherings are still permitted, such as the Kumbh Mela, a multiday Hindu festival and pilgrimage in Haridwar where at one point more than 3 million people gathered to bathe in the holy Ganges River. Making matters worse, Prime Minister Narendra Modis ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has been campaigning aggressively in election-bound states, holding rallies where millions gather flouting social distancing norms. Plus, by March, the Indian government had exported about 60 million doses of the COVID vaccines Covishield and Covaxin to countries including Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Kenya, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Now citizens of India, which is the worlds largest vaccine manufacturer, are left stranded. So far, only a little over 1 percent of Indias total population has been fully vaccinated. On April 14, Time declared, Officially, India Has the Worlds Second-Worst COVID-19 Outbreak. Unofficially, Its Almost Certainly the Worst. Advertisement Advertisement Until the government can chalk out a clear plan of action, citizens are leaning on one another and on social media platforms to cope with the current crisis. Go back to using Twitter as your lifeline because the Prime Minister has nothing to offer, tweeted Pratik Sinha, co-founder of Alt News, a fact-checking website, after Modi delivered a speech on Tuesday evening without addressing any critical issues and giving only empty reassurances. Crematoriums and graveyards are overburdened. Ambulances are queuing up outside hospitals as COVID patients wait for hospital beds to free up. In some hospitals, three people are being assigned to a single bed while others are being accommodated on the floor. Many state government help lines are going unanswered. Prices for COVID-related medicines, oxygen cylinders, and hospital beds are soaring as demand increases, despite government efforts to cap rates. In the absence of information on availability of resources that the government should have gathered and disseminated, citizens have taken to Twitter and other social media platforms for help. Advertisement Crowdsourced lists of plasma donors, oxygen cylinder suppliers, medicine suppliers, and hospital bed availability are being widely circulated on Twitter, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms. Twitter is everybodys platform. Its turning out to be really helpful for information and resource sharing. People DM me a lot, and I have a full-fledged team now that takes care of that, Rais Shaikh, a Mumbai-based politician, told me. Advertisement Safeer Mohammed, who has worked on several blood donation drives, volunteered during Indias first COVID wave to identify potential plasma donors. He is a core member of the team that started the Bangalore-based volunteering group Mercy Mission during the first wave. Collaboration is the most important fuel in a pandemic situation. You start working with people you dont know and through formal and informal connections you create a network and process. It doesnt matter where you are in the world. You have WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook, he told me. Advertisement But many, even most, pleas on social media dont get answered by a stranger. At least 20 people I spoke with said they had tweeted out requests for help, only to eventually find it through their own personal networks. Sandeep Agarwal, a senior advocate in the Delhi High Court, was looking for an injection of tocilizumab, a monoclonal antibody being used to treat critical COVID patients, for his 63-year-old aunt, who had been admitted at the MGS Hospital. His niece tweeted on his behalf, asking for help. Agarwal said he even sent friends and acquaintances all over Delhi looking for the injection. I even reached out to the top management at pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the drug and was told that all the stock has been given out to the government, Agarwal told me. Advertisement Advertisement Several others I spoke with said that sometimes they would get a phone number via Twitter for someone who could supply them with COVID-related essentials, but by the time they called, it would be too late: Dozens would have already called the same numbers before them and exhausted supplies. With supplies so exhausted, even common people are hoarding, especially oxygen. Ujjwal Basu, a 24-year-old supplier of oxygen cylinders in Kolkata, said he normally has 100 cylinders at his disposal. But when I reached him on Wednesday afternoon, he had only 10 in stock. He said patients who are not in immediate need of oxygen, especially the elderly, are hoarding oxygen cylinders for fear of not being able to access them should the need arise. Basu said he asks would-be patients for their oxygen levels and if theyre below 80, hell give them one. If they dont call me back in three days asking for a refill, I immediately understand they are hoarding. Then I politely request them to return it so I can give it to someone in need, he told me. People normally do tend to give the cylinders back to Basu, he said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While Twitter has the advantage of quick accessibility and has been a great resource in this time of crisis, it has also been widely used to spread COVID-related misinformation. Priti Gandhi, in charge of social media for the BJPs womens wing, tweeted a video claiming that there were barely any people at the Kumbh Mela. The video was found to be fake. Posters on Twitter are now adding #verified or personally verified while sharing contact details of plasma donors or oxygen cylinder suppliers. Others are adding a timestamp along with the verified label. Timestamps help people gauge if they have a chance at procuring the supplies. Thirty-five-year-old Priyanka Halduniya, a Delhi-based home chef who volunteered to deliver homemade food to COVID patients, said a stranger called her not to order food but to verify if her number was correct and if she was indeed supplying food, so that they could share her contact widely. Halduniya agreedand is now inundated with up to 25 requests a day from self-isolating COVID patients. Advertisement I have two small children who are taking online classes in the pandemic. I have to take care of them, take customer orders every day, collect all the raw materials, and then cook for so many people. Its a lot of work, Halduniya, who gets help from her family, told me. She and her mother-in-law do the cooking, her father-in-law helps cut vegetables and kneads dough for the chapatis, and her husband makes all the deliveries. The entire family is involved in helping COVID patients. Advertisement Some are proactively going onto Twitter to volunteer other types of services. For instance, a person in Bangalore offered to clean houses for free. Another offered to help with school and college assignments. Anjali Singla, a Gurugram-based counseling psychologist, put out a tweet offering her services pro bono to those in isolation and to front-line workers. Since then, she said, her Twitter DMs have been flooded. Advertisement But she noted that the response has been far higher on Instagram, where younger people, who are often more comfortable talking about mental health, tend to be more active. I take three to four cases pro bono every day. Many are SOS calls from people feeling suicidal, and from doctors and nurses facing shortages of drugs, PPE suits, and masks. They dont know how to deal with so many dying patients and being away from their families, she told me. And theres no sign that the need for any of this supportmedical supplies, food, psychological carewill end anytime soon. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. The United States has heard Moscow's announcement about the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraines border, but is looking for concrete action and will monitor the situation closely. Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State Ned Price said this at a briefing on April 22, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. We have heard Russias announcement that it would begin withdrawing troops from the border of Ukraine. As Ive said, weve heard words. I think what well be looking for is action. The United States will continue to monitor the situation. Well do that closely and well coordinate closely with Ukrainian officials as well as allies and partners, Price said. He stressed that the United States made clear in its engagement with the Russian Government that "it needs to refrain from escalatory actions and immediately cease all its aggressive activity in and around Ukraine, including its recent military buildup in occupied Crimea and on Ukraines border and its intention to block specific vessels in the parts of the Black Sea." In this regard, the State Department spokesman reaffirmed U.S. support for Ukraines sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrities, including its territorial waters. So our message is weve heard the announcement. Well be watching closely for that follow-through, Price added. In addition, he said that the U.S. would continue working to provide Ukraine the security assistance it needs to defend itself against Russian aggression, including the lethal defensive weapons. As Ukrinform reported, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the General Staff of the Russian Federation and commanders to withdraw troops, which have recently been moved to Ukraine's borders, to their permanent bases from April 23. ish A Malaysian farm says it has perfected its methods to successfully grow Japanese muskmelons, one of the worlds costliest fruits. Farmers at Malaysias Mono Premium Melon company said they had discovered the right mix of nutrients and treatments to grow the top quality melons. One of the methods involves workers rubbing the melons with a soft cloth. The farmers believe that doing this can improve the taste of the fruit. They also play classical music around the plants, which is thought to increase growth. Seh Cheng Siang is the director and co-founder of the farm, in Putrajaya, south of Kuala Lumpur. "Every single Japanese melon that you see in our farm is almost like an art piece," Seh told Reuters news agency. Since the last century, farmers in Japan have been perfecting the art of growing the fruit. Japanese muskmelons are prized for their tastiness and exact, rounded shape. In Japan, the costly melons are sold in high-end stores as luxury products. The farmers said they aim to grow melons with the same level of quality as those sold in Japan. But the process is more difficult in Malaysia because of the countrys hot and humid climate. Japan enjoys more moderate climate conditions than Malaysia. "We have to make sure that nutrition, the watering and the fertilizer are done very consistently and precisely," Seh said. He added that his company had tried growing more than 10 kinds of Japanese melon before settling on the right one. The Malaysian farmers get their seeds from Japan and also travel to Japanese farms to learn the correct growing methods. The farmers say they had to do a lot of experimentation to find out exactly which ingredients provided the best nutrition to the muskmelon plants. The companys efforts have been successful so far. The famers reported that the first crop of 200 selected muskmelons had quickly sold out. Most of the sales happened online. The melons are sold for 186 ringgit each, which is about 40 U.S. dollars. That price is about one-third lower than what muskmelons sell for in Japan. Elaine Chow attended a recent sales event at the companys farm and said she was very pleased to find the local muskmelons. "It's pretty interesting to know that as a Malaysian, we can actually grow Japanese-grade melons in Malaysia," she said. Im Bryan Lynn. Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Hai Do 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 luxury n. something that is very costly and gives pleasure, but is not needed humid adj. hot and slightly wet consistent adj. always behaving in a similar way precise adj. exact and accurate ingredient n. one of the things that are used to make a food, product, etc. Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photos Getty/Instagram Another sign that time has lost all meaning: the Oscars are this weekend. Remember the Academy Awards? Its both an event and industrial complexHollywood honors its best and brightest for their work over a year, and in turn sponsors, fashion designers, and stylists get paid. The Oscars may have been pushed from the normal February slot to late April, but it appears the drama will not be dulled. Unlike the Golden Globes, SAGs, and Emmys, the Oscars will not be a virtual affair. The night will air live from Union Station, rather than its usual home, the 3,400-seat Dolby Theater. This locale switcheroo is not just an attempt to scale back in austere times. Organizers say the 82-year-old railway terminal has been the backdrop for countless films. Moving Hollywoods biggest night signifies a commitment to the industry carrying on in all of its glamour. Can the Dying Oscars Be Saved? A note on glamour: We are being told it will return on Sunday night. Nominees may have Zoom-ed into past award shows, but now they will have a red carpet to walk on. But The Wall Street Journal reports it will be shorter than usual. Only nominees, their one approved guest, and celebrity presenters will be present. According to a email from producers published by WWD, organizers are aiming for a fusion of inspirational and aspirational, which in actual words means formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not. The typical amount of press craning to shove microphones in faces will be missing. But some remain untouchable, even in these trying times: Giuliana Rancic and Karamo Brown will broadcast live for E! News. Their faces will not have to be masked, however. The Academy, which did not respond to a request for comment, said this week that coverings are not mandatory for guests. Thats because, as Variety noted, the ceremony is being treated as a TV/film production and not a celebration. Three cheers for loopholes. That said, some precautions are in place. Only 170 people will be in the audience. Nominees wont sit through the entire ceremony. Theyll be in the venue to watch their own category, but will then get escorted out to limit their contact with others. There will be temperature checks and everyone has to take three COVID tests in the days leading up to the ceremony. Story continues Also, according to Deadline: attendees will be in pods of twoa nominee and a guestseated at tables and banquettes. Cozy! Stephen Soderbergh, who is co-producing the event, told Variety: that masks would play a very important role in the story. That topic is very central to the narrative, Soderbergh said. So stayed tuned? Lax masking aside, it has been a quieter run-up to the Oscars than usual. There are not the usual luncheons or screenings that would fill a calendar in normal times. Stylists usually see each other at show rooms and there would have been designers flying out to Los Angeles for the buzz, Jessica Paster, who dressed Borats Maria Bakalova this season, told The Daily Beast. But what we have seen regardless of a red carpet or virtual event is that we are still having fun. We are experimenting in pulling looks. We are still trying to bring joy in our field. Paster has worked in the industry for 24 years. Shes tough. Her motto is, Just get the job done. But even Paster noted that the advent of Zoom styling sessions have made her days longer; she gets even less sleep now that she styles clients both in Los Angeles, where she lives, and abroad. For me, whats been challenging is that I dont sleep at all, Paster said. I have a client shooting a movie and doing events in London. While were about to go to sleep, they get up. So I havent slept much. Paster is excited to get back to a red carpet, not virtual events where celebrities sometimes dressed up days in advance and release photos of their looks later. That was interesting, because we made our own red carpet and narratives, she said. We made our own photoshoots, and now were going back to doing it in real time. For the rich and famous working from home essentially meant posting a beautiful, pre-approved Instagram post rather than dealing with night-of fashion drama and clamoring photographers. (What a life!) Will it be tough for celebrities to get reacquainted with the old ways? Are red carpets going to come back? I think absolutely, former Fashion Police host George Kotsiopoulos said. I applaud the people who actually go all out. Im thinking about Regina King in that fabulous Louis Vuitton (at the Golden Globes.) If youre nominated, its your time. True, Kings Golden Globes gownone covered in 40,000 sequins, which took 350 hours to embroider by handoozed the kind of unabashed glitz that makes a red carpet. Other highlights of awards season included Harry Styles lime green feather boa at the Grammys, which reportedly led to a 1,500 percent spike in shoppers googling similar accessories. The stakes are not that high this year, which means that if people are reluctant to try new things, they have more of an opportunity to do that now, Kotsiopoulos added. Its just whatever, were in a pandemic, they can wear what they want. This is the perfect opportunity to not be safe. 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. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24) The recent presence of Chinese vessels in parts of the West Philippine Sea "endangers peace and stability" in the region, the European Union said Saturday, as it urged concerned parties to settle disputes peacefully. In a statement, the EU through its foreign and security policy service European External Action Service (EEAS) expressed concern over the tensions in the disputed waters, particularly the lingering presence of Beijing's ships at Julian Felipe Reef or Whitsun Reef. It reiterated its strong opposition to any action that could potentially undermine the "international rules-based order." "We urge all parties to resolve disputes through peaceful means in accordance with international law, in particular UNCLOS, including its dispute settlement mechanisms," the EU said, further citing the 2016 arbitral ruling that recognized Manila's sovereign rights in areas of its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. The EU also urged all parties to work on finalizing the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea. The Philippines on Friday lodged two more diplomatic protests against the East Asian giant after local authorities reported that some 160 Chinese vessels remain in the country's EEZ. The national government has repeatedly demanded that the ships which the Chinese embassy earlier claimed were merely fishing vessels leave the contested waters. A Los Angeles County official who is taking steps to return a beachfront property to descendants of a Black couple who originally owned the resort has urged the whole country to follow their example. LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who is leading the effort to return the property, told TMZ in an interview that last year she woke up to the atrocities against African Americans with the rest of the country. A Black couple who built a resort for African Americans on the prime beachfront property along the shoreline in Manhattan Beach were stripped of the land by local city officials a century ago. I knew in my heart there was only one thing to do and that was to figure out how to give the property back, Ms Hahn said. The five-member Board of Supervisors previously voted unanimously to have the county chief executives office report back in 60 days with a plan on how to return the land. Now, Ms Hahn is calling on the rest of the country to follow suit and return land to Black and indigenous people to apologise for the past. I think this is the first time in our nation that our government has given back land to an African American family to make amends for past discrimination and atrocities and policies, she said. Ms Hahn added: This is a very small first step towards what I think this whole country should be doing and thats really working to repair and make amends with the African Americans in this country. The supervisor said that we as a collective society should apologise really not just to African Americans but... to indigenous Americans for how we literally stole land for public benefit. The land, which became known as Bruces Beach, was purchased in 1912 by Willa and Charles Bruce, who built the first West Coast resort for Black people at a time when many beaches were segregated. The couple suffered racist harassment from white neighbors and in the 1920s the Manhattan Beach City Council took the land away through eminent domain under the ruse of needing it for a park. The city did nothing with the property and it eventually was transferred to the state in 1948. In 1995, the state transferred it to the county, which built its lifeguard training headquarters on the site. That transfer came alongside restrictions on further transfers, which could only be lifted through state legislation. A bill to lift the legislation was introduced in the state Senate last week. Additional reporting by the Associated Press The fire of revival has fallen in California as thousands of people reportedly attended a tent meeting hosted by Mario Murillo Ministries. Explaining the remarkable turn out in Modesto, California on Thursday, Mario Murillo said that they had to move the worship to 5:45 p.m. seeing that the tent was already half full two hours before the actual start time of the event. "This is California. California, where supposedly, people do not want God. And even hate God. California where they are overscheduled and underwhelmed with the idea of having to show up early for anything. Right?" he wrote in his blog. They rented 500 more chairs which were immediately filled as more people show up. There were about 2000 people in attendance that time. Putting aside extravagant productions, the pastor and his team only led people to singing, preaching, and Jesus. "Why are they here? It is not just the presence of God, but they have been driven here because Satan and the Left have gone too far," asserts Murillo. "The vision of the Left for California is an unmitigated disaster. It is misery for everyone, from the cradle to the grave. To Murillo's amazement, the attendees did not only sit through one sermon, but two full sermons. The first sermon was intended for lost souls while the second is about revival. He was anticipating that many, if not some, would start leaving after the first sermon as he repeatedly mentioned hell and repentance in response to the Cross and Blood of Jesus. "Then the Holy Spirit removed the protection and the resistance of sinners. They instantly left all, to follow Jesus. They tell me that 500 people came to Christ last night. But as always, only God knows the actual number," said Murillo. Addicts, homeless, gang members, and every-day hurting people flocked to the front of the tent to surrender themselves to Jesus. In his revival sermon titled "The Vengeance of Our God," he told the audience that they are not after a grand meeting with pictures to show off on social media nor do they want "memories of an event that came and went." "I want Satan to pack up and get out of town!" declared Murillo. In the sermon, he highlighted the following points: 1. "Who knows when it will ever be like this again?" Assuming that the fateful day could be the last time the door to revival opens in California, Murillo used the story of Esther to direct people to think if they have come to (God's) kingdom for such a time as they are in now. 2. "Understand what is at stake: We are fighting for our families!" (Nehemiah 4:14) 3. "Make room for revival. Jesus said to let down the nets, but they only let down one net." (Luke 5:4-7) 4. "We need the outpouring of Fresh Fire in order that we may be turned into the people of this hour." (1 Samuel 10:6-7, Acts 4:29-31) After delivering the message, Murillo said that the fire of revival fell as thousands of people vowed to be "lions of righteousness." There was also a grace for healing as people with medical conditions received instantaneous healings. The miracles shattered unbelief which could have also possibly won the most skeptic soul in the tent. The Senate speaker, Gerard Larcher, and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, a secretary of state at the French Foreign Ministry, joined Armenian officials in laying wreaths at a memorial to 1.5 million Armenians massacred by the Ottoman Turks during the First World War. Today French and Armenian hearts in unison remember the Armenian Genocide, Lemoyne tweeted afterwards. In a letter to his Armenian counterpart Armen Sarkissian publicized on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said Lemoyne will represent him at the genocide commemorations. The fight for justice and truth that France is leading and will continue to lead by your side will not stop because it does not concern Armenians alone, wrote Macron. It is at the heart of the brotherhood of the French Republic. The French Foreign Ministry said, for its part, that Lemoynes participation in the ceremonies is of particular importance because 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of France's official recognition of the Armenian genocide. It also underscores Pariss resolute commitment to Armenias development and security, read a ministry statement. France has played and continues to play a key role in international recognition of the Armenian genocide, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian told Lemoyne at a meeting held late on Friday. Pashinian also praised Macron for supporting Armenia at a difficult moment. Larcher arrived in Yerevan on Friday evening at the head of a delegation of about a dozen French senators. The Senate speaker put their visit in a painful context of last years war in Nagorno-Karabakh and its aftermath. He portrayed the trip as a follow-up to the Senates November resolution calling on the French government to recognize Karabakh as an independent republic. Never before has a resolution been passed with such a strong majority, Larcher wrote on his Twitter page. Macrons government ruled out Karabakhs recognition, saying that it would be counterproductive for both France and international efforts to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. France is home to a sizable and influential Armenian community mostly consisting of descendants of survivors of the 1915 genocide. Liberation: student reports on ex concentration camps in FVG Photos to transmit memories, as part of a European project (ANSA) - UDINE, 23 APR - Udine, April 23 - Almost on the eve of the 76th anniversary of Italy's liberation from the Nazi occupation and the fascist regime, five students from the Universities of Udine and Trieste participated yesterday in one of the sessions of the International Workshop on Photography and Memory. The workshop took place at the former nazi concentration camps of Gonars and Visco (Udine). About 35 people take part in the workshop, from 6 countries: Italy, Croatia, Germany, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. The initiative takes place as part of the European MEME project, Meeting memories of which the University of Udine is an Italian partner. "Thanks to the preparatory work sessions conducted by photographers Sandra Vitaljic and Sasa Kralj, the participants - explained Natka Badurina, professor of the Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, and Society and contact person of the MEME project for the University of Udine - experimented on the ground the photographic medium as a tool for the transmission of memories." The historian and researcher Ferruccio Tassin, who collected for decades of testimonies and data on the two concentration camps, committed himself to disseminating awareness, especially among young people and schools, accompanied the students. "The photos taken by the participants in the International Workshop during the visits organized by the partners of the MEME project to the concentration camps in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Germany, Bosnia - said Elisa Copetti, external education officer of the Friulian university -, will be selected by the curators and presented to the public on Monday 26 April on the Documenta-Center for Dealing with the Past website." The "Meeting Memories: Learning from the Past to Confront Dehumanization Today" project aims to remind European citizens of dehumanization and scapegoat in the 30s and 40s of the 20th century and produce food for thought concerning similar policies that are still alive today. (ANSA). Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved For months, government ministers spewed vicious rhetoric about gay people. Trucks blasted anti-gay hate messages from loudspeakers on the streets of Polands cities. Finally fed up with an increasingly hostile environment for gay people in Poland under the governing Law and Justice party, Marta Malachowska, a 31-year-old who works in social media, decided to move to Berlin with her girlfriend in December. Last year the situation became too much for me, Ms. Malachowska said, adding that she had suffered a nervous breakdown during the countrys presidential election last summer when anti-L.G.B.T.Q. rhetoric engaged in by the governing party became especially shrill in an effort to appeal to socially conservative voters. The final straw came when a close friend was assaulted because of her sexual orientation, she said. Arriving in Berlin, she knew she had made the right choice. The first thing I saw was a giant rainbow flag hanging across the street from our flat, she said. I take my girlfriends hand when we walk in the street, without thinking. She added: Back in Poland, there was always this fear inside me. Here, literally no one cares. Press Release April 24, 2021 De Lima on medical furlough at Manila Doctor's Hospital Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has arrived at the Manila Doctor's Hospital today (April 24) to undergo a medical examination, as recommended by her physician after she experienced bouts of headaches and persistent generalized weakness. De Lima, whose emergency medical furlough was granted by the two Muntinlupa courts handling her trumped-up drug charges, stated that her on-call physician, Dr. Meophilia G. Santos-Cao, said she appeared to have suffered from mild stroke. In their respective Orders, Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branches 205 and 256 allowed De Lima to go on a three-day medical furlough starting today at the Manila Doctor's Hospital. Both Judge Liezel Aquiatan of Br. 205 and Judge Romeo Buenaventura of Br. 256 granted De Lima's Very Urgent Motion for Medical Furlough on April 23 for "health and humanitarian" reasons. In her four-page Motion for Medical Furlough, De Lima asked the courts to allow her to go on an emergency medical furlough and hospital confinement, in order to undergo further medical examination and, if necessary, immediate treatment upon the recommendation of her on-call physician. De Lima said she was visited by Dr. Santos-Cao last April 21 after she experienced "bouts of headaches and persistent generalized weakness." "The examination by Dr. Santos-Cao left an impression that Accused De Lima experienced a Transient Ischemic Attack (mild stroke), hence the urgent and extremely important need to rule out a cerebrovascular accident," the document read. De Lima said she asked the courts to allow her to be examined specifically at the Manila Doctor's Hospital because "the institution already is privy to her medical history, and it is the primary hospital of her other doctors who are consultants there." Likewise, the medical furlough is necessary because the Philippine National Police - General Hospital (PNP-GH) currently does not have the equipment necessary to ascertain her condition such as the Magnetic Resonance Imaging and other tests. The lady Senator from Bicol assured the courts that "she will not be staying in the hospital longer than what is called for or necessary for the conduct of the prescribed tests and that she will render regular medical reports on her condition." She further told the courts that "proper observance of health and safety protocols will be followed, as prescribed under the IATF guidelines, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be used by her and everyone who will be accompanying her during the medical furlough." It may be recalled that De Lima was confined at the Manila Doctors Hospital for roughly 24 hours, from Feb. 11 to Feb. 12 of this year, to undergo several tests recommended by her physician and as part of her routine general medical examination. A look at some of the major movers among small caps over the last week ( ) has increased its shareholding in SundaGas from 33.33% to 85%, and thereby increased its indirect interest in the Chuditch discovery off the coast of Timor-Leste from 25% to 63.75%. The news made the shares of the company, which appropriately enough has a ticker symbol of BOIL, this weeks hottest items, with a gain of 70%. Everything is in place to allow SundaGas to undertake the production sharing contract technical work programme activities, especially the critical 3D seismic reprocessing, Baron Oil said. Sector peer ( ANR) had a tougher week, losing around a third of its value after it started flow testing at the Talitha #A well on Alaskas North Slope after delays caused by blizzards. Weather conditions have since improved meaning operations have resumed and testing has now commenced on the Kupurak horizon, with the Talitha #A well currently flaring natural gas as it cleans up," it said in a statement. Whilst this is an encouraging sign, the company cautions that it is too early to make a definitive assessment as to the ultimate commerciality of the Kupurak horizon. Results will be announced at the conclusion of testing operations, it added. Investors dialled into ( ) after it secured contracts worth US$500,000 for 2021, taking the total new business for the year to US$6.5mln in revenues. The company, which develops and supplies customer engagement software, said it was confident of meeting financial expectations for the current year. The shares were up 43% on the week. Elsewhere in the technology sector, ( ) slumped 15% after it backed out of the proposed acquisition of Tanjung Pinang Resources. The e-commerce infrastructure payment solutions and platform provider said the acquisition was binned by mutual agreement after MobilityOnes recent purchase of OneTransfer Remittance, another Malaysian company. One acquisition that is going ahead is the purchase of Insight, a data science and machine learning solutions company, by Catena Group PLC (LON:CTNA). The investment company already had a 9% stake in Insight but is now going all-in, as they say in poker circles. With the acquisition will come a change of name to Insig AI. Catena is issuing 45.3mln shares valued at 59p each to the owners of Insight and up to 1.5mln in cash. Despite the company proposing to raise around 6.1mln by placing shares at 67p a pop, the shares were up 38% at 81.5p after trading in the shares resumed on AIM. PLC ( ), the self-styled advertising effectiveness agency, cheered the market with a year-end trading update. With the resumption of sales growth and a strong net cash position, the board said it will look to reinstate the share buyback programme that was suspended in 2020 due to uncertainty over the potential impact of the pandemic on its business. A return to dividend payments is not currently envisaged, the company added. ( ) shares jumped on Tuesday after strong trading seen in the second half of 2020 continued into the first quarter of 2021. Sales for the period are ahead of last year when Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns hit the last few days of the reporting period. The cosmetics company said it has also boosted online sales in the UK and US through Amazon and is now eyeing an expansion in the EU in the near future. The shares ended the week 16% higher at 125.5p. Dan Crenshaw always knew this was possible. As he fought for his life in 2012 after an improvised explosive device nearly killed him on a battlefield in Afghanistan, doctors warned the Navy SEAL that while they were able to restore his vision in one eye, there would be risks of blindness in the years ahead. It was always a possibility that the effects of the damage to my retina would resurface, and it appears that is exactly what has happened, the two-term congressman from Houston said after complications from that injury resurfaced earlier this month. Crenshaw now finds himself in a very difficult recovery trying everything he can to hold onto his vision. I have gotten through worse before, and I will get through this, Crenshaw said. Crenshaw, who wears an eye patch because of his war injuries, said earlier this month he started noticing dark, blurry spots in his vision and knew there was a problem. He said doctors discovered his retina was detaching and performed emergency surgery. On Friday, Crenshaw said he was relieved to get some good news. To our relief, my retina was still in place during my follow-up appointment, Crenshaw said. I can lift my head up again and no longer have to position myself face-down, which is a relief. This is obviously good news, but it doesnt mean we are out of the woods yet. Still, his vision remains a big problem. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox I still cannot see much other than lights and shadows, basically, as I am still in the early stages of my recovery, he said. I am not sure how my vision will be in a few weeks, but I am hopeful and confident that it will return to normal. Crenshaw, who grew up in Katy, was first elected to Congress in 2018, winning in a crowded GOP primary and then coasting to victory in the 2nd Congressional District, which stretches from western sections of Harris County up to Spring and over to Humble. Hes fast become a star in the GOP ranks, having become a top GOP fundraiser with one of the largest social media followings of any Republican in Congress. In a book he released last year, entitled Fortitude, Crenshaw detailed the day in Afghanistan that changed his life and put him in the position he is in today. On June 15, 2012, he was sent to Kandahar as part of a last-minute mission to support a U.S. Marine Corps special operations unit that had been under fire for two days in the neighboring Helmand Province. An Afghan interpreter with Crenshaws team stepped on an improvised explosive device just in front of him. A train hit me. Ears ringing, Crenshaw wrote. He recalled thinking: My eyes must be caked with mud. I can barely see anything. After slipping into unconsciousness, Crenshaw came to days later and thousands of miles away in a hospital in Germany where he first learned his right eye was gone and his left eye was badly damaged. Doctors were able to restore sight to his left eye but warned about the danger ahead. They told me up front what they expected. My lens was destroyed. (It still is. I have no lens.) My retina was likely to detach. My iris was ruptured, he wrote. He said that concern was on his mind earlier this month when he went in for his emergency surgery. Anyone who knows the history of my injuries knows that I dont have a good eye, but half a good eye, Crenshaw said. The blast from 2012 caused a cataract, excessive tissue damage, and extensive damage to my retina. To fix his left eye this time, Crenshaw said doctors put a silicone buckle around his retina and used a laser to glue around the edges of it. When they did that, they needed to keep my retina in place, which is why they injected a gas bubble into my eye to act as a bandage for my retina and prevent further detaching, he said. That is why I cannot see anything right now and wont be able to see for the next few weeks until the gas bubble dissipates. Crenshaw said despite excellent care at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, he knows I still have a while to go until I am fully recovered. Crenshaw said he is unable to fly on airplanes for at least 6 weeks because the pressure changes could cause the gas bubble in his eye to expand. He said his offices in D.C. and Houston will continue to take care of important constituent services and other duties and hes staying up to date on legislation while he recovers. I am focusing on my recovery so I can be back to 100 percent as soon as possible, Crenshaw said. jeremy.wallace@chron.com In a news conference Thursday, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said he believes high-capacity gun magazines used in Marchs supermarket attack were sold legally. But in 2013, following the Aurora theater massacre, Colorados legislature banned magazines holding more than 15 rounds. And charges against the Boulder suspect include 10 counts of using a prohibited high-capacity magazine while committing a felony. So how might the suspect have gotten ahold of the 10 prohibited magazines the DA said investigators found on him or in his car? A handful of possible ways, it turns out. Colorados law bans the sale, transfer and possession of magazines holding more than 15 rounds It went into effect on July 1, 2013. Known as House Bill 13-1224 while it worked its way through the legislature, the large-capacity magazine ban was part of a package of gun restrictions that also implemented a universal background check requirement for purchases and required buyers to pay the background check fee. In reaction, voters successfully recalled two Democratic state senators who supported the laws, Sen. John Morse of District 11 and Angela Giron of District 3. But DIY assembly kits have provided a loophole in Colorado A series of undercover investigations by 9News revealed gun stores in several Colorado counties selling disassembled large-capacity magazines in parts after the ban went into effect. An employee at Centennial Gun Club was captured saying, As soon as we remove the functionality of it and take this spring out, its not a magazine. Another at Pueblo Sporting Goods called the kits technically legal technically not illegal. Sen. Rhonda Fields, who sponsored House Bill 13-1224, called businesses taking advantage of the loophole sickening and contrary to the laws intent. But to date, the legislature has not passed further legislation to address the gap. The states bordering Colorado dont have large-capacity magazine bans Although possession of high-capacity magazines isnt legal in Colorado, someone wishing to smuggle them in could hop a border to a dealer in any state immediately surrounding Colorado that sells large-capacity magazines. According to a compilation from the National Conference of State Legislatures, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska are not among the nine states with bans on high-capacity magazines. The law grandfathered in high-capacity magazines owned before the ban It allows high-capacity magazines a person possessed on or before the date the law went into effect and has continually maintained possession of. High-capacity magazines manufactured in Colorado on or after the laws effective date have to include a permanent marking indicating its manufacture or assembly after July 1, 2013. The marking has to be visibly engraved or cast on the outside of the magazine. Violation of this part of the law is a Class 2 misdemeanor. When a Clinton-era ban on some semiautomatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines expired in 2004, it left a patchwork of state laws The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act passed as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and then-President Bill Clinton signed it. The law banned manufacture, transfer, or possession of semiautomatic assault weapons and manufacture of magazines holding more than 10 rounds, though it grandfathered in possession and sale of covered weapons and magazines legally made and possessed before the effective date. The law did not outright ban semiautomatic guns. Instead, it banned some specific firearms and certain features on guns. EU likely to vaccinate 70 pct adult population by end of July: von der Leyen Xinhua) 11:02, April 24, 2021 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends a press conference on the post-Brexit trade talks in Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) BRUSSELS, April 23 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday brought forward the expected date for the European Union (EU) to vaccinate its 70 percent of adult population by nearly two months. Speaking after visiting Pfizer's vaccine plant in Puurs, Belgium, where the main vaccine used so far in the EU has been produced, von der Leyen said the goal could be achieved by the end of July instead of late September as had been previously predicted. "With the enormous efforts of BioNTech-Pfizer and the acceleration of their vaccine deliveries, I am now confident that we will have sufficient doses to vaccinate 70 percent of the adult population in the European Union already in July," she said, commending the two joint partners as "strong and reliable suppliers." She expressed her satisfaction that "the EU's vaccination campaign is on track," passing the mark of 150 million doses delivered and 123 million vaccinations deployed. This made the bloc "among the top three in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide, after the United States and China." She said her commission was close to concluding a deal with BioNTech and Pfizer to supply 1.8 billion additional vaccine doses for 2022 and 2023. "We will conclude it in the next days. It will secure the doses necessary to give booster shots to increase our immunity against the virus. It will provide vaccines adapted to escape variants that no longer respond to the vaccines," she told a press conference. Von der Leyen said the European Medicines Agency had approved the increase of the site's production capacity by a further 20 percent, making it one of the biggest vaccine fill and finish sites in Europe. EU's health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Friday that almost a quarter of the adult population of the bloc has received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and over nine percent has been fully vaccinated. With an average 2.5 million vaccinations per day across the EU in the last week, the number of people vaccinated - 24.5 percent with one dose and 9.1 percent with both - is twice that of a month ago, showing that the rollout of vaccinations was gaining pace, Kyriakides said. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) In the spring of 2015, I had achieved seven points for applying for a fall Michigan black bear tag, and I thought it best to contact a professional guide/outfitter in the event I got lucky on the draw. I needed to know what bear management unit to apply for, and I also knew a guide/outfitter would be the best way to go for hunting black bears over bait, because knowledge of bears in a specific area as well as an ongoing baiting program would up the odds towards success. After some research, I contacted Gary Morgan of East Lake Outfitters, who had a bear camp in the Newberry Bear Management Unit, to get matters settled in the event I got drawn. During the conversation, I discovered that Gary also guided spring turkey hunters from a hunting camp he had in Montmorency County, near Atlanta in the northern Lower Peninsula, and he invited me to give it a try. My first 25 years of spring turkey hunting were in a northern Michigan environment, an atmosphere of running and gunning," with plenty of (public land) elbow room in forested rolling hills that I much enjoyed. However, due to a very successful statewide turkey management program, I would spend the next 20 years spring turkey hunting closer to home in the Thumb, and with no complaints, either. Admittedly, upon Gary's invitation, I became a bit whimsical and decided to take him up on it. It just so happened that I had just purchased a 0234 turkey tag, which allowed hunting gobblers on private land only in southern Michigan during the month of May, but it also allowed for hunting on public lands in northern Michigan. I was set to go! The hunt involved both private and public land in the typical wooded and rolling topography found near Atlanta. We called from ground blinds and also did some roving for birds. At that point, I had been an avid turkey hunter for more than 45 years, and one thing I know for sure is that it is a continual learning experience. I let Gary do all the calling, as Ive found it is best to keep quiet, watch and listen to professional guides regarding any outdoor pastime in order to learn from them. Gary is real good at turkey talk, and when you combine this with his knowledge of the area and its birds, I was quite confident the pieces would all come together. But then, hunting is hunting, with no guarantees. My turkey shotgun (which still remains my favorite) was a camouflage-painted Remington Spartan over/under 12-gauge that is choked full and full. During preseason patterning practice (which is critical for turkey hunting), both barrels performed a beautiful duet with Fiocchi Golden Pheasant 3-inch magnum, nickel-plated number sixes, so that is the only ammo I carried. I appreciate the fact that the over/under offers two quick shots and is easy to load and unload in the field, and the tang safety is real handy if I ever have to switch hit (from right hand to left hand) when a gobbler suddenly comes in at an awkward angle (and I do practice this). Although there were plenty of turkeys around, the weather had suddenly warmed, and the gobblers didnt seem interested in our calling efforts. That is when Gary mentioned a favorite spot of his which featured what he called Mountaintop Gobblers." We did an afternoon scout of the spot while the turkeys were gone, and by the time we got to the top of that steep, tall terrain (similar to what is offered for a ski-jump), I dubbed it Heartbreak Hill because of my being a bit long in the tooth, combined with some definite rough mileage. According to all the roosting turkey sign, though, it was truly a dandy spot. We went back later at dusk to roost the birds that had gone up into the hilltop trees for the night. They immediately responded readily to an owl hoot, and we knew things possibly could work out in the morning. That is when we saw the stranger step out of the darkening brush. He was walking his dog and had obviously been out picking morels, but by his garb, it was clear to see he was also a turkey hunter, and besides looking for mushrooms, he was listening to turkeys sounding off from the roost, too. This was public ground and open to anyone, whether for morels or wild turkeys. When the dog (a beautiful German shorthair named Joe) spotted us, he immediately started barking to alert his master of our presence, and that is when I discovered a dog barking makes a great locater call," because the whole hilltop lit up with the gobbling of multiple turkeys. Yep, folks, it went from being a dandy to a definitely fantastic location. When it comes to turkey hunting, especially on public land, it always pays to have a plans A, B and C to fall back on in the event matters become askew at a selected site, and it never hurts to be sociable with strangers listening to the same (public land) gobblers in the roost that you have just put to bed for the night. To make a long story short, being friendly and courteous to a total stranger turned out to be quite a fortuitous occasion I will never forget. The stranger, John Jones, lived not far away and had been planning on taking his sister turkey hunting, but she had canceled, and he really wanted to call in some wild turkeys, especially the ones we all had just been listening to, and wished to join us at this location the following morning. That readily worked for Gary and me, because we thought we might have had to go to plan B when we really liked plan A. It turns out John Jones is a genuine pied piper on a slate call. The following morning, he was set up 40 yards to my right and back a bit, and Gary had set out his decoys just behind both of us on a slight rise. The mountaintop gobblers loved Johns sweet talking, came out of their roosts right at daybreak, began their way down the hill, and became a literal choir featuring a whole bunch of gobbling talk, which thrilled me clean to the bone. It was then up to me, the designated hitter in this game, to pull it off. Six gobblers hung up as a group when a jealous, real hen turkey off to the left began frustrated calling in an effort to pull them away from the hussies calling down below. That is when I heard John make scratching noises in the leaves with his hand, and this pulled one of the birds down, and as the puffed-up and strutting turkey passed the tree I had previously marked as my 30-yard kill point, I went into the lock-on mode with my shotgun that was already resting on my knee. This required an ever-slight motion which the sharp-eyed bird picked right up on. He quickly turned and went from the puffed-up mode to lifting his head straight up and making the alarm putt-putt-putt call, which was his final mistake. The turkey's colorful head was resting right on top of my green fiber-optic front bead when I touched the trigger, and the shot drove him breast down and spurs up on the ground for the count. Yep, he was only a four-inch Jake," but he was the bird in the hand on Heartbreak Hill, and it was a moment shared with new friends that I in no way was about to turn down. I was plenty happy, and no doubt so were Gary Morgan and John Jones. They had devotedly done their parts, and thankfully, I had followed through with mine. After our brief introduction the evening before, we all got better acquainted after the hunt. It turns out John Jones of Atlanta is also an outfitter who guides professionally for elk, bear and of course spring turkeys in Montmorency County. Go figure, folks. I ended up with two outfitter/guides who didnt know each other but graciously pulled things together on this hunt. Im sure glad I didnt miss the shot! Weve all been great friends ever since. I did end up drawing a (first season in September) Newberry Unit bear tag for the following fall, and hunted with Gary Morgan, which was a great choice. Im now hoping to have enough bear points to join him again this fall. As fate would have it, I finally drew (after 36 years of trying) an antlerless Michigan elk tag last year, and of course John Jones was my very skilled guide, assisting me in bagging a dandy cow elk. That 2015 turkey hunt proved to be way more successful than just bagging a bird. Meeting new friends and sharing the field with them was both a distinct honor and a real pleasure. Email Tom Lounsbury at tlounsburyoutdoors@gmail.com New Delhi, April 24 : The Serum Institute of India (SII) on Saturday broke its silence over the pricing of its Covid-19 vaccine 'Covishield' and said that it is the most affordable vaccine available in the market today. SII, which manufactures the AstraZeneca vaccine Covishield at its Pune facility, said that the initial prices were kept very low globally as it was based on advance funding given by the countries for at-risk vaccine manufacturing. The initial supply price of the vaccine for all government immunisation programmes, including in India, was the lowest, it said. "The price of the vaccine is still lower than a lot of other medical treatment and essentials required to treat Covid-19 and other life-threatening diseases," Adar C. Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, SII, said in a statement. The company also said that only a limited portion of Sll's volume will be sold to private hospitals at Rs 600 per dose. Earlier this week, the company had announced that Covishield will be sold at Rs 400 per dose to the state governments and Rs 600 to the private hospitals. The Indian biotechnology and pharmaceuticals company announced the new prices after the government allowed vaccination for all persons above the age of 18 years from May 1 onwards. IT HAS BEEN 59 years since the Canadian state last slipped a noose around the neck of a prisoner, and more than four decades since the gallows were formally abolished in this country, yet death continues to lurk behind the bars of Stony Mountain Institution north of Winnipeg. IT HAS BEEN 59 years since the Canadian state last slipped a noose around the neck of a prisoner, and more than four decades since the gallows were formally abolished in this country, yet death continues to lurk behind the bars of Stony Mountain Institution north of Winnipeg. Deaths at Stony from March 2017 to present Click to Expand (The provincial government introduced Bill 16 that month, which no longer required mandatory inquests for deaths of inmates) Lewis Sitar, 50 - March 3, 2017 (Inquest called) Lawrence McMahon, 40 - April 1, 2017 Max Richard, 43 - Jan. 7, 2018 Adam Monias, 25 - Aug. 18, 2018 Nolan Thomas, 26 - Nov. 2, 2018 Timothy Koltusky, 34 - March 12, 2019 Michael Monney, 27 - April 12, 2019 Adrian Fillion, 42 - April 22, 2019 Tyson Roulette, 34 - Dec. 8, 2019 (Inquest called) Shawn Poitra, 29 - Jan. 5, 2020 Adrian Young, 39 - March 7, 2020 Patrick Eaglestick, 25 - March 24, 2020 Farron Rowan, 32 - April 26, 2020 Kurt Harper, age not released - May 17, 2020 Roger Jackson, 70 - Sept. 3, 2020 Melvis Owen, age not released - Dec. 15, 2020 Inmate unknown, COVID-19 death - Dec. 28, 2020 Tommy Beaulieu, 23 - Jan. 11, 2021 Hardisty Ballantyne, 44 - Feb. 1, 2021 Bruce Kaiser, age not released - Feb. 17, 2021 Dwayne Simard, 37 - March 1, 2021 Kenneth McDougall, age not released - April 3, 2021 Stony Mountain is not just the oldest active federal prison in Canada it is also the deadliest. In the past 15 months, 13 inmates have died there; no other federal prison has reported more deaths during that period. Five people died in the first 93 days of 2021 alone, an average of one every 18 days. It was during one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19 at a federal correctional institution in Canada; half of Stonys inmates were infected. In the past four years, 23 inmate deaths have been reported, based on a Free Press review of publicly available notifications issued by Correctional Services Canada. The deaths were caused by suicide, drug overdose, gang violence and "apparent natural causes." But the details in those cases including what happened and why, and whether any steps were taken by CSC to prevent future such deaths remain shrouded in mystery, in part due to a 2017 change to Manitobas Fatality Inquiries Act ushered in by the Pallister government. As a result, inquests are no longer mandatory for deaths that occur behind bars in Manitoba. Instead, it is now at the sole discretion of the chief medical examiner a health professional with no legal training whether an inquest will be held in such cases. If an inquest is not called as has happened with many deaths at Stony Mountain the only review, aside from potential criminal probes, is an internal investigation conducted by CSC itself. The outcomes of those investigations are often not shared with the family of the deceased, let alone the media or public. It is a status quo that brings to mind the antiquated idea that police officers should be left to police themselves when accusations of wrongdoing arise. The situation is made all the more troubling by the soaring rate of Indigenous incarceration at Stony Mountain and elsewhere in the country, as noted in a report by the Office of the Correctional Investigator, Canadas federal prison ombudsman. The ongoing "Indigenization" of prisons has led some critics to call them the "new residential schools." ADRIAN WYLD / CANADIAN PRESS FILES "As for Stony, I am concerned it is a penitentiary with an inordinate number of deaths. Its also a penitentiary that is about 70 per cent Indigenous," Ivan Zinger said. "As for Stony, I am concerned it is a penitentiary with an inordinate number of deaths. Its also a penitentiary that is about 70 per cent Indigenous," Ivan Zinger, the correctional investigator, tells the Free Press. "Im also concerned about the infrastructure. The old medium-security part of it is over 100 years old. It still has those open bars with no windows. This is why COVID was able to spread so quickly." All told, the virus infected 371 inmates, killing one. Welcome to Stony Mountain Institution: where a prison sentence far too often ends in a death sentence, and where transparency is the only thing successfully kept under lock and key. ON JULY 25, 1871, Anishinaabe and Swampy Cree nation chiefs gathered with British Crown representatives at Lower Fort Garry to negotiate the signing of Treaty No. 1, the first agreement between the fledgling Canadian state and First Nations leadership. At the start of the meeting, the Indigenous leaders told the Hon. Adams George Archibald a Father of Canadian Confederation and the first lieutenant-governor of Manitoba there was a "cloud before them which made things dark." The negotiations could not begin, the chiefs said, until the cloud was "dispersed." "On enquiring into their meaning, I found that they were referring to some four of their number who were prisoners in gaol. It seemed that some Swampy Indians had entered into a contract with the Hudsons Bay Company as boatmen, and had deserted," Archibald later wrote. The (treaty) negotiations could not begin, the chiefs said, until the cloud was "dispersed." "A few of the offenders had paid their fines, but there were still four Indians remaining in prison." It would be six years before Stony Mountain opened in the fall of 1877 and already incarceration had become a central, defining feature of the relationship between settlers and Indigenous peoples. Today, the prison stands as it has for the past 143 years roughly 24 kilometres north of Manitobas capital, situated on a prominent limestone outcrop that rises above the surrounding prairie landscape. The prison was built near the spot a British expeditionary force was stationed during the quelling of the Red River Resistance of 1869-70 the Metis revolt led by Louis Riel, who was executed for treason only to be declared a founder of Manitoba in death. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The words "Manitoba Penitentiary" the name it operated under until 1972 are etched into the stone facade above the front doors. On most days, a Canadian flag can be seen fluttering in the wind in the parking lot of the sprawling prison compound, with its medium- and maximum-security wings stationed across the imposing, fenced-in grounds. The words "Manitoba Penitentiary" the name it operated under until 1972 are etched into the stone facade above the front doors. According to the federal governments website, Stony Mountain has a "rated capacity" of 546 prisoners, but overcrowding is common. In January, during the COVID-19 outbreak, it was reported there were 744 inmates. In its early days, Stony was seen by settler contemporaries as symbolizing their successful push into previously "wild" frontiers, says academic Seth Adema, who wrote a PhD thesis on the history of Canadian prisons for Wilfrid Laurier University in 2016. And it did not take long for that symbol to become a reality for Indigenous peoples, many of whom soon found themselves locked up in its cells. In recent years, the situation has spiralled out of control, with incarceration rates for First Nations people spiking at the same time historical crime rates have fallen. Of the more than 12,500 inmates in federal prison in Canada, nearly one-third are Indigenous. The situation is far worse in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where its closer to 75 per cent. Indigenous peoples, meanwhile, make up roughly five per cent of the overall population. It is impossible to understand their overrepresentation among inmates without situating the development of prisons in the context of Canadas colonial past. FREDERIC HATHEWAY PETERS / NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF CANADA Chief Poundmaker, centre, is shown in a file photo from the 1884-1888 Northwest Rebellion. Among the early inmates at Stony Mountain were chiefs Big Bear and Poundmaker, who had been convicted of felony treason for their roles in the 1885 North-West Rebellion. Chief Poundmaker was released after seven months due to health concerns, and he died at the age of 44 shortly after being set free. Chief Big Bear served two years and was also released due to failing health. He died soon after at the age of 62. Contemporary scholars agree that harsh prison conditions likely contributed to their untimely deaths. The first warden was Samuel Bedson, a military man who settled in Manitoba after the Red River Resistance. According to Adema whose thesis had a chapter devoted to the early years at Stony Mountain Bedson made the "colonialism of the penitentiary explicit." ...The inspector determined it was in "shamefully defective condition," reporting back to his superiors that it was "difficult to conceive" of a facility "more unsuited" to its stated purpose. Shortly after its opening, the new warden began complaining about the poor conditions there. In 1879, Bedson was bedridden for three months due to typhoid fever, which he attributed to defective drainage at the prison. Eventually, he convinced the federal penitentiary inspector to visit, and when he did, the inspector determined it was in "shamefully defective condition," reporting back to his superiors that it was "difficult to conceive" of a facility "more unsuited" to its stated purpose. Despite the early warnings, the old medium-security wing of the prison remains in operation. People continue to get sick and die, and some such as Alan Nicolson die by suicides that Manitoba judges have repeatedly ruled preventable. IT WAS SOMETIME around midnight, on Aug. 29, 2003, inside cell A6-18 at Stony Mountain, that the sad, short life of Alan Nicolson came to an end. The 34-year-old was a first-time federal inmate serving a 50-month sentence for robbery. He had been in prison for 37 days. Earlier that year, while in the throes of a narcotics binge, Nicolson wrapped a white T-shirt around his face and stormed a Winnipeg convenience store with a knife. He stole $23 and a few packs of cigarettes before he ran. Minutes later, he was spotted by police and arrested. Although no one was hurt, it was not Nicolsons first run-in with the law, and he was sentenced to more than four years. Nicolson did not have a white T-shirt at his disposal in his cell at Stony, but he had a blue bed sheet. And rather than tying it around his face to conceal his identity, he wrapped it tight around his neck to cut off the flow of oxygen to his brain. About 30 minutes later, guards found him hanging from a makeshift noose tied to an electrical fixture on the ceiling in his cell. They cut him down and dragged his limp body into the hallway to begin CPR, but it was too late. A suicide note was found slipped into the pages of a Bible in his cell. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Fred Sandhu, a retired senior provincial court judge, had been telling Stony Mountain prison to fix safety aspects for years, but nothing was done. Two years later, provincial court Judge Fred Sandhu finalized an inquest report into Nicolsons death. At the time, inquests were mandatory whenever an inmate died in Manitoba. The aim was not to assign guilt, but to learn lessons that could prevent future deaths. It was not the first time Sandhu had presided over an inquest into an inmate suicide at Stony Mountain. Three weeks earlier, hed issued a report into the death of Richard Lagimodiere, 32, a paranoid schizophrenic who hanged himself in his cell 60 days before Nicolson did. The two reports exposed deep flaws in Stony Mountains ability to treat inmates suffering from severe mental illness. After presiding over both inquests, Sandhu concluded the lack of mental-health supports at the prison bordered on "gross institutional misconduct." Nicolsons death was emblematic of many issues at the prison. For example, when he was jailed there, the staff did not request his medical records, so the true extent of his illness wasnt known. Coverage of the inquest in the Winnipeg Free Press on Aug. 26, 2005. When Nicolson asked for Ritalin, the staff accused him of drug-seeking behaviour, since the medication can be used recreationally. What they didnt know was Nicolson had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and previously prescribed the drug, which had a positive effect. And when Nicolson told the staff he was hearing voices, his episodes were dismissed as "clearly manipulative and exaggerated" not just by the guards and nurses, but also by the psychiatrist responsible for his medications. Had the prison requested his medical records, staff would have known that Nicolson had been diagnosed with schizophrenia more than a decade earlier. In the weeks leading up to his death, Nicolson slashed his left wrist several times and repeatedly told prison staff he was suicidal. The staff dismissed his self-harm as "attention-seeking," rather than a true attempt to end his life. But the issues at Stony were not limited to bureaucratic incompetence. One witness at the inquest was Jon Nemeth, a fellow inmate who spent time in a cell next to Nicolson on the mental-health ward. Under oath, Nemeth alleged that during an argument shortly before he died, a guard told Nicolson to kill himself. The guard denied the accusation, but Nemeth was backed up at the inquest by Nicolsons father, who said his son had reported the encounter to him during a phone call. Prison staff would repeatedly testify to the critical shortage of mental-health resources at the prison. The mental-health ward, they said, was a misnomer and offered no extra supportive services. Sandhu determined there were virtually no mental-health supports available, despite the fact many inmates had been diagnosed with severe psychiatric illnesses. "Inmates in penitentiaries are no doubt more difficult to deal with than the norm. They evoke less sympathy, perhaps rightly so, than law-abiding citizens. Thus, they are not high on the list of governmental priorities in the allocation of fiscal resources," Sandhu wrote in his 2005 report. "Nevertheless, they are human beings. They are still citizens. We as a society, have decided to punish them by absolute confinement. They are our societal responsibility. As we must house and feed them, so too must we take care of their medical needs." "Nevertheless, they are human beings. They are still citizens. We as a society, have decided to punish them by absolute confinement. They are our societal responsibility. As we must house and feed them, so too must we take care of their medical needs." He made 11 recommendations following the Lagimodiere and Nicolson inquests. In particular, he pointed to the desperate need to increase staffing levels in the psychiatric department, which had decreased in recent years due to budget constraints. He also recommended the electrical fixtures on the ceilings of cells which Nicolson had used to kill himself be retrofitted to prevent their use as "fixed points for hanging." Bruce Cameron, the prisons head of engineering, had testified it would be possible to make the change. That was in 2005. But in the years to come, CSC failed to implement the recommendation and the bodies kept piling up. In June 2006, Grant Ermine, 23, hanged himself. As did Devon Newson, 18, the following month. Both men tied their nooses to electrical fixtures on the ceiling in their cells. At the subsequent inquests, the presiding judges pointed to Sandhus earlier recommendation to retrofit the fixtures. Yet again, the judges told CSC to make the change. The federal department did not, and as a result it happened again. JUSTIN TANG / FREE PRESS FILES Catherine Latimer, executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada, is troubled by the lack of public outcry when it comes to the treatment of prisoners. Dwayne Flett, 32, was a schizophrenic with the cognitive functioning of a "five to 10-year-old child." Court records show the sentencing judge was unaware of his cognitive limitations when he sentenced him to five years behind bars for his first criminal conviction. He hanged himself in solitary confinement at Stony Mountain in April 2015. Like the others, he tied his makeshift noose to the electrical fixture on the ceiling. Just hours before he killed himself, Flett told a guard he was feeling suicidal. Rather than transfer him to suicide watch as mandated by CSC policy the guard left him in his cell. At the inquest, a CSC official said the guard in question had been "spoken to" about the policy breach. "It seems like criminal negligence, doesnt it?" says Catherine Latimer, the national executive director of the John Howard Society. "They just dont care. Prisoners are a non-sympathetic group. I keep thinking that if you were treating animals the way youre treating prisoners there would be this great human cry." IN THE PAST 15 years, there have been seven inquests into hanging deaths at Stony Mountain, and five others into inmate suicides at Manitoba provincial jails and psychiatric facilities. Three of the latter cases involved 15-, 16- and 17-year-old youths. Last month, Manitobas chief medical examiner called an inquest into the death of Tyson Roulette, 34, who hanged himself at Stony Mountain in December 2019; its not clear at this point whether Roulette hanged himself from an electrical fixture in his cell. Suicide has long been a major concern in Canadian prisons, and there have been no shortage of recommendations over the years from provincial judges to independent advocates to federal ombudsmen as to what CSC could do to improve the situation. Nonetheless, the deaths have continued, with little evidence to suggest CSC has materially improved its ability to keep inmates safe and alive. "As a matter of immediate priority, CSC should remove all known suspension points in segregation cells across the country. Where this is deemed technically or economically unfeasible, such cells (or ranges) should be decommissioned." From 1993-2017, at least 242 inmates killed themselves in Canadian federal prisons, an average of 10 per year, a trend line that has stayed notably flat over time. Between 15 and 20 per cent of all in-custody deaths are suicides, hanging the most common method. The suicide rate in federal prisons much like the rate of mental illness is significantly higher than in the general population. Some estimates suggest federal prisoners are seven times more likely to kill themselves than the average Canadian. Due to a lack of transparency in federal prisons, the Office of the Correctional Investigator published a systematic report into in-custody deaths in 2014. The OCI found that many of the issues identified during repeated inquests in Manitoba such as easily accessible suspension points in cells had long been highlighted as causes for concern across the country. "Known suspension points have not even been removed from segregation cells, the most vulnerable area of the prison where a disproportionate number of inmates attempt and complete acts of suicide," the OCI wrote. "As a matter of immediate priority, CSC should remove all known suspension points in segregation cells across the country. Where this is deemed technically or economically unfeasible, such cells (or ranges) should be decommissioned." "When a convict/inmate commits suicide invariably a cynical guard will mutter... We rehabilitated that one he wont be back, " (former assistant warden Williams) Edwards wrote. Seven months after that report was released, Dwayne Flett hanged himself from an electrical fixture on the ceiling of his solitary-confinement cell at Stony Mountain. The OCI says that known suspension points remain a concern in federal prisons to this day. "At the end of the day, just like any ombudsman, I only have the power to make recommendations, and my recommendations are non-binding on the Correctional Services or the minister (of public safety) or the government of Canada," Zinger says. "The suspension points. Weve raised that issue in several reports. This is something that is an easy fix and they cant even get those ones correct." For Stony, the story of inmate suicide is a story of institutional indifference to death. In his 2004 book, Stony: A History of Manitoba Penitentiary, William Edwards a former assistant warden at the prison who interviewed dozens of correctional officers for the book captured the attitude some guards have long held when inmates kill themselves. "When a convict/inmate commits suicide invariably a cynical guard will mutter... We rehabilitated that one he wont be back, " Edwards wrote. When an inmate dies in federal prison, CSC is quick to issue a death notification to the public often within 24 to 48 hours. But the details released are limited and sporadic. In some cases, officials will report the inmates age and criminal offence which has raised the eyebrow of the correctional investigator, who has publicly asked what relevance the inmates conviction has to their death. In cases where violence, suicide or drug overdose arent suspected, CSC reports the inmate died of "apparent natural causes," but no additional information is released following an autopsy. And if the inmate did die suddenly or prematurely, CSC makes no mention of the cause or manner of death. According to the OCI, its often difficult for the grieving families of the deceased to get information about what happened to their loved one. In some cases, families have been forced to file access-to-information requests and pay processing fees in their search for answers. And as bad as transparency and oversight is with regards to CSC Canada-wide, the situation at Stony Mountain has deteriorated under the current provincial government. While the prison is under federal jurisdiction, for decades provincial inquests gave Manitoba judges the opportunity to push for potentially life-saving changes at the facility. JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / FREE PRESS FILES In March 2017, then-justice minister Heather Stefanson tabled an amendment to the act, Bill 16, which proposed removing mandatory inquests in a majority of cases other than when police officers kill someone in the line of duty. In 1990, the Fatality Inquires Act went into effect in Manitoba, establishing rules for when inquests would be held. For example, if police killed someone, or an inmate died behind bars, the legislation stipulated that inquests would be mandatory. But in March 2017, then-justice minister Heather Stefanson tabled an amendment to the act, Bill 16, which proposed removing mandatory inquests in a majority of cases other than when police officers kill someone in the line of duty. While inquests would remain presumptive under the new rules, Bill 16 would give the chief medical examiner the authority not to call one if they considered it unnecessary. The Tories justified the move by arguing that legal experts had long raised concerns the legislation was broken and in need of reform. Critics of Bill 16 agreed the legislation required improvements, but said granting sole authority to the medical examiner a health professional with no legal training to determine the necessity of an inquest was a bad idea. The bill received significant opposition at the legislature from both the NDP and the Liberals. It was also criticized by private citizens including human-rights attorney Corey Shefman and John Hutton, the former head of the Manitoba chapter of the John Howard Society. Even former chief medical examiner Dr. Peter Markesteyn said Bill 16 would result in undue political pressure on the office. JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Human-rights attorney Corey Shefman says Bill 16, an amendment to The Fatality Inquires Act, reduces oversight and accountability at prisons and denies prisoners of having their stories heard. In an op-ed published in the Free Press in March 2017, Shefman wrote the provincial government seemed more concerned with "saving money" than "enhancing justice." "The governments clear aim with Bill 16 is to reduce the number of inquests conducted. In doing so, they express a clear bias against the victims whose deaths are to be investigated and the families of those victims," he wrote. "The government of Manitobas theft of victims stories, and appropriation of the sole right to tell the definitive and official version of those stories, is an exercise of power against which the victims are unable to defend." If passed, Shefman argued, the bill would harm the families of people who died behind bars, reduce oversight and accountability in prisons, and erode the ability of provincial court judges to push for policy changes that could save lives. It is a position he maintains to this day. Despite significant opposition, Bill 16 went into effect in November 2017. Since then, Manitobas chief medical examiner has called just two inquests into inmate deaths at the prison. Despite significant opposition, Bill 16 went into effect in November 2017. Since then, Manitobas chief medical examiner has called just two inquests into inmate deaths at the prison. The first was for Lewis Sitar, 50, who was beaten to death by fellow inmates in March 2017 after being falsely labelled a sex offender. The second was announced last month into Roulettes December 2019 hanging death. In the 33 months between the Sitars killing and Roulettes suicide, at least seven other inmates died at Stony Mountain, but there were no inquests called. As predicted by Bill 16 critics, the changes have resulted in fewer inquests and less insight into prison conditions. "Im concerned about some of the provinces that dont have mandatory inquests," Zinger tells the Free Press. "Im concerned because the only accountability becomes an internal investigation by the agency that is looking at themselves, which is never good." "Im concerned because the only accountability becomes an internal investigation by the agency that is looking at themselves, which is never good." In 2018, the Manitoba Law Journal published an article by Nichole Mirwaldt that recounted the battle over Bill 16 and analyzed how the new inquest system in Manitoba compares to other provinces. Mirwaldt found that Manitoba is the only jurisdiction in Canada to grant sole authority on inquests to the chief medical examiner without a formal appeals process. As a result, the mechanisms of accountability are weaker here than anywhere else in the country. And that lack of accountability, as well as concerns over racism in the Canadian criminal justice system, are reasons why Arlen Dumas, the Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, believes a new, independent oversight body is needed. He points to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba the provincial police watchdog as a potential model, but stresses it is critical to properly support and staff the agency so it can be successful. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Grand Chief Arlen Dumass assessment of Stony is blunt: Its time to shut down the aging facility. "There needs to be more oversight It shouldnt take conflict or a negative instance to continue to force change. We need to take these mechanisms, these systems that weve developed through innovation, and continue to hone them so they can play the role theyre truly intended to play," Dumas says. "The political will and the wherewithal just needs to be put in place." Dumas says there needs to be a rethinking of the criminal justice system, with greater focus on, and resources devoted to, restorative justice, rather than simply punishing people who step outside the law. He adds that our current systems are archaic and do little to rehabilitate people. And on one point, Dumas is unequivocal: Stony Mountain Institution should be shuttered. "You take a look at Stony Mountain and that institution itself is archaic. It was built over 100 years ago The floor plans, the layout, everything is back in that date. They should shut it down," Dumas says. "All these archaic and systemically racist processes continue to perpetuate. Its like (Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba co-chair) Justice Murray Sinclair said: You can get rid of all the racists tomorrow, but the system will still perpetuate. You got to change that system." THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Agnes MacPhail, Canadas first female Member of Parliament, was a prison reformer who said the conditions at Stony Mountain were dangerous and unfit for habitation. NEARLY A CENTURY ago, Agnes Macphail the first woman elected to Parliament in Canadian history and a notable prison reformer said the conditions at Stony Mountain were "dangerous and unfit for habitation." And while a new maximum-security wing was built in 2014, many inmates are still housed in cells that are more than a century old, constructed at a time when the lashing and paddling of prisoners was still considered an appropriate punishment. But the outdated infrastructure isnt just a concern for the inmates, its also a concern for the guards, says James Bloomfield, the president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers Prairies division. During the pandemic, Bloomfield says, COVID-19 was able to take advantage of the aging infrastructure at the prison, which put his members and, by extension, their families at increased risk of catching the deadly virus. "We try to create the best environment we can with very limited resources. The stressors on staff are unbelievable right now. Were working in a congregate-living environment where people have been at high, high risk," he says. "You have an open-bar scenario with 50 or 60 people living in one open room. Its very difficult to control the airflow. (Stony Mountain is) just not designed for a situation like this." Corrections responds The Free Press requested an interview with the warden of Stony Mountain Institution, as well as a federal spokesperson for Correctional Services Canada, for this story. Those interview requests were denied. Instead, CSC responded with a written statement, which has been edited for clarity. COVID-19 response The health and safety of employees, inmates and the public remain a top priority for the Correctional Service of Canada. CSC works closely with local public health authorities, unions, the Public Health Agency Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and other stakeholders to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We have dedicated health services in our institutions, including testing and tracing capacity to identify and treat inmates who are diagnosed with the virus. click to read more The Free Press requested an interview with the warden of Stony Mountain Institution, as well as a federal spokesperson for Correctional Services Canada, for this story. Those interview requests were denied. Instead, CSC responded with a written statement, which has been edited for clarity. COVID-19 response The health and safety of employees, inmates and the public remain a top priority for the Correctional Service of Canada. CSC works closely with local public health authorities, unions, the Public Health Agency Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and other stakeholders to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We have dedicated health services in our institutions, including testing and tracing capacity to identify and treat inmates who are diagnosed with the virus. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Stony Mountain Institution has adapted and learned a great deal about the challenges of preventing and containing the COVID-19 virus. Early on, all institutions put in place measures including mandatory masks for inmates and staff, physical distancing, health screening of anyone entering institutions, increased and enhanced cleaning and disinfection at sites, infection prevention and control reviews as well as significant testing among inmates and staff, including those who are asymptomatic. In late 2020, researchers from the National Microbiology Laboratory, Health Canada and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority collected air and surface samples at Stony. This effort identified how the COVID-19 virus was spreading at Stony, what measures we had put in place that were being effective in preventing the spread and what measures could be strengthened. There have been no positive cases of COVID-19 at Stony since the end of the outbreak and we remain diligent in adhering to our extensive infection prevention and control measures. CSC is currently rolling out the second phase of its vaccination strategy. All federal inmates and staff who work in correctional institutions are being offered the Moderna vaccine. This will help further protect those in our care and custody and the employees who work in these congregate living settings. Mental health CSC continues to provide every inmate with essential health services, including mental health provided by qualified mental health professionals. Effective and timely intervention in addressing the mental health needs of offenders is a priority, with a focus on prevention. All inmates are screened for suicide risk within 24 hours of their arrival at an institution and screening also occurs throughout an offenders sentence. Enhancing prevention and intervention for offenders with suicidal behaviours is a continuous goal. CSC has an integrated mental health strategy and delivery model to ensure essential services match the needs of the offender population. Staff, including correctional officers, are provided with suicide and self-injury intervention training and continuous development, and are trained to respond immediately to preserve life and prevent bodily harm. Health staff are provided with specialized training and continuous development on suicide and self-injury assessment and intervention. Whenever a person dies in federal custody, the police and coroner or medical examiner are notified. If the death appears to be of natural causes, CSC conducts a quality of care review. In circumstances in which the coroner or medical examiner investigate the cause of death, CSC provides complete support to such investigations as they can provide an opportunity for us to improve the way we manage inmates under our care and custody and to enhance relevant prevention and intervention strategies. Infrastructure at Stony CSC continually evaluates infrastructure requirements based on a number of priorities to ensure it can meet its mandate, ensuring health and safety considerations and availability of financial resources through a national five-year program of work. The program of work is reviewed and updated annually to accommodate revised priorities and unanticipated requirements. CSC has taken measures to monitor and evaluate the existing infrastructure at Stony and continues to prioritize funding for the replacement of essential life safety systems and structural repairs to ensure the safe operation of facilities for both staff and offenders. Close In an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus, Bloomfield says guards have been forced to keep inmates isolated as much as possible, which means less time spent outside of cells. But that comes with drawbacks, he adds, such as increased stress among the inmates. "In an environment of stress like that, where you have reduced movement and intermixing, we have less inmate-on-inmate violence because there is less opportunity for that. But when you have more stress and restrictions, thats when you generally see more self-harm and suicide," Bloomfield says. "We do always have a lot of violence at (Stony Mountain). The mixture of inmates, the population we have at that site, its just a younger, more violent, gang-ridden population... But everything has been reduced with the reduced movement during COVID." Zilla Jones, a criminal defence attorney in Winnipeg who has worked with many clients sentenced to serve time at Stony Mountain, says the shocking conditions are evident from the time you step inside. "In the summer, it will be hot, hot, hot, hot. You can barely breathe. Youll be taking off your jacket and still sweating. In the winter, in January, the guards will warn you, Keep your gloves on. Keep your coat on. And you get in there and its just drafty and super cold," Jones says. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Defence lawyer Zilla Jones says Stony Mountains failing infrastructure is evident the moment a person steps inside. But more troubling are the high rates of drug abuse and violence and the dearth of supports. But more concerning than the aging infrastructure and poor temperature controls, Jones says, are the general conditions that include high levels of gang activity, a "rampant" drug trade, frequent violence and a dearth of mental-health supports. "There is a real feeling when my clients get in there that its the Wild West. One guy described it to me as eat or be eaten... kill or be killed. "Stony Mountain actively makes people worse." That sentiment was echoed by Fred Sandhu, the former provincial court judge who oversaw three inquests into inmate suicides. During his career on the bench, Sandhu also sentenced numerous people to time inside the prison. "What good are recommendations if implementation can just be cast aside with impunity?" Like Jones, Sandhu believes Stony Mountain does little to reduce re-offending rates, arguing inmates often leave worse than when they arrived. And given that most inmates will one day be released back into the community, Sandhu asks why more isnt done to rehabilitate them in the name of public safety. "At the end of the day, I think it comes down to cost," he says. Back in 2005, Sandhu was the first judge to recommend Stony retrofit the electrical fixtures in cells to prevent future inmate suicides. In the years that followed, his recommendation was echoed by another Manitoba judge and federal prison ombudsmen. When told of the deaths that followed his recommendation, Sandhu went silent for a moment before responding. "Its tragic. Its literally tragic," he says. "What good are recommendations if implementation can just be cast aside with impunity?" ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @rk_thorpe minister for higher and technical education Uday Samant on Saturday met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to apprise him of the decision to conduct online examinations in 13 state-run universities amid a surge in cases. Speaking to reporters, Samant said the governor had given his approval to the decision, adding that the procedures to assess the answer sheet as well as declaration of results were also discussed during the meeting. He said Gondwana University in Gadchiroli in Vidarbha managed to conduct online exams before other universities despite the belief that it would be a "geographical challenge". Asked by the media about Ahmednagar BJP MP Sujay Vikhe Patil reportedly carrying Remdesivir from Delhi to his home district amid a shortage of the injections, Samant said the matter should be probed. (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 Endeavour was launched on a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket at 5:49 a.m. EDT on Friday 23rd. After almost 24 hours in orbit, the docking of the Endeavour was completed at 5:22 a.m. EDT on Saturday, while flying 264 miles (425 km) above the Indian Ocean. The docking was controlled completely by the spacecraft's computers.Crew-2 members Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet joined Expedition 65's crew on the ISS. For a few days, the space station's population will increase to 11 people until Crew-1 astronauts return to Earth on Wednesday."Their arrival means there are now 11 humans aboard our orbiting laboratory, a number not seen since the space shuttle era. ", said NASA in a Twitter post The Crew-2 astronauts will stay on the ISS for six months to conduct science experiments and do maintenance work. They are due to leave the ISS in October when they will return to Earth with a splashdown.NASA announced that another Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Resilience, is scheduled to depart from the space station together with Crew-1 astronauts on Wednesday 28th, and it will begin its journey home at 7:05 a.m. EDT. The capsule will make waves on one of the seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida at about 12:40 p.m.The events will be broadcasted live on NASA TV , the NASA app, and the agency's social accounts. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... WILMINGTON, Del. The systematic killing and deportation of more than a million Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century was genocide, the United States formally declared on Saturday, as President Joe Biden used that precise word after the White House had avoided it for decades for fear of alienating ally Turkey. Turkey reacted with furor, with the foreign minister saying his country will not be given lessons on our history from anyone. A grateful Armenia said it appreciated Bidens principled position as a step toward the restoration of truth and historical justice. Biden was following through on a campaign promise he made a year ago Saturday the annual commemoration of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day to recognize that the events that began in 1915 were a deliberate effort to wipe out Armenians. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ While previous presidents have offered somber reflections of the dark moment in history, they have studiously avoided using the term genocide out of concern that it would complicate relations with Turkey, a NATO ally and important power in the Middle East. But Biden campaigned on a promise to make human rights a central guidepost of his foreign policy. He argued last year that failing to call the atrocities against the Armenian people a genocide would pave the way for future mass atrocities. An estimated 2 million Armenians were deported 1.5 million of whom were killed in the events known as Metz Yeghern. The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today, Biden said in a statement. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a letter to Biden that recognition of the genocide is important not only in terms of respecting the memory of 1.5 million innocent victims, but also in preventing the repetition of such crimes. Turkish officials struck back immediately. We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the President of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted that words cannot change history or rewrite it and Turkey completely rejected Bidens statement. Minutes before Bidens announcement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to the Armenian community and patriarch of the Armenian church calling for not allowing the culture of coexistence of the Muslim Turks and Christian Armenians to be forgotten. He said the issue has been politicized by third parties and turned into a tool of intervention against our country. The U.S. Embassy and consulates in Turkey issued a demonstration alert, and announced their offices would be closed for routine services on Monday and Tuesday as a precautionary measure. They cautioned Americans to avoid areas around U.S. government buildings and exercise caution in locations where foreigners gather. During a telephone call Friday, Biden had informed Erdogan of his plan to issue the statement, said a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to publicly discuss the private conversation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The U.S. and Turkish governments, in separate statements following Biden and Erdogans call, made no mention of the American plan to recognize the Armenian genocide. But the White House said Biden told Erdogan he wants to improve the two countries relationship and find effective management of disagreements. The two also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Brussels in June. In Armenia on Saturday, people streamed to the hilltop complex in Yerevan, the capital, that memorializes the victims. Many laid flowers around the eternal flame, creating a wall of blooms two meters (seven feet) high. Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts, speaking at the memorial before Biden issued his statement, said a U.S. president using the term genocide would serve as an example for the rest of the civilized world. Bidens call with Erdogan was his first since taking office more than three months ago. The delay had become a worrying sign in Ankara; Erdogan had good rapport with former President Donald Trump and had been hoping for a reset despite past friction with Biden. Erdogan reiterated his long-running claims that the U.S. is supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria who are affiliated with the Iraq-based Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK. The PKK has led an insurgency against Turkey for more than three decades. In recent years, Turkey has launched military operations against PKK enclaves in Turkey and in northern Iraq and against U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters. The State Department has designated the PKK a terrorist organization but has argued with Turkey over the groups ties to the Syrian Kurds. Biden, during the campaign, drew ire from Turkish officials after an interview with The New York Times in which he spoke about supporting Turkeys opposition against autocrat Erdogan. In 2019, Biden accused Trump of betraying U.S. allies, following Trumps decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria, which paved the way for a Turkish military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish group. In 2014, when he was vice president, Biden apologized to Erdogan after suggesting in a speech that Turkey helped facilitate the rise of the Islamic State group by allowing foreign fighters to cross Turkeys border with Syria. Lawmakers and Armenian American activists had lobbied Biden to make the genocide announcement on or before remembrance day. The closest that a U.S. president had come to recognizing the World War I-era atrocities as genocide was in 1981 when Ronald Reagan uttered the words Armenian genocide during a Holocaust Remembrance Day event. But he did not make it U.S. policy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, lamented that the truth of these heinous crimes has too often been denied, its monstrosity minimized. History teaches us that if we ignore its darkest chapters, we are destined to witness the horrors of the past be repeated, she added. Rep. Adam Schiff, also a California Democrat, praised Biden for following through on the pledge. For Armenian-Americans and everyone who believes in human rights and the truth, today marks an historic milestone: President Biden has defied Turkish threats and recognized the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians for what it was the first genocide of the 20th Century, Schiff said in a statement. California is home to large concentrations of Armenian Americans. Salpi Ghazarian, director of the University of Southern Californias Institute of Armenian Studies, said the recognition of genocide would resonate beyond Armenia and show Bidens seriousness about respect for human rights as a central principle in his foreign policy. Within the United States and outside the United States, the American commitment to basic human values has been questioned now for decades, she said. It is very important for people in the world to continue to have the hope and the faith that Americas aspirational values are still relevant, and that we can in fact do several things at once. We can in fact carry on trade and other relations with countries while also calling out the fact that a government cannot get away with murdering its own citizens. ___ Lee reported from Washington and Bilginsoy from Istanbul. Associated Press writer Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, contributed to this report. US reality series Below Deck could be Australia bound. TV Tonight hears whispers reality series filmed aboard boats will be shooting in the Whitsundays. The series in question has done many seasons of the show with a US crew. And a description like that puts Below Deck at the top of the list, a show which chronicles the lives of crew members who work and reside aboard a superyacht, during charter season. It has notched up 8 seasons based out of Greece, Thailand, Tahiti, the Bahamas, the US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands as well as a spin-off Below Deck Mediterranean. Based out of Airlie Beach, filming of the show concerned is due to begin at the end of April. Related The man who allegedly shot at the home of Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson is now going after the reality star and his family in court. Daniel Dean King, charged with felony aggravated assault by drive-by shooting after an April 2020 incident, is now suing Robertson, 48, his son John Luke Robertson, 25, and John's wife Mary Kate, 23, for defamation, TMZ reported on Friday. King also claims that he was wrongfully arrested, even though he reportedly confessed to police that he shot at Robertson's home last year. Unexpected development: Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson, 48, is being sued for defamation by Daniel Dean King, who allegedly fired a gun at his home in April 2020, TMZ reports; seen in 2016 in NYC In documents obtained by the publication, King writes that Robertson and his son and daughter-in-law reported to police they were the targets of a shooting on April 24 of last year. However, he claims that their statements were 'calculated, false and ultimately defamatory.' King, who appears to not have legal representation, goes on to claim that the police didn't properly investigate the crime before placing him in custody, and he says they were wrong to charge him with felony aggravated assault by drive-by shooting. Although the suspected shooter is fighting back against the Duck Dynasty stars and the police, he's still the subject of a criminal investigation. Odd tactic: King claims that the statements from the Roberston family members were 'calculated, false and ultimately defamatory' Rush to judgment? King also claims the police didn't properly investigate the crime before arresting him, and he says they were wrong to charge him; John Luke and Mary Kate pictured with their infant son The Fourth Judicial District Attorney's Office previously announced that the charge against him had been change to felony illegal use of a dangerous weapon instead of the earlier aggravated assault charge. In his lawsuit, King claims that Willie and John helped spread the news of his arrest and made defamatory statements about him, which he claims helped harm his reputation in the community. In addition to targeting the three Robertson family members, his lawsuit also goes after Robertson's Duck Commander company and the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office. King previously confessed to the shooting when questioned by police, saying that he 'had been drinking Vodka during this incident.' New charge: The Fourth Judicial District Attorney's Office previously announced that the charge against him had been change to felony illegal use of a dangerous weapon instead of the earlier aggravated assault charge; John Luke and Mary Kate picture Wide net: In addition to targeting the three Robertson family members, his lawsuit also goes after Robertson's Duck Commander company and the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office; (LR) Jep, Si and Willie Robertson in 2013 in NYC Shortly after the alleged shooting in April 2020, the Robertson's were able to get a restraining order against King. He's required to stay at least 1,000ft away from Willie, John Luke, Mary Kate and their infant son at all times. King is also banned from owning firearms and was required to turn in all of his guns. At the time of the shooting, investigators said that two residences owned by Robertson on the property were struck by bullets, so anyone in or near the buildings could easily have been harmed. Luckily, no one was harmed despite much of the family being home while quarantining amid the pandemic, though Robertson wasn't at home at the time. Close call: Robertson also told USA Today that the shooting could have been deadly if it occurred just a few minutes earlier, as 'everybody had been out about 5 minutes before'; publicity still for Duck Dynasty 'God was watching over us,' Robertson told KTVE-TV shortly after the incident. 'Like I said, just a few minutes before, we were all outside; kids outside, grand kids outside, right where the bullets came through. 'God is good and we will keep serving him.' Robertson also told USA Today that the shooting could have been deadly if it occurred just a few minutes earlier. 'Nobody was outside at the time, but everybody had been out about 5 minutes before,' Robertson said. 'I had just gone to the store when it happened.' Greater Accra Regional Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Odarlai Parker has advised members and supporters of the party to avoid commotions over the appointment of Municipal Chief Executives (MCEs) by President Nana Akufo-Addo. His call comes after some people believed to be NPP thugs stormed a press conference in the Ablekuma West constituency organized by a group which calls itself "Concerned Patriots of Ablekuma West" and created a chaotic situation. The thugs reportedly kicked and rolled away tables and chairs among other violent disturbances, hence causing the conference to come to an abrupt end. The incident which occurred at the Praise Tabernacle Church situated at the Old Dansoman Police Station in the constituency was in reaction to the group's protest against the renomination of the Ablekuma West MCE, George Cyril Bray. The concerned patriots want the President to remove the MCE because, to them, he hasn't done his best for the area. Chairman of the group, Eric Mensah in an interview with TV3, explained why they want the MCE out saying Mr. Cyril Bray has "a bad interpersonal relationship with the assemblymen, who are party members and also does not recognize them as honourable members". "He embarked on unnecessary demolition exercise, leading to massive vote reduction in Ablekuma West," he added. The MCE does not have a listening ear for the grassroots. He categorically stated that the municipality is autonomous [and] not there to serve the party members. This unfortunate statement discouraged most of the members which led to vote reduction against the target set by the Constituency in the just ended elections. He does not have an iota of respect for the Constituency officers and therefore calling them useless who have sold our time, freedom and right to our party," he further alleged. But the MCE has vehemently refuted the allegations. He stated emphatically that, on the contrary, he has outperformed in his capacity. He stressed his good works have improved the NPP's fortunes, particularly in the Ablekuma West. Lending his voice to the chaos in the Ablekuma West constituency, the Regional Secretary called on the angry members and supporters to exercise restraint in their actions. He called for calm and unity among other members and supporters. To the agitated protesters and their counter-protesters, Mr. Odarlai Parker counseled them to use the appropriate channels in the party to address their grievances. He asked them not to engage in activities that will arouse unnecessary attention. The constituency executives of the party also registered their displeasure with the MCE brouhaha. ''We don't know the group calling itself Concerned Patriots of Ablekuma West. They don't speak for Ablekuma West. So, they held the press conference and making statements in their individual capacity. We equally condemn those who attacked them because two wrongs don't make a right. As we move forward, we want every person in our party to note that we will deal drastically with anyone who publicly makes disparaging remarks about the party. We will apply the rules of the party without fear or favor'', the executives warned. 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 SAN DIEGO (AP) Police say a man in downtown San Diego shot and killed one person and then walked another block and opened fire again, wounding four people before police subdued him with a Taser. Homicide Lt. Andra Brown says a suspect was taken into custody Thursday night in the city's Gaslamp Quarter dining and nightlife district. Brown says three victims were taken to hospitals and one was treated at the scene, but that none of the wounds were believed to be life-threatening. The violence began outside a hotel where a man was shot to death. The gunman then walked up the street, got into a confrontation with a group of men and opened fire. He was tackled by bystanders before police detained him. Western Australia has recorded one new locally-acquired coronavirus case since the Perth and Peel regions where plunged into a three-day lockdown. The new outbreak, linked to a Perth quarantine hotel, sparked a war of words between WA Premier Mark McGowan and the federal government. Canberra has rejected Mr McGowan's suggestions that defence and immigration facilities be used and says they are simply inappropriate and unsuitable. Western Australia has recorded one new locally-acquired coronavirus case since the Perth and Peel regions where plunged into a three-day lockdown LATEST COVID-19 DEVELOPMENTS: * Western Australia has recorded an additional positive COVID-19 case within the community, in a person who had visited one of the locations visited by a Victorian man. * Three community cases are now linked to the Perth Mercure Hotel. * The virus spread in the corridors of the quarantine hotel in Perth, infecting a man staying adjacent an infected couple who returned from India. He tested negative before departing for Victoria, spending time in venues across Perth, and infecting a friend. * The friend's positive test result was announced on Friday - she's a Perth mother the man stayed with when he left quarantine. Three community cases are now linked to the Perth Mercure Hotel * West Australian Premier Mark McGowan's latest demands for greater Commonwealth assistance with quarantine facilities has prompted a comprehensive smack-down from the federal government. * Canberra has rejected Mr McGowan's suggestions that defence and immigration facilities be used and says they are simply inappropriate and unsuitable. * WA's Perth and Peel regions on Saturday began a three-day lockdown after a hotel quarantine outbreak led to community transmission. * Anzac Day dawn services will be cancelled and people must wear masks when leaving their homes. * Mr McGowan said he remained deeply frustrated Canberra had not supplanted the hotel quarantine framework with permanent facilities and suggested commonwealth facilities at Curtin Air Base near Derby could hold 1500 people and Christmas Island could also be used. * However, Mr Morrison was adamant everyone agreed at national cabinet in March last year that as quarantine arrangements were determined under state and territory health orders, those jurisdictions would manage hotel quarantine. * He said the Commonwealth had contributed to the effort by continuously expanding the Howard Springs facility in the NT. * Four close contacts of the infected traveller who flew from Perth to Melbourne tested negative along with dozens of fellow passengers. * Some 265 passengers, crew and ground staff associated with QF778 in total were contacted by Victorian health authorities and told to get tested and self-isolate for two weeks. West Australian Premier Mark McGowan's latest demands for greater Commonwealth assistance with quarantine facilities has prompted a comprehensive smack-down from the federal government * A Queensland man diagnosed with a rare blood clotting reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine has been discharged from a Brisbane hospital. * He was one of three such patients identified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration whose conditions 'were likely linked to vaccination'. * All 15 Sydney dock workers who boarded a ship that had COVID-positive crew members aboard have tested negative. * The Inge Kosan, an LPG tanker, was docked in Port Botany for a day from March 31 after arriving from PNG. It's since been confirmed 12 out of 13 crew members tested positive but the wharfies who boarded the vessel in Sydney are all in the clear. * The Northern Territory had 10 new cases in hotel quarantine and South Australia, one, a child in a medi-hotel. Medical staff at work at a drive through covid testing site in Inglewood, Perth AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS: * Australia reported three locally acquired virus cases on Saturday, in WA. A Victorian man who acquired the virus in Perth hotel quarantine, a Perth friend of the man whose positive result was made known on Friday, and another WA person who had close contact with the Victorian man, whose result came through Saturday afternoon. There were 15 new overseas-acquired cases in quarantine: 10 in the NT, one in SA, one in Victoria, one in Queensland, one in NSW and one in WA. * The national death toll is 910: Victoria 820, NSW 56, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 7, SA 4, ACT 3 (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states). GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS: * Cases: at least 145,667,826 * Deaths: at least 3,086,803 * Recovered: at least 83,801,691 Data current as of 1815 AEST on April 24, taking in federal and state/territory government updates and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre figures. (Photo : Screenshot From Commons.Wikipedia.org) The Ingenuity is NASA's Mars Helicopter that has recently completed two flights on the outer space planet. This was the first time ever that a helicopter was flown outside of Earth! While the two flights are finished and there could be up to 3 to go, one might wonder how NASA engineers are able to communicate with the helicopter. Here's how. NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter NASA Tweeted out an image of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter that was reportedly soaring to new heights. The tweet also included a particular link to a new episode of the official Gravity Assist podcast that had Chief Scientist Jim Green. Nacer Chahat, the senior antenna and microwave engineer over at NASA's official Jet Propulsion Laboratory or NASAJAT over in Pasadena, California was on the podcast and was asked about how they are able to communicate with the Ingenuity helicopter. Nacer noted that the principle is the same but every single spacecraft has other different instruments. NASA Communication Antennas He noted that depending on the requirements, instruments or communication, they are all different. He then described how most of the communication antennas are quite typical dishes that most people see but when NASA tries to push the boundaries, that is when they have to come up with new ideas. Nacer stated that remote sensing is what allows them to get something from afar and that they are using radio frequencies in order to transmit pulses. The pulses are then reflected back from the surface of what they then want to study. They noted that they are now processing data to make firm conclusions. Read Also: NASA Ingenuity Helicopter Successfully Completes First Test Spin in Mars NASAJAT Engineer Explains How They Communicate When asked how Nacer communicates back and forth with their machines from Earth, he noted that they have two concepts. The initial one is to communicate through the use of the orbiter. Nacer said that they have certain orbiters on Mars and that they use them to relay the data back to Earth. The second concept is through antennas on the machines that communicate directly with Earth but still at a much lower data rate. Most of the time, Nacer notes that they use the orbiter since it would allow them to transmit the whole science much faster. The process is basically they transmit the data directly to the orbiter and in turn the orbit would transmit back to the Deep Space Network back on Earth. Nacer revealed that MarsCO was actually just one of his first projects and that when he first joined NASA's JPL, the former director of the lab known as Charles Elachi then challenged the lab to find another way for them to do real time communication during the whole lending on InSight. They then used the existing orbiter to collect all of the different information from InSight during the previous landing but because of the alignment of the orbiter, they were still not able to get the data straight away. With 2 flights down & up to 3 to go our Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter is soaring to new heights! Find out how @NASAJPL engineers communicate with the helicopter in this new episode of our #GravityAssist podcast with Chief Scientist Jim Green: https://t.co/beguKQFWtz pic.twitter.com/anaCSDqZ7p NASA (@NASA) April 24, 2021 Related Article: NASA Ingenuity Helicopter Plans First Ever Aerial Hover on Mars: How to Watch This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Urian B. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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. The leaders of Albania's two largest political parties held closing rallies on Friday ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections, the latest chapter in a bitter political rivalry. Incumbent Prime Minister Edi Rama, the leader of the Socialist Party, spoke to supporters in Vlora while Democratic Party leader Lulzim Basha made his final push to supporters in the capital Tirana. The elections will serve as a key milestone in the country's next step toward European Union membership. Albania has been a NATO member since 2009 and is aiming to launch its membership negotiations with the European Union later this year. Some 3.6 million eligible voters, who include many Albanian residents in other countries, will elect 140 lawmakers among some 1,820 candidates from 12 political parties or coalitions. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) OTTAWA, ON, April 23, 2021 /CNW/ - Please be advised that the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, the Honourable Daniel Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, and the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, along with the Grand Chiefs of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Manitoba Keewatinook Okimakanak, and the Southern Chiefs Organization will share details of the collaboration between partners in Manitoba, and answer questions on Budget 2021 investments on the efforts to fight against coronavirus (COVID-19). Date: April 23, 2021 Time: 2:30 PM (EST)/1:30 CST Location: Virtual participation only via Zoom. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83669328687?pwd=bW9kNmVIRUV6VkIvbklYa0szdWh5dz09 Meeting ID: 836 6932 8687 Passcode: 247480 Dial by your location +1 647 374 4685 Canada +1 647 558 0588 Canada +1 778 907 2071 Canada +1 204 272 7920 Canada +1 438 809 7799 Canada +1 587 328 1099 Canada Meeting ID: 836 6932 8687 Passcode: 247480 Media should join 15 minutes prior to the event and identify themselves and their outlet when logging into Zoom. Follow us on Twitter: Minister Marc Miller (https://twitter.com/Min_IndServ) GovCan Indigenous (https://twitter.com/GCIndigenous) SOURCE Indigenous Services Canada Cision View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2021/23/c5618.html The coronavirus variant that first emerged in India is now being transmitted within the UK after three cases were detected that were not associated with travel. A total of 55 new infections with the COVID strain have been traced across the country, with India added to Britain's "red list" as of Friday morning. The variant, known as B.1.617.1, has a double mutation of the spike protein, prompting fears that vaccines are less effective in preventing it. And a new report from Public Health England (PHE) revealed that of the 132 cases now recorded in the UK, three were among people who were not believed to have contracted it while travelling. This would mean the infections were contracted in Britain, and that the coronavirus variant is now being transmitted within the country's borders. Dr Julian Tang, consultant virologist at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and Honorary Associate Professor in the Department of Respiratory Sciences, told Sky News the development was "not surprising". "By the time you find one of these cases, there may well be between five or 10 of them incubating," he said. "Trying to chase this virus in any shape or form is relatively futile. "We saw with the South African variant that it went from a couple of hundred to over 500 fairly quickly, and we can expect this to follow the same pattern." Subscribe to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker He said the variant's double mutation "suggests it can well escape vaccine protection". "However, background protection from the vaccines overall will probably mean they protect against severe disease and death, although we may continue to see transmission from variants like this for some time," he said. He added that there was currently no evidence that the Indian variant was associated with increased severity of disease. "I don't think we need to be especially worried about this news unless we begin to see evidence of increased severity, or that it can escape the vaccine protection against severe disease and death, which we haven't seen yet," he said. Story continues "We're not going to see massive surge in new cases and deaths due to this." The PHE report said the three cases not associated with travel were detected on 24 March, 27 March and 8 April. Meanwhile, the report also revealed that there were now a total of 592 confirmed cases in the UK of the B.1.351 variant that first emerged in South Africa, and which is also believed to evade vaccines. Of those infections, 154 had no travel link. Greensill Capital was reportedly considering a 22billion stock market flotation that could have landed former prime minister David Cameron 200million. It came just weeks before Mr Cameron launched an intense lobbying campaign to garner government support for Greensill. The 22billion figure, which dwarfed previous estimates, was revealed by its bankers Credit Suisse in a presentation for the company's board, the Guardian reported. The presentation revealed plans to position 'Greensill for a premium valuation' as a 'once in a generation company'. The company, which has since collapsed, was placed during the presentation on a level with financial giants Mastercard and PayPal. Stakeholders including Cameron, Masayoshi Son, Greensill investor Softbanks' boss, and Julie Bishop, Australia's former minister of foreign affairs, were expected to support the company's growth. It came just weeks before David Cameron (pictured) launched an intense lobbying campaign to garner government support for Greensill It said: 'Credit Suisse is confident Greensill can achieve a valuation in excess of US$30bn [22bn] equity value.' Cameron was thought to have been granted a stake of one per cent in Greensill because of his advisory role. It means he could have been granted a windfall of 200million had the presentation been accurate. The 22billion valuation was formed in early 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic spelled the end for the company. When the company tried to raise funds at lower valuations from new investors at the end of last year it failed, before eventually collapsing in spring this year. A series of investigations have since been launched into the role Mr Cameron played in securing Whitehall access for Lex Greensill, the owner of Greensill. Mr Cameron went on a lobbying rampage last year, including sending Rishi Sunak text messages and going for a 'social' drink with Health Secretary Matt Hancock as Greensill pushed for the NHS to use a wage-advance financing service. Cameron was thought to have been granted a stake of one per cent in Greensill because of his advisory role. It means he could have been granted a windfall of 200million had the presentation been accurate (file image) Mr Cameron has denied breaking any rules, but conceded he should have made approaches to ministers using more 'formal' channels. The Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee gave details of its investigation into the lobbying row, which will look at whether existing rules and penalties are tough enough. The terms of reference published by the committee note the collapse of Greensill Capital and revelations about its relationship with ministers and Whitehall 'have raised significant concerns about the propriety of governance in this country' which 'risks undermining public trust'. Committee chairman William Wragg MP said: 'We will look into whether the rules need tightening up and clarifying and we will make any necessary recommendations without fear or favour.' The MPs will examine whether codes of conduct for ministers, special advisers and officials are effective, how conflicts of interest are managed and whether the business appointment rules are broad enough. The committee will also examine how lobbying should be regulated and consider the issues around the use of consultants and contractors in government. The Banks of England and the Treasury were repeatedly pushed by Mr Cameron to risk 20billion in taxpayer funds to prop up Greensill last Spring. Mr Cameron wanted the Government to offer Greensill access to the Covid corporate financing facility (CCFF), which bought loans from financial services companies. Despite sending texts to the chancellor, Mr Sunak, the attempts were unsuccessful. The company was, however, accredited to the coronavirus large business interruption loan scheme, which meant it could offer government-backed loans of up to 50million. A source close to Credit Suisse told the newspaper the 22billion valuation was based on Greensill's business plan. Mr Cameron declined to comment, but a source told the newspaper: 'These figures are all in the realms of fantasy.' (Photo : Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) Nokia and Newcore are distributing 117 megahertz of the Tribal Educational Broadband Service (EBS) to bring 5G broadband connectivity to rural Native American communities throughout the United States. This move came following Nokia's rise of stocks due to Ericson's unexpected earnings and 5G performance. On Leveling US' Tech Disparity Nokia and Newcore are leveraging the EBS spectrum to connect more than 15,000 tribal members, according to Tech Investor News. This initial deployment is set to cover more than 12,000 square miles in North and South Dakota, Oklahoma and California and will involve the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Related article: Activision Blizzard Lays Off 50 Employees: 10,000 Nokia Employees Could Also Lose Jobs | Tech Times To Further Expand Connectivity Through Internet Access In the past year, 400 Native American tribes were awarded by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with the EBS grant. The intention was that it should specifically serve tribal lands with a license for broadband and wireless networking buildouts. This is also part of the CARES Act, Native tribes, including the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, were directly provided with funds to establish three cellular towers in their region. Nokia said that its wireless solutions allow for rapid and cost-effective wireless connectivity across large areas and can cover multiple home and business connections from a single base station, making it suitable for rural areas, where connectivity is often scarce. COO and general manager at NewCore Wireless Albert Kangas said, "Many of the Native American reservations tend to be in rural areas of the U.S. Both companies involved in the project are hoping to help these communities establish "a renewed sense of control over their future, by building out next generation broadband solutions to expand internet and mobile access for the most remote areas of North America." EBS to Provide Help Amid Pandemic John Pretty Bear, as councilman for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Cannonball District, said that the deployments will help level "the technology playing field" for Native American communities. All members of our community, including our elders whom we pride ourselves in helping, will benefit from more affordable and accessible connectivity," Bear said. Bear also expounded on the relevance of the expansion of access to the internet for Native Americans, stressing how the current situation with the pandemic has highlighted the need for the connectivity more so than in recent years. He said that he looks forward to further innovations in the future, so as to improve the quality of life in their community. "This is critical for the well-being of our people, especially during the pandemic where information about mass testing or vaccinations needs to be shared in real time. From online schooling, to telehealth, to affordable mobility and cellular phones, we look forward to improving the quality of life for everyone in our community." The initiative will use Nokia Digital Automation Cloud and NewCore's integration and operational capabilities to bring an integrated network of LTE and 5G radio and core elements. Nokia's cloud platform reportedly offers high-bandwidth, low-latency wireless connectivity, local edge computing capabilities and a catalog with applications such as voice and video services. What is 5G? According to Qualcomm, 5G is the next generation wireless network technology that's expected to change the way people live and work, as it is the fastest network connector in the market yet . It is the 5th generation mobile network, which is the latest global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices. Read more: Verizon To Begin Testing 5G Network For Deployment In 2017 | Tech Times This article is owned by Tech Times. Written by Gabrielle N. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Jose Maria Garcia has launched a withering attack on Real Madrid president Florentino Perez for his part in the European Super League debacle. Garcia is one of the best Spanish journalists in history and believes Perez's part in the Super League debacle over the past week has served as a continuation of his past actions. "You can't speak with Florentino, because either you tell him he's right or you can't speak," he said on Siro Lopez's Twitch. "The man who has harmed both Spanish sport and journalism the most is Florentino Perez." He also reserved particular criticism for UEFA. "They are a dictatorship. I have never been friends with them," he said. Lastly, Garcia spoke about how he would manage Sergio Ramos' contract stand-off. "I wouldn't need to renew Ramos' contract. I would tell him the offer and that is it. "I find it surprising that a player who earns what he earns will not accept a 10 percent pay cut." The Horry County Republican Party on Saturday selected a slate of new leaders who will guide the local party through the first half of Joe Bidens presidency and the 2022 elections. The new leadership will some hope steer the influential local party out of a tumultuous period thats been marked by back-and-forth bickering, contentious meetings and confrontations between leaders. The new leaders will also be tasked with ushering the party through a consequential midterm election, one in which the countys congressional representative, Tom Rice (SC-7th), the chairman of the county council and the chairman of the school district will be up for re-election. Gathered in a large conference room at the Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach, 369 delegates cast votes for local party chair, vice-chair, state executive committee person who represents the party in Columbia and a slate of delegates to the state GOPs convention. The two current leaders, co-chairs Dreama Purdue and Ed Carey, had said they were not running for leadership positions this time around, meaning party members selected almost-all new leaders Saturday. Roger Slagle, a businessman who mostly worked in Asia but who recently returned home to the Grand Strand, was named the partys new county chair. Tracy Beanz Diaz, a longtime Republican operative who got her start in politics working for former Texas Rep. Ron Paul and in the Tea Party movement of the 2010s, was named the new state executive committee person. To win, a candidate needed to clear a 185-vote margin on the first round of voting to achieve a majority. Slagle won 190 votes, and Diaz received 188. A vote for party vice chair was inconclusive late Saturday afternoon. Forty-eight others were selected to travel to Columbia to participate in the South Carolina GOP convention next month. Though one race was still contested Saturday afternoon, the choice of Slagle and Diaz marks a clear victory for the Horry County GOPs right wing. Both candidates were supported by local conservative activists and earned endorsements from people in former President Donald Trumps orbit, including former National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn and Lin Wood, one-time Trump attorney who has been campaigning to replace current state party chairman Drew McKissick. Story continues My priorities will be building the party, Slagle said shortly after his victory was announced. My goal is to have 1,000 people here in two years, whether I run or not. I want to see this party grow. To do that, he said, hell focus on engaging with younger voters and others who havent previously engaged with the party, and try to bring them into the fold. Diaz, too, said shed like to see the party expand with new members, but while also learning from the people who ran the party before her. Both she and Slagle said theyd work to bring peace and unity to often-contentious party, making room for all stripes of Republican along the way. Im not an extremist, Diaz said. I really do feel like theres a lot to be learned from the people who have been here for a very long time, so I have literally zero intention to do anything but learning from those folks. But Slagle and Diaz both said they hope to reform the party in key ways. Slagle said hed look to more thoroughly vet candidates running for office, and Diaz said shed work to bring new levels of transparency to the party. Id like to fix the party here and get it on the straight and narrow and implement some transparency, she said. Seeking a return to traditional values Saturdays convention marked an effort by the Horry County GOP to leave past conflicts and infighting behind, and reestablish the party as committed to the U.S. Constitution and traditional conservative values, like small government, individual freedom and free market solutions. About 260,000 registered voters live in Horry County, and a majority vote Republican. Its one of South Carolinas GOP strongholds, but one thats also been mired in dysfunction in recent years, particularly, some have said, since former chairman Robert Rabon died from COVID-19 last year. Though he hadnt led the party for several years, he continued to serve as a moral and practical guiding force, several party members have said. Several people running for leadership positions on Saturday said they hope to get beyond that. There are some problems with the Republican party. Yes, RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) do exist, said Reese Boyd III, a local attorney who ran for chair. (But) lets not destroy ourselves in the process of fixing this party and moving forward. As a sign of how large a role the Horry County GOP could play in coming months and years, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster made an appearance to rally the delegates, saying that Republicans nationwide were embroiled in a war against Democrats and other influential forces that seek to steer the country in a different direction than former President Donald Trump. Youve heard the alarm, and thats why youre here, McMaster told the crowd, saying that Republicans need to focus on banning abortion, building a wall at the Southern border and strengthening the Second Amendment. Weve got to fight. Those remarks earned McMaster several standing ovations by convention members, who cheered when he and others proclaimed that the party needed to return to its conservative roots. The Horry County GOP has been embroiled in controversy in recent years and months, causing bouts of infighting that frequently spilled out into public view, with party members and observers airing conflicts in Facebook comments, blog posts and recorded speeches. Two years ago, a voting conflict led to state party officials intervening in the county reorganization, ultimately allowing two co-chairs Purdue and Carey to share leadership of the party. Since then, disputes over spending of party funds by Purdue have drawn allegations of corruption and a lack of transparency by some party members, causing meetings to devolve into shouting matches. Some party activists, too, have said they wish to wrest control of the party away from so-called moderate Republicans and RINOS. Those efforts have sparked a battle between aggressive conservatives and others who fear that wing of the party will push out members who arent deemed conservative enough. Need to vet candidates in dispute One concern thats arisen from that conflict, moderate party members have said, is a wish by more conservative members in the party to heavily vet candidates during primary elections, to ensure that people running for office are sufficiently committed to the partys values. Slagle, who conservative activists favored in the race for chair, said if elected he would tirelessly vet candidates. More moderate members of the party question that move, though. Whats the motive behind that? Is that really to select the best nominee? County Council member Cam Crawford, who describes himself as conservative but less extreme than others in the party, said last month, when that idea first began circulating publicly. Are the people who are involved in that process, are they biased? Crawford asked. I have questions about the motive; I also have questions about the process. If the party goes and chooses, are you then taking that ability away from the public? Diaz, Slagle and others, though, have argued that reforms such as vetting candidates are necessary to return the party to its conservative roots, an idea that energizes voters. I want to run this party in our county in a way that makes you proud to be a conservative again, Diaz told a crowd of supporters earlier this week. The bickering within the party was a common topic at the convention, with some candidates for leadership pledging to return the party to calmer, more unified days. And seeking to keep the convention free of the infighting thats mired the party recently, convention leaders at several points urged disruptors in the crowd to settle down or theyd have police escort them out. We have not been terribly effective; weve been bogged down in a lot of infighting, a lot of factionalism, Boyd said during a speech after his nomination for party chair. Weve got to quit acting like a circular firing squad. Weve got to get beyond that. Candidates make their case to delegates During speeches ahead of the voting, candidates for leadership offered different visions for the party. I want to wake people up in this county, Slagle said during his speech. I want to know why are we not doing anything about child trafficking, human trafficking in Horry County. I can rise above the petty infighting thats taken place the last few years, he added. Bill Wiegand, another candidate for chair, said his mother helped found the Horry County Republican party in the 1950s, and that he wants to carry on her legacy. Were in a battle of tyranny vs liberty, he said. I favor liberty myself. I want to put prayer back in our schools. Others pledged unity and service if elected. Its my duty to implement your wishes, said Jeremy Halpin, a candidate for vice chair. You run this party, not the chair, not the vice chair. Mary Scofield, another candidate for vice chair, said the party needs to stop treating its members like enemies. Our enemies are not each other, she said. Our enemies sit in the White House, in Congress and in the Senate. Were the silent majority, but look where that silence got us: A stolen election. Despite allegations and lawsuits to the contrary, no evidence has emerged to date that any fraud or interference took place in the 2020 presidential election. Valiant Summers, who also ran for vice chair, put things more bluntly: We need to use the energy weve been using against each other and start kicking some Democrat butt. Heading into next years midterms, some party leaders hope for a renewed unity that will strengthen Republicans position in South Carolina. This is the beginning of how we win big things, South Carolina GOP Chairman McKissick said during a short speech Saturday. Politics is spelled p-e-o-p-l-e. The more people you got, the better campaign youre going to have, the more likely youre going to win. For the first time in American history, US President Joseph Biden used the concept "Armenian genocide" concerning the 1915 tragic events in the Ottoman Empire, promoted by Armenian nationalists. Previously, American presidents, when addressing the Armenian diaspora, avoided this wording to emphasize their disposition for positive relations with Turkey. Biden used it twice, at the beginning and the end of his address. AUSTIN, Texas Construction will begin next week at five Army bases to improve 12,000 existing on-base family residences and build about 1,200 new homes with $1.1 billion in private financing. The money speeds up plans to upgrade family housing with a focus on junior enlisted and noncommissioned officer housing at Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Campbell and Fort Knox in Kentucky, Fort Drum in New York, and Army housing in Oahu, Hawaii, said Phillip Carpenter, chief operating officer of Lendlease, the private company that manages housing at the bases. "We want to be able to build the new homes first, and then any families we need to move over into the new homes in order to demolish the old homes, we want to be able to afford them that opportunity," he said. Across all the bases, the homes will have similar layouts with open floor plans and garages with expanded storage space. "We're trying to stay consistent," Carpenter said. "We've proposed to the Army, a suite of furnishings. They know what flooring we will utilize, our counter tops, stainless-steel appliances and a really modern, open-floor plan for our families going forward." Army and Lendlease will celebrate the projects in a ceremony next week at Fort Hood, which stands to gain the most benefit of the funding. About $420 million will pay for the demolition of and new construction of nearly 600 new homes for junior NCOs. It will also pay for roof replacements on more than 2,300 homes and medium renovations at more than 1,300 homes. "Under the guidance of Army senior leaders to ensure readiness of our force and quality of life for soldiers and their families, we have reached an extraordinary milestone with Lendlease," said Gen. Ed Daly, commander of Army Materiel Command. "This additional investment will go a long way in improving the quality of homes for soldiers and their families." There has been pressure from military leaders and Congress for the private companies that manage military housing to accelerate improvements on homes after media reports about two years ago began to expose the dangerous conditions and toxic exposures some families have faced in base housing. The Army leaned on Lendlease about eight months ago to seek out additional loans, and Carpenter said doing so has allowed the company to speed up its revitalization timeline by about 10 years. Some of the first work that families will see at Fort Hood is on 600 new homes in the old Chaffee Village, where Lendlease abandoned an effort several years ago to renovate two- and three-bedroom duplexes into large five-bedroom homes. "When we started renovating the houses it just became too cost prohibitive to renovate," Carpenter said. "We currently have some infrastructure installed that will help us to start quicker." This new funding will not impact the ongoing exterior renovation project Lendlease began in July on 972 homes known to have a construction defect. As of this month, work to repair the flaw has been completed in 203 homes. Now that the weather is improving, Carpenter said that project should begin to move faster. Lt. Gen. Pat White, commander of Fort Hood, said the work is a positive start to "refresh" housing on base. Speaking Monday about the upcoming ceremony, he said Lendlease manages about 5,600 homes at Fort Hood, but the new work will only impact about 14% of the inventory. After the work is complete, there will still about 35% of Fort Hood housing that is more than 30 years old, and decisions still need to be made on what to do about it. "That's what we've got to kind of get after. Do you invest in continuing to repair them? Do I make decisions as a senior commander to shutter them until we get enough money, and we just don't let people in there? [Then] they've got to go off post, which is a challenge," White said. "I feel good that we will start down a positive path. We just have to keep the momentum going." Fort Campbell will see the next largest amount of the funding, with about $235 million going toward the demolition of 430 homes, the construction of more than 530 new junior NCO homes, minor renovations at nearly 500 homes, and nearly 140 roof replacements. About $45 million will provide Fort Drum housing with minor renovations at more than 700 homes, installation of more than 650 new HVAC systems, and siding and roof repairs on more than 300 homes. Fort Knox will see about $80 million invested in the construction of more than 60 new homes, installation of more than 740 new HVAC systems, and minor renovations at more than 570 homes. New homes at Fort Knox will include about a dozen homes for general officers to accommodate the activation of V Corps at the Kentucky base. The headquarters brought about 650 soldiers to the base last year. "We anticipate using those existing historic [general officer] homes for lower officer ranks, lieutenant colonels and so forth, because primarily with [Human Resources] Command there, and with now the V Corps there, the installation is mainly made up of senior NCOs, or officers," Carpenter said. In Hawaii, Lendlease is spending about $30 million for minor renovations at more than 620 homes, more than 160 roof replacements, and the construction of four new playgrounds. Residents have expressed a desire for neighborhood parks, playgrounds and walking trails, so those will be included throughout the new projects at each base, Carpenter said. Fort Wainwright, Alaska, was part of the January announcement of the $1.1 billion in new funding, but is no longer included, according to Lendlease. The company couldn't reach an agreement with the lender on the scope of work. Across the Army, Lendlease manages about 40,000 residential units, 192 apartments and more than 12,000 hotel rooms. This article is written by Rose L. Thayer from Stars and Stripes and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com. House prices and rents are escalating rapidly in regional Victorian communities with high levels of disadvantage, as investors and home buyers pounce on cheaper properties outside Melbourne, pricing some residents out of their own neighbourhoods. Housing experts, community leaders and real estate agents say there is unprecedented demand for properties in regional locations, including the Latrobe Valley and Shepparton. This is a regional version of gentrification, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute managing director Michael Fotheringham said. The locals all of a sudden find its a changing place and its not as affordable as it has been in a range of ways. House prices are rising rapidly in the Latrobe Valley despite having high levels of disadvantage. Credit:Penny Stephens Homelessness services are sounding the alarm about people being pushed into precarious share houses, vacant blocks and overpriced caravan parks. New Zealand on Friday paused arrivals from Western Australia, temporarily excluding the state's travellers from a quarantine-free bubble between the countries due to a Covid-19 outbreak. "As set out in our Trans-Tasman bubble protocols, travel between New Zealand and Western Australia has been paused, pending further advice from the state government," a statement on the New Zealand government website said. Earlier on Friday the Perth and Peel regions were sent into a three-day lockdown after Western Australia recorded its first community transmission of the virus in 12 months. A man in his 50s, who recently left hotel quarantine, flew into Melbourne from Perth on Wednesday and tested positive for the coronavirus earlier Friday. One of the man's close contacts in Perth also tested positive for the virus, raising concerns that it may have spread further into the community. Despite testing negative for the virus before leaving hotel quarantine a requirement for all international arrivals to Australia authorities believe the man likely contracted Covid-19 from another hotel guest. "He spent up to five days in Perth, and we now need to assume he was infectious," Western Australia premier Mark McGowan told a press conference. Other Australian states and territories, whose residents are still able to fly to New Zealand under the bubble arrangement, moved to restrict arrivals from Western Australia following the outbreak. The few instances of community transmission in recent months have been linked to hotel quarantine in major cities, and all the outbreaks have been successfully contained with similar brief lockdowns. It is the first major snag since New Zealand and Australia opened their quarantine-free travel bubble on April 18, almost 400 days after both closed their international borders due to the pandemic. The bubble, which followed months of negotiations between the largely coronavirus-free neighbours, was hailed as a major milestone in restarting a global travel industry that has been crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Before Covid-19 brought New Zealand's tourism industry to its knees, it was the country's biggest export industry, with Australians accounting for about 40 percent of the international visitors. Scott Rosenblum says his former client has refused to follow his advice and has acted in ways that hinder his own defense. Thiruvananthapuram, April 24 : With Covid-19 cases continuing to rise in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday chaired a meeting with the private hospitals and asked them to allocate 25 per cent of the total beds for Covid patients. As many as 26,685 people tested positive for coronavirus in the state on Saturday. "Even though cases are on the rise in Kerala, there need not be a worry like what is seen in north India. As a precautionary step, held a meeting with the private sector hospitals who have pledged full support. "We have asked them to ensure that all the ICU beds and the ventilators are checked and kept ready," Vijayan told the media here. The state's positive cases stand at 1,98,576. "Absolute caution has to be maintained by all, if things go out of the hand it could go beyond our reach. The two-day lockdown protocols in the state from Saturday have been getting a good response, as by and large people have remained indoors," added Vijayan. He again reiterated that the Centre should reconsider its vaccine policy and ensure that it is being provided free of cost. "The new rate for Covishield vaccine in the private sector is Rs 600, which by far is the highest priced in the whole world. The state has to pay Serum Institute (SII) Rs 400, which also is high priced, while this has been given to other countries at a lower price than this. "What we are told is this company is making a profit of Rs 150 per dose. These rates are not fair priced and again I have written to the PM Narendra Modi," said Vijayan. The Chief Minister pointed out that the response of the people to contribute to the CMDR Fund to buy vaccines has been really encouraging and on Saturday alone Rs 1.15 crore came in. "At the moment we are not worried about the oxygen stock and we feel we need not be too much concerned about it. We have asked the expert committee to take the call on how best we can help states which are running short of oxygen," Vijayan added. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) speaks during a press conference on the House vote on D.C. statehood, in Washington on April 21, 2021. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) Why the District of Columbia Should Not Be a State Commentary In June 1783, the Confederation Congress was meeting in what is now Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Continental soldiers surrounded the building demanding back pay. They were peaceful, but the intimidation was plain. Congress asked Pennsylvania authorities to clear away the demonstrators. Pennsylvania authorities refused to do so. Congress accordingly left Philadelphia for Princeton, New Jersey, thereby making that town the national capital for a short time. This incident confirmed the American Founders in their opinion that the national capital shouldnt be at the mercy of any state. The Founders also knew that in European countries, national officeholders could be held hostage by mobs that local authorities were unwilling, or unable, to control. In July 1783, therefore, Congress began to lay plans for a capital district outside of any state, and under direct federal authority. An independent capital district became a top congressional priority. When the Constitutions framers met in convention in 1787, they accomplished this by adding the Enclave Clause to the document. The Enclave Clause reads in part as follows: The Congress shall have Power To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States. Securing the national capital from capture was one reason for locating it outside the boundaries of any state. But there were other reasons as well. The founding generation believed that for the republican government to survive, decision-makers (including voters) should be free from the undue influence of others. They had to be able to make decisions freely, based on full consideration of the evidence. Decisions made by people heavily dependent on others would reflect merely the will of the masters. It was like giving the masters extra votes. Many participants in the debate over the Constitution expressed concern that residents of the capital district, who would consist largely of government employees and their families, would reflect solely the interests of the government upon which they were dependent. They didnt want dependents of the federal government unduly influencing state or national elections. The Founders also recognized that denying the vote to residents of the capital district wouldnt leave them without influence. On the contrary, prior history showed that those residents would have an outsize influencepartly by reason of their proximity to federal institutions and partly because many would be government officials or employees. Allowing them to participate in national elections would unfairly magnify their power further. The Constitution reflected all these concerns by making no provision for the capital district having seats in Congress or participating in presidential elections. In 1788, the Maryland legislature formally offered to cede to the federal government jurisdiction over land for a capital district. Virginia did so the following year. In 1791, Congress accepted Marylands and Virginias offers. The District of Columbia was established formally 10 years later. The federal government later returned Virginias portion to that state, so all of what is now the District of Columbia is former Maryland territory. In 1960, Congress proposed the 23rd Amendment, which the states ratified the following year. It permitted residents of the District of Columbia to choose three presidential electors. In 1973, Congress passed the Home Rule Act, permitting local self-government for the district. As currently proposed, the new state would consist of all of the District of Columbia except tiny strips of territory remaining under federal control. It would be called Washington, Douglas Commonwealthpresumably meaning the City of Washington in the Commonwealth of Douglas. Many of the arguments over this proposal center on such questions as whether the district is large or self-sustaining enough to be a state. But those arguments are unnecessary. The history Ive just recited and the modern implications should be enough to quash the idea. As demonstrated by the 1783 incident in Philadelphia, District of Columbia statehood would put the federal government at the mercy of local state officials. Douglas Commonwealth officials could refuse to restrain rioters threatening federal institutions. They could threaten or intimidate federal officials to obtain political ends. One obvious tactic might be for Douglas police to harass members of Congress with traffic tickets until Congress passed a particular law or granted the Commonwealth more federal aid. The terms of Marylands 1788 offer of cession also present objections to District of Columbia statehood. The Constitution authorizes Congress to assume jurisdiction over a portion of a state only if the state cedes it. As another part of the Enclave Clause makes clear, cession represents the consent of the state to the loss of some of its territory. But Marylands consent to cession, as well as Congresss acceptance, was clearly based on the land being used as a national capital. The 1788 Maryland law provides that cession is to be of a district in this State not exceeding ten miles square, which Congress may fix upon and accept for the seat of Government of the United States. Maryland didnt consent to the creation of another state out of its territory. Doing so would have required action under an entirely different part of the Constitution (Article IV, Section 3). In other words, Marylands consent was effective for creating a federal enclave to be used as a national capital, but not effective for creating a new state. Turning all or part of the District of Columbia into a state would require either a new agreement with Maryland, or a constitutional amendment. Another objection arises from the results of the 23rd Amendment. Those results have vindicated fully the Founders concerns about allowing district residents to vote in federal elections. As the record shows, in presidential contests, D.C. voters dont seriously weigh the merits or demerits of presidential candidates. The district is a dependency of the federal government, and its electorate invariably votes for the party that offers more governmentthe Democrats. District of Columbia residents have cast ballots in 15 presidential elections. They have voted the same way each time, and by huge margins: In 2020, Joe Biden took 92 percent of their vote. These resultsdisturbing to any but the most rabid Democrat partisansuggest that rather than admitting the district as a state, we should be discussing repeal of the 23rd Amendment. Nor has the 1973 D.C. Home Rule Act been a success. In 2012, The Washington Post published a column by a long-time D.C. journalist. Its title tells you all you need to know about government there: How D.C. became a District of Corruption. The United States doesnt need more corruption in its national councils. Robert G. Natelson, a former constitutional law professor, is senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver. He is the author of The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant (3rd ed., 2014). Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. SEYMOUR After the release on Friday of the identities of the three people killed in a head-on collision, there were no major updates to the police investigation reported as of Saturday afternoon. Police on Friday identified the driver and two passengers killed in a Wednesday night head-on collision on Route 34. Officials said investigators believe speed was a factor in the crash. The driver killed was identified as 28-year-old Shanea Leary of West Haven. Police said the front seat passenger, 35-year-old Nicole Gibson of Ansonia, and the back seat passenger, Learys 4-year-old daughter, were also killed by the severe impact of the collision. They were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle, identified by police as a 33-year-old Brookfield woman, was extricated from her vehicle and taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Police, EMS and fire units were called to the scene around 10 p.m. Wednesday. When first responders arrived, they found a Toyota on its side and in an embankment, while a Hyundai was in the eastbound lane of the road facing west. Police Chief Paul Satkowski, in an update on the crash Friday, said Leary was driving the Hyundai east on Roosevelt Drive toward Derby at an apparent high rate of speed when the vehicle failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway. He said the vehicle crossed into the other lane where the driver of the Toyota tried to take evasion action but was unable to completely do so. The two vehicles collided near Argonne Terrace. Deputy Chief Robert Rinaldi said while it appears speed was a factor, investigators dont know if there were other factors that contributed to the crash. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Dave Paratt at 203-915-2517, or the police department at 203-881-7600. Like the moral of fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper goes, it is important to be prepared and work hard in case hard times occur. Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan on Wednesday said it earned a $1.4 billion profit in the first quarter of 2021, up from a $306 million loss from the first quarter of 2020. Revenues soared 68 percent to $5.2 billion from $3.1 billion in the first quarter of 2019. The company did it by being prepared and investing in its equipment and facilities, allowing it to store, transport and sell natural gas at high prices when supplies were short. As demand and prices soared, Kinder Morgan was able to sell its supplies plus additional natural gas bought during the storm. We did weatherize and harden some assets on our natural gas intrastate pipeline systems and storage facilities several years back, and that helped us fare well through this recent event, said company spokesperson Melissa Ruiz. While there were some limited operational issues, Ruiz said, Kinder Morgans pipelines did not freeze amid prolonged blackouts during the winter storm killed nearly 200, left more than 4 million Texans without power and caused billions of dollars of property damage. Kinder Morgan also took advantage of high electricity prices during the storm by reducing its enhanced oil recovery operation and receiving part of the profits after its power provider sold the power for those operations into wholesale markets. February's power crisis drove the cost of wholesale power as high as $9,000 per megawatt hour. Texas regulators doubled the maximum to $9,000 from $4,500 about a decade ago, as incentive for generators to earn more when power supplies get short. Unlike other deregulated markets that pay generators to keep plants ready to meet peak demand whether they operate or not prices provide the only incentives for companies to invest in building, maintaining and upgrading power plants. Now, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and several state senators want Texas regulators to reprice electricity costs from Februarys winter storm. The move came after a report by an independent market monitor said ERCOT, the states grid manager, overcharged power companies $16 billion due to irregular pricing. Repricing would affect Kinder Morgans first quarter earnings, a move that would seem unfair to a company that wisely planned ahead. Lawmakers have complained about Kinder Morgan making money off of the catastrophic event. But Kinder Morgan was following a pricing system set up by the Texas Legislature. Natural gas shortages, which occurred as wellheads froze and processing operations lost power, were a contributor to February's power plant outages. Kinder Morgan earned a profit in the first quarter by doing its job, ensuring that natural gas got from the wellhead to power plants and transmission companies and, ultimately, to homes across the state. YEREVAN. Baroness Caroline Cox, a great friend of Armenia and the Armenian people, a member of the British House of Lords and its former vice-speaker, visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan on Saturday, on the 106th anniversary of this tragedy. After laying flowers at the eternal flame commemorating the victims of the Genocide, Baroness Cox addressed a message, the National Assembly of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. The Baroness noted that she came to the memorial outraged because they are pushing for the UK government to recognize the Armenian Genocide, one of the UK-member countries, Wales, has recognized it, there is even a respective statue in the Welsh capital Cardiff, but the UK government has not recognized it yet, and they are fight for it. Baroness Cox added that they should also recognize the fact that a genocide attempt was made against Armenians in 1991-1994 and 2020, too, and the recent actions of Azerbaijan and Turkey meet all the criteria of genocide. Caroline Cox noted that she and many others in England love Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), this small area has given many prominent figures, and she is here first with admiration, then with outrage and love. An Oscar statue appears outside the Dolby Theatre for the 87th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Scientists, in a first, have been able to trace the 22 million years stunning journey of a solitary meteoroid from the place it originated to the Earth. The entire voyage of the space object in the solar system was charted by the international research team, which consists of the NASA Ames Research Center, scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) and Curtin University in Australia, and the SETI Institute in the US. Using NASA's hazardous asteroid-hunting telescopes and the ANU SkyMapper telescope in Australia, researchers traced the asteroid's one-way journey to Earth. According to the study published in the Meteoritics and Planetary Science journal, the six-tonne asteroid, estimated to be five-foot (1.5-meter) diameter, weighed about 12,566 pounds (5,700kg), and traveled at around 37,282 mph (60,000kph) before breaking up in Earth's atmosphere 16.7 miles (27km) above us, and hurtling to the ground. Different fragments of 2018 LA. Credit: ANU/for AP] In the CCTV camera, scientists captured the 2018LAs conclusive moments as well, when the asteroid turned to flames, changing into a massive fireball before diminishing. 2018LA illuminated the sky and later disintegrated at about 60,000 kmph above the Kalahari Desert in Botswana on June 2, 2018. The discovery of the asteroid, although, would help astrophysicists and astronomers to enhance their understanding and knowledge about what the Earth-threatening asteroids were made of. Analysis of the meteorites from 2018LA indicate it was deeply buried under the surface of Vesta prior to being ejected all those years ago, astronomer Hadrien Devillepoix said. Formed in Vestas Veneneia basin As the asteroid broke up 27km above ground, it was 20,000 times brighter than the full moon, astronomer Christian Wolf said. I could hardly believe my eyes when I came upon an object that appeared to be moving across images taken by SkyMapper, he added. The final images of the asteroid before it entered the Earths atmosphere widely assisted scientists in finding the pieces of the celestial body in Africa. A total of 23 fragments in the Kalahari were discovered. The asteroids trajectory leads back to 4 Vesta, the second-largest asteroid in the solar system, with a diameter of about 525km, Dr. Onken said. Its the only one bright enough to be sometimes visible to the unaided eye, he added. Scientists believe that 2018LA was formed in a crater in Vestas Veneneia basin after a collision with another asteroid. Overseas amateurs visiting Australia While the WIA has been focused on the main class licence submission, it seems the team has also been monitoring the ACMA consultation pages for other issues that may affect the amateur service due to ammendments. Among specific instruments being amended was the Overseas Amateurs Visiting Australia Class Licence 2015. This class licence is used today to authorise visiting qualified radio amateurs to operate amateur radio stations within Australia for a period of up to 90 days. It is equivalent to the existing Radiocommunications Licence Conditions (Amateur Licence) Determination 2015 that domestic amateur licensees are bound by. In short, new proposals sees a disparity between we locals and our bretheren visiting (when they are able) from overseas ports. The WIA has contacted ACMA via submission hoping to retain EME management parity between domestic and overseas visiting amateur licensees. The WIA will be watching this issue closely. Much more detail is on WIA front page news on wia.org.au Lucknow: Amid the scramble for medical oxygen as COVID-19 cases across the country continue to surge, a special train carrying 30,000 litres of liquid medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow from Bokaro, Jharkhand on Saturday. Oxygen Express train carrying liquid medical oxygen has arrived in Lucknow at 6.30 AM, UP Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said. The Oxygen Express train carrying 30,000 litres of liquid medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow from Bokaro, Jharkhand, the senior UP government official said. Uttar Pradesh is currently witnessing a surge in cases. As per the Union Health Ministry, there are currently 2,59,810 active cases in the state. Earlier on Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Mohanlal Ganj, Kaushal Kishore in a video message alleged that "COVID patients are suffering and dying" and claimed that oxygen cylinders were not being supplied to private hospitals. He claimed to have spoken to two oxygen cylinder suppliers who said that the drug inspectors had instructed them "not to send oxygen supplies to private hospitals, but only to government hospitals." "Owing to the constant shortage of oxygen supply at private hospitals, a lot of patients are suffering, and some are even dying," said Kishore. It may be noted that Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently reviewed the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country, particularly in view of reports of shortage of oxygen supply coming from several hospitals across the country. Shah directed various measures to augment the supply of oxygen for medical purposes. The Home Ministry issued an order directing the State/ UTS to take various measures to ensure an uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen across the country. On Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's order, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has airlifted big, empty oxygen tankers and containers to various filling stations across the country on Friday to speed up the distribution of the much-needed medical oxygen in treating COVID-19 patients. According to officials, besides transporting essential medicines as well as equipment required by the designated COVID hospitals in various parts of the country, the IAF also airlifted doctors and nursing staff from Kochi, Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Bengaluru for various hospitals in Delhi. Live TV (Natural News) One America News host Jack Posobiec called for a boycott against the upcoming Space Jam: A New Legacy film following LeBron James threatening police. (Article by John F. Trent republished from BoundingIntoComics.com) Posobiec tweeted, Boycott Space Jam. Lebron threatens police. The call to boycott the film comes after James posted a photo of a police officer on Twitter. He captioned the photo writing, YOURE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY James did delete the tweet as Posobiec points out. He writes, Hi LeBron James! Why did you delete this? The photo is of officer Nicholas Reardon, who was identified by The Columbus Division of Police as the officer who shot and killed 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant as she was in the process of attempting to stab another woman. During a press conference live-streamed by WKYC Channel 3, police released body cam footage of the shooting. It clearly shows Bryant attempting to stab another woman. The Columbus Interim Police Chief Michael Woods describes the video saying, What the video shows is the female with the knife attempting to stab the first female that lands on the ground and the second female that is pushed against the vehicle. Space Jam: A New Legacy is being distributed by AT&T-owned Warner Bros. Pictures. It arrives in theaters and on HBO Max on July 16, 2021. Do plan on taking up Posobiecs call and boycotting Space Jam: A New Legacy after LeBron James threatened a Columbus police officer who prevented a stabbing? Read more at: BoundingIntoComics.com or RaceWar.news CHICAGO, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Marquette National Corporation (OTCQX: MNAT) (the "Company") today announced that its annual meeting of stockholders will be held at the Community Room of Marquette Bank's Oak Forest location, 5700 W. 159th Street, Oak Forest, Illinois, on Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. Four Class III directors will be elected for three-year terms. With the resignation of Michael D. Devlin from the board of directors effective April 21, 2021, the board will total 11 directors. Only those stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 19, 2021 are entitled to vote at the annual meeting. Given the public health impact of the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) and the Company's desire to support the health and well-being of its directors, officers and stockholders, stockholders are being encouraged to vote and submit their proxy in advance of the annual meeting in lieu of attending the meeting in person. The Company will require measures such as masks and social distancing, and will comply with any federal or state orders regarding limits on in-person gatherings. For further information about the Company, go to: https://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/MNAT/overview. Marquette National Corporation is a diversified bank holding company and the parent of Marquette Bank, a full-service, community bank that serves the financial needs of communities in Chicagoland. The Bank has 20 branches located in Chicago, Bolingbrook, Bridgeview, Evergreen Park, Hickory Hills, Lemont, New Lenox, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Orland Park, Romeoville and Summit, Illinois. For more information: Paul Eckroth EVP & CFO 708-364-9011 [email protected] SOURCE Marquette National Corporation A woman's beloved pet cat was allegedly beaten up by a man, leaving the animal with broken teeth, missing fur and bruises. The 22-year-old found her cat injured in a unit in Ultimo, Sydney at about 4pm on Saturday. Three-year-old Summer was taken to a local vet for treatment for injuries including facial bruising and fur missing from her tail. Three-year-old Summer was taken to a local vet for treatment for injuries including facial bruising and fur missing from her tail (stock photo) Police arrested a 25-year-old man, known to the woman, at a home on O'Briens Road, Hurstville just after midnight on Sunday. He was taken to Kogarah Police Station and charged with recklessly beat and seriously injures animal and commit an act of cruelty upon an animal. He will appear in court on Sunday charged with animal cruelty offences after the cat was found injured in Sydneys CBD on Saturday. The man was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court later today. Bengaluru, April 24 : Karnataka Chief Secretary P. Ravi Kumar said on Saturday that scores of officials from across the state have been demanding another round of lockdown despite objections from a large section of people to impose such curbs despite the alarming surge in the number of Covid cases in the state. After chairing a senior officials' meeting here, the Chief Secretary told the media that a demand for another round of lockdown from the tchnical advisory committee on Covid affairs has been gaining ground across the state. "Even the government wants to eforce it. Everyone knows it's the best solution. But a large section of the peopulation don't want it. They want everything to be let loose," he said. "How long and how much the government can do alone? At some point or the other, the government also needs people's support to implement its decisions. At least in times like this, the least the government can expect is people to wear their masks properly," Kumar added. At the state Cabinet meeting slated for April 26, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa is reportedly going to solicit opinions from his ministers on imposing week-long lockdown-like restrictions. The Cabinet is also expected to decide on providing free vaccines to the citizens. Iranian frigate IS Sahan after being hit with three Harpoon missiles and cluster bombs by aircraft from USS Enterprise, April 19, 1988. US Navy In April 1988, the US attacked Iran in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for the mining of a US ship. Operation Praying Mantis, the largest US naval action since World War II, was brief but deadly. Thirty-three years later, the weapons each side would use have only gotten more destructive. See more stories on Insider's business page. Related: Inside the US military's $223 million 'doomsday plane' Just before 8:00 a.m. on April 18, 1988, members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) stationed on the Sassan and Sirri oil platforms in the Persian Gulf received a warning from US Navy ships several thousand yards away. "You have five minutes to abandon the platform. I intend to destroy it at 0800," the warning said. Some Iranians boarded ships and fled, but others began manning gun emplacements. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., the platforms were hit with barrages of gunfire from US destroyers, frigates, and a guided-missile cruiser. They were the opening shots of Operation Praying Mantis, retaliation for Iran's mining of the Persian Gulf, which had damaged the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts days earlier. It would be the US's largest naval action since World War II and the first time warships engaged one another with anti-ship missiles. A tense Gulf A US Navy minesweeping helicopter leads the 12th US-reflagged Kuwaiti tanker convoy, October 22, 1987. NORBERT SCHILLER/AFP via Getty Images Tensions were extremely high in the Persian Gulf in the late 1980s. Iran had been fighting a brutal war with Iraq since September 1980, and although Iran reclaimed territory lost early in the war, by 1983 it was a stalemate. In 1984, Iraq began attacking Iranian oil tankers and facilities in an attempt to damage Iran's economy. Iran responded in kind, and eventually foreign vessels became targets in what is known as the Tanker War. Iran was particularly aggressive, as Iraq was receiving financial and material support from other Gulf States, namely Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The IRGCN's swarms of Boghammers and other small, armed fast-attack boats, along with sea mines and attacks from Iranian Navy frigates, were taking their toll. (By the end of the war, Iran had attacked some 190 ships from 31 countries, killing at least 63 sailors.) Story continues At the request of Kuwait, the US Navy began escorting tankers, reflagged as American ships, through the Gulf. Unwilling to attack the US Navy directly, the IRGCN increased its mine-laying. The US Navy tried to stop these efforts with a number of actions. On September 21, 1987, the Navy forcibly seized the Iranian minelayer Iran Ajr while it was on a mission, killing five and capturing 26 sailors and 10 mines. In two engagements the following month, the Navy sank three IRGCN boats and destroyed two oil platforms used as IRGCN bases. A military response A heavy-lift ship transports USS Samuel B. Roberts after it hit an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf, July 31, 1988. US Navy But the Iranians continued laying mines, and on April 14, 1988, the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts struck one. Ten sailors were injured, four with serious burns. The blast left a 15-foot hole in the hull and broke the keel of the warship. Serial numbers from nearby unexploded mines matched those on mines captured aboard Iran Ajr. With this evidence, President Ronald Reagan ordered a military response, which was carried out by three Navy Surface Action Groups (SAGs) named Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. Bravo, with two destroyers and an amphibious transport dock and four Sea Cobra and two UH-1 Iroquois attack helicopters, would attack the Sassan platform. Charlie, with two frigates and a guided-missile cruiser, would attack the Sirri platform. Delta, with a frigate and two destroyers, was tasked with sinking the Iranian frigate Sabalan - which was known for particularly aggressive attacks - or any other Iranian frigate it could find. SAG Bravo and SAG Charlie would land a team of Marines and Navy SEALs on Sassan and Sirri, respectively, who would clear the platforms and collect anything of value before destroying them. The ships of SAG Delta would operate in the Strait of Hormuz, waiting for Iranian frigates to leave Bandar Abbas naval base. They were supported by aircraft from the carrier USS Enterprise, which was sailing in the Gulf of Oman. Operation Praying Mantis The main building on the Sassan oil platform burns after being hit by a TOW missile fired by a US helicopter during Operation Praying Mantis, April 18, 1988. US Navy At 8:04 a.m., SAG Bravo's ships opened fire on Sassan. Fifty airburst rounds from their 5-inch guns tore into the platform, and a ZSU-23 anti-aircraft was destroyed almost immediately after it tried to return fire. The US ships ceased fire to let more Iranians evacuate, then opened fire again with naval guns and from helicopters. At 9:25 a.m., a team of Marines fast-roped onto the platform, securing it within 30 minutes. Two hours later they evacuated, destroying the platform with over 1,000 pounds of plastic explosives detonated remotely. SAG Charlie opened fire on Sirri at 8:15 a.m. after its warning was sent and some Iranians evacuated. The platform erupted in flames, incinerating the remaining defenders. The fire was so intense that the SEAL Team landing was called off. About three hours later, IRIS Joshan, an Iranian patrol vessel, approached SAG Charlie. Joshan ignored repeated warnings, the last of which said "Stop and abandon ship. I intend to sink you." The Iranian ship fired a single Harpoon anti-ship missile, which was defeated by US countermeasures. Marines inspect a ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun on the Sassan oil platform during Operation Praying Mantis, April 18, 1988. US Marine Corps/Cpl. John Hyp Joshan was then hit by five missiles from SAG Charlie, destroying it in what was the first missile duel between warships. Joshan's burnt hulk was then sunk by US gunfire. An Iranian F-4 fighter jet approached but withdrew after it was hit by an anti-aircraft missile from USS Wainwright. SAG Delta, meanwhile, was looking for the IRIS Sabalan. Five IRGCN Boghammers had attacked the Mubarak offshore oil field in retaliation, damaging some tankers and drilling rigs. In response, aircraft from Enterprise, using coordinates from SAG Delta, attacked the boats, sinking one and damaging the other four. IRIS Sahan, another Iranian frigate, was then detected heading toward Mubarak. After firing at Enterprise's aircraft, it was torn to shreds by bombs and missiles from A-6 attack aircraft and the guided-missile destroyer USS Joseph Strauss. Sahan sank later that night. IRIS Sabalan finally showed up two hours later and was hit by a single 500-pound bomb that went directly into its smoke stack, seriously damaging it and bringing it to a halt. SAG Delta requested permission to finish Sabalan off, but the Navy decided to de-escalate and allowed it to be towed back to Iran. A different future Four IRGCN vessels next to US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton in the Persian Gulf, April 15, 2020. Reuters By the end of the day, the Navy had destroyed two IRGCN bases, sunk three Iranian vessels, and seriously damaged five more, killing over 50 IRGCN and Iranian Navy personnel in the process. American casualties were one SeaCobra and its two-man crew, who crashed while on a reconnaissance mission. Operation Praying Mantis provides a glimpse of what a future naval conflict with Iran in the Persian Gulf could look like. The use of small armed speedboats to attack critical oil infrastructure and tankers, the fortification of offshore oil platforms, the mining of important trading lanes, and the use of Iranian Navy vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman are widely expected to be the primary tactics. But a future conflict is unlikely to go as smoothly for the US as Operation Praying Mantis did, mainly due to Iran's military modernization and expansion. A satellite photo of a mock aircraft carrier built by Iran at Bandar Abbas, February 15, 2020. Maxar Technologies via AP Iran's Navy has gotten larger and more capable, with more vessels able to launch anti-ship missiles and at least three Russian-built Kilo-class attack submarines in service. Last year, an Iranian Navy exercise included an attack on a barge designed to look like a US aircraft carrier. In January, Iran unveiled the Makran, a "forward base ship" capable of carrying drones and helicopters. The IRGCN has also been expanding its numbers and capabilities, including recent reports that it is building large missile-laden catamarans. Iran's sea mines remain potent, but the biggest threat comes from Iran's missile arsenal, which is considerably larger and more advanced than it was in the 1980s. In recent years, Iranian missiles have been used to attack Saudi oil facilities and civilian sites, as well as ships. In January 2020, Iranian cruise missiles hit US bases in Iraq, injuring over 100 service members. Iran's missiles failed to hit their targets during Operation Praying Mantis, but things could be very different in the future. Read the original article on Business Insider Nicola Sturgeon has claimed there would have been an independence referendum last year had the pandemic not struck, as she sought to dispel criticism from inside the nationalist movement that she has cooled on holding a breakaway vote. The First Minister said questions of her commitment to a separate Scotland were 'daft' and that Indyref2 should be held no later than the end of 2023. She said it was entirely plausible that Boris Johnson would have bowed to calls to permit a second referendum last year if Covid had not been all-consuming. Nicola Sturgeon with Alisa Innes, the daughter of SNP Renfrewshire North and West candidate Natalie Don as they campaign ahead of the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections today Speaking to Clyde 2 Radio, she said: 'I think there possibly, probably, would have been. 'Now we would have had to demonstrate the support that I then think would have broken down that Westminster opposition but yes, it's hypothetical, I can't prove what would have happened in different circumstances.' Her SNP is on course to win the most seats in next month's Holyrood elections - but recent polling projects the party will fall short of an overall majority. MSPs elected for the Greens and Alex Salmond's new Alba Party could tip the parliamentary arithmetic in favour of independence, which Ms Sturgeon has suggested would be a mandate to demand Mr Johnson allows a vote. But Ms Sturgeon's reelection campaign has largely focused on her handling of the pandemic rather than full-throated calls for independence. By contrast Mr Salmond has been uncompromising in his demands for launching independence negotiations with Westminster almost immediately By contrast Mr Salmond has been uncompromising in his demands for launching independence negotiations with Westminster almost immediately. The former first minister, whose campaign is a headache for his one-time ally Ms Sturgeon, said Alba is the only manifesto 'taking Scottish independence seriously'. Ms Sturgeon responded: 'I don't agree with the approach he's taking to try to win independence, because I think you've got to build support, you've got to get a majority, have a process where people can vote for it. 'All this talk of trying to bulldoze our way there, almost in spite of or regardless of public opinion, I think risks putting the undecideds off as opposed to what we really need to do to win independence, which is to bring undecideds towards us.' A number of famous figures from the UKs culture world have supported measures to get creative sectors to quickly open again following the pandemic. High-profile stars including Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ralph Fiennes and James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli have signed an open letter to prime minister Boris Johnson in support of Covid-19 status certification measures. These measures would reduce social distancing and see a return to full capacity audiences in theatres and at music festivals without any restrictions as soon as possible. Other stars to sign the letter, which is also addressed to the leader of the opposition, are Simon Russell Beale, festival organiser Melvin Benn (organiser of Latitude, Leeds and Reading festivals), UK Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, conductor Simon Rattle, theatre director Sir Nicholas Hytner, and the playwright Tom Stoppard. The signatories understand that Covid-19 status certification would involve either proof of vaccination, a negative coronavirus test or an antibody test to allow access to a venue. They are clear that this approach must not rely only on proof of vaccination, must not be discriminatory, and also that it must only be a temporary measure, only used for as long as necessary and with clear exit criteria. The letter to Johnson comes after another, signed by 156 musicians, called on the government to take action over streaming rights. Annie Lennox, Paloma Faith, Chris Martin, Gary Barlow, Paul McCartney, Rebecca Ferguson, Bob Geldof, Boy George, Noel Gallagher and Kate Bush are among the musicians to sign the document, written on behalf of todays generation of artists, musicians and songwriters here in the UK. The letter asks for changes in legislation to put the value of music back where it belongs in the hands of music makers. Additional reporting by Agencies Political advisors discuss strengthening patriotic education among HK, Macao youth Xinhua) 15:35, April 24, 2021 Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, presides over a bi-weekly seminar held by the CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, April 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese national political advisors convened a bi-weekly seminar on Friday to discuss strengthening patriotic education among young people in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Macao SAR. The seminar, held by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, was presided over by Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the CPPCC National Committee. Strengthening patriotic education among young people in the two SARs is an important work that concerns the long-term stability and security of Hong Kong and Macao, Wang said. Wang called for focusing on solving problems and taking targeted measures in conducting the work. All sectors should be encouraged to offer care, support and help to young people in the two SARs, he said. Ten political advisors and special representatives invited to the meeting put forward their suggestions, while nearly 80 political advisors voiced their opinions via a mobile platform. The political advisors stressed the significance and imperative of strengthening patriotic education among young people in the two SARs. They suggested establishing in the two regions education systems suited to the "one country, two systems" principle to ensure that their education sectors are managed by patriots. The political advisors suggested reforming the school curriculums, textbooks and teachers' training and evaluation in Hong Kong and Macao. They also suggested strengthening media management to foster good social atmosphere for the healthy growth of the young generation, as well as improving the policy support for young people in the two regions to study, work and live in the mainland. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Charalambos Petrides, Minister of Defense of Cyprus, has addressed a message on the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan's Tsitsernakaberd Memorial on April 24. The message runs as follows: Your Eminence, Your Excellencies, Dear friends, It is with a strong sense of humbleness that I am conveying a heartfelt message of solidarity and support from the Government and the people of the Republic of Cyprus for this years Genocide Remembrance Day. By commemorating today, the victims of the atrocious Armenian genocide inflicted by Ottoman Turkey we renew our unwavering collective determination for the prevailing of justice and freedom. The 1.5 million Armenian women, men and children who lost their lives should never be forgotten and we must not remain silent for this atrocious act. We also pay tribute to all Armenians here and around the world for their strong resolute and resilience. It is inconceivable that the perpetrators and instigators of this heinous crime against Armenians, and against civilized humanity, still deny their actions and defy calls for the recognition of their despicable genocidal policies. In 2015 the Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus passed a resolution penalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide. In recent months, Armenia once again, witnessed immense human suffering as a result of the Azerbaijani offensive, with the complicity of Turkey. This pattern of aggressive behavior by Turkey towards its neighbors, seeks to promote its revisionist agenda through the creation of crises in the region, including in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean. Dear friends, The Republic of Cyprus is a close friend, partner and ally with Armenia. We share the same sentiments of pain and grief as our country was and still is a victim of Turkeys aggressive, violent and destructive policies. Our strong people to people links, the robust and thriving community of Cypriots with Armenian heritage contribute immensely for the enhancement of bilateral relations and cooperation in international fora. I have no doubt that this unique and historical relationship will be further strengthened in the near future. Our two countries and our respective Diasporas will continue working together uniting their efforts for achieving enduring freedom and justice. In closing, I would like to express my wholehearted wishes for health and prosperity to the Armenian nation. May the memory of all those who lost their lives during the genocide be eternal. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Security of Argentina Sabina Frederic has addressed a message on the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Today marks the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. 106 years ago thousands of Armenians have been killed as a result of condemnable events. I want to express my solidarity to the Armenian community of Argentina, to them as a representative of our state, and express our wish to keep alive the memory of all victims of this Genocide, the minister said in a video statement for ARMENPRESS. April 24 marks the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan New Delhi, April 24 : More hospitals in the national capital continued to send out SOS calls reporting shortage of oxygen and sought help from authorities to ensure supply. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH), Batra Hospital, Jaipur Golden Hospital, Fortis Shalimar Bagh, Mata Chanan Devi, Metro Hospital Preet Vihar and Saroj Hospital made SOS calls about shortage of oxygen. Around 12.30 p.m., Fortis Healthcare tweeted: Fortis Shalimar Bagh is running out of oxygen. Patients' lives are at risk. We have been running on backup, waiting for supplies since morning. We are currently suspending admissions. Request immediate assistance." In another tweet, Fortis Healthcare said, "We are keeping patients and attendants informed of the critical situation and trying to manage admitted patients to the best of our abilities." Mata Chanan Devi hospital with over 200 Covid patients is left with 1.5 hours of #oxygen supply. The hospital said that INOX has refused to provide them with the supply and more than three-fourth of these patients need oxygen. Metro hospital in Preet Vihar and Saroj Hospital in Rohini also reported shortage of oxygen. Batra, SGRH, Jaipur Golden has received some supply of oxygen. SGRH received 1.5 tonnes and Batra hospital received 500 liters of oxygen as immediate relief. Now both the hospital once again face shortage. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A YOUNG man who punched another man in the face during a late-night incident has been placed on probation for a year. Luke Ryan, aged 22, of Gurteen, Dromcollogher had admitted assaulting the other man causing him harm at the Square, Newcastle West in the early hours of February 9, 2018. Inspector Liam McGraynor told the local court the incident, which was captured on CCTV, happened at around 2.30am and that Mr Ryan made full admissions when interviewed by gardai. The victim, who was also kicked when he was knocked to the ground sustained severe bruising around the eyes but has made a good recovery. Insp McGraynor added that he had declined the opportunity to prepare a victim impact statement for the court when asked. Compensation of 500 has been paid and during a previous hearing, solicitor John Lynch said a number of people were involved in the skirmish. He added that his client did not inflict all of the injuries. He said the apprentice welder, who has two minor road traffic convictions had a problem with addiction around the time and he urged the court to note that the incident occurred more than three years ago. Judge Patrick Durcan said he was not at all happy with what happened but he accepted Mr Ryan is at a low-risk of offending. The judge also accepted the defendant was not the sole perpetrator but said he had joined in and that he had contributed to the injuries which were inflicted. Having noted the contents of a probation report and given the submissions of Mr Lynch the judge said he would not impose a prison sentence in the case against my better judgment. Accordingly, he placed the defendant on probation for 12 months. Hundreds of thousands of British multiple sclerosis patients are to benefit from a DIY drug injection that they can administer in their own home. The monthly jab goes into the leg, arm or stomach using a device, similar to the EpiPen carried by severe allergy sufferers. In trials, the drug, Kesimpta, more than halved the number of relapses. It means many MS patients who are vulnerable to Covid-19 infection no longer need to make regular trips to hospital. Drugs watchdog the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, which has backed the use of Kesimpta in England, says doctors can even put newly diagnosed MS sufferers on it straight away. Delivering it as early as possible will slow progression of the disease, which often leaves patients disabled, and radically improves their quality of life. Experts have hailed the approval a major breakthrough in the treatment of relapsing-remitting MS, the main form of the disease. Dr Martin Duddy, a consultant neurologist who treats MS patients at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle, says: 'This is a really exciting development for the 130 or so people a week diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS.' The monthly jab goes into the leg, arm or stomach using a device, similar to the EpiPen carried by severe allergy sufferers Weird Science: Beware of cutlery when eating fast Speedy eaters be warned: your cutlery might bite back. This was the unfortunate fate of a man in Malaysia in 2017. He was eating in a hurry when his hand slipped while scooping up rice and lodged his spoon in his throat. Medics who treated the 57-year-old at the KPJ Seremban Specialist Hospital reported he complained of discomfort of the throat but, surprisingly, had no difficulty breathing or talking. They removed the spoon using forceps in a short procedure under local anaesthetic. An X-ray, above, on another man in China revealed he too had swallowed his spoon. Advertisement Your amazing body More than half of the bones in the body are found in the hands and feet. There are 27 in each hand and 26 in each foot 106 out of 206 bones in the average adult. The structure of hands and feet is remarkably similar. Each finger and toe contains three bones, except for the thumb and big toe which contain just two. In hands, the large number of bones provide us with the dexterity to pick up and manipulate objects, while in feet the flexible structure allows us to stand upright and also absorbs forces from walking and running. Advertisement About 130,000 people in the UK have the incurable illness, which develops when the immune system goes haywire, attacking the myelin sheath, the protective coating on brain and spinal-cord nerves. This leads to symptoms including poor mobility, numbness, incontinence and brain fog. Some 85 per cent of cases are relapsing-remitting, where patients can go months without symptoms but suddenly fall so ill that it makes carrying out everyday tasks almost impossible. Most are currently treated with drugs known as disease-modifying therapies, which work to reduce inflammation in the nerve cells and are delivered via an injection every six months in hospital. But some patients still suffer relapses. In trials on nearly 1,000 MS patients, those given Kesimpta suffered 60 per cent fewer relapses than those on a disease-modifying drug called teriflunomide. The new drug works by limiting the production of B-cell lymphocytes, a type of infection-fighting white blood cell thought to trigger the abnormal response by the immune system. Similar drugs have already been developed but this is the first one patients can take themselves at home. 'Many patients prefer the convenience of being able to self-administer treatment at home,' says Fredi Cavander-Attwood, of the MS Society. 'It can make a big difference to quality of life.' Some patients currently have regular round trips of several hundred miles if they live far from a specialist NHS centre. After just one in-hospital training session on how to self-inject, they then do it themselves. 'With Covid, a lot of people are wary of coming to hospital,' says Dr Duddy. 'With this drug, they'll probably need only an annual review because they may go years without a relapse.' Although there is limited evidence for the drug's effectiveness for patients with severe, advanced disease, for newly diagnosed patients it could be transformative, Dr Duddy believes. 'This is yet more evidence that if you start treating patients early on and with good-quality drugs like this, you get better long-term results, in terms of reduced disability,' he says. Rail worker Emma Shires, 36, from Buckinghamshire, was one of the first to benefit. She began to suffer sudden weakness in her left leg in 2015 and says: 'It just felt like jelly it gave way as soon as I put weight on it.' Over the following weeks and months, she began to feel numbness in her arms and legs. Her GP thought she may have a spinal problem and referred Emma for an MRI, which revealed nothing. Eventually she booked an appointment with a private neurologist, who said her symptoms almost certainly indicated MS. A subsequent scan proved that diagnosis correct. She says: 'I was really shocked and the first thought that popped into my head was that I was going to end up in a wheelchair.' But when she was referred to the NHS for treatment, Emma jumped at the chance at joining a Kesimpta trial. 'It's been brilliant,' she adds. 'I've not suffered a single relapse since going on the drug in 2017. I work full-time and do high-impact aerobics four times a week. Now, the thought of being in a wheelchair wouldn't even cross my mind.' Amaravati, April 24 : Setting an example for others to emulate, a senior Andhra Pradesh Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, P.V. Sunil Kumar, on Saturday donated one month's salary to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's initiative of free vaccination of more than 2 crore people in the age bracket of 18-45 years. "As a common man of this state and as my social responsibility, I am contributing my one month's salary to this noble initiative," said Kumar, additional director general of police (ADGP), CID. The Dalit IPS officer said it is a privilege to be a part of this noble initiative as he contributed his monthly gross salary of Rs 3.08 lakh. "Without a doubt this initiative of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will save millions of lives and thus their families," he noted. In a major development, Reddy on Friday offered free Covid vaccination for all people between the age group of 18 and 45 years. More than 2 crore people in this age bracket are set to benefit with this move. According to the state government, there are 2,04,70,364 people in the 18-45 age category. Andhra Pradesh is already offering free vaccines to people above 45 years of age. Reddy directed the concerned officials to order the required number of vaccine doses to meet the demand. The southern state is expected to incur a cost of Rs 1,600 crore through this free vaccination drive. Andhra Pradesh on Friday reported 11,766 new Covid-19 cases, raising the overall tally beyond 10 lakh, while the state's active cases crossed the 70,000 mark to reach 74,231. By Joseph M. Negron Almost half of all people killed by the police have some form of mental illness, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). This is not because the police are targeting this population but due to the fact that most police officers do not know how to properly handle someone who is having a mental health emergency. When there is a crime, the police are called. When there is a health emergency, medical professionals like paramedics are called. And when there is a mental health emergency, mental health professionals such as social workers should be called to assist with the emergency. This will save money and more importantly save innocent lives. I worked at a major hospital in Hudson county, at their 15-bed specialized residence providing care to individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, for many years but left there in October 2017. On Dec. 4, 2017, the police were called and an incident ended with one of my previous patients being shot in the living room of his own home. If the team responding to the incident had improved training to handle a mental health crisis, this violence could have been avoided. A simple google search will provide dozens of similar incidents all across the country. When you turn on the news today, you will find many stories about police brutality. Defund the Police is a popular slogan to address the issues I have brought up along with the Black Lives Matter movements concerns but this slogan misses the point. Everyone is in agreement that law enforcement is needed in all communities across this great country but instead of just new police officers, I would suggest a new approach is needed to help support law enforcement. Dont defund the police but re-allot some of their budgets to help support them with a dedicated mental health emergency treatment team. The concept was first implemented in Eugene, Oregon more than 30 years ago. This program, called CAHOOTS is estimated to have saved this small city of just 176,000 people more than $8.5 million a year. The team of mental health professionals treats individuals having a mental health crisis, like people having a bad day. If the mental health team needs police back up, it is easy for them to ask for it because they are fully integrated into the 911 and law enforcement systems. New York City, San Francisco, Albuquerque, Orlando and many other cities have already implemented pilot programs like the one that has been working successfully in Eugene for more than three decades. Now is the time to implement these programs in our cities and towns in New Jersey. The new administration in Washington, D.C. should allocate funds to communities to help them improve our emergency responses across our state. Not every call to 911 requires the police, many of the calls are for a mental health crisis, domestic abuse, drug issues, rape, inebriation and disorderly conduct issues, which could be handled by social workers in a violent-free and safe way. We can and we must do better. We are Jersey Strong! Joseph M. Negron is a graduate student at New York University, working on a degree in Social Work. He lives in Scotch Plains. 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. Robotics-focused exchange traded funds have seen massive outflows in recent weeks as one of the hottest trends of the past six months threatens to implode. The sharp reversal is starkest in Europe, where robotics and automation-themed ETFs chalked up inflows of $753m between September 2020 and February, according to data from Global X, a New York-based ETF manager. However, a record $506m of this money was pulled out of the market in March alone, cutting assets 8.5 per cent to $5.4bn. The US robotics segment also witnessed significant outflows of $363m, pulling sector-wide ETF assets down 6.1 per cent to $8.9bn, according to Global X. All the leading US ETFs in the sector saw outflows, with the $3.3bn Ark Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (ARKQ), which had gobbled the lions share of inflows in recent months, suffering outflows of $204m, Global Xs own $2.5bn Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) shipping $87m and the $1.9bn Robo Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO) losing $54m. The pattern was repeated in Europe, with the $3.8bn iShares Automation & Robotics Ucits ETF (RBOT) seeing net outflows of $404m and $153m walking out of the door at the $1.3bn L&G Robo Global Robotics and Automation UCITS ETF (ROBO). Analysts were unsure of the catalyst for souring sentiment towards robotics; while the technology stocks that feature prominently in many robotics ETFs did wobble in March, this did not prevent further inflows into other tech-heavy themes such as disruptive technology, big data, machine learning and ecommerce. Morgane Delledonne, director of research at Global X, said that robotics and AI [artificial intelligence] had strong performance in 2020 [so] it might be the case that some investors took profits. Aanand Venkatramanan, head of ETF investment strategies at Legal & General Investment Management, said there were signs of a ripple effect from Marchs pullback in technology stocks, especially on the continent, allied to profit-taking after a strong rally, with LGIMs robotics fund returning 71 per cent in the year to the start of March. He also cited an element of sector rotation between thematic factors, potentially driven by the resetting of some asset allocation models, but said inflows had started to return this month. Macroeconomic concerns and a tentative rotation from growth to value stocks may also be factors. Kenneth Lamont, senior fund analyst for passive strategies at Morningstar, said robotics and automation was the only theme to see outflows in Europe in the first three months of the year, in what was a booming quarter for thematic ETFs as a whole, with record net inflows of 5.5bn helping push total assets to an all-time high of 29.4bn. Lamont tentatively linked the robotics reversal to temporary sell-offs in key holdings such as Snap and Nvidia. A lot of these funds will track not just pure play robotics companies but the broad manufacturing industrial sector, he said. They have been extremely popular so its perfectly natural that they wont grow forever. There are plenty of other themes that investors are interested in. In the US, one of these emerging themes has been infrastructure development, in the light of President Joe Bidens American Jobs Plan, unveiled in March, which calls for $2tn of investment in highways, electrical grids and other basic infrastructure. US-domiciled Infrastructure development ETFs saw net inflows of $1.7bn in the first quarter of the year, according to Global X, compared to $583m in the whole of 2020. As a result, their assets have ballooned from $138m to $2.9bn in the past 12 months. The chief beneficiary has been Global Xs US Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE), which has seen its assets under management surge to $2.3bn even if its largest holding, Deere, the agricultural machinery maker, is also a top 10 holding in Arks Robo fund. In the US weve suddenly seen an impressive increase in AUM in thematic infrastructure funds due to Bidens infrastructure plan, said Jay Jacobs, head of research and strategy at Global X, who suggested many investors were scrambling to build exposure to sometimes overlooked companies. For many years people thought of infrastructure as infrastructure assets. They owned utilities, energy companies in the midstream space, airports or railroads. These are infrastructure assets that exist. These companies are not well positioned to be the builder of infrastructure, Jacobs said. When you see a $2tn infrastructure bill, that is going to go to construction companies, commodities companies that are mining copper or mixing cement, transportation or machinery hiring companies. Infrastructure development and infrastructure assets have an overlap of close to zero. Clean energy ETFs, also potential beneficiaries of Bidens investment programme, are also in vogue in both the US and Europe as thematic funds focused on the physical environment begin to usurp technology ETFs in terms of flows. There are very strong tailwinds to physical environment ETFs, said Delledonne. Investors, especially in Europe, are looking at thematic investing as sustainable. We definitely see more appetite for this. There has been a rush on alternative energy funds. The assets have gone through the roof, said Lamont. For a long time robo funds were the largest [thematic ETFs] in Europe but clean energy has really stormed up the rankings. The energy transition theme was the largest beneficiary of flows [in Europe] in Q1. The tech sector is not vanquished yet, though. One of the hottest thematic ETFs in the Europe in the first quarter was the Invesco Elwood Global Blockchain ETF (BCHN), which raked in 405m, according to Morningstar. Supported by booming cryptocurrency markets and other positive news flow, like the IPO of crypto platform Coinbase, flows into the fund have been striking. Fund assets, which sat at just $39m at the beginning of 2020 have recently surpassed $1bn, Lamont said. Financial Times (Natural News) Black Lives Matter has finally turned on U.S. President Joe Biden, blasting him for allowing police to become more of a threat to black Americans than former President Donald J. Trump ever did. (Article by Niamh Harris republished from NewsPunch.com) The left Is Eating Itself. A tweet posted by the official BLM account on Tuesday slammed the Biden administration over federal rules allowing police agencies to receive surplus military equipment. Biden is currently sending more military equipment to our neighborhoods than Trump did. You read that right, Black Lives Matter said in their tweet. Our communities are being terrorized at a greater rate than they had been under Trump, the tweet added. Biden is currently sending more military equipment to our neighborhoods than Trump did. You read that right. Our communities are being terrorized at a greater rate than they had been under Trump. Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) April 20, 2021 Westernjournal.com reports: On its website, Black Lives Matter explained that it wants an end to the policy of allowing police departments to access surplus military equipment under what is known as the 1033 program. Over $7 billion has gone to the law enforcement agencies since its creation under the Clinton administration. Disappointingly enough, the flow of military equipment to police under the 1033 Program has accelerated under the Biden administration and based on recent reporting, police might just receive even more military equipment under the Biden administration than they did with the Trump administration, the website said. No responsible leader should be increasing the weapons police have access to and if President Biden cares about the countless Black folks who showed up to put him in office, he would recognize that. If we want President Biden to take swift action before his 100th day in office (just 10 days from now), then we need a lot of voices speaking out right away. Black Lives Matter suggested there is a correlation between military equipment purchases and civilian deaths, and repeated long-standing BLM claims that police agencies are racist. Military-style weapons and equipment have no place in our streets. They have no place in our communities and have no place in our schools or on our campuses. They especially have no place in the hands of police violent upholders of white supremacy that have no regard for Black life, the site said. With the stroke of a pen, President Biden can put an end to the dangerous practice of enabling and upholding white supremacy through the 1033 Program. According to data from the Defense Logistics Agency analyzed by the Security Policy Reform Institutes Stephen Semler, $34 million in military gear was transferred to police agencies in the first quarter of 2021, the highest number since the first quarter of 2020. In assessing the program last year, The Washington Post noted that most military surplus items obtained by local police agencies are mundane items such as coffee makers, electrical wire and cargo containers. It also reported that rifles, helicopters and Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles were also obtained. Former President Barack Obama sought to limit what police agencies could obtain through a 2015 executive order, according to CNN. Militarized gear can sometimes give people a feeling like theres an occupying force, as opposed to a force thats part of the community thats protecting them and serving them, Obama said then. It can alienate and intimidate local residents and send the wrong message. Trump countermanded that order upon taking office. Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, the president of the national Major Cities Chiefs Association, said last year there was sound logic behind letting police officers in one of the most violent nations in the civilized free world have access to military-type gear. Its not about the equipment, its about the proper policy for its use, Acevedo said. Everybody needs to take a deep breath and stop using their emotion and stop painting these issues with broad brushes. Read more at: NewsPunch.com and JoeBiden.news. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said he will sign an order on the transfer of presidential powers to the Belarusian Security Council in the event of an emergency situation, the Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA said on Saturday. "Could you guarantee everything will be normal if there is no president tomorrow? No. Therefore, for this case I will sign an order in the coming days to determine the power structure in Belarus. If the president is shot, the Security Council will receive the powers the next day. A state of emergency, up to martial law, should be declared instantly, as soon as there is movement on the border. The Security Council should make the decision," Lukashenko said during his visit to areas affected by the Chernobyl NPP accident in the Narovlya district of the Gomel region. "As I've said, I will sign the order and will say who will govern the country 'just in case'," he said. Lukashenko said during the nationwide Subbotnik spring cleaning campaign, which he joined in the Shklov district on April 17, he would soon make one of the most important decisions of his presidency. Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have expressed concern about the sinking of some 130 illegal migrants on board a ship off the Libyan coast Guilty. That single word is an entire sentence. The entire world was hovering outside those Minneapolis courthouse steps on Tuesday, when George Chauvin was found guilty on all counts in the murder of George Floyd. I smiled. I clapped. I texted huggy face emojis ad nauseum. But I have not relaxed. As I sit here still holding tension in my shoulders and refusing to fully exhale, I wonder if I am just ungrateful. Then I realize that I see this same tension in many connected to me. We live in a world where it is reasonable to be surprised by this conviction. That is what is keeping me still. We did not marshal the National Guard in cities across the country because we were worried about celebrations getting out of hand. CEOs of corporations, non-profits, service organizations and, yes, museums hadn't been stressing over our public statements because we were convinced there would be tremendously good news to share this week. We all understood that our beloved country and its systems have had a nasty habit of misplacing accountability in conversations about race in America. So, we were prepared for George Floyd to be put on trial for his own murder, and lose. This moment of justice is so unbelievable that it is difficult to trust. I am black and female in America, and the ambiguity of our justice system is not new to me. But I have always chosen aggressive hope, and I fully intend to claim victory one day. So, lets lean into this space of un-relaxation just a little more. The words of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison are worth hearing: I would not call today justice. Because justice is about full restoration. This is not justice, but it is a first step. I sit at the helm of Charlestons International African American Museum, created to tell untold stories of our history, including the complexity of Americas tremendous progress and continual back-sliding on racial equity. On Tuesday, I woke up to the story of a young black girl whose hair was forcibly cut off by her white teacher without invitation or permission. On Wednesday, I woke up to the story of a young black girl shot on her porch by the policeman she had called for help. I still dont know how I keep making it through my morning meetings day after day with these stories in my head. 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! Still yes, lets raise a glass and toast the Chauvin verdict as a first step. It took an army of litigators and coalitions across unusual aisles to get this weeks verdict. Not to mention 160 years for Minnesota to get to its first statewide election of an African American (Ellison), who helped achieve this moment. So yes, Im proud of us. And yes, I will skip over the issue of the other police officers present at George Floyd's murder and the recent killing of Daunte Wright. Instead, I will state the obvious: Minneapolis is not the exception in this conversation, but rather another example of a disappointing rule. This is not merely about police accountability but about the institutionalization of racist and dehumanizing philosophies that pressure all of our systems and institutions. If we limit ourselves to a conversation about law enforcement accountability today, we are doomed to repeat the conversation in every other system and institution on another day, then in every other business and household on another day, and so on. Now is the time to take on all of these conversations at once. This verdict is not a turning point or even a minor pivot, but it puts us all on notice about what is possible. This moment is for those of us who claim aggressive hope and continue to take steps toward a more universally humanized union. This is going to be a lot of work. Some of it is my work, and now I understand why I am not relaxed. Some of it is your work, so now I understand how you made it to the end of this column. And you know what? I think I just exhaled. Dr. Tonya M. Matthews is president and CEO of the International African American Museum. University System of Maryland to Mandate CCP Virus Vaccines for Students, Faculty, and Staff The University System of Maryland (USM) will require students, faculty, and staff at its 12 institutions to be vaccinated against the CCP virus in the fall semester, according to a press release from the school. Weve been living with COVID for so long now that we forget were still in the middle of a public health emergency. But these variantsand the increasing disease burden in young peopleare reminding us again that were not out of the woods, USM Chancellor Jay Perman said in a statement. And Im convinced that the risk of doing too little to contain COVID on campus this fall is far greater than the risk of doing too much. For this reason, Im requiring that all eligible students, faculty, and staff who will be on our Maryland campuses this fall be vaccinated against COVID. Of course, well comply with all federal and state laws in granting appropriate exemptions for medical or religious reasons, Perman added. According to the CDC, college-age students are 870 times less likely to die from a CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus infection than people aged 85 and over, the group with the highest risk of a fatal outcome. People aged 1524 made up 1.7 percent of all CCP virus deaths in the United States. USM enrolls more than 176,000 students. Rutgers University was the first school to announce that it will mandate vaccinations against the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. At least eight universities had vaccine mandates in place as of April 6, according to Forbes. Perman made no reference to whether students with acquired immunity to the virus would be exempt from vaccination, suggesting that the school would not consider making exceptions in such cases. A number of immunologists have said that acquired immunity to the virus provides greater protection than vaccines. Last week, I said that mandating a COVID vaccine is a reasonable and necessary means of preventing spread of the disease, Perman said. Ill go one better: Mandating a COVID vaccine is the most effective strategy we have, especially as we try to reach herd immunity. Its not just one tool in this fight; its our best tool. And one I believe is critical to our safe return to campus. The mandate is a localized equivalent of a vaccine passport, a public health strategy that has already been outlawed in the government sectors in Florida and South Dakota. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suggested he may go a step further a prohibit private entities from requiring proof of vaccination. Page Content California lawmakers recently extended and expanded paid-sick-leave benefits for employees in the state who need to take leave for certain COVID-19-related reasonsand some provisions of the new law may create administrative headaches for employers. Here's what employers need to know about what the law covers, how to apply the leave retroactively, and how leave taken under the statewide law may overlap with COVID-19-related leave taken under federal law and local ordinances. Expanded Leave SB 95 took effect on March 29 and offers eligible workers up to 80 hours of supplemental paid sick leave through Sept. 30. Employers should note that the legislation is retroactive to Jan. 1. A prior COVID-19 supplemental paid-sick-leave law, AB 1867, expired in December 2020, and SB 95 expanded the leave to cover more employers, more employees and more situations, noted Daryl Landy, an attorney with Morgan Lewis in Costa Mesa, Calif., and Palo Alto, Calif. The new legislation applies to businesses with more than 25 employees and covers employees who are "unable to work or telework." SB 95 covers leave for the following reasons: The employee must quarantine or isolate under an order or guidelines from certain state or local authorities or the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine. The employee has an appointment to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The employee is ill after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine and cannot work or telework. The employee has COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis. The employee is caring for a covered family member who needs to quarantine or isolate. The employee is caring for a child whose school or child care facility is closed or otherwise unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19 on the premises. When an employee seeks time off under SB 95, the company can't require medical documentation unless there's reason to believe the employee isn't being truthful, said Jeremy Mittman, an attorney with Mitchell Silberberg in Los Angeles. Also, employers generally can't require an employee to use other paid or unpaid leavesuch as accrued vacation time or sick timebefore using SB 95 leave. SHRM Resource Hub Page Coronavirus and COVID-19 Retroactive Payments SB 95 applies retroactively to Jan. 1 to fill in the coverage gap between AB 1867's expiration and when the new law was signed. For absences that occurred between Jan. 1 and March 28, companies only need to make a retroactive payment if employees request SB 95 leave, Mittman explained. Employees are eligible for retroactive leave if the absence was for a covered reason, and if they didn't receive the payment amount mandated by the state law. The company must issue the payment by the next full pay period. As one example, what if someone took vacation time in January 2021 to seek a medical diagnosis for COVID-19 symptoms? In that situation, the employee could ask to get the vacation time back, and instead have the company pay for the time off under SB 95, according to Charles Thompson, an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in San Francisco. SB 95 Compliance Check Here are some key provisions of SB 95 that employers should review: Wage statement reporting: The SB 95 paid-sick-leave balance must be reported on employees pay stubsseparately from the balance for regular paid sick leave. An alternative option is to provide the SB 95 balance in a separate document. Calculating the amount of leave: There are different ways to calculate the number of hours available under SB 95, depending on whether the employee works full time or part time. Review FAQ 13 to 15 from California regulators to determine the correct calculation. Calculating the rate of pay: The formula for calculating sick-leave payments differs for exempt and nonexempt employees. Leave for exempt employees must be calculated the same way as wages are calculated for other forms of paid leave, such as vacation time. Review FAQ 16 to determine the correct calculation for nonexempt employees. Sending required notices: Covered employers must display a poster at the worksite that provides details about SB 95. Notice can be sent electronically to employees who work remotely. Interaction with Local Ordinances Many localities in California also have their own COVID-19-related paid-sick-leave laws, including Long Beach, the city and county of Los Angeles, Oakland, the city and county of Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo County, Santa Rosa, and Sonoma County. If local leave is taken for a reason also covered by SB 95, and the required payment rates are the same under each law, the employer can count the hours provided under the local ordinance toward its SB 95 requirements, according to FAQs from the California Department of Industrial Relations. However, a local ordinance might have a different payment rate than SB 95. In those circumstances, the business must pay the higher of the two rates. If an employee takes local leave for a reason not covered by SB 95, the payment required by the local ordinance can't be applied to the company's SB 95 obligations, Thompson noted. Additionally, employers should note that the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (known as Cal/OSHA) issued an emergency temporary standard requiring employers to pay workers who are excluded from the workplace because of a potential COVID-19 outbreak or exposure. Employers may require covered workers to exhaust their COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave before providing additional paid leave. Interaction with the FFCRA Employers should understand the interplay between SB 95 and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Under the FFCRA, companies with fewer than 500 employees initially were required to provide time off for COVID-19-related reasons, but offering such leave is now voluntary. The program now offers federal tax credits for employers that provide leave through Sept. 30. Businesses that voluntarily comply with the FFCRA can claim the tax credit and also fulfill their obligations under the California law, according to Michelle Barrett Falconer, an attorney with Littler in San Francisco. But they must follow the correct procedures, and the reason for taking leave must overlap under SB 95 and the FFCRA. Interaction with FFCRA leave is a complicated area, said Hannah Sweiss, an attorney with Fisher Phillips in Los Angeles. Businesses must comply with the California law by paying what's required, while also seeking a tax credit based on the correct dollar amount, she said. Under the FFCRA, the payment amount can vary. An employee who takes leave for certain reasons receives up to $511 per day, while leaves for other reasons generate up to $200 per day. For an employee absent from work for covered reasons under SB 95, the maximum payment is $511 each day. If an employee takes time off for a reason covered by SB 95, and that reason overlaps with a reason covered by the FFCRA, the company should do some calculations, Falconer said. If the payment required by SB 95 is the same as the amount mandated by the FFCRA, the employer would pay that amount to the employee, and the business could seek a federal tax credit for the full amount. By contrast, if the payment required by SB 95 is more than the amount specified by the FFCRA, the employer would pay the amount required by California law, and the company could only seek a tax credit for the amount offered under the federal program. For example, if an employee took leave for a school-closure reason under SB 95, the employer would pay a maximum daily amount of $511. Under the FFCRA, the payment cap for that reason is $200 per day. In this example, the company would pay the worker $511 per day, but the employer could only seek a federal tax credit for the $200 amount. "There's a lot of math that goes into compliance with SB 95 and trying to also claim the tax credit," Falconer observed. Toni Vranjes is a freelance business writer in San Pedro, Calif. Hallmark Channel is taking a trip to Oz. Hearts Down Under, which premieres April 24, follows a chef named Caroline (Heartland star Cindy Busby) who inherits a restaurant in Australia. When she visits the cafe, she falls in love with its small town location, and with handsome cook Simon (Tim Ross from Wonderland) who works at the restaurant. Hearts Down Under was shot on location in Australia RELATED: Hallmark Films Most of Its Christmas Movies In a Town of 3,400 Like several other recent Hallmark movies that take place outside the U.S. (including the Ireland-set As Luck Would Have It, which aired earlier in April), Hearts Down Under was filmed on location. How did that work, given that Australias borders have been closed since March 2002 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19)? It turns out, the movie was actually shot back in 2019, as Busby revealed in an April 16 tweet. Though Hearts Down Under will be new to American audiences, the movie has been available to stream on Netflix in Australia for a while, under the title Romance on the Menu. Star Caroline Busby said she was so happy to film in Australia Cindy Busby and Tim Ross in Hearts Down Under | 2021 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy of Koan Inc. In a 2019 interview with the Courier-Mail, Busby who recently appeared in the Hallmark movie Chasing Waterfalls said she related to her characters situation in Hearts Down Under. My character Caroline finds herself on the other side of the world in unfamiliar surroundings, and that is something I can relate to, the Canadian actor said. She added that she was so happy to have the opportunity to film in Australia for the first time. Hearts Down Under might have been filmed in Australia, but the town where the story takes place is fictional. Lemon Myrtle Cove isnt a real place. Filming actually took place in Shorncliffe, a suburb of Brisbane, director Rosie Lourde told the Daily Mail. What is Hearts Down Under about? Tim Ross in Hearts Down Under | 2021 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Courtesy of Koan Inc. RELATED: Chesapeake Shores Season 5: Is the Show Canceled or Renewed After Jesse Metcalfes Exit? In Hearts Down Under, Busbys character is a busy New York chef who unexpectedly inherits the Seagull Cafe from her beloved late aunt. She travels to Australia to visit the restaurant, with an idea that shell renovate he business and then sell it. But after spending some time in Lemon Myrtle Cove, she begins to fall for the town and its inhabitants especially Simon. Caroline starts to reevaluate her priorities, but her life in New York and her ex-fiance are calling her back to the States. She faces a tough choice about whether to stay in Australia or return home to the familiar big city. The movie also features Naomi Sequeira, Joey Vieirra, Peter Bensley, Marita Wilcox, and Barbara Bingham. Hearts Down Under airs Saturday, April 24 at 9 p.m. ET on Hallmark Channel. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! 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. Four cryogenic oxygen containers sourced by Tata Group have landed in India. The Indian Air Force flew them in from Singapore on Saturday. These containers, made by British multinational chemical company Linde, will be used to transport liquid oxygen to mitigate the persisting shortage in many parts of the country. Each of these containers has a capacity of 20 tonnes of liquid oxygen. The first set of 4 cryogenic containers have arrived today. We thank the GoI and @IAF_MCC for enabling this, and M/S Linde India for their sourcing support in this collective effort to augment delivery infrastructure of medical oxygen. pic.twitter.com/KGt7xyInFn a Tata Group (@TataCompanies) April 24, 2021 Tata group will import 20 more such containers to help ease the oxygen crisis in the country. ALSO READ: PM praises Tata Group for importing cryogenic containers to mitigate oxygen crisis Announcing its plans to import 24 cryogenic containers for transporting oxygen, Tata group had said, "PM Narendra Modi's appeal to the people of India is laudatory and we at the Tata Group, are committed to doing as much as possible to strengthen the fight against COVID-19. To mitigate the oxygen crisis, here is one such effort to boost health infrastructure." In response to Tata group's efforts, PM Modi had lauded the "compassionate gesture" in a tweet. ALSO READ: Divert oxygen from industries to save lives, Delhi HC orders Centre Tata Steel, the steelmaking arm of Tata group, has already diverted oxygen resources from its plants for medical purpose. Last year when the first wave of COVID-19 struck India, Tata Group had imported ventilators, PPE kits, masks, gloves, as well as COVID-19 testing kits from countries like the US, China and South Korea. The Tatas had also pledged Rs 1,500 crore for battling the coronavirus pandemic in the country. Tata Sons, the holding firm of the Tata group companies, announced Rs 1,000 crore support, over and above Rs 500 crore pledged by Tata Trusts. ALSO READ: 7,500 MT oxygen being produced daily, 6,600 MT allocated to states for medical use: Govt A picture shows a YouTube logo on Dec. 4, 2012 during LeWeb Paris 2012 in Saint-Denis near Paris. (Photo by Eric Piermont/AFP via Getty Images) YouTube Blocks Access to Ukrainian TV Channels Tied to Kremlin Ally, Ukraine Govt Says KYIVThree Ukrainian television channels linked to an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin were blocked from broadcasting on Googles YouTube on Saturday, the Ukrainian government said, following its request to YouTube to have the channels taken down. The YouTube channels of ZiK, 112 Ukraine, and NewsOne did not play their content and instead showed a blank screen with a message saying the channel was not available. We are pleased such an influential American company is willing to cooperate when it concerns issues of Ukrainian national security and Russian disinformation, Ukraines embassy to Washington said in a tweet. YouTube did not respond to Reuters request for comment. The move comes after weeks of tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over the conflict in eastern Ukraine and a Russian troop buildup on Ukraines borders that had alarmed Ukraines Western backers and the NATO military alliance. Leader of Ukraines Opposition PlatformFor Life political party Viktor Medvedchuk attends a meeting with Russias President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, on March 10, 2020. (Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via Reuters) Russia said it began withdrawing its troops on Friday. Backed by the United States, President Volodymyr Zelenskys government blocked the three channels from airing on Ukrainian television in February, accusing them of being instruments of Russian propaganda and partly financed by Russia. The government also asked YouTube to shut down the channels on its platform. The listed owner of the channels is Taras Kozak, a lawmaker from the Opposition PlatformFor Life party. Kozak is an associate of Viktor Medvedchuk, a prominent opposition figure who says Putin is godfather to his daughter. The Kremlin has said its contacts with Medvedchuk represent Russias efforts to maintain ties with the Russian world. Medvedchuk and Kozak did not respond to requests for comment, but Kozak and Medvedchuk have both previously described the crackdown on the channels as illegal. Medvedchuk earlier this year told Reuters the clampdown was designed to silence criticism of Zelenskys political blunders, saying Zelensky was infuriated by what the TV channels reported. Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko on Saturday thanked YouTube for the ban, calling the channels part of Russias propaganda war against Ukraine. By Ilya Zhegulev Chinese VP calls for promoting sound development of China-U.S. ties Xinhua) 16:11, April 24, 2021 Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan addresses a commemorative activity marking the 50th anniversary of the China-U.S. Ping-Pong Diplomacy via video link in Beijing, capital of China, April 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Saturday called for promoting a stable and sound China-U.S. relationship when addressing via video link a commemorative activity marking the 50th anniversary of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy. Hailing the role of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy in opening up the historical course of the normalization of China-U.S. ties, Wang said the relationship between the two countries, in spite of ups and downs, has in general witnessed constant progress over the past 50 years. Cooperation in various fields between China and the United States has produced fruitful outcomes, delivering tangible benefits to the two peoples and contributing to world prosperity and stability, Wang added. Noting that China-U.S. relations are standing at a crucial juncture, Wang said China and the United States, as the two biggest economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. "Cooperation is the only right choice." He urged the two sides to follow the spirit of the phone conversation between the two leaders in February, draw inspirations from history, focus on cooperation, manage differences and promote exchanges and cooperation of various fields as well as the sound development of ties to contribute more to the victory in COVID-19 response, global economic recovery and world peace and stability. (Web editor: Bianji, Liang Jun) Trinidad and Tobago can see a reduction in the number of people dying from Covid-19 on a daily basis if the drugAzithromycinis immediately stopped, says Dr Ravi Ramjanak. Ramjanak is a consultant in obstetrics gynaecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery. It is my view based on the pharmacodynamics of Azithromycin that the death rate will fall if we stop using this drug in Covid-positive cases. Azithromycin has no effect on viruses, yeasts and fungi, said Ramjanak in an interview with the Sunday Express last week. I was sickened and almost in shock, said Jamie Gauthier, a member of the Philadelphia City Council, which apologized for the bombing last year. Its just an unbelievable amount of disrespect for Black life and an unbelievable amount of disrespect for a child who suffered trauma, a child who was killed by her own government. Mike Africa Jr., an activist, writer and member of MOVE who was 6 when the bomb was dropped, said he and others in the group did not know the bones parts of a burned femur and a pelvis had been used in the video and kept for decades by anthropologists. He said he learned about the bones only days ago from an activist, Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, who wrote an opinion piece published on Wednesday by The Philadelphia Inquirer calling for the bones to be returned to MOVE. The same day, the news site Billy Penn reported that the remains had been kept in a cardboard box on a shelf. Anger, fury, disappointment, sadness, Mr. Africa said, describing his reaction. Its like this never ends and no matter how much time passes, and you hope that things can get to a place where you can begin to heal some, its right back up in your face. I havent cried this many consecutive days since 1985. The bombing has for decades been held up as an example of the citys mistreatment of Black people. In 1988, a grand jury cleared officials of criminal liability for the death and destruction resulting from the bombing. China, Russia welcome int'l partners in moon station cooperation Xinhua) 14:52, April 24, 2021 NANJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia's aerospace authorities have invited all interested countries, international organizations and partners to cooperate in a moon station project. The announcement was made by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and its Russian counterpart Roscosmos at a conference for the international moon station in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province on Friday. CNSA deputy director Wu Yanhua said China and Russia will build the moon station with other international partners. The station will be another important contribution by China and Russia to promote the long-term and sustainable development of United Nations (UN) outer space activities. The CNSA and Roscosmos will promote extensive cooperation in the station for the development of human space science and technology and socio-economic progress, Wu added. In a joint statement issued at the conference, the CNSA and Roscosmos said the moon station will be open to all interested countries, international organizations and partners in terms of planning, design, research, development, implementation and operation at all stages and levels of the project. The conference was a sideline event of the 58th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. More than 100 representatives from nearly 30 countries and international organizations attended the conference. China and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly building an international scientific research station on the moon in March. The two sides will later issue a road map for the station project and clarify the accession procedures of other interested countries or international organizations. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) ANN ARBOR, MI University of Michigan community members and activists gathered at the Diag Friday evening to protest and demand the university support the family of Daunte Wright and address racism in the UM community. Hosted by UMs Association for Black Social Work Students, Black Radical Healing Pathways and Student Union on April 23, protesters had a number of demands for the university, including publicly denouncing the murder of Wright; taking initiative to support Black, Indigenous and people of color; calling out white supremacy and investing in alternatives to policing. Seeing Daunte Wright be killed in the midst of the George Floyd trial, it was just like a slap in the face, said Jazzy Rivas Dinkins, a masters degree student in the UM School of Social Work. Were tired of getting statements from the university, getting meaningless action, so we decided to come out and let the university hear our voices. Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was unarmed and fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop Sunday, April 11, in suburban Minneapolis. The shooting happened as the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, charged in the death of George Floyd, continued. Chauvin was convicted on Tuesday, April 20, of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Guilty: Michigan reacts to George Floyd murder trial verdict After meeting at the Diag, the group marched to UM President Mark Schlissels home, the headquarters for UMs Division of Public Safety and Security, the Fleming Administration Building and back to the Diag. The group took part in numerous chants as it marched, and people carried signs reading Am I next?, Know justice, know peace and Who do you call when police kill? Domestic terrorism against Black and brown people is a systemic problem, even in Ann Arbor, said James Hill IV, whos also a masters degree student in UMs School of Social Work. In Washtenaw County, which Wright said prides itself on liberal ideals, UM administrators and stakeholders are slow to speak and hesitant to show their support for Black and brown people. At UM, Hill IV and other students are ready for administrators to do more than what theyve been saying. Were ready for our demands to be addressed by the administration that claims that (diversity, equality and inclusion) is the focal point of the breakdown of racism and systematic oppression, Hill IV said. Were out here not to be combative or to burn bridges or cause any issues. Were here so that we can find alternative forms of policing so everybody feels safe on our campus. Part of what protesters are asking for is accountability from the university and police, the protesters said. Thats part of what the Chauvin verdict did, according to Trische Duckworth, CEO of the community organization Survivors Speak, adding that verdict opened the door to hold officers accountable. While it was a moment of accountability, so many more people have lost their lives, and we have to continue to push back on these racial structures, Duckworth said. We really need to continue to combat and work against racism and white supremacy in our governmental structures and structures and institutions that are supposed to help people. READ MORE: Were so tired, says organizer of Kalamazoo protest about the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright Flint youth gather to speak out against violence after fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright COVID-19 vaccination required for University of Michigan students living on campus in fall Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Hyderabad, April 24 : Actors Raashii Khanna and Naga Chaitanya Akkineni have started shooting for their upcoming Telugu film "Thank You" in Milan, Italy. The team will then be stationed in the city of Turin for 20 days for the shoot. This is Chaitanya's second film with Raashii after "Manam" and "Venky Mama" in the past. "Thank You" is directed by Vikram Kumar, who had earlier called the shots on "Manam", too. "Here in Turin and Milan the Covid-19 cases are no longer as many as they are elsewhere. We are a very small unit and we're taking all the necessary precautions. Although I'm here, my heart is still in India," said Raashii. Apart from "Thank You", Raashii's upcoming projects include" Tughlaq Durbar", "Aranmanai 3", "Methavi" and "Bhramam". "Aranmanai 3" is part of a successful Tamil franchise and its first look was unveiled recently. She also awaits the streaming of her digital debut series directed by Raj and DK, and starring Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi. Naga Chaitanya's film "Love Story" with Sai Pallavi is set for release. The film has been pushed back owing to the pandemic. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Advertisement Medics fear Covid-19 infections in India could climb to 500,000 per day before the virus-stricken nation reaches the peak of its second wave - as those who delay oxygen deliveries to New Delhi were today threatened with the death penalty. Another 2,624 deaths and 346,786 cases were reported in India on Saturday, although limited testing means this is likely to significantly underestimate the total. The infection total again marked the highest one-day tally of any nation since the start of the pandemic - the third time in as many days India has broken this record. However, leading virologist Shahid Jameel today warned that India has still yet to hit the peak of its second wave, with studies suggesting it may record 500,000 cases per day in the first week of May. India's current fatality rate per 100,000 cases is 1.14 per cent, meaning if the nation reaches this anticipated peak there is the potential for 5,700 deaths per day. Overwhelmed hospitals have continued to beg for supplies today as Covid-19 infections soared overnight in a 'tsunami' of disease, with medics warning: 'Every hospital is running out [of oxygen]. We are running out'. At least 20 coronavirus patients died overnight at New Delhi's Jaipur Golden Hospital on Friday as the 'oxygen pressure was low,' the hospital's medical superintendent Dr Baluja said. He added: 'Our supply was delayed by seven-eight hours on Friday night and the stock we received last night is only 40 per cent of the required supply.' Elsewhere, at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, some 25 Covid-19 patients died on Thursday with reports suggesting low oxygen supplies were again the cause of the fatalities. As overburdened hospitals were forced to turn away patients, Indian Air Force planes and designated Oxygen Express trains were deployed in a bid to speed up the supply of this crucial medical gas. Harrowing images from a makeshift crematorium in New Delhi today illustrated the extent of the pandemic in India, with Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford describing the situation as the 'tip of an iceberg' to a much larger crisis. The crematorium was set up outside a hospital in the capital by desperate people who 'cannot cope' with the number of dead - and were forced to say goodbye to their loved ones in mass services at ad hoc sites. As she spoke, men pulled firewood into the site, with Ms Crawford explaining the dead had been arriving at the crematorium 'virtually every second' amid what she described as a 'slightly chaotic' vaccine roll-out. A man performs the last rites of his relative who died of the Covid-19 coronavirus disease as other funeral pyres are seen burning during a mass cremation in New Delhi Medical staff and relatives help a Covid-19 coronavirus patient to get in a car at a hospital in New Delhi Harrowing images from a makeshift crematorium in New Delhi today illustrated the extent of the pandemic in India, with Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford describing the situation as the 'tip of an iceberg' to a much larger crisis The crematorium was set up outside a hospital in the capital by desperate people who 'cannot cope' with the number of dead - and were forced to say goodbye to their loved ones in mass services at ad hoc sites India's current fatality rate per 100,000 cases is 1.14 per cent, meaning if the nation reaches this anticipated peak there is the potential for 5,700 deaths per day It comes as the High Court in New Delhi, which is home to some 30million people, today met to impose a strict ruling that if anyone is found to be restricting oxygen supplies to hospitals they 'will be hanged'. Delhi Chief Arvind Kejriwal had complained that desperately needed supplies were being obstructed on state borders before entering New Delhi, crucially delaying delivery to beleaguered hospitals. Several medics have appealed for help on social media in recent days as the shortage worsened, with Max Healthcare and Fortis Hospital at one point both warning they could run out of supplies within an hour. Max, which runs hospitals in northern and western India, said on Twitter: 'We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi until oxygen supplies stabilise.' Delhi needs at least 480 metric tonnes of oxygen to affectively treat its Covid-19 patients, according to the Hindustan Times. On Friday, the capital received only 297 metric tonnes of the medical gas. Dr Jameel, who is the director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University, today told Radio 4 that India desperately needs to contain the sudden surge by 'treating as many people as possible at home.' He added the government needs to do 'everything possible' to speed up the supply of oxygen and medicine to those in need, revealing the harrowing plight of families desperately searching for supplies. People have been begging for oxygen or medical help on social media, and crowds have gathered outside hospitals, with some dying on stretchers as they wait. On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a hospital in Maharashtra when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. Yesterday 13 Covid patients died when a fire broke out at a Mumbai hospital. 'My family has gone through a harrowing experience in the past week, we had a cousin into hospital who passed away two days back and every 24 hours there was a threat of cut-off of oxygen,' Dr Jameel said. A Covid-19 patient gets oxygen on the spot provided by Sikh Organization at Gurdwara in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, today A son looks for the last time to his mother who died due to COVID-19 disease duirng her last rites in Guwahati Assam today A man mourns the death of his father due to Covid-19 at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, today People wait to refill their medical oxygen cylinders for Covid-19 patients at an oxygen refilling station in Allahabad today Health workers carry bodies of people who were suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside the Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, in New Delhi, today Hospitals across India are buckling under the strain of a ferocious second wave, with some running out of oxygen and turning away patients due to overcrowding. Pictured: New Delhi today A family member of a Covid-19 victim is seen carrying an oxygen cylinder in West Bengal Desperate families wait at an oxygen refilling shop in India as they attempt to secure supplies Medics carry Covid patients outside the ICU at Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, in New Delhi, India A health worker takes a nasal swab sample to test for Covid-19 in Jammu, India, today Daily infections hit 332,730 on Friday, up from 314,835 the previous day when India set a new record, surpassing one set by the United States in January of 297,430 new cases The daily death toll also jumped to a record 2,263 yesterday, though these fatalities could be at least ten times under-reported amid a second wave more than three times the size of the first 'In the end he didn't make it, but the mental torture of relatives searching for oxygen was just unbearable. Unfortunately the situation is very bad, we let down our guard and that's why we're in this situation.' India is recording one in three of all worldwide Covid-19 cases, despite its Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying in February that the nation was 'inspiring the world' with its Covid fight. Pictured: Dr Shahid Jameel, the director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University 'In a country which is home to 18 per cent of the world population, that country has saved humanity from a big disaster by containing corona effectively,' he said. Ministers had declared a victory when there were around 11,000 cases a day. But health experts say a downward trend in infections late last year lulled authorities into complacency, as they failed to plug the holes in the ailing health care system that had become evident during the first wave. They also blame politicians and government authorities for allowing super-spreader events, including religious festivals and election rallies, to take place as recently as this month. 'It's not the virus variants and mutations which are a key cause of the current rise in infections,' Dr. Anant Bhan, a bioethics and global health expert, said. 'It's the variants of ineptitude and abdication of public health thinking by our decision makers.' The surge has also been fuelled by a 'double mutant' variant, thought to be more infectious, but Dr Jameel agrees 'too much' has been made of the mutation. Instead, he claims the spiralling infection rates were impacted by the lack of messaging for people to take vaccinations in January and February when case numbers were down. He added: 'In all the euphoria, in all the patting of our backs that we have done so well, we are out of it, we weren't. We were just as susceptible as anybody else. 'So if there is a lesson here to be learned, it's that you have to be on your guard. You have to prepare. We should have been stocking up on oxygen. 'We should have been messaging clearly for people to take vaccines in the months of January and February when the cases were down. 'If that happened at scale at that time, then we wouldn't be facing this situation today. A person walks past funeral fires of those who died from Covid-19 at a crematorium in New Delhi on Saturday A Covid-19 patient gets oxygen on the spot provided by Sikh Organization at Gurdwara in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, today A man performs the last rites of his relative who died of the Covid-19 coronavirus disease as other funeral pyres are seen burning during a mass cremation A priest who helps performing last rites, runs while covering his face amid the multiple burning funeral pyres of patients who died of the Covid-19 'So many things have gone wrong but instead of crying over spilled milk I think it's important to learn some lessons, get some good data, and plan for the future because this is not the end of it.'' Last week, the Supreme Court told the Indian government to produce a national plan for the supply of oxygen and essential drugs for the treatment of coronavirus patients. Ministers said today they would exempt vaccines, oxygen and other oxygen-related equipment from customs duty for three months, in a bid to boost availability. In addition, Modi's emergency assistance fund, dubbed PM CARES, in January allocated some 19million ($27million) to set up 162 oxygen generation plants inside public health facilities in the country. But three months on, only 33 have been created, according to the federal Health Ministry. Despite this, the Defense Ministry is set to fly 23 mobile oxygen generating plants into India from Germany within a week to be deployed at army-run hospitals catering to Covid-19 patients. Each plant will be able to produce 2,400 litres of oxygen per hour, a government statement said yesterday. The percentage change in daily Covid infections by Indian state today compared to at their peak, most of which were recorded last year Funeral pyres of victims of Covid-19 burn at a ground that has been converted into a crematorium for mass cremation in New Delhi, India, today Workers check medical oxygen cylinders to be transported to hospitals amid the Covid-19 pandemic at a facility on the outskirts of Chennai today A man carries an oxygen canister to his car in West Bengal, India, amid the crisis today The latest comes as Boris Johnson last night pledged to support India in its battle against the devastating Covid surge which has brought the country to its knees. The UK is 'looking at what we can do to help' after India reported a record-breaking number of new cases in a single day for three days in a row. Mr Johnson said: 'We're looking at what we can do to help and support the people of India, possibly with ventilators. 'Thanks to the ventilator challenge, the huge efforts of British manufacturers, we're better able now to deliver ventilators to other countries. 'But also possibly with therapeutics, dexamethasone, other things, we'll look at what we can do to help.' So far 132 cases of the Indian variant have been detected in Britain, around half of which are in London. People wait to receive the Covid-19 vaccine outside a vaccination centre In Mumbai, India Men transport a Covid-19 patient on a stretcher as they leave a hospital in New Delhi today Health workers are seen outside the casualty ward at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, in New Delhi People wearing personal protective equipment console the relative of a person who died due to the coronavirus disease The variant contains two mutations in the virus's spike protein, which could help it spread more easily and evade vaccines. India was added to the UK's travel 'red list' yesterday, prompting a last-minute scramble for flights to Heathrow. The Prime Minister has also cancelled a trip to New Delhi this weekend where he had hoped to secure millions of vaccine doses. Yesterday Government scientists said border measures are not enough to prevent the spread of new variants, but they can delay it. One senior source said there were likely to be 'many more' cases of the Indian variant in the UK than the 132 detected so far. They added: 'It does look like it's more transmissible but we don't know if it is more transmissible than the Kent variant and we don't have any data on vaccine efficacy.' INDIA'S GROWING OXYGEN PROBLEMS Are hospitals running out of oxygen? The main problem is that medical oxygen is not reaching hospital beds in time. This delay is a product of where production units are located, a stretched distribution network, and what critics have said is bad planning. Several hospitals in Delhi, which has no significant oxygen production capacity, made frantic public calls this week seeking emergency supplies. With COVID-19 cases also swamping its neighbouring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, oxygen facilities there are over-stretched attempting to meet local demand. To fulfill Delhi's current needs, additional medical oxygen now has to be trucked in from industrial zones in eastern India. Why are oxygen deliveries getting delayed? The facilities from where Delhi will now receive oxygen are spread across seven states, some more than 625 miles (1,000km) away, according to a court document. Given the hazardous nature of the substance, all liquid oxygen must be transported in a limited number of specialised tankers, requiring advance planning to ensure deliveries are made on time, a gas industry source told Reuters. In recent days, as a scramble for oxygen among states worsened, local officials in some regions disrupted movement of tankers in a bid to keep supplies for themselves. In part due to such blockades, Delhi only received about 177 tonnes of oxygen on Wednesday against its allocation of 378 tonnes, an official said. But the industry source said that Delhi had also dragged its feet on planning ahead, without factoring in the time it takes to move oxygen cross-country by road. 'This problem wouldn't have happened if they had acted 2-3 weeks ago,' the source said. Delhi's government did not respond to questions about the planning. Does India have enough oxygen? India has a daily production capacity of at least 7,100 tonnes of oxygen, including for industrial use, which appears to be enough to meet current demand. This week, the government allocated 6,822 tonnes of liquid oxygen per day to 20 of the country's worst-affected states, compared to their combined demand of 6,785 tonnes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office said on Thursday. India's total medical oxygen demand was just 3,842 tonnes as of April 12, as the surge in cases really took hold. States are typically allocated supplies by an inter-ministerial group of bureaucrats mandated to monitor and facilitate the flow of essential medical kit during the pandemic. Modi's office has noted that the availability of liquid medical oxygen had increased by about 3,300 tonnes in the past few days, with steel plants and other industrial units diverting their production. What is India doing to solve the crisis? The federal government has activated the Indian railways to move multiple tankers from refilling plants to where it is most needed. Working with industrial gas major Linde India and others, the government is also using the Air Force's cargo planes to fly empty tankers to production hubs. Refilled oxygen tankers will then move back by road. The armed forces are importing 23 mobile oxygen generation plants from Germany. Several other industries are offering oxygen to hospitals, while salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is importing 24 specialised containers to transport liquid oxygen. The government has issued orders to convert argon and nitrogen tankers into oxygen ones. But as some experts predict a trebling of daily infections in a few weeks, India will have to dramatically ramp up both oxygen production and distribution systems. Advertisement Dying Covid sufferers lie on stretchers outside Indian hospitals while other medical centres stop accepting patients as the country sees ANOTHER record number of infections and deaths Dying coronavirus patients have been left to lie on stretchers outside Indian hospitals as doctors were today forced to turn patients away amid another record-breaking rise in cases and deaths. Daily infections hit 332,730, up from 314,835 on Thursday when India surpassed a grim record set by the United States in January. Another 2,263 deaths were reported - though the true figure is believed to be up to ten times higher. Delhi recorded more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began. Doctors in the city of 29 million have no more beds left and police have been deployed around hospitals to prevent oxygen from being looted as infections stand at more than treble their peak last year. Sky News captured images of dozens of people lying on stretchers outside one overcrowded hospital in the capital. In the minutes of the short live report, at least three dead bodies were seen being wheeled out of the front doors of the medical centre. Patients lie on stretchers outside a hospital in Delhi during a live TV broadcast. Sky TV said during its report that they saw dozens of dead bodies being wheeled out of the hospital while they were there, while others wait with oxygen tanks rigged up beside outdoor stretchers for those who are unable to get inside People stand in a queue to refill oxygen in cylinders in Delhi on Friday. Police have been deployed at hospitals in the city to prevent oxygen from being looted as people are prepared to pay thousands of rupees to fill up cylinders A patient, wearing an oxygen mask, sits outside Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, one of India's largest facilities for coronavirus disease, in Delhi today But while northern states like Gujurat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are experiencing coronavirus infection rates which are more than quadruple what they were in the first wave, others to the south, like Andrha Pradesh, and in the far northeast, like Assam, have not yet experienced a second wave and aren't under lockdown rules. This suggests that though the overall numbers for India are colossal, they could still climb higher, putting further strain on the country's overwhelmed healthcare system which is running short of basic anti-viral medications. Britain banned travel from India today amid fears that a new variant is causing the virus to spread faster and hitting young people harder. Prof James Naismith, of the University of Oxford, told MailOnline: 'What is happening in India is stark illustration of the havoc that rapid spread of the virus does; healthcare overwhelmed and vulnerable people suffocating to death in ambulances waiting for help. 'This might be an appropriate point for those who so blithely advocated ending the UK lockdown in the autumn and winter to reconsider their analysis. Relatives carry the body of a man who died from coronavirus during his funeral in Delhi on Friday Bodies of Covid victims are burned in funeral pyres at a cremation ground in Mumbai on Friday A fire in a hospital in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai treating Covid 19 patients killed 13 people on Friday, the latest accident in the overcrowded health system. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it 'tragic,' approving payouts for the victims' relatives (pictured: the ICU ward of the hospital is inspected after the blaze) 'The UK has avoided the fate that has befallen India (and many other countries who we do not see on our TV) because of the action of our governments and every one of us who wore a mask, distanced, washed our hands and isolated when sick. Vaccination now means that we will not ever see such scenes from Covid-19 here.' It comes as a fire broke out at a packed hospital outside Mumbai on Friday, leaving 13 people dead. Narendra Modi called it 'tragic' as he approved payouts for the victims' relatives, but the PM faces growing criticism for staging election rallies despite hospitals running out of beds and oxygen tankers being escorted by armed guards. On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra state when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. At least nine coronavirus patients died in a previous hospital fire in Mumbai on March 26. As well as a lack of oxygen and even basic medicines, free beds have become scarce, with major hospitals putting up notices saying they have no room for any more patients and police being deployed to secure oxygen supplies. Health workers shift a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh hospital in Virar, near Mumbai on Friday Worshippers offer Friday prayers at a mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Amritsar in Punjab, northern India The burnt out inside of the intensive care ward at the hospital, which is just north of Mumbai, the latest accident in the country's overwhelmed hospitals amid a colossal second wave of Covid. On Wednesday, 22 patients died at a public hospital in Maharashtra state when their oxygen supply ran out after a leak in the tank. At least nine coronavirus patients died in a hospital fire in Mumbai on March 26. Atul Gogia, a front line doctor in Delhi, told Radio 4 this morning: 'It's really, really very hectic, both physically mentally emotionally, it's a challenging day. Everything is full we are over-pressed, staff is catching the disease so we are short of staff as well. 'We do have oxygen but it's now on a day to day basis. We got some oxygen last night, so we have some oxygen now. 'There is such a huge surge we do not have places in the emergency room. We do not have enough oxygen points, patients are coming in with their own oxygen, others without, we want to help them but there are not enough beds or oxygen points, and not enough oxygen to supply them even if they are were.' Saswati Sinha, an intensive care doctor in Kolkota, said the situation in the city was similar to Delhi, though perhaps lagging around two weeks behind. 'But we are already overwhelmed,' he told the BBC. 'All of our wards, all of our critical care beds are already at capacity. 'We are getting direct calls from our patients, from our friends, from our neighbours, pleading with us to make some space for their next of kin. 'In 20 years of working in intensive care I have never seen anything like this in the past. It is completely emotionally, physically and mentally exhausting.' A policeman inspects a burnt-out room at the Vijay Vallabh Hospital in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai The burnt out hospital in Virar, north of Mumbai, after a fire killed 13 Covid patients, in the latest accident in the country's overcrowded hospitals A patient suffering from the coronavirus disease is evacuated from the hospital after it caught fire in Virar, on the outskirts of Mumbai Max Healthcare, which runs a network of hospitals in northern and western India, posted an appeal on Twitter on Friday for emergency supplies of oxygen at its facility in Delhi. 'We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi ... till oxygen supplies stabilise,' the company said. Similar desperate calls from hospitals and ordinary people have been posted on social media for days this week across the country. Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan in the United States, said it was now as if there was no social safety net for Indians. 'Everyone is fighting for their own survival and trying to protect their loved ones. This is hard to watch,' he said. In Delhi, people losing loved ones are turning to makeshift facilities that are undertaking mass burials and cremations because funeral services have been swamped. A man walks past burning funeral pyres of people, who died due to the coronavirus disease at a crematorium ground in New Delhi, India, on Thursday A mass cremation of victims who died due to the coronavirus disease is seen at a crematorium ground in Delhi yesterday evening A body lies on a gurney as funeral pyres burn at a mass cremation ground in Delhi on Wednesday evening Amid the despair, recriminations have begun. Health experts say India became complacent in the winter - when new cases were running at about 10,000 a day and seemed to be under control - and lifted restrictions to allow big gatherings. 'Indians let down their collective guard. Instead of being bombarded with messages exhorting us to be vigilant, we heard self-congratulatory declarations of victory from our leaders, now cruelly exposed as mere self-assured hubris,' wrote Zarir F Udwadia, a pulmonologist and a member of the Maharashtra state government's task force, in the Times of India. Modi's government ordered an extensive lockdown last year in the early stages of the pandemic. But it has been wary of the economic costs and upheaval to the lives of legions of migrant workers and day labourers of a reimposition of sweeping restrictions. New more infectious variants of the virus, in particular a 'double mutant' variant that originated in India, may have helped accelerate the surge, experts said. Canada has banned flights from India, joining Britain, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and New Zealand in blocking arrivals. New Delhi, April 24 : The Delhi High Court on Saturday while hearing a petition on the oxygen shortage said, "its tsunami and we are calling it wave" and asked both the Centre and the state government to get prepared to overcome the crisis. Citing the study of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, the court said that its assessment is that the peak of the Covid wave will come in mid-May. "We are calling it a wave, it is actually a tsunami," the court said. Earlier, hearing a petition on oxygen supply, the Delhi High Court observed that it will "hang" whoever obstructs movement of oxygen. The Delhi High Court said that if any official at the central, state or local administration was obstructing in the picking up or supply of oxygen, then it would "hang" that person. It said, whoever obstructs oxygen supply, we will not spare them. The observation was made by the bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli during hearing of a plea by Maharaja Agrasen Hospital over shortage of oxygen. The Delhi High court observed that "the mortality rate needs to be reduced." Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said there might be a rapid rise in the number of cases in May and June and the country needs to be ready for the worst. He said, the Prime Minister and others are working on it and have decided to import oxygen and are also exploring the remotest possibility of generating oxygen from wherever it is possible. Meanwhile, the Delhi government informed the court that the system will "collapse" if it did not get 480 metric tonnes of oxygen. "When will Delhi get 480 metric tonnes? Please tell us that," the court asked the Union government while hearing Maharaja Agrasen Hospital's petition. About 20 Covid patients died on Friday night at Jaipur Golden Hospital due to the low supply of oxygen. The hospital has appealed to authority in the national capital to arrange oxygen at the earliest. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Defenders of the Rioni Gorge group of activists aiming to achieve complete closure of the most important Georgian energy project - the Namakhvani HPP - announced today indefinite protests that will take place not only at the construction site but also in Tbilisi, near government buildings. Earlier, the Defenders of the Rioni Gorge delivered an ultimatum to the government: to cancel the contract with the main builder of the Namakhvani hydroelectric power station - the Turkish company ENKA - and repeal the law on transferring the Rioni Gorge to the foreign legal entity. The ultimatum expired the day before. Today, the government responded to activists' demands by announcing on Facebook that the ENKA contract will be reviewed by the Ministry of Justice and by independent foreign lawyers. Also, a representative of the EU Energy Association will be involved in the settlement of claims - he is examining the impact of the Namakhvani HPPs work on the environment. Negotiations with ENKA to clarify the terms of the contract will take place in the near future. The main decision of the Cabinet is to introduce a moratorium on the construction of the Namakhvani hydroelectric dam for 9-12 months. During this period, the project's ecological, geological and environmental impact should be revised and once again justified. At the same time, ENKA will continue to work on the preparation of the HPP infrastructure. To demonstrate its openness to civil society, the Georgian government will remove barriers in the project area and reduce the number of police officers guarding it. Activists will be allowed to hold protests and set up tents freely in coordination with the police. The Defenders of the Rioni Gorge were not at all satisfied with such a reaction from the government, they said that the authorities were only pretending they are ready for dialogue, but in fact, they are avoiding it. Therefore, the protests will continue and will constantly expand until ENKA leaves the Rioni Gorge and the project is cancelled. We really do not like large-scale protests. We prefer to resolve issues in a dialogue format, but the government is trying to change the direction of the vector so that we do not delve into the essence of the issues and there are no meaningful negotiations between us. Today's statement by the government is evidence of that. Thus, the society will have to solve this problem with unity and scale, Sputnik-Georgia quotes Varlam Goletiani as saying. Within the framework of the Namakhvani HPP cascade project, two power plants are to be built on the Rioni River - the Namakhvani HPP itself and the Tvishi HPP. Their design capacity will be 433 MW, that is, up to 12% of energy consumption in Georgia. The project cost is estimated at $ 730 mln. The Defenders of the Rioni Gorge have been living in a tent camp at the construction site of the Namakhvani hydroelectric power station for six months. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Its a bright morning in Perths south-east. Unphased by *Davids reluctance to roll out of bed after the customary morning cuddles, Milo races out of the room like lightning and re-emerges with a sneaker hanging from his mouth. Come on mate, its time to get on with life. When the sneaker trick doesnt work, he often brings worn-out toys to play. David knows theres no point in arguing; Milo doesnt take no for an answer. For two years David struggled to leave his home. Things that once sparked joy like going to his neighbours place for a barbecue or celebrating with friends had become the enemy he couldnt subdue, despite his three-decade-long military career. The crowds, the noise. It was all too much to handle. David and his service dog at their home in Serpentine. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola His anxiety had become so unbearable he needed medication to sleep. Then, he needed pills to stay awake. His wife, scared for his wellbeing, didnt dare to leave him alone and everywhere David went, the black dog followed. You get to the stage where you go to bed almost dreading it because youre fearful of whats going to be going on when you go to sleep, David said. Advertisement He was at his lowest point when Milo came into his life. David vividly remembers the day he fell in love with the golden labrador. He had travelled to Bathurst to join a ten-day program by Defense Community Dogs aimed at pairing trained assistant dogs with veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. He was skeptical of the program. Leaving service had been tough but he should be able to handle his struggles by himself. Thats what medication was for. Besides, how was a pet dog going to help? How can I explain it? It sounds silly but theres a mutual knowing. He gets me. Veteran David. He was sitting on the grass with another assistant dog that wasnt listening to his commands when Milo abandoned his handler and raced towards him. He came straight over and just sat right next to me and put his head on my leg. We just sat there for 10 or 15 minutes, or whatever it was, David said. From day dot I fell in love with Milo and we clicked. Advertisement The labrador is one of 52 rescue dogs assisting veterans across Australia struggling with anxiety and PTSD under the Defense Community Dog program. The canines are trained by inmates at the Bathurst and Numinbah correctional centres in NSW and Queensland for over eight months with the help of professional handlers as part of a rehabilitation program. Milo knows more than 50 tricks that stretch way beyond the usual sit, catch, and roll commands. He can turn lights on and off, fetch walking sticks, take clothes out of the washing machine, flick a switch, pull blankets, blow bubbles with his nose, and act as a barrier in crowded spaces. But perhaps, his most invaluable skill is waking David up in the middle of the night by jumping on his chest whenever he is having night terrors. Milo is so in tune with his owner that rapid breathing or a quiet moan is all it takes for him to swing into action. Milo often puts his head on Davids leg or shoulder to soothe his anxiety. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola Whenever David is having a bad night, which are now few and far between, Milo cuddles him in bed until his anxiety subsides. He then turns the lights on with his paw or muzzle and guides David to the kitchen for a soothing cup of tea. The night often ends with the pair curled on the couch. In crowded spaces, all it takes is for David to tap his foot and Milo will position himself as a barrier between his owner and other punters. Sometimes hell just come in, drops his head on my leg, and just leaves it there. Its just so I can pat him on the head. And it just distracts me, you know, that type of stuff, he said. Advertisement Its a bond David struggles to put down in words. Loading It sounds silly but theres a mutual knowing. He gets me, he said. Since Milo moved into his home two years ago, Davids medication intake has dropped by about two-thirds, sleepless nights are now a rare occurrence and he has mended his relationship with his children. He no longer loses his temper at the drop of a hat and going out in public isnt such a burden. Milo has saved his marriage too. My wife now feels comfortable going out on her own and leaving me where it got a stage where she wasnt, David said. She now gets a bit of her life back which is great. Advertisement The Australian Defence Force has more than 89,000 service members, 6000 of which leave each year, often with PTSD along with depression and addiction. According to estimates by Open Arms, the federal governments counseling service for veterans founded in the wake of the Vietnam war, up to 20 per cent of ex-servicemen and women will develop the disorder in their lifetime. Loading In 2015 alone, more serving Australians and veterans took their lives than were killed in Afghanistan during 13 years of war. Between 2001 and 2016, 373 serving, ex-serving and reserve Australian Defence Force personnel died by suicide, prompting calls for a Royal Commission from grieving family members. While Milo isnt the solution to all of Davids problems, the veteran said he couldnt imagine life without him. Hes absolutely my best friend. My wife is my rock and theres no two ways about it, but he is definitely my best friend, he said. Advertisement With the pandemic continuing to wreak havoc in India, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a video conference with his top commanders and officials for the second time this week, to review the efforts of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the military in combating the crisis. As in the first meeting on Tuesday, Rajnath directed the military to deploy all its resources to aid the government and administration in managing the situation. He said, people look up to the armed forces in times of crisis as they have great hope and trust in them, said a MoD press release on Saturday. The defence minister expressed satisfaction on the assistance being provided by Indian Air Force (IAF) in moving cryogenic oxygen tankers and plants from abroad and within the country. The Indian Air Force (IAF) despatched one C-17 Globemaster III heavy transport aircraft to Singapore on Saturday morning. At the time of going to press, it was en route back to India with four empty cryogenic oxygen containers, stated the MoD. Another C-17 Globemaster III transported two empty containers for liquid oxygen from Pune to Jamnagar; it is currently on its second shuttle for the day. Another Globemaster transported two empty oxygen containers from Jodhpur to Jamnagar. Meanwhile, one CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopter and one Antonov-32 transporter airlifted Covid-19 testing equipment from Jammu to Leh and to Kargil. The equipment consisted of bio-safety cabinets, centrifuges and stabilisers. These machines have been made by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and have now been given to the Union Territory of Ladakh to enhance testing, stated the MoD. Indian Navy ships have been put on standby for assistance in moving oxygen tankers, the MoD said. The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) is completing the expansion of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid-19 hospital in New Delhi on Saturday. The hospitals capacity of 250 patients is being expanded to 500 beds. In Gujarat, the DRDO completed the setting up of a 1,000-bed Covid-19 hospital. Work is in full swing to establish a 450-bed Covid-19 facility in Lucknow that is expected to become operational in the next 5-6 days. These hospitals would be run by Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS) in coordination and with assistance of local state governments, stated the MoD. With the AFMSs resources stretched to the limit, services of local doctors and health professionals are being sought for a 750-bed hospital that is coming up at Varanasi. Recently retired military doctors are also being pressed into service. To augment the work force of health professionals, Raksha Mantri approved a suggestion to deploy those who have recently retired from AFMS, said the MoD. Rajnath Singh was informed that all health facilities of Defence Public Sector Undertakings and of the Ordnance Factory Board have been allowed to provide treatment to Covid-19 affected civilians. In a significant decision on Tuesday, the defence minister sanctioned the procurement of critical medical equipment under emergency powers of procurement. Lieutenant generals of the medical services have been granted powers to spend Rs 5 crore, major generals can spend up to 3 crore and brigadiers up to 2 crore. Rajnath Singh was joined in the video-conference on Saturday by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production) Raj Kumar, DRDO chief Satheesh Reddy, Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sandeep Singh and Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) Surgeon Vice Admiral Rajat Datta. You are here: China China's Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) has urged an investigation into the cause of a fire that claimed eight lives in Shanghai. The fire broke out at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a plant in Jinshan District, which mainly manufactures electronic-product accessories, trapping four employees. Two firefighters and two technicians of the plant went missing amid their efforts to search and rescue the trapped workers. A total of 123 fire trucks, eight fire-fighting robots and 976 firefighters from local fire stations were deployed for recuse work, according to the MEM. The MEM also dispatched a work team and experts to Shanghai to guide the rescue operations. After the blaze was brought under control at 6:20 a.m. Friday, the eight people were found dead, the MEM said. Local authorities have been urged to draw lessons from the fire and prevent such accidents from happening again, the MEM added. Some of South Carolina's hottest and best-paying jobs over the next decade will be found in high-tech manufacturing centers concentrated in the Upstate and the Lowcountry, but they won't be easy pickings. While there will still be opportunities for workers without college degrees, the top positions will increasingly require some type of post-high school education. That could pose a problem for manufacturers looking to fill the more than 25,000 jobs in their 20 fastest-growing occupations, because fewer people are enrolling in the technical colleges that would give them the training they need. The number of people signing up for classes at the state's 16 two-year tech schools fell by about 25 percent between 2010 and 2019, according to the latest data available from the S.C. Commission on Higher Education. Enrollment at the technical colleges serving the state's biggest manufacturing centers Trident Tech in the Charleston region and Greenville Tech in the Upstate experienced declines of 27.3 percent and 29.2 percent, respectively, during that period. "This is a call to action to say to the state of South Carolina that we need to be more proactive in that type of recruitment," said Joey Von Nessen, a research economist at the University of South Carolina who recently completed a study that found manufacturers around the state will be relying on workers with higher educations and better skills than in the past. "We're going to need more skilled labor," he said. "The key for success going forward is to offer a pathway for South Carolinians to become trained and then to be hired." Education leaders say they were making strides toward that goal, but the pandemic has set them back. Enrollment at Trident Tech had seen small but positive growth in the months preceding the pandemic, but it tanked again when COVID-19 hit down 3.7 percent this spring. Still, other states have a bigger problem. Enrollment in Florida's technical schools was down 9.4 percent last year while Kentucky and Louisiana saw declines of 10.5 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively. Virginia's community colleges saw a 9.7 percent drop. "The decline is national," said Mary Thornley, president of Trident Tech. "It's a testament about the precarious lives of many of the students that are enrolled in technical colleges." Lost jobs and lower wages from pandemic-induced shutdowns and a lack of child care are among the reasons Thornley said students felt they couldn't spend time or money taking classes as the health crisis was worsening. "They had problems that become insurmountable when you're living on the edge anyway," Thornley said. "But Trident Tech is poised to meet the needs of any student interested in returning to college and getting prepared for a better job." High tech, high pay Von Nessen's study shows the state's automotive plants, aerospace firms, tiremakers and other manufacturing sectors employ nearly 300,000 workers and create about $200 billion in annual economic impact. But as those industries increasingly rely on robotics, artificial intelligence, 3-D printing and other technological advances, the people who operate the machinery are going to need more and better education. More than half of the occupations growing the fastest and paying the best through 2028 will require at least some form of post-secondary education, according to Von Nessen. Nearly two-thirds of those top jobs will require at least one year of experience. As a group, the top 20 in-demand manufacturing occupations are expected to grow by a total of 13.2 percent through 2028. That compares with 10 percent growth for all manufacturing jobs. Employment gains in the manufacturing sector historically exceed South Carolina's overall job growth by nearly three times. 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! Manufacturing jobs typically have much higher compensation than the statewide average $60,850 a year versus $45,694. A subset of six manufacturing occupations are expected to dominate hiring and wage growth in the coming years. Those include industrial and mechanical engineers as well as industrial production supervisors. Those positions will account for more than one-fourth of all new manufacturing jobs created through 2028, according to Von Nessen. They'll also pay a premium an average of more than $85,000 a year, or 40 percent better than the typical manufacturing job. The S.C. Manufacturers Alliance has long recognized that worker training is a hurdle, but the responsibility for creating a pipeline of skilled employees doesn't stop with technical colleges. "The industry needs to be proactive in telling its story," said James Richter, the group's director of workforce development. The alliance and SC Future Makers, a nonprofit workforce development group, commissioned Von Nessen's study. "We need to articulate that these are good careers that are here to stay and they can make a meaningful impact in the community," Richter said. "We also need to reinforce the fact that there are a plethora of different types of companies out there that really provide a great means to earn a living." Reaching new students Trident Tech opened its aeronautical training center in 2019 as a way to provide training for a range of advanced manufacturing jobs, not just those within the aerospace industry. The $80 million addition hosts programs leading to the associate's degrees and professional certificates needed for many of the top jobs of the future. Thornley, the school's president, describes the center as "a candy factory for anybody interested in manufacturing," with sophisticated equipment including programmable robotics, 3-D printers and labs where students can learn to make and repair the structural materials used in airplanes, vehicles and boats. Recognizing the growing need for trained workers, the college is offering free tuition for 41 programs in engineering and manufacturing, including mechanical and electronics engineering, mechanics and aircraft maintenance. Thornley hopes that will attract students who've been hesitant to enroll in classes. "We need for prospective students to believe that it is time to get out of this pandemic, make a new start and get a good-paying job," she said. Tim Hardee, president of South Carolina's technical college system, said he's confident enrollment statewide will start showing gains by the time fall classes start. He said the system is preparing a marketing campaign to tout the training benefits through television commercials, billboards and social media. The three-year effort was kickstarted by an anonymous donor in Charleston who pledged $1 million toward the ads if the state Legislature would contribute another $500,000. Gov. Henry McMaster will also be sending a letter to the 45,000 or so high school graduates this year to both congratulate them on their accomplishment and urge them to consider a technical college for manufacturing training. The college system is also targeting future students through partnership with public schools, Hardee said. "We're doing some youth apprenticeships that get students involved at a younger age so they can see these jobs in manufacturing can lead to a good career," he said. "And we're making guidance counselors more aware of that career pathway." Von Nessen, the USC economist, said all of those efforts will be important as South Carolina competes with other Southeast states for jobs as manufacturers quickly invest in and adopt new advanced technologies. "There are several changes coming," he said. "We don't know exactly what they will all look like, but one prominent one we hear a lot about is the transition to electric vehicles. So we need to stay on top of those changes. The market moves very fast, which is why these workforce initiatives are so important." Following Serum Institute of India (SII), Bharat Biotech (BBL) on Saturday, released its price for COVAXIN - offering Rs 600/ dose for state governments and Rs 1200/dose for private hospitals. While it has maintained that 50% of its capacity is reserved for Centre's free vaccine rollout at Rs 150/dose, BBL has priced exports at $15 - $20 (Rs 1123 - 1498). In comparison, SII has offered its vaccines to the state govt at Rs 400 and to private hospitals at Rs 600. Bharat Biotech releases vaccine prices Centre Vs Cong on vaccine prices Earlier in the day, the Union Health Ministry has stated that the Centre's procurement price for both COVID-19 vaccines remains Rs 150 per dose, which will be freely supplied to state govts. Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh has alleged that the price of COVISHIELD (Rs 400) for the new government procurement is higher than what governments of the US, UK, EU, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and SA are paying. Stating that the vaccine, which is made in India have a high price for India itself, the Congress leader urged the Centre to renegotiate the price of Serum Insititute's COVID-19 vaccine. Several Opposition parties have demanded the same pricing for all state govts and Central govts, with some demanding free vaccines for all. As of date Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana and Sikkim have announced free vaccines to all adults above 18. Vaccination opened up for 18+ On Monday, Centre decided that everyone above the age of 18 to be eligible to get vaccine against Covid-19 and vaccine manufacturers will be incentivized to further scale up their production, as well as attract new national and international players. Vaccine manufacturers have been empowered to release up to 50% of their supply to state govts and in the open market at a pre-declared price. The Centre's vaccination drive will continue as before, providing free vaccination for essential and priority populations as defined earlier i.e HCWs, FLWs and population above 45 years, with administering the second dose on priority. Govt of India, from its share, will allocate vaccines to States/UTs based on criteria of extent of infection (number of active COVID cases) & performance (speed of administration). Centre has approved Rs 1567.50 crores to ramp up its COVAXIN production apart from the grant of Rs 65 crores to enhance their production capacity at their new Bengaluru plant- touching 6-7 crore vaccine doses/month by July. Apart from Bharat Biotech, three public sector companies - Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation Ltd, Mumbai, Indian Immunologicals Limited, Hyderabad and Bharat Immunologicals & Biologicals Limited, Bulandshahr too have been given grants to enhance their production capacity. While Haffkine will produce 20 million doses per month within six months, the other two will produce 10-15 million doses per month by Aug-Sep 2021. 7,157 Fully Vaccinated Americans Have Contracted COVID-19, 88 Dead: CDC The number of recorded COVID-19 cases among Americans who have been fully vaccinated against the CCP virus is now over 7,100, according to health officials. The so-called breakthrough cases are reported by states to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which then releases the figures. In its new update, the CDC reported that 7,157 people who were fully vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19, still got the virus. Most of the breakthrough cases, 64 percent, took place among women, while 46 percent were among people 60 years old or above. Nearly 500 people who contracted COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated required hospital care, though about a third of them were hospitalized for illnesses deemed unrelated to COVID-19. Eighty-eight of the breakthrough patients, or 1 percent, died. Eleven of the deaths were reported as not showing symptoms or being unrelated to the disease. The state-by-state breakdown of the cases was not made public. The CDC first reported the breakthrough case numbers on April 15. The new update shows 7,157 such cases. The new figures are through April 20. The CDC expects to update the numbers every Friday, a spokeswoman told The Epoch Times via email. Because the current system relies on voluntary reporting from state health departments, there may be more breakthrough cases than the number the CDC publishes. As of April 23, more than 91 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against the CCP virus. A woman receives a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Chinatown in Chicago on April 6, 2021. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) Fully vaccinated refers to people who received their second Moderna or Pfizer dose, or their single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, two or more weeks prior. None of the vaccines were expected to provide full protection, so health officials and experts say the breakthrough cases are not a cause for concern. While there are breakthrough cases and they are not surprising, they are exceedingly rare and in no way undermine the value of mass vaccination. Moreover, the breakthrough cases are uniformly less severe, showing the benefits of even imperfect immunity, S. Mark Tompkins, professor of infectious disease at the University of Georgia, told The Epoch Times in an email. The CDC expects thousands of breakthrough cases to occur, a spokeswoman said. Vaccine breakthrough infections make up a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated. CDC recommends that all eligible people get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as one is available to them. CDC also continues to recommend people who have been fully vaccinated should keep taking precautions in public places, like wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet apart from others, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing their hands often, she said. The CDC has said that its monitoring reported breakthrough cases for clustering by demographics, geographic location, time since vaccination, vaccine type, and virus lineage. It plans to soon focus on investigating only the breakthrough cases that result in hospitalization or death. Delhi High Court said on Friday that if anyone obstructs oxygen supply, the court will not spare them. The court was hearing a hospital's petition over the shortage of medical oxygen for severely ill COVID-19 patients. The Delhi government has explained to the court that the healthcare system in the national capital will "collapse" if Delhi does not get 480 metric tonnes of oxygen. Several hospitals in the national capital have reported an acute shortage of oxygen as they are being overwhelmed by thousands of new daily cases of COVID-19. This issue has been raised by several hospitals in the national capital before the Delhi High Court. The shortage of oxygen in the national capital has already caused the death of COVID-19 in at least one hospital in the national capital in the past 24 hours. "If we don't get 480 metric tonnes (of oxygen), the system will collapse. We have seen in the last 24 hours. Something disastrous will happen," the Arvind Kejriwal-led state government told the court. The state government received only received 297 metric tonnes of medical oxygen yesterday. The Delhi government has sought a detailed affidavit from the Centre that contains details of oxygen allocation and supply schedule. "When will Delhi get 480 metric tonnes? Please tell us that," the Delhi High Court asked Centre. The High Court has asked the Delhi government to provide one instance of someone who was blocking oxygen supply. The court has also asked the state government to inform the Centre about such officials of the local administration in order for it to take actions against such people. On Saturday, the Centre put the blame back on the Delhi government. The Centre told the court, "States are arranging from tankers to everything. We are just assisting them. But in Delhi, everything is put on us. Delhi officials have to do their job". "I know my responsibility. I know many things but not saying anything. Let's try and not be a cry baby," Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said while replying to Delhi government lawyer Rahul Mehra's complaint which stated that the Centre was not complying with the guidelines for oxygen allocation. "We are not fighting elections," Mehta said in court. Earlier on Friday night, 25 people died at the Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi due to oxygen shortage, a top official stated, according to the news channel. The hospital of one of several which had approached the Delhi High Court regarding the oxygen crisis in the national capital. (Edited by Mohammad Haaris Beg) Also Read: COVID-19 crisis: India reports over 3.46 lakh cases; 13.83 crore vaccines given so far Also read: Support pours in from countries amid India's devastating second COVID-19 wave Also read: COVID-19 second wave: Ladakh makes RT-PCR test mandatory for passengers at Leh airport CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson +1 303-810-1816 Email: Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com Golden, Colorado April 24, 2021 The Caring Generation What Are Levels of Care for Elderly? Golden CO- Caregiving expert Pamela D. Wilson hosts The Caring Generation podcast show for caregivers and aging adults. This coming Wednesday, April 28, 2021, the topic is What Are the Levels of Care for Elderly? Wilson releases a new podcast in The Caring Generation series every Wednesday, sharing tips and conversations about aging, caregiving, and family relationships to help caregiving families plan for what lies ahead. The podcasts are available on Wilson's website and all major podcast sites like Apple, Google, and Spreaker. What Are the Levels of Care for the Elderly? This week on The Caring Generation, Wilson offers examples of the levels of care for the elderly. Tips are shared for aging adults about how to remain healthy and independent and for caregivers helping elderly parents at home. As the care needs of aging parents increases, caregivers often ask about the levels of care for the elderly to understand what might happen next. Many adult children caregivers provide assisted living or nursing home care levels of support for aging parents in the home. Care communities relate levels of care to the number of services offered to the elderly. These levels of care are associated with additional costs over the base rate to receive care. Additional fees for levels of care in a community can be as low as $300 or range into the thousands of dollars. On average, the monthly rate for assisted living communities ranges between $3,500 to $8,000 a month or more. Adult Children Help Parents Remain in the Home Because care community rates are out of the financial reach of many families, adult children provide care for parents or move them into their homes. Assisted living community staff cannot offer the extensive medical care that children and other family members provide in the home. Aging parents diagnosed with multiple chronic diseases may need insulin management, wound care, assistance with feeding tubes, and other support provided by family members. Care once only offered in nursing homes is today provided by adult children and spouses. Interview with Ben Clincy Paramedic and Comedian Ben Clincy is a full-time paramedic and a writer/artist/comedian and creator of the popular comic strip "EMScapades." On this show, Clincy shares insights into the life of paramedics, stories, and how his family life translates into having a soft spot caring for the elderly. He is currently completing his final semesters in nursing school and expects to graduate in 2022 and continue his career in the healthcare field. As a comedian, he has performed at clubs, colleges, and other venues for over 20 years. He is the creator and host of the "EMScapades: OFF DUTY" podcast, a water-cooler-type chat show that features men and women in various healthcare roles sharing work experiences and anything else that comes to mind! Wilson works with family caregivers, groups, and corporations worldwide to educate about the role strain that caregivers experience, managing, and planning for health and aging issues. More about Wilson's online courses for elderly care, individual elder care consultations, caregiver support, webinars, and speaking engagements are on her website www.pameladwilson.com. Pamela may also be contacted at +1 303-810-1816 or through the Contact Me page on her website. # Urgent call from SLMA be careful and take all precautions By Kumudini Hettiarachchi and Ruqyyaha Deane Imminent threat of third wave View(s): View(s): There was a gradual reduction in cases but after the avurudu season we are seeing an increase in COVID-19 patients not only at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) but also other COVID-19 treatment hospitals, said Senior Consultant Physician Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama of the NIID, Angoda. It was a grim picture that was painted at a timely media briefing organized by the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) on Friday. The warnings about the looming danger of a third wave which could have serious repercussions on the people came not only from Dr. Wijewickrama but all speakers including SLMA President Dr. Padma Gunaratne. Dr. Wijewickrama pointed out that in the first and second waves, a majority (80%) of the patients were asymptomatic (without symptoms) or mildly symptomatic. However, now, many patients are symptomatic, have severe symptoms and become seriously ill. In the earlier waves, they mostly saw elderly patients but now they are seeing younger patients. We have to be very careful and take the necessary health precautions. If not, the disease will not stay under control, similar to what we see in other countries such as India. If that happens, we will be in a bad state, he said. In an interview with the Sunday Times on Thursday, Dr. Wijewickrama said that patients were also coming in late for testing and treatment. One person had had symptoms of cough and fever for eight days before he got himself tested and admitted to hospital. In those eight days, he had still gone to work despite being sick. This will also lead to a spread of the infection. On Thursday, the NIIDs eight ICU beds were occupied as also 120 of the ward beds. SLMA President Dr. Padma Gunaratne said that they wished to warn the public of the imminent threat of a third wave of COVID-19 over the next three weeks. Therefore, it was essential for everyone to take all possible precautions. There is a rapid increase in the number of positive cases, as well as the number of patients requiring hospital admissions, oxygen and treatment in ICUs. Doctors have also observed an increase in the number of positive reports at the laboratories. The numbers detected through random testing in the Colombo Municipal Council area have also increased, she pointed out. Dr. Gunaratne said that doctors have observed patients presenting with atypical symptoms and rapid deterioration, leading to serious clinical conditions. Possible rapid transmission is also suspected. Presentation of younger patients with more serious symptoms has also been noted, while doctors at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) for Children have also observed the rapidly increasing number of positive cases among children. Therefore, it is important for everyone to understand the potential disastrous consequences of a third wave, especially with a possible new virus variant, she said, adding that if there is a flood of COVID-19 cases leading to a greater number of seriously ill patients, there could be the possibility of exceeding the capacity of hospitals. This is likely to lead to more deaths. It is essential to wear face-masks correctly, maintain a metre or more distance and wash hands frequently, while avoiding crowded places, she added. Echoing these concerns, the Colombo Municipal Councils Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni looked back at the first and second waves. We were able to reduce the number of cases in the first wave within 3-4 weeks. In the second wave which started mid-October last year with the highest number of cases being reported in November and December (due to New Year and Christmas celebrations), the reduction came in February this year with only 2-3 cases reported per day consistently for 6 weeks. This was until the avurudu season, he said. Dr. Wijayamuni gives the chilling data While only 26 cases were reported the week prior to avurudu, within a week, this number has doubled. A cluster of 84 infections mushroomed from a bank. Random testing of 73 people at a fisheries harbour on Thursday had detected 8 positives giving an infection rate of 10%. Before avurudu the positivity rate was less than 1%, then on April 15 and 16, it increased to 2% and now testing at the fisheries harbour has given a figure of 10%. When asked whether the rise in positives is being detected due to more testing, Dr. Wijayamuni said that it was not linked. We increased our RT-PCR testing and Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) by seven-fold from November onwards until February end. With the seven-fold increase, we expected a spike in cases, but it did not happen like that. Pointing out that they reduced testing because there was no necessity to do unnecessary screening, he however stressed that there is a reluctance on the part of the people to get tested which was a problem. In controlling the third wave, this could become a major hindrance as those who are infected would also be spreading the disease. We need them to cooperate, he said, adding that people should stay at home and not venture out on unnecessary trips. Dr. Wijayamuni warned: We need another two incubation periods (28 days) to step away from the brink of the third wave. Meanwhile, Dr. Kanthi Nanayakkara of the Medical Research Institute (MRI) gave more disturbing data on positivity among samples received by the COVID Laboratory 3 of the MRI's Department of Rabies & QC (Quality Control), while pointing out that the percentage of cases in the first wave was very low and in the second was October: 18%, November: 9%, December: 5%, and January & February: 6%. In March, some days were without any COVID-19 positive reports. The situation was fine. If we take the four weeks in March, only 1% was positive, then closer to avurudu it was 2% due to shopping crowds, she said. Positives in April: April 1, 2 & 3 up to 3% April 7, 8 & 9 4% April 10 6% April 19 18% April 20 12% April 22 8% Dr. Nanayakkara said that it suggests that a third wave can be expected and we are just a few stages away. We should take all the necessary safety precautions and not let the country go into a third wave. We can see the situation in India and Brazil and it is our duty not to let it happen in Sri Lanka. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2021 / Voice Mobility International, Inc. (the "Company") (TSXV:VMY.H), further to the Company's previously announced proposed transaction to acquire VM Agritech Limited (formerly MyCo Science Limited) ("VM Agritech") (the "Acquisition"), the Company is pleased to provide a VM Agritech business update, and progress relating to the Acquisition. New Patents VM Agritech continues to successfully secure its intellectual property globally and has recently been granted the following additional patents. Patent no. 1 (Fungicidal) was granted in Japan on December 11, 2020, and Patent no. 2 (Sporicidal) was granted in Russia on January 11, 2021 and in Australia on March 9, 2021. VM Agritech's expanding country list of patents granted now extends to USA (Fungicidal and continuation), Australia (both patents), China, S. Korea, Canada, Japan, South Africa and Russia. Cornell University The Company is also pleased to announce that VM Agritech has signed a Sponsored Research Agreement with Cornell University ("Cornell"), the world's preeminent center for agriculture and food research, to conduct Mode of Action studies on VM Agritech's innovative formulation. Furthermore, VM Agritech and Cornell have also signed four Routine Product Testing Agreements (RPTA's) to commence efficacy and field trial studies on bacteria and certain fruits and vegetables that exhibit the most severe resistance to the current fungicides. Research is commencing this month. Share for Debt Settlement The Company also announces that it has arranged to settle outstanding indebtedness with certain creditors (the "Shares for Debt Settlement") through the issuance of common shares of the Company, subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Pursuant to the Shares for Debt Settlement, the Company has agreed to issue a total of 1,245,157 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.07 per share in satisfaction of outstanding loans and accrued interest of $87,160.99. The common shares to be issued pursuant to the Shares for Debt Settlement will be subject to a four month hold from the applicable date of issuance. Board of Directors and Management Changes The Company also announces further changes to the Company's board of directors and management team that will become effective on closing of the Acquisition. The board of directors of the Company will be reconstituted to consist of Michael Sapountzoglou, Christopher Wightman, Scott Ackerman, Peter Karos and John Farlinger, and the management team will be comprised of Michael Sapountzoglou as President and Chief Executive Officer, Christopher Wightman as Executive Vice President, Rob Chisholm as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary, and Svetlana Panicheva as Chief Scientist. Michael Sapountzoglou, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director Mr. Sapountzoglou's career has primarily been in capital markets and private equity. He is currently co-founder and CEO of Bluewater Acquisition Corp., a TSXV listed Capital Pool Corporation, in the process of considering investment opportunities. Mr. Sapountzoglou began his career with a private family office in Monaco running proprietary trading and asset management. In 1994 he moved to London and helped establish the family office of the Angelopoulos Group, leading M&A transactions within the group's core investments in shipping, off-shore drilling and private equity until his departure in 2015. He established the group's JV with Odfjell Drilling owning 2 UDW drill-ships and led a series of bond transactions trading on the Oslo exchange, raising over $1.6B for the off-shore projects. For the shipping arm, Metrostar Management Corp., he led the company's capital markets strategy and business development. He directed the Group's initial seed investment in PuriCore plc, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developing its proprietary immunomodulatory technology (HOCL), where he was also a founding Director from 1999-2013. He assisted in taking the company public on the Main List of the London Stock Exchange and chaired the Remuneration and Nomination committees. Mr. Sapountzoglou is also on the board and chairs the audit committee of ICI REIC, a real estate investment trust trading on the Athens exchange. Mr. Sapountzoglou is based in Athens, is a Canadian citizen and holds an Honors BA in Economics and International Finance from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. Chris Wightman, Executive Vice President and Director Mr. Wightman was an investment banker with Goldman Sachs (Head of Risk, Europe), Bankers Trust (Equity Derivatives), NatWest Markets (Founder, CEO NatWest Financial Products) and BankAmerica (NationsBank Head of Global Equities). Subsequent to his Investment Banking career, Mr. Wightman became a serial entrepreneur focused on broad technology themes. Amongst other ongoing businesses, in 1997 he re-structured what became PuriCore plc, a business developing the chemistry behind the mammalian immune system (HOCl). As Executive Chairman, he led its listing on the full list of the London Stock Exchange in 2006. Work there included a successful UK grant programme investigation of the application for HOCl in agriculture, and the filing of a number of patents reflecting the novel formulations discovered. The team who led the studies (then) at Oxford University, now at Exeter University, requested that Chris consider the potential for a Copper/Zinc/Phosphite chemistry in 2014. The result is VM Agritech. Robert Chisholm, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary Mr. Chisholm has been the Chief Financial Officer at Emprise since July 2008, a company providing management, restructuring, accounting, and financial services to public companies. Prior to Emprise, Mr. Chisholm was the Chief Financial Officer for PNI Digital Media from September 2001 until March 2009, a publicly listed company (acquired by Staples). Mr. Chisholm holds a professional accounting designation in Canada and received his BBA with a major in accounting from Saint Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. Svetlana Panicheva, Chief Scientist Ms. Panicheva is currently the Chief Scientist of VM Agritech. Ms. Panicheva has significant experience in research and development with a demonstrated history of accomplishments in the biotech industry. In addition to her role with VM Agritech, Ms. Panicheva is currently a technical consultant to Vapani LLC, a private electrochemical system design and development company. Ms. Panicheva has also served as Director of R&D for Realm Therapeutics, Inc., and Associate Director of R&D for PuriCore, Inc., both biopharmaceutical companies focused on HOCL. Ms. Panicheva holds an MBA degree from University of Missouri-Saint Louis and a Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Biotechnology, Medical Devices and Systems from the Russian Academy of Medical Technical Sciences, Moscow, Russia. John Farlinger, Director Mr. Farlinger is a venture and private equity backed executive and entrepreneur, and brings more than 20 years of experience in telecom, operations, technology and finance. Mr. Farlinger has held the position of CEO and Executive Chairman of Assure Holdings Corp. (TSXV) since June 1, 2018. His past positions include Director and Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee of Freckle Ltd. (TSXV) from June 13, 2019 to February 4, 2020, Chairman and CEO of Urban Communications Inc. (TSXV) from July 8, 2014 to June of 2018, Senior Vice-President of Teliphone Navigata-Westel from February 2013 to April 2014, CEO of Titan Communications from 2009 to February 2013 and CEO and President of Silicon Valley based Adzilla Inc. from August 2004 until 2009. Mr. Farlinger is currently an advisor to CareCru Inc., a healthcare start-up. Mr. Farlinger is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from Queen's University. Peter Karos, Director Mr. Karos is a founding partner and was a director and the CEO of Bluewater Acquisition Corp, a TSXV listed company, from March 2018 to February 2020. Since 2013, Mr. Karos has been General Partner at Argonaut Maritime Investment, a consulting firm in the commodities and shipping industries. From 2006 through 2013 Mr. Karos was head trader and an analyst at Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Scott Ackerman, Director Mr. Ackerman is the President and CEO of Emprise Capital Corp., a private merchant bank based in Vancouver, BC, which provides management, restructuring, accounting and financial services to public companies. Mr. Ackerman has been active in the public markets for more than 25 years, having held senior executive roles in various capacities from Investor Relations to Executive Management. In addition to his role with Emprise, Mr. Ackerman serves as director and/or officer of a number of publicly traded and private "start-up" venture companies. About VM Agritech Limited VM Agritech Limited has developed and patented a solubilised copper zinc ammonium complex that appears to kill pathogenic fungi in plants directly while also potentially triggering a plant's immune system to defend itself against further fungi attack. In 2016 and 2017, the results of which were delivered in 2019 and 2020, VM Agritech, in collaboration with the research team at Exeter University, was granted two Industrial Partnership awards with the Research Council BBSRC in the United Kingdom worth over 1.19 million (approximately CAD$2.06 million). VM Agritech has recently signed a significant research agreement with Cornell University to further research and develop its technology over the next three years with the end goal of commercialization applicable to the entire plant-based agricultural industry. In anticipation of closing the Acquisition, the company's name was changed from MyCo Sciences Limited to VM Agritech Limited on February 22, 2021. Trading in the common shares of the Company will remain halted pending further filings with the Exchange. The Company recently submitted its draft filing statement that has been prepared in connection with the Acquisition to the Exchange and is working diligently to complete the remaining filings with the Exchange, with a view to completing the proposed transaction in short order. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: VOICE MOBILITY INTERNATIONAL, INC. Scott Ackerman Email: sackerman@emprisecapital.com Telephone: (778) 331 8505 The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Acquisition and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Completion of the Acquisition is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to Exchange acceptance and shareholder approval, if applicable. The Acquisition and related financing cannot be completed until such approvals are obtained. There can be no assurance that the Acquisition will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Acquisition, any information released or received with respect to the Acquisition may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forwarda looking statements". Forwardalooking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forwardalooking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forwardalooking statements. SOURCE: Voice Mobility International Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: At least four policemen were killed this week in various attacks on police stations in the South-eastern part of the country this week. Several private and operational vehicles of the police were also destroyed and razed in the attacks. The stations were also not spared as most of them were destroyed and razed down to ashes. PREMIUM TIMES had reported a spate of attacks on police officers and police facilities, lately, in the South-east and South-south regions. The increasing attacks have compounded the security challenges in the two regions. Apart from over a decade old insurgency and terrorism perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect in the North-east, several states in Nigeria have been grappling with the problems of kidnapping, banditry, frequent clashes between farmers and herders, and inter-communal conflicts. Following the attacks on security outfits in the two regions, the governors and heads of security agencies in the five states in the South-east had a regional summit on security, where they agreed to establish a joint security outfit to check the insecurity in the region. IPOB, a pro-Biafra group, has been accused of being responsible for some of the attacks against the police in the South-east, but the group has denied any involvement. PREMIUM TIMES highlights some of the attacks on the security within this week. Dunokofia Police Station Two police officers were killed in Dunokofia Local Government of Anambra State, in a deadly attack by gunmen on a police facility in the early hours of Monday. Some vehicles parked at the stations premises were razed during the attack at the Zone 13 police headquarters at Ukpo, near Awka. The slain officers were identified as Ishaku Aura, an inspector, and Uzoma Uwaebuka, a police constable. The commissioner of police and some senior police officers visited the scene of the attack, immediately after the incident, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. Uzo-Uwani Two police officers were shot dead by unknown gunmen during an attack on Adani police station on Wednesday in Enugu State, Nigerias South-east. The Adani Police Station incident in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area started in the mid night according to police officials. The official said the station was violently attacked and set ablaze at about 2.30 a.m. by yet-to -be identified gunmen. He said the operatives who were on duty during the attack, engaged the assailants in a gun battle, adding that some of them escaped with gunshot injuries. The state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Aliyu, has since ordered the deployment of operational and intelligence assets to fish out the attackers. ADVERTISEMENT Niger Military camp In the same week, no fewer than 60 bandits invaded the military camp in the early hours of Wednesday in the Zagzaga community in the Munya Local Government Area of Niger State. They engaged the soldiers in a gun battle, leading to heavy casualties on the side of the bandits According to witnesses, the bandits stormed the community at about 4 am and divided themselves into three groups. While one group made their way straight to the military camp located at a Junior Secondary School about 500 meters from the town where they engaged the soldiers in a gun duel, the second group laid ambush on the major road leading to the community, Punch newspaper reported. The third group were said to have made their way to the community to prevent any reinforcements from the community vigilantes and the youths. Student Left Homeless Had to Sleep at Schoolbut Beat the Odds to Earn Her Degree A gifted UK student overcame incredible odds facing homelessness as a teen and going to school; she has earned her degree from the University of Liverpool. Sarah Brunsdon was just 15 years old when her family broke apart and she was left without a home during her school years. For a time, Sarah, now living in Rainford, got by couch surfing with older friends and even found shelter sleeping at her school. When staff learned of Sarahs homeless situation, they helped her into a program called Powerhouse Liverpool, which offers temporary, supported accommodation for young people aged between 16 and 21, their website states. Despite the difficulties she faced, the bright young scholar managed to score an A-plus, five As, and four Bs in her GCSEs, but was distraught getting only an A in English; she later found out the reason for this. Id rough slept the night before my English Language exam, so I was absolutely exhausted and I forgot to turn over the paper. It was a two sided paper, at the end of the exam one of my friends came over to me and went why didnt you turn the page over and do the last section? I was horrified. I was just like what last section? Sarah lived in various placements during her school years. It wasnt until she enrolled in an English course at the University of Liverpool that she finally found a place to call her own. It was going to uni that lifted me out of homelessness, she said. Having found a roof over her head, Sarah is appreciative. To this day, every time I step under a hot shower I feel grateful, there was a period of my life where I didnt have access to things like that, Sarah said. I remember walking down Smithdown Road with my friend, who was also in the Powerhouse, and we literally went into every single corner shop to see if the bread was any cheaper because we were 10 pence short for a loaf. Now having graduated from Liverpool University, she has returned to Powerhouse as a professional offering help to young people in need. We had a lot of meetings there, that was strange but it was also an empowering feeling returning there as a professional to support the people that were living there, she told the ECHO. The successful student now has her sights set on a masters degree and has started a crowdfunding page to help make that dream a reality. She hopes to become a lawyer for death row inmates, noting on her crowdfunding page that one out of every 10 death row convicts is innocent. In 2020, she joined LifeLines charity which befriends prisoners on death row in America, establishing pen pal correspondences with convicts. Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter Srinagar: Based on specific information about the presence of terrorists, Budgam Police along with 53RR and 181Bn CRPF launched a joint search operation in village Nagbal of Chrar-i-Sharif. During a search, a recently joined terrorist linked with proscribed terror outfit Al-Badr was arrested. He has been identified as Gulzar Ahmad Bhat resident of Bathpora Arwani Anantnag. Preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested terrorist was in close contact with the handlers of the proscribed Al-Badr across the border in Pakistan and also active terrorists of the Al-Badr outfit in South Kashmir. Arms and ammunition including one Chinese Pistol, one Pistol Magazine, 14 Pistol rounds, two AK Magazine, 58 AK rounds and incriminating materials of proscribed terror outfit Al-Badr were recovered from his possession. In this regard, a case has been filed with FIR No. 24/2021 under relevant sections of law stands registered in Police Station Chrar-i-Sharif and further investigation is in progress. Live TV Starting in late May, Humble Bundle plans to test a new store page that will do away with its signature sliders. Since selling its first charity bundle back in 2010, the company has allowed customers to decide how much of what they pay for a collection of games, software or books is split between itself, publishers and charities. It's a system that has historically allowed you to donate everything you pay for a bundle toward a good cause. Humble Bundle In a blog post spotted by Kotaku, the company now says it plans to replace that system with a new one where you'll have two options. After deciding on how much you want to spend on a bundle, you can choose to donate either five or 15 percent of your purchase to charity. Either way, most of your money will go to publishers, and the company is capping your charitable contribution to 15 percent. It suggests the change will help unify bundles with its other product offerings where sliders aren't a feature. In turn, that will allow it "to continue to create and expand bundles that power incredible causes around the world." We've reached out to Humble Bundle for additional information and comment, and we'll update this story when we hear back from the company. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. As you might imagine, the change isn't going over well with the company's customers, with many accusing Humble Bundle of turning into yet another storefront service. To make matters worse, when the company first started testing the change last month, it didn't share what it was doing with the community. "We apologize for that and appreciate everyone who wrote in to ask us about it," it said. "The lesson for us was that we should have been more proactive in communicating the test. The CNS Liaoning aircraft carrier leads a fleet during a People's Liberation Army Navy training mission in the South China Sea in 2016. [Photo by Mo Xiaoliang/For China Daily] The People's Liberation Army Navy, which will celebrate its 72nd birthday on Friday, has made tremendous strides over the past several years in transforming itself into a world-class force under the guidance and instructions from President Xi Jinping. Long-range operations and live-fire exercises have become regular parts of the Navy's annual training schedule, which is focused on combat readiness and capabilities, while combat exercises and joint operations drills have been given top priority on the Navy's agenda. Naval units are continuously extending their operational ranges, improving strategic deterrence and counter-strike capabilities, fostering skills in mobile and joint combat operations, and enhancing integrated logistics support capacity. The carrier battle groups have gained initial fighting capability, meaning they are always ready for action. Also, the transformation of the naval aviation force has been proceeding well, amphibious assault units have been substantially strengthened and the overseas base in Djibouti is gradually establishing operational support capacity, according to the Navy's top commanders. The changes the Navy has made and the accomplishments it has obtained over the past several years were historic and remarkable, and the Navy is much stronger than before, commanders said. They said that behind these achievements were the guidance and instructions from Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission. Xi has repeatedly stressed that a strong nation must be one that cares about the oceans and that a modern, powerful navy is an important sign of a top-tier military. He has made several inspection tours to naval units, giving explicit directives concerning a series of the Navy's significant policies, major military operations, key projects, vital tasks as well as outstanding obstacles. Modernization drive The PLA Navy was founded on April 23, 1949, in the township of Baimamiao, Jiangsu province. In 1989, the date was designated as the Navy's founding day. The service had long been constrained within China's coastal waters, mainly by the lack of modern hardware. But in recent years, the country's economic prosperity has allowed the government to substantially raise its investment in its military. The Navy now has two aircraft carriers, dozens of large amphibious assault ships, landing craft and destroyers, as well as new submarines. Lieutenant Commander Jiao Yunqiang, chief of combat operations on one of the Navy's best submarines, said that thanks to Xi's emphasis on combat training and the Navy's modernization endeavors, his submarine now spends a much longer time in deep ocean areas for patrols and training and has been equipped with many new weapons in recent years. "For example, in the past we only had torpedoes, but now we have commissioned cutting-edge cruise missiles that enable us to launch long-range strikes and also improve our safety," Jiao said. "I can proudly say that I have fired all of the Navy's submarine-based weapons." Having new weapons does not necessarily translate into stronger capability, Jiao said, adding that all crew members understand that stringent training and drills are the ultimate key to invincibility. "New personnel on the submarine, no matter whether they are officers or sailors, are required to learn and personally check layouts and detailed arrangements of their equipment so they are very familiar with the devices," he said. "We also use sophisticated ground-based simulation instruments to train our crew members." In combat exercises organized by the Navy, Jiao's submarine challenges warships and aircraft, and their confrontations were intense."Such war games are very similar to real combat. All of the involved units try their best to defeat others, which consequently will improve our crew members' skills and experience," Jiao added. Early next week, executives from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will participate in a Senate Judiciary hearing on algorithmic amplification (via Politico). The April 27th hearing will feature testimony from Monika Bickert, vice president for content policy at Facebook; Lauren Culbertson, head of US public policy at Twitter; and Alexandra Veitch, public policy lead for the Americas at YouTube. The panel will also call on two experts in Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist who has since become a critic of the tech industry, and Joan Donovan, research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media. In calling on policy executives, instead of the CEOs of each company, the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law is trying a different tack from previous high-profile Senate hearings on Big Tech. A group of congressional aides told Politico a future panel could involve Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Susan Wojcicki. However, the goal of next week's event is to focus on broad structural issues. "We are doing that in part because we want it to be not so much like a grievance session where people just complain about the platforms to CEOs," one of the aides told the publication. How recommendation algorithms could be fueling extremism and misinformation is something Democratic lawmakers have been thinking about for a while. In January, Representatives Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) sent a series of separate letters to the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, calling on them to make substantive changes to those systems. But some experts worry lawmakers may be missing some of the more important issues at play by focusing only on recommendation algorithms. In a Medium post she published a year before the Capitol attack, Stanford Ph.D candidate Becca Lewis made the case that all of YouTube, not just its recommendation algorithm, is a vehicle for spreading far-right propaganda. Yes, the software plays a part, but it's only one factor that amplifies those ideologies. The way YouTube promotes one-sided relationships between fans and content creators is another vital facet in how the platform can radicalize people. And that's something lawmakers might miss looking for an easy fix to extremism and misinformation. Correction 6:27PM ET: A previous version of this story mistakenly said Lewis published her article two days after the Capitol attack. She shared the piece almost exactly a year before the riot occurred. We regret the error. SEVEN Zimbabweans, including a man from Gweru who brutally murdered his wife and left their six-month-old son suckling from the corpse, have been placed on the International Police Organisation (Interpol) most wanted list for evading arrest after allegedly committing serious offences. Tanaka Rusike (33) from Gweru, who has been on the run since December 2017, is wanted for allegedly killing his spouse, Nozipho Tecla Mpofu, in cold blood and leaving their child suckling and cuddling his mothers corpse for nearly 24 hours before the crime was discovered. Alert neighbours discovered the child beside his mothers lifeless body after he started crying the following morning. The seven are among 7 600 criminals who have been placed on Interpols Red Notice and are wanted for committing offences ranging from terrorism, corruption, human trafficking and escaping lawful custody. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. The notice is issued for fugitives wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence after judicial proceedings in the country issuing the request. Interpol has issued 34 Red Notices for fugitives wanted in 15 SADC countries, with Eswatini (14) accounting for the most wanted fugitives followed by South Africa (9). However, Interpol does not publish the names of all wanted criminals, a deliberate tactic to avoid alerting fugitives who will likely limit travelling once they are aware of a Red Notice against their name. National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi told The Sunday Mail yesterday that Rusike has been on the run for more than three years. I can confirm that Tanaka Rusike of Gweru is on the Red Notice list, said Asst Comm Nyathi. He is wanted in connection with a murder case involving his wife which took place in 2017. Being placed on the Red Notice indicates that he is wanted and can be arrested anywhere in the world where he is located. Interpol is also looking for Bornface Madunusa (34) of Gokwe, who is wanted by police to answer to charges of murder and has also been placed on the most wanted list. In 2018, Madunusa, who was based at 5 Infantry, Battlefields in Kwekwe allegedly murdered his 28-year-old wife Eunice Marimbire by strangling her with a rope after accusing her of infidelity. He fled from the scene leaving Marimbires body lying on the floor, covered by blankets before it was discovered by his landlord the following morning. Moreblessing Mavuso (46) from Bulawayo, who is also on the Red Notice, is wanted by police in Eswatini for fraud and corruption. According to Eswatini media reports, Mavuso, who was married to former parliamentarian Machawe Mavuso, disappeared soon after she was charged for making fraudulent payments while working for the countrys Finance Ministry as an assistant accountant. Two of her accomplices who worked in the Ministry of Agriculture were arrested and appeared in court. Mavuso is alleged to have taken a three-week leave from work after being summoned by the Eswatini civil service commission to answer to the fraud charges. She, however, did not report back to work when her leave lapsed. South African police, through Interpol, are looking for Andrew Ndlovu (31), who also uses the alias Andrea Druza, from Gweru to answer to allegations of house breaking and murder. Xolani Dube (26) and Tumelo Moyo (27) are wanted in Botswana to answer to charges of escaping from lawful custody. Police are also looking for Travor Manata (42) from Hwedza who is wanted for allegedly committing murder. Interpol is the worlds largest international police organisation, with 190 member countries, including Zimbabwe, whose work includes facilitating cross-border collaboration between law enforcement organisations. Sunday Mail In addition to being a wine connoisseur, John Brown is also a novelist. His latest book is Augies World, a sequel to his debut novel, Augies War. You can find out more about his novels at wordsbyjohnbrown.com. For months, government ministers spewed vicious rhetoric about gay people. Trucks blasted anti-gay hate messages from loudspeakers on the streets of Polands cities. Finally fed up with an increasingly hostile environment for gay people in Poland under the governing Law and Justice party, Marta Malachowska, a 31-year-old who works in social media, decided to move to Berlin with her girlfriend in December. Last year the situation became too much for me, Malachowska said, adding that she had suffered a nervous breakdown during the countrys presidential election last summer when anti-LGBTQ rhetoric engaged in by the governing party became especially shrill in an effort to appeal to socially conservative voters. The final straw came when a close friend was assaulted because of her sexual orientation, she said. Arriving in Berlin, she knew she had made the right choice. The first thing I saw was a giant rainbow flag hanging across the street from our flat, she said. I take my girlfriends hand when we walk in the street, without thinking. She added: Back in Poland, there was always this fear inside me. Here, literally no one cares. People have for decades left Poland looking for opportunities elsewhere in Europe an exodus that grew after the country joined the European Union in 2004. But now their numbers are being added to by gay people fleeing an increasingly hostile environment in Poland. According to a 2020 survey by ILGA-Europe, an international gay rights organization, Poland now ranks as the most homophobic country in the European Union. Activists say that violence against gay people in Poland surged last year, and included cases of physical violence, insults and the destruction of property. Read | Poland to ban gays from adopting, even as single parents It is hard to know how many gay people there are in Poland, or how many are leaving. There is no polling on their views or preferences. And since they are unable to form civil unions, gay couples are practically invisible in official terms. The law does not recognize sexual orientation or gender as motivations for hate crimes, either. This is not an accident, said Jacek Dehnel, a writer who originally moved to Berlin for a literary scholarship with his husband, and decided to stay for good after watching what he called last summers vicious presidential campaign. If there are no statistics, there is no problem. But anecdotally, especially within the countrys well-educated gay urban communities, there are many stories of young LGBTQ professionals emigrating. Piotr Grabarczyk, a 31-year-old journalist, left Poland for Barcelona with his boyfriend last July, attracted by Spains more liberal way of life. Originally from a small town in northern Poland, he described his childhood as one of complete loneliness and alienation the internet was my only escape. When I found out gay marriage in Spain had been legal since 2005, it knocked me off my feet, he said. I was 16 in 2005. My life would have been so different if I lived in such a country. As he was preparing to leave Poland, a cardboard box filled with rainbow T-shirts, leaflets and educational books that he left outside his home in an upscale gated community in Warsaw was defaced with the message BURN LGBT! Also Read | Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions: Vatican I realised it must have been one of my neighbours, he said. We probably saw each other in the staircase, said hello. He said he received many messages from people across Poland, who would like to leave for the same reasons as us, but cannot because of money, family, or their career choices. Homosexuality has long been taboo in Poland, where the Roman Catholic Church, which plays a prominent role in the countrys social and political life, has worked hand in hand with the government to promote a conservative way of life. The church, which is particularly powerful in rural areas, has adopted an actively hostile attitude toward gay people. Dehnel, the writer who moved to Berlin last year, said it was the driving force of hate toward the gay community. Responding to a request for comment, the Catholic Church pointed to an official document outlining its position, stating that homosexual inclinations did not constitute moral guilt, but homosexual acts did. It declined to comment on hate speech employed by priests, and the accusation that they were contributing to the general deterioration of the safety of gay people in Poland. Marek Jedraszewski, Polands archbishop, has described LGBTQ people as an ideology, calling it a rainbow pest. The Law and Justice party, which has been in power since 2015, has whipped up its base by waging hate campaigns, first centering around migrants, and later the LGBTQ community. Neither the government nor the president responded to requests for comment. Also Read | More adult Americans are identifying as LGBT, Gallup poll finds In April 2019 Jaroslaw Kaczynski, chair of the Law and Justice party and Polands de facto leader, called homosexuality a threat to Polish identity, to our nation, to its existence, and thus to the Polish state. Kaczynskis message was amplified by the state-owned news media and other government figures, including local politicians. We should defend families from this type of corruption, depravation, absolutely immoral behavior, Przemyslaw Czarnek, a Law and Justice deputy, who has been promoted to the position of education minister, said in an interview with the public broadcaster last year. These people are not equal to normal people. Trucks funded by ultraconservative organizations have roamed the country, blaring slogans from speakers accusing gay people of pedophilia. There have been increasing cases of violence during pride marches, and against individuals. In one incident in a village in southern Poland, a young gay man was harassed by neighbors hurling homophobic abuse at him, and one tried to poison his dog. In March 2021, another gay man was verbally attacked and then stabbed for holding hands with his partner in Warsaw. As a gay person in Poland, Grabarczyk, the journalist who moved to Barcelona, said that psychological violence was an everyday experience for him. You are constantly reminded that you will never get the same rights as everyone else, that you are not an equal citizen, he said. Also Read | UK to open first LGBT+ retirement home as market grows Emboldened by the narrative coming from the countrys top officials, nearly 100 local governments declared themselves free from LGBT ideology, making gay Poles feel unwelcome in their own towns. The legal status of LGBTQ people in Poland has not changed under the rule of the Law and Justice party. They never had the right to enter civil partnerships or get married. But what changed was the viciousness of the rhetoric at the highest echelons of government and in the state-controlled news media, activists say. And policy could yet change. In a bid to get re-elected last year, President Andrzej Duda signed a draft law that would amend the constitution to ban adoptions by gay people. Before Malachowska, the social media specialist, moved to Berlin, she was concerned about the practical implications of the legal limbo she and her girlfriend would be in if they stayed in Poland. There, they would not be considered next of kin in a medical emergency, or be able to inherit from each other. In Poland, she also began to get emotionally attached to the idea of marrying her partner. We already checked how to do it in Berlin, and I started visualizing how it would look like the first time in my life I dared to even imagine that, she said. While she is happy to be in Berlin, she is sad that her grandmother still doesnt know about her sexual orientation. I told her I am moving to Berlin with my flatmate, she said. It feels awful to lie to my closest family. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., the country has waged an ongoing war in Afghanistan, a conflict as widely misunderstood as it is divisive. As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, PW looks at forthcoming books that aim to surface new information about Americas Forever War and tell the story of the conflict from atypical viewpoints. I heard the news today, oh boy History buffs and news junkies who want to understand how the U.S. got into the longest, most expensive war in historyand why American troops are still on the groundwill find books offering diverse, previously unheard perspectives. But why are these stories coming to light now? We were lied to, for 20 years, about what we knew and when we knew it, says Priscilla Painton, executive editor, nonfiction, at Simon & Schuster, which is releasing The Afghanistan Papers by Washington Post investigative reporter Craig Whitlock in September. Craig had to sue the federal government twice to get the confidential documents that anchor this book; we now have the advantage of two decades of research. The great thing about history is that by definition you go deeper with time. CNN national security analyst Peter L. Bergen has written several books on al-Qaeda, including 2010s The Longest War, which PW called one of the more useful analyses of the ongoing conflict in a starred review. His next title is the August S&S release The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden changed the course of our history, and we continue to battle his heirs today, but hes an obscure figure, a caricature, Painton says. Our feelings about Osama bin Laden havent changed, but theres a willingness to understand where he came from and who he really was. Painton says Bergens history, like others, benefits from the passage of time. There are people, intelligence officers and so on, who couldnt talk five or 10 years ago, but will now. Papers have been recovered at bin Ladens compound that werent available before. Vanessa Mobley, v-p and executive editor at Little, Brown, points out that newly available interviews and first-person accounts can provide a human-interest angle to help civilian readers understand the scope and impact of the war. She acquired First Casualty (Sept.) by veteran foreign correspondent Toby Harnden, about Johnny Mike Spann, a CIA paramilitary officer who was a member of the first team of American soldiers dropped behind enemy lines after 9/11. Were hoping to appeal to what we expect will be interest in understanding the early days of the war, now that we have the distance and perspective, and participants willing to speak, Mobley notes. Harnden interviewed Spanns surviving family and members of Team Alpha to offer what his editor calls a human, first-person perspective. It shows that the task of waging a war on terror was so vast in its scope that to actually execute it was very difficult for Americas finest fighters and minds. A complicated legacy The anniversary presents an opportunity not just for looking back but also for readers to come to terms with ongoing fallout from the war. For instance, says Hachette Books senior editor Sam Raim, Its been years since Guantanamo was at the forefront of our minds. It does, and should, make us feel guilty. In Augusts Dont Forget Us Here, Mansoor Adayfi recounts his 14-year imprisonment at the infamous detention camp, the tactics that kept him and his fellow prisoners alive, and the PTSD that he now suffers from. The story is not just, heres what we did to those people, says Raim, who acquired the book. It talks instead about what those people did. They survived. They built a brotherhood, taught classes, made art. He doesnt hide the terrible; he makes it a way for people to engage with the story. The effect, he explains, humanizes the detainees. We have to get past this idea of litigating guilt and innocencewere beyond that conversation, Raim says. This is a place that never should have existed; the only way to rectify it is to close it. Scott Fraser, publisher at Dundurn Press, first met Phil Halton, author of Mays Blood Washing Blood, when Halton was his commanding officer in the Canadian army. The book delves into the 100 years of internal Afghan conflict that led, ultimately, to the 9/11 attacks. In order to understand Afghanistan, you have to look at it as a social conflict rather than as a military conflict, Fraser says. NATO countries see it this way: as long as we have enough soldiers and equipment and can achieve strategic objectives, weve succeeded. But this is a social conflict internal to Afghanistan, a tension between tradition and modernity. In addition to taking the long view of history, Fraser explains, its important to remember that though many vividly recall the event that precipitated the current war in Afghanistan, not everyone does. There are now young adults with no firsthand memory of 9/11, he notes. We spent billions of dollars on a war we dont understand. We have to keep the Afghanistan war in our cultural memories, so we avoid remaking the same mistakes. We need a little more international humility. Dave McBride, editor-in-chief of social sciences at Oxford University Press, agrees that public education on the war is lacking. The American audience doesnt know how many mistakes, how many shortsighted decisions, we made along the way, he says. In July, Oxford is releasing The American War in Afghanistan by historian Carter Malkasian, a former adviser to U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan. We pitched the idea of a big book about this war to Carter, McBride notes. Hes fluent in Pashto and spent two years in the Garmser district in Afghanistan with the State Department. He knows the people, knows how the war is seen within Afghanistan, and why, for example, people supported the Taliban. For the St. Martins release The Long War (Oct.), veteran BBC foreign correspondent David Loyn interviewed eight generalsseven U.S., one Britishwho led the war against the Taliban; Loyns previous books include Frontline: Reporting from the Worlds Deadliest Places (a thrilling read, per PWs 2012 review). Readers will see the unique challenges in this war, says Marc Resnick, executive editor and v-p at St. Martins Press, of Loyns latest. The author underscores just how hard the task before Americas military was, giving readers a firm basis from which to judge. Theres a tremendous audience in America who always supported the war, Resnick notes. Both to exact revenge, and also to help the Afghan people. The story was somewhat different across the Atlantic, says Henry Wilson, publishing manager at the U.K.s Pen & Sword Books, which specializes in military history. This wasnt a popular war, and people didnt necessarily want to read about it, he notes. In the May Pen & Sword release Special Forces Interpreter, Eddie Idrees, a pseudonymous Afghan-born refugee to Pakistan, shares his experiences as an interpreter for the U.S. Special Forces and the British Special Air Service. This is an unusual angle, Wilson says. We havent seen other cases where Afghan interpreters could record their stories. Amid the uncertainty around the timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from AfghanistanPresident Biden recently moved the date from May 1 to September 11editors say that readers will be looking to these and other books for a richer, more nuanced understanding of the past two decades of warfare. Liz Scheier is a writer, editor, and product developer in Washington, D.C. Below, more on 9/11 anniversary books. The Things We Carry: 9/11 Anniversary Books New books delve into the complexities of America's post-9/11 national identity. Remembering the Day: 9/11 Anniversary Books A selection of new titles shine a light on little-known aspects of the events of Sept. 11, 2001. NAMPULA, Mozambique, April 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As thousands of people in northern Mozambique flee deadly fighting between government forces and an armed group linked to ISIL (ISIS), Ambassador Aviation (AA), in partnership with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), is flying survivors to safety. On March 31, two AA pilots arrived in Pemba to assist with the coordination of evacuations from Afungi. The Afungi peninsula, outside of Palma, is heavily guarded due to the construction of a major liquid natural gas plant by French company, Total. Private security forces, local police and the Mozambiquan military maintain control of the area that includes an airstrip. On April 1, AA made two initial round-trip flights, approximately 50 minutes one-way, evacuating 13 adults, 12 children and six babies. These flights continued in the following days and weeks. From March 31 thru April 12, AA conducted 27 evacuation fights for 219 passengers. AA is working in cooperation with VAMOZ (Voluntarios Anonimos de Mocambique), a humanitarian group. VAMOZ vets and prioritizes people for evacuation from Afungi to Pemba. They also organize food aid that AA delivers to Afungi. AA staff in Pemba noted several happy reunions as new arrivals connected with those who were previously evacuated. For the wounded, an ambulance awaited their arrival in Pemba. A Cessna Grand Caravan is being used to fly evacuees from the area. The airplane is one of two that serves MAFs program based in Nampula, Mozambique, located south of the conflict region. MAFs Canadian headquarters is located in Guelph, ON. For more than 75 years, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has been using aviation and technology to reach isolated communities in the farthest corners of the earth. Today, we partner with over 1,500 organizations to deliver support, hope, healing, spiritual care, and community development to thousands of communities where flying is not a luxury but a lifeline. Photos of the evacuation flights are available up on request. indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo (second from left) and Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (first from right) join other leaders and officials from ASEAN states at a special meeting on Myanmar, at the blocs headquarters in Jakarta, April 24, 2021. Southeast Asian leaders called for an immediate cessation to killings in Myanmar and the opening of ASEAN-brokered talks between its military regime and parallel civilian government, as they and the Burmese junta chief met in Jakarta for an emergency summit Saturday on that countrys post-coup strife. A statement from the chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at the end of the one-day talks, which lasted about three hours, indicated ASEAN would appoint a special envoy to facilitate talks aimed at a peaceful solution in the interests of the people. It said the regional bloc would also provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar. We, as an ASEAN family, had a close discussion on the recent developments in Myanmar and expressed our deep concern on the situation in the country, including reports of fatalities and escalation of violence, said the chairmans statement issued by Brunei, the current holder of ASEANs annual rotating chair. In the blocs pursuit to strengthen our regional solidarity and resilience, we reiterated that the political stability in ASEAN Member States is essential to achieving a peaceful, stable and prosperous ASEAN Community, the statement also said. It went on to say that the member-states reaffirmed a collective commitment to the principles enshrined in the 54-year-old blocs charter, including adherence to the rule of law, good governance, the principles of democracy and constitutional government, respect for fundamental freedoms, and the promotion and protection of human rights. The Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar called for the immediate cessation of violence with all parties exercising utmost restraint; a constructive dialogue among all parties; the mediation of such talks by a special envoy of the ASEAN chair, with assistance from the blocs secretary general; provisions of humanitarian assistance coordinated by ASEAN; and a visit to Myanmar by an ASEAN delegation, headed by the special envoy, to meet with all parties. However, the five points did not include the release of political prisoners as the president of Indonesia the largest country in ASEAN and the prime minister of Malaysia had demanded in their speeches during Saturdays summit. The statement, nonetheless, was the strongest collective one issued to date on the crisis in Myanmar, and a rare show of consensus that tested the 10-nation blocs founding principle of non-interference in members-states domestic affairs. "Yes, it is true that we as ASEAN Member States uphold the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other ASEAN Member States, as embedded in the ASEAN Charter," Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said during his official remarks at the summit, according to a copy of his speech. "However, that does not mean that we should ignore a serious situation that jeopardizes the peace, security, and stability of ASEAN and the wider region. This principle of non-interference is not for us to hide behind, it cannot be a reason for our inaction." Although the chairman's statement said that the ASEAN family had agreed to the five points, it was not immediately known how Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the Burmese junta chief, whose forces have killed hundreds of civilian protesters since the Feb. 1 coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyis civilian government, responded. Min Aung Hlaing did not give a formal statement, according to Agence France-Presse. The meeting, which was the first high-level in-person meeting among ASEAN leaders since the coronavirus pandemic broke out early last year, was closed to the press because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols. "It's beyond our expectation," Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters after the summit. "We tried not to accuse his side too much because we dont care whos causing it," Reuters quoted Muhyiddin as saying. "We just stressed that the violence must stop. For him, its the other side thats causing the problems. But he agreed that violence must stop." Blunt words from Indonesia's leader Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo was blunt in his remarks during the meeting, which he later conveyed during a post-summit news conference. The situation in Myanmar is something that is unacceptable and should not continue, he told reporters. Violence must be stopped and democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar must be restored immediately. Jokowi said that at the meeting, Indonesia demanded Myanmars junta make three commitments: end its use of force, start an inclusive dialogue among parties by releasing political detainees at once and open access to humanitarian aid, under the coordination by ASEANs secretary general. Indonesia is committed to overseeing the continuation of this commitment so that the political crisis in Myanmar can be resolved immediately, Jokowi said. In his speech, Prime Minister Muhyiddin echoed Jokowis remarks. Apart from immediately stopping the violence, my second point is to call for a meaningful, inclusive political dialogue which can only take place with the prompt and unconditional release of political detainees, Muhyiddin said. This would be a good starting point and ease international pressure on Myanmar and ASEAN, he said. Muhyiddin said the ASEAN chair and secretary general must be given access into Myanmar to meet with all parties. This is much needed for ASEAN to provide an honest and unbiased observation. If ASEAN is allowed access, this can demonstrate to the world that it is on track in helping Myanmar restore normalcy in the country, the Malaysian PM said. The leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia had called for the emergency summit after the junta failed to heed demands to end the violence and release political detainees, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (left) arrives at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, April 24, 2021. [Handout photo from Indonesian Presidential Palace] Parallel government wants action Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, criticized ASEAN for failing to state plans to address more 3330 political prisoners, including senior political figures arrested after the coup, being held by the junta. Not only were the representatives of the Myanmar people not invited to the Jakarta meeting but they also got left out of the consensus that ASEAN is now patting itself on the back for reaching, he said. The lack of a clear timeline for action, and ASEAN's well known weakness in implementing the decisions and plans that it issues, are real concerns that no one should overlook, Robertson said in a statement from Bangkok. Min Aung Hlaing arrived at Jakarta airport on a Myanmar Airways International flight in the early afternoon. The general headed to the ASEAN Secretariat building, where the meeting was being held, after undergoing a COVID-19 test, the Indonesian presidents office said. Apart from the junta chief, the other ASEAN states were represented in person by their top leaders, except for the Philippines, Thailand and Laos, which all sent their foreign ministers. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte cited their preoccupation with worsening COVID-19 outbreaks at home as their reason for skipping the meeting. Also on Saturday in Jakarta, Christine Schraner Burgener, the United Nations special envoy on Myanmar, met with Bui Thanh Son, the foreign minister of ASEAN member-state Vietnam, on the summits side lines, Vietnamese media reported. The U.N. envoy was going to the Indonesian capital to engage ASEAN leaders in discussions focusing on a political solution to the crisis in Myanmar, the world body had said earlier this week. Human rights groups, meanwhile, had criticized ASEAN for allowing the Burmese junta chief to represent Myanmar at the summit and exclude officials from the newly formed parallel National Unity Government (NUG) from attending it. In a statement posted late Saturday on Facebook, the NUG said it welcomed the encouraging news that ASEAN leaders have reached consensus that the military violence in Myanmar must stop and political prisoners be released. But it was not immediately clear whether the parallel civilian government was responding to the ASEAN chairmans statement or to the speech by Jokowi. We appreciate the strong words from President Widodo of Indonesia calling for the release of our heroes, Dr. Sasa, the union minister of international cooperation and spokesman for the NUG, said in the statement. We look forward to firm action by ASEAN to follow up its decisions and to restore democracy and freedom for our people and for the region. HRW's Robertson stressed that "there is a strong need now to continue the pressure on the Myanmar military junta, expanding the targeted economic sanctions on top junta leaders and military owned companies, and going after the oil and gas revenue that continues to fill the junta's coffers." Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Clarifying the ongoing controversy over Serum Institute of India (SII)'s two prices for its COVID vaccine (COVISHIELD), SII CEO Adar Poonawala on Saturday, issued a statement stating that the dosage was priced at 1/3rd of the free market price. Refuting reports of 'overpricing', SII stated that the initial price on supply of vaccines has been kept lowest in India. SII has also promised that only a limited portion of its vaccines will be sold to pvt hospitals at Rs 600, assuring maximum supplies to Centre and state govt. SII has also urged Centre to open up the market to other global vaccines to accelerate and advance immunisation program. Serum refutes 'overpricing' charges We at @SerumInstIndia have for the past five decades been at the forefront of supplying vaccines and saving lives globally. We care about and respect every human life and strongly believe in transparency, and thus we hope our statement below can clear any confusions. pic.twitter.com/YQ3x38BuFL SerumInstituteIndia (@SerumInstIndia) April 24, 2021 Centre Vs Cong on vaccine prices Earlier in the day, the Union Health Ministry has stated that the Centre's procurement price for both COVID-19 vaccines remains Rs 150 per dose, which will be freely supplied to state govts. Congress veteran Jairam Ramesh has alleged that the price of COVISHIELD (Rs 400) for the new government procurement is higher than what governments of the US, UK, EU, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and SA are paying. Stating that the vaccine, which is made in India have a high price for India itself, the Congress leader urged the Centre to renegotiate the price of Serum Insititute's COVID-19 vaccine. Several Opposition parties have demanded the same pricing for all state govts and Central govts, with some demanding free vaccines for all. As of date Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana and Sikkim have announced free vaccines to all adults above 18. Vaccination opened up for 18+ On Monday, Centre decided that everyone above the age of 18 to be eligible to get vaccine against Covid-19 and vaccine manufacturers will be incentivized to further scale up their production, as well as attract new national and international players. Vaccine manufacturers have been empowered to release up to 50% of their supply to state govts and in the open market at a pre-declared price. Private vaccination providers shall transparently declare their self-set vaccination price and eligibility through this channel would be opened up to all adults, i.e. everyone above the age of 18 years. Decentralising the vaccination process, Centre has empowered states to procure additional vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers, as well as open up vaccination to any category of people above the age of 18 for the same. The Centre's vaccination drive will continue as before, providing free vaccination for essential and priority populations as defined earlier i.e HCWs, FLWs and population above 45 years, with administering the second dose on priority. Govt of India, from its share, will allocate vaccines to States/UTs based on criteria of extent of infection (number of active COVID cases) & performance (speed of administration). After Centre's 'liberalised' COVD vaccination plan, the Serum Institute of India (SII) stated that it would offer its vaccines to the state govt at Rs 400 and to private hospitals at Rs 600. A Sydney couple who built a staggering commercial property portfolio worth more than $23million within ten years have opened up on their success and shared insight into how others can do the same. Scott and Mina O'Neill, 34 and 33, bought their first residential investment property at 23 soon after completing their university studies and gaining full-time employment. Since then, the couple have taken 'calculated risks' and implemented 'strategic investing strategies' to grow a portfolio of 33 properties spanning across four states and turning over $1million each year before mortgage payments. Scott, who grew up in the Sutherland Shire and was originally an engineer, told Daily Mail Australia their success stemmed from a 'lightbulb moment' that made them look 'beyond the backyard' and into business properties. 'We soon realised that you can invest outside of where you live. You can look to different asset classes to get you there, and discover that the local residential market is not the only option,' he said. Scott and Mina O'Neill, 34 and 33, (pictured) own a huge commercial investment portfolio now worth $23million At age 23 the couple bought their first residential property (pictured) in Sydney soon after graduating from university By 28 the pair had 'retired' and reached financial freedom - giving them the option to work when they wanted and travel overseas often. By purchasing the right properties at the right time, the pair said they soon fell on to a 'winning formula' that led to their staggering success. At 26 they bought their first commercial property in Perth worth $700,000 - a mini-supermarket with a fish and chip shop attached. 'Every time we bought in an area that was growing in value it would generate a positive cash flow; it's almost as if we were buying ourselves a pay rise,' Scott said. By 28 the pair had 'retired' and reached financial freedom - giving them the option to work when they wanted and travel overseas often The first house was originally worth between $400,000 and $500,000. But the couple then turned to looking 'beyond their backyard' and into the commercial market From there the couple used the equity to purchase more properties around the country - and soon enough they had listings in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and regional Queensland. The property types range from retail spaces, food stores and warehouses, and they also have a few residential properties. On top of the cash flow, they pair were depositing an amount of their savings into the investments. Their passive rental income generates more than $450,000 per year after mortgage costs and additional ownership expenses. Their passive rental income generates more than $450,000 per year after mortgage costs and additional ownership expenses (pictured: one of the first properties bought in Queensland) Scott said the commercial property market isn't spoken about enough compared to the residential market, but he claims you can generate more income from the corporate buildings will 'less complications' (pictured: a recent Queensland purchase) Scott said the commercial property market isn't spoken about enough compared to the residential market, but he claims you can generate more income from the corporate buildings will 'less complications'. 'Some people say "if you don't live in it, it's not as useful", but every single online business needs logistics, such as truck movements, warehouses, a place to store their stock and materials,' he said. 'Office towers, retail spaces, industrial areas and warehouses are all owned by someone - and many are everyday people. Scott told Daily Mail Australia their success stemmed from a 'lightbulb moment' 'We're just trying to make it a little more mainstream because everyone always talks about residential, but there's another half of the market that no-one talks about even though it's just as big.' But there are some weaknesses to the little-known option, as last year office buildings were impacted by Covid-19 with employees working from home. Over the past six years the couple have helped over 2,000 clients start investing in commercial locations around the country. Over the past six years the couple have helped over 2,000 clients start investing in commercial locations around the country 'All of the knowledge and experience we have built up over the years informs the way we help our clients through our business and in turn inspired us to write this book - in which we offer guidance to help others on their own journey to wealth and independence,' he said Last year during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown the couple wrote a book to help others gain an understanding of commercial investing Last year during the Covid-19 pandemic the couple wrote a book, Rethink Property Investing, to help others gain an understanding of commercial investing and passive income. 'All of the knowledge and experience we have built up over the years informs the way we help our clients through our business and in turn inspired us to write this book - in which we offer guidance to help others on their own journey to wealth and independence,' he said. The book priced at $29.95 touches on a range of relevant topics, including the different asset classes, how to calculate yield and the best way to negotiate a contact. 'The people who look into commercial are often business owners - but you don't have to own a business to buy into commercial properties,' he said. ZIMBABWE, reeling under a protracted liquidity crunch and in dire straits, is expected to get 800 million Special Drawings Rights (SDR) about US$1.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)s new US$650 billion economic rescue package for the global economy ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. The bailout the biggest SDR package in history will boost liquidity for struggling countries, without adding to debt burdens. Zimbabwe badly needs that. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva is set to table the fresh US$650 billion proposal before the funds executive board meeting in June for final approval. Member states have already approved the package, making the board meeting a mere formality. A detailed plan will then be developed before disbursements, which could start in August. An IMF source in Harare told The NewsHawks this week that Zimbabwe, which has not received normal funding from the lender since 1999, will get a lifeline from this huge windfall. The IMF managing director has been clear on this issue: US$650 billion will be availed soon to all 191 member states of the fund. This is different from the US$250 billion provided for Covid-19 and economic stabilisation last year from which poor nations in arrears like Zimbabwe were not eligible, the source said. In this case, all member countries who are part of the IMF SDR arrangement, including Zimbabwe, will benefit. Zimbabwe will get 800 million in SDRs and at the current exchange rate of SDR1: US$1.43, this means it will receive US$1.1 billion. The money is expected to come after the June board meeting that will give final approval to the package. The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries official reserves. So far, SDR 204.2 billion (equivalent to about US$293 billion) have been allocated to members, including SDR 182.6 billion (US$250 billion) allocated in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis. The value of the SDR is based on a basket of five currencies the US dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen and the British pound sterling. US$1.1 billion will be a huge bonanza for Zimbabwe which has been struggling for years to pay off arrears to international financial institutions (IFIs) the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) to secure US$2 billion in new funding. The doomed Lima Plan was about that, but Zimbabwe only managed to pay the IMF US$107.9 million in arrears, although IFIs demand that their arrears be paid simultaneously the pari passu rule. Ditched by IFIs for defaulting on arrears since 1999, Zimbabwe still owes US$7.66 billion to various creditors, including the World Bank, European Investment Bank, the Paris Club and AfDB. The US$1.1 billion bailout will thus come in handy for the broke Zimbabwean government. However, there are concerns governance and accountability could take a back seat during the Covid-19 crisis, especially in corrupt states like Zimbabwe which have been rocked by serious Covid-19-related corruption scandals. Guidelines on the utilisation of SDRs are being developed. The global lender-of-last-resort still wants to release huge funding to help Africa cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Unemployment, poverty and national debt have risen dramatically in many countries on the continent, including Zimbabwe. This will not be the first time Zimbabwe is getting a windfall from the IMF. In 2009, it got US$500 million, which was part of a US$250 billion bailout, in SDRs in the aftermath of the global financial crisis which triggered an economic meltdown in vast swathes of the world economy. Georgieva and her board are the last step in the process before money is released. Members states have already approved the package, making the board meeting a formality. An IMF source in Harare told The NewsHawks this week Georgieva was keen to push through the process to ensure a US$650 billion increase in reserves, the largest in the funds history. The move will provide badly needed reserves for poor countries struggling with economic turbulence and deep recessions fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. The money is also needed to buy millions of doses of vaccines to fight the virus. By comparison, to combat the global recession that followed the 2008 financial crisis, the IMF shelled out US$250 billion in SDRs. Last year, the IMF provided US$250 billion, a quarter of its US$1 trillion lending capacity, available to member countries. As part of the Covid-19-related rapid arrangements, borrowing countries committed to undertake governance measures to promote accountable and transparent use of these resources. United States Treasury secretary Janet Yellen told the IMF panel recently that the SDR increase would provide a much-needed boost to global reserves. She said it would be important for rich countries who do not need the increase in resources to supply that extra support to poorer nations. The idea of increasing IMF reserves gained support when US President Joe Bidens administration endorsed the plan in February, marking a reversal from the Donald Trump governments position which had opposed the effort. Republican lawmakers in Congress have raised objections to the increase in IMF resources, saying the hike would benefit countries seen as US adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran, among others. Zimbabwe, which is under US financial restrictions, is considered a pariah state in America. It was previously branded an outpost of tyranny by former president George Bush. Georgieva, a Harvard-trained Bulgarian economist, recently issued a statement after an informal meeting of the IMF board. I am very encouraged by initial discussions on a possible SDR allocation of US$650 billion. By addressing the long-term global need for reserve assets, a new SDR allocation would benefit all our member countries and support the global recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. It would also be a powerful signal of the IMF memberships determination to do everything possible to overcome the worst recession since the Great Depression, the IMF said. To this end, executive directors conveyed broad support among fund members for IMF staff to formulate a proposal for a new SDR allocation equivalent to US$650 billion to provide additional liquidity to the global economic system by supplementing the reserve assets of the funds 190 member countries. I intend to present by June a formal proposal to the executive board to consider a new allocation of US$650 billion, based on an assessment of IMF member countries long-term global reserve needs, and consistent with the Articles of Agreement and the IMFs mandate. IMF staff will develop new measures to enhance transparency and accountability in the use of SDRs, while preserving the reserve asset characteristic of the SDR. In parallel, staff would also explore options for members with strong financial positions to reallocate SDRs to support vulnerable and low-income countries. If approved, a new allocation of SDRs would add a substantial, direct liquidity boost to countries, without adding to debt burdens. It would also free up badly needed resources for member countries to help fight the pandemic, including to support vaccination programs and other urgent measures. And it would complement the range of tools deployed by the IMF to support our membership in this time of crisis. NewsHawks The first truck in the world was built by Gottlieb Daimler in 1896 The first truck was built in 1896, based on a converted horse-drawn goods wagon Fast progress to the first range of trucks at the turn of the century One of the greatest talents of inventor Gottlieb Daimler was finding new areas of application for his engine. He invented the motor cycle, then went to the motorised trolley car, a motorised firefighting hose and then, almost inevitably, to the truck in the year 1896. The first truck in the world in 1896 Pragmatism was behind the design of the first truck in the world, which looked like a cart with an engine and without a drawbar. The engine, called "Phoenix", was a four-horsepower-strong two-cylinder engine located at the rear, with a displacement of 1.06 litres, originating from a car. Daimler linked it to the rear axle by means of a belt. There there were two helical springs to protect the engine, which was sensitive to vibrations. The vehicle rolled on hard iron wheels, after all. Daimler steered the leaf-sprung front axle by means of a chain. The driver sat up front on the driving seat as with a carriage. The engine was at the rear of the vehicle. The fuel consumption was approximately six litres of petrol per 100 kilometres. In the terminology of the day, that would be "0.4 kilogrammes per horsepower and hour". Far-sighted technology in the first truck It is noteworthy that the first truck already anticipated 125 years before the planetary axles that are still common today in construction vehicles: because the belt drive sent the power from the engine to a shaft fitted transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, both ends of which were fitted with a pinion. Each tooth of this pinion meshed with the internal teeth of a ring gear which was firmly connected with the wheel to be driven. This is how the planetary axles of the heavy Mercedes-Benz Trucks up to the current Arocs series have worked in principle. The basis of today's truck is created In 1898, for example, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach shifted the two-cylinder Phoenix engine of the six-hp vehicle, which had been located at the rear, to a position under the driver's seat, with the four-gear belt drive also being transferred forward. However, this solution still left a certain amount to be desired. In the same year, the truck was then given the face which clearly distinguished it from the car and was to level the path towards ever-increasing output and payload: the engine was then placed right at the front, in front of the front axle. It conveyed its ten horsepower via a four-gear belt drive and a front-to-rear longitudinal shaft and pinion to the internal ring gears on the iron wheels at the rear. For these vehicles, Daimler made the crucial improvement not only to the drivetrain, but to the engine itself. Instead of a hot tube ignition, the new low-voltage magnetic ignition from Bosch ignited the petrol-air mixture in the cylinders of the 2.2-litre two-cylinder engine, and the radiator had a completely new design. The first customer test at a brickworks However, Gottlieb Daimler probably because of the large number of innovations was cautious at first before presenting his new five-tonner to the public. The vehicle which was highly modern at the time underwent "Customer testing" which is how the test procedure would be called today. For months, Daimler subjected his new five-tonner to the daily grind of work at a brick factory in Heidenheim, and he painstakingly remedied the shortcomings it showed. Daimler trucks have always been international The first purchaser of the very first truck came from the home of industrialisation: England. There, steam-driven vehicles had long since made the shift from rails to the road, and did not die out until the 1950s. It was a good thing that the Red Flag Act was abolished in 1896. Nevertheless, it was not until 1901 that a truck proved itself to be superior to a contemporary steam-driven wagon in a comparison test carried out in Liverpool. In Paris too the Daimler truck was a welcome guest. Gottlieb Daimler undertook the long journey to vibrant Paris to publicise his new product at the world exhibition. There, an automobile show was held in the Tuileries park, following a contest organised by the Automobile Association of France on the subject of "motorised vehicles for city travel"; at the exhibition, Gottlieb Daimler presented his new five-tonner and a four-horsepower-strong belt-driven vehicle. "Huge crowds of people, many vehicles of all kinds and our truck are very popular," Daimler's wife Lina noted with satisfaction in June 1898. The Daimler Manufacturing Company ( DMFG ) was an American production company from 1898 to 1907. From 1888 to 1898, the company was known as the Daimler Motor Company (DMC), founded as part of a partnership between Gottlieb Daimler of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft and William Steinway of the piano manufacturers Steinway & Sons. The company, with its headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, New York City, close to the headquarters of Steinway in Astoria, sold Daimler engines for yachts and launches as well as for commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks. Long-term production organisation - Daimler builds trucks in Berlin-Marienfelde And, as with Benz, the commercial vehicle production of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) did not remain at the headquarters for long. In 1897 the chairman of the board of DMG, Max von Duttenhofer, had behind Daimler's back sealed a pact with the Berlin company Ad. Altmann & Co., which was to set up further large production premises for motorised vehicles. In February 1899 the factory started production based on Daimler's latest design plans and patents, creating stiff competition for the Daimler vehicles made in Stuttgart. Cars with electric motors based on patents of the American manufacturer Columbia were included in the range, as were carriage-like passenger cars and a wide variety of commercial vehicles. After the death of Gottlieb Daimler in 1900, the DMG shareholders' meeting resolved to take over the company located in Berlin-Marienfelde as the Berlin-Marienfelde branch. Now considerably larger, there followed a division of roles within the corporation: Cannstatt and shortly afterwards the new factory in Unterturkheim, Stuttgart, concentrated on building cars, whereas Marienfelde took care of trucks and buses. The Daimler truck program from 1899 to 1905 The second generation of Daimler trucks manufactured from 1899 to 1903 consisted of new basic types with a payload of between 1.25 and 5.0 tonnes, for which two-cylinder and four-cylinder engines from four to twelve horsepower were sufficient. In detail, the almost complete range of the DMG in 1905 comprised: light vans with three payload classes from 500 kg 1000 kg to 1500 kg payload, powered by two-cylinder engines with eight to sixteen hp. Four-cylinder engines with 16 to 35 hp powered the heavy-duty class with two to five tonnes payload. The first trucks made by Karl Benz belong to the gene pool of today's trucks: Benz motorised trucks In 1900, Karl Benz took the plunge, progressing from the van to the real truck. The first range consisted of three models: the lightest version (1250 kilogrammes payload) was powered by a five to seven-hp-strong one-cylinder engine, the medium-duty version for 2.50 tonnes payload used a ten-hp-strong one-cylinder engine and the heavy-duty model for 5.0 tonnes payload had a two-cylinder Contra engine which achieved fourteen horsepower. What all three had in common was that the engine was no longer in the rear, but at the front, and positioned horizontally, and it drove the rear axle via a four-gear transmission and chain. The basis for the truck was prepared The basis for the truck was now prepared. The Industrial Revolution picked up speed and mass-produced goods came on the markets. The demand for distribution haulage grew. In 1871 the customs restrictions in the German Empire had been abolished. The history of road transport and the history of trade and road-building are more closely linked than generally thought. WASHINGTON State Senator Troy Carter won a special U.S. House election Saturday in Louisiana, a triumph for the pragmatic wing of the Democratic Party. Mr. Carter defeated State Senator Karen Carter Peterson, who ran to the left, capturing 55 percent to her 45 percent with about 80 percent of precincts reporting in a Black-majority district that stretches from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. His victory represents a vote of confidence in the previous occupant of the seat, former Representative Cedric Richmond, who endorsed Mr. Carter before resigning to become a senior adviser to President Biden. Ms. Peterson and Mr. Carter, both veteran Democrats, positioned themselves in very different ways. Winning the support of an array of progressives, Ms. Peterson sought to link Mr. Carter to former President Donald J. Trump, a deeply unpopular figure in Louisianas only majority-minority district. The gender reveal party of a New Hampshire family was so impactful that it triggered earthquake warnings and could be seen from across the state border, according to police. Gender reveal explosion at New Hampshire quarry rattles towns in 2 states https://t.co/0wA7TMxrX2 pic.twitter.com/7ZCubXZzd8 The Oregonian (@Oregonian) April 22, 2021 A loud explosion was reported to police in Kingston, a town near the Massachusetts border, on Tuesday evening. The blast was strong enough to cause tremors that people thought was an earthquake. Earthquake like Tremor Even though there were no earthquakes in the area, police were able to pinpoint the cause of the ground shaking and noisy explosion: people announcing the birth of their child. The gender reveal party was held in a Torromeo Industries, Inc quarry in Kingston, New Hampshire. The guests set about revealing their infant will be born with male genitalia by detonating some Tannerite. Related Article: Supercomputer's 700,000 Year-Earthquake Simulation Could Predict When it'll Hit 80lbs Explosion According to investigators, the explosion was caused by 80 pounds (36 kilograms) of Tannerite. According to police, the family believed the quarry would be the safest place to light the explosive, which is commonly sold over the counter as a weapon for gun practice. Property Damage According to NBC 10, Boston, nearby people said the explosion shook their homes and claimed property damage. Sara Taglieri, who lives near the quarry, told the television station, "We saw this God-awful blast." "It tore pictures off our walls... I'm all for hilarity and the like, but that was ridiculous." Neighbors recorded fractures in their foundations as a result of the blast, according to Taglieri's husband, Matt. According to the police, no one was hurt. The individual who purchased and exploded the explosives has surrendered to authorities. He remained unidentified. Possible Charges According to NBC Los Angeles, police were doing an investigation and would make a decision on charges. Dangerous Gender Reveal Parties The explosion was the latest in a string of shocking gender revelations. Around a decade ago, the tradition of expecting parents to announce the sex of their soon-to-be-born babies in elaborate ways became common. According to Fox News, two pilots were killed in March when their plane crashed into the waters off Cancun while broadcasting a pink material as part of a gender reveal. A smoke-generating pyrotechnic system used as part of a gender reveal party in California in 2020 sparked a fire that burned over 7,000 acres (2,800 hectares) of the forest. Dennis Dickey, an off-duty US border patrol agent, caused $8 million in damage to 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) of Arizona forest in April 2017 when he fired at a target filled with blue-colored explosives to reveal the gender of his unborn child. Jenna Karvunidis, the trend setter of gender-reveal parties, said in July 2019 that it was time to "re-evaluate" the tradition and that her own daughter had started to explore her gender and challenge gender stereotypes after being revealed to friends through a cake with pink icing inside. Also Read: Only 3% of the World's Ecosystems Still in Pristine Conditions For more news about natural calamities, don't forget to follow Nature World News! Imperial Valley News Center California Home Health Care and Hospice Agencies Owner Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Defraud Medicare Sacramento, California - Liana Karapetyan, 41, of El Dorado Hills, pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to pay and receive health care kickbacks, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, Karapetyan and another individual owned and controlled home health care and hospice agencies in the greater Sacramento area: ANG Health Care Inc., Excel Home Healthcare Inc., and Excel Hospice Inc. On behalf of the agencies, Karapetyan and another individual certified to Medicare that they would not pay kickbacks in exchange for Medicare beneficiary referrals to the agencies. Despite their certifications, from at least July 2015 through April 2019, Karapetyan and another individual paid and directed others to pay kickbacks to multiple individuals for beneficiary referrals, including employees of health care facilities, as well as employees spouses. The kickback recipients included John Eby, a registered nurse who worked for a hospital in Sacramento; Anita Vijay, the director of social services at a skilled nursing and assisted living facility in Sacramento; Jai Vijay, Anita Vijays husband; and Mariela Panganiban, the director of social services at a skilled nursing facility in Roseville. In total, Karapetyan and others caused the agencies to submit over 8,000 claims to Medicare for the cost of home health care and hospice services. Based on those claims, Medicare paid the agencies approximately $31 million. Of that amount, Medicare paid the agencies at least over $2 million for services purportedly provided to beneficiaries referred in exchange for kickbacks paid to, among others, Eby, Anita Vijay, Jai Vijay, and Panganiban. Because the agencies obtained the beneficiary referrals by paying kickbacks, the agencies should not have received any Medicare reimbursement. This case is a product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Thuesen is prosecuting the case. U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley is scheduled to sentence Karapetyan on Aug. 26. Karapetyan faces maximum statutory penalties of 10 years in prison for the health care fraud conspiracy charge and five years in prison for the kickback conspiracy charge. She also faces a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss for each charge. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. In separate cases, Eby, Jai Vijay, Anita Vijay, and Panganiban pleaded guilty for their roles in the kickback scheme. They await sentencing. LONDON, April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In support of World Penguin Day on Sunday 25 April 2021, Panathlon the charity that provides competitive sporting opportunities to children with disabilities and special educational needs in the UK is promoting its special children's story about a disabled penguin called Pippa that learns to swim. Alexandra's story is about Pippa the Penguin who has a missing wing. Due to her disability, she lacks the confidence to join in the 'Big Swim Race' with the other Antarctic creatures. To raise awareness of both disability sports, as well as the plight and importance of penguins, Panathlon is rolling out a series of promotions online and in-print. The charity is calling on penguin charities, zoos, swimming groups, disability organisations and influencers to help share the story and its important message. Narrated by Alex Brooker, Panathlon patron, Channel 4 presenter and comedian, the story 'Pippa's Big Swim' tells the heartwarming tale of an Antarctic penguin who overcomes the adversity of a missing wing and conquers her fears to participate in an annual Big Swim swimming race! Pippa's Big Swim is written by Alexandra Richards, one of Panathlon's volunteer young leaders, who was inspired by her visits to Panathlon competitions. Author Alexandra explains: "Several years ago, I volunteered for Panathlon as a team leader and loved every minute of my interaction with all of the competitors. I wanted to put into words how proud I was, and continue to be, of every one of the children. The teamwork and resilience that each child took to every event, despite the hurdles they may have to overcome, was inspirational." Beautifully illustrated by Colin Robinson , the story follows Pippa the Penguin who summons up the strength and courage to take part in the Big Swim Race. It's a tale of inclusivity, teamwork, resilience and determination that will inspire children of all abilities. Everyone involved in this project gave their time for free. If you like the story and wish to make a donation to Panathlon, then please go to the Justgiving pages. Any amount, no matter how small, will go towards the Panathlon swimming programme, to help more young people with disabilities and special needs take to the water in 2021! For more information, visit: https://panathlon.com/ World Penguin Day is a global awareness day of celebration that is designed to encourage people to learn more about penguins, their environment and threats. World Penguin Day takes place during the annual northern migration of Adelie penguins. Panathlon is a national charity which gives thousands of young people with disabilities and special educational needs the opportunity to take part in competitive sport. Panathlon has been benefiting young disadvantaged people since 1996 with a focus on disabled young people since 1999 and has invested over 9 million in opportunities for young people to compete in sport. Media Contact Ashley Iceton [email protected] +44 7976 259251 SOURCE Panathlon Related Links https://panathlon.com/ New Delhi: By air, by train and by road, India is scrambling to move large quantities of medical oxygen to hospitals in its capital New Delhi and other areas hit hard by a record surge of COVID-19. Are hospitals running out of oxygen? The main problem is that medical oxygen is not reaching hospital beds in time. This delay is a product of where production units are located, a stretched distribution network, and what critics have said is bad planning. Several hospitals in Delhi, which has no significant oxygen production capacity, made frantic public calls this week seeking emergency supplies. With COVID-19 cases also swamping its neighbouring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, oxygen facilities there are over-stretched attempting to meet local demand. To fulfil Delhi's current needs, additional medical oxygen now has to be trucked in from industrial zones in eastern India. Why are oxygen deliveries getting delayed? The facilities from where Delhi will now receive oxygen are spread across seven states, some more than 1,000 km (625 miles)away, according to a court document. Given the hazardous nature of the substance, all liquid oxygen must be transported in a limited number of specialised tankers, requiring advance planning to ensure deliveries are made on time, a gas industry source told Reuters. In recent days, as a scramble for oxygen among states worsened, local officials in some regions disrupted the movement of tankers in a bid to keep supplies for themselves. In part due to such blockades, Delhi only received about 177 tonnes of oxygen on Wednesday against its allocation of 378 tonnes, an official said. But the industry source said that Delhi had also dragged its feet on planning ahead, without factoring in the time it takes to move oxygen cross-country by road. "This problem wouldn`t have happened if they had acted 2-3 weeks ago," the source said. Delhi's government did not respond to questions about the planning. Delhi's oxygen network Does India have enough oxygen? India has a daily production capacity of at least 7,100 tonnes of oxygen, including for industrial use, which appears to be enough to meet current demand. This week, the government allocated 6,822 tonnes of liquid oxygen per day to 20 of the country`s worst-affected states, compared to their combined demand of 6,785 tonnes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s office said on Thursday. India's total medical oxygen demand was just 3,842 tonnes as of April 12, as the surge in cases really took hold. States are typically allocated supplies by an inter-ministerial group of bureaucrats mandated to monitor and facilitate the flow of essential medical kit during the pandemic. PM Narendra Modi's office has noted that the availability of liquid medical oxygen had increased by about 3,300 tonnes in the past few days, with steel plants and other industrial units diverting their production. Where are India's oxygen production facilities What is India doing to solve this crisis? The government has activated the Indian railways to move multiple tankers from refilling plants to where it is most needed. Working with industrial gas major Linde India and others, the government is also using the Air Force`s cargo planes to fly empty tankers to production hubs. Refilled oxygen tankers will then move back by road. The armed forces are importing 23 mobile oxygen generation plants from Germany. Several other industries are offering oxygen to hospitals, while salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is importing 24 specialised containers to transport liquid oxygen. The government has issued orders to convert argon and nitrogen tankers into oxygen ones. But as some experts predict a trebling of daily infections in a few weeks, India will have to dramatically ramp up both oxygen production and distribution systems. Live TV Sara Ali Khan made her debut with Kedarnath in 2018 and then went on to do films like Simmba, Coolie No. 1 and Love Aaj Kal. The actor had made an appearance on Koffee with Karan alongside father, Saif Ali Khan and the show was shot before the film was released. In one of the bonus sequences, Saif Ali Khan can be seen trolling Sara for being critical of the Hindi film industry after spending "three minutes" here. Karan had asked both father and daughter about the pressures of looking a certain way when you're always in the public eye and Sara said: Somewhere down the line, you have to gather the inner strength to stand up to that pressure and be comfortable in your skin." If you're not comfortable and confident in who you are, then there will be 500 people willing to pull you down," she added. Saif who had been quiet till then mentioned how Brigitte Bardot was the perfect example of someone ageing gracefully and Sara called him out for zoning out and asked him if he even knew what she had said. Google has been working on a new feature called Guacamole for Google Assistant. This feature will let users perform Google Assistant actions quickly without having to use the Hey Google wake word. The new feature was discovered in the latest Google app beta version of Android 11 by Android Police. The feature went live in the settings page of Google Assistant. You can check if your Android 11 has the feature through the beta version 12.15.9.29 of the Google app. It is visible in the Google Assistant settings menu under Guacamole. Google describes Guacamole as Quickly get things done with Guacamole. Once you tap on it you will have to turn on voice shortcuts that will not require you to say Hey Google to launch Assistant features. Once this is enabled, you will be able to ask Google Assistant to perform certain tasks without saying Hey Google. These quick tasks include turning off alarms, timers and calls. So you can simply say Stop, Snooze or Answer/decline the call and the Assistant will perform the actions. The Google Nest Hub also has a similar feature wherein you can say stop to turn off ringing alarms. 9to5Google reports that this feature is being currently tested among Google employees only. Theres no word on when it will go live for all users but it will most likely see a reveal at the upcoming Google I/O event in May. If Google is planning to go ahead with the name Guacamole for this feature is something we cannot confirm. The VinFast Global Showroom Design Competition organized by Vietnam Design Association - Ho Chi Minh City (VDAS) and VinFast from January 25 th to February 25 th , received approximately 1000 entries from 90 countries across 5 continents. Accordingly, VFDC 2021 greatly attracted designer contestants from the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Vietnam, which are key markets in VinFast's global strategy. Mr. Ho Tan Duong, President of VDAS, member of the panel of judges at VFDC 2021 said, "New to the market, but with global vision and quality customers experiences, VinFast has been a strong inspiration for design community. It's difficult to choose the best works as they are of almost equal quality. Outstanding contestants contributed works that are not only breakthroughs in presentation of lines, blocks, and layout, but also demonstrations of their ability to diversify building substance and structures in devising extremely creative, new and modern space for VinFast showrooms." The best entries at VFDC 2021 had to feature the following criterias: best design concept, sharpest rendition of VinFast's spirit, and feasibility. After a rigorous 3-round evaluation, the panel of judges comprised of leading designers and Vingroup's high-ranking leaders selected nine best entries, namely one First Prize for designer Vicky Daroca (USA) at 30.000 USD, and eight Second Prizes for other designers at 1.750 USD. Ms. Thai Thanh Hai, CEO of VinFast said, "We are very happy that VFDC has attracted designers from all over the world, those who have a similarity with VinFast about the strong creativity and the desire to go boundless together, to create the best outcomes. That encourages VinFast to have more confidence on the way to win global customers' hearts." Winning over 1000 entries, the entry of designer Vicky Daroca from the US successfully impressed the panel of judges by not only a very distinctive design concept, but also a vivid and exquisite presentation of VinFast's "Boundless Together" spirit. "There are almost no boundaries in designer Vicky Daroca's work of VinFast showroom. Inspired by VinFast's logo, Vicky Daroca's approach clearly shows a strong state of freedom and consistency in creative interpretation. Such a spatial arrangement that brings contentment experiences to customers every time they visit "- said Mr. Patrick Fong, President of the Asia Pacific Design Awards. Mr.Tung Ching Yew, SODA's Managing Director, Vice President of Society of Interior Designers Singapore, stated: "Designing is a global language. We do feel the distinctiveness, the uniqueness in designers' creativity. They really impressed us by the immaculateness, devotion, and enthusiasm imbued in their entries. VFDC 2021 is one of very few showroom design competitions that have such quality entries!" Top 9 VFDC 2021 entries were honored at Times Square (New York, USA) As for globally connecting people, growing talents, and honoring VinFast's intelligence, nine best VinFast showroom designs were honored at Times Square (New York, USA) on April 22 - on the occasion of Earth Day. As earlier pledged by VinFast, the best contestants will have the opportunity to cooperate with the company in its global projects and programs in 2021. For more information, please visit website: vinfastcompetition.com About the Organizer - VDAS Vietnam Design Association - Ho Chi Minh City (VDAS) is one of the most prestigious organizations in the field of creative design and architecture in Vietnam. SOURCE VDAS Design Association HCM, VN By Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -The Indian government asked social media platform Twitter to take down dozens of tweets, including some by local lawmakers, that were critical of its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, as cases of COVID-19 again hit a world record. Twitter has withheld some of the tweets after the legal request by the Indian government, a company spokeswoman told Reuters on Saturday. The government made an emergency order to censor the tweets, Twitter disclosed on Lumen database, a Harvard University project. India's Information Technology ministry did not respond to a request for comment. In the government's request, dated April 23 and disclosed on Lumen, 21 tweets were mentioned. Among them were tweets from a lawmaker named Revnath Reddy, a minister in the state of West Bengal named Moloy Ghatak and a filmmaker named Avinash Das. In its request, the government cited the Information Technology Act of 2000, according to Lumen. Reuters was unable to independently confirm Lumen's information. India has, in the past, used the IT Act to block information in a bid to protect the "sovereignty and integrity of India" and maintain public order, among other things. Last June, India invoked the IT Act to ban video app TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps, saying they were prejudicial to India's sovereignty and integrity as well as to the "security of state and public order". India and Twitter locked horns in February when the U.S. social media giant did not fully comply with a government order to take down over 1,100 accounts and posts that New Delhi said spread misinformation about farmer protests against new agriculture reforms. Twitter later blocked access to the bulk of accounts it was ordered to take down, an IT ministry source told Reuters previously. "When we receive a valid legal request, we review it under both the Twitter Rules and local law," the Twitter spokeswoman said in an emailed statement on Saturday. Story continues "If the content violates Twitter's rules, the content will be removed from the service. If it is determined to be illegal in a particular jurisdiction, but not in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may withhold access to the content in India only," she said. The spokeswoman confirmed that Twitter had notified account holders directly about withholding their content and let them know that it received a legal order pertaining to their tweets. Asked about the request, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday: "That certainly wouldn't be aligned with our view of freedom of speech around the world." The development was reported earlier by technology news website TechCrunch, which said that Twitter was not the only platform affected by the order. India is in the grip of a second wave of the pandemic, hitting a rate of one COVID-19 death in just under every four minutes in Delhi as the capital's underfunded health system buckles. Criticism is mounting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's federal government and state authorities have not prepared adequately to handle the crisis. Some health experts said India became complacent in the winter, when new cases were running at about 10,000 a day and seemed to be under control. Authorities lifted restrictions, allowing the resumption of big gatherings, including large festivals and political rallies for local elections. India's health minister said earlier this month that activities such as elections, religious gatherings and a lack of mask-wearing at functions such as weddings had contributed to a surge in cases. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler, Susan Fenton and Sonya Hepinstall) gettyimagesbank Six out of 10 young Koreans think it is unnecessary to get married and have children, a government survey showed Saturday. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family conducted the triennial poll on 7,100 people aged between 9 and 24 and 4,800 parental caregivers from November through February. The survey showed that 60.9 percent of those aged between 13 and 24 said they did not think marriage was necessary, up from 49 percent tallied in the poll carried out in 2017. Among them, 65.1 percent of female respondents agreed that marriage was unnecessary, while 57.1 percent of their male counterparts had the same opinion. Also, 60.3 percent believed it was not necessary to have children after marriage, again up from 46.1 percent in 2017. Among the parents and guardians, however, 59.7 percent said marriage was necessary, although 47.2 percent thought having children was not necessary after marriage. The gender ministry said the survey showed young people have become more socially and financially pressured to get married and have children over the past three years. The latest findings also showed that 83 percent of students in elementary, middle and high school said they were satisfied with their school life, down from the previous poll's 88.3 percent. This was the first drop in a decade when the percentage rose from 82.1 percent in 2011 to 85.9 percent in 2014. The ministry attributed the decrease in the satisfaction rate to the yearlong COVID-19 pandemic, which has expanded online classes and kept students at home. (Yonhap) There have been three fatalities in just two days at the Targa Tasmania rally, after a driver and a navigator were both killed in a horror smash on Saturday. The latest fatal crash happened on Wattle Grove Road near Cygnet in the south of the state. Emergency services rushed to the area and the road is closed, with motorists travelling near the area were told to expect delays. The crash is just a day after much-loved and experienced racer Shane Navin, 68, rolled his 1979 Mazda RX7 during heavy rain and slippery conditions on Friday. Much-loved racer and experienced car racer Shane Navin (pictured) has died in a horror crash at the Targa Tasmania rally on Friday The 68-year-old rally driver from New South Wales rolled his 1979 Mazda RX7 amid heavy rain and slippery conditions What is the Targa Tasmania rally? The six-day race is a world-renowned rally that takes place on public roads right across Tasmania. Drivers will traverse about 2000km during the race that first began in 1992. There are several categories for vehicles, but the rally is most well known for it's souped-up classic cars. Advertisement Paramedics tried desperately to revive the NSW driver but he died at the scene. His co-driver Glenn Evans miraculously survived the crash and emerged from the wreckage uninjured. Local bed and breakfast owner Cindy Beard witnessed Saturday's crash and said the car was going very fast on the straight section of the track. '[That] part of the road it's probably one of the safest parts,' she told the ABC. 'These guys were really hooting along. 'They were coming down very fast, they just sort of curved off the road and bang it's wedged in between two gum trees. 'It was a very hard hit, straight away I thought there was something seriously wrong.' Navin's death was the third fatality at the world-renowned rally event in last 10 years. That total has now climbed to five. Emergency crews rushed to the Lyell Highway near Double Barrel Creek in central Tasmania about 11am on Friday after the crash during the fifth day of the event. Rain was forecast all day on Friday as drivers took part in the Mount Arrowsmith stage between Derwent Bridge and Queenstown. 'This is a very sad time for the Targa community. Shane was a much loved and admired member of our Targa family,' Targa Australia chief executive Mark Perry said in a statement. Rain was forecast all day on Friday as drivers took part in the Mount Arrowsmith stage between Derwent Bridge and Queenstown (highway pictured) 'This is a very sad time for the Targa community,' Targa Australia chief executive Mark Perry said in a statement. 'Shane was a much loved and admired member of our Targa family. 'We send our heartfelt condolences to Shane's family and friends on their loss.' The most recent of the other previous deaths during the event came in 2013, when John Mansell, 71, crashed his 2009 Porsche Cayman sedan into a tree. An inquest heard he was driving at speeds of about 200km/h prior to the crash in north Tasmania near Deloraine. Mr Mansell died at the scene while his navigator suffered serious injuries. In 1996, a Melbourne man who was a co-driver was also killed during the Riana stage in Tasmania's the north-west. NEW DELHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 24th Apr, 2021) India's coronavirus infections rose by 346,786 overnight, the health ministry said on Saturday, setting a new world record for the third consecutive day, as overwhelmed hospitals in the densely-populated country begged for oxygen supplies, Reuters reported. India is in the grip of a rampaging second wave of the pandemic, hitting a rate of one COVID-19 death in just under every four minutes in Delhi as the capital's underfunded health system buckles. The government has deployed military planes and trains to get oxygen from the far corners of the country to Delhi. Television showed an oxygen truck arriving at Delhi's Batra hospital after it issued an SOS saying it had 90 minutes of oxygen left for its 260 patients. "Please help us get oxygen, there will be a tragedy here," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a conference on Friday. The crisis is also being felt in other parts of the country, with several hospitals issuing public notices that they don't have medical oxygen. Local media reported fresh cases of people dying in the cities of Jaipur and Amritsar for lack of the gas. India surpassed the US record of 297,430 single-day infections anywhere in the world on Thursday, making it the global epicentre of a pandemic that is waning in many other countries. The Indian government had itself declared it had beaten back the coronavirus in February when new cases fell to all time lows. However, COVID-19 deaths across India rose by 2,624 over the past 24 hours, the highest daily rate for the country so far. Crematoriums across Delhi said they were full up and asked grieving families to wait. The country of around 1.3 billion has now recorded a total of 16.6 million cases, including 189,544 deaths. Although college students are highly unlikely to die from COVID, and although the vaccines are still experimental, with only emergency approval, that's not stopping California's leftist public educational institutions from forcing vaccinations on young people. Both the University of California system and the California State University system which are two of the nation's largest public university systems have announced that all students, faculty, and staff must have proof that they've been vaccinated if they wish to set foot on campus in the fall: Thursday's joint announcement from the 10-campus University of California and the 23-campus California State University is the largest of its kind in American higher education. The CSU system in the nation's biggest four-year college system, with about 485,000 students and tens of thousands of staff, while the UC system has more than 280,000 students. "Together, the CSU and UC enroll and employ more than one million students and employees across 33 major university campuses, so this is the most comprehensive and consequential university plan for COVID-19 vaccines in the country," CSU Chancellor Joseph I. Castro said in the statement. They're not the only academic institutions imposing this requirement on students. On the same day, Stanford announced that all 19,000 of its students also need to be vaccinated. Let's think about this for a moment. As even the AP article from which I've quoted states, these vaccinations have never been formally approved. Instead: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has allowed emergency use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, with health experts expecting formal approval of at least one of the shots by the fall. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is on pause due to concerns about blood clots. [The J&J vaccine will soon be coming off that pause.] In other words, these are still experimental vaccines, and every day, we're learning about new and different features some good, some not so good. The fact that Biden is still wandering around double-masked, despite both being vaccinated and being surrounded by people who are also vaccinated, doesn't imbue people with confidence about the vaccines. I wonder if, for Biden, that mask has become the geriatric equivalent of a security blanket. Even as his advisers suggest that it might help Americans become more vaccine friendly if he'd take off the darn mask, Biden clutches it as a frightened three-year-old clutches the ragged and dirty lovey blanket that his mommy is trying to throw in the wash. (AOC reveals just how disgusting those masks really are.) If the vaccine is an emergency, experimental vaccine, it really should be reserved for those in the higher-risk categories. That category does not cover university undergraduates, who are usually between 17 and 21 years old. If they stick around for a longer time for post-graduate degrees, they age into the late 20s and early 30s cohort. According to the CDC, people under 30 are 10 times more likely to die from COVID than the 5- to 17-year-old cohort. Once they cross the threshold into 30, they're 45 times more like to die than those young 'uns. Those numbers (10 times! 45 times!) sounds horrific until you realize that people between 50 and 64 are 440 times more likely to die than the 517 crowd; those between 65 and 74 are 1,300 times more likely to die; those between 75 and 85 are 3,200 times more likely to die, and those over 85 are 8,700 times more likely to die! In other words, the average university student with comorbidities is not likely at all to die. In a free society, the university would encourage those at risk, especially older faculty and staff members, to get the vaccine. When it came to students, they would send accurate information about crowded dormitories as possible vectors, as well as letting students know their risk by age and comorbidity. They could even encourage students to take the vaccine (and here's that leftist talk) to "protect" at-risk people although, if the at-risk people are taking vaccines, I don't see why a hypothetical very healthy 18-year-old freshman needs to get an experimental stick that seemingly messes with her reproductive organs. That risk ought to be explored more although a cynic could argue that it might be better if all these leftist young women don't reproduce. We should disagree because, when it comes to reproducing, leftists assure us that it's "my body, my choice," including the life-affirming choice to have babies. It's genuinely frightening to see that these counter-indicated university mandates could permanently remove any choice in their female students. The government won't issue "vaccine passports." However, every large institution, both corporate and public, will demand proof of vaccines, with enterprising corporations eventually "partnering" with the government to issue those proofs (AKA vaccine passports). Let the left's weaponization of COVID continue... Image: Nurse with a syringe by rawpixel.com. To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here. The Union flag was flying at half-mast when we visited Gibraltar because, like the UK, people in this British Overseas Territory were mourning the death of the Duke of Edinburgh. But in contrast with London, their tears were not being caught by the top of a face mask because - out in the street, at least - masks are no longer compulsory in Gibraltar. / NITO SALAS "It feels wonderful, I'm breathing fresh air again," said one lady when we asked her how it felt to have left her face mask at home. We should point out that the Gibraltarians are not being irresponsible; on the contrary, nearly every resident of the Rock and many of the cross-border workers from Spain have now been vaccinated. A couple of weeks ago, the government announced that although masks will still have to be worn in some places, they are no longer needed outside. Further measures are also gradually being relaxed, and the government hopes that others can be lifted by mid-May, as long as Covid-19 cases remain very low. However, general precautionary measures such as contact tracing, staff monitoring and regular cleaning and sanitising are still in place on the Rock. To visitors, the new normal here looks very similar to the situation pre-pandemic, but it is noticeably quieter than it used to be. Casemates Square, which was always full of tourists who had come for a day's shopping or sightseeing, was practically empty on this occasion. / NITO SALAS In this epicentre of the town is Al Fresco's cafe, a family business run by Christine Oton and her son Michael. Both are smiling and seem very optimistic about the situation. "People seem so much happier now they don't have to wear masks," says Christine, as she sips a coffee on the cafe terrace. However, she is the only person there, even though it is nearly midday. The lack of visitors is rather worrying for local businesses. With provincial borders closed within Andalucia, fewer tourists are able to walk or drive into Gibraltar from Spain. There have been no cruise ships since the pandemic began, and international travel restrictions have significantly reduced the numbers of people flying in from the UK for a holiday or short break. The shops, bars, restaurants and hotels are noticing the change. "But we have to be optimistic," says Michael. "Until not long ago we didn't know when the vaccines would be arriving in Gibraltar, and now we are nearly all vaccinated. You can really see a difference. People here are much more motivated and cheerful now." He is not the only one to think so. Joseph, Julio and Ivan, three pensioners from Gibraltar, are enjoying a Guinness in the Horseshoe pub. "Everything's fine here, but obviously we could do with more visitors," one of them says. / NITO SALAS We are so used to seeing people wearing masks in Spain that Gibraltar comes as a bit of a shock, with large groups of people chatting and greeting others with a hug and a kiss. Difference in vaccinations A recent press release from the Gibraltar government stated that every local resident who wanted to be vaccinated had been, and so had at least 10,000 of the approximately 15,000 cross-border workers by then. The difference in the vaccination rates in Spain and Gibraltar is clear. In Spain, it is considerably lower. This can lead to some strange situations. For example, Miriam, who is from Algeciras, and Eli, from La Linea, work in a gift shop in Main Street. One has been vaccinated in Gibraltar, but the other is still waiting to be called, one side of the border or the other. "We're quite used to this type of situation here," she says. "I'll just have to wait. Anyway, in the meantime, it's lovely to be able to look around and see everyone much more relaxed. It makes you feel that bit by bit we are starting to return to something like normal life at last," she says. GRAND RAPIDS, MI Grand Rapids Public Schools students in grades 9-12 will continue attending classes in-person only two days a week for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year. The district announced Friday, April 23, that it would not expand in-person learning for high schoolers after putting off the decision for weeks while GRPS waited to receive further guidance from health officials. Students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade are expected to begin taking classes four days a week starting Monday, April 26. The hybrid learning plan expansion was originally approved by the school board in March, but the starting date was delayed two times to avoid a surge in COVID-19 cases after spring break. RELATED: In-person learning expansion further delayed by Grand Rapids Public Schools The decision not to expand in-person learning at the high school level was made based off social distancing guidelines from the Kent County Health Department, according to the GRPS announcement. In March, the health department released looser social distancing rules, allowing schools to have some students distance by only 3 feet rather than the CDC-recommended 6 feet. However, the 3-foot social distancing mitigation measure was only approved for PreK-8 grades. The Kent County Health Department has not approved the new 3 feet social distancing mitigation measure for grades 9 through 12, school officials wrote in Fridays message. Due to the number of students in grades 9 through 12 currently in the hybrid in-person model, we are unable to combine the cohorts and still maintain the 6 feet social distancing mitigation measure that is required. Because the district cant accommodate the hybrid learning expansion at the high school level, students in grades 9-12 will stay in the current 2-day hybrid in-person schedule for the remainder of the school year. While we know this decision may be frustrating for some, since the beginning of the pandemic, we have clearly and consistently shared that our decisions would be based on the science, data, and guidance from the Kent County Health Department, school officials wrote in Fridays message. Around two-thirds of GRPS families opted for the hybrid learning plan, which started in late January after the district only offered virtual instruction for the first half of the year. The hybrid learning expansion was applauded by some district parents during the March 22 board meeting when it was approved, but opposed by others who are fearful of increasing face-to-face contact amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 173 students and staff at 41 K-12 school districts have been infected by coronavirus in new school-related outbreaks, according to data released Monday, April 19, by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. More on MLive: Forest Hills Public Schools scales back in-person classes for grades 7-12 due to COVID-19 surge Muskegon School District pauses in-person learning for grades 6-12 No guests allowed at GRCC spring commencement events to limit crowd sizes due to COVID-19 increases A recent Chicago Tribune analysis revealed that more than 8 of every 10 Illinoisans live in a community where lead was found in the tap water of at least one home during the past six years. Dozens of homes had hundreds and even thousands of parts per billion of lead in tap water just as extreme as what researchers found during the same period in Flint, Michigan, where mismanagement of the public water system drew a world spotlight to a scourge that remained largely hidden for decades. New Delhi: Bollywood actress Warina Hussain made a shocking announcement on her social media a few days after treating her fans with fun pictures on her Instagram, the actress now revealed that she will no longer be using social media and will completely quit it. Warina Hussain has a fan following of 1.9 million followers on Instagram, she had always been the kind of person who used social media on and off. She also took a month off from social media last year, calling it a "social media detox." The B-Town actress, Warina Hussain has followed the footsteps of superstar Aamir Khan as he gave up social media a day after his birthday, similarly, the actress decided to take a decision of no longer being available personally on social media. In her interviews, she has always mentioned that she does not consider herself to be social media savvy. In the past few months, she has been seen with simple button phones, which has prompted a flurry of questions from her fans. In her usual quirky style, Warina Hussain shared the following post in which she also mentioned Aamir Khan, saying: in Aamir sirs language dropping the pretence Warina Hussain debuted in Bollywood with the movie Loveyatri in 2018 in a Salman Khan Production, for which she was adored. She later appeared in the movie Dabangg 3 for the special song Munna Badnam Hua with Salman khan. On the work front, Warina Hussain has completed shooting for her film The Incomplete Man and will be soon making her debut in the south with 2 unannounced Telugu projects and in a Telugu film along with Kalyan Ram in an NTR production film. Metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta faces a parliamentary inquiry into the crisis at Liberty Steel. MPs on the House of Commons business committee want to examine why the steel maker was pushed to the brink of collapse after the largest lender to Gupta's business empire went bust in March. The 49-year-old tycoon was dubbed the 'saviour of UK steel' when he began buying struggling plants in 2013. His collection of companies, called the GFG Alliance, employs 5,000 people in the UK, including 3,000 at Liberty Steel. Probe: The 49-year-old tycoon was dubbed the 'saviour of UK steel' when he began buying struggling plants in 2013 But GFG has been battling for survival since Greensill Capital went bust last month. Greensill, which was advised by ex-prime minister David Cameron, was the biggest lender to GFG through complex supply chain financing. But questions are being raised about whether GFG companies lent money to one another. There have also been reports of invoices from businesses that claim they have never dealt with the industrialist. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng refused a request for a 170m bailout last month, saying its finances were too opaque to trust that the money would stay in Britain. Gupta is scrambling to find alternative finance. It is not clear whether he will appear before the business committee, as the scope of the inquiry is still being determined. Tory MP Richard Fuller, a member of the committee, said: 'Select committees are a useful way of asking probing questions to powerful people, so it's right it goes ahead. We obviously don't know what will happen in the near future with Liberty and to be fair to the wider GFG Group they are pursuing refinancing. 'But there are questions on the group's historical financing. It would help the future stability of steel in the UK if there was the opportunity for more transparency on these issues, even if GFG is successful in securing private financing support.' Gupta is in Dubai after going there to escape the UK's third lockdown. It has emerged his father, Parduman, has changed his country of residence from Britain to India. Parduman owns Simec Group, the renewable energy arm of GFG. A committee spokesman said: 'The committee is actively considering an inquiry examining the challenges facing Liberty Steel and the wider issues raised for the future of the steel industry. Further details will be announced in due course.' A spokesman for GFG declined to comment. A 31-year-old Seguin firefighter died Friday after a lengthy battle with COVID-19, officials with the City of Seguin said in a release. Roger Dean served as a firefighter and paramedic for the Seguin Fire Department since 2018. He passed away at a Houston hospital on Friday. At the state level, the question is whether voting access for Texans, especially people of color, will be diminished due to so-called election integrity bills. At the local level, the question is, will this municipal election be like so many others? Will we see a lack of civic engagement reflected in yet another paltry voter turnout in San Antonio? Will it be like the 2019 municipal election, when 13 percent of 784,245 registered San Antonio voters voted? That turnout was high by San Antonio standards. Voting has been an embattled function of democracy an instrument of change, but one often blunted through restrictions, especially in Texas. We are at a moment when voting rights are again threatened and the call to engage, to vote, is blaring. Perhaps what has transpired since the record-setting presidential election an unprecedented assault on our democracy fueled by the lie of widespread voter fraud will energize more people to vote. Our country has witnessed the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and a swell of recent violence, and it continues to endure a pandemic. At the local and state levels, we experienced a deadly loss of power during Februarys winter storm. More Information You can find the Editorial Board's recommendations online at ExpressNews.com/recommendations. See More Collapse If you think voting is sacred, then casting a ballot in local elections is just as important as casting a ballot in national elections. There is much to consider: San Antonio mayor, City Council members, two propositions and a host of school boards positions. Proposition A could give the city authority to use bonds for much-needed affordable housing. Proposition B could remove San Antonio police officers right to bargain collectively with the city in an effort to reform policing. A number of Bexar County school districts are holding board elections. Aside from council races, four small cities also have special propositions or proposed charter amendments on the ballot. Who votes and who doesnt shapes policy. As Walter Clark Wilson, an associate professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told us, typical voters are whiter, older and better educated than the citys population. This brings us to the attack on voting rights in our country and state found in HB 6 and SB 7 as Texas Republican lawmakers respond to baseless claims of election fraud with legislation that would make voting more difficult, especially for people of color. An antidote: the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which seeks to strengthen federal voting rights. Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor, former federal housing secretary and 2020 presidential hopeful, has been advocating for its passage, saying, In Texas there is an all-out assault on the right to vote. In testimony Thursday to a House Judiciary Committee subcommittee on civil rights, Castro said: This legislation is one of the best ways that we can ensure that everybody in our country, regardless of the color of their skin or their background, who is eligible to vote has access. Castro shared that nearly 50 years ago, his mother, Rosie Castro, a Mexican American civil rights activist in the 1970s, helped do research for testimony the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund gave before the Judiciary Committee for the reauthorization of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. We hope San Antonians answer the call this election. We have seen a slight improvement, compared with two years ago: On the first day of early voting, 7,070 Bexar County voters cast ballots compared with 6,561 voters on the first day of voting in 2019. And mail-in ballots were also up, with 10,000 requests this year compared with about 7,700 requests in 2019. Local elections officials are expecting a voter turnout of only about 10 to 12 percent, typical with spring elections. If anything, this is exactly why local elections should be moved to coincide with national elections. Our elections and democracy are maintained and bolstered by a collective faith in our democratic processes and engaged citizens, and by ensuring voting is accessible for all. Early voting continues through Tuesday. Election day is Saturday. Dont sit this one out. Vote like democracy depends on it because it does. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he wants to ban fracking in the state by 2024 and halt all oil extraction by 2045. Newsom made the announcement Friday. A ban on fracking failed to pass the state Legislature last week. Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, a process for extracting oil embedded deep underground. Environmental advocates oppose it, citing its harm to the environment and public health. California would be the largest oil-producing state to ban fracking. Newsom said Friday he will use his executive authority to take on the states powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election. Nicolas Maduro presenting an aid package for people who have registered with 'Sistema Patria.' Prensa Miraflores / EFE/Prensa Miraflores A few days ago, a text message arrived on the cellphones of some of the pensioners signed up to Sistema Patria (or Homeland System), a platform created four years ago by Nicolas Maduros government to distribute pension payments. On this occasion the message was not to alert recipients to a fresh deposit, but instead to inform them that they had been selected in a lottery to receive a Covid-19 vaccine shot. Under an awning in one of the main streets of Las Mercedes, an industrial zone in eastern Caracas, 500 senior citizens lined up for a Sputnik V dose on April 9 with little regard for social distancing. The initiative was overseen by the legislative assembly of this district, which is controlled by the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). All of those in attendance, the organizers confirmed, had gathered there after receiving these unexpected text messages. In this random way, Venezuela rolled out its vaccination program for senior citizens, the section of society most vulnerable to coronavirus as the country faces a second and more severe wave of infections. There are few doses available due to the governments delays in accessing the COVAX facility (a multilateral initiative that aims to guarantee an equitable distribution of vaccines among low- and middle-income countries). As things stand, the only vaccine that is in the pipeline is Abdala, a Cuba-designed shot that Maduro has announced Venezuela will start producing. In view of these obstacles, alarms bells have sounded over the use of Sistema Patria to distribute the few vaccines the country has managed to procure. The system provides Chavism with leverage for social and political control, the ability to monitor loyalty in elections and to distribute scant resources in a country that has shed 70% of its gross domestic product (GDP) over the past seven years and where 94% of the population live below the poverty line. This uncertainty surrounding the vaccination program is also mirrored in Sistema Patria, a digital platform linked to the carne de la patria or homeland card, a national identity document introduced by Maduro in 2017. The government has been adding subscribers to this database by offering the carrot of bonos or financial aid for struggling citizens, which also operates as a form of lottery: some people receive the transfers, others do not and nobody knows exactly what the criteria for allocation is. The government claims to have 18 million Venezuelans registered on Sistema Patria in a country of almost 28 million inhabitants. Practically everybody of retirement age is enrolled: Venezuela has around 4.5 million people aged 60 or over with the right to a state pension. However, the not-for-profit organization Convite, which distributes humanitarian aid among this part of the population, says that some 10% of Venezuelans are not on the platform as they lack cellphones or cell coverage, both requirements to access the system, or because they did not want to apply for a homeland card. Medical obstacles Luis Cabezas, Convites director, states that one cannot be against the fact that vaccination has finally started, albeit with significant delays. But by using Sistema Patria as a delivery mechanism you are leaving out people without cellphones or computers, or who live in areas with no coverage or who simply didnt want to sign up. Several sectors of civil society epidemiologists, doctors, academics, NGOs, human rights activists and opponents of Maduro have criticized linking access to vaccines to this database, which does not include the whole of Venezuelas population. Rafael Uzcategui, director of the not-for-profit Provea, has said that the World Health Organization (WHO) should ensure that vaccination programs are transparent and non-discriminatory. Even in the cruelest dictatorships there is no discrimination over who should be able to receive a vaccine, opposition leader Juan Guaido has observed. The vaccination of medical personnel has also been beset by delays and opacity. In the same week that senior citizens selected by Sistema Patria started to receive their shots, the police dispersed healthcare professionals waiting to receive a vaccine at Vargas Hospital in Caracas. The same scene was played out this week in La Guaira. The government has failed to present a national vaccination plan that would allow every section of the population to know when their turn is scheduled, neither have details been provided on how the rollout is progressing based on technical and epidemiological criteria. Venezuela has one of the highest fatality rates among healthcare workers in the world: 468 have died of Covid-19 over the past year. More centralization The discriminatory nature of Sistema Patria is even more evident when salaries are taken into account. Senior citizens who are not registered on the platform receive 1.8 million bolivares per month, equivalent to slightly more than half a US dollar. Those that are registered are eligible for an extra monthly payment of three million bolivares the so-called bonus against the economic war which gives recipients a total monthly payment of just under $2. Beatriz Sambrano, 71, decided to remain off the grid. Ive never wanted to sign up because it seems to me to be a mechanism for coercion. They ask you a load of questions and I dont know what they do with that information. A few years ago, when they came to my workplace to register people, they told me that if I didnt sign up, I wouldnt eat, says the engineer, who has spent her entire career working in the public sector and survives through the remittances her family sends. Her brother Cesar, by contrast, did register but he has encountered problems receiving his payments. There have been people who have complained of identity theft within the system, or who have had their accounts blocked, or who have said the money has never arrived. People who have had issues with the system usually have to go to PSUV party workers who scan the card and check the ID number to get the subsidies flowing again. The Sistema Patria is a virtual entity with no physical offices on which many Venezuelans depend for food. Through the platform, the government has been able to compile a database of socio-economic information on those who benefit from social programs. It has also been used to carry out surveys and to detect possible cases of Covid-19. A slogan from the late former president, Hugo Chavez, greets users on the homepage of the application. Once signed in, they are asked if they would like to take part in the Bicentennial Congress of the Peoples, an event run by the PSUV. As well as senior citizens, practically all public sector workers are registered on the system. Through the platform, they randomly receive monthly or weekly bonuses provided by the government, which in many cases can represent the doubling or trebling of their salaries. The system was used in 2019 to distribute a Christmas bonus to public sector workers in the form of petros the cryptocurrency created by Maduro which many could not cash in due to conversion failures in a glitch-ridden virtual wallet that is not universally accepted in shops. The government has also lured private sector workers to sign up to the system when compensation was offered to businesses after the currency conversion to the sovereign bolivar in 2018 and during the coronavirus crisis in 2020. Those who wish to pay subsidized rates for gasoline also have to be registered. There is a special registry within the platform for tweeters of the homeland, where social media users are remunerated for tagging or posting content favorable to the government. In March, the platform reached universities, schools and all public sector organizations, with salaries now disbursed via this system. During the payroll for the first half of the month there were complaints from teachers and university professors that they had received less than they should have done. This implies more centralization and greater control over a matter as sensitive as workers salaries, says the economist Aaron Olmos. And it increases the potential for faults, mistakes and errors. Sistema Patria is an entity without a visible face, which leaves the door open for the discretionary management of the system. English version by Rob Train. Is Kate Moss's love for daughter Lila, pictured left centre, so great that she can't resist turning every young model into a clone of her girl? That's what my fashionista spies are wondering after a look at the young women Kate has signed to her modelling agency. Ella Richards, 24, granddaughter of Rolling Stone Keith, is pictured looking identical to fellow model Lila, 18. And Stella Jones, 18, daughter of Clash rocker Mick, appears to have the same beautician, make-up artist and hairstylist. Ella Richards, 24, granddaughter of Rolling Stone Keith, is pictured far left looking identical to fellow model Lila, 18. And Stella Jones, 18, right, daughter of Clash rocker Mick, appears to have the same beautician, make-up artist and hairstylist One spy tells me: 'Kate (pictured this week) dotes on Lila and thinks her beauty is perfection' One spy tells me: 'Kate dotes on Lila and thinks her beauty is perfection, so she may be styling them all to have that look.' It's every doting mother's dream: an army of lookalikes! Which American actress bought a female relative a pointed Christmas present and by pointed I mean a carving knife? Though a Christmas carving set may seem harmless on the face of it, if you knew how much these two women despise one another you may think it was a dig, or dare I say it, a threat! After making a huge fuss of receiving a New Year's Eve proposal, Sofia Abramovich, society daughter of billionaire Chelsea FC owner Roman, appears to have eradicated her fiance from her life. Equestrian Sofia, 26, has wiped all mention of the hunky American businessman known simply as 'Jamie' from her social media pages, just three months after he proposed in St Barts. At the time Sofia Abramovich described the proposal as 'a night I'll never forget' The rather modest engagement ring Jamie presented to Sofia on New Year's Eve At the time she described the proposal as 'a night I'll never forget'. But forget she has, apparently. I'd say this Jamie chap, who presented a rather modest engagement ring, has had a lucky escape. Imagine having the formidable Roman as a father-in-law! I was sorry to hear rumours that the Marquis of Headfort, who memorably pushed his friend Lord Brocket into a swimming pool at the ex-jailbird's South of France wedding, may not be getting married to his younger fiancee, Victoria Chapman, after all. Jeremy Clarkson was expected to attend the celebrations this summer as Headfort, known as Christo, is joint owner of the petrolhead's Oxfordshire estate. Not much is known about Victoria, except she was a nice Chelsea-dwelling middle-class girl and, according to my source, was quite taken aback by her 62-year-old fiance's aristo behaviour by which I mean a lot of socialising and not much settling down. 'They began to wonder if they were compatible,' I'm told. Quick-thinking off-duty police officers have saved a woman from being sexually assaulted after hearing screams coming from an alleyway. The woman had been walking to work when she was pulled off the street by a 32-year-old man on Railway Place, in Melbourne, at 7.30am on Friday. She was then forced into a building alcove where the man allegedly sexually assaulted her, police say. Quick-thinking off-duty police officers have saved a woman from being sexually assaulted after hearing screams coming from an alleyway (stock image) Nearby off-duty police officers heard a woman screaming and ran to the scene. One of the officers chased after the attacker before losing him on the corner of Adderley Street and Railway Place. He was later caught by police and charged with abduction for a sexual purpose, sex assault, false imprisonment, unlawful assault and robbery. Officers said the man 'inappropriately grabbed' the woman several times. He is being held in custody and will front Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 16. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 21:01:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on April 24, 2021 shows debris discovered as part of a missing submarine KRI Nanggala-402 during a press conference at Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, Indonesia. The Indonesian military said on Saturday afternoon that it had raised the status of search for the missing submarine from SUBMISS to SUBSUNK. The decision came after they found some authentic evidence of debris believed to be from the KRI Nanggala-402, one of which looks like a torpedo tube. (Photo by Bisinglasi/Xinhua) JAKARTA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian searchers have found debris believed to be from the missing submarine in waters off Bali Island, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yudo Margono said on Saturday. The condition of the 53 people aboard the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine cannot be determined, he told a press conference. The search and rescue operation is faced with huge difficulties because of the depth of 850 meters under water. As a result, each procedure must be carried out properly, he said in Bali. The submarine had suffered from cracks that caused several components to separate from it, said the navy chief of staff, adding that the cracks became bigger when the submarine dove deeper amid rising water pressure. The Indonesian military said on Saturday afternoon that it had raised the status of search for the missing submarine from SUBMISS to SUBSUNK. The decision came after they found some authentic evidence of debris believed to be from the KRI Nanggala-402, one of which looks like a torpedo tube. The debris was found about 10 km away from the search area where no other boats had passed. Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) chief Hadi Tjahjanto expressed sorrow over the sinking of the submarine. "We all feel very sorrowful with this incident. And I would like to convey that to all the crew of KRI Nanggala and the soldiers on board ... I would like to express my deep concern," Tjahjanto said at the press conference. "We together pray for the efforts of the process of this search. It can continue to be carried out and can get strong evidence," he said. The German-made submarine lost contact after requesting diving permission to fire the Surface and Underwater Target Torpedo at 3:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The vessel, delivered to Indonesia in 1981, carried 53 people aboard, namely 49 crew members, one commander, and three arsenal personnel. The military said it would prepare an evacuation for any survivors from the submarine. Enditem Two men have been freed from rubble and taken to hospital after a building structure collapsed in Sydneys west on Saturday morning. Emergency services were called to a building site on Gecko Street, Marsden Park around 9.05am where a two-storey residential home under construction had collapsed. Two men have been freed after a building structure collapsed in Marsden Park. Credit:Rhett Wyman The first floor of the structure collapsed under the weight of a large quantity of bricks, causing a major separation of structural beams. Two men aged in their 50s were on the first floor at the time of the collapse and became trapped under bricks and scaffolding, with one man managing to free himself. Chinese leader Xi Jinping gives a speech at a press conference after the Belt and Road Forum at the China National Convention Center at the Yanqi Lake venue in Beijing, China, on April 27, 2019. (Wang Zhao/Getty Images) Australias Termination of Belt and Road Deal Explained Analysis On April 21, the Australian government intervened to cancel the state of Victorias controversial Belt and Road deal with Beijing stating that the arrangement was inconsistent with Australias foreign policy and national interests. The move was criticised by a Chinese diplomat who noted it would not help improve bilateral relations which became tense over the last year as Australia refused to kowtow to economic coercion and took measures to protect itself from Beijings interference. While Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews state Labor government has been relatively silent since the federal governments intervention, many experts and politicians who support classical liberal values at home and abroad, have expressed support for the move, with one state senator saying that it was a great day for Australia. What is the Belt and Road Initiative? The BRI is the Chinese Communist Partys (CCPs) trillion-dollar dual-purpose infrastructure scheme that seeks to increase Chinas influence under CCP rule and trade links around the world while generating increasing income for China through a finance scheme for infrastructural development. It is believed that the CCP also sought to use the initiative to gain greater access to export markets, facilitate trade, and promote the renminbi as a global currency. First announced in 2013 by Chinas leader Xi Jinping, the name is derived from the concepts of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. It aims to achieve economic integration and interconnected development between China and the world via a series of six major corridors and key maritime points, which include China-Mongolia-Russia; China-Central Asia-West Asia; the China-Indochina peninsula; China-Pakistan; and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar. Belt and Road Initiative protest rally held on the steps of Victoria parliament on June 7, 2020. (Grace Yu/Epoch Times) Approximately 70 countries have signed a BRI Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China, according to The Australian. Key to this global expansion of Chinas money and power has been the CCP push to use Beijing-controlled state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for any BRI project. This is achieved by undercutting infrastructure bids or providing countries with unserviceable loans for projects that they cannot afford, resulting in debt-trap diplomacy and a loss of sovereignty for the business partner. What is Debt Trap Diplomacy? In recent years, the concept of debt-trap diplomacy has caused concern as many of the BRI projects financed through Chinese state-controlled lenders have left borrowing nations distressed by massive debt burdens. For example, in December 2017, the Sri Lanka government agreed to hand over their entire Hambantota Port to Beijing on a 99-year lease, after Sri Lanka agreed to convert its debt of $1.4 billion into equity. The Hambantota Port in southern Sri Lanka was financed and built by China as part of the BRI initiative. It is also a key strategic point for control over the Indian Ocean. Likewise, in 2018, concerns about sovereignty led Sierra Leone to terminate a $400 million construction project of its airport that would have been entirely built, managed, and maintained by China. Sri Lankan road construction workers construction labourers work along a road in Colombo on Aug. 5, 2018. Sri Lankas central bank on Aug. 3 announced it had secured a $1 billion Chinese loan as the island, a key link in Beijings ambitious Belt and Road initiative, develops closer relations with Asias largest economy. (Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images) On May 24, 2020, then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Australia to look incredibly closely into any BRI projects. Theres often money loaned at concessional rates, or conditions placed in the debt documents, or government concessions that have to be made to the Chinese Communist Party, he said. He also warned Australia that the United States would simply disconnect with Australia if Victorians BRI partnership with Beijing presented any risk to telecommunications infrastructure. We will not take any risk to our telecommunications infrastructure, any risk to national security elements with our Five Eyes partners. We are going to protect and preserve the security of those institutions, he said. According to Associate Professor Michael Clarke from the National Security College at the Australian National University, the CCP extracts political and economic concessions from such countries, such as in the Pacific region, which then poses a national security risk for the Western world, News Corp reported. The Risk of Civil-Military Fusion A further risk to BRI partner nations has been the decision by the CCP to establish a civil-military fusion doctrine (MCF), which means any Chinese SOE can be used for military purposes at any time. Established by the CCP as a way to quickly modernize the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), the apparatus encourages not only the conversion of technology into defense applications but also commercial enterprises participation in the defense industries. In terms of the BRI initiative, this has taken the form of port and telecommunications infrastructure which the CCP can then use to spy on or influence partner nations. This was the case in Djibouti where China managed to secure control over the strategic Port of Djibouti and establish a military base as part of the build. Likewise in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Chinese SOE Huawei sought to build a telecommunication hub that the PNG government found to have deliberately used out of date encryption software and insufficient firewalls for PNG government records. This would have enabled the CCP to spy on the country, a report commissioned by the PNG government noted. Why is Australia Concerned? While the termination of Victorias BRI deal was expected, another reason for the move was to curtail the growing influence of the CCP in Australias region. In August 2020, Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese, Andrews national counterpart, said the CCP had now become a more assertive force than any previous Chinese regime, The Australian reported. While stating the national Labor partys position on Victorias BRI deal, which he did not support, Albanese said that the CCP was quite clearly intervening in Australias national interest. Australias federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese speaks at a press conference with MP Chris Bowen in Sydney, Australia on Aug. 3, 2020. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images) And weve seen various examples of that on universities, for example. And weve seen that played out, he said. This isnt a partisan issue. This sentiment was also echoed by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison who said that any agreements with foreign governments must be in Australias interests. It is vital that when it comes to Australias dealings with the rest of the world, we speak with one voice and work to one plan, he said. If theyre inconsistent with the national interest, theyll go. Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Monday, June 15, 2020. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) On April 22, Victorian Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching said agreements with foreign regimes are something that should be done by the federal government, not states. The federal government is constitutionally mandated under Section 51 of the Constitution to deal with external affairs of the country, she told Sky News. I think the problem here with the BRI agreements is that of course, we know that the Victorian MoUs were used by the CCP to spruik to our neighbours in our region, for them to enter into BRI arrangements as well. BRI Fracturing Western Allies Closer to home, New Zealand appears to be pivoting in its position towards China, with the countrys Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta expressing her countrys resistance to the Five Eyes alliance branching outside of intelligence sharing to discourse on human rights issues. We are uncomfortable with expanding the remit of the Five Eyes, she told reporters on April 19. We would much rather prefer to look for multilateral opportunities to express our interests. Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne speak to media during a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand on April 22, 2021. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) In March 2017, New Zealand became the first Western nation to sign a non-binding Memorandum of Arrangement (MoA) to join the BRI. Since 2017, China remains New Zealands biggest trading with 29 percent of its exports dependent on the communist state. One day after Australias foreign minister vetoed Victorias BRI deal, a joint conference was held with New Zealands foreign minister. During the conference on April 22, New Zealands Mahuta said the Five Eyes alliance was not necessary, all the time on every issue as their first port of call when creating a coalition of support around particular issues in the human rights space. Mahuta added that New Zealand needed to maintain and respect Chinas particular customs, traditions and values. Mahutas remarks appeared to echo comments made by U.S. President Joe Biden in February during a CNN town hall when while discussing the Uyghur genocide in China, he said the country had different norms. Culturally, there are different norms that each country and theytheir leadersare expected to follow, Biden said. The comments ambiguous nature caused confusion, as some interpreted it to mean that Biden appeared not to take issue with genocide as it might be part of communist Chinas different norms. Similarly, Mahutas comments drew criticism from UK politicians who viewed the comments as a signal that New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was crudely sucking up to China and backing out of the Five Eyes agreement. This will put New Zealand on a collision course with its western allies, according to Michael Shoebridge, defence director at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. [New Zealand] will find that their policy framework collides with their values and interests, even if its purpose is to protect [New Zealands] China trade, he told The Epoch Times. Quietly assuring Five Eyes partners everything is fine, while also assuring Beijing of the same thing, is not sustainable unless China radically changes direction under Chinese leader Xi. Meanwhile, Australias Foreign Minister Marise Payne said that while New Zealand had the right to determine its own response to human rights issues in China, she added: We also have to acknowledge that Chinas outlookthe nature of Chinas external engagement both in our region and globallyhas changed in recent years. A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper was shot on Friday in Haslet, authorities said. The victim was taken in serious condition to a Fort Worth hospital, a MedStar spokesman said. He was shot about 2:45 p.m. in a residential neighborhood in the 500 block of Salida Road. Fort Worth police were called to that neighborhood, in the 14000 block of Mainstay Way, about 2:30 p.m., according to a call log. The caller reported seeing a man walking with a gun. Fort Worth police referred questions about the shooting to DPS. A DPS spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for information on the circumstances of the shooting. In a statement to KRLD NewsRadio, the Texas Rangers said, At approximately 2:15 p.m., a Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division (CID) Special Agent was conducting an investigation in the Haslet area. During the course of the investigation, the Special Agent encountered a suspect at a residence in the 14,000 block of Mainstay Way, the statement provided to the radio station said. The suspect discharged a firearm and struck the Special Agent. The Special Agent did not return fire. The suspect was uninjured and was taken into custody, according to KRLD and WFAA-TV. The area where the shooting occurred is in Denton County, just north of the Tarrant County line. This is a developing story and will be updated when more information is available. The union that represents Port of Charleston dockworkers is suing a global shipping line for allegedly violating its contract with organized labor by using the newly opened Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston. The International Longshoremen's Association is seeking $200 million in damages from Hapag-Lloyd, according to the lawsuit filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, where the union and German company have headquarters operations. The legal action also names the U.S. Maritime Alliance, a consortium of shipping lines, as a defendant. The case stems from the local ILA chapter's battle with the State Ports Authority over whether union members will operate cranes and other cargo-loading equipment at the new Cooper River shipping terminal. Non-union SPA employees currently operate that equipment while members of ILA No. 1422 help move cargo. A 2013 amendment to the union's contract with shipping lines calls for ILA members to operate the cranes at any new terminal that opens on the East or Gulf coasts. While the Leatherman Terminal opened in March, SPA officials say it isn't new because it was permitted in 2007. The ILA alleged in its complaint that Hapag-Lloyd knew the terminal was contractually off-limits, but sent its Yorktown Express container ship to the site April 9. It was the first vessel to visit the terminal named for state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, one of the port's biggest legislative supporters. "The Hapag-Lloyd ship intentionally went to Leatherman Terminal even though it knew that non-bargaining-unit employees who were not covered by the ... contract would be hired to unload its containers and to handle its containers on the terminal," the lawsuit alleged. The SPA and Hapag-Lloyd declined to comment. 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! The union said it suffered "massive damages," and its members "lost out on work opportunities, suffering lost wages and lost benefits, thereby also depriving the ILA of dues income." The ILA is also seeking punitive damages, with any proceeds from the legal action to go toward the union's welfare and pension funds. A handful of other shipping lines including COSCO, CMA CGM and OOCL are scheduled to send vessels to the Leatherman Terminal in the coming weeks. An ILA spokesman did not respond to a question about whether the union also planned to sue those carriers. The legal action comes on the heels of a similar employment dispute that was filed in January with the National Labor Relations Board. In that case, the SPA alleges the union's contract amounts to an illegal third-party boycott. A regional director with the federal labor board sent the case to an administrative law judge, who will hear the matter on May 4. In the meantime, the NLRB has issued an injunction allowing the Leatherman Terminal to operate with its combination of union and non-union worker pending the outcome of the case. The $2 billion Leatherman Terminal, located on the former Navy base, will double the Port of Charleston's capacity by the time it is fully completed in the mid-2030s. It is the first terminal to open since the TraPac Terminal in Jacksonville, Fla., in January 2009. 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. Steel-framed double doors in the hallway open up the space and create a bold entrance to the living area. The La Voliere pendant light (challieres.com) adds a fun element From an olive tree in the kitchen to flamingos in the cloakroom, Not On The High Street co-founder Holly Tuckers ideas are as big at home as they are in business There cant be many house renovations that begin with a vast, 300kg faux olive tree, but thats exactly what kick-started the transformation of Holly Tuckers Victorian home in Southwest London. Scaffolding boards on the ceiling give the dining room texture. The table is from Conranshop.co.uk, the chairs from Habitat.co.uk and the chandelier from Rockettstgeorge.co.uk Co-founder of online gifts company Not On The High Street and founder of business advice service Holly & Co, Hollys always had an eye for the unusual. Inspired by a giant tree she saw in a hotel lobby, she knew it was a look that could translate to a domestic setting, even though it took eight people to haul into place just as the finishing touches were being put to her kitchen. But its a symbol of everything home means to her. I love the connotations of the proverbial olive branch, she says. To me, it represents family and sharing. Theres barely a week that goes by when the tree isnt being decorated with pompoms, baubles or even paper flowers from my wedding day. In Hollys office, bespoke map wallpaper reflects her love of travel. Framed prints provide inspiration and a mid-century style desk from studiofibre.com featuring colourful drawer storage adds a playful note I like to add an element of surprise to every room, says Holly. The familys kitchen is no exception, with a vast faux olive tree seemingly taking root through the Corian island. The metal stools are from theoldcinema.co.uk The former schoolhouse, which she shares with husband Frank, teenage son Harry and border terrier Mr Mudley, was treated to a considered renovation a few years ago. Out went a series of partition walls on the ground floor and in came a largely open-plan living space, accessed by generous Crittall framed doors. An adjoining garage was turned into a kitchen, its original attic quarters knocked out to create a light-channelling apex roof. Bathrooms and bedrooms were refreshed and, crucially, Holly commandeered two upstairs rooms to store her ever-rotating stock of one-off finds. I love flamingos, so I went all out in the cloakroom, says Holly of her wallpaper from osborneandlittle.com. The mirror is from rockettstgeorge.co.uk Supporting independent makers has given me the confidence to express myself, says Holly. Whether thats through an office wall clad in Spanish tiles, or a cloakroom with eye-catching flamingo wallpaper. Her interiors are also a testing ground for new pieces, from the hand-decorated breadboards that sit atop her kitchen counters to the colourful artwork featured throughout. Im a magpie for typography, whether stitched, painted or embossed, she says. As long as our schemes surprise and delight, Im happy. Natural elements, including a headboard created from scaffolding boards, deliver rustic appeal in the main bedroom, while yellow bedding brings a pop of colour to the space. Rug, habitat.co.uk. Future house plans include doing something creative with chalkboards to reference the propertys schoolhouse origins and lining the staircase with 600 suspended 3D butterflies. All ideas that are inventive, imaginative and a bit left field just like Hollys approach to life. Hollys new book Do What You Love, Love What You Do: The Empowering Secrets to Turn Your Passion into Profit will be published by Ebury on 6 May, price 14.99. To order a copy for 13.19 until 9 May go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193. Free UK delivery on orders over 20. For more information visit holly.co Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday expressed solidarity with the people of battling the deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying we must fight this global challenge confronting humanity together. A record single-day rise of 3,46,786 cases pushed India's tally of infection to 1,66,10,481, while active cases crossed the 25-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll rose to 1,89,544 with a record 2,624 more fatalities in a day, according to the data. In a tweet, Khan said: Our prayers for a speedy recovery go to all those suffering from the pandemic in our neighbourhood and the world. I want to express our solidarity with the people of as they battle a dangerous wave of COVID-19. We must fight this global challenge confronting humanity together, he said on Twitter. His tweet came after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed support to the people of in the wake of a massive surge in COVID-19 cases in the country and extended his sympathies to the affected families. Qureshi said the COVID-19 crisis is yet another reminder that humanitarian issues require responses beyond political consideration. "We express our support to the people of India in the wake of the current wave of #COVID19 infections that has hit our region hard. On behalf of the people of Pakistan, I extend our heartfelt sympathies to the affected families in #India," Qureshi tweeted. continues to work with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries to foster cooperation to tackle the pandemic, he said. Pakistan has reported 157 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest since last year, while the new number of cases recorded were 5,908, the health ministry said on Saturday. Pakistan's Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also expressed similar sentiments for the people of India. In these difficult times our prayers are with people of #India may God be kind and may these difficult times get over soon. #coronavirus, he tweeted. The tweets from the Pakistani leaders came amidst some signs of rapprochement in the relations between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue. India's decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019 angered Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad. Pakistan also snapped all air and land links with India and suspended trade and railway services. The militaries of the two countries, in a surprise announcement on February 25, said that they have agreed to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and other sectors. Representative Image Washington [US], April 24 (ANI): As China continues to increase its military presence across the African continent, Washington has said that its forces in Africa are keeping a watchful eye on China adding that it is getting closer to establishing a network of military and naval bases across the continent which is a 'significant threat'. "We know the Chinese desire a network of bases around the globe," the head of US Africa Command, General Stephen Townsend, told lawmakers Thursday, adding, "My concern is the greatest along the Atlantic coast of Africa." According to Voice of America, China established its first military base on Africa's east coast, in Doraleh, Djibouti, in 2017, raising concern among US military officials who described the Chinese facility as being "right outside our gates" of the US base at Camp Lemonnier. Townsend said that since then, Beijing has worked on expanding its footprint in Djibouti as it eyes additional locations. "What they have done in the last two years is completed a very large and capable naval pier that adjoins their base," Townsend said on Chinese expansion at Doraleh. "This pier has a capability to dock their largest ships, to include the Chinese aircraft carrier as well as nuclear submarines." Voice of America further reported that according to US officials, China is looking to set up a presence farther south along the eastern Africa coast, in Tanzania, and has an even more ambitious plan for Africa's Atlantic coastline. "This is the most significant threat from China," Townsend told members of the Senate Armed Service Committee, saying Beijing wants "something more than a place where they can make port calls and get gas and groceries." "I'm talking about a port where they can rearm with munitions and repair naval vessels," he said. "They're working aggressively to get that." Story continues He also revealed how a recently completed pier at the Chinese naval base in Djibouti, near the entrance to the Red Sea, is large enough to support an aircraft carrier. The People's Liberation Army is expanding its existing naval installation adjacent to a Chinese-owned commercial deep-water port and also seeking other military basing options elsewhere on the continent. "Their first overseas military base, their only one, is in Africa, and they have just expanded that by adding a significant pier that can even support their aircraft carriers in the future. Around the continent they are looking for other basing opportunities," said Townsend, as quoted by United States Naval Institute (USNI) News. The base, which opened in 2017, was developed to support the Chinese anti-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden but has expanded to include capabilities to serve as a logistical resupply hub for the Chinese Navy's ships, according to analysts. In October last year, commercial satellite imagery showed construction on a pier system at the military base in Djibouti. The relationship between Djibouti and China is a case study on how Beijing is using its global infrastructure investment strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative, to aggrandise its economic influence and strengthen its position as the top investor in Africa. The present scenario, however, illustrates the limitations of China's vast investment and loans project as it is drying up, reported France24. In accepting vast inflows of Chinese capital and loans, Djibouti now finds itself in a situation of such economic dependence that it "risks threatening its autonomy", Sonia Le Gouriellec, a Horn of Africa specialist at the Catholic University of Lille, wrote in the Revue de Defense Nationale (National Defence Review). Under the former President Donald Trump's administration, ties between the two countries had deteriorated over issues such as human rights violations in Xinjiang, encroachment on the special status of Hong Kong, accusations of unfair trade practices by Beijing, lack of transparency concerning the pandemic and China's military aggression in various parts of the world. (ANI) Chinese vice premier stresses building modern vocational education system Xinhua) 11:26, April 24, 2021 HEFEI, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan has called for stepping up the building of a modern vocational education system to support economic and social development as well as enhancing the competitiveness of the country. Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an inspection tour in east China's Anhui Province from Thursday to Friday. During the inspection, Sun visited technician colleges and enterprises to learn about reform in teaching and cooperation between schools and enterprises. Vocational schools should have greater say over professional settings, the evaluation and employment of teachers, and teaching reforms, Sun said, calling for efforts to improve the quality of higher vocational schools and promote bachelor-level vocational education. She also stressed improving policies to encourage cooperation between schools and enterprises, and attracting more technical personnel with practical experience to serve as teachers in vocational schools. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) RTHK: Jerusalem tension triggers Gaza-Israel fire exchange Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired some three dozen rockets into Israel overnight Saturday, while the Israeli military struck back at targets operated by the ruling Hamas group. The exchange came as tensions in Jerusalem spilled over into the worst round of cross-border violence in months. The barrage of rocket fire came as hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in east Jerusalem. The clashes, in which at least four police and six protesters were injured, have become a nightly occurrence throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and show no signs of stopping. The UN envoy to the region, Tor Wennesland, condemned the violence and said the United Nations was working with all sides to restore calm. The provocative acts across Jerusalem must cease. The indiscriminate launching of rockets towards Israeli population centers violates international law and must stop immediately, he said. I reiterate my call upon all sides to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further escalation, particularly during the Holy month of Ramadan and this politically charged time for all. The US also appealed for calm, while neighboring Jordan, which serves as the custodian for Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites, condemned Israels actions. Jerusalem, home to holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2014, similar tensions erupted into a 50-day war between Israel and Gazas ruling Hamas militant group. The Israeli military said a total of 36 rockets were fired into Israel throughout the night. It said six rockets were intercepted, while most of the others landed in open areas. There were no reports of injuries or serious damage, but the incoming rocket fire set off air-raid sirens throughout southern Israel. In response, the army said fighter jets and helicopters struck a number of Hamas targets in Gaza, including an underground facility and rocket launchers. Hamas did not claim responsibility for the rocket fire, but Israel considers the group responsible for all fire emanating from the territory. The military imposed limits on outdoor gatherings in southern Israel early Saturday but lifted the restrictions several hours later and allowed people to resume their normal routines. Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police on a nightly basis since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan nearly two weeks ago. (AP) This story has been published on: 2021-04-24. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. NEW DELHI: At least twenty ''critically ill'' patients died overnight at Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi amid a serious oxygen crisis. "The oxygen pressure has dipped as we are running out of stock," Dr D K Baluja, the medical director of Jaipur Golden Hospital, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. Baluja said the hospital has over 200 patients and they had only half an hour of oxygen was left at 10:45 am. It received the last refill of oxygen around midnight, after hours of delay. Delhi | Oxygen supply to last only half an hour now, more than 200 lives are at stake. We lost 20 people due to an oxygen shortage last night: DK Baluja, Jaipur Golden Hospital ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2021 "Nobody has promised anything. Everybody is saying we will do our best," the medical director said when asked if the hospital received any help from the government. Dr Baluja said the hospital has over 200 patients and 80 per cent of them are on oxygen support. Around 35 patients are in the ICU, he said. Delhi hospitals continue to make SOS calls Hospitals in the national capital continued to send out SOS calls on Saturday morning appealing to authorities to arrange oxygen. Moolchand Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH), Batra Hospital and Jaipur Golden hospital reported a shortage of oxygen and appealed to the authority to arrange it at the earliest. At 7.05 AM, Moolchand Hospital tweeted about a shortage of oxygen. "Urgent sos help. We have less than 2 hours of oxygen supply at Moolchand Hospital. We are desperate and have tried all the nodal officer numbers but unable to connect. Have over 135 Covid patients with many on life support," Moolchand hospital tweeted tagging Prime Minister Office, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister Office, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. At 9.20 AM, SGRH said that only 500 cubic meter of oxygen is left with the hospital which will last for about 30 odd minutes. Batra Hospital also reported a shortage of oxygen. Its Medical Director Dr SCL Gupta said that the hospital is left with oxygen for one hour with 350 patients. He appealed to the authority to ensure an urgent supply of oxygen. Later, DCP South District Atul Bhatia said that an oxygen tanker had been arranged for Batra hospital. "We have received only 500-litre of oxygen after pleading for nearly 12 hours, which is also less than our daily requirement of 8,000 liters. We have 350 patients and it is difficult to treat them in absence of inadequate supply," Gupta said. Live TV 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. Lehigh Valley Health Network will hold its next mass-vaccination drive-through clinic in Northampton County on Thursday. The April 29 clinic at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem Township will provide 3,500 initial doses of the two-dose Moderna vaccine, according to LVHNs announcement on Friday. That brand is available to anyone 18 and older. Appointments are required for the clinic, which will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. One can be scheduled through a MyLVHN account, online at LVHN.org/appointment or by calling 833-584-6283. The hotline is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. All adults are eligible to schedule vaccine appointments. As of Friday, 45% of Pennsylvanias population has at least one dose, and a quarter is fully vaccinated, according to state health data. The Wolf administration is aiming for an 80% vaccination rate. Hospitals, local health bureaus, pharmacies and some community organizations are helping residents arrange shots. (See the Pa. DOH COVID vaccine provider map here.) LVHN has held drive-through clinics at NCC and Dorney Park. It also has set up indoor clinics at large vacant stores the former AC Moore on MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township and the former Sears at the Northampton Crossings center on Route 248 in Lower Nazareth Township. Its Pocono, Hazleton and Schuylkill hospitals also take appointments. St. Lukes University Health Network has clinics at its hospitals. Appointments can be scheduled through the MyChart system or by calling 1-866-785-8537. More instructions are available on slhn.org. The Allentown Health Bureau can schedule appointments online. The website is regularly updated with open slots. Allentown uses the Moderna vaccine, which is only approved for ages 18 and up. The Bethlehem Health Bureau schedules appointments online, and updates with new slots every Friday at 8 a.m. Appointments are limited to those living in the city, Lehigh or Northampton counties or another county without a health department. Bethlehem and Northampton County residents over 65 who lack internet access can schedule by calling 610-865-7092. Local pharmacies providing vaccinations include CVS, Rite Aid, Wegmans and Weis. Check their websites for availability. Meanwhile, health organizations have been partnering with community groups to expand access to underserved or hard-to-reach populations. Hospitals have worked with churches to get the vaccine to hesitant minority communities. Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley recently received a $1.6 million federal grant that will provide mobile access across the region over the next three years. (Cant see the map? Click here.) Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. I will never forget Most of us, like Shi Minglei -- Hope -- remember times we treasure as well as some we prefer to forget. Hope, wife of Cheng Yuan, a human rights activist, arbitrarily imprisoned in China for nearly two years for a fabricated charge, Subversion of State Power, arrived in Midland on April 7. She thanks God, ChinaAid (chinaaid.org), the US Department of State, and the US Embassy, for rescuing her and Aliyah, her 5-year-old daughter from imminent danger to freedom. As she shared one of her worst memories, Hope said, I will never forget that State Security agent Lin Shengxin repeatedly stressed to my lawyer, my family and me, that not only would I have been imprisoned, but my family would be endangered if I continued to speak up for my husband. ChinaAid also recently rescued Gulzira Auelkhan and her family to our Midland community. Gulzira, a 41-year-old Kazakh female, had beendetained for 16 months in three separate Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) concentration camps in Xinjiang. The Pentagon estimates that more than a million members of ethnic minorities like her remain in those intermit camps. (The US along with several other countries officially designated the CCPs actions as genocide and crimes against humanity.) Like Hope, Gulzira recounts unspeakable emotional, physical and spiritual torture she routinely experienced and witnessed. CCP authorities offered to pay her 250,000 yuan [38,830 USD], to simply stay silent about the horrific abuses in China's concentration camps. Gulzira said that she has to speak up and tell the truth, however, for others still being tortured. Just as the Chinese Communist regime failed to silence Hope and Gulzira, they tried but could not cover up the Wuhan origin of the Coronavirus which caused many people to social distance and quarantine themselves. In a similar sense, the CCP cannot hide their egregious, ongoing religious persecution of their own citizens which our 2020 Annual Persecution Report exposes. ChinaAids annual report shows that 2020 marked the worst year of religious persecution that the world has seen since Chairman Maos cultural revolution during the 1960s. Our research confirmed the following trends: CCP authorities completed nine documented church demolitions, disconcerting more than 5,000 members and attendees; In addition to demolishing churches, CCP authorities forcibly commandeered and repurposed an unknown number of churches and religious sites; Under the direction of Chinese President Xi Jinping, CCP officials carried out the third year of its Five-Year Plan for the Sinicization of Christianity. As CCP officials worked to more fully control religion, they ordered Christians in state-run, as well as in house churches, to fly the Chinese flag and sing patriotic songs in services. Authorities even directed ministers and priests to Sinicize sermons; CCP authorities raided Christian families gatherings and interfered with parenting decisions. Numerous officials sued Christians for homeschooling their children or sending them to church-run schools; CCP authorities persecuted 100 percent of house churches. Police formally, as well as informally, summoned and questioned every churchs main leader; Overall, persecution adversely affected more than 3 million Christians in China during 2020. ChinaAid encourages those in the free world to walk with the persecuted faithful; to first and foremost pray for them. In the Bible, Hebrews 13:3 (NKJV) directs: Remember the prisoners as if chained with themthose who are mistreatedsince you yourselves are in the body also. In addition to prayer, you may take the following prayerful actions: Individuals: write letters to encourage those CCP authorities persecute; Governments of the free world: take actions to hold perpetrators of religious persecution accountable by sanctioning them according to the Global Magnitsky Act (https://www.state.gov/global-magnitsky-act); Free World: jointly boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics; Those who live in the Permian Basin: We at ChinaAid invite you to visit our office and volunteer to walk with the persecuted faithful in China. We would treasure your time, talent and tender heart in remembering those who need your support. Although the CCP attempts to socially distance itself from the truth regarding its persecution of Christians, other people of faith and those speaking out for human rights, ChinaAids yearly report, like the stories Hope and Gulzira share, expose brutal realities. As suppressed facts have emerged from dark, secret places in China during 2020, fallout from the CCPs persecution, like millions of deaths from their unchecked pandemic, present a potent, putrid threat to religious freedom for all. ChinaAid challenges the outside free world to not only pay attentionbut to take actions now before more like Hope and Gulizra risk perishing. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The number of influenza (flu) cases on Staten Island has dropped drastically compared to previous years, with the borough experiencing just a fraction of its usual cases, according to New York State data. Thus far, during the 2020-2021 flu season, Staten Island has only reported 100 flu cases, according to the New York State Flu Tracker website. This represents a staggering 96% decrease from the 2,463 such flu cases that were reported by this time during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to the data. Significantly higher totals were also observed during the 2018-2019 and 2017-2018 flu seasons, where Staten Island had seen 1,731 and 2,258 cases by this time, respectively. The same trend has been observed statewide, with New York, as a whole, experiencing significantly fewer flu cases during the 2020-2021 flu season compared to previous years. So far, there have been 4,405 cases reported statewide during the 2020-2021 season, according to the New York State Flu Tracker. This represents a 97% decrease from the 157,615 such flu cases that were reported statewide by this time during the 2019-2020 flu season, according to the site. WHY THE DROP IN CASES? So whats to credit for the precipitous drop in flu cases this year? One Staten Island doctor says the answer is obvious; the same precautions that weve been taking to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have helped protect us from the flu. I think its pretty simple, honestly, said Dr. Theodore Strange, Chairman of Medicine at Staten Island University Hospital. We all wore masks. We all stayed socially distanced. And we probably all washed our hands better. The widespread use of masks while in public was likely the biggest driver of the decline, as mask-wearing makes it more difficult for people to spread or contract the flu and other respiratory illnesses. Wearing a mask decreases the shedding of the viral particles that come out of peoples respiratory track, said Strange. Then you add the social distancing, staying six feet away. Those two things alone probably were the biggest factors. With that in mind, Strange said that residents should get used to wearing masks, if they havent already, because theyll likely be around for the long haul, at least in some settings. I do think that were going to be wearing masks for a very long time, said Strange. I think mask wearing is definitely going to play a role here down to the road, especially in hospitals and in places where were around sick patients. Strange noted that its not just flu cases that have drastically dropped since the start of the pandemic, but most other respiratory illnesses have followed suit. It wasnt just the flu. It was many respiratory viruses that we usually see, like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza virus. I could name five or six of them, said Dr. Strange. We saw a marked decline in all these. The doctor said its unlikely that this abnormally low flu season will have a major impact moving forward, though it could slightly decrease the efficacy of next years flu vaccines. Every year the flu vaccine is derived from previous flu activity, so if you want to say that well have less ability to know whats going to happen next year, that may be true. So the flu vaccines that are in development may not be as effective or as specific to the type of flu virus thats out there, said Dr. Strange. The labour market has been steadily recovering since early in the year, according to data from Adecco Vietnam, with the number of job openings in March rising 40% against January. Growth in job applications was 26%. Sectors seeing an increase in hiring demand in the quarter included Engineering and Manufacturing, Energy, IT, E-commerce, Electronics, Semiconductor Design, Civil Engineering, and Industrial Construction. The combination of global supply chain shifts and the positive impact of free trade agreements will offer new prospects for Vietnams economy into the future, leading to a significant increase in employment opportunities and hiring demand, said Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong, Adecco Hanois Recruitment Manager. In Ho Chi Minh City, the labour market in Q1 was livelier than in the same period last year, according to the municipal Centre for Human Resources Forecasting and Labour Market Information (FALMI). Its figures show that there were over 44,000 job vacancies and nearly 19,500 jobseekers in the southern economic hub during the period, increasing local human resources demand by 13.14% year-on-year. The majority of vacancies (70.38%) were in the services sector, followed by industry (29.51%) and agriculture (0.11%). The centre forecasts that the city will need between 68,600 and 73,500 workers, mostly in the fields of IT, electronics and electricity; mechanics and automation; healthcare and medicine; accounting and auditing; finance, banking and securities; real estate; and tourism, lodging and catering services. Adecco Hanoi Office Director Nguyen Thu Ha explained three main reasons contributing to the current situation. The first is the Governments successful efforts in virus prevention and containment, she said. Second, businesses have gradually ramped up their operations and are eager to bounce back after a period of economic stagnation. Third, in terms of psychology, people now are better able to take care their health and cope with coronavirus anxiety. FALMI said that demand for trained workers in HCM City made up 85.72% of the total, including 22.19% for university graduates or higher. Commenting on the labour market outlook for 2021, Andree Mangels, General Director, Adecco Vietnam believed that the recovery of the economy and the global trends of digitalisation will open up opportunities for skilled workers. A recent survey from the Adecco Group on shifts in workplace expectations in the post-pandemic world indicate that 82% of participants appreciate the strict hygiene regulations at work. Other noticeable expectations among workers are flexibility (80%), adequate facilities for remote working (79%), investment in technology (77%), financial support policies (77%), and regular updates on business plans and performance (75%). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the delegation traveling to Washington, D.C. next week for strategic talks on Iran to stress their objection to a U.S. return to the 2015 nuclear deal and to refuse to discuss its contents, Israeli officials say. Why it matters: That position is similar to the one Israel took in the year before the 2015 nuclear deal was announced, which led to a rift between the Israeli government and the Obama administration. History could now repeat itself. Netanyahu's stance was criticized at the time by many in the Israeli defense establishment as being counterproductive. Driving the news: Senior Israeli national security officials will descend on Washington next week for talks on Iran. They include national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Aviv Kochavi, military intelligence chief Tamir Hayman and Mossad director Yossi Cohen. Netanyahu convened a meeting on Thursday with those officials, Minister of Defense Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi to discuss the policies that will be presented in Washington. The decision at the end of the meeting was to stress that a return to the deal would put Israel in danger, and to otherwise decline to discuss the talks in Vienna, an Israeli official said. During the meeting on Thursday, Netanyahu stressed that Israel is not a party to the nuclear deal and is therefore not bound by it in any way. Netanyahu said Israel will act only according to its national security interests, but will maintain its freedom of operation against Iran in the region. Whats next: Netanyahu, Gantz and Ashkenazi decided that Israel would be willing to discuss the parameters of a longer and stronger nuclear deal in the future, if the U.S. and other world powers decide to go in that direction, per Israeli officials. (Natural News) On Wednesday, April 14, Denmark announced that it would no longer use the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca. Danish health authorities said the decision was made because of a real risk of severe side effects, notably the deadly blood clotting. Denmark is the first country to take this step against the AstraZeneca vaccine. Many other nations have suspended their use of the controversial vaccine. Based on the scientific findings, our overall assessment is there is a real risk of severe side effects associated with using the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca, said Director General Soren Brostrom of the Danish Health Authority (DHA). We have, therefore, decided to remove the vaccine from our vaccination program. The DHA talked about people who were vaccinated with AstraZeneca and experienced blood clots, hemorrhaging and presenting with a low number of blood platelets. Residents of Denmark who have already received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine are invited by the government to receive a different vaccine as their second dose. This will most likely be the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech or the one from Moderna. The DHA added that it can choose to reintroduce the controversial vaccine at a later date if the situation in the country changes for the worse, or if new information regarding the supposed safety of the drug presents itself. AstraZeneca said it respected Denmarks decision and would continue to provide the country with data to inform the countrys future decisions regarding vaccinations. (Related: Oxford suspends trial of AstraZeneca vaccine on children amid fears of its link to deadly blood clots.) Implementation and rollout of the vaccine program is a matter for each country to decide, based on local conditions, wrote AstraZeneca in a statement. We will continue to collaborate with the regulators and local authorities to provide all available data to inform their decisions. AstraZeneca added that it was working with drug regulators around the world to better understand the individual cases, epidemiology and the possible mechanisms that could explain the adverse effects. Listen to this special Situation Update breaking news episode of the Health Ranger Report, a podcast by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he talks about how the antibodies supposedly created by the coronavirus vaccines can cause blood clots in the brain, lungs and heart. Denmark will sell most of its unused supply of AstraZeneca shots During the press conference DHA held announcing Denmarks decision, Brostrom said the coronavirus outbreak in the country was currently under control even though its vaccine rollout was very slow. A large proportion of the countrys older population has already been vaccinated, and the remaining portions of society that have yet to receive a vaccine had a lower risk of contracting the virus. Brostrom said that his countrys best estimate based on local research suggests a one in 40,000 risk of getting a blood clot from an AstraZeneca vaccine. He added that the higher incidence of clotting among younger women who have received the shot appears to be linked to the fact that most of the countrys healthcare workers most of whom are female were vaccinated early. Brostrom added that his countrys decision to cut ties with the AstraZeneca vaccine was informed by Denmarks ability to keep the pandemic in check even without relying on mass vaccinations. Meanwhile, several countries have already approached Denmark to ask whether they can purchase the countrys unused AstraZeneca vaccines. Denmark still has around 200,000 shots left, and Brostrom has signaled that his DHA was open to the idea. But he said that Denmark would have to keep a reserve supply of vaccines, just in case the country suddenly finds itself fighting off an intense wave of infections. About a third of Denmarks unused supply of AstraZeneca vaccines has a shelf-life until June. Denmark was one of the first countries to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine when it did so on March 11 after reports of blood clots. At the time, Brostroms DHA said that the suspension was a precautionary move, and the agency reiterated its support for the companys vaccine, calling it effective and safe. Both British and European drug regulators have agreed that there was a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the blood clots but said that the benefits of taking the companys coronavirus vaccine still outweighed the risks. Most countries in Western Europe have limited the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to older age groups, usually to people over the age of 60. In Eastern Europe, the AstraZeneca vaccine continues to be used mostly without restrictions. Denmarks vaccination plan also includes the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Denmark was planning on finishing up its mass vaccination drive by July 25, but the removal of the AstraZeneca vaccine has pushed back the countrys timetable to early August. This revised timeline assumes that the country will continue using the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. But the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Europe has also been delayed over similar blood clotting concerns, and Denmark itself has suspended its use, pending further study. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine comprises around a third of the countrys total contracted supply of coronavirus vaccines. The decision to delay the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was made by the company itself after health authorities in the United States called for an immediate pause on the vaccines use while the country investigates several severe cases of blood clots. Analysts have warned that if the EU was unable to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the 27-nation blocs mass vaccination campaign could take two months longer than expected. Learn more about the controversies surrounding the coronavirus vaccines like AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news. Sources include: News.Trust.org MarketWatch.com Bloomberg.com s countries rebuild their economies following COVID-19, Africa needs to step up productive and infrastructural integration, participants heard at a regional presentation of the African Regional Integration Index (ARII) held virtually last week. The index, a joint publication of the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) and the African Union Commission, provides up-to-date data on the status of regional integration in Africa and assesses the level of integration for every regional economic community and its member countries. The Index report underlines the need for a renewed commitment to regional integration within Africa, speakers said. They noted that the beginning of trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area in January 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic and its disruptive impact on movement and economies, had thrown this into sharper focus. Alhaji Rashid Kibowa, Director of Trade at the East African Community Secretariat, said the Index report has great potential to address the three major challenges currently facing the continent: the Covid-19 pandemic, implementation of the AfCFTA, and poverty reduction. There is a need for more dialogue on the ARII and methodology issues to expand the scope of coverage of the assessed integration areas. The fundamental issues behind the ARII ought to be whether integration exists for Africa and whether it is effective in terms of achieving poverty reduction and socio-economic transformation for the continent, said Kibowa. The report, released in May of last year, found that overall scores for countries in Southern and Eastern Africa show huge room for improvements, especially as to integration within the continent. The Index indicates that overall, the level of integration on the continent is low, with an average score of 0.327. It notes that Africa is poorly integrated on the productive and infrastructural dimensions, which are key aspects forming the foundations upon which the other dimensions of regional integration depend to function The latest edition of the African Regional Integration Index is not only timely but handy to help any African country identify its main strengths and weaknesses with its regional integration performance, said Stephen Karingi, the Director of the Regional Integration and Trade Division of the East African Community. Jean-Guy Afrika, the African Development Banks Acting Director for the Regional Integration Coordination Office, said the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of the continent, especially the low levels of intra-African trade and the proliferation of non-tariff barriers. The continent will only grow economically if we allow the free flow of goods and services across our borders, allow free movement of people, and scale up regional value chains. As a matter of urgency, we bring down tariff and non-tariff barriers, encourage cross-border trade, and open the African skies, Afrika added. The Index was presented to the tripartite region of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community, and the Southern African Development Community on 15 April, with a renewed call for strengthened supply chains and connectivity. The index, along with its dedicated user-friendly platforms, (https://www.integrate-africa.org/ and https://arii.uneca.org/) provides a wealth of data on regional integration in Africa which can be used to further analyze and guide policy development. In the coming months, the index will be presented to the Arab Maghreb Union and the Economic Community of Central African States. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Theres no bad luck in this. This is all bad management, Australian Medical Association WA president Andrew Miller said on Friday. Theyve had long warning that COVID travels in the air and that these hotels are not fit for purpose. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video They in fact had a report in April delivered to them which says this was the worst of the hotels, and a recommendation not to use it soon after. The Victorian man with COVID-19 flew in to Melbourne on Wednesday, going directly home. Authorities were on Friday working to contact everyone who flew on Qantas flight QF778 from Perth to Melbourne on Wednesday, with eight Qantas crew members already in isolation. Anyone who was at Melbourne Airport Terminal One at 6.30pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday must also isolate, get tested and remain isolated until they get a negative result. The virus spread among quarantining guests in separate rooms with a mother and her four-year-old daughter also contracting the virus while in the hotel. WA Premier Mark McGowan announcing the three-day lockdown in Perth on Friday Credit:Pete De Kruijff The case of the woman and her daughter were detected on April 16 and later genomically linked to a COVID-positive husband and wife who arrived from India on April 10. Genomic sequencing is underway to confirm the source of the Victorian mans infection. Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan said the Victorian man left hotel quarantine on April 17 and then stayed with a friend and her two children in the Perth suburb of Kardinya and at a college at the University of Western Australia. Health authorities are assuming he was infectious during the five days he spent in the Perth community. On Friday his friend also tested positive. Loading The man, who is in his 50s, has since been moved into hotel quarantine in Melbourne at his request, where he remains, according to an update from Victorias Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton. Four household and social contacts are associated with this case the individuals spouse, his two children, and a friend of one child, Mr Sutton said. Western Australias Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson recommended the Mercure Hotel no longer operate as a quarantine facility on April 14, about the same time the cross-corridor infections would have been occurring. Documents released by the state government later revealed ventilation in the 1970s hotel had been identified on April 8 as the riskiest among WAs 10 quarantine hotels. An engineer who inspected the facility found the corridors had no independent airflow, with oxygen supply leaking from the adjoining rooms. Given the degree of positive pressure, leakage likely between rooms and corridor, a table summary read. Mr McGowan said he received a report on April 16 that said ventilation issues at the Mercure were manageable. We have been doing our best to make our hotels fit-for-purpose, he said. We are trying to improve it, whilst we have these people in the hotels. If we are going to have returning Australians this is the risk our hotels were not built for this purpose, but thats the only solution we have at this point in time. Amid the regular leaks from hotel quarantine including similar recent cases of guest to guest transmission in NSW there is growing urgency in calls to establish dedicated quarantine stations similar to Howards Springs in the Northern Territory as a safer form of housing returned travellers. Leaks of the virus from hotel quarantine were responsible for Melbournes deadly second wave last year, and for the snap five-day lockdown in February. Australian Medical Association national president Omar Khorshid said he had ongoing concerns about infection control in all of Australias quarantine hotels, with the probable exception of Howard Springs, a former workers camp a short distance from Darwin. Hotel quarantine was always a short-term measure and weve been calling for a while now for governments to consider longer-term measures, Dr Khorshid said. Given that we are likely to need quarantine for at least the rest of this year and it could well be part of our reality for next year as well, the quicker that some sort of facilities could be stood up around the country, the better. Philip Russo, president of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control, said high-rise hotels were never designed as quarantine stations. Loading He said the multi-storey design meant that there had to be more support staff on each level, increasing the risk that someone would be exposed to COVID-19. Associate Professor Russo said every state should consider establishing a dedicated quarantine station sooner rather than later suggesting they could be used for other pandemics in the future. Leading occupational physician and government advisor Malcolm Sim said he expected dedicated facilities similar to Howard Springs to be the way forward. Emeritus Professor Sim said hotels had been used as a temporary measure but weve now stretched out to a year and we need to be thinking of the medium and longer term. U.S. President Joe Biden has formally recognized the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide, in a declaration that has infuriated Turkey. Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring," Biden said in an April 24 statement that was released on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms, Biden added. With the formal acknowledgment, Biden followed on his campaign promise that if elected he would take the largely symbolic step that marked a break from his predecessors. An unnamed U.S. official said the move was not meant to place blame on modern-day Turkey. But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu immediately criticized Biden's statement. "Words cannot change history or rewrite it," Cavusoglu said on Twitter. "We will not be given lessons on our history from anyone. Political opportunism is the biggest betrayal of peace and justice. We completely reject this statement that is based on populism. #1915Events." "This statement of the U.S., which distorts the historical facts, will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual trust and friendship," Turkey's Foreign Ministry said separately, adding it rejected and denounced the statement "in the strongest terms." Minutes before Bidens announcement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to the Armenian community and patriarch of the Armenian church calling for not allowing the culture of coexistence of Turks and Armenians...to be forgotten." He said the issue has been politicized by third parties and turned into a tool of intervention against our country. Armenian Response Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in a post on Facebook thanked Biden for "the powerful step towards justice and invaluable support for the descendants of the Armenian genocide victims." During and immediately after World War I, Ottoman Turks killed or deported as many as 1.5 million Armenians -- a Christian minority in the predominately Muslim empire. Many historians and some other nations, including France and Germany, consider the killings genocide. Armenians for decades have pressed for the word to be used to describe the killings and deportations, but the label is adamantly rejected by Turkey. The White House earlier said that Biden spoke with Erdogan on the eve of the announcement. Ankara insists the deaths were a result of civil strife rather than a planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate Armenians. Turkey also claims fewer Armenians died than has been reported. Congress voted overwhelmingly in 2019 to recognize the Armenian genocide but the Trump administration made clear that it would maintain the status quo. Other U.S. presidents have refrained from formally using the term genocide amid worry about damaging relations with Turkey, a NATO ally. Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said in a statement ahead of the announcement that Biden would be "effectively ending the longest lasting foreign gag-rule in American history." Hamparian said the recognition would represent a powerful setback to Turkey's century-long obstruction of justice for this crime, and its ongoing hostility and aggression against the Armenian people." He also voiced hope for greater U.S. alignment against Turkish-backed Azerbaijan, which last year fought a six-week war with Armenia, ending with a Russian-brokered cease-fire under which a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of control by ethnic Armenian forces. With reporting by AFP and Reuters We soon discovered a secret, hidden behind a smokescreen of fake companies and false identities. The people facilitating slander and the self-proclaimed good guys who help remove it are often one and the same. To get slander removed, many people hire a reputation management company. In my case, it was going to cost roughly $20,000. My colleague Kashmir Hill and I were trying to learn who is responsible for and profiting from the growing ecosystem of websites whose primary purpose is destroying reputations. 1: The Stain At first glance, the websites appear amateurish. They have names like BadGirlReports.date, BustedCheaters.com and WorstHomeWrecker.com. Photos are badly cropped. Grammar and spelling are afterthoughts. They are clunky and text-heavy, as if theyre intended to be read by machines, not humans. But do not underestimate their power. When someone attacks you on these so-called gripe sites, the results can be devastating. Earlier this year, we wrote about a woman in Toronto who poisoned the reputations of dozens of her perceived enemies by posting lies about them. To assess the slanders impact, we wrote a software program to download every post from a dozen of the most active complaint sites: more than 150,000 posts about some 47,000 people. Then we set up a web crawler that searched Google and Bing for thousands of the people who had been attacked. For about one-third of the people, the nasty posts appeared on the first pages of their results. For more than half, the gripe sites showed up at the top of their image results. These were the Google image results for aaron krolik nyc. Note: Some image results have been blurred for privacy reasons. Sometimes search engines go a step further than simply listing links; they display what they consider the most relevant phrases about whatever youre searching for. One woman in Ohio was the subject of so many negative posts that Bing declared in bold at the top of her search results that she is a liar and a cheater the same way it states that Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States. For roughly 500 of the 6,000 people we searched for, Google suggested adding the phrase cheater to a search of their names. The unverified claims are on obscure, ridiculous-looking sites, but search engines give them a veneer of credibility. Posts from Cheaterboard.com appear in Google results alongside Facebook pages and LinkedIn profiles or, in my case, articles in The New York Times. That would be bad enough for people whose reputations have been savaged. But the problem is all the worse because its so hard to fix. And that is largely because of the secret, symbiotic relationship between those facilitating slander and those getting paid to remove it. 2: The Spread The posts I created featured an awkward selfie and described me as a loser who will do anything for attention. We posted a version of the same insult on five gripe sites. Each selfie included a unique watermark that allowed us to track it if it showed up somewhere new. For an image posted to Cheaterboard.com, for example, we hid the domain name and the date in the file code. # Aaron Krolik | New York | NYC ## Aaron Krolik is a complete loser. Will do ANYTHING for attention. ANYTHING. Aaron Krolik. New York. NYC watermark text:cheaterboard.com 1.29.21 --- convert -size 450x200 -background none -fill white -gravity center caption:"BUSTED" -shade 600x100 WATERMARK_FILE.png composite -dissolve 50% -gravity center WATERMARK_FILE.png aaron.jpg aaronbusted.jpg convert aaronbusted.jpg -strip aaronbusted.jpg exiftool aaronbusted.jpg posted: 2:40pm east The posts spread quickly. Inside two hours, the Cheaterboard one had popped up on FoulSpeakers.com. Within a month, the original five posts had spawned 21 copies on 15 sites. What was the point of copying the posts? A big clue were the ads that appeared next to them, offering help removing reputation-tarnishing content. The post on FoulSpeakers.com featured this ad for reputation management. Note: Some identifying information and profanity have been redacted. We contacted all of the sites that copied the original posts. Only two responded, and only one person consented to an interview: Cyrus Sullivan, who runs FoulSpeakers.com. Mr. Sullivan, 37, of Portland, Ore., has been in the complaint-site business since 2008, when he started STDCarriers.com. It was inspired by his own experience; in his senior year at the University of Oregon, he said, he had sex with a woman who belatedly told him that she had herpes. I thought there needs to be a way to warn people about something like that, Mr. Sullivan said. STDCarriers.com let people anonymously post unverified information about people who they said had sexually transmitted diseases. Mr. Sullivan said he hadnt made much money until 2012, when STDCarriers.com attracted national media attention. Anderson Cooper had a daytime talk show at the time, and he did a segment dressing down Mr. Sullivan and others who ran complaint sites. Mr. Sullivans web traffic soared, and posts soon flooded the site. Cyrus Sullivan The New York Times After a couple of stints in jail among other things, he was convicted of sending death threats to a woman and of throwing Sriracha Doritos into the face of police officers, using the spicy dust as a weapon, like pepper spray, according to a court filing he started FoulSpeakers.com in 2018. It billed itself as a foul speech search engine and web archive that captured awful things written about people on other sites, such as my post on Cheaterboard.com. Mr. Sullivan told us that copying content was a great way to lure people to his sites. (He said he didnt feel bad about spreading unverified slander. Teach children not to talk to strangers, then teach them not to believe what they read on the internet, he said.) But there was a financial incentive as well. Mr. Sullivan had started a reputation-management service to help people get undesirable information about themselves removed from their search engine results. The gold package cost $699.99. For those customers, Mr. Sullivan would alter the computer code underlying the offending posts, instructing search engines to ignore them. 3: The Safecracker Some reputation-management firms use adversarial tactics to get posts taken down. But cozier relationships are the norm. For example, ads for 247Removal.com appear on a dozen prominent gripe websites, and were attached to some of the posts about me. 247Removals owner is Heidi Glosser, 38. She said she didnt know how her ads had ended up on those sites. Heidi Glosser The New York Times Ms. Glosser charges $750 or more per post removal, which adds up to thousands of dollars for most of her clients. To get posts removed, she said, she often pays an administrative fee to the gripe sites webmaster. We asked her whether this was extortion. I cant really give you a direct answer, she said. On the first page of Ms. Glossers own Google search results is a link to a court ruling related to her 2003 conviction for burglary and safecracking. Its not related to me, she said. She urged us to do a background check on her, which confirmed her involvement. Ms. Glosser said she had decided to try to help people improve their online reputations in 2018, after she watched an 11-minute documentary about revenge porn. The film focused on Scott Breitenstein, a former plumber who ran sites hosting nude photos of people posted without their consent. Sites controlled by Mr. Breitenstein also were venues for unverified allegations about cheaters, scams, predators, deadbeats and potential johns. After the documentary came out, Mr. Breitenstein told business partners that he had sold his websites. He didnt respond to requests for comment. Ms. Glosser said her goal was to assist victims of Mr. Breitenstein and his ilk. Ms. Glosser used to live near Mr. Breitenstein in Dayton, Ohio. She said that was a coincidence. Dayton is not as small as everyone thinks it is, she said. She said she doesnt know Mr. Breitenstein. Why, then, were Ms. Glosser and her deceased wife friendly with members of the Breitenstein family on Facebook? Ms. Glosser wouldnt say. 4. Marilyn Monroes Autograph We noticed that the same ad kept appearing on the proliferating posts about me being a loser. It was a simple text ad for something called RepZe.com: Remove Cheaters Sites Contents. Most sidebar ads are programmatic. That means they are served up by an ad network with no involvement by the people who run a site, and they change every time you visit. That wasnt the case here. The RepZe ads were permanent fixtures, written into the websites coding. When Kashmir called RepZe, a woman identifying herself as Sofia refused to answer questions and said to email the company instead. Nobody responded to the emails. When I reached out to RepZe via a form on its site to ask about removing one of the posts about me, Sofia called me. She said that for $1,500 the post would be removed within 24 hours. The removal would come with a lifetime guarantee, she said. She encouraged me to act quickly. I dont want to scare you, but these posts can spread, she warned. At this point, we figured that when someone paid a company like RepZe to get a post removed, RepZe then paid the complaint site to delete it. But our understanding turned out to be incomplete at best. RepZe claims to be based in a Denver suburb. But the company isnt registered for business in Colorado. The address on its website belongs to Anytime Mailbox, which charges $9.99 per month to create the appearance of an office, accepting mail on someones behalf and then scanning it and uploading it to a secure app. (Anytimes chief executive, Matt Going, said he couldnt answer questions about RepZe, except to say it was no longer a customer.) The three people listed as RepZe employees have scant online presences and do not seem to exist. One page on the website includes a message from RepZes chief executive, identified as Mr. M. Moore. At the bottom of the message is what appears to be his signature. Upon closer inspection, it is Marilyn Monroes autograph. RepZe has promotional videos on YouTube. The people in the videos, including those who claimed to be employees or customers, are paid actors. (We identified them on a freelancing site, Fiverr, where they charged as little as $25 to appear in videos.) This video featured Matt from RepZe. This is the promotional reel for the actor who played Matt. We tracked down actual customers of RepZe. All relayed the same basic story. They had hired the company to remove negative posts about them, which it quickly did. But then RepZe would threaten that, absent swift payment of the thousands of dollars the customers had agreed to pay, the posts would reappear and multiply. The content will be restored, a RepZe representative wrote in a text to one customer, who posted screenshots of the exchange on Facebook. We are trying to help. You are trying to piss my ass off. Then, months later, the posts would reappear. One disgruntled customer created RepZeFraud.com under the pseudonym Greg Saint. He said he had paid RepZe $4,000 in 2019 to remove two negative posts. Months later, he said, copies of the posts began reappearing online, and he suspected RepZe was responsible. He created RepZeFraud.com to expose the person he thought was really behind the service: a 28-year-old web developer in India, Vikram Parmar. 5. A Clue in the Metadata We had first heard Mr. Parmars name months earlier, from a California software developer, Aaron Greenspan. Mr. Greenspan runs PlainSite.org, which posts court documents and thus makes peoples criminal records easier to find. He said one of those people, a convicted murderer, had tried to destroy his and his familys online reputations. Mr. Greenspan could have paid to get the posts removed, but he didnt like the idea of ransom. Instead, he set out to unmask whoever was behind the sites and the reputation-management companies. This was easier said than done. You dont know where it is, who runs it, who hosts it, he said. Thats how they evade any accountability. The websites use what are known as privacy proxy services to hide who owns them and where theyre hosted. Mr. Greenspan combed through digital clues and tracked down lawsuits involving the sites which he began cataloging on PlainSite to map out the industry. He concluded that many sites appeared to be owned by a small handful of people. Every time he got in touch with one of them, that person would point him to other people and say they were the true bad actors. Mr. Greenspan got in touch with RepZe, which had ads next to many of the posts attacking him. He pretended to be an interested customer. RepZe gave him a quote of $14,800 to remove 17 posts. The company sent a contract. Mr. Greenspan looked at the documents metadata and found Vikram Parmar listed as the author. Category Info File name: Negative Content Removal Contract with Aaron.docx.pdf Document type: PDF document File size: 400 KB (400,325 bytes) PDF version: 1.7 Page count: 4 Page size: 8.5 x 14 inches Title: - Author: Vikram Parmar Subject: - PDF Producer: Microsoft Word for Office 365 Content creator: Microsoft Word for Office 365 Creation date: Apr 2, 2019 at 1:25 PM Modification date: Apr 2, 2019 at 1:25 PM A quick Google search revealed that Mr. Parmar faced criminal charges. In 2014, he had created a fake website that charged people money to apply for nonexistent jobs with Indias Central Bureau of Investigation. Prosecutors in New Delhi charged him and a collaborator with criminal conspiracy. (Mr. Parmar claimed that an unscrupulous client had hired him to create what he thought was a legitimate website. The case is pending.) Mr. Greenspan sent Mr. Parmar a message on Skype in September 2019. They began to chat. (Mr. Greenspan showed us screenshots of the chats.) He demanded that Mr. Parmar delete posts about him for free. Mr. Parmar removed one, on DirtyScam.com, and then their conversation became friendlier. Mr. Parmar complained to Mr. Greenspan about the greediness of the owners of other complaint sites. One of them was a guy in Ohio named Scott Breitenstein, who Mr. Parmar said owned hundreds of sites that stole original content from legitimate ones. Mr. Parmar told Mr. Greenspan that hed had to pay Mr. Breitenstein to get copycat posts taken down. He said Mr. Breitenstein had instructed him to send checks to another person. Her name was Heidi Glosser. 6. One of the Gentlemen We reached Mr. Parmar via Skype in February. He was on vacation in the Indian seaside town of Goa. We said we were working on an article about the reputation-management industry. He denied involvement, saying he was a real estate builder and also working on some government projects. Then we laid out what we knew. We had linked Mr. Parmar not just to RepZe but also to another cleanup service, RemoveReports.com. In addition, we had found that he was involved with ReportCheater.com, WebActivism.com, WtfCheater.com, RealtorScam.com and DirtyScam.com. All were listed by RepZe or RemoveReports as places from which they could remove content. At least one of the sites had been registered under Mr. Parmars name. Others were linked to him in different ways. Some have the same Google ad account; some share IP addresses; some had been registered to Mr. Parmars email address. Category Info Domain Name: REALTORSCAM.COM Registry Domain ID: 2094816991_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN Registrar WHOIS Server: Whois.bigrock.com Registrar URL: www.bigrock.com Updated Date: 2019-03-10T12:57:06Z Creation Date: 2017-02-02T04:02:28Z Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-02-02T04:02:28Z Registrar: BigRock Solutions Ltd. Registrar IANA ID: 1495 Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp #clientTransferProhibited Registry Registrant ID: Not Available From Registry Registrant Name: vikram parmar Registrant Organization: - Registrant Street: ahmedabad Registrant City: Ahmedabad Registrant State/Province: Other Registrant Postal Code: 382424 Registrant Country: IN In other words, Mr. Parmar seemed to be running sites that produced slander and running sites that made money by removing that slander. Mr. Parmar sounded uneasy. He said anyone could use anyone elses email address to register a site. Then he admitted to doing some reputation-management work. Then he asked that his name not be used in this article. Then he suggested other people in the industry whom we should investigate instead of him. (The list included Mr. Breitenstein and Ms. Glosser.) You are pretty much accurate but targeting a wrong guy, he wrote in a Skype message. I am just mediator, he added. I am one of the gentleman. Mr. Parmar resurfaced in April, about 20 minutes after we emailed RepZe seeking comment for this article. In messages over Skype, he said he didnt own the complaint sites but was providing them services, including helping them improve their performance on search engines. Why were his email address and Google ad accounts linked to the complaint sites? Mr. Parmar didnt have a coherent explanation. 7. My Experiment Ends Three months after my experiment started, my search results were suffering the consequences. Bing helpfully recommended adding loser to a search for Aaron Krolik. When you Googled my name, Cheaters.news was at the top of the image results. Note: Some identifying information has been redacted. Theres no way for me to delete the posts that I wrote; the slander sites dont allow that. Based on estimates provided by removal services, it would cost me about $20,000 to get the posts taken down and even then, more posts might appear in their place. There is another way to lessen the posts impact. In certain circumstances, Google will remove harmful content from individuals search results, including links to sites with exploitative removal practices. If a site charges to remove posts, you can ask Google not to list it. Google didnt advertise this policy widely, and few victims of online slander seem aware that its an option. Thats in part because when you Google ways to clean up your search results, Googles solution is buried under ads for reputation-management services like RepZe. I eventually found the Google form. I submitted a claim to have one URL removed. Your email has been sent to our team, Google told me. Three days later, I received an email from Google saying the URL would be removed from my search results. Later that day, it was gone. I submitted the 25 other links. They were removed, too, but images from gripe sites kept reappearing in my search results. Other people who have used Googles form reported similar experiences: It mostly works, but is less effective for images. And if you have an attacker who wont stop writing posts about you, its almost useless. The slander remains. Mr. Parmar, a self-described expert in how to influence search results, has recently taken steps to burnish his own reputation. Around the time that we started trying to reach him, articles began appearing online casting him in glowing terms. One piece gushed about his rags-to-riches story. Another, on Freelancer.com, said his web-marketing business generated $2 million a year in revenue. Mr. Parmar was quoted as saying he had bought cars for himself and his family. I live like a BOSS, he said. If youve had experiences with the gripe sites, clean-up services or Googles removal tool, please tell us about them: kashmir.hill@nytimes.com and aaron.krolik@nytimes.com. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris on May 7 to discuss the surge of migration at the countries' shared border, Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard tweeted Saturday. The big picture: The scheduled meeting comes as the Biden administration takes a multi-pronged approach to the increased number of migrants coming to the southern border, Axios' Stef Kight reports. Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free Harris, who has been tapped to lead U.S. negotiations with Central American countries, is scheduled to meet virtually with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Monday. She'll visit the region in June. The U.S. is also expected to soon announce its plan for investing aid in Central America. What they're saying: The May 7 virtual meeting will focus on the common goals of prosperity, good governance and addressing the root causes of migration," Harris' office said, per AP. Go deeper: Biden speaks to Mexican president about reversing Trump's "draconian immigration policies" More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free Hyderabad: A slew of senior doctors, many of them with distinguished service and recognition for their work, have written a letter to Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao outlining a 20-point action plan to improve Telangana states Covid-19 management policy-making and implementation. The letter said that a group of 39 medical professionals, and one lawyer, met recently to discuss and understand the challenges and policy responses in emergency health care, across all departments of the government. The doctors said they identified several areas that the government should act on to build a more resilient management of the crisis across various levels of administration. With the virus now believed to be airborne, the letter called on the Chief Minister to ensure manufacture, sale, and use of poor-quality masks does not occur. The government should provide good quality masks to people in the lower socio-economic strata, and ensure mask compliance as this seems to be one of the most effective preventative measure for this pandemic. The government should issue an ordinance and take control of all oxygen plants and channelise the distribution of the gas through a single window system. It also called for creating community oxygen centers for easy access of mild to moderately ill patients. This will reduce burden on the hospitals. The oxygen production and supply should be regulated by government immediately, it said. The group of senior doctors also said that the daily Covid-19 bulletin must be transparent and display test positivity, daily active cases, deaths and discharged; and also an active dashboard of bed availability of isolation beds with oxygen facility, ICU/ non ICU beds in both public and private health sector for patients to easily choose their care based on their budget, location and bed availability. Other suggestions: * Need for government intervention and regulatory mechanism to ensure unobstructed movement of raw and packing materials, finished products and manpower related to manufacturing and distribution of drugs and medical devices. Invoke emergency provisions and full implementation of Disaster Management Act to create a rescue zone to provide all needed facilities such as N-95 masks, PPE kits, Ventilators, medical oxygen, essential medications, by the manufacturers as a priority for those who need them; * Need for government intervention to make available emergency medications such as remdesevir etc., in a fair and a quick way to hospitals to avoid price gouging by various players. Remdesivir and tocilizumab are injectables given only in hospitals, so should be completely available in in-patient pharmacies of hospitals under prescription by treating doctors, no other route should be available for people to scramble about. Same is the case with medical oxygen; * Consider using a hospital preparedness checklist and the COVID-19 Surge spreadsheet to estimate and respond to the surge in demand for hospital-based services * Create plans to reduce staffing shortages and assess the need for alternative care sites, such as emergency field hospitals; * Consider setting up an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for hospitals if not already in place and ensure the EOC has enough staff for an extended response; * Work towards resuming/maintaining essential healthcare services using a risk/benefit analysis for in-person care visits while optimizing tele-health; * Consider involving many of our available home health care, elderly care centers to provide isolation and medical care by telemedicine to mildly affected COVID-19 patients to lower panic, inconvenience, and burden on the infrastructure; * Creating new infrastructure to increase the bed availability with help of organisations like DRDO to create isolation wards with beds, oxygen piping and ventilators to meet the increasing demands over and above the existing system; * Expediting Rt-PCR testing and the turn-around time of conveying test results in public health sector by keeping availability of test analyzers and Lab Technicians at multiple near-by spots of testing facilities. Rt-PCR/RAT testing centers should avail 24 hours service in public health sector to cover the needs of the emergency; * A proper triage at the entry of government tertiary hospitals for ICU beds not just based on Rt-PCR positivity but the overall picture of sickness in view of HRCT and clinical findings based criteria will prioritise admissions for the most needy at this time of crisis. Government should develop and expand ICU beds in Medical college attached hospitals and urgently incorporate them in to Covid-19 care facilities; * Medical education of public regarding home isolation of the 80 per cent of the mild illness or asymptomatic patients by providing home kit of paracetamol, antibiotic /antiviral tablets and pulse ox meter and information of when to reach a hospital in case of worsening of symptoms. This will reduce an unnecessary burden on the infrastructure both public and private; * Procurement of vaccines from the manufacturers as pre-orders at the earliest to reach our demands as the new guidelines decentralized the vaccination drive. There should be strict price caps and strict vigilance to not slip vaccines in to third party middlemen with high prices; *After the availability of vaccines, expedited vaccination by adopting the past successful methods of door to door campaign and vaccination at work and residential areas to overcome vaccination hesitancy and delays due to transportation difficulties of extreme age groups, also this will enhance social distancing norms to prevent further spread of Pandemic. Vaccination program should cover 24 hours to cover the entire population quickly; *Maintenance of good non-COVID related health care facilities in all public health sector and awareness education of public to not neglect their regular health care as non COVID emergencies can equally be life threatening in the long run. Converting an entire facility to Exclusive COVID facility may not be a correct alternative as all health emergencies are life threatening. There should be a plan to continue the other health needs as before; *Developing telemedicine to the best of its expertise & capacity to reach out to the farthest of the people in rural areas to benefit for patients who cannot reach the cities for both preventive and cure of the virus infection. Involving many of our available home health care, elderly care centers to provide isolation and medical care by telemedicine to mildly affected COVID patients to lower panic, inconvenience, and burden on the infrastructure; *Provisions of incentives, compensation, and adequate rest/ break time to the COVID care doctors, nurses and paramedic teams to ensure commitment and endurance in public health sector during these difficult times of pandemic fatigue. Application of ESMA may not be needed if government can take care of our health care team well with respect, rest and remuneration and full medical/life insurance coverage; *Private hospitals charging beyond the norms should be checked by Peer review and legal committees to have a cap on the price. On the other hand, some private hospitals despite working very hard, get the rage, violence and destruction by angry families after losing their loved ones and having to pay heavy bills need to be protected against violent destruction by timely law and enforcement and judiciary committees; *Society at large watching and filming the struggles of pandemic and politicizing the issues, either blaming doctors, hospital owners, police and municipal officials, state government, or Central government in media or social media should be penalised as a special pandemic precaution to maintain peace and focus on scientific priority at this time of emergency; *Dead body disposal protocols should be standardized across to all private and public hospitals and the enforcement should be guided by law and enforcement strictly to ensure transportation of corpses from hospital to homes and cremation/ burial methods; *Convalescent serum donation, banking, and information to seek the serum should be centralised with one standard single help line for the entire public health sector. This can be done with help of several NGOs and police departments which have done a phenomenal contribution in this crisis. Handing over to a single organization would be easy and take pressure off the government administration too; *Finally, gaining trust of people of Telangana by connecting to them, by displaying the numbers correctly and honestly admitting the problems and challenges incurred through media every day like a `Pandemic update will allow seeking a helping hand from many private organizations, union government, NGOs and private health sector for all needs that we are unable to fulfill at this critical time. *The following doctors and other professionals who met with each other and/or discussed the points as mentioned above are listed below and signatures have been verified- US President Joe Biden on Friday spoke to an alarmed Turkey a day before he is expected to make the landmark recognition of the Armenian genocide. Saturday marks the 106th anniversary of the waning Ottoman Empires mass killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians, whose descendants have pressed hard for the world to describe the massacres as genocide. Turkey adamantly rejects the label of genocide and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone Friday with Biden, who took office in January vowing a new focus on human rights. The White House did not mention the controversy in a readout of the call, saying only that Biden urged a constructive bilateral relationship with expanded areas of cooperation and effective management of disagreements. In a potential sign that the two leaders want to avoid a long-term deterioration of relations, the White House said that Biden and Erdogan would meet each other during the NATO summit in Brussels in June. Asked Friday if Biden would make a statement, State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter told reporters Friday: When it comes to the Armenian genocide, you can expect an announcement tomorrow. A State Department official later clarified that her use of the term Armenian genocide did not signify a shift had already been made by the United States, and that any changes would come from the White House. Biden, who during his decades as a senator forged close relations with the Armenian-American and Greek-American communities, promised during his presidential campaign to recognize the Armenian genocide. Speaking in a statement on April 24, 2020 as a presidential candidate, Biden said: We must never forget or remain silent about this horrific and systematic campaign of extermination. If we do not fully acknowledge, commemorate, and teach our children about genocide, the words never again lose their meaning. Landmark move Turkey insists that the killings and expulsions of ethnic Armenians in what was then the Ottoman Empire were not genocide but a result of the wider conflict in World War I. Turkish pressure has not stopped some major countries, like France and Germany, from declaring the episode to have been genocide, but many states have held back from fully official recognition. US recognition would be a massive victory for campaigners. Despite decades of lobbying by the Armenian-American community, successive US presidents have skirted the controversy out of worry about a rupture with NATO ally Turkey. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned this week that Bidens move would sour bilateral relations. If the United States wants to worsen ties, the decision is theirs, he said. Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, said that Biden would be effectively ending the longest lasting foreign gag-rule in American history. This principled stand represents a powerful setback to Turkeys century-long obstruction of justice for this crime, and its ongoing hostility and aggression against the Armenian people, he said. He voiced hope for greater US alignment against Turkish-backed Azerbaijan, which last year won back swathes of territory controlled by Armenia since a war in the 1990s. Bidens relations have already been sour with Erdogan. Before entering office, Biden described the Islamist-oriented leader an autocrat and called for support to the opposition. Tensions have risen with Turkey in recent years over its purchase of a major air defense system from Russia the chief adversary of NATO and its incursions against US-allied Kurdish fighters in Syria. The Biden administration has criticized Erdogan over homophobia after officials used language belittling the LGBTQ community when curbing protests. A Dunmore man faces charges after police said he flashed a badge and said he was a cop when he told another man early Thursday he was going to kill him. Martin Piepoli, 40, 106 Park Drive, pulled behind Tyler Spoonhower shortly before 3 a.m., who was parked near Piepoli's home waiting for a phone call from a friend, according to a criminal complaint. Spoonhower thought the man might be a police officer because he drove a Ford Crown Victoria. Then Piepoli flashed a gold badge and screamed he was a law enforcement officer and that Spoonhower had to leave. Spoonhower dialed 911 and followed Piepoli, prompting the man to threaten to kill Spoonhower. The badge he had was engraved with "United States Bail & Fugitive Enforcement Recovery Agent." Piepoli admitted to police he was not a bail bondsman either, but that he can handle bail bondsman paperwork. Piepoli is charged with terroristic threats, impersonating a public servant and harassment. Piepoli was jailed at Lackawanna County Prison $7,500 bail. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled Wednesday morning. Mumbai: Mumbai Police has issued an order to discontinue the Red, Green and Yellow stickers system for vehicles moving across the city carrying essential and medical items amid the COVID-19 pandemic. No reason has been specified for the discontinuation of the system. Earlier, new restrictions were imposed in the state for traffic and transportation of ambulance, doctors` vehicles, and those carrying medical supplies. The colour-coded sticker system was implemented last week in order to limit vehicular traffic on Mumbai roads and to allow vehicles related to essential services with more ease amid the increasing number of coronavirus infections. A Red sticker was to be used for vehicles belonging to doctors, medical staff, and transportation of essential medical supplies; Green for vehicles carrying consumable items (fruits, vegetables, dairy products, etc) and Yellow for essential services including the movement of officials from the government, telephone department, electricity department and the media. Earlier, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced a series of `strict restrictions` in the state till May 1 including the imposition of Section 144 from Wednesday in view of rising COVID-19 cases. He, however, refrained from calling it a `lockdown`.Under the new guidelines, all establishments, public places, activities will remain closed in the state. Only essential services will be exempted, and their operations to be unrestricted. Maharashtra remains one of the worst affected states hit by the pandemic. As many as 66,836 new cases, 74,045 recoveries and 773 deaths were reported on Friday. The active cases stand at 6,91,851 while the death toll is at 63,252. Live TV They are 39 people whose names will go down in legal history. Along with six others whose convictions were overturned in December, the sub-postmasters whose sentences were quashed by the Court of Appeal yesterday collectively constitute Britain's biggest ever miscarriage of justice. They are also names that should be inscribed with shame in the annals of the Post Office. Despite their innocence, these men and women suffered years of agony at the hands of its intransigent management, who refused to believe that the money that appeared to be vanishing from their tills was not due to their dishonesty, but to a fault in their IT system. The sub-postmasters whose sentences were quashed by the Court of Appeal yesterday collectively constitute Britain's biggest ever miscarriage of justice Former Post Office bosses, primarily ex-chief executive Paula Vennells, pictured and staff at Fujitsu behind the error-prone Horizon IT system at the heart of the fiasco, must be made to answer for their conduct Tragically, the verdict came too late for three sub-postmasters Julian Wilson, Peter Holmes and Dawn O'Connell who died before they could be vindicated. The affair is all the more disturbing because so far no one has been held responsible a situation that must be rectified as quickly as possible. Former Post Office bosses, primarily ex-chief executive Paula Vennells, and staff at Fujitsu behind the error-prone Horizon IT system at the heart of the fiasco, must be made to answer for their conduct. Because behind the roll-call are stories of almost unbearable human pain. Of a pregnant woman bundled off to jail, of the separation of a wrongly-imprisoned mother from her children, of upstanding men treated like pariahs. There were mental breakdowns, there were marriages that could not survive the strain. In the face of such suffering and sadness, the court triumph is testament to the dogged bravery of the sub-postmasters who, with the backing of this newspaper, which repeatedly highlighted their plight, refused to surrender to bullying. This is a devastating moment for the Post Office and its erstwhile bosses. When sub-postmasters approached it in good faith after discovering cash shortfalls caused by Horizon, they had a right to help and support. Instead, their employer unleashed the attack dogs. Such was the zeal to prosecute these blameless individuals that, in the words of the judges, any challenges to Horizon's accuracy were simply 'steamrollered'. An inquiry led by retired High Court judge Sir Wyn Williams is looking into what went wrong. Some campaigners suspect it will be a whitewash. Previous inquiries, including the one into the downfall of banks in the financial crisis, took years and failed to inflict any meaningful punishment on those at the helm. That cannot be allowed to happen in this case. So far, there is no sign that key players have paid a heavy price. Mrs Vennells, 62, who is also an Anglican priest, has won wealth and honours from her time at the Post Office, carting off 4.9million from her seven-year stint in the top job and a CBE to boot. In the face of such suffering and sadness, the court triumph is testament to the dogged bravery of the sub-postmasters who, with the backing of this newspaper, which repeatedly highlighted their plight, refused to surrender to bullying One aspect of yesterday's decision that must be troubling for Mrs Vennells and her cohorts is the finding that the prosecutions were an 'affront to the conscience' of the court Her well-cushioned life now includes seats on the boards of supermarket group Morrisons, where she earns 89,000 a year, and homeware retailer Dunelm, where she earns tens of thousands more. If she had a shred of decency she would have resigned from these posts months ago. Her presence puts both companies in an embarrassing position. One advisory firm has already called on shareholders in Dunelm to vote against her re-election to the board late last year. She is not the only manager in the dock. Tim Parker, chairman of the Post Office since 2015, supported Mrs Vennells' policy of pursuing postmasters through the courts. From 1999 to 2015 there were more than 700 prosecutions based on evidence from Horizon. Last June, Parker and Moya Greene, chief executive of Royal Mail when it was part of the same empire as the Post Office, were accused of continuing to prosecute postmasters after directors were told Horizon could be to blame. What is particularly chilling about this case is that it was perpetrated by one of our most trusted institutions in a wholesale betrayal of its own people. In its relentless war against the sub-postmasters, the Post Office arbitrarily turned hundreds of hitherto unremarkable lives into Kafka-esque nightmares. One aspect of yesterday's decision that must be troubling for Mrs Vennells and her cohorts is the finding that the prosecutions were an 'affront to the conscience' of the court. Such damning words suggest a depth of bad faith that is shocking, even in these cynical times. Ms Vennells's former sub-postmasters deserve answers as to why she and her colleagues allowed their persecution to go on for so long, despite mounting evidence that Horizon was infested with bugs and defects. She had multiple opportunities to halt the victimisation yet chose not to do so. Instead, the Post Office continued with its mulish and obdurate approach, condemning hundreds of sub-postmasters to a terrible, seemingly interminable ordeal. They and the public need to know how such an egregious abuse of power and trust could have been allowed to happen and to be reassured it never will again. - FuelEU Maritime Saturday, April 24, 2021 George Mantello was the driving force behind Permindex/CMC., which was started in Basel, Switzerland. The goal was to build a world trade center but there was a lot of local opposition - Basel already head another industrial exhibition. Ultimately, the local authorities approved Permindex's plan, but they had to agree to build a hotel to go along with the trade center. Ultimately, they could not find enough financing, and they moved the company to Italy. That's when they started CMC - Centro Mondiale Commerciale - it was necessary to operate as an Italian company rather than a Swiss corporation. Because of his expertise in international trade, Clay Shaw was asked [and he accpeted to be on the Board of Directors. You can see Clay Shaw's Permindex file here. But, just who was George Mantello? He was born Gyorgy Mandl to Jewish parents in Hungary. He manufactured textiles in Romania and escaped to Switzerland to avoid the Nazis. James DiEugenio has this to say about George Mantello in his book Destiny Betrayed: (page 385) "The Board of Directors [of Permindex] was made up of bankers who had been tied up with fascist governments, people who worked the Jewish refugee racket during World War II..." He also repeated the allegation in this more recent article from 2019. Joan Mellen used the term "Jewish refugee racket" on page 138 of her book A Farewell to Justice, and William Davy used the same term in his book Let Justice Be Done on page 97. This allegations came from a paragraph in a Foreign Service Despatch from the American Consulate in Basel dated February 1, 1957: But was this true? Here is an excerpt from another Despatch from April 9, 1958: The attacks on Permindex and on George Mantello all stem from the socialist newspaper, the Arbeiter-Zeitung. As the Consulate noted, "none of of these charges have been proved." Further reference to the Arbeiter-Zeitung was made in a Despatch from May 21, 1958: So, we know from the Foreign Service Despatches that the allegations against Mantello were made by the socialist newspaper, and that as far as they are concerned, there was no truth to the allegations. A November 23, 1969 memo from the Chief of International Organizations Division (IOD) to Chief of Commercial Staff of the CIA had more information: So, what really happened during the war? George Mantello served as first secretary of El Salvador in Switzerland and gave out fifteen thousand Salvadorian citizenship papers to Jews during World War II. In 1944, he publicized the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz, through the publication of a document called "The Auschwitz Protocol." You can read the Auschwitz Protocol at the bottom of this post. This led to the publication of over four hundred newspaper articles in 120 Swiss newspapers and was a contributing factor in stopping deportations. For his great work for the Jewish people, Mantello received an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University, he was awarded the 1989 Righteousness Award by the Holocaust Memorial Center in Michigan, and he was nominated for a Congressional Gold Medal in 1989. His partner in the El Salvadorean embassy, Jose Arturo Castellanos, was recognized posthumously by Yad Vashem on May 3, 2010, with the title Righteous Among the Nations. Jose Arturo Castellanos Here is what Yad Vashem said about Castellanos and Mantello : Even before the war began, when he was a Consul in Hamburg, Castellanos urged his government to allow German Jews to emigrate to El Salvador. In response, he received written instructions forbidding him from providing visas to Jews. During the war years, Castellanos, now a consul in Geneva, along with George Mantello, a Jewish man of Romanian origin, that Castellanos named first secretary of his Embassy, issued some 10,000 visas and false citizenship papers to more than 20,000 Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe, in particular Hungary. In many cases, the papers issued were good for 2,3 or 4 people, thus potentially saving the lives of thousands of Jews. Castellanos and Mantello did not take any payment for the papers. In May 2010, Castellanos was recognized as the first (and thus far only) Righteous Among the Nations from El Salvador. So where did all the allegations against Mantello come from? In May 1944, he was arrested by Swiss authorities on the formal charge related to his black-market activities. He had purchases a thousand chronographs which were sent to New York for British Intelligence (they wanted them for fighter planes). But he was also questioned about the sale of Salvadorian papers. He was detained for sixteen days and was only released when he paid two thousand Swiss francs to cover any fines. John Winant, American Ambassador to the U.K., reported on the results of a State Department investigation in March 1944. He noted that "the consul of San Salvador [Mantello] has acted from humanitarian motives and has charged no fee at all." After the war, the Jewish community of Geneva wrote to Mantello: "It is impossible for us to adequately express our gratitude to you for the tremendous, altruistic work you have done, sparing neither your time nor your financial resources to come to the aid of the wretched victims of the Nazis. We can, however, bear witness to the fact that your help was entirely without personal motive. Not only have you declined any reimbursement for the innumerable papers you sent to us, but, in your life-saving mission, you have also spent considerable sums of your own money." Still, rumors abounded about Mantello's supposed profiteering. He wrote to the Federation of Swiss Jewish Communities in September 1945 asking for a formal inquity. Three judges were named and witnesses were called to either testify or to send affidavits. Wilhelm Fischer, head of the Romanian World Jewish Congress, said that he sent thousands of names to Mantello and had spent over $20,000 cabling details to Mantello but that nothing was paid for the papers themselves. Rabbi Zvi Taubes, the chief Rabbi of Zurich, said that "Mantello always used to come to me with new plans for the rescue of European Jews ... Since he provided his Salvador papers free of charge, it was a great relief no longer to have to pay for the foreign passports and to be able to obtain as many as possible." A sample of a citizenship papers issued by George Mantello The inquiry ended on June 27, 1946, and complete exonerated Mantello. The judges concluded that "The Commission is of the contrary opinion that Mr. Mantello organized the entire operation solely for the purpose of assisting his endangered coreligionists in a totally selfless manner." [Emphasis in original.] In the meantime, Mantello was denied entry visas to the UK and France. This was due to the ongoing harassment by Heinrich Rothmund, the antisemitic head of the Swiss Alien Police. In 1942, he had addressed a conference of cantonal immigration directors and said that "the Jew is not easily assimilated ... Nor must one forget that many of them pose a danger to our institutions, being used to conditions in which the Jewish instinct for business has a tendency to run free." At one point, Switzerland was ready to expel Mantello from the country, but in October 1948, the Swiss government lifted all restraints on his travel and closed the inquiry on his alleged black-market activities. The U.S. Holocaust Museum has a collection of certificates handed out by Mantello. Here is a good article about George Mantello. George Mantello died on April 25, 1992. Here is the notice from the New York Times: Update James DiEugenio noticed my criticism of his term 'refugee protection racket" in my book, and commented on it in one of his review articles: "In what is probably the only positive contribution by Litwin in his entire book, he appears to clear Permindex member George Mandel of being in the Jewish refugee racket. (Litwin, pp. 29597) The problem with this is that Metta shows that Mandel was working with the Israeli spy service for years and years. (Metta, p. 114) Here is the excerpt from a CIA document, that I included in my book, that discusses this : There was nothing nefarious about Mantello working with Israeli intelligence after all, few people knew as much as he did about Jewish refugees in Europe. It appears he cooperated with Asher Ben-Natan who worked for the intelligence service of the Israeli foreign ministry. One CIA document, dated November 1951, notes that Ben Natan is surrounding himself with former IIS personnel, and the list included Mantello. This would seem to confirm the paragraph above that Mantello, by then, was separated from their service. Natan was deeply involved with the Jewish Brichah, an organization dedicated to bringing Jewish survivors to Israel. Here is a CIA document on the Jewish Brichah. Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar has demanded the Prime Minister Imran Khan that the Sugar Advisory Board (SAB) to be transferred to another ministry to ensure an equally good and impartial oversight of the working of an independent Board ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2021 ) :Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar has demanded the Prime Minister Imran Khan that the Sugar Advisory board (SAB) to be transferred to another ministry to ensure an equally good and impartial oversight of the working of an independent Board. Minister for Industries and Production said that he had requested the Prime Minister Imran Khan on the day of appointment as Federal Minister for Industries and Production to transfer the Sugar Advisory Board for avoiding any possible perceived conflict of interest and to ensure the integrity of working as Minister, which Prime Minister had kindly approved, said a press release issued by Ministry of Industries and Production. The Minister said he wrote about this matter proactively to the Prime Minister Imran Khan even before attending his first day of new office so that the integrity of his portfolio and the independent functioning of Sugar Advisory Board to be assured. While in letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said that the Sugar Advisory Board (SAB) operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Industries and Production. He was of the view that given the importance of sugar as a commodity in Pakistan and in light of the recent public concerns in respect of the same, it is imperative that the function of SAB be not perceived as serving any interest besides those of the people of Pakistan. While replying to the letter of the Minister for industries and production, Prime Minister agreeing to the request of the Minister in principle has been pleased to desire that Industries and production Division should in consultation with the stakeholders concerned, move a summary for transfer of the SAB to the appropriate Ministry /Davison as the earliest. Johanna Love steers the newsroom as editor. Her time off is occupied by kid, dog, biking, camping and art. She loves to hear from readers with story tips, kudos, criticism and questions. Ponnavaram : , April 24 (IANS) Despite Coronavirus pandemic, Ponnavaram village in Andhra Pradesh, native village of the newly sworn in Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana is in a festive mood at the son of the soil's elevation in the Supreme Court on Saturday. Many villagers in this Krishna district hamlet from Veerullapadu mandal fondly recalled Ramana and his love and care for the village. "He used to mingle with everyone and show concern about everybody's welfare, checking how you are doing and others. Even after scaling the greatest heights, he always remained humble," said a villager. The villager said the new CJI has always remained true to his roots of rising from an agricultural family without any pride. "This is the pride of Ponnavaram village. We are proud of Ramana becoming the Chief Justice of India," he beamed. According to the villager, Ramana loves to talk in his mother tongue and wished that he would give some verdicts in Telugu as well. The villagers wished that Ramana will give exemplary verdicts during his tenure which will last till August 2022. Venkat Narayana, the new CJI's brother said he is elated on Ramana's elevation and noted the importance of an agricultural family achieving this feat. "Though many evil forces tried some attempts, his (Ramana's) integrity and helpful nature catapulted him to this exalted position," said Narayana. According to the new CJI's brother, whether Ramana is in Delhi, Hyderabad or anywhere, he always enquired if Ponnavaram, a water scarce village, is getting drinking water and what efforts are being made on that front. "This village is a water-scarce village. Daughters of this village are fortunate as they will eventually go to another village and drink potable water while daughters-in-law will drink salt water, this is a proverb," he highlighted. Though Ramana could not do much, Narayana observed that he always remained concerned about the village, checking about everybody's welfare. "When he used to visit the village and learn that the people who worked for them were sick, he would go to the harijanwada (Dalit locality) and meet them, advising them to take care. He would lovingly greet even ordinary people," he said. Other contributions of Ramana to Ponnavaram include being the guiding force behind the construction of the village temple in 2000. Narayana said the villagers managed to complete the temple only because Ramana was behind them. In a recent phone conversation with the CJI's brother, Ramana expressed his desire to visit the village whenever possible and meet everyone, saying that he is happy with the way Ponnavaram villagers are treating him fondly. Meanwhile, congratulatory messages started pouring in for the 48th CJI from several personalities in the Telugu states. "Hearty congratulations to Telugu pride N.V. Ramana as he takes oath as Chief Justice of India today. Eminent jurist for 40 years reaches the pinnacle of his illustrious career. Only the second Telugu to earn the glory after 55 long years. His motherland is joyous on the momentous occasion," said Chiranjeevi, Telugu film legend. Similarly, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Galla Jayadev wished a successful tenure to Ramana and highlighted that he came from humble background to scale the highest post in the Indian judiciary, calling his journey an inspiration to many. At a few places in the southern state, some admirers have also erected flexi-posters congratulating Ramana and marking the occasion. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The number of Covid-19 jabs administered globally surpassed the one billion mark on Saturday, offering hope even as the number of virus cases worldwide hit a new daily record mainly due to an explosion of infections in India. At least 1,002,938,540 vaccine doses have been administered in 207 countries and territories, according to an AFP tally. Nevertheless, the number of new infections topped 893,000 worldwide on Friday, a new daily record. India accounted for more than a third of these, with authorities there announcing 346,786 new cases on Saturday, a record for a single country since the start of the pandemic. Thailand, which had long avoided the worst of the virus, was also grappling with a spiralling caseload. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said Saturday that more than 1,400 Covid-19 patients were waiting to be admitted to hospital. The pandemic has now killed more than three million people worldwide since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019. Hard-hit Brazil has seen its deadliest month yet of the virus with nearly 68,000 reported fatalities in April, even though there is still a week to go. India reported 2,624 deaths, a daily record, on Saturday as a surge of cases has pushed the government to organise special trains to get oxygen supplies to worst-hit cities. One "oxygen express" carrying 30,000 litres of oxygen arrived in northern Lucknow at dawn on Saturday, where armed guards were waiting to escort trucks to hospitals. The Indian air force is also being used to transport oxygen tankers and other supplies around the country and to bring oxygen equipment from Singapore. Tragically, oxygen cylinders were implicated in a fire that tore through a virus intensive care unit in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, leaving at least 23 people dead. - Accelerating rollouts - With the pandemic still showing no sign of slowing, governments around the world are placing their hopes in vaccines. And worldwide, the number of vaccine doses administered has doubled in less than a month. Story continues Nevertheless, while the majority of poor countries have also started to vaccinate -- mainly thanks to the Covax programme -- inoculation is still largely a privilege of high-income countries, home to 16 percent of the world's population, administering 47 percent of vaccine doses. By contrast, low-income countries account for just 0.2 percent of shots so far. In the US, regulators have approved the re-start of a rollout of Johnson & Johnson vaccines halted over blood clotting concerns. In Europe, Belgium said Saturday it would authorise the J&J shot for all adults, having already received 36,000 doses and expecting a total of 1.4 million between April and June. The European Union as a whole said it would have enough vaccines to immunise 70 percent of its adult population by the end of July. A 91-year-old British grandmother, Margaret Keenan, who on December 8 became the first person in the Western world to get an approved coronavirus vaccine, urged people to get inoculated. "It really is the best thing I've ever done," she said. "I'm telling everyone to go and get it... I hope everyone comes forward," she said. - Lockdown protests - But despite the optimism, the threat of the virus remains ever-present, with Germany implementing tougher new lockdown rules, including night curfews and school closures, after the government passed a disputed new law designed to slow infections. The controversial new rules -- passed this week amid huge protests in Berlin -- will apply in all regions with incidence rates of more than 100 new infections per 100,000 people over the last seven days. And in Britain, ongoing restrictions are continuing to fuel anger. Police in London said they arrested five people, and eight officers were injured, after disorder at large-scale protests against England's remaining coronavirus restrictions, the mandatory use of masks and possible introduction of so-called vaccine passports. Britain began to gradually lift Covid-19 restrictions last month after months of curbs and a successful mass vaccination campaign. Pubs were allowed to serve customers outdoors this month and non-essential shops reopened. The demonstrators marched along several major arteries, including the main shopping district Oxford Street, with videos and photos showing thousands in attendance. Hundreds then rallied in Hyde Park late afternoon following the march. Organisers used various websites and online platform pages to encourage turnout, despite curbs which limit outdoor gatherings to 30 people. burs-spm/jm/acb The announcement was made by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and its Russian counterpart Roscosmos at a conference for the international moon station in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province on Friday. Nanjing, April 24 (IANS) China and Russia's aerospace authorities have invited all interested countries, international organisations and partners to cooperate in a moon station project. CNSA Deputy Director Wu Yanhua said that China and Russia will build the moon station with other international partners. The station will be another important contribution by China and Russia to promote the long-term and sustainable development of United Nations (UN) outer space activities, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. The CNSA and Roscosmos will promote extensive cooperation in the station for the development of human space science and technology and socio-economic progress, Wu added. In a joint statement issued at the conference, the CNSA and Roscosmos said that the moon station will be open to all interested countries, international organisations and partners in terms of planning, design, research, development, implementation and operation at all stages and levels of the project. The conference was a sideline event of the 58th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. More than 100 representatives from nearly 30 countries and international organisations attended the conference. China and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on jointly building an international scientific research station on the moon in March. The two sides will later issue a road map for the station project and clarify the accession procedures of other interested countries or international organisations. --IANS int/rs Days after Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla urged US President Joe Biden to lift the embargo on the export of raw material needed to ramp up vaccine production in India, the US State Department has said that their first obligation is to take care of the requirements of American people. Amidst India witnessing a killer second wave of coronavirus infection, pressure has mounted on the Biden administration to ship vaccine shots, particularly those by AstraZeneca Plc, as well as related raw material to India. While the American President has denied any outright ban on the export of raw materials, his administrations priority for domestic demand has nixed their export to India and other states in dire need. special obligation' Addressing press reporters in Washington DC earlier this week, State Department spokesperson Ned Price has clearly asserted that the US was first and foremost engaged in an ambitious, effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people. He added that it was the administrations had a special responsibility to America, which has been hit hardest by the pandemic. Answering questions about lifting the embargo on vaccine import to India, he further said that the administration was doing as much as they can for other countries, but with consistency to their first obligation. That campaign (vaccination) is well underway, and were doing that for a couple of reasons. Number one, we have a special responsibility to the American people. Number two, the American people, this country has been hit harder than any other country around the world; more than 550,000 deaths, tens of millions of infections in this country alone, Price said Thursday adding that it was not only in the US interest to see Americans vaccinated, but in the interest of the rest of the world to see them immunised. The point the Secretary (of State Antony Blinken) has made repeatedly is that as long as the virus is spreading anywhere, it is a threat to people everywhere. So as long as the virus is spreading uncontrolled in this country, it can mutate and it can travel beyond our borders. That, in turn, poses a threat well beyond the United States, Price said responding to questions. Last week, Poonawalla tagged POTUS and urged the American administration to lift the embargo on raw material exports from the US. According to the SII Chairman, Bags and filters are amongst the few raw materials needed to scale up the production of both Covaxin and Covishield shots. Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the U.S., I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S. so that vaccine production can ramp up. Your administration has the details. Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) April 16, 2021 Image Credits: AdarPoonawalla/Twitter/Unsplash/AP GRAND RAPIDS, MI - From their famous barbacoa tacos to their staff, everything at Maggies Kitchen is expertly seasoned with decades of culinary experience. Located at 636 Bridge Street NW, the restaurant has been serving up authentic Mexican cuisine for nearly 40 years on Grand Rapids West Side. People are willing to travel for the popular Styrofoam-plate meals. Owner Luis Ramirez said that the restaurant doesnt need to move because people come to it upwards of 100 miles in some cases, with patrons spanning from Chicago to Traverse City to Lansing. The draw is the restaurants renowned barbacoa tacos -- a seemingly simple combination of barbacoa, cheese, onion, cilantro and a soft corn tortilla -- which puts Maggies on the map for many. The beef cheek is cooked slowly in its own juices for over five hours in a steam kettle cooker, resulting in juicy barbacoa with a rich blend of seasonings. For those traveling for Maggies iconic barbacoa, the pilgrimage begins a week out with an order and ends with picking up the melt-in-your-mouth meat by the pound ($10 per pound) in some cases. The combination of barbacoa tacos and matching weekend menudo soup at Maggies is iconic in West Michigan and beyond, he said. Its a tradition that we built slowly, Ramirez said. The barbacoa and the soup that we make, that is a specialty soup, which is called menudo. Even though we only offer 50% of the restaurants (capacity), people love to come in on the weekends, especially Saturday, and have a bowl of menudo and a couple of barbacoa tacos. Under Michigans COVID-19 restrictions, restaurants and bars are limited to 50% indoor dining capacity. While many cant remember a time when Maggies Kitchen wasnt serving up classic dishes in Grand Rapids, there was a time they werent bringing Michoacan cooking to Michigan. However, Ramirez said there hasnt been a time where his family hasnt been in food service. Originally from the border of Texas and Laredo, Mexico, Ramirezs first job at 16 was at a hotel restaurant, which is also where his mother, Maggie, worked. Ramirezs family moved to Chicago in 1972 where he continued to work in hospitality as a bartender before deciding to settle down in Grand Rapids years later. The goal was always to open up a family business, so on Cinco de Mayo in 1982, Maggies opened its doors as a little shop with a deli. The original space wasnt truly a kitchen, but as Maggie was making a meal one day, some construction workers starting on a multi-month highway project stopped in and asked for a meal, which kicked everything off. So, my mom committed to making meals for 12 to 15 people five days a week, Ramirez said. When I saw that, I said, Wow. We just have a little, itty bitty kitchen, but there wasnt really a restaurant. So, I said right away that Im going to start building something for my mom a kitchen, a real kitchen. Ramirez and his son built that kitchen, opening to takeout only. As people came, Ramirez said they would ask to borrow the chairs employees would have for breaks so they could eat in-house. That inspired another expansion in 1984-85 to build a dining section with 10 tables. As the restaurant has continued to grow, its been a family affair. From his wife to his kids and now grandkids, Ramirez said they do it all. Yeah, everybodys involved, he said. Were not afraid to work. Im not afraid to clean the sidewalks every day, thrash and whatever needs to be done out there. When you own the place and theres something you care for, you do a little bit of anything. The menu was also built up as the restaurants reputation grew, but much of the food has been in Ramirezs family for generations. That food has grown to become local favorites. On the breakfast side of the menu, Ramirez said Maggies huevos rancheros ($10.95) is an all-day favorite. The dish pairs two sunny side-up eggs with rich ranchero sauce over a fried corn tortilla. It comes with all the fixings homemade beans and rice that are made fresh daily in house. For lunch, Ramirez said taco platters ($12.50+) pair a range of proteins with beans, rice, salad and tortillas to fill a belly or two. All tacos come with the option of mild salsa or spicy salsa verde, which Maggies Kitchen makes daily. The food is a slice of home, Ramirez said, and is just one way the restaurant welcomes its patrons. Between an open kitchen and an airy dining area complete with colorful decor, he said guests are always welcomed to the table. Just in case, Ramirez personally roams the restaurant to check in on them, asking how they like the food or getting to know them. Those homestyle flavors have become a focal point for other patrons, and Ramirez said Maggies Kitchen has grown into a hub for its community. The restaurant has worked with the neighborhood to raise money for community members with lofty medical bills and fundraise for migrant children. But when it comes down to breaking down Maggies successful formula, Ramirez said its simple: keep your family close and cook the food you love. What we do here is not a secret, he said. We cook fresh every day... You can taste the difference when you come to eat at Maggies Kitchen. Maggies Kitchen is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and can be reached at (616) 458-8583. Check out the full menu on the restaurants Facebook page. Read more: Grand Rapids police still have work to do in wake of Chauvins conviction, advocate says Few have faith in the Michigan Legislatures sexual harassment and discrimination policies. Can that be fixed? Enough is enough: Michigan parents pushing to drop mask mandates in some school districts Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 05:48:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Astronauts are about to board the Crew Dragon spacecraft at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral of Florida, the United States, April 23, 2021. NASA and SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) early on Friday, the third crewed mission of the U.S. commercial rocket company in less than a year. The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying four astronauts from three countries has safely reached orbit a few minutes after the liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 5:49 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (0949 GMT), according to NASA's twitter. It was the first time that Elon Musk's SpaceX reused a capsule and a rocket to launch astronauts. The spacecraft is due to arrive at the ISS early Saturday following a flight of over 23 hours. The four-member team includes U.S. astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, France's Thomas Pesquet, and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide. (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani/Handout via Xinhua) WASHINGTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- NASA and SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) early on Friday, the third crewed mission of the U.S. commercial rocket company in less than a year. The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying four astronauts from three countries has safely reached orbit a few minutes after the liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 5:49 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (0949 GMT), according to NASA's twitter. It was the first time that Elon Musk's SpaceX reused a capsule and a rocket to launch astronauts. The spacecraft is due to arrive at the ISS early Saturday following a flight of over 23 hours. The four-member team includes U.S. astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, France's Thomas Pesquet, and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide. "It has been an incredible year for NASA and our Commercial Crew Program, with three crewed launches to the space station since last May," said NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk. "This is another important milestone for NASA, SpaceX, and our international partners at ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and for the future of scientific research on board the space station. It will be an exciting moment to see our crews greet one another on station for our first crew handover under the Commercial Crew Program," he said. During Crew Dragon's flight, SpaceX will command the spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California, and NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The Crew-2 mission is the second of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. The Crew-2 members will conduct science and maintenance during a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return no earlier than Oct. 31, according to NASA. The launch was postponed for about one day due to unfavorable weather conditions. Enditem The Government spends money to clear bombs and mines. Wherever the soil becomes clean, soldiers remains have been exhumed and moved. That means the debt to soldiers is being paid step by step, said Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh. Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh (left) and Director General at Department of International Organizations Do Hung Viet Vietnam this month assumes the UN Security Council Presidency with one of three priority topics addressing mine and bomb consequences and sustainable peace. To review the achievements gained during the process of clearing contaminated land and find ways to proceed in the time to come, VietNamNet held a seminar with two guest speakers Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Minister of National Defence, and Do Hung Viet, Director General at Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam. General Vinh, how many provinces/cities are contaminated with bombs and mines and how large is the polluted area? Vietnam is one of the most heavily bomb and mine polluted countries in the world. All 63 provinces and cities are contaminated with bombs and mines and the total area of polluted land is 5.5 million hectares. As such, 20 percent of the total ground area is polluted with bombs and mines, not to mention pollution in the sea and coast. As there were many wars in the last 100 years, bombs and mines left from the wars are diverse and they are located in many different soil layers. Time has elapsed, but explosive materials are likely to explode at any time, causing serious consequences to peoples lives and the countrys socio-economic development. Half a century more to clear bombs, mines With the current situation and the ongoing mine clearance speed, how much time will we have to spend to clean bomb-contaminated land and how much will it cost? In 2010, the Government estimated that Vietnam could clean 3,000 hectares of land each year. As such, itll take us 200 years and $6 billion in total to clear land. In that year, the Government launched Program 504 with an aim to speed up the mine clearance process. To date, we have cleaned about 500,000 hectares, which means we still need to clean 5 million hectares more. With the current process, we can clean 100,000 hectares a year, so we will need 50 more years to clear all the land. The Government spends money to clear bombs and mines. Wherever the soil becomes clean, soldiers remains have been exhumed and moved. That means the debt to soldiers is being paid step by step," Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh However, we cannot expect absolute clearance because there are many different types of bombs and mines and they are at different soil layers. In Europe, bombs and mines left from the World War II are still being discovered. We are striving for no UXO-related (unexploded ordnance) accidents to occur to people by 2030, and for basic bomb and mine clearance all over the country by 2045. Building sustainable peace A question for Viet. At the recent regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you mentioned the April action program, when Vietnam assumes the UN Security Council Presidency. Could you please elaborate on the priority focuses of the Security Council this month and could you explain why UXO handling and sustainable peace is one of three key issues? Our persistent theme when joining the Security Council throughout the 2020-2021 tenure is strengthening the partnership for a sustainable peace. In April, we are focusing on three issues, including the cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations in preventing conflicts; protection of civilians and essential infrastructure items in armed conflicts; and addressing the consequences of wars, especially UXO. In Vietnam, unexploded bombs and mines remain a regular threat to peoples safety, hindering socio-economic development. Addressing war consequences, including bombs and mines, is a matter of Vietnams direct concern and interest. Our goal when joining the United Nations Security Council is protecting national interests. Choosing the theme of addressing consequences caused by bombs and mines is a natural one that serves the optimal interests of Vietnam. Also, our motto is harmonizing Vietnams interests with the interests of the international community. As Vinh said, UXO is not the problem of Vietnam only. When I talked to the partners in Belgium, they said there were bombs left from World War I in their country. As for the countries where there are ongoing conflicts such as Syria and Yemen, UXO is also a big problem. About 60 countries are still having to deal with problems related to bombs and mines, and the total number of annual casualties is 10,000. When putting forward the UXO issue, we hope that we can catch the attention of the Security Council and the support of the international community regarding the issue of the mine clearance in Vietnam. Soldiers remains to be exhumed and moved soon Now a question for Vinh. Which forces are getting involved in the mine clearance in Vietnam? All the mine clearance activities are put under the coordination of the Governments steering committee, called the National Steering Committee for Overcoming the Consequences of Chemical and Explosive Remnants of War and Dioxin. The Vietnam National Mine Action Center is in charge of managing and coordinating all mine clearance operations. The units that directly conduct the operations are army engineers, especially conducted in hot spots. We also have civilian organizations in localities and voluntary organizations under international cooperation which carry out mine clearance campaigns in Quang Tri, Binh Dinh and Thua Thien Hue. Which are the priority areas? First, populous areas with red marks, areas for socio-economic development and sensitive areas such as sea mouths and coastal areas. I would like to say more about the significance of mine clearance activities. A very poor locality in Quang Tri province has a beautiful eastern land area, with view of the sea. If the locality is put on the list of areas for socio-economic development and calls for investment, Quang Tri will be able to mitigate poverty. However, the land area has been left idle for many years because of UXO. The Government recently cooperated with South Korean KOICA and spent money to clean the land area. And the eastern economic zone of Quang Tri has taken shape. We are gathering strength to build seaports and expand passages, canals and estuaries to the sea to develop economy and transport, but this has been hindered by UXO. Mine clearance is of great human significance. After the Northern Border War, there was an area called the centurys lime kiln. The sacrificed soldiers remains could not be searched for in the last 40 years. The Government has spent money to clear bombs and mines and wherever the land become clean, the remains are exhumed and moved there. That means the debt to soldiers is paid step by step, and the soldiers sacrificing for the fatherland will be returned to their families. Creating confidence and good will What do we expect when adding the consequences caused by UXO to the Security Councils April agenda? Do Hung Viet: We put high expectations on this. We bring to the Security Council and the international community a more comprehensive approach of Vietnam. We hope that the Security Council will consider the comprehensive approach in addressing the issues on international peace and security. Addressing the consequences of the war not only has relations to peace and security, but has great impact on the socio-economic development of each country and community. We also hope that the international community will pay higher attention to mine clearance in Vietnam. Nguyen Chi Vinh: Let me continue. In addressing consequences caused by UXO, the most important goal is cleaning the contaminated land, protecting people and developing society and economy. It also has important military, defense and political significance. First of all, this will make nations realize that they need to stop instigating war in other countries. Second, this shows cooperative relations among former enemies. We can put aside the past and we dont forget the past. After the war, American people and veterans associations and unions asked the US Government to cooperate with the Vietnamese Government to address the consequences of the war. And we have realized the attitude of the former enemies. Some countries do this with self-awareness. For other countries, we have to struggle to force them to take responsibility for what they did in the past. Third, addressing the consequences caused by UXO in particular and addressing the consequences caused by the war in general is very important content in bilateral and multilateral cooperation in national defence. Together with attracting international resources and support, we strengthen cooperation with other countries and build confidence. Thus, they also benefit by creating trust and goodwill together. The activities of overcoming the consequences caused by bombs and mines as well as overcoming the consequences of dioxin are part of the millennium program, which is cleaning the environment in a sustainable way. D. Thuy Bomb clearance efforts make life safer in war-ravaged Quang Tri After finding unexploded bombs when he was digging the foundations of his new house last month, Ta Thanh Dat knew what he had to do. The Biden administration has came under intense pressure from various quarters, including the powerful US Chambers of Commerce, lawmakers and eminent Indian-Americans, to ship and other (Covid-19) vaccines along with several life-saving medical supplies to India, which is witnessing a deadly surge in cases. "As the Covid pandemic inflicts a heavy toll on countries around the globe, the US Chamber strongly encourages the administration to release the millions of vaccine doses in storage - as well as other life-saving support - for shipment to India, Brazil, and other nations hard-hit by the pandemic," said Myron Brilliante, executive vice president and head of international affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce. He said these vaccine doses will not be needed in the United States, where it's estimated that vaccine manufacturers will be able to produce enough doses by early June to inoculate every American. "This move would affirm US leadership, including in initiatives such as COVAX, and as we work with partners around the globe because no one is safe from the pandemic until we are all safe from it," Brilliante said. The US Chambers issued the statement after Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar sought global help in fight against Covid-19. Will strive to ensure that our supply chains are as smooth as possible in a difficult global situation. The world must support India, as India helps the world, he said in a tweet. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter told reporters that the United States continues to work closely with India to facilitate the movement of essential supplies and also address the bottlenecks of the supply chains. The Covid-19 situation in India is a global concern, she said. "We also continue to collaborate with our partners in India to battle this at the highest level. We know Secretary (of State, Tony) Blinken spoke to his counterpart on Tuesday and we remain deeply engaged with India at all levels as we work to combat this crisis of the pandemic together," Porter said. Congresswoman Rashida Talib tweeted that the Covid-19 crisis in India is a harsh reminder that the pandemic is not over until the whole world is safe. President Biden must support a patent waiver to ramp up global production now, she said. As we look to our Indian friends battling this pandemic, we'll also acknowledge the toll that it's taking, not only on the people of India, but as well as all throughout South Asia and, quite frankly, all over the world, Porter said. The Washington Post in a lead editorial hoped that all of India can seize the moment and begin to reverse the course of this disaster. India is not a faraway problem. In pandemic time and distance, every place is nearby, it said. Major Democratic fundraiser for the Biden's presidential campaign Shekar Narasimhan urged the US President to speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have to do something in the face of a humanitarian disaster. Every friend I know in the US with family in India reports that relatives have died or been affected, he said. "President please speak to Prime Minister and see if we can lend 10M doses of AZ vaccine like tomorrow. We must help now!" he said. Britain's coronavirus cases are continuing to drop two weeks after lockdown was eased on April 12, new figures showed today. The Government said there had been a further 2,061 lab-confirmed cases in the UK - a drop of 7 per cent compared to last week's figure of 2,206. In further good news, only 32 new deaths from the disease were recorded - an eight per cent drop on last Saturday's figure of 35. The new cases data means 4,403,170 have been infected since the pandemic began last year, while 127,417 have now died within 28 days of having a positive coronavirus test. The ongoing drop comes two weeks after lockdown restrictions were eased. It means Britons have been able to flock to pubs, bars and restaurants for outdoor dining and other non-essential retailers, such as hair salons, also opened their doors once again. There had been fears that the easing in the rules would see a spike in cases and deaths but, so far, this has not happened. The new figures come after separate data showed that more than half of the UK's total population has received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, figures show. NHS England data up to April 23 shows that of the 38,189,536 total doses given in England so far, 28,102,852 were first doses - a rise of 107,656 on the previous day. It means the UK first dose total so far is now 33,496,293, with more recent figures still to be reported by Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK population is estimated to be 66,796,807, so the latest figures show that more than half the population have now had a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Experts have said vaccines should be able to control the Covid-19 pandemic as they published new real-world UK data showing that jabs slash infection and are likely to cut transmission. NHS England data up to April 23 shows that of the 38,189,536 total doses given in England so far, 28,102,852 were first doses - a rise of 107,656 on the previous day. The ongoing drop comes two weeks after lockdown restrictions were eased More than half of the UK's total population has received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, figures show. NHS England data up to April 23 shows that of the 38,189,536 total doses given in England so far, 28,102,852 were first doses - a rise of 107,656 on the previous day Anyone aged 45 and over can still arrange their jab in England, as well as people who are clinically vulnerable or health and care workers. Deputy chief executive of NHS Providers Saffron Cordery said: 'It is an astonishing achievement that half of the UK population has now had at least one Covid-19 jab. 'In under five months, frontline NHS staff in trusts and primary care and volunteers have done an incredible job giving out over 33 million first jabs and more than 11 million second doses. 'We owe each and every one of them our thanks. We've made truly significant progress, but we've still got a long way to go until we reach our next major milestone of offering all adults their first jab by the end of July. 'In the meantime, we'd encourage everyone to have their Covid-19 vaccines when they are offered it and to continue following the rules on social contact. 'These measures are key to keeping Covid-19 infection rates under control and helping ensure this current lockdown is our last.' Experts have said vaccines should be able to control the Covid-19 pandemic as they published new real-world UK data showing that jabs slash infection and are likely to cut transmission. Just one dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine leads to a two-thirds drop in coronavirus cases and is 74 per cent effective against symptomatic infection. After two doses of Pfizer, there was a 70 per cent reduction in all cases and a 90 per cent drop in symptomatic cases - these are the people who are most likely to transmit coronavirus to others. Experts are still collecting data on two doses of AstraZeneca but say their findings show that both vaccines work and are effective in the real world. One of the new studies, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, is based on data from the national Covid-19 Infection Survey run by the University of Oxford and the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It included a random sample of more than 373,000 adults from across the UK, who produced more than 1.6 million swab test results between December and April. Professor Sarah Walker, from the University of Oxford and chief investigator for the survey, said the study suggested vaccines could reduce transmission and were also effective against the Kent variant of coronavirus. With every other driver in the F1 paddock given a COVID-19 vaccine during the first race weekend in Bahrain, Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel decided against being inoculated as he felt there were others more in need than he was. Almost every other member of the F1 circus was offered the vaccine and almost all of them took up the offer, citing the safety and security it would provide their families, as well as setting an example for those undecided about the value of the vaccine. "We had the offer to be vaccinated in Bahrain but I deliberately refrained from doing so because it's not my turn yet," Vettel told RTL. "It's questionable whether my vaccine, which I didn't use, will benefit someone else, but to me it's a matter of principle. There are many people who want to be vaccinated. Many are waiting. "Younger people are not as much at risk as older people so while I will get vaccinated, I'll only do it when it's my turn." A total of six drivers have tested positive for COVID-19 - Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly - since the pandemic began in February 2020. When first responders arrived at the scene of what would later be described as a violent and deadly road rage crash on River Road in Avondale, they weren't sure if anyone was still alive in the wreckage, according to Britney Torres. But when authorities finally pried apart the two cars, they found 11-year-old Demya Sibley broken and bleeding, but breathing, said Torres, her 34-year-old mother. "When they saw her, there were a lot of men that just broke down crying," said Torres, recounting what she was told by a Louisiana State trooper who had responded to the scene. "He said, 'I've never witnessed anything like it.'" Sibley remained hospitalized Friday, battling critical injuries including a shattered left leg, a broken right arm, fractures to her skull and pelvis and gashes to her face. "I'm just so grateful and so thankful Demya is here," said Torres, who lives in Avondale. But, the little girl still didn't realize, as of Friday evening, that her best friend, DeZerra Wright, 11, and DeZerra's mother, Raish-Nia Wright, 31, did not survive the April 17 crash. Neither did Paul Ferrara, 49, the New Orleans man who State Police said caused the wreck while gripped in the throes of road rage. "I never thought in a million years that I would Id be burying my child and my wife at such a young age," said Desmond Wright, 35. 3 dead -- including 11-year-old -- in road rage crash near Avondale, state police say Three people were killed in what Louisiana State Police described as a road rage crash in Jefferson Parish on Saturday evening. Relatives and friends gathered Friday evening at the crash site, near the intersection of River Road and Louisiana Highway 18, to remember the mother and daughter before their funerals, which will be held Saturday. "I'm still in shock. I haven't really completely processed it," said Raish-Nia Wright's mother, Lynette Thomas, 51, of Westwego. The crash occurred about 5:47 p.m. Ferrara was driving eastbound on La. 18 in a Dodge Durango, speeding behind a pickup truck, State Police said. As the two-lane road widened to four, authorities said Ferrara sped up until he was next to the truck, then he hit the pickup. The impact spun Ferrara's vehicle into the westbound lanes of La. 18, and he crashed into Wright's car, a Hyundai Elantra, crushing both vehicles. Wright was taking DeZerra to get her hair braided, and Demya was tagging along with her friend, Torres said. The two girls have been inseparable since they first met four years ago, according to Thomas, who is a close friend of Torres. The Wright family lived just outside Memphis, but visited often. The family had recently relocated to the New Orleans area to help care for Thomas after she fell ill. Demya and DeZerra played together every day. They were extremely close, according to Thomas. 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 "DeZerra was a bubbly, happy, lovable child," she said of her granddaughter, who loved TikTok and playing Roblox. Desmond Wright described his daughter as a bright and popular little girl. "I wanted to see my daughter's first prom and when she got married," Desmond Wright said through tears. "I'm going to miss that." Raish-Nia and Desmond Wright had been together for 13 years. The couple would have celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in September. "We talked about growing old together and watching our kids grow up," he said. Desmond Wright called his late wife the family's Superwoman. She worked in debt collection but has always been an entrepreneur. She sold pajamas and lingerie through her business, P.J. Galore Sleepwear, and had a podcast called "Sippin on Sundaze" where she and friend Donielle Cottrelle discussed family and married life over cocktails. "She was my friend-turned-sister," Cottrelle said. "She pushed me to be adventurous and live life to the fullest. I really just feel like this is an unreal dream right now." Demya is getting better each day, her mother said, but she has a long road ahead. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Demya was an award-winning track phenom who's 8-year-old relay team won first place in the 2019 AAU Junior Olympics, Torres said. "I'm glad she's here, but I know this is going to change her life drastically," Torres said. Torres had only exasperation for Ferrara and the road rage that authorities say led to the crash. "Where were you trying to go?" she asked. But the pain and the loss has left Thomas angry. You took my child and my grandchild from me, and that hurts, she said. The funerals for Raish-Nia and DeZerra Wright will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Holly Hill Baptist Church, 1409 Manhattan Blvd., Harvey. Visitation begins at 10 a.m. A GoFundMe has been established to help cover the Wright family cover burial costs. Those who wish to donate may to so at https://gofund.me/ecc82b47. A similar fund has been established to help Demya Sibley's family with the medical costs of her recovery. Well-wishers may donate at https://gofund.me/eb1b3bf6. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size At 27, I learnt that my father was not my father. Instead, I am donor-conceived. My world was blown apart. But that seismic discovery would pale in comparison to what happened next. I went on a 10-year journey to discover the truth of my own existence, and what I found out about the fertility industry was truly shocking. I discovered that the fertility clinic of the public Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) in Sydney, which made me, deliberately destroyed donor conception codes: the vital information about which children, and how many, had been made from whom. This included my own donor code. RNSHs fertility clinic later became part of the huge, private IVF Australia. In 2014, I blew the whistle on this in Good Weekend. I would spend years trying to hold those responsible to account, in vain. And I would realise that RNSH wasnt the only one. I discovered sperm-mixing, egg-swapping, vast batches of siblings and dead women, killed by venereal disease transmitted through donor sperm. I was born in the 1980s, but found studies including one published as recently as 2013 showing that up to 90 per cent of donor-conceived children in heterosexual families are not even told they are donor-conceived. For many years in Australia, and still to this day in some countries, heterosexual couples were the only ones allowed to use donor conception. In the end, after years of sleuthing, I realised that one of my friends was actually my sister. Rebecca Ronan had first emailed me after she saw me on Australian Story, saying she was also donor-conceived, made at RNSH. She then found out that her donor code, too, was destroyed. We became friends. Shes half Italian. Im half Malaysian Chinese. We look absolutely nothing alike. Two years later, science delivered a truth I would not have otherwise believed: DNA results proved we were half-sisters. Together, Bec and I tracked down the man we thought was our biological father. In 2016, we sent him a letter introducing ourselves and asking him if he was our parent. At the end, we left our email addresses. Sarah Dingle with her half-sister Rebecca Ronan. Credit:Courtesy of Sarah Dingle. That August, an email dropped for Bec and me. It was a reply, a polite, curious mix of the mundane and the earth-shattering. Dear Rebecca and Sarah, Thank you for your recent letter Sarah, Ive just read the piece about you in Good Weekend in 2014, and was appalled. Not just at the loss of your father, but also at the runaround you got from RNSH. Advertisement He mentioned that his donor code at RNSH was AKH. And he revealed that hed written a letter to his donor children, which he gave to our clinic to pass on years ago, in 1997. It was him. It had to be. Ill call him Steven McKenzie. His donor code was almost the same as the one a former RNSH nurse Id found had dredged from a three-decade-old memory: AKH, not AFH. And there was a letter? Supposedly waiting for us, for two decades, with IVF Australia? Sarah and Rebecca, I am willing to take a DNA test to determine whether I am your natural father if the test result is yes, then Ill tell you everything you would like to know. All I could think was: holy shit. Late in 2016, he sent us an email: at 4.30am. Hi Sarah and Rebecca, The DNA test results have arrived. They confirm that I am your natural father. Would you like to meet me? At the bottom of that email was an attachment. It was the letter Steven McKenzie had written to his donor-conceived children. To us. There was even a copy of the photo hed left with the letter. Yes, half of you came from me: your father wanted you but couldnt get you, and it was I who did him the favour he needed most. Yes, I will let you know where that half of you came from. Yes, I will gladly meet you if thats what you want. Yes, I will show you my life, and I will tell you about myself and my relatives. And I will always let you have any medical information you may need Advertisement That promise of anonymity, so fiercely and maliciously protected by the fertility industry, collapsed. For at least two decades, our biological father had been happy to be identified. He had wanted to meet us, and tell us about our ancestry, his life, our family medical history. He had explicitly consented to all of this, and we had never been told. The problem was not with our donor. The problem was with the gatekeepers, profiteering from our existence, keeping us apart from our own biological parent by dubious means against both his wishes and ours. In 2020, I would discover that Steven McKenzies original letter to us had been hiding in plain sight. Hed provided a copy to the Donor Conception Support Group, a volunteer-run organisation set up in 1993 which lobbied governments to pass laws protecting donor conception records and to grant donor-conceived people the right to know their biological family. In 2010, the group had included the letter in its lengthy submission to the Australian Senate inquiry into donor conception. (The Senate inquiry came up with some quite good recommendations, none of which were adopted by the federal government. Today there are no federal laws around donor conception, or, in fact, the fertility industry.) My biological fathers personal letter to me, about my own origins, had been on the website of the Parliament of Australia for years. The rest of the goddamn country had received it before I had. I asked IVF Australia and its parent company, ASX-listed Virtus Health, about Steven McKenzies letter and photo, and why he wasnt told that donor-code destruction would make them undeliverable. For reasons of privacy, we cannot make any comment on [Steven McKenzies] specific case, a spokesperson replied. We have never been able to establish with certainty, I wrote to Steven, at what point so many codes were destroyed. The RNSH conducted a somewhat weak investigation and concluded that they were destroyed before March 1984 ... Which would mean that at the time you gave them your letter, they would have known it could never reach anyone. Advertisement Loading My sister, my biological father and me. The three of us arranged to meet in person for the very first time at noon on a sunny spring day. I walked into the Sydney Rowing Club, perched on the Parramatta River, and in the foyer a man stood up. He was formally dressed in a suit and was carrying a briefcase. He had a longish, oval face, a moustache, and wire glasses perched on his nose. Despite all the photos Id seen, I still felt a jolt of disbelief; I saw nothing of me in him. Steven and I sat and made awkwardly pleasant conversation until Bec arrived. Steven was definitely a talker. When Bec walked in, I heaved a sigh of relief: now I could stop trying to hold back the tide. What followed, in fact, turned out to be a tsunami. Steven ricocheted from Brisbane property prices, to medieval history across several countries, to Royal North Shore Hospital and back. It wasnt a free-ranging conversation: it was a free-ranging lecture. Bec and I sat. Around once every half hour or so, one of us would manage a word or two; that would set him off again. He didnt ask us anything about ourselves. I started to get annoyed. Who, upon meeting two of their own children for the very first time, asks them zero questions? Who looks at two of their newly surfaced adult offspring and decides theres nothing to discover? One of the few times he slowed down was when I got a word in and asked him, point-blank, if he was gay. Bec and I had naturally already googled the hell out of him, and Id come across a few hints. I was being provocative, maybe, but I wanted something real, not an unrelenting stream of consciousness. The question made him stop and regard me for a second. Then he spoke more carefully than he had before. Yes, he said. Why do you ask? Well, you grew up in a country town, I said. Was that difficult? Advertisement He relaxed slightly. Yes, he said. I wasnt really open about it until I left. He told us more about that: about his relationship with his parents and his brother. About how he felt upon arrival in Sydneys Kings Cross, a place where nobody asked any questions. And it was good. It was really interesting. He spoke naturally. But gradually he got onto other subjects, the tide rose again, and soon we were riding another impenetrable wave of words. After more than three hours, I made my excuses and left. I went home and shook myself. Later, that night, I spoke to Bec. How long did you stay for? I asked. Oh, probably about eight hours, she replied, in her pleasant way. Eight hours? What on earth did you talk about? Bec said there had been a potted history of France, among other things. I couldnt believe it. Did he ask you anything about yourself? Advertisement Opponents of the move to end merit-based admissions at the academically elite Lowell High School are suing the San Francisco school board, claiming it violated the states open meetings law when it voted in February to accept any student who wins a lottery to attend. The lawsuit, filed Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, argues the board failed to properly list the resolution in the agenda, provide equal time for both sides during public comment and give the public adequate time to review the proposal before the vote. The district and Superintendent Vince Matthews are also named in the suit. This lawsuit is about improving education for all people, said attorney Christine Linnenbach. We want to be included not excluded from the process. Linnenbach represents the Friends of Lowell Foundation, the Lowell Alumni Association, the San Francisco Taxpayers Association and the Asian American Legal Foundation. She was joined by a number of attorneys, including former San Francisco supervisor, former state senator and retired judge Quentin Kopp, as well as Bradley Hertz and James Sutton. While the Lowell Alumni Association favors academic-based admissions at the school, President Kate Lazarus said the suit is not really about the substance of the ultimate admissions policy. Its about a process that is fair and compliant with the law. In ending the merit-based admissions policy, the board cited a lack of diversity and pervasive systematic racism at Lowell as justification for the decision. Data released in late March showed that Lowell is likely to see a shift in its racial and ethnic makeup next year, with Hispanic and Black students making up a larger share of the accepted class than the previous year, while the share of white and Asian American students fell. This latest lawsuit is among several filed recently or threatened over controversial decisions made by the school board during the pandemic. The board and district were sued by the city attorney for failing to quickly and adequately reopen schools, although a judge recently ruled in the districts favor. The board previously reversed course on school renaming, rescinding a vote to rename 44 district schools to avoid another Brown Act-based lawsuit. The board said the names were linked to slavery, oppression, genocide and colonization. The district and five board members are also facing a lawsuit from commissioner Alison Collins, who argued they violated her free speech rights by stripping her of her position as vice president and removing her from committees over tweets she posted in 2016 about Asian Americans. The tweets were unearthed by a graduate of Lowell High School who was upset by the boards 5-2 vote in February to end merit-based admissions at the school. The board opted instead to use the same lottery-based system it uses to assign students to other district high schools. The lawsuit filed Friday alleges the board cryptically named the resolution In Response to Ongoing, Systemic Racism at Lowell High School without any additional context. It also argues that board President Gabriela Lopez did not give the public adequate time to comment on the resolution, and that the board allowed supporters of the resolution more time to speak than opponents. Lopez and the district could not be reached for comment. The board of education didnt follow its own rules, Linnenbach said. She said the process was not properly done, and that the playing field wasnt fair. The board circumvented normal procedure, giving the public just one week to review the proposal, the lawsuit says. Usually, a large and controversial proposal would take at least two weeks, and often longer as it moved through committees. Board members insisted the change was urgently needed, but the policy will not take effect until the fall of 2022. The admissions policy had already been changed for the upcoming school year because of a lack of tests and grades. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. Were not surprised, said parent Autumn Looijen, who is currently leading a campaign to recall three school board members with her partner Siva Raj. While Raj says that both the academic-based and lottery systems have their pros and cons, he and his wife want to see every school be good. Every school should be good, Looijen added. We shouldnt be fighting over who gets into the one super special school. The plaintiffs want the board to rescind the changes to admissions at Lowell. Lazarus said the Alumni Association felt the process was really rushed through with very little notice and very little opportunity for public input. We feel that San Franciscans and everybody who cares about the district and cares about Lowell deserves a transparent process that incorporates public input and thoughtful analysis, she added. Linnenbach said the alumni behind the lawsuit are not affiliated with a group who previously threatened the board with a different lawsuit over the Lowell admission process in late March. The other group argued that the policy change unfairly targeted Asian American students, who make up more than half of the student body. At the time, attorney Harmeet Dhillon, also unaffiliated with this most recent lawsuit, said the board plan would be an unconstitutional and illegal program designed to disenfranchise hardworking students and would decrease the number of Asian students admitted to Lowell. Emma Talley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: emma.talley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emmat332 The Telegraph The Duke of Sussexs HRH title is to be removed from a placard at a new exhibition displaying his mothers wedding gown after it was added in error. Prince Harry and Prince William lent two dresses that had belonged to Diana, Princess of Wales to the public display at Kensington Palace. Placards originally described them as "Lent by HRH the Duke of Cambridge and HRH the Duke of Sussex". But the Royal Collection Trust has now admitted that the younger brothers title should not have been used and Community News Editor / Librarian Jeannie Maschino is community news editor and librarian for The Berkshire Eagle. She has worked for the newspaper in various capacities since 1982 and joined the newsroom in 1989. She can be reached at jmaschino@berkshireeagle.com. (Natural News) The South African B1351 variant of the Wuhan coronavirus appears to affected vaccinated people more easily than the unvaccinated. A study done in Israel reported the concerning discovery, adding that vaccinated people are more affected than unvaccinated ones. It elaborated that the B1351 strain impacts immunized people up to eight times more than those who have yet to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. For the study, researchers from Tel Aviv University and state-owned healthcare provider Clalit Health Services looked at swab samples taken from a number of Israelis. The swabs were from Israelis who tested positive for COVID-19 despite getting immunized against the Wuhan coronavirus. They found that the B1351 variant was eight times more prevalent in those vaccinated and contracted the pathogen, compared to those who had not. The findings suggested that the South African strain was more successful in breaching the immune system of vaccinated people compared to earlier strains. Professor and lead researcher Adi Stern said: Based on patterns in the general population, we would have expected just one case of the South African variant but we saw eight. She also pointed out the B1351 strains ability to break through the vaccines protection compared to the original strain and the British B117 variant. We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, Stern continued. However, the professor commented the sample size examined in the study is too small to establish the B1351 strains prevalence in vaccinated individuals. More research is needed to establish exactly how much, she said. Stern nevertheless expressed slight optimism toward the studys findings. Even if the South African variant does break through the vaccines protection it has not spread widely through the population, she commented. Infections caused by the B1351 variant are generally rare, making up only about one percent of all cases in Israel. Manufacturers now scrambling to manufacture booster shots for their vaccines Clalit Director of Research and professor Ran Balicer remarked that the study was very important because it is based on real-world data and called for continued vigilance against the Wuhan coronavirus through public health measures. The preliminary findings necessitates closed 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, he said. (Related: South African coronavirus variant can make vaccines 30 percent less effective, warns SAGE.) It is worth noting that the study focused on the two-dose Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. More than half of Israels 9.3 million population have received the companys BNT162b2 mRNA jab, manufactured in partnership with German company BioNTech. The Jewish country also purchased doses of another mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 made by Massachusetts-based drug firm Moderna, although this was rarely used. Just like the state of Israel, Moderna also expressed concern toward the South African strain. Back in January 2021, the company remarked its COVID-19 vaccine may be less effective against the B1351 variant. Laboratory tests showed that the vaccines neutralizing antibodies, which block virus receptors, were six times lower when tested against B1351. While the two-shot jab still provided the same degree of immunity against most Wuhan coronavirus variants, the findings raised concerns that vaccine-induced protection will fade sooner than expected. Given this outcome, it announced that a booster shot to improve protection against the South African strain is being developed. The booster shot set to specifically target the B1351 strain is currently undergoing pre-clinical trials as of writing. (Related: Moderna to develop booster shot after South African strain decreased its coronavirus vaccines antibody levels.) Nevertheless, the company reiterated that its original two-dose vaccine still protects against the original strain of the Wuhan coronavirus. This protection also extended to so-called variants of concern such as the B117 and B1351 strains. However, it did not say if the vaccine also exhibited the same level of protection against the P1 variant first found in Brazil. True enough, Pfizer also announced the development of a booster shot for its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine. The BNT162b2 jab registered a 95 percent effectivity rate, but the drug manufacturer is keen to see the effects of a third dose. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during a February 2021 interview that they are hoping the third shot increases immunity and offers better protection against variants of concern. We believe that the third dose will raise the antibody response 10- to 20-fold, he told NBC News anchor Lester Holt that time. Visit Pandemic.news to read more news about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against the B1351 coronavirus variant. Sources include: SHTFPlan.com TimesOfIsrael.com WashingtonExaminer.com DailyMail.co.uk NBCNews.com Pete Davidson is taking full advantage of Saturday Night Live's brief hiatus. The 27-year-old comedian is currently visiting London in order to spend quality time with his new girlfriend, Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor, People reported on Friday. The comedian's trip follows a report in the same publication that 'Pete is telling friends he's serious about [Phoebe].' Across the ocean: SNL star Pete Davidson, 27, is vacation in London to visit his girlfriend Phoebe Dynevor, 26, People reported on Friday Pete's trip to the UK appears to coincide with some of his free time from SNL, as the show is on a break without an episode until May 8. Phoebe, 26, made her own trip across the Atlantic back in February when she visited New York City, where Pete is based. The Netflix star shared some photos of an alternately snowy and sunny Brooklyn to mark the occasion on Instagram, captioning them, 'Grateful I got to be here for a hot sec .' Rumors of the relationship began last month when Pete was snapped was visiting Phoebe's native Manchester. Taking a break: Pete's trip to the UK appears to coincide with some of his free time from SNL, as the show is on a break without an episode until May 8 Just visiting: Phoebe, 26, made her own trip across the Atlantic back in February when she visited New York City, where Pete is based; seen on April 11 in London On Wednesday, a source told People that the two lovebirds are 'really into each other.' The couple added to relationship speculation last week when they wore identical necklaces featuring their initials which are the same during interviews. 'Pete is wearing it as a romantic gesture to Phoebe,' a source told The Sun after viewers noticed their matching jewelry. 'He wanted to show just how much she means to him and just how serious he is about them,' the source continued. 'She's in London and he's in America. So they wanted to feel like theyre together when theyre not. Any time theyre feeling a bit lonely and missing each other they look down at the PD!' Spotted: Fans of comic Pete Davidson and Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor have noticed the pair wearing identical initial necklaces amid rumors of a romance Earlier this month, Pete seemed to confirm the relationship during a virtual conversation with Marquette University students. When a student asked him to share his 'celebrity crush' during the Q&A session, he told them he wasn't available anymore. 'Im with my celebrity crush,' he said while grinning though without mentioning Phoebe months after the romance rumors first began.. In addition to being a regular fixture on SNL, the comic has booked a new film role as The Ramones frontman Joey Ramone. He'll play the legendary punk rocker in the Netflix original I Slept With Joey Ramone. Hint hint: Earlier this month, Pete seemed to confirm the relationship during a virtual conversation with Marquette University students. 'I'm with my celebrity crush,' he said; Phoebe seen in 2019 Male dolphins invite their friends when the time to pillage and raid comes, like members of a street gang. A new study shows they do this by getting to know the "names," or signature whistles, of their closest allies - sometimes over a dozen animals - and having the one who usually cooperated with them in the past in mind. Male Dolphins Cooperate As a Pair or Trio The discovery designates dolphins have an idea of team membership - formerly found in humans only - and may assist in revealing how they sustain such complex and tight-knit societies. A behavioral ecologist at the University of St. Andrews, Luke Rendell, who was not part of the research said: "The work adds proof to the notion that dolphins developed large brains to maneuver their complicated social environments." Male dolphins generally cooperate as a pair or trio, in what experts call a "first-order alliance." These small groups work jointly to discover and corral a female that is fertile. Males cooperate also in second-order alliances with the inclusion of as many as 14 dolphins; these guard against rival groups making attempts to capture the female. Also Read: Dolphins Have Friends, Too The Core Unit of the Males' Society Some second-order alliances come together in even larger third-order alliances, making males available in these groups with an even better opportunity of having allies close by in case rivals attack. Dolphins switch partners frequently in their first-order alliances, but they remain with their allies in the second-order groups for decades, as stated by long-term behavioral studies at Shark Bay in Western Australia. These groups are known as the core unit of the males' society. The males "stick together for their lifetimes," for as long as 40 years, a behavioral biologist at the University of Bristol, Stephanie King noted. But how do the males keep up with everyone in these complicated groups? Experts have disputed that their whistles are crucial. Every dolphin learns a distinct signature whistle from its mother, which it uses for life; dolphins remember and recognize the whistles of each other, the same as to how we recognize the names of each other. Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins To investigate furtherly how the male dolphins make use of their whistles, King and her team turned to a population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) inhabiting the exceptionally clear waters of Shark Bay. Since 2016, the team has trailed the animals with an arrangement of underwater microphones, enabling them to recognize which dolphin makes which whistle sound. From 2018 to 2019, the experts installed speakers underwater and played the whistles of males to other males in their diverse alliances. These males ranged in age from 28 to 40 years old and had been in these groups their whole lives. Meanwhile, the researchers flew a drone overhead to record the responses of the dolphins. Related Article: Are Captive Dolphins Healthy? For more news, updates about dolphins and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ronovo Surgical, an emerging medtech company focused on innovating minimally invasive (MIS) and digital surgery to address the tremendous needs of the Chinese surgical market, recently announced successful closing of Series A financing. Developed by renowned surgeons, medtech veterans and robotics experts, Ronovo was founded in Shanghai in 2019 to establish a transformative technology platform that democratizes MIS and digital surgery in the vastly underserved Chinese surgical market. By focusing on the three pillars of simplicity, precision, and intelligence, Ronovo is positioning itself as a gateway to China for cutting edge MIS and digital surgery technology companies from around the world. The Series A financing was co-led by Matrix Partners China and Vivo Capital, with strong, continued support from seed investor Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) and participation from GGV Capital. With the successful closing of our Series A, we are extremely proud of the strong support for Ronovos vision and strategy from leading technology and life science investors, Matrix Partners China, Vivo Capital and GGV Capital, as well as the continued support from our seed investor, LAV, said Dr. John Ma, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ronovo. With our core team already deep in R&D, we are now well-positioned to accelerate our technology development efforts and pursue multiple global strategic partnerships in support of accelerated path to commercialization. We firmly believe that our team is the key to strong competitive advantage of Ronovo Surgical, said Dr. Ying Mao, Co-Founder and CTO of Ronovo. With world-class talent from top medtech MNCs and industry leaders in robotics, our team is uniquely qualified to take on the mission of enabling Chinas hospitals with digital surgery solutions to optimize patient clinical outcome and reduce health economic burden. Ronovo Surgical represents our key investment in the surgical robotics space, said Roger Sun, Director at Matrix Partners China. We are greatly optimistic about the enormous market potential for endoscopic procedures and surgical robotics in China. Under the experienced leadership of Dr. John Ma, Ronovo has already recruited a world-class R&D team and began working with renowned clinical KOLs. We look forward to seeing Ronovo democratize MIS with innovations that are tailored to clinical needs. I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with the Ronovo Surgical founding team since conception and company inception, said Dr. Hongbo Lu, Managing Partner at Vivo Capital. Vivo has made significant investments in the space outside of China. We are proud to support Ronovo and its exceptional team to achieve its vision of providing robotic solutions to the surgical market in China through innovative internal development and strategic partnerships. Robotics-driven digital surgery is clearly a rising trend for MIS, with great market potential and tremendous room for innovation both globally and in China, said Dr. Yi Shi, Founding Managing Partner of LAV. As a highly committed investor in the digital surgery space, we have backed Ronovo Surgical from incubation stage. We are proud of what the company has achieved so far and have great conviction of Ronovos team and mission. We are also very excited to work with the prestigious investors from Series A who share the same vision to support Ronovos exciting journey to leapfrog existing surgical technologies. We believe in the teams strong focus on customers and global partnership approach, which not only augments their internal capabilities but also accelerates the realization of their technology platform vision to address many unmet clinical needs in surgery, said Jenny Lee, Managing Partner of GGV Capital. We would love to continue to support Ronovo Surgical to success. About Ronovo Surgical Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Shanghai, Ronovo Surgical is built by industry veterans from global leaders in surgical and industrial robotics, such as Intuitive Surgical, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic and KUKA. Aiming to transform how surgery is performed in China, Ronovo is leveraging robust R&D capabilities and strategic partnerships globally to accelerate the development of a broad portfolio of MIS and digital surgery solutions that exemplify the core themes of simplicity, precision, and intelligence. About Matrix Partners China Matrix Partners China is an early-stage venture capital firm in China that was founded in 2008. With biopharmaceutical and medical technologies as the funds most dedicated areas, Matrix Partners China is committed to developing long-term relationships with outstanding entrepreneurs and helping them build significant, industry-leading companies. About Vivo Capital Founded in 1996, Vivo Capital is a leading global healthcare investment firm with a diverse, multi-fund investment platform in venture capital, growth equity, buyout, and public equities. The firm has approximately $5.8 billion in assets under management and has invested in over 280 public and private companies worldwide. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, the Vivo team consists of more than 50 multi-disciplinary professionals. Vivo invests broadly in healthcare across all fund strategies, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare services, with a focus on the largest healthcare markets globally. About Lilly Asia Ventures Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is a leading biomedical venture capital firm founded in 2008, with offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Menlo Park. LAV's vision is to become the trusted partner for exceptional entrepreneurs seeking smart capital and to build great companies developing breakthrough products that can treat diseases and improve human health. About GGV Capital GGV Capital is a global venture firm that invests in local founders, with investments in the United States, Canada, China, Southeast Asia, India, Latin America, and Israel from offices in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Singapore, Shanghai, and Beijing. As a multi-stage, sector-focused firm, GGV Capital invests in seed-to-growth stage companies across three sectors: Social/Internet, Enterprise Tech, and Smart Tech. Over the past two decades, the firm has backed more than 400 companies around the world. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210423005102/en/ ZiHan Lin VP of Business Development zihan.lin@ronovosurgical.com Source: Ronovo Surgical A Sydney computer nerd has avoided jail time for a sophisticated bootlegging scheme that provided people with cheap access to Netflix, Spotify, Hulu and other streaming services using large troves of stolen login details. Evan McMahon, 23, received a discounted sentence of two years and two months to be served under an intensive corrections order in the community, with NSW District Court judge John Pickering urging the man to use his valuable technical skills to achieve great things for society. Evan McMahon, 23, pleaded guilty to two offences over his online bootlegging scheme. Credit:Linkedin McMahon, from Sydneys northern beaches, made about $680,000 from the pirate subscription services, winnings that have gone on to generate an unexpectedly large windfall for authorities. Cryptocurrency held by McMahon was worth $460,000 when it was transferred to Australian Federal Police control in June 2020 but, thanks to a boom in the digital assets, grew to over $1.3 million. McMahon, a graduate of Mosman High School, worked as a web developer at Finder.com.au until his arrest in March 2019. New Delhi, April 24 : Insufficient supply of oxygen in the national capital is not helping the hospitals. Several hospital administrations said that every few hours they have an oxygen crisis and the whole administration is only busy in making frantic calls. Saturday morning, two prominent city hospitals, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) and Batra Hospital along with others like Moolchand, Jaipur Golden had made SOS calls appealing to authorities to ensure supply. The SGRH and Batra hospitals received supply of oxygen which lasted only for a couple of hours. Chairman, SGRH, Dr D.S. Rana said, "Patients are suffering. We feel sad to see people bringing their oxygen cylinders. Hospital has and is approaching all authorities and Nodal officers but no help is coming." Dr Rana further stated that since Friday night hundreds of calls were made, nobody is picking the calls and Government's helpline number when contacted in crisis also could not help saying, "they can only forward the complaint". At 9.20 a.m., SGRH said that only 500 cubic meter of oxygen left the hospital which will last for about 30 odd minutes. Batra Hospital also complained about shortage of oxygen. Hours later both the hospitals received insufficient supply of oxygen. While SGRH has received 1.5 tonnes and Batra Hospital received 500 liters which only last for less than two hours. Medical director of Batra Hospital, Dr S.C.L. Gupta told IANS that the hospital received only 500 litre of oxygen after pleading for nearly 12 hours, which is also less than our daily requirement of 8,000 liters. We have 350 patients and it will get difficult treating them in absence of inadequate supply of oxygen." Dr Guota further stated that after almost two hours the situation remains the same and the hospital is almost running out of oxygen. "We have started supplying oxygen from cylinders which only last for 30 to 40 minutes. Authority must ensure adequate and regular supply of oxygen," Dr Gupta added. Dr Rana said that people have the right to get oxygen, if there is no oxygen with the government, they should admit it. "Presently we have 516 Covid patients, 128 on high flow, and half an hour of oxygen is left. Again it is a crisis situation. Let the government make a Nodal officer sit in hospital to take stock of the situation," Dr Rana said. According to Dr Rana, SGRH has 70 cylinders for back up and only 30 were filled and now all are empty. "How can we have backup plans. Ambu bags are being used. Doctors, nurses are exhausted and morale is low," he said. Dr Rana claimed that vendor 'Inox' is also not helping at all. "Yesterday the supply which should have come at 11 p.m., came at 5.30 a.m., which also is about to finish now," he said. Dr Rana pointed out that every few hours hospital administrations are forced to make panic calls to ensure availability of oxygen. "Raghav Chadha, our local MLA has been there in our struggle. Now also he has promised that an oxygen tanker will soon reach Batra Hospital. But at some point he is also helpless. Some action needs to be taken urgently," Dr Rana said. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A clinic worker administers a dose at the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at W.E.B. DuBois Middle School in Great Barrington in late February. Washington, April 25 : NASA and SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), the third crewed mission of the US commercial rocket company in less than a year. The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying four astronauts from three countries has safely reached orbit a few minutes after the liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 5.49 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (0949 GMT), according to NASA's twitter, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. It was the first time that Elon Musk's SpaceX reused a capsule and a rocket to launch astronauts. The spacecraft is due to arrive at the ISS early Saturday following a flight of over 23 hours. The four-member team includes US astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, France's Thomas Pesquet, and Japan's Akihiko Hoshide. "It has been an incredible year for NASA and our Commercial Crew Program, with three crewed launches to the space station since last May," said NASA Acting Administrator Steve Jurczyk. "This is another important milestone for NASA, SpaceX, and our international partners at ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and for the future of scientific research on board the space station. It will be an exciting moment to see our crews greet one another on station for our first crew handover under the Commercial Crew Program," he said. During Crew Dragon's flight, SpaceX will command the spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California, and NASA teams will monitor space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The Crew-2 mission is the second of six crewed missions NASA and SpaceX will fly as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. The Crew-2 members will conduct science and maintenance during a six-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return no earlier than October 31, according to NASA. The launch was postponed for about one day due to unfavourable weather conditions. A new coronavirus strain that is airborne and more potent than all those found previously has been discovered in Sri Lanka. Neelika Malavige, Professor from the Department of Immunology and Molecular Medicine of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura told reporters at the Government Information Department that the new variant is behaving completely different from the variant detected in the first and second COVID-19 waves in the country. She further added that the new variant will be announced in the next few days. New coronavirus strain in Sri Lanka Malavige said that the new variant is highly transmissible and can remain airborne for nearly an hour and is spreading fast. She warned that one person infected with the new variant has the possibility of infecting another 5 to 6 people as opposed to what happened with the previous variant. She advised people to wear the mask and follow COVID-19 protocols to curb the spread of the virus. "This variant of coronavirus is more highly transmissible than all found so far in the island. The new strain is airborne, the droplets can remain airborne for nearly an hour," she said. Sri Lanka Health authorities have raised concern over the new variant spreading rapidly after last week's New Year celebrations. The health authorities further said that more younger people are getting infected with the virus. The health department has issued new guidelines for people to prevent the spread of the virus. Upul Rohana, Public Health Inspector said that the real situation would emerge only in the coming two-three weeks. "In the next two incubation periods, the disease can progress to a third wave", said Upul Rohana. Sri Lanka is witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases, with the current figure standing at 99,691 cases and 638 deaths due to the disease. The country is reporting over 600 COVID-19 cases a day. Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena has assured that hospitals in the country still have enough ICU capacity to treat COVID-19 patients but people should follow COVID-19 guidelines to prevent the virus. (Image Credits: RepresentativeImage/Pixabay) (Inputs from PTI) Real Madrid missed the chance to go top of LaLiga as Real Betis held them to a goalless draw at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium. Zinedine Zidanes side created few chances on a wet night in the Spanish capital as stubborn Betis stood firm to claim a fifth successive draw. Leaders Atletico remain two points clear of Real with a game in hand ahead of Sundays visit to Athletic Bilbao. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Betis have been troublesome opponents to Real in the past with two wins and a draw on their last three visits. Real struggled to fashion chances in a first half which saw both defences in full control on a slick surface. Isco wasted a promising free-kick position with a wild attempt and Reals only on-target attempt in the first half came after 24 minutes. Rodrygo saw his effort blocked but the ball was recycled to Karim Benzema, whose skimming shot was held at the foot of the post by Claudio Bravo. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Betis broke out from their low block for Sergio Canales to drive wide and Borja Iglesias was unfortunate that Emersons cross did not fall into his path in front of goal. The contest was more open after the interval with Marco Asensio trying his luck from distance. Rodrygos mishit cross then struck the crossbar, with Bravo appearing to get the faintest of touches on the ball. It would have been a bizarre way for Rodrygo to register his first goal of the season, but Betis began to grow in confidence and carry a genuine threat at the other end. Dani Carvajal, left, competes for the ball with Betis striker Borja Iglesias (Bernat Armangue/AP) Guido Rodriguez was left unmarked on the edge of the area to fire straight at Thibaut Courtois before Iglesias passed up another clearcut opportunity on the penalty spot. Luka Modric saw his well-struck shot pushed out by Bravo and Zidane sent on Eden Hazard in the final 15 minutes as the Belgium forward returned after six weeks out injured. But Betis were rarely troubled in the closing stages as Real suffered a damaging blow to the defence of their league title. With Bengaluru recording 150,000 active cases, the highest for any city in the country, the Task Advisory Committee on COVID- 19 has asked the state government to impose stringent restrictions, including for 14 days to break the chain. The members of the panel have also recommended to the government to increase the number of beds to tide over the crisis. The TAC members also foresee the third wave COVID in October-November and have, accordingly, insisted that the government should complete the vaccination of vulnerable age groups before the next wave hits. Professor and Head of Lifecourse Epidemiology, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Giridhar Babu told PTI: "I have on record said that there are two main strategies. Firstly, we need to reduce the number of cases and that will happen only by a stringent for at least 14 days. Secondly, we should expand the bed capacity by taking as much as possible beds from all the private medical colleges, nursing homes and hospitals." According to him, the 14 days will reduce the number of infections. The TAC member said the state may witness the peak of the second wave by the May end or the first week of June. Eminent cardiologist and director of the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, C N Manjunath said he had in November 2020 predicted the arrival of the second wave of COVID in March or April based on the pattern of spread and resurgence in Europe. While the COVID cases may come down by May end or the first week of June, people's behaviour for the next six to nine months will hold the key. "The most important is when the cases come down, guards should not be let down. Facemask wearing and physical distancing should continue while most importantly congregation should be banned," he told PTI. The health experts were of the opinion that the healthcare system is totally suffocated. "In the first phase, the cases were coming in a staggered manner. So the daily rise in a particular state was 200 to 300 cases. Now it's in thousands," the cardiologist said. Giridhar Babu too concurred with him. "The BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) has informed the high court that there are no more ICU beds. So, the court has also said the situation is very scary. That will summarise the current status," Babu explained. Both were unanimous that the vaccination drive should be completed by October before the possible third wave hits the nation. "Vaccination should go on. By October- November the entire country should be vaccinated. Otherwise, we are in for a rude shock again," Manjunath said. Meanwhile, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said the officials at the civic agency's COVID war room are working over time. On the shortage of oxygen and essential drugs such as Remdesivir, the Chief Commissioner told the news agency that the whole country was grappling with it and the Centre and the state are dealing with it in an effective manner. To a query on the need for more ICU beds, he said already a few have been arranged and more have to be procured very soon. With 26,962 infections on Friday, the state touched the highest single-day spike in COVID cases. There were 190 deaths too. More alarming was that the active cases in the state crossed 200,000 mark of which 150,000 are in Bengaluru alone. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had during a video conference told the PM that the state needs about 1,500 tonnes of oxygen and two lakh vials of Remdesivir. To contain the alarming rise in COVID cases, the state has imposed night curfew and weekend curfews while ordering closure of many shops and business establishments. SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk was trolled with a giant billboard outside his space administrations headquarters that read: Mars Sucks on the occasion of Earth Day. The billionaire entrepreneur, who proposed that the Mars economy will run on crypto, has been exploring ideas to land humans on the Martian surface by 2033. Speaking at audio-only social media app Clubhouse, Musk had also discussed how he intended to transform Mars by warming the planet up. The Tesla boss desires to colonize Mars by 2050 and establish propellant manufacturing, food production, and power plants on the Red planet. His visions and Martian goals, however, did not go down well with some. What doesn't suck? #earth But the way we treat it frankly, sucks. And then, you dream of #mars. A hellhole. A barren, desolate, wasteland you cant set foot on fast enough. Great, we got to Mars. Now let's #prioritizeearth #marssucks #earthday #ElonMusk pic.twitter.com/7bkybArErU Activista (@ActivistaLA) April 21, 2021 On Earth day 2021, renowned US artist Yoko Ono and LA-based creative agency Activista each launched 2 mammoth billboards to send a message across to the Imperator of Mars.I love you Earth, Onos billboard read, meanwhile Activista installed a billboard outside Musks SpaceX California headquarters which reads Mars Sucks. Onos white billboard with black text was installed across several locations in the Uk, including London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Manchester. There are so many of us in the world who are now awakened, ready to act to save our world, the artist wrote on Instagram. So lets work together to save this planet. together. Thats how we will change the world. We change, and the world changes, she added. [Credit: Serpentine site] Funded by environmental agencies Meanwhile, the other Billboard Mars sucks. Earth placed outside Musks SpaceXs headquarters trolled the billionaire for neglecting Earth and conservation activities, and instead focusing on Mars. The billboard was funded by prominent environmental groups including Greenpeace, world wildlife, surfrider, and the EDF. Taking to its official Twitter handle, Activista said: What doesnt suck? Earth. But the way we treat it frankly sucks. And then, you dream of mars. A hellhole. A barren, desolate, wasteland you cant set foot on fast enough. Great, we got to mars. Now lets prioritize Earth. The message however divided Twitter with some supporting Musks aspirations, others suggesting that more funds must be invested in combatting the impact of global Climate Change on Earth. Someone complaining about using the money for any cause but improving Earth wastes his own cash on a billboard, one said. Climate change is one of the biggest issues for Earth, another added. I mean what do you think tesla and solar City , musks other companies are trying to do ? Don't post bs without doing research . He very clearly said why can't we do both ? Look after the earth and achieve the next step in our reach to the universe Aaditya Acharya (@UA_Acharya) April 23, 2021 Yeah, rocket engineers are what we need to solve climate change on Earth. And physicists from CERN should switch to hunger /s suggested_name (@SuggestedN) April 23, 2021 My head: The limited resources of Mars might be the fastest driver to create the sustainable living tech needed to save Earth though. My heart: Epic Troll Jonathan Davies (@jonjo) April 22, 2021 Someone complaining about using money for any cause but improving Earth, wastes his own cash on a billboard! SteveDisc (@Steve12code) April 23, 2021 You spent money on this? Dont you WANT people to leave Earth alone? Robotbeat (@Robotbeat) April 23, 2021 During a livestreamed news conference Saturday afternoon, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said he was going to hold off on revealing many details of the case because there are still other suspects involved in the murder of Jaslyn who have not yet been captured. Brown would not say what police believed Lewis role was in the shooting. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Elected officials, the New York Police Foundation and the New York Police Department organized a gun buy-back program in Mariners Harbor Saturday in an effort to take guns off the streets of Staten Island and decrease gun violence during a year that has seen a dramatic increase in gun arrests in the borough. [In] 2021 we are still seeing the numbers higher than we should at events like this gun [buy] back, [which] gives us the opportunity for illegal guns to be turned in. A gun on the street is a dangerous weapon to a kid, to a burglar, Assistant Chief Frank Vega, NYPD borough commander, said. This is a good day. I think today is a day where we are saving countless lives on Staten Island. Elected officials and the New York Police Department organized a gun buy-back program in Mariners Harbor Saturday, April 24, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Irene Spezzamonte) As of Saturday afternoon, about 50 firearms, between guns and rifles, were turned in. All the firearms were to be destroyed and no questions were asked of those who participated. In addition to the NYPD and the New York City Police Foundation, the event was sponsored by District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and the office of Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-North Shore). From left to right: Assemblyman Charles Fall, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon, Assistant Chief Frank Vega during the gun buy-back event on Saturday, April 24, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Irene Spezzamonte) This means that our community is safer today than it was yesterday, Fall said. Fall was an outspoken voice in the fight against gun violence on Staten Island last summer when the borough saw a troubling increase of fatal shootings. He urged his constituents to turn in guns in their possession. The results of having illegal firearms are you either end up in handcuffs or in a casket, Fall said. The Police Foundation sponsored the iPads that were given to those who turned in an operable assault rifle while the district attorneys office provided cash gift cards. Elected officials and the New York Police Department organized a gun buy-back program in Mariners Harbor Saturday, April 24, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Irene Spezzamonte) As we know since the advent of COVID we have seen an increase in homicide by firearm. We have seen an increase in shootings; we are really starting now with the increase of arrests, McMahon said. Most of the shootings tend to occur on the North Shore within the confines of the 120 and the 121 Precincts, data indicate. Since 2019 theres been over 20 shooting incidents, some homicides, some random gun violence, so getting these guns off the streets mean the world to myself, my officers and also to the safety of the community, said Capt. Bruce P. Ceparano, the commanding officer for the 121 Precinct. The event was held at the Calvary Chapel at 30 Maple Parkway. This was a unique opportunity to take guns off the streets and save lives, said David Watson, the pastor of the chapel. In the ongoing saga of Jake Goodson, the battle between a vicious religious cult and a father continues as his attempts to reunite with his children becomes a journey with deeper spiritual implications. J. D. Riley resumes his series with A Jewelers Eye View: Volume Two: The Crucible (published by Archway Publishing). As Jake Goodson works to try to rescue his children from a white supremacist religious cult, the story demonstrates the deeper diabolical cunning of the cult leader, Daniel Hightower. The tension between Jake and Daniel persists as Daniel reprises his attacks on Jake and his family for trying to get his children away from his clutches. The character of Sam, the older African-American fiance of Jake's mother, is developed at a deeper level in this volume, taking the reader back into his dark past experiences growing up in the South in the 1920's and 1930's, and of going off to war in 1944 Europe. He is revealed as a man of unexpected depth and character. That there is a hope for victory that runs deeper than winning by physical force over one's adversary. In the end, that choosing love will prevail, Riley says about the message of his book. He adds. I explored cults during my undergraduate work in Philosophy and Religion, and became intrigued with the phenomena and what makes them tick. My personal struggles as well as my professional work in treating addictions has also led me into a deeper exploration of the human psyche, and how people find answers to the age-old problems/questions of living life on life's terms in the this world. A Jewelers Eye View By J. D. Riley Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 742 pages | ISBN 9781665701051 Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 742 pages | ISBN 9781665701075 E-Book | 742 pages | ISBN 9781665701068 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble About the Author J. D. Riley is a licensed clinical therapist who has worked in addiction treatment since 1982. He earned a bachelors degree in philosophy and religion from Berry College in Rome, Georgia, and a masters degree in counseling from the University of Georgia in 1982. He is a U.S. Army veteran who has a special interest in victims of PTSD, and cults and the psychology behind them. Riley currently lives with his family in Atlanta, Georgia. Simon & Schuster, a company with nearly ninety years of publishing experience, has teamed up with Author Solutions, LLC, the worldwide leader in self-publishing, to create Archway Publishing. With unique resources to support books of all kind, Archway Publishing offers a specialized approach to help every author reach his or her desired audience. For more information, visit archwaypublishing.com or call 844-669-3957. Law, science, engineering, arts and architecture students will be offered a new course in innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Sydney from next year. The universitys Professor Leanne Cutcher said the new course would be led by the business school and offered to undergraduates across five other faculties to help them develop their business ideas. Weve developed the first cross-faculty innovation and entrepreneurship major which means students across six different faculties will be able to learn about how to be innovative and entrepreneurial, she said. Livia Wang launched a start-up that markets Australian products to China. Credit:Louie Douvis Professor Cutcher said the program would help undergraduates develop a business idea. "We are working closely with Indian officials at both political and experts' level to identify ways to help address the crisis," she said on Friday. However, neither she nor other officials would say on Friday if the US would lift the embargo on exporting vaccine raw materials, which India has requested, or share the unused stockpile of AstraZeneca vaccines. "There are ongoing discussions," she said at "a range of levels about how we can help get through this period". While sidestepping the questions of providing vaccines or raw materials for it, Psaki spoke of the assistance the US had provided for the pandemic and for other health programmes. She said: "From the earliest stages of the pandemic, we've provided India with emergency relief supplies, medical consumables, pandemic training for Indian state and local health officials, and ventilators." Psaki claimed that the US has also given $1.4 billion in health assistance to help it "prepare for pandemics in the future and deal with the current one we're facing". The $1.4 billion cited by her was the total US aid for health programmes in India over a 20-year period according to USAID, the agency that channels international assistance. Only $5.9 million was given directly for dealing the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was last year by former President Donald Trump. At the State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter, who was also asked about the ban on vaccine raw materials export, avoided a direct answer. Instead, she said, "We have continued to work closely with India to facilitate the movement of essential supplies and also address the bottlenecks of their supply chains. But we'll also continue to collaborate with our partners in India to battle this at the highest level." She added, "We remain deeply engaged with India at all levels as we work to combat this crisis of the pandemic together." At another briefing, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients was asked if the US would share with India the AstraZeneca vaccines that it has stockpiled but has not yet approved to use in the US. He did not directly answer it; instead he said, "We have a longstanding commitment to India's public " and added that the US was "working closely with them in the Covid-19 response". The AstraZeneca vaccine that was developed by Oxford University is approved for use by the World Health Organization and in India under the brand name Covishield. Zients also asserted that "the Quad partnership and team is providing assistance across government to the country". The Quad made up of India, the US, Australia and Japan has in fact agreed on a joint programme for the US and Japan to finance the manufacture of one billion of Covid-19 vaccine by India, which are to be distributed with Australian logistics. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis) --IANS al/int/pgh For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. The report also ranked Telangana as the 10th worst state in terms of rejection of payment in MGNREGA. Representational image/DC Hyderabad: Reverse migration from the urban areas to the villages during the pandemic has led to an increase in demand for work under MGNREGA, the rural jobs guarantee programme. according to an analysis of data performed by LibTech India, a team of engineers, social workers, and social scientists. With another round of reverse migration starting during the second wave of the pandemic, the organisation requested the staet government to increase the number of work days above 100 under the programme. According to its report, MGNREGA implementation in Telangana for 2020-21, there has been an increase of 507.2 lakh person days in employment for 2020-21 compared to the previous year, marking a 47.4 per cent rise. Chakradhar Buddha, programme director, LibTech India, said, "In our field visits, we noticed that the full work assigned usually doesnt happen. For instance, the stipulated wage for a worker per day is Rs 237 in Telangana state, and the worker finishes only half the work assigned for that day. Then the worker earns half the wage, or Rs 118.5," explained Buddha. According to the report, workers from the state received Rs 2668.2 crore as wages, up 62 per cent over the previous year. They would have earned an additional Rs 1,000 crore if they would have completed the work. He said that if Telangana followed the dual muster roll like in Andhra Pradesh, the state could generate more work and increase the income of the workers. Dual muster roll does not calculate person days based on work done in a day but looks at wages earned. If a person finishes 50 per cent work in one day and completes the rest on the second day, it is considered two days. LibTech India in the report prepared by its team comprising Ajay Palle Swaero,Chakradhar Buddha,Kowsalya Alla, Laavanya Tamang, Naveen Gajjalagari, and Venkata Krishna Kagga, said increasing the number of work days beyond 100 would help lakhs of workers. The report also ranked Telangana as the 10th worst state in terms of rejection of payment in MGNREGA. In addition to that, fake musters had increased due to absence of field assistants. The Act mandates that workers be paid within 15 days of completion of work. However, wage payments often dont reach the workers account due to technical reasons. Venkat Krishna Kagga of LibTech India said "Technical errors in data entry and others are categorised as rejected or suspended. Because of this, workers do not receive wages. During 2020-21 51,575 job cards, the highest, were issued in Kamareddy district followed by Sangareddy and Ranga Reddy with 20,810 and 20,736 Kamareddy district had nearly doubled the number of persondays generated and had very few rejected payments. The state should follow what Kamareddy district administration is doing, said Kagga. Debris has been recovered from a missing Indonesian submarine, the country's navy said Saturday, suggesting that the stricken vessel could have broken apart after sinking with 53 crew aboard. The development dashed already slim hopes of rescuing the sailors alive after their oxygen reserves were understood to have run out earlier in the day. Warships, planes and hundreds of military personnel have been searching for the KRI Nanggala 402 since it disappeared off the coast of Bali early Wednesday. Authorities earlier said the German-built craft was equipped with enough oxygen for only three days after losing power. That deadline passed Saturday morning. The navy's chief Yudo Margono said a search party had recovered fragments from the submarine including items from inside the vessel -- pointing to a catastrophic accident. "We have raised the status from submiss to subsunk," he told reporters, adding that the retrieved items could not have come from another vessel. "(The items) would not have come outside the submarine if there was no external pressure or without damage to its torpedo launcher." But he discounted an explosion, saying it was more likely the submarine came apart as it was crushed by water pressure at depths topping 800 metres (2,600 feet) -- well below what it was built to withstand. Sonar did not pick up signals to indicate a blast, he added. "It was not an explosion because (if it was) everything would be in pieces," Margono said. "This was a gradual cracking." - Grease bottle, prayer mat - Navy officials displayed several items including a piece of the vessel's torpedo system and a bottle of grease used to lubricate a periscope. They also found a prayer mat commonly used by Muslims. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. Margono said the hunt for the submarine -- and sailors -- would continue, but warned that deep waters made the recovery effort "very risky and difficult". Story continues "We don't know about the victims' condition because we haven't found any of them. So we can't speculate," he said in response to questions about the possibility of survivors. "But with the (discovery) of these items, you can make your own conclusion." The submarine -- one of five in Indonesia's fleet -- disappeared early Wednesday during live torpedo training exercises off the Indonesian holiday island. An oil spill spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage, fanning fears of a deadly disaster. The vessel was scheduled to conduct the training exercises when it asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after. Authorities have not offered possible explanations for the submarine's sudden disappearance or commented on questions about whether the decades-old vessel was overloaded. The military has said the submarine, delivered to Indonesia in 1981, was seaworthy. Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia, as well as the United States and Australia, were among nations helping in the hunt with nearly two dozen ships deployed to scour a search zone covering about 10 square nautical miles (34 square kilometres). Australia's HMAS Ballarat arrived earlier Saturday with a US P-8 Poseidon aircraft. Singapore's MV Swift Rescue -- a submarine rescue vessel -- was also taking part. - Deadly disasters - Indonesia's military said earlier it had picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres (165 and 330 feet), raising hopes of finding the submarine. But Saturday's announcement means the Southeast Asian archipelago joins a list of countries struck by fatal submarine accidents. Among the worst was the 2000 sinking of the Kursk, the pride of Russia's Northern Fleet. That submarine was on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea when it sank with the loss of all 118 aboard. An inquiry found a torpedo had exploded, detonating all the others. Most of its crew died instantly but some survived for several days before suffocating. In 2003, 70 Chinese naval officers and crew were killed, apparently suffocated, in an accident on a Ming-class submarine during exercises in 2003. Five years later, 20 people were killed by poisonous gas when a fire extinguishing system was accidentally activated on a Russian submarine being tested in the Sea of Japan. And in 2018, authorities found the wreckage of an Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier with 44 sailors aboard. bur-pb/leg Shravan Rathod, of the popular music composer duo Nadeem-Shravan, passed away on April 22 in Mumbai. He was admitted to Raheja Hospital in Mahim in a 'critical' condition after testing positive for COVID-19 and was under observation. Shravan was on a ventilator for 48 hours, but he could not be saved. The music composer had recently returned from a trip to Haridwar where he had gone to attend the Maha Kumbh along with his wife. The couple had later tested positive for Covid-19 upon their return to Mumbai after developing symptoms. Their two children have also tested positive and are currently undergoing treatment at a hospital along with their mother. The Kumb which was organised amid a raging pandemic had seen millions of devotees taking the holy dip in the river Ganga without the Covid-19 protocols of social distancing and masks being followed. One of the top Hindu seer has died due to Covid-19 at the event and thousands have tested positive for coronavirus in the wake of the festival. Read all the Latest News and Breaking News here WASHINGTON, April 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, U.S. President Joe Biden officially affirmed that the massacre of the 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish authorities between 1915 and 1923 was an act of genocide. This affirmation marks a watershed moment in U.S. history, as it reaffirms what has been U.S. policy since the creation of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, as reflected in the U.S. brief filed with the International Court of Justice, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). It is also a categorical rejection of a decades-long, well-funded denial campaign by the Turkish government and a signature moment for human rights. Releasing his statement on April 24, Armenian Remembrance Day, President Biden honored the symbolic date of the start of the Armenian Genocide, when the leadership of the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire was arrested, imprisoned and eliminated. Thirty countries and 49 U.S. States have acknowledged the Armenian Genocide. Today's U.S. action is expected to create the room for more countries to follow suit and an opportunity for Turkey to come to terms with its past. The recognition of the Executive Branch results in all three branches of the U.S. government officially affirming the Armenian Genocide, following the overwhelming 405 to 11 vote in the House adopting an Armenian Genocide resolution in October 2019, and by its passage in the Senate via unanimous consent in December 2019. President Biden stayed true to his 30-year documented record of Armenian Genocide acknowledgement, from the time he began serving as Delaware's Senator, through his 2020 presidential campaign, when he pledged: "Joe Biden will recognize the Armenian Genocide and make universal human rights a top priority for his administration so that such a tragedy can never again occur." As a Senator, Biden was among the most informed and diligent supporters in using the term Armenian Genocide. His 1989 chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee's passage of such legislation was historic for its result but also as a reflection of his command of the historical facts. U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, alerted in his July 1915 report to the U.S. Department of State and the White House, that "a campaign of race extermination is in progress under a pretext of reprisal against rebellion." Ambassador Morgenthau, who served from 1913-1916, appealed to the U.S. government and humanitarian organizations to stop the genocide and send humanitarian assistance to the survivors and refugees. Ambassador Morgenthau's cables, along with eyewitness reports of American consuls, missionaries and businessmen, make up part of the over 30,000 pages documenting the Armenian Genocide, as well as their heroic acts of intervention to save lives. Through his efforts, the Near East Relief was formed, and over $2.5 billion in today's dollars was raised at the time to help the survivors of the first genocide of the twentieth century. At the time, former President Theodore Roosevelt stated that the atrocities committed by the "Turks on the Armenians" was "so hideous that it is difficult to name thempeople whose little children are murdered and their women raped." In a letter to Cleveland Dodge, who led the congressionally chartered Near East Relief organization headquartered in New York City, President Roosevelt stated further that it "was the greatest crime of the war, and failure to act against Turkey is to condone it" Ronald Reagan was the first U.S. president who used the word genocide to describe the Armenian atrocities during his Holocaust Remembrance Statement on April 22, 1981: "Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten." President Biden had the courage to say what his predecessors for the past 100 years have always known. "The Assembly, all Armenians and our friends around the world profoundly thank President Biden for this Armenian Genocide reaffirmation in honor of the victims, survivors, and the principle of universal human rights around the world," said Assembly Co-Chairs Van Krikorian and Anthony Barsamian. "We have been fortunate to have been helped by countless prominent and not so prominent but heroic individuals in advocating for Genocide awareness, education, and prevention. We are sad that they are not all with us today but know they, like all people who are sincerely committed to human rights, are smiling with pride on President Biden and today's historic statement." "President Biden's statement pays important tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide and their families," added Assembly President Carolyn Mugar. In a September 2019 letter from President Biden to the Assembly, he stated: "The United States must reaffirm, once and for all, our record on the Armenian Genocide...We must never forget or remain silent about this horrific and systematic campaign of extermination that resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million Armenian men, woman, and children and the mass deportation of 2 million Armenians from their homes. If we do not fully acknowledge, commemorate, and teach our children about genocide, the words 'never again' lose their meaning. The facts must be as clear and as powerful for future generations as for those whose memories are seared by tragedy. Failing to remember or acknowledge the fact of a genocide only paves the way for future mass atrocities." "President Biden's affirmation of the Armenian Genocide marks a pivotal milestone in the arc of history in defense of human rights," stated Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. "By standing firmly against a century of denial, President Biden has charted a new course. Affirmation of the Armenian Genocide enhances America's credibility and recommits the United States to the worldwide cause of genocide prevention." Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization. Related Links aaainc.org SOURCE Armenian Assembly of America It seems that ASUS has officially confirmed on their website that the Zenfone 8 series will be unveiled on 13 May 2021 at 1AM (Malaysia time) on their official website. There is, unfortunately, no news on the Malaysia release date so you might want to check back with us after the launch. As far as what we know, the Zenfone 8 series consists of the Zenfone 8, as well as the Zenfone 8 Mini, which comes equipped with up to a 120Hz refresh rate display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, and up to 16GB RAM. Other than that, it was hinted that the phone will support up to 30W fast charging and itll come equipped with up to a 64MP camera sensor. With that being said, do take some of the information with a grain of salt, due to the fact that ASUS has yet to comment on the leaked specs. Not only that but theres also no news on the local pricing for now. Would you be interested in getting the ASUS Zenfone 8 series as soon as it is available in the local market? Let us know on our Facebook page and for more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com. The Indonesian submarine with 53 people aboard is believed to have sunk about 60 miles off the northern coast of Bali Island after going missing on Wednesday. Zulkarnain/Xinhua via Getty Items have been discovered from the missing Indonesian submarine, incuding prayer rugs. The submarine is now presumed to be 'sunk', Indonesia's Navy Chief of Staff said. Hopes of rescuing the 53 crew members who were on board have now faded. See more stories on Insider's business page. Items have been discovered from the missing Indonesian submarine, Indonesia's Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Yudo Margono said on Saturday. Rescuers found a grease bottle, parts of a torpedo, and prayer rugs from the submarine, the Associated Press reported. "With the authentic evidence we found believed to be from the submarine, we have now moved from the 'sub miss' phase to 'sub sunk,'" Margon said during a press conference. Hopes have now faded of rescuing the 53 crew members who were onboard the submarine. The submarine, the KRI Nanggala-402, disappeared without a trace on Wednesday off the island of Bali. It went missing during a torpedo drill, a navy spokesperson said. Countries from around the world chipped in to help find the missing naval submarine, Insider's Madison Hall wrote. Time was running out to save the crew members as the vessel only had enough oxygen to last until Saturday, Insider's Cheryl Teh reported on Thursday. Read the original article on Business Insider Manitobans need not look further than Ottawas federal budget to find light at the end of a pandemic-sized tunnel, believes the MP in charge of small business, export promotion and international trade. Manitobans need not look further than Ottawas federal budget to find light at the end of a pandemic-sized tunnel, believes the MP in charge of small business, export promotion and international trade. "This is the most business-friendly budget in Canadian history," said Minister Mary Ng, joining Economic Development Winnipeg virtually Friday afternoon, after the Liberal government tabled a nearly 700-page fiscal blueprint for the country in the House of Commons this week. "It isnt 2009 and we cant take over a decade to recover. Thats why were investing in you, in our recovery and in our long-term growth by leaning in and building a Canada thats ready for the 21st century." The webinar event heard lots of zingers from Ng about the governments plan to "finish the fight against COVID through this budget," and focused on how its a way for workers and businesses to get back on their feet "kicking and thriving." Dayna Spiring, president and CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg, asked several questions about how the budget answers a need for economic support in Manitoba particularly addressing climate change, airport revitalization and assistance to bolster downtown. "In Winnipeg, we call ourselves the cultural cradle of Canada," said Spiring. "So, Im very cognizant about the need to bring that back after this devastating blow to our economy across a variety of sectors." Ng said shes optimistic about the "ambitious and targeted investments" laid out in Ottawas plan for recovery. Tourism funding and arts-sector revitalization programs will be important for downtowns like Winnipegs that have been struggling during the pandemic, she said. Canada is a "trading nation and so airports are important to strengthen after all of this," she added, "but first we must address and finish this fight against the pandemic." Citing the NFI Group Inc., which is the largest bus manufacturer in North America and based in Winnipeg, Ng said the governments plan to allocate $14.9 billion over eight years will be "dedicated in large part to companies like that, that are leading the way." "Its solutions like those from New Flyer that are going to help us meet Canadas climate targets," said Ng. "And I want to be clear they are commercial solutions that are innovating, but are also creating terrific jobs when we really need them." In an interview with the Free Press after the event, Ng provided clarity about some items in the federal budget that Manitoba business leaders and stakeholders have shared mixed feelings about. Asked about why Ottawa is planning to wind down successful programs like the wage and rent subsidies, and instead focusing on new hiring programs, Ng said timelines for all emergency support measures are "flexible." "Should public-health measures require it, we have flexibility to extend the subsidy programs," said Ng. "We certainly hope we dont have to do that, and that enough people are vaccinated, but were ready to do whatever it takes to get businesses back on their feet." Ng said shes aware that Manitoba businesses have yet to benefit from venture capital incentives or funding from the federal government, alluding to the Trudeau governments $450-million and $390-million budget commitments under the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative and Venture Capital Action Plan, respectively. "Thats something Im very happy that we will be focusing on to make sure companies across Canada in small and big towns are given their share of capital and that we help them land that capital through private and equity investments," she said. Around 98 per cent of all companies in Canada are small and independent businesses, she added. Its why Ng is "proudly" focusing her government portfolio on creating avenues for growth under this "historic and generational" budget. "There is incredible light at the end of this," said Ng. "Its been so hard for so many of our businesses and particularly for those businesses which are in those main streets in downtown, but were hopeful our budget is able to help them heal and help them thrive after COVID-19." temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @temurdur The campus and city news desks have compiled a list of events going on throughout the upcoming week that are open to the public. The list features an Earth Day film screening, student poetry readings and a plant sale. The North Municipal Corporation (NDMC) is preparing 50 beds with piped facility for Covid patients at the Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis (RBIPMT) in GTB Nagar. After inspecting the preparations along with municipal commissioner Sanjay Goel on Saturday, North Mayor Jai Prakash said, "Due to increasing Covid cases in the city, the NDMC has decided to start 50 beds with piped facility for Corona patients at the RBIPMT. Initially, 50 beds are being prepared, after which all efforts will be made to increase the numbers to 100. facility will be available for the patients in each bed." According to Prakash, directions have been issued to arrange separate waiting rooms, help desks and water coolers for the attendants of Covid patients at the hospital. "The corporation is making all out efforts to provide all possible facilities to the citizens. The NDMC's Balak Ram Hospital with 100 beds is also ready to serve Covid patients after obtaining approval from the government," the Mayor said. --IANS ssb/arm (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. US, 24 April 2021 Thousands of men around the world are troubled with several sexual problems, like erectile dysfunction, lower stamina, poor performance, lower libido, and much more, but the biggest problem that they experience is small manhood size. Due to their small penis, they feel uncomfortable while having sex with their partner, and they get fail to satisfy their partner in the bedroom. Almost every male wants to make their partner happy in the bedroom while having sex, but their sexual problems make their partner unhappy. 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Better is to click here or visit our official website to know more about the best male enhancement pills. website : https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/events/2021-04-02/best-male-enhancement-pills-2021-supplement-rankings-update/ ~ Says Alliance clearly not for its voters ~ PHILIPSBURG;--- Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Friday said it is unbelievable that the Prime Minister of St. Maarten, an educator by profession, would openly label government as an equal opportunity employer when discussing qualified St. Maarteners getting first preference over non-St. Maarteners with employment. This is the ultimate betrayal of our people and everyone who voted for the National Alliance and who anticipated being prioritized by that party, the MP said. The MP was reacting to Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs explanation about what is happening at the Fire Department with the hiring of a Dutchman as Head of Repression. In her press release, the Prime Minister said that her government is an equal opportunity employer, a notion that Emmanuel said completely flies in the face of any self-respecting government standing for or defending its people. MP Emmanuel said the Prime Minister as usual issued a press release saying absolutely nothing. The Prime Minister and her government seem to think that people are impressed when they quote policy and procedure. The fact is you might impress Facebook, but you are disappointing real people. People who expect you to stand by them when they need you, especially after you just asked them for their vote, the MP said. He said when the term equal opportunity employer is applied to sex or gender identity, religion, age, sexual orientation, marital status etc its one thing, but on a territory the size of St. Maarten where we profess every election cycle that the people of St. Maarten should come first, the national origin cannot be equal in the employment aspects, unless every effort to recruit a qualified St. Maartener has been exhausted and/or there is none available. He added the PM has to answer a few questions as they relate to the Fire Department including, but not limited to: Is there a St. Maartener at the Fire Department qualified for the position of Head of Repression yes or no? Explain in detail what disqualified local candidates? Since the departure of the previous Head of Repression, who happened to be another Dutchman, who was asked to carry out those duties? Were local candidates informed that they were not getting the position and how? We are replacing one Dutchman with another. So during the tenure of the first, no local was trained or upgraded to assume that role? We are supposed to believe that no local fire officer could have been promoted into that role. This is beyond shameful and sends the wrong message to our young academics, the MP said. He continued: The Prime Minister should walk over to the Fire Department now and tell the local fire officers that they are not qualified. Tell the person who has been performing the task all along that he is not qualified and why. What kind of St. Maarten are we creating here? Nothing against our Caribbean brothers and sisters, but this is our country. I want my children to compete with qualified St. Maarteners. That is what we should be striving towards. Our people must secure livelihoods in their country to help build their country. We should be building our nation on the experience and expertise of our own with assistance when we need it. Not the other way around. If we want our people to have real ownership of their country we have to recognize their value. The Prime Minister and the National Alliance do not recognize the value of their people. This is not the National Alliance I once knew. They have lost their way. This is more evidence why I pulled away, he said. The Prime Minister, who educates our children and delivers speeches at graduations telling them to strive for the best in order to come back home and contribute to the further development of St. Maarten, is also telling them to be prepared, even though you are qualified, you might not be chosen if there is a qualified non-St. Maarten applying as well, the MP said. I do not care if a person has worked here for 18 years as the Minister of Education stated in defending his placing of a non-national in a top position. That person is not a St. Maartener and should not get preference over my people and our children. It is a shameful statement by the Prime Minister of this country who, along with the statement of the Minister of Education, have now left no doubt that they do not stand for St. Maarten and its people, he concluded. (The Center Square) A biofuels company is considering building a $700 million renewable diesel refinery in Caldwell Parish, state and company officials said Friday. A final investment decision is expected late next year. The plant might begin operating in 2025, and additional Louisiana refineries producing renewable diesel and aviation fuel are possible, officials said. Kansas-based Strategic Biofuels and its subsidiary, Louisiana Green Fuels, said the plant, based on a 171-acre site at the Port of Columbia, would produce up to 32 million gallons of renewable fuel annually with wood waste as the feedstock. Officials said Louisiana Green Fuels would make a capital investment of at least $700 million and employ 76 people with an average annual salary of more than $68,000 plus benefits. The median household income in Caldwell Parish is about $38,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Louisiana Economic Development estimated the project indirectly would spur the creation of 412 new jobs, for a total of almost 500 new jobs in Caldwell Parish and the surrounding region. During a 30-month building phase, the project would generate 450 construction jobs, LED said. Strategic Biofuels has raised 85% of its early-stage financing from investors in north Louisiana, according to the company. The company also will raise money for the project with a $200 million tax-free bond allocation issued through the Louisiana Community Development Authority. Once the company has made a final investment decision, state officials likely would negotiate an incentive package with the project owners, according to the governors office. Louisiana Green Fuels is an example of how our state can merge traditional and emerging forms of energy in exciting ways to address climate change, Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a prepared statement. Edwards said the refinerys diesel would be produced in a carbon-negative fashion, removing more carbon from the environment than the refinery produces. The company has engaged Jena-based Justiss Oil to drill a test well to confirm the integrity of carbon sequestration below the site. When news broke Monday that former Vice President Walter Mondale had died, Democratic strategist Mike Stratton was reminded of the time Colorado farmers and the state's two U.S. senators met with Mondale at the White House nearly 44 years ago. The meeting took place in December 1977 in the Roosevelt Room to discuss the American Agriculture Movement and the nationwide farmer' strike, recalled Stratton, who was 23 years old and attended as an aide to U.S. Sen. Floyd Haskell. Others in attendance were U.S. Sen. Gary Hart, Baca County farmers Greg Schuler and Bud Bitner and Prowers County farmer and rancher John Stulp, who later served as a county commissioner, state wildlife commissioner, Colorados commissioner of agriculture and state water policy adviser. "In the long term, the result was the government got more sensitive to farmers and this issue of parity," Stratton told Colorado Politics, describing fallout from the movement, which began in Southeast Colorado and quickly spread across the country. "I think, unfortunately, a lot of people know very often these farmers spend more to produce or grow than they can get on the back end." Stratton, a senior policy adviser at powerhouse Denver law and lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schrek and a 50-year veteran of state and national campaigns, said Mondale's passing brought to mind the mark the legendary Minnesotan left on the world. "It is the end of an era, but I think that President Biden touches the Mondale-Humphrey era and lineage of the party, and I think that is a very good thing," he said. "Walter Mondale had a a very remarkable career. I dont think theres been anything but people saying what a great, great human being he was. He was a great guy. People who knew him or worked for him always were proud to have done so. I certainly am." Stratton said he first met Mondale in the summer of 1976 at a hotel in downtown Denver when he was campaigning in Colorado as Jimmy Carter's running mate. "He was a really down-to-earth, happy guy who could disarm any room at any time or be as serious as need be in any room at any time," Stratton said. "He was a masterful politician." After working for Haskell, who lost a bid for re-election in 1978, Stratton stayed in Washington, D.C., to do advance work for Mondale and then worked for the Carter-Mondale campaign, which faced a primary challenge from Ted Kennedy. He ended up in Missouri, where he ran the re-election organization in St. Louis County and spent a lot of time campaigning with Mondale, Stratton said. The last time Stratton saw Mondale was in Philadelphia at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, which Stratton helped run, where the elder statesman was being escorted around by his grandsons. "Weve lost a great American," Stratton said. MOSCOW - A closed-door Moscow court hearing Monday is expected to officially ban the political and anti-corruption networks of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a ruling that would mark the most sweeping attempt to crush the Kremlin's greatest political threat. The evidence to be used in the case is itself a state secret. Navalny's attorney has been told he will get access to the file shortly beforehand, according to Navalny ally Ivan Zhdanov. If the court sides with the prosecutor's general request - declaring Navalny's political group and his Anti-Corruption Foundation to be extremist organizations - it would put them alongside the Islamic State, al-Qaida and the Taliban in the eyes of Russian authorities. The rights group Amnesty International said it would be "one of the most serious blows for the rights to freedom of expression and association in Russia's post-Soviet history." Even selling refrigerator magnets or wearing T-shirts with Navalny's slogan "Russia will be happy" could bring jail time. Navalny's team members could face six years in jail if they continued to work. Putin foe Navalny once described prison life with dark humor. Now his messages are just dark. Donating to Navalny's crowdfunded organizations would be akin to supporting terrorists, with penalties of up to 10 years in jail. Retweeting previous videos by Navalny's group, exposing the corruption of Russian politicians and bureaucrats, could also mean prison. Already, Russian authorities have barred Navalny and many of his allies from contesting elections and made it a crime to call unauthorized protests or repeatedly participate in them. Many have fled into exile to avoid jail. The court ruling takes to another level President Vladimir Putin's efforts to stamp out Navalny's influence. Navalny, poisoned by a chemical nerve agent in August and jailed in February, announced an end to a 24-day hunger strike Friday after medical warnings he was facing death. On Wednesday, thousands of protesters across Russia took to the streets to call for Navalny's release. Opposition activists draw parallels between Putin's increasingly tight grip and Soviet-style rule dominated by security officials and preoccupied with staying in power, amid growing public dissatisfaction over declining real wages and rising food prices. "It reminds me of Soviet trials when someone was declared a spy or foreign agent and then there would be a secret closed trial," said Zhdanov, director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, who fled the country earlier this year. "Putin is trying to take Russia back into the Soviet past." Banning the organization as extremist "would open the gate to mass repressions. The authorities really want to destroy us because our activity is now making them vulnerable and they feel it," he said. Putin and his government see themselves as Russia's true patriots and state media disparages Navalny a "Nazi" paid by foreign powers to ruin the country. But the struggle underway in Russia is about two competing views of the country: one outward-facing and democratic, the other inward-looking, increasingly isolated and paranoid, forcing some young scientists, computer experts and engineers and others to immigrate to freer countries. "It would not be safe for our staff and people who work for us to continue. Of course, we would have to reformat certain parts of our activity, but we are not going to stop," said Zhdanov. Russian flags are stacked in one corner in Navalny's headquarters in Tomsk, the Siberian city where he was poisoned last August - an attack he blames on Russian agents acting on orders from Putin. The Kremlin denies any link. Head of the regional headquarters Ksenia Fadeyeva, 29, is one of two Navalny Tomsk team members elected to the local council last year. On the wall in the office is a large map with all of the city's electoral districts marked out in pen and numbered. "I love my country, but I know something is wrong here," she said. "I don't want to just sit here and do nothing. I want to change things." Police have already raided many of Navalny's regional offices in recent weeks and arrested dozens of staff. "We all know what risks we are facing. They can bring in new criminal cases or absurd charges. They will do their best to ruin our lives. We understand what might happen, but we cannot think about that too much or we would go crazy," she said. Fadeyeva did not comment on what could happen if the organization is banned. Tomsk colleague Andrei Fateyev was sentenced to 30 days in jail over Wednesday's protest in Tomsk. "It's dangerous in Russia in general, whether you are a businessman or a politician or an activist," said Fateyev in an interview earlier this month. But he believes "Russia will change." "The goal of the regime is to hang onto power . . . But I don't believe they have the ability to cement their power, as they are trying to do now," he said. Maria Alyokhina, a member of the political activist punk rock group Pussy Riot who was jailed for nearly two years over an anti-Putin protest in 2012 in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, said the crackdowns on dissent and jailing activists are now "part of everyday reality" in Russia. "It happened in small steps, closing everything down," said Alyokhina, who is now under house arrest, is awaiting trial over her role in January protests in support of Navalny. "All these crazy laws on naming [nongovernment organizations] as foreign agents and people as foreign agents, and the huge fines and imprisonment," she added. Designating Navalny's organizations as extremists "means that if you post a link to them, you can go to jail. What it means is that is that a big part of the country can be jailed. We are all illegal," said Alyokhina, who spent 12 hours a day, six days a week in prison sewing police and army uniforms. "It's Stalin's principle." One 80-year-old Muscovite who joined a mass protest in support of Navalny on Wednesday feared Russia is heading into a form of authoritarian worse than that of the Soviet era. After the Soviet Union collapsed, "we expected a brighter future. But we missed the moment when there was openness and this ability to speak up and express your opinion to do something," said Galina, who spoke on the condition that her surname not be used out of fear of repercussions. "Now we have this new control where the secret services are repressing everyone." More than a century later, the need to confront racial stereotypes onscreen endures. According to McKinsey, both on- and offscreen, Black talent is pigeonholed and funneled to race-related content, which often plays into stereotypes. A 2016 Vox analysis found that 62 percent of onscreen gang members were Black. Is it surprising, then, that the casual murders of Black people both those captured on smartphones and the many more that preceded the smartphone era are predicated on the perception of us as violent, criminal threats? (Similarly: Should we be shocked at the chillingly broad chorus of Americans chanting Build the wall when so many Latino immigrant characters are shown engaged in criminal activity? And who can be genuinely surprised by the massacre in Atlanta, given the stories Hollywood has helped tell about women generally, and Asian women specifically?) It would be easy to mistake the Blacklight Collectives solicitation of McKinseys work as grievance peddling. Its not. Its about business. Black people in Hollywood simply want to write, direct, produce, perform, photograph, negotiate, design and do hair and makeup for film and television, then profit from their labor in a manner that isnt limited by the fact that they happen to be Black. We all would love to be rid of the need to push for greater racial equity. We are also not naive about the cold, hard truths. We do not expect that change in Hollywood will come out of the good in any leading executives heart. But we know that reversing the industrys systemic racism is an extraordinary business opportunity one that would benefit not just Black Hollywood, but all of Hollywood. Without paying McKinsey a penny, the film industry can reclaim at least $10 billion in annual revenue, simply by addressing irrational, anti-Black market inefficiencies. The consultants also argue that theres an even greater windfall to be had by addressing all the other market inefficiencies that stem from locking out other people according to race, gender, sexuality or disability. Heres a partial list of recommendations: Setting intersectional diversity targets onscreen, and especially offscreen, by expanding recruiting beyond traditional top-tier universities and film schools, increasing transparency around hiring and compensation and tying executive compensation to success in these endeavors. THE Conservative Party of Canada has at last unveiled its climate plan; better late than never, although there appears to be a significant number of party stalwarts who would prefer never. Before falling into the trap of labelling all conservatives as anti-environment and hence their plan as lacking merit, a close examination reveals some positives. Opinion THE Conservative Party of Canada has at last unveiled its climate plan; better late than never, although there appears to be a significant number of party stalwarts who would prefer "never." Before falling into the trap of labelling all conservatives as anti-environment and hence their plan as lacking merit, a close examination reveals some positives. The most important pronouncement is that the number two party in the land, the potential government in waiting, actually commits to the principle of serious action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Now, one can argue whether the plans measures will meet Canadas 2030 emission reduction targets, or achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 as promised by the current government, a promise that itself is not unassailable; whats important is that we take serious action to meet those goals. That will set us on a course of fundamental change in our economy and how its powered that will position Canada to prosper in the inevitable low-carbon global future. Another interesting feature of the plan is that the revenue from the proposed carbon tax significantly lower than the Liberals rapidly escalating charge but still serious cash will be plowed back into actions to mitigate the carbon footprint of individual Canadians. This is in contrast to the approach of the current government, in which the invisible right hand of the market plucks dollars from us at the gas pump, while the invisible left hand gives it back at tax time, sometimes more than we actually paid in the first place. True, we could use that money to help finance an electric car, but we could also use it to buy more gas. Interestingly, OToole is claiming his partys carbon tax is a "levy" not a tax because it goes into a fund administered at arms length from government. Having tried that with our beverage container "levy" here in Manitoba, I predict that the public will not make that fine distinction. Interestingly, OToole is claiming his partys carbon tax is a levy not a tax because it goes into a fund administered at arms length from government So, we can at least take some comfort in the fact that should the government change, the hands of all our major parties are committed to serious action on climate change mitigation, to make Canada a world leader on climate change, as they all now say. What the plan lacks a gap it shares with all competitors, including the sitting governments is the recognition that Canadas most serious challenge is adapting to the changes to our climate that are already occurring, are accelerating and will continue to do so well after the target date for universal carbon neutrality of 2050. This is true even if the world is carbon-neutral by 2050; and it wont be, although by then the effects of climate change will be devastating for the unprepared. To assume that in less than 30 years, the big emitters like China, which is building fossil fuel electrical generating stations at the rate of one a month, or even our southern neighbours, who derive 60 per cent of their electricity from carbon sources, are going to reduce greenhouse gases to net zero is like betting on the 100-to-one nag at the race track. It could win, but you shouldnt bet your life savings on it. Lets be realistic. Even with actions that go well beyond anything yet envisaged, we are headed for a three-degree global temperature increase by the turn of the century. Thats three times what weve experienced so far. And thats the optimistic scenario. So big changes in the environment are on the way. Although we cant precisely predict and quantify these changes, we have a broad-brush picture of what lies ahead. We can anticipate what will be affected and what options are available to adapt our infrastructure designed to operate within a bandwidth of conditions that will no longer be valid to the emerging new reality. This omission is not trivial, something we can get to when the need arises; in other words, when the impacts can no longer be ignored. The magnitude of the task to protect our food production capacity through a complete overhaul of the agricultural water management infrastructure, for example is generational, a decades-long commitment. By all means, lets strive to get to net zero as fast as we can. But those who govern or aspire to govern, ignore adaptation at our peril. Each of the several climate change plans being advanced by our political parties has its merits. Wouldnt it be nice if we could take the best from each and produce a "super plan"? Well, thats crazy talk. Norman Brandson was deputy minister of the former Manitoba departments of environment, water stewardship and conservation from 1990 to 2006. A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge on Friday approved a request by prosecutors to postpone a motion to combine two defendant groups in an MS-13 gang murder trial to April and delayed the start of the first trial group from May to July. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 09:11:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LAGOS, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian police said on Friday that 18 people were arrested and prosecuted for engaging in illegal mining in the northwestern state of Zamfara. "The recent operations conducted by the anti-illegal mining team was at Yan Kaura mining site in Maru area where villagers from different parts of the state converged and embarked on illegal mining," said Mohammed Shehu, spokesperson for the state police. Shehu said the assigned squad mobilized and successfully dislodged the violators where 18 suspects were arrested. "Discreet investigation was conducted after which all the suspects were charged to court and they are now in prison custody," said Shehu. Since September 2020, police operatives have raided several illegal mining sites at different locations in the state and succeeded in arresting many illegal miners, the spokesperson said. The Nigerian government in March announced a ban on mining and imposed a no-flight zone in Zamfara as part of effort to stop bandit activities in the state. The government believed that bandits have been using mining activities as cover-up and often invade communities and abduct villagers for ransom. Enditem 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. April 19 Plainview Police responded to a burglary of a habitation reported at the 600 block of Nassau on April 19. A known person assaulted a friend, left the residence of that friend then later returned and entered by force and assaulted the individual again before leaving on foot. An assault was reported at the 1600 block of N. Date St. A man assaulted a woman at the location and they argued after. The man left the scene and the woman called police. A burglary was reported at the 1700 block of W. 8th St. on April 19. A person entered a residence without the owners consent and committed theft. Check forgery was reported at the 400 block of W. 5th St. on April 19. Fraud was reported at the 3500 block of Olton Road on April 19. Theft was reported on April 19 at the 900 block of N. Interstate 27. An unknown person took an iPhone 11 from Taco Bell without the owners consent. Police were called to the 1600 block of N. Date on April 19 in reference to criminal mischief. An unknown person tampered with and caused damage to the frame of a residents window. Officers were called to the 1200 block of Joliet in reference to an assault on April 19. A known person pushed their spouse and caused the victim to strike their hand on a dresser drawer. The suspect left on foot before police arrived. April 20 Fraudulent use of credit or debit cards was reported on April 20 at the 3200 block of Olton Road. Police arrested 41-year-old Amanda Chavez on April 20 at the 700 block of Ash St. during a traffic stop. Officers found Chavez to be in possession of amphetamine. She was charged with possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony. An assault was reported at the 300 block of Zephyr St. on April 20. A male struck his fiance on her left tricep then kicked her on her mid thigh. Criminal mischief was reported at the 900 block of N. I-27 on April 20. An unknown person damaged the tire of a vehicle while the owner was inside their place of work. The oxygen crisis in India has worsened in the last 48 hours. For the fourth day in a row, hospitals across the nation were on the verge of running out of oxygen. As the second outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic infects more people and sets new highs every day, SOS oxygen calls are in the headlines. States have asked for emergency assistance from the central government, and many hospitals have gone to the high courts to provide oxygen for their critically ill patients. Many hospitals in several states are experiencing oxygen shortages, which has resulted in several deaths. After losing 25 patients, Delhis Sir Gangaram Hospital received an oxygen tanker, on Friday. The other major hospitals in Delhi are either out of oxygen or will only be able to function for a few hours longer. The Sir Aurobindo Hospital in Indore has posted a sign that reads, No Oxygen. To meet the estimated demand of high-burden states Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, UP, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Haryana the Centre-appointed Empowered Group-2, which is responsible for monitoring the supply of vital medical resources during the pandemic, has been focusing on over 17,000 tonnes of oxygen, which will be driven to these 12 states in three batches from states with excess capacity. The need for oxygen is expected to skyrocket in the coming days. Also Read: Indias capital in crisis: 25 patients die in Gangaram Hospital due to Oxygen shortage The central government, states, and the armed forces have all stepped in to help alleviate the shortage. Airlifting of 23 mobile and 2 generation plants from Germany is planned. These generators are capable of producing 40 litres of oxygen per minute. More oxygen production plants are likely to be imported from other countries. The IAF has been given emergency financial authority. Short-service commissioned doctors in the AFMS are being extended. 150 doctors are stationed at the DRDO hospital. The Delhi Cantt base hospital has been transformed into a covid centre for the IAF. The Indian Air Force has sent five aircrafts to help with oxygen delivery. In the midst of this, NewsX recommends course of action to ensure the success of Mission Oxygen. One of the first moves would be for the Navy to provide oxygen through the use of its plants, docklands, steel, and shipbuilding. The production of Portable Multi-feed Oxygen Manifold that is being manufactured at Visakhapatnam dockyard, should be increased. For soldiers stationed in extreme high-altitude zones, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed the SpO2 (Blood Oxygen Saturation) supplementary Oxygen Delivery System. The GOI can make it available to Covid patients as soon as possible. Hospitals can use oxygen enrichment units designed by the CSIRs Indian Institute of Petroleum. It can provide up to 500 litres of oxygen per minute. It can be set up in 50-100 sq. ft. areas inside hospitals for on-site production of Oxygen. ISRO acquires Oxygen from industry for use in its cryogenic engines, which run on liquid hydrogen and liquid Oxygen. The Centre should devise a proposal for launching medical-grade Oxygen manufacturing and making it available to Covid patients. The Indian Army can assist the government by using its resources. Army trucks may be used to coordinate cylinder deliveries. Berda Asmara shows a photo of her sailor husband Mes Guntur Ari Prasetyo at their home in Surabaya on April 23, 2021. (Juni Kriswanto / AFP via Getty Images) No Sign of Indonesian Sub as Air Dwindles, Search Resumes The oxygen supply for the 53 crew members of an Indonesian submarine missing in waters off Bali is believed to have run out early Saturday with no sign of the vessel while the search resumed, bolstered by the arrival of a sonar-equipped Australian warship. The KRI Nanggala 402 went missing after its last reported dive Wednesday off the resort island, and concern is mounting it may have sunk too deep to reach or recover in time. The navy chief said the submarine was expected to run out of oxygen early Saturday morning. We will maximize the effort today, until the time limit tomorrow at 3 a.m., military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Achmad Riad told reporters Friday. A news conference was scheduled for later Saturday morning. There have been no signs of life from the submarine, but family members held out hope that the massive search effort would find the vessel in time. The family is in a good condition and keeps praying, said Ratih Wardhani, the sister of 49-year-old crewman Wisnu Subiyantoro. We are optimistic that the Nanggala can be rescued with all the crew. Students and teachers pray for the 53 crew members aboard an Indonesian navy submarine that went missing off the coast of Bali during training exercises on April 21, at an Islamic school in Surabaya on April 23, 2021. (Juni Kriswanto / AFP via Getty Images) Twenty-four Indonesian ships and a patrol plane were mobilized for the search, focusing on the area where an oil slick was found after the submarine disappeared during an exercise. Rescuers made similar massive searches in the previous two days. An American reconnaissance plane, P-8 Poseidon, was expected to join the search Saturday and a second Australian ship was due soon. These two Australian ships will help expand the search area and extend the duration of the search effort, Australian Navy Rear Adm. Mark Hammond said. Singaporean and Malaysian rescue ships were also expected in the coming days. Indonesian President Joko Widodo canceled a visit to Banyuwangi port, where some rescue ships left earlier, to prepare for a weekend regional summit in Jakarta, officials said. He asked Indonesians to pray for the crews safe return, while ordering all-out efforts to locate the submarine. Our main priority is the safety of the 53 crew members, Widodo said in a televised address on Thursday. To the family of the crew members, I can understand your feelings and we are doing our best to save all crew members on board. Indonesian marine police prepare to take part in the search operation for an Indonesian Navy submarine that went missing during military exercises off the coast of Bali, at Celukan Bawang port in Buleleng province on April 22, 2021. (Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP via Getty Images) Theres been no conclusive evidence the oil slick was from the sub. Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Yudo Margono said oil could have spilled from a crack in the submarines fuel tank or the crew could have released fuel and fluids to reduce the vessels weight so it could surface. Margono said an unidentified object exhibiting high magnetism was located at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (165 to 330 feet) and officials held out hope it is the submarine. The navy said it believes, however, that the submarine sank to a depth of 600-700 meters (2,000-2,300 feet), much deeper than its collapse depth, at which water pressure would be greater than the hull could withstand. The vessels collapse depth was estimated at 200 meters (655 feet) by a South Korean company that refitted the vessel in 2009-2012. The cause of the disappearance is still uncertain. The navy has said an electrical failure could have left the submarine unable to execute emergency procedures to resurface. Submarine accidents are often disastrous. In 2000, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk suffered internal explosions and sank during maneuvers in the Barents Sea. Most of its 118 crew died instantly, but 23 men fled to a rear compartment before they later died, mainly of suffocation. In November 2017, an Argentine submarine went missing with 44 crew members in the South Atlantic, almost a year before its wreckage was found at a depth of 800 meters (2,625 feet). But in 2005, seven men aboard a Russian mini-sub were rescued nearly three days after their vessel was snagged by fishing nets and cables in the Pacific Ocean. They had only six hours of oxygen left before reaching the surface. The German-built diesel-powered KRI Nanggala 402 has been in service in Indonesia since 1981 and was carrying 49 crew members and three gunners as well as its commander, the Indonesian Defense Ministry said. Indonesia, the worlds largest archipelago nation with more than 17,000 islands, has faced growing challenges to its maritime claims in recent years, including numerous incidents involving Chinese vessels near the Natuna islands. By Edna Tarigan and Niniek, AP Photo credit: Melissa Lukenbaugh Those who have watched Minari know what a true treasure director Lee Isaac Chung was able to create. The film starring Steven Yeun, Yeri Han and Alan Kim highlights a Korean-American family's move from California to an Arkansas farm in the 1980s and their quest for stability and success amid arising challenges. Not surprisingly, Minari's masterful storytelling and heartfelt acting has resulted in several awards and Academy Award nominations this year. But while viewers may enjoy what they see on screen, they might also find fulfillment from the deeper meaning behind the title of the Oscar-nominated film. What does "minari" mean? Minari is a plant native to East Asia and found in a lot of South Korean cooking, according to FoodNetwork.com. Specifically, this name describes what others call "pennywort" or "water parsley" and is known for its somewhat bitter and peppery flavor. It is sometimes, but not always, found in kimchi, spicy fish soups and stews or paired with pork belly. Speaking with The Wrap, Lee Isaac Chung himself explained the beauty of minari and how it relates to the movie we all know and love today: The interesting thing about it is that its a plant that will grow very strongly in its second season after it has died and come back. So theres an element of that in the film, so it grows very expansively without doing much to it. Its a poetic plant in a way for me. The acclaimed director went on to echo this minari metaphor while speaking with NPR about how he came to pen the outline of the movie. As he explained, he jotted down 80 memories while at a local library and realized that there was a good story arc coming from the paper. The resilient image of minari, meanwhile, helped him frame the plot. Photo credit: Melissa Lukenbaugh "Ultimately, a patch of minari, this Korean plant that the grandmother plants, that my grandmother planted, that ended up being the only thing that really thrived on that farm," he told the outlet. "So once I had those two poles in mind of where the story starts and where the story ends, I just started to shape all the memories together into a narrative." Story continues He later reiterated in the interview how the minari plant specifically spoke to him: "It's a hardy plant. It kind of grows in places where you can't grow anything else. It can take root in very poor soil conditions. And what it ends up doing is it actually revitalizes the soil. And it cleans up the water. It has a purifying effect." You Might Also Like As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal The New Mexico Supreme Court recently decided to let stand a Court of Appeals decision that the Engineers Office says would rob the state of its ability to regulate water rights in New Mexico. Now, the state engineer is asking the Supreme Court to reconsider that ruling. The legal path leading to the problem is complicated and centers on the states negotiated settlement with the Navajo Nation on allocation of water rights from the San Juan River. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ That settlement, approved by Congress, was challenged by the San Juan Agricultural Water Users Association. In upholding the settlement in 2018, the Court of Appeals reasoned that the state of New Mexico lacks ownership claim in water within its borders and that the settlement agreement preempts state law. The opinion was written by retired U.S. District Judge Bruce Black, who was appointed by the state Supreme Court to hear the case. Prior to serving on the federal bench, Black was a state Court of Appeals judge. The opinions erroneous reasoning that congressional approval of the Settlement Agreement resulted in it becoming federal law that preempts state law would have dire consequences for future settlements of Indian water rights claims in New Mexico, attorneys for the State Engineers Office said in a request for reconsideration. The request for a rehearing said the Court of Appeals decision eviscerates the primacy of the State over its water resources, in the face of 150 years of unwavering federal deference to State authority. The Supreme Court initially granted a writ filed by the state engineer to hear the case, but then decided not to proceed with hearing the appeal. The latest court filings ask the court to reconsider and hear the case. Attorneys for the State Engineers Office and others involved in the settlement with the Navajo Nation say the stakes are high. The Court of Appeals reasoning, they argue, finds that the federal government, not the state, controls the public waters in New Mexico. If congressional approval of Indian water right settlements results in preemption of state law, the state will be forced to choose between losing control over its waters or foregoing the benefit to New Mexicos economy of millions of dollars in federal funding provided for these settlements, the Engineers Office said. For example, attorneys said, the settlement agreement with the Navajo Nation brought more than $1.3 billion into the state for construction of the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. The Court of Appeals decision also puts into question the way the state has traditionally adjudicated water rights. According to the court filing, the language in the Court of Appeals decision threatens the states current negotiations with nine Pueblos and tribes to settle water rights claims. If not corrected, the language will create confusion over State permitting authority, impede efforts by stakeholders to address important water management issues like surface land subsidence, groundwater depletion and drought management by shortage sharing, the state argues in its request. The Court of Appeals reasoning that the settlement agreements preempt state law was based, at least in part, on the need for congressional approval of the settlement agreement between the state and the Navajo Nation. But the State Engineers Office said that congressional approval was needed because the agreement included waivers of the Navajo Nations water rights claims and the need for congressional approval of funding for various water projects. The involvement of Congress in approving the settlement did not strip the power of the state to regulate the waters within its boundaries, the state said in court filings. The Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and the city of Gallup have joined the State Engineers Office in requesting the rehearing. The water utility authority serves 700,000 people in the Albuquerque metropolitan area and was part of the settlement because it receives water through the San Juan-Chama diversion project. The city of Gallup plans to play a central role in using water from the San Juan River to supply not just city residents, but areas of the Navajo Nation that are now dependent on underground water supplies. A man was fatally shot near or inside a Newark park on Friday evening, said Essex County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly. Maurice Hudson was shot at about 6:15 p.m. on the 500 block of Clinton Avenue, officials said. The shooting is still under investigation and it was not immediately clear if he was shot inside Mildred Helms Park. The park was restored in 2005 with federal, state and philanthropic funds but it fell into disrepair again by 2016. Residents called for the city to build more fencing around the park and to close it after 9 p.m., and city officials sponsored movie nights at the park to attract more kids. Hudson was found with multiple gunshot wounds and he was rushed to University Hospital. He was pronounced dead around 8 p.m., Fennelly added. No arrests have been made, Fennelly said. Local journalism needs your support. Subscribe at nj.com/supporter. Rebecca Panico may be reached at rpanico@njadvancemedia.com. Talk about a bad date. An upstate New York man was arrested this week after his would-be fling turned him over to the FBI when he bragged to her on a dating app about storming the U.S. Capitol with hundreds of other Trump supporters on Jan. 6, according to court records. Robert Chapman, a 50-year-old resident of Carmel, Putnam County, thought hed impress a match on the app Bumble if he told her about his Jan. 6 escapades, an FBI agent from the bureaus Manhattan field office wrote in a criminal complaint. I did storm the Capitol. I made it all the way into Statuary Hall, Chapman wrote in a Bumble message to the woman, according to the complaint. Chapman also claimed he had been interviewed by several journalists after participating in the attack. The woman, who was not identified in the complaint, was not enthused and replied, we are not a match, the complaint stated. Chapmans failed date then contacted the FBI and provided agents with screengrabs of her conversation with the long-haired alleged Capitol rioter. Chapman didnt only brag about the Capitol riot on Bumble, according to the complaint. He also took to Facebook during the insurrection to boast about his alleged crimes. IM F---IN INSIDE THE CRAPITOL!!! he posted on Jan. 6, the complaint charges. The FBI agent alleged that the bureau was able to corroborate Chapmans identity by comparing photos on his social media profiles with body camera footage captured by police officers inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. According to court records, Chapman was arrested Thursday and charged with disorderly conduct and violent trespassing on federal property. He was released by a federal New York judge pending trial and could not be reached for comment Friday. Chapman is one of nearly 400 people arrested for playing part in the Capitol attack, which left five people dead, including a police officer, and hundreds more wounded. The assault unfolded after former President Donald Trump urged supporters at a rally near the Capitol to march on the building and fight like hell to block Congress from certifying his election defeat to Joe Biden. Despite being impeached for instigating the attack, Trump has refused to apologize or take any responsibility for the events of Jan. 6. 2021 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Former cast members of Young Talent Time gathered in Sydney last night to film their YTT Reunion Special which will stream to fans on May 1st. At 7pm on April 24th -50 years to the minute- they released a special video message on Facebook. We want this to go viral so fans, its in your hands. Get the word out and if you want to see what your favourites look like now, tune in at 7.00pm on Saturday. We are all ssuuuuupppppeeerrrr excited here at YTT HQ, and we know you will be too. See you then! Details of the streaming special can be found here. Related New Delhi, April 24 : SpiceJet's air cargo arm SpiceXpress has airlifted 800 oxygen concentrators from Hong Kong for emergency use and distribution across India. Accordingly, SpiceXpress's B737 freighter aircraft airlifted the consignment. The oxygen concentrators will reach Delhi via Kolkata, where the aircraft landed at around 7 p.m. on Saturday. "Along with SpiceHealth, we have airlifted 800 oxygen concentrators from Hong Kong for emergency use in India and we are looking at bringing more than 10,000 oxygen concentrators in the coming days from across the globe," said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet. "We carried medicines and medical equipment and fruits and vegetables to all corners of India and the world when the pandemic hit us last year, helping our country and our fellow citizens when they needed them the most and we will continue to serve with the same vigour," he added. SpiceJet has transported more than 1.5 lakh tonnes of cargo since the imposition of the nationwide lockdown following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic on March 25, 2020. Doses were administered from early May 2019 to early August 2019, largely prior to the peak malaria season.The researchers report a vaccine efficacy of 77 per cent in the higher-dose adjuvant group, and 71 per cent in the lower dose adjuvant group, over 12 months of follow-up, with no serious adverse events related to the vaccine noted.Following these results, the Phase 2b trial was extended with a booster vaccination administered prior to the next malaria season one year later."These new results support our high expectations for the potential of this vaccine, which we believe is the first to reach the WHO's goal of a vaccine for malaria with at least 75 per cent efficacy," said the team including Adrian Hill, Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford."With the commitment by our commercial partner, the Serum Institute of India, to manufacture at least 200 million doses annually in the coming years, the vaccine has the potential to have a major public health impact if licensure is achieved," Hill said.The researchers, in collaboration with Serum Institute of India Private Ltd, and Novavax Inc, have now started recruitment for a Phase 3 trial to assess large-scale safety and efficacy in 4,800 children, aged 5-36 months, across four African countries.Source: IANS New Delhi, April 24 : A day after Chief Ministers raised about price uniformity of the vaccine to be administered from May 1, the health ministry has issued clarification on the issue. "It is clarified that the Govt of India's procurement price for both #COVID19 vaccines remains at Rs 150 per dose. GOI procured doses will continue to be provided TOTALLY FREE to States," said a tweet by the Health Ministry. Many Chief Ministers have written to the Prime Minister and Congress interim President Sonia Gandgi had also written to PM Modi expressing concern over different pricing for vaccines. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in a meeting with the Prime Minister had urged that vaccines to states should be given at the rates of the Centre. "Provide vaccine availability action plan to the states for operating vaccination campaign for the age group above 18 years soon. Producing states should not obstruct supply of life saving medicines," Baghel had said which is mentioned in the statement issued by the state government. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had also raised a red flag over separate vaccine prices for Centre and states. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Among the long list of reasons the fearful give for reasons theyre not getting a flu shot (hatred of needles, skepticism about vaccines, laziness), theres one that relates more closely to economics: cost. For while doctors urge everyone to get a flu shot, flu shots, like many other things in life, are not free. Stop by your local CVS or Walgreens and youll shell out $30 or so for the pleasure of getting poked by a needle behind a suggestion of a curtain. So why arent flu shots free, or nearly free? After all, theyve been around for a while, and theres a lot of demand isnt it about time flu shots cost the same as, say generic Tylenol? Advertisement If only, says Curtis Allen, a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The real question should probably be why does the flu shot cost so little? Thats because the process of manufacturing the flu shot and distributing it is a huge headache for pharmaceutical companies. The influenza vaccine must be made anew each year, beginning in February. Researchers determine what strains to put in the vaccine after looking closely at what types of flu are most prevalent in the Southern Hemisphere throughout its winter, which is our summer. Then the handful of pharmaceutical companies that make the vaccine have to guesstimate how many doses to make. Make too many and theyll have to throw away a bunch if people dont get the flu shot; make too few and theyll cause a panic about vaccine shortages. Vaccines for other illnesses, such as measles, mumps and rubella, can be used until their expiration date, which is often years after theyre made. Influenza vaccines are really only used September through January and then go in the trash. And there are no regulations saying people have to get flu vaccines, meaning its very difficult for companies to estimate how many they should make. Advertisement It can be a risky business, Allen said. They have to make a decision on the number of doses to make many many months before the flu season actually happens. This year, companies have produced about 145 million doses, he said. Only about 129 million have been distributed. Last year, companies lost even more on the flu vaccine because it was such a light flu season and fewer people decided to get the shot. Only about 42% of the U.S. population got an influenza vaccine last year, which meant that about 30 million doses were never used and had to be destroyed. Advertisement One of the primary challenges for influenza vaccines production is gauging the demand for vaccine, said Donna Cary, a spokeswoman for Sanofi Pasteur, one of the companies that makes the influenza vaccine. The single most important thing a person can do to help product themselves against influenza and to ensure that vaccine will be available for them next year ... is to get an annual flu shot so that vaccine supply and demand are more closely aligned. Influenza vaccines cost healthcare providers from $10 to $16 per dose, according to this nifty CDC chart. Theyre by far the cheapest vaccine on the list. The tetanus vaccine costs a provider $38, HPV vaccine is $130, Hepatitis B is $52. Advertisement The question is, why is it so cheap? Allen said. Still, there might be an economics argument for giving away the vaccine for free, even if it is already cheap. The province of Ontario, in Canada, tried that in 2000 and found that giving away the vaccine for free reduced influenza cases by 61% and decreased the cost of healthcare services by 52%, a study shows. Advertisement ALSO: Flu vaccine shortages reported as sniffles spread Advertisement Flu season has Boston declaring a state of emergency Getting a flu shot can be sticking point with healthcare workers Researchers are seeking hundreds of Marines to get high-tech body scans and special X-rays that could lead to military-wide updates to troops' body composition standards, which have long been criticized as outdated. The Marine Corps is conducting what officials say is the most technologically advanced study of body composition standards since the 1980s. "Taking care of Marines is always a leadership priority," said Maj. Lindsey Slyman with Marine Corps Training and Education Command's policy and standards division. "And taking care of Marines means not only vigorously enforcing our high standards, but constantly evolving those standards for a more healthy, fit and ready force." Read Next: Army Astronaut Demonstrates 'Weightless' ACFT at International Space Station Over the next year, the Marine Corps' Human Performance Branch hopes to get between 600 and 800 volunteers based in the Washington, D.C., area to participate in the new study, which could inform the military's strict weight and body-fat limits. The population will include Marines of all ages and those who are postpartum. Starting last month, officers at The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, were also given the chance to volunteer for the study. Those Marines will be assessed at both the start and completion of their six-month training. The goal is to have at least 100 female Marines participate in that portion of the study and about 300 men. Data suggests that today's Marines are healthier and fitter than in any previous era, said Karl Friedl, the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine's senior research scientist for physiology. They also have more lean body mass and greater bone density, he said. That has left some calling for reform. As four Marine officers put it in December, the Defense Department's body composition standards put more emphasis on being thin than they do on being fit. Research team members discuss counter movement jump data. (U.S. Marines) Now, the Marine Corps -- in partnership with the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, which is leading the study -- is using new technologies to determine whether policy changes are needed to adjust how body fat is measured and calculated. "It is possible the results of this study will be used to complement other services' information about body composition standards," said Brian McGuire, head of the Marine Corps' Human Performance Branch. The process takes about 30 minutes and involves six parts, according to slides posted on social media to solicit volunteers. Marines will complete a questionnaire about their demographics, and their height and weight will be recorded. Tape measurements of their neck, hips and abdomen will then be taken, Friedl said. A 3D full-body surface scanner, which can almost instantly compute a variety of body circumferences, widths and heights, will be used. Another machine will then use dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, known as DXA, to measure Marines' soft-tissue fat, lean components and bone density. A third technology, called bioelectrical impedance, will then assess body composition and total body water. "This science-based research will add to the current dataset the Marine Corps uses to evaluate and implement appropriate policies, standards, and methods to drive positive behaviors that emphasize the health and performance of our force," Slyman said. Results from those state-of-the-art tools will later be compared to measurements taken by tape, Friedl said. Marines and other troops have for years complained that the tape test is an inaccurate measurement of health and fitness. The Air Force announced in December that the tape test would no longer be used in that service. "It has been a long time since those [tape-test standards] were first established, and it was a 1980s population," Friedl said. "We're training differently, and physique may be changing, especially with more strength training by men and women. We want to see how reliable those [measurements] are for ... a current population." Lastly, the Marine volunteers will be asked to complete what's called a countermovement jump test on a special platform, Friedl said, which will measure lower-body explosive power and strength. Marines will also be asked to bring a copy of their basic training record and most recent fitness test scores. The scores will be examined in relation to body composition measurements, such as muscle mass and body-fat percentage, said Maj. Kimberly Wade, head of Human Performance Branch's research and policy section. The research team will not keep Marines' basic training records, she added. They'll just be used to verify volunteers' recent fitness test scores. Researchers hope to complete the portion of the study from volunteers in the National Capital Region by next March. The portion at TBS is expected to be completed in June 2022. Discussions are also underway to extend the study beyond the National Capital Region to allow personnel in other areas to participate, Friedl said. Findings from both portions will be presented to leaders at Training and Education Command, which oversees Marines' fitness and body composition standards. The latest change to fitness tests and body composition rules were made in February, when the Marine Corps extended the time new moms are exempted from the rules from nine months to 12. Major changes to the body composition program were last made in 2017, when Marines with high fitness test scores were exempted from weight and body fat limits. The maximum body-mass index, or BMI, for women was also increased from 25 to 26 that year. A study leading up to that change showed women with higher BMI had lower injury rates. In 2008, the Marine Corps introduced age-specific body fat standards. Until the 1960s, no maximum weights existed for the Marine Corps at all -- only minimum weights to ensure troops were not malnourished and unfit to fight. Whether this new study results in changes to body composition standards, tape test equations or other regulations remains to be seen, officials stressed. But anytime the Marine Corps works to modernize the health and fitness of its force, it is "a step forward," McGuire said. "USMC fitness and body composition standards are in a constant state of analysis, assessment and modification if necessary," he said. "This study will examine the relationship between lean mass and performance in modern-day Marines so that the leaders can ensure that fitness standards and policies for all Marines best support readiness of the force." -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Female Marines Who Called Out the Corps Commend New Postpartum Policy Michelle Attenborough knew the warning signs of homelessness after moving to Shepparton to help people struggling to make ends meet. The case worker soon realised she ticked many of those boxes herself. Eight weeks after signing a short-term lease on a $240 per week apartment last February, her landlord sold it and the 49-year-old from Shepparton Families and Financial Services began a gruelling search for a new home. Michelle Attenborough has had two rent increases since moving to Shepparton last February. Credit:Jason South I know the risk factors, she said. Im a single woman over 40 and my demographic represents the largest group who are homeless. Ms Attenborough rented a hotel room while furiously applying for tenancies and attending inspections alongside up to 50 other desperate house hunters. Most political parties have breached data protection rules at some point, a leading expert in the field has said. TJ McIntyre, associate professor in the Sutherland School of Law at University College Dublin, an expert in data protection and retention, said it is not surprising to learn that political parties have breached GDPR rules. "Drawing attention to the issue by any one party is kind of like organising a circular firing squad," he said. Dr McIntyre, the chair of Digital Rights Ireland, was speaking after political parties roundly denied their websites were in breach of EU online privacy laws. Sinn Fein controversy Information stored on Sinn Fein's Abu database has become the source of controversy in recent days. The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) requested details from the party on how it protects its online files. Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has admitted that her party had been in breach of data protection laws but has insisted the database is nothing more than information contained on the electoral register. Sinn Fein has denied claims it is collecting data on voters from Facebook. 'Inertia' about compliance Mike O'Neill, chief technical officer of Baycloud, which offers data protection compliance to major companies, says for websites to become GDPR compliant is not technically difficult, but there is an "inertia" around the issue. "Political parties are pretty bad at this stuff as a lot of them rely on social media. If it's functionality you require, you find a replacement, it's not hugely complicated but needs to be done." Ministers' sites also queried Housing minister Darragh O'Brien has defended his personal website, saying he does not record the political affiliation of those who contact him online. The website says in its privacy statement that his work "may also entail us keeping records of the political interests and affiliations of individuals whom we come into contact with". However, a spokesperson for the minister said that the website is a "point of contact only". The website of Mr O'Brien, along with that of culture minister Catherine Martin, is among several personal websites of TDs flagged as potentially being in breach of GDPR and ePrivacy Directive guidelines. TDs from five parties non-compliant Websites for TDs from Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein, and the Social Democrats were not compliant, an analysis by the Irish Examiner found. "The Ministers constituency office does not keep records of the political interests and affiliations of individuals whom they come into contact with," a spokesperson for Mr O'Brien added. Likewise, Ms Martin's website says that she is "allowed to do research into peoples political opinions or likely political opinions, for electoral purposes" but a spokesperson said there is no misuse of the data. 'No misuse of data' "The ministers constituency office is currently in the process of updating her personal website on a number of matters, including in line with the latest data protection guidelines and regulations. "There has been no misuse by the constituency office of the minister of any personal data." An Irish Examiner analysis found that in many cases, websites ran cookies prior to receiving consent, however, Labour, Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and the Social Democrats all said that these were permissible cookies necessary to the running of their sites. Donegal land prices are the highest in the border region at 9,500 per acre - new report has found. According to the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland / Teagasc Agricultural Land Market Review and Outlook Report 2021 the average price in Connacht / Ulster of an acre of non-residential poor-quality land under 50 acres last year was 4,600 while the average price of an acre of good quality land was 7,900. The report found that prices for good land under 50 acres in the region ranged from an average of 9,500 per acre in Donegal the highest in the region - to 6,500 in Monaghan, and for poor land from 5,750 in Monaghan to 3,250 in Leitrim, the lowest price in the country. The average price of an acre of poor-quality land under 50 acres in Donegal was 4,250. The survey of 156 auctioneers and valuers from all over the country - which was conducted in February 2021 found that demand for rented ground also remains strong with rents this year expected to rise by 6% in Connacht / Ulster, 8% in Leinster and 5% in Munster. Auctioneer and SCSI member Cormac Meehan, of Sean Meehan & Co, Bundoran said that lockdowns due to Covid had led to a reduction in the volume of sales. The inability to view holdings or physical auctions led to a significant increase in the number of sellers postponing plans to sell land. In our survey, over a third of agents (35%) reported a decrease in the volume of land sold in 2020 compared with 19% in 2019. Virtual viewing options have been available to sellers, but clearly many have a preference for more traditional auction sales. In Connacht/Ulster average land quality is typically lower than other regions, tends to be available in smaller lots and is mainly for grass-based agriculture. "While Covid has affected sales activity, it hasnt affected output or prices and as a result farmer confidence about the future has been unaffected. The land market has shown strong resilience throughout the pandemic and agents believe prices will rise on average by 4% this year. In the rental market, while Connacht/Ulster did report a decrease in prices last year by 13% for grazing land prices are expected to rebound by 6% this year, a little behind Leinster on 8% but ahead of Munster on 5%. "The low level of supply is again an issue in the rental market, but its not Covid related. Here the issue is leases with twenty-four per-cent of agents reporting a decline in the volume of land leases in 2020 compared to just 8% in 2019 as more land is locked up in long-term leases Mr Meehan said. The report finds that Leinster had the highest prices in 2020 because of the higher quality of land in the province and the high demand for it. For good land, less than 50 acres, average prices in the province ranged from a high of 13,600 in Kildare the highest in the country - to 7,900 in Longford, while the prices for poor quality ranged from a high of 8,300 per acre in Kildare to 5,500, again in Longford. In Munster, where dairy farmers are driving the market, prices ranged from an average of 11,900 per acre in Tipperary to 9,000 in Clare while prices for poor quality ranged from an average of 6,500 in Waterford to 4,700 in Clare. Teagasc economist Dr. Jason Loughrey said that while Covid may have impacted the volume of sales, it had little impact on agricultural commodity prices last year and this helped to support farm incomes and land values at a time of great uncertainty. The closure of hotels and restaurants and the contraction in the tourist business led to a sharp fall in sales of food and drink through these channels. However, this was largely offset by increased food and drink consumption within the home. "Overall it is estimated that the average farm income in Ireland increased by 6% in 2020 and this year we forecast an increase of a further 3%. Looking at the various farm sectors, last year was a good one for sheep farmers in particular, as they benefitted from higher prices as did pig producers. Dairy farm incomes were stable while incomes on cattle rearing farms increased. There was no change on other cattle farms. Tillage farmers did have a disappointing year due to adverse weather conditions which led to low yields and a drop in income. While farmers benefitted from lower input costs last year, they are facing some cost pressures this year, with feed, fertiliser and fuel prices all on the increase. Lamb prices are expected to be significantly higher in 2021 relative to 2020 and farmers with a sheep enterprise will therefore benefit. "A slight improvement in cattle farm income is expected with dairy incomes remaining stable. The outlook for tillage farm income this year is contingent on cereal yield developments. Normal weather through to the harvest period would see a significant improvement in tillage farm income in 2021 Dr. Loughrey concluded. Wang Yi puts forward five suggestions to U.S. on bilateral ties Xinhua) 10:31, April 24, 2021 Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi communicates with U.S. Council on Foreign Relations via video link in Beijing, capital of China, April 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday communicated with U.S. Council on Foreign Relations via video link. Wang said that the two heads of state had mapped out the general direction to develop ties between the two countries. However, the U.S. policy toward China has not yet overcome its misunderstanding of China, and the country has not found the right path to deal with China. He put forward five suggestions to the United States on how to view the China-U.S. relations from a strategic perspective. First, the United States should understand and view China's development objectively and rationally. Second, the United States should work with China on a new path of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. Third, the United States should respect and tolerate the path and system that China has independently chosen. Fourth, the United States should practice multilateralism in real sense. Fifth, the United States should not interfere in China's internal affairs. The Chinese wisdom goes that "a country practicing hegemonism is doomed to fail," rather than "a country will definitely seek hegemony when growing stronger," according to Wang. He said that the future of the China-U.S. relations depends on whether the United States can accept China's peaceful rise and whether it recognizes that the Chinese people have the right to pursue a better life. Noting that democracy is not Coca-Cola that promises the same taste everywhere in the world, Wang said the United States should respect the path and system independently chosen by China. Wang said he hopes that the United States will practice true multilateralism. Speaking of Taiwan, Wang stressed that playing the "Taiwan card" is "playing with fire," urging the United States to strictly abide by the one-China principle and honor its commitments under the three Sino-U.S. Joint Communiques. Wang said "genocide" and "forced labor" are big lies fabricated for political motives on matters related to China's Xinjiang. In response to latest development in Hong Kong, he said the U.S. side should respect the efforts of the Chinese government to implement the principle of "one country, two systems." China never engages in coercion and opposes coercion by other countries, Wang added. Richard Haass, president of U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, hosted the video meeting, which drew nearly 500 participants in the United States. (Web editor: Liang Jun, Bianji) The original press release from the Minneapolis Police Department about George Floyds murder was a lie. By the police account, the murder was not even an act of killing. Under the title Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction, the release claimed that Floyd had resisted arrest and then suffered medical distress after being cuffed. That is a drastically reduced description of what actually occurred when Derek Chauvin murdered Floyd. Nowhere does the release mention that the medical distress was brought on by Chauvin kneeling on Floyds neck for nine minutes and 29 secondsas Floyd experienced seizures and cried out for help, in front of multiple eyewitnesses. In video footage of the arrest, Floyds only visible resistance to the officers is his falling to his knees and saying hes claustrophobic. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The press release resurfaced following Chauvins conviction, and it renewed a conversation about how, exactly, news outlets should report information that comes from law enforcement officials when the police have killed or injured a civilian. Historically, journalists have tended to defer to police reports as the default narratives around crime and violence; the police are, after all, consistently there as sources at otherwise confusing and unpredictable scenes, and their accounts have the authority of the government behind them. But Floyds murder presents another challenge to that long-held standard, especially when the police are active participants in the stories they tell. As witnesses cellphone footage has captured more acts of police violence, and as officers body cameras have kept contradicting their own accounts of events, news outlets have begun couching their coverage of police reports in more skeptical terms. Again and again, law enforcement officials themselves end up revising or retracting essential parts of their stories of what happened. But the old habit remains a powerful one. Advertisement Kat Stafford, an investigative reporter for the Associated Press, explained in a Twitter thread its vital that journalists not act as stenographers for the police but instead investigate their account as thoroughly as we would any civilians. Journalists will ask people they interview to produce documents and all sorts of proof to make sure that their stories are solid, right? Fact check and verification, line by line in some cases. Why does that level of skepticism not translate to law enforcement agencies? Kat Stafford (@kat__stafford) April 21, 2021 Advertisement How will this knowledge translate into policy for journalists? I asked a number of major news organizations if they planned to change their newsroom standards or guidelines about how to report on information provided by police officers and departments. CBS News said it has been reporting on this issue on and off air. A spokesperson for the Associated Press said: APs guidance is to treat police statements, like any source of official information, with due skepticism, and question it closely, speak to all parties involved in a particular situation and do our own due diligence. Police information should be attributed properly and not stated as fact. The AP spokesperson also pointed to this story addressing the topic following Floyds murder. Advertisement Advertisement The Washington Post said its policy is to disclose to readers the sources of information in our stories, to the maximum possible extent. When we find that individuals or institutions have misled the public or The Post, we cover that failing, as our reporting on the death of George Floyd demonstrates. (Slates own official statement on the subject was: We dont have a police-specific policy, but our editorial approach is, and will continue to be, to use discretion, fact-check and properly contextualize and frame information provided by police officers and departments. Statements from law enforcement officials can be important and newsworthy developments in a story, but we believe it is our job as a news organization to verify and hold those officials, and the information they provide, to account, just as we strive to do with every source.) Advertisement In an interview with Slate, two officials for the Gannett newspaper chain described an ongoing set of coverage reforms that are starting within the companys Atlantic region and are meant to be rolled out companywidepart of what they said was a larger reckoning with how to cover policing and crime. As they talked to the public about the companys journalism, Michael Kilian, Gannetts New York state editor, said, it became quickly clear that public safety coverage was the big impediment to trust. The revised approach includes a policy of not writing about a crime or arrest unless the underlying case would be in the publics interest and would merit continued coverage as it passes through the court system. Gannett also avoids publishing police mug shots except in special circumstancessuch as if the person is a prominent figure or poses a significant danger to the publicand emphasizes the need for reporters to speak to other people at the scene and in the surrounding community rather than directly publishing the police narrative. Advertisement I read the police report from Minneapolis, and it took a leave from reality, said Hollis R. Towns, the vice president of local news initiatives at Gannett. There were a lot of omissions in that police report and a characterization in that police report that was not reflective of what was actually happening on the ground or what happened when George Floyd was taken into custody. For many, many years, weve accepted the gospel from police as [the] true religion, and we havent pushed back, Towns said. Weve accepted it as it is. And I think what this approach does is to look at that differently. That the police are offering one viewpoint on what may have happened. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Kilian noted that even referring to police as the authorities in a news story was being discussed, since it further reinforces a historical lack of scrutiny given to law enforcement. We dont call the mayor the authority or President Biden or anybody else, he said. It puts us in a position of being almost subservient, or subordinate, to the police information. And that is something thats so built in. If we go back and read police news from a year ago or 10 years ago or 20 years ago, we can see that. We have to cure ourselves of that and treat them as one more source that we should be skeptical of, he added, and find what the full story is. A senior White House official said today that US President Joe Biden wants to personally meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It comes after Bidens provocative wording "Armenian genocide" in relation to the 1915 tragic events in the Ottoman Empire, promoted by Armenian nationalists. It is proposed to held a meeting during the NATO summit scheduled for June. According to Reuters, the official stressed that Biden "seeks to interact with his Turkish counterpart." Police are searching for the long-time boyfriend of a Manhattan woman who was found dead in her apartment's bathtub with a gunshot would to the head. NYPD officers responded to a 911 call of an assault inside a sixth-floor apartment in Washington Heights at around 10pm on Friday night, finding 50-year-old Ramona Rodriguez-Reynoso dead in her bathtub. Police are now seeking Rodriguez-Reynoso's longtime boyfriend German Reynoso, 57, posting flyers in the neighborhood that describe him as a 'person of interest' who should be considered 'armed and dangerous'. Rodriguez-Reynoso was found dead in a tub full of blood, and her head wound was so severe that police initially believed she was attacked with a machete, a police source told the New York Daily News. Ramona Rodriguez-Reynoso, 50, was found dead in a blood-filled bathtub with a gunshot wound to her head in her Washington Heights apartment on Friday Neighbors described hearing screams before cops found Rodriguez-Reynoso dead NYPD officers responded to a 911 call of an assault inside a sixth-floor apartment (above) in Washington Heights at around 10pm on Friday night Investigators say that the murder appears to be an incident of domestic violence. Police are now searching for the 50-year-old's boyfriend, who was not in the apartment when cops arrived. The pair had been together for 30 years and share two adult daughters, neighbors told the New York Post. Neighbors described how they heard screams of pain and fear before police arrived at the scene. 'I heard some screaming, not from her,' said Ines Benitez, 36, told the Daily News. 'It was a woman screaming really loud, thats why I knew something was wrong.' Rodriguez-Reynoso worked for the nearby New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center, neighbors said Police responded to a call of an assault inside a Washington Heights apartment on Friday night where they found Rodriguez-Reynoso dead in her bathtub 'I known the two of them my entire life,' a 40-year-old family friend told the Post. 'Its unbelievable. Its shocking to me. She was a good person. I saw no problems. Ive never seen no fighting. Rodriguez-Reynoso worked for the nearby New York-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center, neighbors said. No arrests have been made and the investigation continues. According to the National Health Service, homeopathy is a complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) based on a series of ideas developed in the 1790s by a German doctor named Samuel Hahnemann which means it is different from treatments that are part of conventional Western medicine in important ways. In The Role of Homeopathy in the Patient's Disease (published by AuthorHouse UK), Dr. Saran Zeb discusses this medical system and how it can help patients in the treatment of symptoms and illnesses. This book contains 18 chapters. The first chapter talks about the life of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann. The second chapter contains different methods of homeopathic treatment. In chapter three, Zeb discusses case taking. Chapter four contains a case analysis, chapter five consists of homeopathic repertorisation and chapter six discusses its minimum doses. Chapter seven onward consists of various health issues and the cases which Zeb has treated for over 25 years. He also mentioned a few hundred cases in this book and the different types of methods. Each chapter is divided into three parts, therapeutic method, classical method and revolutionized method. In chapter 17, he mentioned accident and emergency remedies. Chapter 18 contains Materia Medica. He also includes 15 remedies, which can be used on a daily basis in homeopathic practice. When asked what he wants readers to take away from this book, Zeb answers, To give awareness about homeopathy. If conventional medicines does not help them, then they should not lose their hope. Homeopathy will help them. For more details about this book, please visit https://www.authorhouse.com/en-gb/bookstore/bookdetails/820075-the-role-of-homeopathy-in-the-patients-disease. The Role of Homeopathy in the Patient's Disease By Dr. Saran Zeb Softcover | 6 x 9in | 462 pages | ISBN 9781665581011 E-Book | 462 pages | ISBN 9781665581028 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble About the Author Dr. Saran Zeb is a fully qualified, classically trained homoeopathic doctor and a member of the Faculty of Homeopathy. His homoeopathic qualifications include, DHMS, RHMP, HMD, LFHom, MFHom , PGCE. He has been practicing in the area of London for over 25 years. His achievements and services as a homeopathic doctor has been highly recognized and appreciated by the local community in London and its outskirt areas. Due to his success and reasonable demand in the East London area, he has to expand his services to reach out a greater number of people. He has treated over 5000 patients successfully who were under or on long-term care within the NHS primary and secondary care. AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industrys only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrates over 23 years of service to authors. For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.co.uk or call 0-800-014-8641. Israel has recorded no new daily Covid death for the first time in ten months as it continues to lead the world in its vaccination drive. Figures show the country's coronavirus death tolls remained unchanged at 6,346 on Thursday. The last time Israel recorded zero Covid death was at the end of June last year. Hospitals have now started closing its specialist coronavirus wards after daily death toll plunged in recent weeks. Israel continues to lead the world in its vaccination drive, with more than 80 per cent of its adult population vaccinated. For the first time in 10 months, Israel have not recorded a single death related to Covid-19. it comes after the Israeli government dropped rules requiring people to wear face coverings when outside Israel continues to lead the world in its vaccination drive, with the country having recently hit the landmark or having 80 per cent of its adult population vaccinated With only one death having been recorded the day before, it appears as though the rate at which people are dying from the virus in Israel is slowing. Israeli columnist Nadav Eyal Tweeted about the landmark achievement yesterday. In the Tweet he said: 'For the first time in 10 months, no Israeli died of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. 'Special Corona wards have closed in all hospitals and share of positive cases stands now on 0.4% with dozens of thousands of tests per day, in a 9M population. #Covid_EndGame.' The last time that Israel managed to record zero coronavirus deaths was 299 days ago on June 29, 2020, following a series of lockdown restrictions which helped contain the first wave of the virus. To date, Israel has recorded 837,892 cases of coronavirus, with 6,436 deaths Coronavirus reached its peak in Israel in January this year and has been slowly easing up since, with the government now relaxing measures as vaccines continue to be rolled out. Last week, the Israeli government announced that it had dropped its almost year-long outdoor mask mandate as it inches towards total immunisation of its adult population. The restriction, which required masks to be worn outdoors unless exercising, was lifted on Sunday as Reuters reported that the country had vaccinated around 80 per cent of its adult population. 'The rate of infection in Israel is very low thanks to the successful vaccine campaign in Israel, and therefore it is possible to ease [restrictions],' Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on Thursday, adding that masks will still be required indoors. More than five million people have now received at least their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Government data shows that Israel did not record a single death related to coronavirus, with their national total staying on 6,346. Pictured: People sitting outside at a restaurant in Tel Aviv after the country's mask mandate was dropped And the health ministry has also said that more than 53 per cent of the total population had been fully inoculated. The drive has drastically cut hospitalisations and deaths from coronavirus. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu obtained millions of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines and the vaccines have transformed life in Israel. In mid-January the country had a peak of some 10,000 new infections a day but the rate is now about 200 cases a day. The rate of new infections has remained low even after in-person learning resumed and restrictions were loosened on bars, restaurants and indoor gatherings. Strict measures also remain in place for anyone entering the country with citizens and foreigners alike required to self isolate. The health ministry has also said that more than 53 per cent of the total population had been fully inoculated. Pictured: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receiving his second Covid jab on January 9, 2021 'We are leading the world right now when it comes to emerging from the coronavirus,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters. '(But) we have still not finished with the coronavirus. It can return.' Confidence is so high in Israel that last week, Eyal lesham, a director at the country's largest hospital, said that herd immunity within Israel could be within reach. Mr Leshem said that the 'only explanation' for the continuous decline in coronavirus cases and deaths, even after restrictions began lifting, was because of herd immunity, the BBC reports. Due to its world-leading vaccination programme, Israel is considered one of the countries most likely to be added to the UK's 'green list' for safe travel next month. Modi said the Centre has provided more than 15 crore doses of essential medicines to the States free of cost and safety of hospitals should not be neglected. PTI New Delhi: As a severe crisis for medical Oxygen builds up, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged States and Union Territories to be strict with hoarding and black marketing of essential medicines, injections and Oxygen. During a meeting with the Chief Ministers of 11 States and Union Territories which have reported the maximum number of cases, PM, on Friday, said that the central government is working on all possible options to reduce the travel time and turnaround time of Oxygen tankers. For this, Railways has started Oxygen Express and empty Oxygen tankers are also being transported by the Indian Air Force to reduce one way travel time. He added that the Centre has provided more than 15 crore doses of essential medicines to the States free of cost and safety of hospitals should not be neglected. He further said awareness must be increased to alleviate panic purchasing of medicines. Interestingly, some part of the meeting was televised at Delhi Chief Minister Mr Arvind Kejriwals end, which the PM did not appreciate. Terming the conduct inappropriate, PM said this is the first time a CM has broken the protocol and showed live a meeting. Mr Kejriwal apologised to the PM for this but his office issued a statement, saying the CM address was shared live because there has never been any instruction, written or verbal, from the Central government that the said interaction could not be shared live. There have been multiple occasions of similar interactions where matters of public importance which had no confidential information were shared live. However, if any inconvenience was caused we highly regret that the Delhi CMO said even as the Central government accused Mr Kejriwal for playing politics over Oxygen. During his interaction Mr Kejriwal raised alarm that a "big tragedy" may happen due to Oxygen shortage in hospitals and Centre should take over all Oxygen plants through the Army. He requested the PM to direct Chief Ministers of all States to ensure smooth movement of Oxygen tankers coming to Delhi. The Chief Minister also objected to different rates being charged from state governments and the Centre for the COVID-19 vaccine, and said "one nation, one rate" policy should be followed. Meanwhile, noting that the virus is affecting several states as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities at once, PM assured Centres full support to all the states and in this fight. He added that the Ministry of Health is also in touch is monitoring the situation closely and issuing necessary advice to the states from time to time. On Oxygen supply, PM Modi took note of the points raised by the States. He said there is a continuous effort to increase Oxygen supply. The PM said that every state should ensure that no Oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any State, is stopped or gets stranded. The Prime Minister urged the States to set up a high-level co-ordination committee to carry Oxygen to different hospitals of the State. This Coordination Committee should ensure that as soon as there is allotment of oxygen from the centre, it can deliver Oxygen as per requirement in different hospitals of the state immediately. The PM said that along with upgrading of resources focus has to be on testing and it should be seen that the vaccination programme is not impacted. Expressing grief on recent incidents of Oxygen leakage and fire at hospitals, PM Modi said the administrative staff of the hospital needs to be made more aware about the safety protocols. PM Modi also urged the administration to continuously make people aware so that they do not indulge in panic buying. He said that with united efforts, we will be able to stop this second wave of the pandemic across the country. Mr Modi also held a meeting with leading Oxygen manufacturers across the country via video conferencing and asked them to provide solutions in a very short time. PM Modi stressed on the need to maintain good co-ordination between the government and the Oxygen producers. PM noted that there is a need to increase the availability of Oxygen cylinders as well as upgrade the logistics facilities for transportation of oxygen. He urged the industry to utilize tankers meant to transport other gases for Oxygen supply. When it comes to actors with a surprising career trajectory, Arnold Schwarzenegger has to be among the top. The bodybuilder/action movie star/politician has kept fans on their toes with his fascinating turns throughout his life. Hes known for his famous lines that even those who have never seen his classic action films can quote with ease. Hes also known for becoming governor of California, a tremendously important job that required Schwarzenegger to face serious crises. With both his on- and off-screen identities squarely rooted in heroic territory, it perhaps shouldnt come as any surprise that Schwarzenegger once saved a mans life while on vacation. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a world-class bodybuilder Happy birthday to Arnold @Schwarzenegger, seven-time Mr. Olympia and three-time Mr. Universe. pic.twitter.com/D8heA3agYa Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) July 30, 2015 RELATED: 5 of the Best Bodybuilding Documentaries to Watch on Netflix Born in 1947 in Austria, Schwarzenegger first rose to fame as a bodybuilder. As Biography.com reports, Schwarzenegger came from a tumultuous home where his father regularly berated and beat him. Escaping into the world of film helped Schwarzenegger deal with the trauma, and he was especially inspired by the work of Reg Park, a B-movie actor who took on the role of Hercules. Schwarzenegger set his mind to making it to America and following in Parks footsteps, and thats exactly what he did. Schwarzenegger would go on to take the bodybuilding world by storm, launching it into the mainstream in the process. He took home an astounding five Mr. Universe titles and immigrated to the United States in 1968. In 1970, he got his first acting credit: playing the title character in Hercules Takes New York. Action films defined Arnold Schwarzeneggers career RELATED: From The Terminator to Twins: The Movies That Made Arnold Schwarzenegger a Hollywood Legend It didnt take long for Schwarzeneggers bodybuilding success to translate to the screen. In fact, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his 1976 performance in Stay Hungry, demonstrating that he was more than a muscular frame and had some serious acting potential. His portrayal of the title character in Conan the Barbarian (1982) would help define his career, and other action roles that played up his size and power followed. Roles in The Terminator (1984) and Predator (1987) stand out as his most memorable and are now classics within the action genre. Schwarzenegger showed off a sense of humor by taking on plenty of roles that used his hulking size and strength in unconventional ways as well. Comedies like Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Twins (1988) introduced Schwarzenegger to a whole new audience. Schwarzeneggers rise to fame was already stunning enough. His rejection of his familys dark past (and Nazi ties) to become a beloved American action hero was astounding. He wasnt done yet, though. In 2003, he became the 38th governor of California, a role he filled until 2011. These days, hes back on the big screen with projects including The Legend of Conan in production. A drowning man found real-life hero in Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Schwarzenegger at the NBCUniversal 2016 upfront presentation | Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images In 2004, Schwarzenegger was on vacation in Hawaii with his family. At the time, he was actively Californias governor, and it must have been quite a surprise to have the high-profile politician rush to save the day for a swimmer who found himself cramping up while offshore. As Hello! Magazine reports, Schwarzenegger was eagle-eyed enough to notice the man in distress. Thinking quickly, Schwarzenegger grabbed a boogie board and headed to the struggling swimmer. San Francisco Gate reports, No one knows the name of the man the governor helped out. Maui police said there was no report of the incident, and they noted that swimmers run into problems nearly every day on local beaches without it warranting a report or any fanfare. Burma ASEAN Leaders Urge Myanmar Coup Chief to End Violence, Allow Special Envoy, Aid Leaders of Southeast Asian nations attend the ASEAN meeting on Saturday in Jakarta. Myanmar coup leader Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing is seated in the foreground at right. / BPMI Setpres ASEAN leaders urged Myanmars coup leader to de-escalate the violence in his country and seek a political resolution to the crisis through dialog at their summit in Jakarta, Indonesia on Saturday, but seemingly failed to elicit any firm promises from the military chief. The assembled leaders pressured coup leader and armed forces commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to end the violence by his security forces, which has seen at least 745 people killed during brutal crackdowns against peaceful anti-regime protesters, and called for the release of political prisoners including civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta has detained nearly 3,400 individuals since the Feb. 1 coup. During the meeting, the leaders reached a five-point consensus to urge Myanmar to accept the appointment of a special envoy to engage with all the parties and to grant access to humanitarian assistance from ASEAN, which would be coordinated by the ASEAN secretary general in conjunction with the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Center). Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the situation in Myanmar is something that is unacceptable and must not continue, adding that the violence must be stopped and democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar restored. The interests of the Myanmar people must always be the priority, the Indonesian president said. Widodo said, I also conveyed the importance of the Myanmar military leadership to make a commitment to ending the use of force by the Myanmar military. At the same time all parties must exercise restraint so that tensions can be defused. Malaysia put forward a three-point proposal including a de-escalation of the situation on the ground and an end to killing and violence against civilians. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin urged the coup leader to release all detainees promptly and unconditionally. We realize that the success of ASEANs efforts on Myanmar very much depend on the willingness of the Tatmadaw to cooperate, he said, referring to the Myanmar military. After the meeting, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told the media that the Myanmar junta leader said he is not opposed to a visit by a delegation from ASEAN to help resolve the crisis in the country. He said he heard us, he would take the points in which he considered helpful, that he was not opposed to ASEAN playing a constructive role, or an ASEAN delegation visit, or humanitarian assistance, and that they would move forward and engage with ASEAN in a constructive way, Lee Hsien Loong said. Press statements from the ASEAN leaders do not indicate that the coup leader made a specific promise to end the violence in his country or release political prisoners, however. U Aung Myo Min, a longtime human rights advocate and the director of Equality Myanmar, welcomed ASEAN leaders efforts to stop the violence in Myanmar, but voiced disappointment that ASEAN failed to extract concrete promises from the coup leader on how he would meet their demands. We are disappointed because such demands and statements can be made even without face-to-face talks. Besides, we dont see there is a set timeframe or an effective action plan, in order not to delay [implementation], he said. Expectations for ASEANs special summit on finding solutions to the deteriorating situation in Myanmar were not high, given the blocs policy of non-interference and its history of favoring previous military dictatorships in the country. Myanmar people were already disappointed that the bloc declined to invite representatives of the parallel, civilian National Unity Government (NUG) formed on April 16 by elected lawmakers from the ousted National League for Democracy. U Moe Zaw Oo, the NUGs deputy foreign minister, said, The demand of ASEAN to end the violence should be linked with concrete action if the demand is not met. The same is true for the release of the political prisoners. ASEAN must have a concrete plan for what to do if these demands are not met, U Moe Zaw Oo said. ASEAN should be aware of the fact that the military council is very accustomed to lying to its own people and the international community. We welcome the engagement but it should also be meaningful in the sense that it must have real impact on the situation on the ground. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time, the deputy foreign minister said. U Aung Myo Min rejected the first item in the five-point consensus spelled out in the chairmans statement that was issued after the meeting, which states that all parties shall exercise utmost restraint. The human rights advocate said: It shows that ASEAN does not understand the situation in Myanmar. In fact, our people, unarmed civilians, are not committing violence; we are being abused. Such wording is unfair, and [shows] they dont know the true situation. You may also like these stories: Regional Myanmar Protest Leader Appears in Court on Widely Derided Murder Charge Myanmar Junta Forces Abduct and Torture Three More in Tamu Myanmar Regime Troops Ordered to Annihilate Protesters, Internal Memos Show At least 10 countries have taken a cautionary view on India and have either restricted or advised against travel to or from India on account of a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, with more likely to follow. Countries that have announced restrictions include Canada, the UAE, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Oman, Hong Kong, France, the US and the United Kingdom. Representational image/Twitter If you were to travel from India It is to be noted that these jurisdictions have imposed a ban on travel with a grace period. For example, flights to UAE will be suspended effective Saturday, April 24 23:59 local time Dubai. If a passenger is booked to travel to destinations such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, etc after that date, they should reach out to their airlines, which would be Emirates, Etihad, FlyDubai, Air Arabia or Indian carriers like IndiGo, SpiceJet, Air India and Air India Express. BCCL AI Express, in an advisory on Thursday, said passengers booked to fly with us during this period will be able to reschedule their tickets once the restrictions are lifted. Currently, the UAE restrictions are in place for 10 days, following which there will be a review. Similarly, Singapores ban is also effective Friday onwards from 11:59 pm local time, Omans restrictions begin from Saturday 6 pm local time, and Canadas ban started late Thursday local time. If you are travelling to India Given that the restrictions have been imposed on outbound travel from India, and there is no binding prohibition on travelling to India, it is expected that most of the airlines will continue to operate flights from these countries to India. AFP However, a senior executive of a Dubai-based airline said that whether they operate flights to India will be a commercial decision and that if passenger loads are not enough on UAE-India leg, they might cancel these flights. Sao Paulo, April 24 : Scientists now report that a high dose of vitamin D administered on admission to hospital has failed to improve the condition of patients with moderate or severe Covid-19. A clinical trial was conducted in Brazil with 240 patients who were given 200,000 IU of vitamin D3 on admission to hospital. The supplementation did not reduce length of stay or affect the proportion requiring intensive, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). In vitro studies or trials with animals had previously shown that in certain situations vitamin D and its metabolites can have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial effects, as well as modulating the immune response. "We decided to investigate whether a high dose of the substance could have a protective effect in the context of an acute viral infection, reducing either the inflammation or the viral load," said Rosa Pereira, principal investigator for the project at the University of Sao Paulo's Medical School (FM-USP). The volunteers were randomly divided into two groups, one of which was given vitamin D3 in a single dose of 200,000 units (IU) dissolved in a peanut oil solution. The other group was given only the peanut oil solution. All participants were treated according to the standard protocol for hospital treatment of the disease, which includes administration of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. The main purpose was to see if acute supplementation would affect the length of hospital stay for these patients, but the researchers also wanted to find out whether it would mitigate the risks of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), intubation and death. No significant difference between the groups was observed for any of these clinical outcomes. According to Pereira, the study was designed above all to assess the impact on hospital stay and a larger number of volunteers would be needed to achieve a scientifically acceptable estimate of the effect on mortality. "So far we can say there's no indication to administer vitamin D to patients who come to the hospital with severe Covid-19," she said. Pereira is currently leading a study to find out whether subjects with sufficient circulating levels of vitamin D combat infection by SARS-CoV-2 better than those with insufficient levels of the nutrient. The ideal level of vitamin D in the blood and the daily supplementation dose vary according to age and overall health, she explained. "The ideal approach is case-by-case analysis, if necessary, dosing the substance periodically by means of blood work, with supplementation if a deficiency is detected," Pereira said. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) In 1760, Charleston, in what is now South Carolina, faced what was to become known as the Great Small Pox Epidemic. In a city of 8,000 people, most of whom had no immunity, smallpox spread during the early months of 1760. The Charlestonians' response was superior to the modern world's response to COVID. Most importantly, Charlestonians did not overreact, although smallpox posed a more serious threat than COVID. While COVID, on average, kills 2% of those who are infected, with the elderly and people with comorbidities at the greatest risk, smallpox killed 33% of those infected, regardless of age or underlying health. Like modern society, Charleston resorted to quarantine as a primary response to the epidemic. However, Charleston quarantined only the sick and those living in the same house as those with smallpox. The government did not impose any restrictions on anyone else, even though smallpox was highly contagious. In 1760, Charleston's government did not shut down any business; order any special precautions among the healthy; or force the end of commerce, including port traffic in one of the busiest ports in the colonies. Healthy people were left to limit their activities as they saw fit without government oversight. Wholly unlike modern society, Big Brother did not intervene. Seventeen sixty was 38 years before the first true vaccine was introduced to medicine which, ironically, was Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine, derived from cowpox. Modern vaccinations do not introduce the active disease into the body; instead, the material administered tricks our body into producing antibodies without the direct risk of the disease itself. In 1760, though, the only known way to gain antibodies against smallpox was to catch the disease. To that end, physicians had developed a process called "variolation," a primitive precursor to smallpox inoculation. The doctor took a small amount of live smallpox virus and inserted it into a small incision in the patient. A variolated person still contracted smallpox, but usually a mild case. Still, variolation was dangerous. Some variolated people would still catch full-blown smallpox, and 2% of variolated people died. Moreover, all variolated people were fully contagious while they were sick. The benefit was that they were later immune to smallpox. Today's COVID vaccines are also somewhat dangerous. All the vaccines produce some side-effects, though only a handful seem to have been deadly or life-threatening. Still, that risk sees many people rejecting the COVID vaccine. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was stopped because of seven deaths out of a million vaccinations. The contrary was true in Charleston in 1760. People became "variolation mad," as Elizabeth Lucas Pinckney wrote at the time. Within a one- to two-month period, over half of the town got variolated despite the risks. Seemingly few, if any, of those who were not already immune to smallpox refused variolation. As with COVID, there was a racial aspect to smallpox. Smallpox was primarily a European disease. All things being equal, non-European people, such as American Indians and Blacks from Africa, would experience somewhat worse outcomes when afflicted with smallpox. Interestingly, the one time that was turned on its head was during a 1738 smallpox epidemic in Charleston. That was because Blacks escaped the intensive medical care doctors visited on Whites. The physicians, to "sweat out" the disease, kept Whites in enclosed rooms with fires running. The same physicians left the Blacks mostly alone, so their bodies were able to heal. As a result, Black Charlestonians had a higher survival rate in 1738 than did Whites. While there is some debate about when in 1760 the Great Charleston Small Pox Epidemic began, there is no debate as to its end it was over by June 1760. By then, physicians had variolated three quarters of Charleston's population. By March and April, almost every townsperson either had smallpox or was caring for someone with smallpox. Yet with variolation, the city's final smallpox death toll was merely 650 people. By June, there was only one reported smallpox case. Life was wholly back to normal. Charleston's experience contrasts starkly with the COVID epidemic. Our governments tried to quarantine everyone to prevent the disease's spread, rather than letting COVID run its course, especially among those not endangered by the disease. Instead of being done with COVID in a matter of months, we are still wrestling with it more than a year later, at tremendous cost to our nation, both economic and otherwise. In 1760, the people of Charleston faced a deadly epidemic that they handled with grace and a minimal societal cost. In 20202021, Americans have faced a mild epidemic that we have handled with fear-mongering and devastating government mandates. Unlike the Great Charleston Small Pox Epidemic that was over in approximately four months, our modern society is still dragging on at great social and economic expense our response to COVID-19. Will someone please explain to me how we have advanced in intelligence and common sense relative to our colonial forebears some 260 years ago? Wolf Howling is a pseudonym for a long-time blogger at Bookworm Room. Image: Smallpox: The Nature of the Disease and How it May Be Controlled. City of Boston Health Department (1900?), showing a vaccinated child with his unvaccinated father. Public Domain. Held in the Wellcome Collection. To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here. A fight is brewing in Texas government over $17.9 billion in federal education funds that the state has not yet disbursed to public school districts, months after state leaders shifted $1.3 billion in stimulus money designated for education to plug holes elsewhere in the state budget. The latest money, approved in federal stimulus packages this year, is intended to ease the financial burdens schools have experienced over the past year and to help students who have fallen behind through virtual learning. But to access the dollars, federal officials say Texas leaders must maintain their pre-pandemic education funding levels as a proportion of the states overall budget, potentially forcing the state to commit an extra $1.2 billion in an already-tight budget year. In short, the federal government is requiring state leaders to use the stimulus money to supplement existing education funding, not use it to free up funding for other needs. State leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have asked the U.S. Education Department for more flexibility to potentially use the funds elsewhere. But advocates and Democrats who have criticized Republican state leadership in the past for failing to fund public education say a $1 billion investment is a small trade-off for nearly $18 billion in return and that schools should get the money that was appropriated specifically for them. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox State lawmakers, meanwhile, are putting pressure on Texas leaders to tap into the funds as soon as possible. The Texas House of Representatives approved an amendment to the state budget Thursday that would require officials to access the funds as soon as possible and use them only to augment existing allocations, rather than replace them. Time is of the essence because school leaders are drafting their budgets as we speak, and they are feeling their budgets tightened with rising costs related to COVID-19, additional student needs and no additional help from the state that is sitting on billions of dollars, said state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, author of the amendment. The states inaction could mean that local school administrators cut back on summer school programs, delay hirings or reduce extracurricular activities to make ends meet while politicians hash out the details, said Bob Popinski, the director of policy for education advocacy group Raise Your Hand Texas. Theyve kind of hit the pause button because they dont know how much and when this funding is going to actually get to the district, he said. The allocations could range from hundreds of thousands of dollars in small districts to hundreds of millions in larger ones. Not a single dollar During the first round of stimulus funding last year, Congress allocated $1.3 billion in public education funding to Texas. At the time, Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and then-House Speaker Dennis Bonnen decided to move it into the states general fund. We want to make sure that doesnt happen this time, Rodriguez said. House members separately approved another amendment Thursday that would call for a special session of the Legislature before any federal stimulus funds can be appropriated. Neither amendment is binding and both would require an OK from the Senate before making it into the final version of the state budget but their approval sends a statement to Texas top leaders who have so far managed pandemic finances without approval of the Legislature. The latest funds include $5.5 billion for K-12 education that became available in January through the second federal stimulus package. The third round of funding earmarked $12.4 billion in education funds for Texas, about two-thirds of which is currently available to the state. Though most school funding comes from local property taxes, Texas last biennial budget set aside $11.6 billion for public education. Its not totally clear when Texas must decide whether to accept the money. If the state takes the funds and does not meet the federal requirements, the Education Department could try to recover that money or withhold future funding. Spokespeople for the Texas Education Agency and the governors office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday, but the TEA has told other outlets that it would review federal guidance on the subject and support elected officials in their decision-making process. Dozens of other states have already tapped into their federal funds, making Texas an outlier in its refusal to immediately accept the money. All 13 Democratic members of Texas congressional delegation sent a letter to the Education Department this week to condemn the states delay, asking federal officials to strictly enforce the provisions requiring the state to maintain its previous funding commitments. These funds were intended to help schools address learning loss, meet mental health challenges with the increase of youth suicide, provide tutoring and remedial assistance, close the digital divide, improve ventilation and a host of other locally determined needs, the members wrote. But due to bad faith denial and delay of these funds by Gov. Abbott, not a single dollar of the already-approved funds have reached Texas schools. cayla.harris@express-news.net Although the Asian powerhouse has recently seen a decline in population growth, food security remains a key issue. Andy Coyne looks at what lies behind Chinas attempts to tackle food waste through its Clean Plate strategy. Eyebrows may have been raised last year when, in the teeth of the Covid-19 outbreak, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a green recovery of the world economy. After all, China is usually close to the top of the table of the worlds biggest polluters, especially when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. However, while there may have been a road to Damascus moment for President Xi and his government, there are also more pressing reasons of a non-altruistic manner for why Beijing is embracing sustainability. And in the area of food, those reasons are intrinsically linked to security. With a population of 1.4 billion, some 22% of the world's population, China is acutely aware it needs to fight on a number of fronts to keep everyone fed. One of those fronts is the Clean Plate campaign, which was announced last August. The initiative is an attempt to cut down on food waste, after Xi called the amount wasted in the country "shocking and distressing". And, while this is a campaign largely targeted at consumers and the foodservice market, there are implications for the wider food industry. Thematic Reports Are you worried about the pace of innovation in your industry? GlobalData's TMT Themes 2021 Report tells you everything you need to know about disruptive tech themes and which companies are best placed to help you digitally transform your business. Find out more A huge issue for China and its food supply is climate change. Mass flooding across the south of the country last year wreaked havoc with rice and grain harvests. Urbanisation is another big issue as more and more people move into cities and use foodservice outlets. The culture of over-ordering food to impress guests is another key concern for China's government. And the on-going trade war with the US is having an impact on a country that imports an estimated $75bn of food a year. But, even after announcing the Clean Plate initiative, what the Chinese government has not yet done is issue a series of rules and regulations relating to food waste. Instead, it is relying on foodservice operators and consumers to do the right thing. To a degree, there are signs it seems to be working. The Wuhan Catering Industry Association, for example, has urged restaurants in the city to limit the number of dishes served to diners implementing a previous system known as N-1 where groups must order one dish less than the number of diners. Overall, the strategy would seem to be a recognition on the part of the Chinese government that, while it would like to tackle food security, tackling food waste may be an easier win. Michelle Huang, a consumer foods analyst for Netherlands-based financial-services group Rabobank in Shanghai, says: "More and more people have moved into the cities in China. There is less space for families, people in cities are likely to have more hectic lives and this leads to more and more consumers looking for convenience and food delivery. "China's food delivery businesses are booming but we have also seen a rise in terms of food waste. At the same time, we have got climate change and weather events that are affecting agriculture production. The last rice harvest was damaged by flooding. This puts food waste into a more urgent agenda and there is a need to take action." Tao Zhang, co-founder of investment fund Dao Foods International, which backs meat-alternative businesses in China, also understands the need for action but has some concerns about whether the Clean Plate campaign is short-term thinking. "This [the Clean Plate campaign] is about China's food security concerns. It should be adopted as it helps but it's not necessarily a long-term solution to the issue," he says. "Food waste should be approached in a more holistic way. Short-term factors are the pandemic and the impact it has on the global supply chain and the flooding last year which wiped out the harvest and added to increased food prices. Also the US-China trade war." Zhang suggests climate change and China's lack of self-sufficiency when it comes to food production are central to concerns over the country's food security. "It's hard to feed 22% of the world's population when you are not necessarily self-reliant," he says. "China is still importing a lot of food more than $75bn so the trade war with the US is not helping." With regard to Clean Plate, both Huang and Zhang suggest the self-policing inherent in the campaign involves a huge cultural shift. "Chinese people have a culture of over-ordering to boost their economic status," Huang says. "Restaurants could offer smaller portions. Or you could have different pricing strategies that might charge customers a premium if they can't finish all the food they have ordered at buffet restaurants. "I think at the consumer end, it is a sort of education. When people are having big gatherings they will have to order less than before and will take the surplus home as a takeaway." Zhang adds: "If your guest's plate is empty at the end of a meal you are not doing a good job. China's government is aware of this cultural problem and is trying to address it. But foodservice providers are business people so they want people to order as many dishes as possible." For Zhang, the wider issue is to do with food security challenges at the macro level. "China is pretty much self-sufficient in grain producing more than 90% of rice, corn, and grains but more than 80% of soybeans are imported," he says. "China should focus on the protein challenge. It needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. China's new middle class is used to having good protein products." The danger here was brought home last year when pork prices rose 135% in one month due to the African swine fever crisis that has hit China's pork industry. Zhang believes that, while Beijing has so far relied on the goodwill of foodservice operators and consumers to an extent, tougher measures could be introduced further down the line. "They are trying to make it more of a moral campaign but at some point, it may have to be baked into rules and regulations to make people accountable," he says. A close eye on supply While the main focus of the campaign is on foodservice outlets and consumer habits, the Chinese government also has an eye on food waste in the supply chain between manufacturers and grocery outlets, especially in the area of shorter shelf-life fresh produce. "There is also a lot of food waste linked to food production and logistics," says Zhang. "Chinese people like to buy food fresh: vegetables, meat, and other food items. If veg is not sold within one or two days, the supermarket won't be selling it." "This is a technology issue. Those involved in production and transportation need to solve the issue. It is an area where the government can step in and subsidise R&D efforts in areas such as cold-chain technology and better storage technology. This would help to ensure that waste in production, processes, and transportation is kept to a minimum." One company already working on this issue is US fruit and vegetable major Dole Food Co. Some 90% of Dole's business in China revolves around fresh produce such as bananas, pineapples, and avocados, which it either imports into the country or sources from local providers, in the case of produce such as peaches and corn. Welcoming the Chinese government's move, Singapore-based Christian Wiegele, who is division president of Dole's Asia Fresh business, says the company is looking at initiatives focusing on extending shelf-life, cold-chain technology and 'ugly' fruit. "We are looking at opportunities to extend the shelf-life of the fresh produce," he says. "We have launched a fund to look for partners to come up with ideas around shelf-life extension. "Moving bananas from the Philippines to China might mean a shelf-life of a maximum of 30 days. It would be significant if we could extend that." With China and Dole itself trying to avoid plastic packaging, a popular idea at present appears to be putting a natural protective coating on the fruit. "We are also investing in cold-chain technology, especially around tier-three cities and more rural areas," Wiegele adds. "We are working with logistics partners in this area. Bananas, for example, need to be in a cold chain a maximum of three hours after they have been harvested until they reach the retailer, without disruption. We need to improve in this area through data and hard assets. "And, with 'ugly' fruit, there is a perception that food has to look perfect. If not, people don't buy it or discard it and it becomes waste. As an industry, we have to educate consumers that fruit that is not perfect on the outside is perfect on the inside." Wiegele is sure the industry will be asked by the Chinese government to do more, whether that is in the form of regulations or not. "We are set up from a mindset perspective," he says. "But will we have all the assets in place? This is a long journey and we are just at the beginning of it. But we embrace it [the Clean Plate campaign]. As a responsible supplier, we have a role to play here and we are working on reducing food waste in the supply chain." This article was initially published in the April 2021 issue of just-food's digital magazine. (JTA) The videos circulating out of Jerusalem of beatings, stone throwing and racist chants are shocking. Reporters say its some of the worst fighting the contested city has seen in years. But the tensions that fueled the violence in the Old City on Thursday night are anything but new. Hundreds of Jewish extremists marched down Jerusalem streets chanting Death to Arabs and singing Burn their village. The demonstration followed days of unrest in eastern Jerusalem in which Palestinian residents clashed with police over restrictions imposed during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In recent weeks, Palestinians have posted videos to TikTok showing them harassing visibly Orthodox Jews on the street, seemingly unprovoked. ADVERTISEMENT Videos shared on social media showed Jews attacking an Arab home in Jerusalem as children cried, as well as scuffling with police. Another video showed Palestinians beating a Jewish man, who was taken to the hospital. The Israeli media reported that more than 100 people in all were injured in the melee. Heres what you need to know about the unrest now taking place. Thursdays violence was unusually bad, even for Jerusalem. Jerusalem is no stranger to interethnic tensions, but the footage that emerged was among the worst in recent memory, according to reporters on the scene. It followed more than a week in which Palestinian residents of eastern Jerusalem protested barriers that had been erected around the Damascus Gate preventing crowds of Palestinians from partaking in an annual Ramadan tradition sitting at the steps of the gate at night. The TikTok videos have also made the rounds on social media this week showing Palestinians knocking the hats off the heads of haredi Orthodox Jews, hitting them or throwing stones at them. In response, bands of Jewish extremists have roamed the streets of Jerusalem looking for Palestinians to assault. It all came to a head on Thursday night when a crowd of hundreds of far-right Jews marched together on the Old City. They were organized by Lehava, an extremist group that seeks to prevent intermarriage or coexistence between Jews and Arabs. Its leader is Bentzi Gopstein, a disciple of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, a Jewish extremist who opposed the presence of Arabs in Israel. As the Lehava march neared the Old City, hundreds of Palestinian counterprotesters gathered chanting With spirit and blood well redeem you, O Aqsa!, according to The Times of Israel. Police attempted to separate the two crowds, who shouted insults at each other. Eventually, well after midnight, police dispersed the crowds using tear gas, water hoses and stun grenades. But violent protest is far from rare in the Old City. Thursdays unrest, if shocking, was anything but unique in Jerusalem, and particularly in its Old City. Home to Jewish and Muslim holy sites, and at the center of one of the most bitterly contested cities on Earth, the Old City has seen conflict of one kind or another throughout history. In recent years, the fighting has centered on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, which is revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. In an arrangement more than a half-century old, the site is under Israeli control but governed in practice by a Jordanian-affiliated Muslim body. Jews may visit during limited hours and their rights are otherwise restricted there. A group of Jewish activists has pushed for expanded rights at the site. Palestinians have protested, sometimes violently, in response. This has sparked no shortage of clashes, from bombings, attacks and shootings, to protests, to diplomatic tensions between Israel and Jordan. In 2015, anger over restrictions at the Temple Mount set off a wave of Palestinian attacks across Jerusalem. Jewish Israelis and Palestinians have also been fighting over the future of the Old City as a whole, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel claims the Old City as part of its undivided capital, while the Palestinians see it as the heart of their own capital in a future state. Most of the international community views the eastern part of Jerusalem, including the Old City, as illegally occupied by Israel. On Jerusalem Day nearly every year, right-wing Jews march through the Old City, some chanting Death to Arabs, the slogan heard on Thursday. For years, right-wing Jewish families have been buying property in the Old Citys Muslim Quarter, as well as in the adjacent neighborhood of Silwan, saying that they are seeking to live in an area rich with Jewish historical and religious significance. The Palestinians complain that Israeli courts have used unjust means to evict Palestinian families that have lived in the area for generations, transforming an Arab neighborhood into a Jewish one. The uncertainty seems bound to continue. While this weeks violence did not flare up again on Friday, renewed unrest would not be surprising. Palestinians often clash with Israeli police during Ramadan, which ends on May 12. Israels political quagmire could also feed the unrest. The future leadership of the country remains in limbo as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to assemble a new governing coalition following last months election. Meanwhile, for the first time in years, another follower of Kahane, Itamar Ben-Gvir, holds a seat in Israels parliament, the Knesset. Its also unclear whether Palestinian elections, scheduled for next month, will actually take place. Meanwhile, the ideological disputes behind the violence remain, leaving Jerusalem again primed for conflict. A man who jumped into the River Thames to rescue a woman who fell from London Bridge has died. The man dived into the water after seeing the woman fall at around midnight last night. She was rescued by the Coastguard along with another man who had jumped in to help her. But the hero's body was not found at until 6am this morning after helicopter searches last night could not locate him. Police boats were sent to the river for the search but they were unable to find him in the dark. It comes as the search for another person who fell in the Thames this week a 13-year-old schoolboy continues. A man who jumped into the River thames to rescue a woman who fell from London Bridge has died. Pictured: London Bridge A City of London Police spokesperson said: 'We were called at 12.12am on Saturday April 24 to reports of a woman in the River Thames close to London Bridge. 'Two men, who had witnessed the woman fall from the bridge, entered the river to try and save her. 'The Coastguard and Metropolitan Police Marine Units were able to rescue the woman and one of the men. 'Sadly, following an extensive search involving police helicopters, marine units, LFB, LAS and City Police officers, the missing man was not located. 'At 6am the same morning, a body was found believed to be that of the missing man. 'His next of kin have been made aware and are being supported by officers from the City of London Police.' Witnesses say there was at least one police boat on the Thames and around six police cars and an ambulance were sent to the scene. The tide was high and the water was rough and choppy at the time. Police have launched a search for a 13-year-old boy who went missing after falling into the River Thames from Tower Bridge on his way to school (emergency services at the scene) River police, firefighters, the RNLI (pictured) and a police helicopter were also involved in the search for the youngster It was the second incident of someone falling into the Thames this week, after a hero woman jumped into the River Thames to try and save a 13-year-old boy. She heard screams when he fell from Tower Bridge on his way to school on Tuesday, according to witnesses. The pupil was wearing his full uniform when he got off a bus as he made his way to The Ark Globe Academy in Southwark, London, at around 8am. He and a friend had boarded the bus together but the youngster got off near Tower Bridge ahead of his usual stop in Elephant and Castle before falling into the river, the school's principal said in a letter to parents. Emergency services (pictured on the River Thames) including the river police, firefighters, the RNLI and a police helicopter were all involved in the search Witnesses described hearing screams before one woman jumped into the water to try and save the boy. Despite using a life-float to swim into the Thames, she was only able to recover his school jacket and school bag. City of London Police confirmed officers have launched an 'intensive search' for the boy involving helicopter and marine searches but he has not yet been found. The boy is thought to have celebrated his 13th birthday only last week. It is believed that a handwritten note was found at the scene. Police confirmed officers have launched an 'intensive search' for the boy involving helicopter and marine searches but he has not yet been found (emergency services at the scene) The 13-year-old boy went missing after falling into the River Thames from Tower Bridge (police at the scene) as he was on his way to school, his headteacher said Officers have launched an 'intensive search' for the boy involving helicopter and marine searches but he has not yet been found (teams at the scene) A spokeswoman for City of London Police told MailOnline: 'City of London Police is leading an investigation into a missing person, working alongside our colleagues in the Metropolitan Police Service. 'We believe this is linked to an incident where a child fell into the Thames from Tower Bridge. 'Despite an intensive search by City of London Police, the police helicopter and marine units, this person has not yet been found. 'We ask anyone who witnessed anything on Tuesday 20 April at 8.09am, to call us on 020 7601 2999, quoting reference 21000215310.' More than 100 Palestinians were wounded in violent clashes with the police that broke out in East Jerusalem after a march by hundreds of far-right Jewish supremacists chanting, Death to Arabs! Death to Arabs! All the people want revenge! on Thursday night. The clashes followed days of mounting tensions in the city. A wounded Palestinian demonstrator receives treatment after he was hit at Damascus Gate just outside Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, April. 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) The police used water cannon and stun grenades on the Palestinians, many of them in family groups with young children dressed in their holiday clothes. They had gathered outside the Damascus Gate at the end of the days fast during Ramadan, which started on April 12. At least 20 Palestinians, injured by the security forces sponge-tipped bullets and stun grenades, had to be taken to hospital. One Israeli driver, slightly wounded in an attack by young Palestinians, and a police officer were also hospitalised. Dozens of Jews and Palestinians were arrested. The Damascus Gate, one of the entrances to the Old City, is the most important gathering place for East Jerusalems Palestinian community, with tens of thousands of people passing through or sitting there every evening. The plaza outside the Gate has witnessed multiple clashes between Palestinians and the police in the last days over barriers installed by the police to prevent people sitting there during the month of Ramadan. The authorities gave no valid reason for the barricades, precipitating largely peaceful demonstrations at the Gate and calls to Open the barriers that were aggressively dispersed by mounted police and torrents of foul-smelling skunk water, turning the plaza into a battlefield. Further fuelling tensions, the authorities disconnected the Al-Aqsa mosques loudspeakers so that the call to prayer would not disrupt Israels Memorial Day ceremony for fallen soldiers at the Western Wall and restricted the number of West Bank Palestinians attending Ramadan services at the compound to just 10,000, subject to vaccination, far fewer than the numbers wanting to attend. When young Palestinians posted videos of themselves assaulting Jews on social media, amid flare-ups in Jaffa where Palestinian Israelis beat up the head of a yeshiva (a religious seminary) leading to violent clashes with the police, right-wing Jewish extremists seized the opportunity to fan the flames and demand vengeance. On Sunday evening, legislators from the fascistic Religious Zionism party, accompanied by provocateurs singing songs of anti-Palestinian hatred and vengeance, demanded the police take tougher action to protect Jewish dignity. Shortly after, Mohammed Abu Ziyadeh, 17, was attacked at the light rail station on Jaffa Street. Then on Monday, assaults on Palestinians escalated as dozens of young Jewish racists went on a rampage through the city chanting Death to Arabs and attacking passersby with stones and tear gas. The police made a show of arresting six suspects, later releasing all of them, and allowed similar provocations to continue in the days that followed. Lehava (The Flame), the fascistic group that organised Thursdays march, called on its supporters to gather near the Damascus Gate on Thursday to protect Jewish honor and said in its Whatsapp group, We must break their faces, bury them alive. Haaretz reported that far-right, anti-Palestinian organisations used WhatsApp groups to call on protesters to carry guns and to show people how to avoid arrest. It cited a group chat organised by the far-right group, La Familia, that posted, Burning Arabs today, Molotov cocktails are already in the trunk the way I see it, an Arab dies today. On Thursday night, these forces, made up of youth, the ultra-orthodox and settlers, ran amok, targeting Palestinians, leftists and journalists alike. They also vented their fury on the police, pelting them with rocks and bottles, cursing and swearing at them. Jerusalems mayor deployed hundreds of police to prevent them from reaching the Damascus Gate and fighting the Palestinians, but they used kid gloves in comparison with their treatment of the Palestinians, leading to few injuries. This takes place amid Netanyahus increasingly frantic efforts to cobble together a coalition government that would enable him to evade trial on charges of corruption. One of the two potential kingmakers is the United Arab List, one of the four parties that formerly made up the Arab Joint List, which Netanyahu made great efforts to divide. However, the fascistic Religious Zionism alliance, led by Bezalel Smotrich, which has six seats in the Knesset, has refused to join a coalition reliant on Arab legislators, even if they remain outside government. Religious Zionism is part of Netanyahus far-right bloc that also includes the openly racist Jewish Powerthe political heir of Meir Kahanes Kach party that was banned as a terrorist organizationand the ultra-conservative religious and homophobic Noam. During the election campaign, Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben Gvir openly demanded the expulsion of Israels Palestinian citizens, who comprise more than 20 percent of the countrys population, deemed disloyal. Religious Zionism advocates the expulsion of the Palestinian population, violence against Arabs and the eradication of secularism and intermarriage. It was Netanyahu who brokered the merger of Smotrichs group with Jewish Power and Noam to form Religious Zionism to ensure they would pass the threshold for entry into the Knesset in last months general election, in essence making himself a hostage to the far right that has increasingly determined his political agenda since becoming prime minister 12 years ago. These layers are determined to annex vast swaths of the West Bank, an electoral pledge Netanyahu reneged on in favour of the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan and the de facto backing of Saudi Arabia. Should Netanyahu be able to form a government, Ben-Gvir, Religious Zionisms number three, may be given a ministerial position, alongside the alliances leader, Bezalel Smotrich, or a seat on the Judicial Appointments Committee, either of which would enable him to keep his fellow fascists out of jail. A lawyer, Ben Gvir is best known for defending Zionist settlers accused of terror attacks and hate crimes against Palestinians and for representing Lehava, an organization that fights Jewish intermarriage with non-Jews. Lehavas leader Bentzi Gopstein, another former Kach activist, is one of Ben Gvirs closest allies. The growth of the far-right movement is bound up with Israels expansionist policy following its seizure of the West Bank, East Jerusalem (which it annexed), Gaza and Syrias Golan Heights during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The cost of this policy continues to be borne directly by the Palestinian masses and indirectly by the Israeli working class, in the form of social cuts and tax hikes carried out to fund a militarised and increasingly antidemocratic state. A necessary concomitant of the Greater Israel policy, which established settlements in its newly conquered territories in defiance of international law, was the advocacy of communalist and ethno-religious politics, including ethnic cleansing that has involved countless attacks on Palestinians, Israels own Arab citizens and migrant workers. As the gap between rich and poor has grown, due in large part to the economic policies pursued by successive Israeli governments of all political hues, the state has increasingly relied on right-wing settlers and extreme nationalist zealots, who provide the basis for the emergence of fascistic tendencies within Israel. Netanyahu for his part has encouraged extreme nationalism as a mechanism to divert growing anger over declining living standards and social inequality along reactionary lines. Despite the problems in the political development of the Israeli working class, there remains widespread opposition to the ruling elites agenda. There is, however, no political vehicle and programme to give expression to this opposition. It is impossible to find a way out of this impasse without a break from the nationalist and communalist agenda of Zionism. The only progressive way forward lies in the independent mobilization and unification of Arab, Jewish and Iranian workers in a common struggle for a Socialist Federation of the Middle East as part of the fight to put an end to capitalism all over the world. It is to develop such a unified movement that the World Socialist Web Site and International Committee of the Fourth International are holding an online May Day rally on Saturday, May 1One year of the coronavirus: From global pandemic to global class struggle. We urge workers and youth in Israel, Palestine and throughout the Middle East to attend the rally. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 21:09:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUANDA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- At least 80 percent of tourism and travel agencies from the total of 468 agencies in Angola are paralyzed due to the measures imposed to contain the COVID-19, the country's Secretary of State for Tourism, Helder Marcelino, said on Saturday. Marcelino, who visited some of these agencies, said the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Environment is concerned with the problems that afflict the sector, mainly the equipment supply industry, and that in articulation with other sectors it will seek to mitigate issues such as the high tourist packages practiced in the country. Isabel Apolinario, commercial director of one travel agency, said the sector is being sacrificed for not having products for sale, taking into account the pandemic and particularly the remaining sanitary cordon imposed in Luanda. The ministry has said it will articulate with other sectors that contribute to the improvement of the sector to find ways to enable tourism agencies to continue to provide services and safeguard jobs. Enditem Brayan Flores, accused in the killing of a Worcester man who found beaten and burned in 2017, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, according to news reports. Flores was indicted for murder in 2018 in connection with the death of David Carlson, a 53-year-old who was discovered dead at 12 Halmstad St. on July 25, 2017, after firefighters put out a small fire. Before his indictment, Flores had been charged with assault and battery with serious bodily injury. The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports that Flores pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 10-12 years in prison on Thursday. The decision to amend the charge was because of the death of the only available witness of the crime and because scientific evidence supporting the case was limited, despite DNA testing, the office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. told the Telegram. An autopsy determined that Carlsons death was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head and neck area. Carlson was found with extensive head and face injuries and was badly burned on the lower part of his body, according to court documents. Prosecutors previously said that Flores struck Carlson with a large wooden dowel. The dowel was found near Carlsons body, court documents indicated. Surveillance video showed Flores leaving Carlsons residence just prior to the fire erupting. Flores also admitted to authorities that he was drinking with Carlson before the fire, according to court documents. Police had previously responded to domestic incidents between Flores and Carlson. Related Content: Close A huge galactic structure identified as a giant star was created from one or more enormous eruptions approximately 10,000 years ago. How huge is it? Phys.org reported that a growing shell of gas and dust surrounding the star is approximately five light-years wide, equaling the distance from here to the closest star outside the Sun, Proxima Centauri. The outer layers of the giant star were blown into space akin to a boiling teapot that pops off its lid. The expelled material amounts to approximately 10 times the mass of the Sun. These outbursts, the report said, are a rare breed of star's usual life also known as a luminous blue variable, a brief convulsive phase in a short life of what's described as an ultra-bright, glamorous star that "lives fast and dies young." Such stars are among the brightest and massive stars known today. They live for just a few million years, compared to the approximately 10-billion-year lifetime of the Sun. ALSO READ: South Africa's MeerKAT Telescope Discovered Two Giant Radio Galaxies AG Carinae, a Luminous Blue Variable Star AG Carinae, specifically, is a few million years old and residing in 20,000 light-ears away inside the Milky Way galaxy. This same report specified luminous blue variables reveal a dual personality. They appear to spend several years in 'quiescent bliss,' and then, erupt in a petulant explosion. These behemoths described as "stars in the extreme," extremely different from normal stars like the Earth's Sun. In fact, AG Carinae is approximated to be up to 70 times more massive compared to the Sun and it's shining with the blinding brilliance of a million suns. According to luminous blue variable expert Kerstin Weis from the Ruhr University in Bochum, Gemany, he likes studying those kinds of stars as he is fascinated by their instability. Major outbursts like the one that generated the nebula take place once or twice during lifetime of the luminous blue variable. Essentially, a luminous blue variable star is only casting off materials when it is in danger of self-destruction as a supernova. Due to their massive forms and extremely hot temperatures, luminous blue variable stars like AG Carinae are in a constant fight to retain their stability. Captured via Hubble The sharp vision of NASA's space telescope Hubble reveals the giant star's delicate-looking structure in great detail. The image was taken in noticeable ultraviolet light. Such light provides a somewhat clearer view of the filamentary dust structures, extending all the way down to the star. Hubble is perfectly suited for ultraviolet-light observations as wavelength range can only be watched and observed from space. Moreover, massive stars like AG Carinae, as described in NASA's HUBBLESITE, are essential to astronomers as they have far-reaching impacts on their environment. It should be noted that the largest program in the history of Hubble, the Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards, is currently examining the young stars' ultraviolet light as well as the manner they are shaping up their surroundings. Meanwhile luminous blue variable stars are unusual and rare that below 50 are known among the galaxies in the local group of galaxies nearby. Such stars are spending tens of thousands of years in this phase. And, according to astronomy, a lot are expected to end their lives in massive supernova explosions, which are enriching the universe with weightier elements beyond iron. A similar report is shown on Hubble Space Telescope's YouTube video below: RELATED ARTICLE: Mysterious Glow From Center of Milky Way Galaxy: Is It Dark Matter? Check out more news and information about Astronomy and Space on Science Times. BALI: The United States is deploying a P-8 Poseidon aircraft to assist in the search and rescue operation for a missing Indonesian navy submarine lost in the Bali Sea, as hopes fade for the 53 crew which are expected to have run out of oxygen early on Saturday. The Indonesian navy said it was sending search helicopters and ships to the area where contact was lost with the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 submarine on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill. Australia has also deployed a sonar-equipped frigate with a helicopter to help the submarine hunt, while navy officials said vessels are on route from India and Singapore, as concerns grow that the submarine might have been crushed by water pressure. "The possibility of it having fallen underneath its maximum diving depth thereby leading to the implosion of the submarine will have to be considered," said Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. If the submarine was still intact, Indonesian officials said on Friday it would only have enough air to last until around dawn on Saturday if equipment was functioning properly. "So far we haven`t found it...but with the equipment available we should be able to find the location," Achmad Riad, a spokesman for the Indonesian military, told a news conference. Koh said the assumption that the submarine had 72 hours of oxygen was optimistic given the submarine`s limited ability to generate oxygen due to its conventional power generation. "So there`s a possibility...oxygen might have already run out," said Koh. Indonesia`s navy said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600-700 metres (1,968-2,296 feet), well beyond its survivable limits. Indonesian navy retired rear admiral Frans Wuwung, who had previously headed the submarine`s machinery room, told Indonesian news channel MetroTV that he believed a blackout was likely and could have caused the crew to panic. "A blackout means the vessel`s equipment cannot be moved," he said. An object with "high magnetic force" had been spotted "floating" at a depth of 50-100 metres, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said, and an aerial search had earlier spotted an oil spill near the submarine`s last location. The diesel-electric powered submarine could withstand a depth of up to 500 metres but anything more could be fatal, navy spokesman Julius Widjojono said. Experts like Koh say Indonesia will have to expand the area of search again if the magnetic anomaly is proven not to be the vessel and warn that if the submarine is lost at an "extreme depth", it might not be possible to retrieve. The Bali Sea can reach depths of more than 1,500 metres. One of the people on board was the commander of the Indonesian submarine fleet, Harry Setiawan. Late on Friday, the Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto and offered additional support, which could include undersea search assets. Lockheed Martin Canada awarded MBDA, a missile systems developer, a contract to integrate the Sea Ceptor weapon system on the new Canadian surface combatant (CSC).A ship-based air defense weapon system, Sea Ceptor is designed to provide a high level of protection against various types of threats. Its mission is to counteract and defeat several air targets at the same time. What makes it so powerful is the next-generation Soft Vertical Launch (SVL) technology, that provides full 360 degrees coverage. This gives the Sea Ceptor a close range performance of over 15,5 miles (25 km), unusual for this type of missile system.This supersonic-speed weapon weighs around 218 lbs. (99 kg), is 10 ft. (3.2 m) long and has a diameter of 6.5 inches (17 cm) diameter. And, if youre wondering what exactly is it capable of, know that the Sea Ceptor can protect not only the ship it is on, but also any important assets in the surrounding area.It has been tested for both current and future threats and, according to the manufacturer, its fully capable of neutralizing combat aircraft , as well as the latest supersonic anti-ship missiles.MBDA also built this missile system as an adaptable weapon. Thanks to its compact launch system and low weight, based on soft-launch weapon technology, it fits easily into different types of locations and its easier to install. Plus, it doesnt need dedicated fire control radars, because it can be adapted to the ships own radar sensors.This new air defense weapon system is integrated in Lockheed Martin Canadas Combat Management System 330 (CMS 330) and will operate from Mk41 launchers.Sea Ceptor delivers next generation technology that will help protect the men and women of the Royal Canadian Navy as they carry out their missions around the world on-board the advanced new CSC frigates. said Eric Beranger, CEO of MBDA. Utica, N.Y. - It took $25 million and a lot longer than expected to build due to COVID, but the official unveiling of the John S. Dyson New York Empire Zone took place Friday morning in Utica during Earth Week. The plan is to have the fully free facility open for tours beginning in just a couple of weeks on Monday, May 10th. Right now the plans are not yet in place to book a tour, but the New York Power Authority says those details should be released soon. Current New York Power Authority Chairman and CEO Gil Quiniones led the unveiling ceremony along with Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente who is also a New York Power Authority Trustee. Quiniones says this facility is aptly named after John S. Dyson, who led the Power Authority from 1979 to 1985, "The location of the Energy Zone in Utica is also appropriate. As the Power Authority's Chairman and CEO, John oversaw the establishment of what is now our Clark Energy Center, our control center in nearby Marcy making this area the hub of a statewide power system that supplies up to 25% of New Yorks electricity." Dyson also spoke at length at Friday's ceremony, almost choking up at the end of his speech about the honor bestowed upon him here in Utica, "Youve touched my heart with this honor. I thank you deeply, Im trying to keep emotions in check." Quiniones says there will be a lot for kids and adults to do hands-on inside this grand facility that sits high above the Mohawk Valley right next to the Utica Zoo, "Test your skills as a drone pilot in a video game where you fly over transmission towers, you can build your own micro grid on a light up table top display, tinker in an electricity lab like Thomas Edison, or manage the grid yourself in a simulated control room." There is also a full STEM lab in the lower level of the facility. Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente says this facility is definitely a great asset to the City of Utica, Oneida County and New York State, "Its really an exciting experience to learn about electricity, but its also going to be a STEM hub for our schools and our children thats a perfect fit with the Zoo. You wouldnt think it would be, but the combination, we know how many young people and children come here, they can also learn about electricity, learn about the future, where it all started, learn about how the power grid works and what the future holds for it and whats really done." Senator Joe Griffo of Rome says this is a new gem in our region, especially for young kids, "They will be entertained, educated and engaged and hopefully become motivated and inspired to get involved and become the leaders of the future that we will need." Quiniones echoed that sentiment, "Behind every turn there is a new discovery, hands-on experience that we hope will inspire our next generations of engineers, climate scientists, energy innovators and John Dysons." The New York Power Authority now has a total of four energy-related visitor centers across the state. The Niagara Power Vista near Niagara Falls, the Hawkins Point Visitors Center near the St. Lawrence River, the Blenheim-Gilboa Visitors Center near the Hudson River, and now this latest center in the John S. Dyson New York Energy If Ashli Babbitt were a liberal activist protesting abortion, wed know who shot her: police assoc. spokeswoman The American public deserves to know more about Babbitts death Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment If Ashli Babbitt had been a liberal activist protesting abortion, the American public might know the name of the officer who shot her, and he might be facing criminal charges for killing an unarmed woman, according to Sgt. Betsy Smith, spokeswoman for the National Police Association. Smith expressed concern about the lack of public information about the killing of 35-year-old Babbit, a U.S. Air Force veteran, who, while she was unarmed and surrounded by armed Capitol police standing nearby, attempted to climb through a smashed door pane into the House chamber during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. She was shot in the neck by a plainclothes officer from inside the chamber. Babbitt was the lone person killed that day by lethal force. The American public, Smith said, deserves to know the details about the circumstances of her death. Appearing on NTD Televisions The Nation Speaks last Saturday, Smith primarily discussed the officer-involved shooting of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 11 and the unrest and violent riots that have broken out in response to Wrights death and that of George Floyd last May. Toward the end of the conversation, Smith was asked to address the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, who was among a few hundred Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol as Congress was certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Three others who died at the Capitol that day include a woman who sustained injuries after being trampled on by the crowd, an individual who suffered a heart attack, and another individual who had a stroke. While the corporate media had claimed for months that Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick had died as a result of injuries he suffered when responding to the riot, specifically alleging that he was hit in the head by a fire extinguisher which was also cited by Democrats at former President Trump's second impeachment reports now say medical examiners "did not find signs that the officer sustained any blunt force trauma." Since Sicknick responded to the riot where he was sprayed by an irritant, possibly bear spray, it's speculated that that might've contributed to his death, along with any preexisting condition. More than three months after the Capitol riot, the Capitol police officer who shot Babbitt has yet to be identified. Its been announced that they will not be laying any charges against that officer. Whats your take on that? NTD host Cindy Drukier asked Smith. I think what we have to look at is the continued politicization of law enforcement in this country, Smith responded. Describing Babbitt as an unabashed conservative who did a wrong thing by being part of that group that broke into the Capitol, Smith said her death was unjustified and condemned the secrecy surrounding the identity of the Capitol police officer who killed her. She was not armed and to my knowledge, no one there was armed. You also see another video, taken by a citizen journalist, where you see police officers, some of them in riot gear, that are ... behind Ashli Babbitt and some of them are walking down the stairs, theyre kind of getting out of the way and that is very confusing to me as a police officer as to what was happening there, she said. So now weve got this double standard and I find that very dangerous, Smith asserted. I think that if the Justice Department has said that that officer should not be charged, then thats fine. But I think that the American public deserves to know the details of why deadly force was deployed, because there are very strict rules when we use deadly force. And I think we also deserve to know that officers name. There was really no reason to know the name of the officer that shot Daunte Wright, but yet, it was released, Smith added, noting that Kim Potter, the officer who shot Wright, has had to flee her home for her own safety. Smith mentioned that Potters home is now surrounded by barricades and police officers just to try and keep the activists from burning down her home and burning down her neighborhood. Thats one of the most remarkable things about this, how they have not released the officers name and it seems like, in every single one of these cases, its instantly released, Drukier noted. Smith acknowledged that it makes sense for the officer to have reservations about people finding out his name, stressing that other officers in similar situations who've had their names released, like Potter, probably felt the same way. Smith lamented the complete lack of curiosity by the legacy media that does not seem to really care why Ashli Babbitt was killed, they dont seem to care. Theyre so concerned about police tactics and why we do what we do until it comes to Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed woman shot and killed by law enforcement. I think the American public deserves to know and we need to have that discussion. NTD Television is an affiliate of The Epoch Times, which reported that Smith implied that had Babbitt been a liberal activist protesting abortion or perhaps protesting Brett Kavanaughs confirmation at the Supreme Court, we might be dealing with a very different issue, and that is not how the American justice system operates. Expanding on her allegations of a double standard, Smith contended that the DOJs failure to prosecute the officer who shot Babbitt says that if you are protecting our wealthy politicians at the United States Capitol, you have different rules of engagement than you do if youre trying to protect a small town or an urban area. She characterized that idea as very dangerous. Following the attack on Geidam town by Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents, Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni has sought for special military inter... Following the attack on Geidam town by Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents, Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni has sought for special military intervention to safeguard the commercial town as well as other communities bordering Borno State to the north. Governor Buni in a statement through his Director General Press and Media Affairs Mamman Mohammed, commiserated with the people of Geidam over the sad incident of Boko Haram attack on the town. He said efforts were being intensified to curb the incessant attacks. The governor had since yesterday been liaising with security authorities to find a lasting solution to the resurgence of attacks on the community. Buni assured to work closely and to support the security agencies to find a new approach to safeguarding the lives and property of the citizenry. His Excellency has urged people of the state to use the holy month of Ramadan to continue to pray for Allahs mercy for the state and country to have a lasting peace, the added. Meanwhile, the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency SEMA has been directed to provide the people with relief materials. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 30 giorni fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Reports on Saudi Arabia Provides the Trending Market Research Report on Beauty and Personal Care in Kuwait under Personal Care category. The Beauty and Personal Care in Kuwait is projected to exhibit highest growth rate over report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence and industry reports. This report analyses the market for beauty and personal care in Kuwait. For the purposes of the study, the market has been defined as follows: Beauty and Personal Care in Kuwait report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data 2015-2019, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. Forecasts to 2024 illustrate how the market is set to change. Product coverage: Baby and Child-specific Products, Bath and Shower, Colour Cosmetics, Deodorants, Depilatories, Dermocosmetics Beauty and Personal Care, Fragrances, Hair Care, Mass Beauty and Personal Care, Men's Grooming, Oral Care, Oral Care Excl Power Toothbrushes, Premium Beauty and Personal Care, Prestige Beauty and Personal Care, Skin Care, Sun Care. Request a free sample copy of Kuwait Beauty and Personal Care Market Report @ http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com/marketreports/sample/reports/2169523 Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data. Why buy this report? * Get a detailed picture of the Beauty and Personal Care market; * Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change; * Understand the competitive environment, the markets major players and leading brands; * Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop. Table Of Contents Beauty and Personal Care in Kuwait EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Market Insight: COVID-19 Impact Country Insight: COVID-19 Impact Country Insight: Pre-COVID-19 Socioeconomic Trends Logistics/Infrastructure CHART 1 Beauty and Personal Care: Hypermarket CHART 2 Beauty and Personal Care: Beauty Specialist Retailer MARKET DATA Table 1 Sales of Beauty and Personal Care by Category: Value 2014-2019 Table 2 Sales of Beauty and Personal Care by Category: % Value Growth 2014-2019 Table 3 GBO Company Shares of Beauty and Personal Care: % Value 2015-2019 Table 4 NBO Company Shares of Beauty and Personal Care: % Value 2015-2019 Table 5 LBN Brand Shares of Beauty and Personal Care: % Value 2016-2019 Table 6 NBO Company Shares of Premium Beauty and Personal Care: % Value 2015-2019 Table 7 LBN Brand Shares of Premium Beauty and Personal Care: % Value 2016-2019 Table 8 Distribution of Beauty and Personal Care by Format: % Value 2014-2019 Table 9 Distribution of Beauty and Personal Care by Format and Category: % Value 2019 Table 10 Forecast Sales of Beauty and Personal Care by Category: Value 2019-2024 Table 11 Forecast Sales of Beauty and Personal Care by Category: % Value Growth 2019-2024 GLOBAL MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT GLOBAL INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT DISCLAIMER BABY AND CHILD-SPECIFIC PRODUCTS Pre-COVID-19 Performance 2020 and Beyond CHART 3 Baby and Child-Specific Products: Supermarket CHART 4 Baby and Child-Specific Products: Supermarket Category Data Table 12 Sales of Baby and Child-specific Products by Category: Value 2014-2019 Table 13 Sales of Baby and Child-specific Products by Category: % Value Growth 2014-2019 Table 14 NBO Company Shares of Baby and Child-specific Products: % Value 2015-2019 Table 15 LBN Brand Shares of Baby and Child-specific Products: % Value 2016-2019 Table 16 Forecast Sales of Baby and Child-specific Products by Category: Value 2019-2024 Table 17 Forecast Sales of Baby and Child-specific Products by Category: % Value Growth 2019-2024 BATH AND SHOWER Pre-COVID-19 Performance 2020 and Beyond CHART 5 Bath and Shower: Hypermarket CHART 6 Bath and Shower: Supermarket Category Data Table 18 Sales of Bath and Shower by Category: Value 2014-2019 Table 19 Sales of Bath and Shower by Category: % Value Growth 2014-2019 Table 20 NBO Company Shares of Bath and Shower: % Value 2015-2019 Table 21 LBN Brand Shares of Bath and Shower: % Value 2016-2019 Table 22 Forecast Sales of Bath and Shower by Category: Value 2019-2024 Table 23 Forecast Sales of Bath and Shower by Category: % Value Growth 2019-2024 DEODORANTS Pre-COVID-19 Performance 2020 and Beyond CHART 7 Deodorants: Hypermarket CHART 8 Deodorants: Supermarket Category Data Table 24 Sales of Deodorants by Category: Value 2014-2019 Table 25 Sales of Deodorants by Category: % Value Growth 2014-2019 Table 26 NBO Company Shares of Deodorants: % Value 2015-2019 Table 27 LBN Brand Shares of Deodorants: % Value 2016-2019 Table 28 Forecast Sales of Deodorants by Category: Value 2019-2024 Table 29 Forecast Sales of Deodorants by Category: % Value Growth 2019-2024 HAIR CARE Pre-COVID-19 Performance 2020 and Beyond CHART 9 Hair Care: Hypermarket CHART 10 Hair Care: Supermarket Browse our full report with Table of Contents: http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com/marketreports/beauty-and-personal-care-in-kuwait/2169523 About Us Market Reports on Saudi Arabia provides you with an in-depth industry reports focusing on various economic, political and operational risk environment, complemented by detailed sector analysis. We have an exhaustive coverage on variety of industries ranging from energy and chemicals to transportation, communications, constructions and mining to Food and Beverage and education. Our collection includes over 3000 up-to-date reports all researched, analysed and published by top-notch international research firms. Contact us at: Market Reports On Saudi Arabia Tel: +91 22 27810772 / 27810773 Email: info@marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com Website: http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com Follow us on : Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, April 23, 2021. Paramedics walk back gurneys to the multi-patient transport at Kingston General Hospital after dropping off COVID-19 patients from the GTA area, in Kingston, Ont., on Thursday Apr. 22, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, April 23, 2021. There are 1,164,581 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Canada: 1,164,581 confirmed cases (86,355 active, 1,054,343 resolved, 23,883 deaths).*The total case count includes 13 confirmed cases among repatriated travellers. There were 8,739 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 227.22 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 58,516 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 8,359. There were 61 new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 342 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 49. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.13 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 62.84 per 100,000 people. There have been 30,559,306 tests completed. _ Newfoundland and Labrador: 1,053 confirmed cases (26 active, 1,021 resolved, six deaths). There was one new case Friday. The rate of active cases is 4.98 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been 14 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is two. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 1.15 per 100,000 people. There have been 237,528 tests completed. _ Prince Edward Island: 175 confirmed cases (11 active, 164 resolved, zero deaths). There were zero new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 6.89 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of eight new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people. There have been 137,533 tests completed. _ Nova Scotia: 1,938 confirmed cases (150 active, 1,721 resolved, 67 deaths). There were 44 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 15.32 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 146 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 21. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 6.84 per 100,000 people. There have been 481,429 tests completed. _ New Brunswick: 1,839 confirmed cases (149 active, 1,656 resolved, 34 deaths). There were 16 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 19.07 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 72 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 10. There were zero new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there has been one new reported death. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is zero. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.02 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 4.35 per 100,000 people. There have been 289,172 tests completed. _ Quebec: 342,688 confirmed cases (11,526 active, 320,302 resolved, 10,860 deaths). There were 1,043 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 134.42 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 8,617 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,231. There were 15 new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 75 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 11. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.12 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 126.65 per 100,000 people. There have been 7,996,713 tests completed. _ Ontario: 437,310 confirmed cases (41,735 active, 387,712 resolved, 7,863 deaths). There were 4,505 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 283.26 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 28,927 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 4,132. There were 34 new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 199 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is 28. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.19 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 53.37 per 100,000 people. There have been 13,571,615 tests completed. _ Manitoba: 37,069 confirmed cases (1,739 active, 34,366 resolved, 964 deaths). There were 181 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 126.08 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 1,260 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 180. There were two new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of nine new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is one. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.09 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 69.89 per 100,000 people. There have been 651,743 tests completed. _ Saskatchewan: 39,392 confirmed cases (2,463 active, 36,458 resolved, 471 deaths). There were 245 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 208.96 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 1,768 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 253. There was one new reported death Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of nine new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is one. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.11 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 39.96 per 100,000 people. There have been 740,538 tests completed. _ Alberta: 178,777 confirmed cases (19,446 active, 157,272 resolved, 2,059 deaths). There were 1,690 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 439.77 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 10,984 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 1,569. There were five new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 25 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is four. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.08 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 46.56 per 100,000 people. There have been 4,006,589 tests completed. _ British Columbia: 123,758 confirmed cases (9,065 active, 113,139 resolved, 1,554 deaths). There were 1,001 new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 176.1 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 6,678 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 954. There were four new reported deaths Friday. Over the past seven days there have been a total of 24 new reported deaths. The seven-day rolling average of new reported deaths is three. The seven-day rolling average of the death rate is 0.07 per 100,000 people. The overall death rate is 30.19 per 100,000 people. There have been 2,409,289 tests completed. _ Yukon: 80 confirmed cases (two active, 77 resolved, one death). There were two new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 4.76 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of four new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 2.38 per 100,000 people. There have been 8,848 tests completed. _ Northwest Territories: 48 confirmed cases (five active, 43 resolved, zero deaths). There were two new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 11.07 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of five new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is one. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is zero per 100,000 people. There have been 17,397 tests completed. _ Nunavut: 441 confirmed cases (37 active, 400 resolved, four deaths). There were nine new cases Friday. The rate of active cases is 94.02 per 100,000 people. Over the past seven days, there have been a total of 33 new cases. The seven-day rolling average of new cases is five. There have been no deaths reported over the past week. The overall death rate is 10.16 per 100,000 people. There have been 10,836 tests completed. This report was automatically generated by The Canadian Press Digital Data Desk and was first published April 23, 2021. North Coast Food Trail Expands to Edge of NW Oregon Published 04/21/21 at 5:06 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Tillamook, Oregon) Already an expansive way to chow down as youre touring the Oregon coast, the North Coast Food Trail is getting ready to get bigger. Some 100 or more miles of foodstuffs, drinks and culinary-themed adventures await with Visit Tillamook Coasts North Coast Food Trail, which starts at the southern edges of the Tillamook County line at Neskowin and runs up through Cannon Beach, Seaside and now Astoria. We added 10 members in Astoria, so we have a true north coast food trail now, said Nan Devlin, executive director of Visit Tillamook Coast. Those will be announced soon. Some things are shifting around, however, as the trail had previously dived into one spot in Lincoln City and another in Depoe Bay. There is a Central Coast Food Trail coming, so those will be a part of that someday. Its not just restaurants making up this tour for the tummy: a huge array of food-oriented firms are featured. Youll find farms, farmers markets, breweries, wineries, distilleries, restaurants, butchers, guided tours and experiences, lodgings and retail stores. Participants are denoted on the North Coast Food Trail website, and maps are handed at participating businesses throughout the region. There is also physical signage. Youll find them in Neskowin, Pacific City, Netarts, Tillamook, Bay City, Rockaway Beach, Garibaldi, Nehalem and Manzanita in Tillamook County. Cannon Beach was part of the original tour when it started in 2018, and since Seaside has hopped on. Now Astoria is readying with more stops. Seaside has long been known as a great beach destination on Oregon's north coast, but what you'll find surprising is that it has become a culinary destination as well, Devlin said. A host of new participants in others towns will soon be announced on the Food Trail website sometime as well, Devlin said. One famed and cajoling participant is a small resort of vacation rentals called Sheltered Nook at Tillamook Bay. Returning for more of the tour are McGregor's Whiskey Bar locations in Manzanita and the newly-expanded spot in Cannon Beach. Devlin said some places had dropped out and a few have been staying closed due to COVID-19. Its likely when things normalize youll see an even larger North Coast Food Trail. One of the more engaging aspects of the trail is the foraging section, where under some circumstances you can grab your grub from the forests or bays. Kellys Brighton Marina just north of Rockaway Beach, and the Tillamook Forest Center along Highway 6 provide definitive experiences of being able to find your own foodstuffs. Kellys lets you catch your own crab and other seafoods, while the Tillamook Forest Center provides foraging classes in the woods. For more information on the North Coast Food Trail, visit www.northcoastfoodtrail.com. MORE PHOTOS BELOW Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France, NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide of Japan of Crew 2 assemble with Crew 1 for a welcome ceremony after they arrived aboard the International Space Station, after docking SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule obiting the earth, on April 24, 2021 in a still image from video. (NASA TV via Reuters) Biggest Space Station Crowd in Decade After SpaceX Arrival CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.The International Space Stations population swelled to 11 on Saturday with the jubilant arrival of SpaceXs third crew capsule in less than a year. Its the biggest crowd up there in more than a decade. All of the astronautsrepresenting the U.S., Russia, Japan and Francemanaged to squeeze into camera view for a congratulatory call from the leaders of their space agencies. In this tough situation around the world, I believe you have brought courage and hope for all of us, Japanese Space Agency President Hiroshi Yamakawa said from his countrys flight control center, referring to the global pandemic. A recycled SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts arrived at the space station a day after launching from NASAs Kennedy Space Center. The Dragon capsule docked autonomously with the orbiting outpost more than 260 miles (420 kilometers) above the Indian Ocean. The hatches swung open a couple hours later, uniting all 11 space travelers. Man, it is awesome to see the 11 of you on station, said NASAs acting administrator, Steve Jurczyk. He noted that this will be the norm, now that SpaceX is regularly flying crews. ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France celebrates with NASA astronaut Megan McArthur as they and Crew 2 colleagues JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide of Japan and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough are welcomed by Crew 1 as they arrive aboard the International Space Station, after docking SpaceXs Crew Dragon capsule obiting the earth, on April 24, 2021 in a still image from video. (NASA TV via Reuters) The newcomers will spend six months at the space station. Theyll replace four astronauts who will return to Earth in their own Dragon capsule Wednesday to end a half-year mission. NASA deliberately planned for a brief overlap so the outgoing SpaceX crew could show the new arrivals around. Although this was SpaceXs third crew flight for NASA, it was the first to use a vehicle thats flown before, an essential part of a plan by SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk to push to the moon and Mars. The Dragon capsule was used for SpaceXs first crew launch last May, while the Falcon rocket soaring Friday hoisted crew two in November. It was the first time two SpaceX crew Dragons were parked there at the same timepractically side by side. In this image made from NASA TV, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is seen from the international space station, on April 24, 2021. (NASA via AP) NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthurthe commander and pilot of the returning Dragonmonitored their capsules flat screen computers during the morning rendezvous. They could have taken control if necessary, but the autonomous system did its job, much like a self-driving car. Also checking into the space station: Frances Thomas Pesquet and Japans Akihiko Hoshide. Both have lived there before, as has Kimbrough. But it was the first station visit for McArthur. She flew up in the same seat and the same capsulenamed Endeavouras her husband, Bob Behnken, did on SpaceXs debut crew mission. SpaceX Crew 2 members, from left, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide gather at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 16, 2021. (John Raoux/AP Photo) The European Space Agencys director general, Josef Aschbacher, joked that the space station needs expansion with so many on board. Pesquetthe first European to fly on a commercial crew capsulenoted that the space station has changed quite a bit since his last visit four years ago, with more people and types of spacecraft. Were so happy to see our friends, he said. We wish we could keep them a little bit longer, but not too long as well, because 11 people is a lot on a space station. The all-time record is 13, set during NASAs space shuttle era. The current population includes six Americans, two Russians, two Japanese and one French. It will shrink by four on Wednesday when three Americans and one Japanese depart for home and a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA turned to private companies for space station deliveries after the shuttles retired in 2011. SpaceX began supply runs in 2012, honing its skills before launching astronauts and ending NASAs reliance on Russia. NASA also hired Boeing for taxi service, but the companys Starliner capsule isnt expected to fly astronauts until next year. By Marcia Dunn The volume of crypto purchases in Turkey rose 10-fold between November and March Turkey on Saturday detained the chief of one of the country's biggest cryptocurrency firms after launching a manhunt for the founder of another exchange who fled to Albania. The Turkish crypto boom threatens to go bust quickly as companies fold and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government prepares to rein in the unregulated digital currency market. The volume of crypto purchases in the nation of 84 million people rose 10-fold between November and March as Turks sought ways to preserve their savings during a steep drop in the value of the lira currency. But the market began to unravel when the Istanbul-based Thodex exchange's founder Faruk Fatih Ozer fled to Albania with a reported $2 billion in investors' assets this week. Thodex shut down while holding investments from nearly 400,000 users. Turkey issued an international arrest warrant and detained dozens of Thodex employees in raids staged across the country on Friday. Officials also blocked the account of the Vebitcoin exchangeone of Turkey's five-largestand launched an investigation after it also abruptly ceased operations. Local news reports said police detained Vebitcoin chief executive Ilker Bas and three other company employees on Saturday as part of a broader fraud probe. "Due to the recent developments in the crypto money industry, our transactions have become much more intense than expected," Vebitcoin said on its website. "We would like to state with regret that this situation has led us to a very difficult process in the financial field. We have decided to cease our activities in order to fulfil all regulations and claims." Stolen wallets Data shared with AFP by the Chainalysis and Kaiko analytics firms show the daily volume of all crypto purchases in Turkey rising from around 500 million liras ($60 million) in November to as much as six billion liras in March. Faruk Fatih Ozer fled to Albania holding a reported $2 billion in investors' assets Coinhills ranks Turkey as the fifth-biggest crypto market in the world. It could be bigger still because many Turkish traders use popular off-shore exchanges in countries such as Malta. But Erdogan's government is preparing to tighten regulations after deciding to ban cryptos from being used for purchases of goods and services starting on April 30. The Turkish central bank warned last week that cryptocurrencies "entail significant risks". "Wallets can be stolen or used unlawfully without the authorisation of their holders," the central bank said. The problems at Thodex started after it ran a promotion offering Dogecoins to investors at one-fourth the price the popular currency was selling on other exchanges. But Thodex users complained that it was a scam that prevented them from re-selling the coins at their full market value or trading them for other cryptos. Turkish prosecutors accused Ozer of "aggravated fraud and founding a criminal organisation". The tumult in Turkey created ripples across the global crypto market and saw the value of bitcoin slip back under $50,000 after reaching $57,000 at the start of the week. Analysts say the lack of oversight makes users more susceptible to fraud in Turkey than they would be in countries, where digital trades are reported to officials and taxed. "Because cryptocurrency is currently unregulated (in Turkey), it could be more vulnerable to abuse and illicit activity," Chainalysis's government affairs chief Jesse Spiro told AFP. "In general, regulations help build trust in this new asset class. On the other hand, the instability of the lira could make cryptocurrency more attractive." Explore further Turkey seeks arrest of crypto boss over huge fraud, detains dozens 2021 AFP Hundreds of US Scientists May Be Compromised by China: NIH More than 500 U.S. federally funded scientists have been flagged over suspected financial ties with China and other foreign adversaries, the National Institutes of Health says. As of this month, the federal health agency has reached out to 90 institutions that receive government grants, regarding 200 researchers. It also has removed 100 from the NIH ecosystem through resignation, termination, premature retirements, or internal debarments, according to Michael Lauer, deputy director for extramural research at the NIH. The biggest challenge is simply the workload of dealing with a very large number of cases, he added. Each of these requires a tremendous amount of work to figure out what exactly has been happening and to work carefully with the institution to figure out whats been going on, Lauer said at an April 22 Senate committee hearing that focused on foiling Chinese efforts to exploit U.S. biomedical research advances. One scenario that Lauer highlighted is when scientists set up a laboratory in China to do the same work for the Chinese regime that U.S. taxpayers are funding in the United States. In others, the researchers may have a business in China that leverages findings from NIH-sponsored researchwhich is a clear conflict of interest. A third, according to Lauer, is when scientists claim to be dedicating 100 percent of their time on their U.S. research when, in fact, they are spending 50 to 60 percent of their time in China. So they are lying about how theyre spending their time, and that kind of a blatant lie affects the credibility and the integrity of the entire enterprise, he said. The Justice Department has opened dozens of cases against researchers in a bid to cut down the influx of Chinese theft of U.S. intellectual property. On the day of the hearing, a math professor at Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale was indicted for concealing Chinese government aid and working for a Chinese state university, while defrauding the National Science Foundation of $151,099 in grants. A few days earlier, a hospital researcher at an Ohio childrens hospital was sentenced to 33 months in prison for selling trade secrets to China. Zhou Yu admitted last December to stealing at least five trade secrets related to exosomes, small sacs of fluid from cells that have seen increasing use in drug and cancer treatment. His co-conspirator was his wife, Chen Li, 48, who also worked as a researcher at another lab in the facility. The couple received funding from Chinese authorities and had a company in China to sell exosome isolation kits developed from research data they stole. Our enemies can capitalize on the billions of dollars that American taxpayers invest every year to beat us to the punch on the next game-changing technology to save lives or cause unimaginable harm. Because they know its easier to get to home base when you steal your way to third, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said at the April 22 hearing. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on the federal coronavirus response in Washington on March 18, 2021. (Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Images) Burr expressed concerns about the lack of a single entity tasked with identifying rule breakers. In the case of the Illinois math professor, NIH wasnt informed of the researchers affiliation with China, even though he had been on payroll at a Chinese university since 2018. Lauer, in response, said that universities are ultimately responsible as the grant recipient. Last year, the Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan reached a $5.5 million settlement with federal authorities, who accused the organization of not properly disclosing Chinese grants that two of its researchers had received. He said that 10 percent of cases come to the agencys attention because of self-disclosures. In 2019, the CEO and five other senior staff members of Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida resigned after an internal review uncovered their participation in the Thousand Talents Program, a Chinese recruitment plan designed to attract top scientists and engineers to work in China. Shadow and Bone The Heart Is an Arrow Season 1 Episode 6 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * * Previous Next Photo: Netflix/ As discussed previously, one of Netflixs biggest updates to Shadow and Bone concerns Alina Starkovs race. Once described as scrawny and sickly and implicitly white the series protagonist is now simply half-Shu, a move that transforms the feelings of alienation and loneliness Alina experiences in the books, justifying them more explicitly while enriching the Grishaverses sociopolitical landscape. Author Leigh Bardugo has gone on record confirming that this is by design, a direct request she made of Eric Heisserer, the screenwriter who adapted the series, to correct for what she describes as her own limitations as an early-career writer. Until recently, that renovation has been all gain, no pain. But the revelation in the last episode, that Kirigan is the Black Heretic, created a small but consequential mystery: how the hell is this dude that old? In the books, the Darklings immortality was no great enigma. Canonically, Grisha believe their power derives from a deep and unique connection to the forces of nature that have created the universe the making at the heart of the world, they call it and thus Grisha literally have a closer bond with life itself. This is one of the many reasons for Grisha-otkazatsya tension: Grisha powers come with freakishly good health, but only when they exercise their abilities. (All that talk about being better than ordinary people probably doesnt help.) Its a use it or lose it scenario: If a Grisha suppresses her gifts, their halo effect on the body atrophies, as well, and her health takes a nosedive. Resistance to illness isnt the same thing as immortality, of course, but in the Grishaverse, where people havent even figured out the mechanics of flight yet, it definitely means better chances for survival. Its also directly proportional to an individuals power: The stronger a Grisha, the longer theyll live. Alinas former identity as Fragile Thin White Girl and her subsequent transformation into Fit Thin White Girl meant that by the time the Darklings true nature was revealed, shed already learned about her biology from her more educated Grisha peers. In the books, we automatically know the Darkling is old because hes an extremely powerful Grisha. (Youd think it would also be because hes using merzost, but merzost takes from Grisha what the Small Science gives, so ironically, using it has shortened his lifespan.) By contrast, it seems like this relationship might not be codified knowledge in the screen version. (Weird, given The Making at the Heart of the World is the title of the third episode.) Alina has certainly spent enough time at the Little Palace to have learned it by now, but in this episode, she has to piece together the explanation for Kirigans eternity on her own, when Mal (very smoothly) compliments her on how healthy she looks. Now, does this matter? Possibly not. (Ive said it before, and Ill say it again: Immortality is a monumentally dumb trope, so if you dont care about the lore, I dont blame you.) Sometimes its just nice to know! Anyway, speaking of Mal, this guy just continues to rehabilitate his own reputation by saying all the right things. Where before it took a lot of insecurity and jealous bickering for him to realize that their communications had been sabotaged, now Mal has simply chosen to act like a rational human being, one who wants to give his best little friend the benefit of the doubt, even as he believes shes outgrown him. Theyve also each admitted to themselves that this relationship is more than it was, even if the messages were never delivered, which underpins this far more realistic debriefing with the good faith theyve always deserved from each other. (Buddy. Buddy. You wrote her every? Day? Poor Mikhael and Dubrov!) So when Alina admits she didnt want to know if she had powers if it meant being separated from him, what can a sweet boy do but try not to smile and move onto his own arraignment? Even though hes completely overwhelmed by Alinas new identity, he clearly harbors no resentment or fear of her, and hes hurt that shed think he would. He doesnt assign himself the role of her bodyguard because of some toxic macho bullshit anymore, either now he figures its the least he can do for all the times she did the same for him when they were children. (Although he is still clearly fighting other toxic macho bullshit, like ignoring his myriad of wounds, but thats more self-destructive than anything.) And best of all, he hardly flinches when Alina accidentally reveals her involvement with Kirigan by using his first name. Hey, look, you dont owe me an explanation, he says immediately, before she has a chance to grovel. I just want to keep you safe. Put aside how quickly he appeared in the woods when she fell into a ditch fleeing the Crows and soldiers (he is an uncannily good tracker, after all), and put aside the fact that this relationship has a long way to go before it can even begin to be considered healthy (at this point, it seems like even they realize this), and everything else about their reunion is perfect. Except, of course, that they dont kiss. (This one is all on the books. Damn you and your tension, Bardugo.) Also not kissing: Nina and Matthias, despite having gotten, ahem, a lot closer in this episode. I wont lie, this ship is just gonna be romance tropes all the way down. But theres a reason theyre tropes to begin with: They just work. This story is no exception. First up, its Two enemies must work together to survive, when the ship is capsized, leaving the two of them nearly drowned. Lucky for the witch hunter, the witch can keep him alive, and lucky for the Ravkan spy, the Fjerdan supersoldier is a fairly tremendous meathead, making him ideal transportation to shore. Next up, its Bigot gains respect for his enemy when he learns they have something in common, when Nina reveals she speaks perfect Fjerdan. Then, the best of all: Huddling together naked in the wilderness for body heat! I dont know if I believe Calahan Skogmans Matthias is that uncomfortable taking off his clothes, much less paralyzed by the toxic, hateful, gender essentialist bullshit that has been his entire life. (Come to think of it, Ivan the Heartrender does this much more convincingly.) Hes in denial, yes We are very happy people!! he all but screams but a true believer? The internal conflict is not quite there, which becomes extremely obvious when Nina falls down that ice chasm later. Despite the fact that he technically hesitates, you dont get the sense hes even considering letting her fall, nor that he was ever savage enough to do it. I know this show is great at duplicity generally; weve seen it play out extremely well with other characters, particularly Arken and Kirigan. So thats mildly disappointing. Nina has some issues, too. Let me preface this by saying that, as a fellow thicc wiseass, I adore Nina Zenik something fierce. But its likely that many people watching this show, both fans and newcomers, hate Nina by now. And, grudgingly, I get it. Ninas teasing has always verged on cringey, missing almost as often as it hits. (This is due to and I say this reverently Bardugos extreme theater-kid energy as a writer.) But it does hit. In many ways, Nina and Jesper are class clowns of a feather, developing their banter and charm first as a defense mechanism, then as a profession. Both roles require an innate kinship with that sort of humor. Kit Young nails Jespers energy to a T, which leads me to suspect hes been an endearing fuckup in his own life at some point. But with Danielle Galligan whose more serious side of Nina I otherwise buy Ninas shtick feels like shes reading someone elses jokes, like shes only ever taken the piss onstage. She never quite gets to full deadpan. Shes funny, but maybe not in the way that Nina is funny. (Again, I say all this with extreme prejudice; if she were American and not Irish, Gilligan and I might have played at least a few of the same parts in school musicals. Like calls to like, baby.) That all said, I forgot about these issues the moment Nina sneaks a peek while Matthias is stripping down and goes completely slack-jawed at the view. The power of Gilligan and Skogmans chemistry really cant be overstated. The way he grabs her arm when shes speeding up his heart? The stupid look on his face as she pretends to beguile him, right before the ice breaks underfoot and he has to save her? What they may lack individually, they make up tenfold by nailing the couples overall vibe. The absolute worst part of this episode, and certainly one of the worst parts of this entire series thus far, is an indulgent bit of fan service nobody asked for: a face-off between Kirigan and Kaz. In the premiere recap, I suggested that mashing the two book series together was risky and a little cynical that forcing underdog antiheroes to participate in someone elses chosen-one narrative was kind of insulting, even if it delivers beloved characters sooner and this scene perfectly exemplifies the problem. Kirigan opens with his spooky-villain Where is she shit, Kaz retorts with his defiant-Barrel-rat IDGAF, also she hates you shit, Kirigan throws the Cut but Kaz is ready with a flash bomb and escapes in the blast. First of all, Kaz is not the Wraith. The guy is a con artist, but he has a disability, and while he can mask it, as he does in the Palace, he cant transcend it entirely and disappear, just to make a sexy little point about Kirigan underestimating the Crows. Second of all, can we please ease up on humiliating Kaz Brekker and give him some of the fear his reputation is supposed to inspire? Is he the Bastard of the Barrel or not? By this point, weve seen this supposedly notorious criminal terrorized by Kirigan, embarrassed by his feelings for Inej, and laid low by Pekka. Kirigans mere presence offset Dirtyhandss intimidation factor as an anti-hero from the start, but forcing them into a showdown is frivolous headcanon nonsense that doesnt serve either character, and kicks Kaz, in particular, while hes down. The Crows were set up to fail here this season, but their brilliant and once-terrifying leader is bearing the brunt of that choice. For once, I agree with Kirigan when he says, You should have stayed in Ketterdam, Mr. Brekker. The only Crow who is prospering, perhaps predictably, is our beloved, sharpshooting, degenerate gambler. Jesper Fahey has always thrived in chaos. In Six of Crows, he describes himself as having always felt better when people were shooting at him if he was worrying about staying alive, he couldnt be thinking about anything else. So it makes sense that hes having a blast right now: Hes the only character whos gotten laid thus far, for starters, and his little dance with Ivan in the laundry is nothing short of delightful. Its a crossover that actually does serve the narrative: the compulsive joker versus the humorless cop. The Joyful Anarchist versus the Very Serious Institution. The chaotic underdog tale versus the lawful heros journey. (And not that its relevant, but theyre both queer.) Im not going to spoil how Jesper manages to best a Heartrender by pinging bullets into the same spot on his bulletproof kefta with three increasingly elaborate shots, because he pistol-whips the last guy who tried. Lets just say I cant wait till the secrets out. Interior Monologue Good-bye, Arken Visser. If Mals making all the right choices, the Conductor makes all the wrong ones: lying to the Black Heretic in the presence of his best Heartrender; throwing the Crows under the bus; throwing Zlatan under the bus; changing his story yet again about who, exactly, he smuggles; bragging about cutting Alinas throat to the immortal shadow-summoning general obsessed with her; then offering to get revenge on his behalf? Im not saying he deserved to die, but the man made zero friends and did not read the room. Speaking of dummies You robbed me of my brother, now Ill rob you of your life? Who would have guessed that both Inferni twins were going to be that terrible at smack talk? Also, she has a knife in your chest and is offering to let you live! Why are you antagonizing her?! After refusing to kill for so long, Inej has now killed two people in 24 hours. No subtle Grisha SFX this episode, but its been supplanted by a genius amount of wordless, expositional subtext. Kaz wanting to help Inej but shrinking from her open wound, Jesper decking Ivan before he can spill the beans about [REDACTED], all that wistful mouth-looking New canon: Zoya and Kirigan were once hookup buddies. As much as I hate girl-on-girl crime, it explains a lot. Zoya really deserves a break she doesnt even get to take her frustration out on a Crow! Oh, Genya, how could you? Giving Alina a ring that My Chemical David can use like GPS on Kirigans behalf? Take your own advice! Stop trusting powerful men! Apparently Kirigan is so rich he can have his car stolen and simply write it off as an acceptable loss and continue on foot? At the very least, Im glad the Crows got a nice ride out of this mess. A woman's body is refusing to accept treatment for her stage-four cancer after a doctor mistakenly dismissed cancerous lumps on her legs and feet as fat. Gemma Malins, 28, was diagnosed with stage-four metastatic melanoma in October, 2019 despite earlier medical reassurance. The New Zealand woman, who was studying to be an early childhood teacher, hasn't been responding to treatment for the aggressive cancer over a year that has spread to her brain and lungs. Gemma Malins, 28, (pictured on holiday with her husband Brandon) was diagnosed with stage-four metastatic melanoma in October, 2019 Ms Malins and her partner Brandon accelerated their wedding plans after her shattering diagnosis in 2019 with a form of aggressive cancer 'Things haven't been so good. The treatment I am having every three weeks has stopped working,' she told 7News. Ms Malins said it took a year to be properly diagnosed by doctors, and the melanomas unfortunately have continued to grow. 'The scans I've been having show the melanomas in my stomach had started growing instead of shrinking,' she said. 'There is a large one in my pelvis. Sometimes it gets so painful it feels like broken glass in my skin.' On Friday she started a new treatment that doctors told her is her 'last option', an expensive drug called ipilimumab, which is not covered by New Zealand's drug-funding agency, Pharmac. She fears the treatment will cost about $50,000, and although her grandmother paid for the first round she has a Givealittle page to help raise the rest. Ms Malins says the entire process has been so sudden and shocking they haven't been able to 'process it'. 'It changed our whole lives dramatically,' she said. Ms Malins and her partner Brandon, 21, were focused on ticking items off of her bucket list before being forced to undergo the new treatment. The couple flew to Queenstown from Auckland on September 7, 2020, to celebrate both of their birthdays in 'holiday of a lifetime'. The New Zealand woman, who was studying to be an early childhood teacher, hasn't been responding to treatment for the cancer over a year that has spread to her brain and lungs She and her partner Brandon, 21, fast-tracked their wedding plans after getting the shattering diagnosis in 2019 What is stage-four metastatic melanoma? Stage 4 melanoma means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs, brain, or other organs and tissue. It may have also spread to lymph nodes that are a good distance from the original tumor. As such, stage 4 melanoma is often hard to cure with current treatments. Advertisement The pair also fast-tracked their wedding plans after getting the shattering diagnosis. The couple tied the knot in a small beach ceremony in December 2019 after two weeks of planning. Ms Malins described it as the most 'perfect day'. 'We fast tracked the wedding as we just didn't know what the future held, we still don't,' she said. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia in July, she shared how she has been left fuming because she first raised her concerns about the lumps with her GP a year earlier. She saw a doctor who said the lumps on her legs were lipoma, a fatty tissue which can develop under the skin as people age. The benign growths are rarely harmful but as the growths spread throughout her body, Ms Malins grew concerned. She went to a new GP who broke the news that the lumps could be more serious. But she had to endure another three-month wait before she saw a specialist who confirmed the cancer diagnosis. Sean Wilentz is a historian of the leftist persuasion and also a principled opponent of the New York Timess 1619 Project errors, distortions, and lies (my word, not his), now adopted as the orthodoxy of the Democratic Party. The problem is A matter of facts, he wrote in The Atlantic. He also signed off on the letter prominent historians sent to the Times challenging the project as ideological rather than historical. Coincidentally with my own comments this week on Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, Professor Wilentz takes up Lincolns case in his New York Review of Books review Lincolns rowdy America in NYRBs April 29 issue. Wilentz review David Reynoldss new book, Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times. Reynolds is a literary and cultural historian who won Phi Beta Kappas Christian Gauss Award with Beneath the American Renaissance. He is virtually omniscient with respect to nineteenth-century American popular culture. I find his approach eye-opening if limited and reductive. One cant help but learn from him, especially with the benefit of a good teacher (not to say Reynolds himself isnt a good teacher). I think Wilentz is the man in the case of Reynoldss new Lincoln book. Professor Wilentzs review of Reynoldss Lincoln book is accessible with NYRB registration. Wilentz should be supplemented by Harry Jaffas reading of Lincoln in Crisis of the House Divided and everything after, yet Wilentzs review is well worth taking in. Indeed, I hope you will read it all. Here I want to excerpt Wilentzs comments on Lincoln that intersect with Frederick Douglass (everything below is Wilentz speaking, emphasis added): * * * * * On the left, meanwhile, the radical abolitionist critique of Lincoln as either a phonythe slave-hound of Illinois, Wendell Phillips called himor a laggard has lived on in depictions of Lincoln as a reluctant emancipator who cared everything for the Union and little about ending slavery until the flight of escaped slaves to Union lines forced his hand. In a major speech in 1876, Frederick Douglass, who had earlier both criticized and praised Lincoln, observed that this view was myopic and unfair. Lincoln, he explained, was a statesman, bound to consult his countrys sentiments. Thus his actions on slavery, far from tardy or indifferent, were radical, zealous, determined. Of more recent vintage is a condemnation of Lincoln as an incorrigible racist who actually supported or at least tolerated the enslavement of Blacks. During his lifetime, legions of racists, North and South, constantly assailed him in the vilest terms as a traitor to the white race, the devilish Abraham Africanus I, a Negro in disguise (although Negro wasnt the word they used), and an advocate of miscegenation (a word coined specifically to smear Lincoln). Some Black critics, meanwhile, notably Douglass when he wasnt praising him, cursed Lincoln as indifferent to Black suffering. One is hard put, though, to find anyone singling out Lincoln as a racist fiend either before his murder or for decades thereafter. Then, in 1964, just as the civil rights movements leaders claimed they were fulfilling his legacy, Malcolm X said, I think Lincoln did more to deceive Negroes and to make the race problem in this country worse than any man in history. In 1968 Lerone Bennett Jr., an editor at Ebony magazine, indicted Lincoln as a resolute white supremacist, a claim he enlarged upon three decades later in a book entitled Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincolns White Dream. * * * * * Reynolds also convincingly roots Lincolns alternative antislavery politics in his certitude that the abolitionists high-minded strategy of moral suasion would stir up trouble but never break the slaveholders power, and in his reverence for what he perceived as an essentially egalitarian Constitution that, despite its concessions to slavery and contrary to radical abolitionists renunciations, contained great antislavery potential. The antislavery constitutionalism that Lincoln embraced and helped develop would become the cornerstone for the politics of the Republican Party and in time would ignite southern secession. Before then the argument had evolved to win over a wide range of antislavery agitators with its insistence, Reynolds writes, that antislavery principles were actually embedded within the Constitutiona Constitution that, if interpreted correctly, as the abolitionist Douglass at length came to conclude, was a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT. * * * * * Lincolns support for colonization sprang neither from a horror of Blacks as a vicious, degraded race, a view he repudiated, nor from a fear that, once freed, ex-slaves would attempt to annihilate their former masters. He did express concern that white hatred of Blacks would persist in as yet unimagined forms, with voluntary colonization serving as a kind of subsidized escape hatch. Several leading Black abolitionists shared a similar racial pessimism of their own that mounted in the fearsome 1850s, and they too endorsed voluntary colonization, as did radical white abolitionists like Douglasss associate James Redpath. Above all, perhaps, Lincolns support for colonization, like his support early in the war for partially compensating owners for freeing their slavesactually carried out in the District of Columbiawas inseparable from his ever-evolving political calculations to ease the way for ending slavery, especially in the border states. In any event, after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, announcing freedom with no mention of colonization, Lincoln never brought up the idea in public again and basically left it behind. Abe helps show that the supposedly urgent issue of Lincolns racism is more worked up than it is urgent, if indeed it is really an issue at all. Lincoln was not as radical on racial equality as some white antislavery advocates, Reynolds reminds usfew if any serious historians over the last sixty years have harbored any delusion otherwisebut neither was he one of those antislavery racists whom Frederick Douglass described as opposing slavery but hating its victims, or one of those Republicans who, as a New York Times editorial in 1858 claimed about the party, aimed at the good of the white men of the country, and had nothing to do with negroes. Rather, Lincoln believed to his core that Blacks were entitled to enjoy equally the natural rights elaborated in the Declaration of Independenceabove all, he stated repeatedly, the right to the fruits of their labor. In that sense, he was a thoroughgoing and unflinching racial egalitarian, far in advance of most white Americans. The basic decency embedded in that egalitarianism helps explain Lincolns oft-noted easy relations with Black people, from his numerous Black neighbors at home in Springfield to abolitionist celebrities like Douglass and Sojourner Truth. It helps explain his habit, one that Reynolds notices, of quietly holding out in his speeches the possibility that one day, perhaps, white prejudicewhich he regarded as irrationalmight disappear. It helps explain why, as president, he praised Black freedom fighters with their clenched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet while he assailed the malignant heart, and deceitful speech of white racists who opposed the Emancipation Proclamation and Black military enlistment. It helps explain why, during the last years of his life, he glimpsed an expanded equality as no president before him and only a decided minority of other white Americans had. * * * * * The Emancipation Proclamation instantly transformed the Civil War into a social revolution and turned the Union military into an army and navy of liberation. By also opening up enlistment to Black soldiers and sailors, some 180,000 of whom would fight in the Union cause, the proclamation altered the social and political stakes for the nation after as well as during the war. While Lincoln consulted with Douglass and other Black leaders, in part to hasten the flight of the enslaved to Union lines, he realized that the military sacrifices being made by Blacks would be ample reason to afford them some form of political equality as well as freedom. Finally, two days after Lees surrender at Appomattox, he became the first American president to endorse publicly the opening of suffrage to Black men, possibly by national decree. It would have been unthinkable at the outbreak of war. Evidently the revolution had only begun. * * * * * Reynolds is tempted, as the upheaval mounts, to liken Lincoln to John Brown, whose failed raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859 had led to his glorification in certain prominent quarters. The linking is not completely surprising, as Reynoldss biography of Brown borders at times on adulation born of Browns uncompromising antiracism, which set him apart even from other radical abolitionist whites. But the LincolnBrown connection has been getting attention from other scholars as well. Events redeemed Brown, so the argument goes, insofar as overthrowing slavery required, as he had forecast, an apocalyptic purging of the sin of human bondage. It entailed, as Brown thought it would, whites working alongside Black leaders and attacking slaveholders with the help of armed Black recruits, including tens of thousands who had only recently freed themselves by escaping their enslavers. Even the Unions military operations resembled Browns, including an effortwhich, according to Douglass, Lincoln described to him as somewhat after the original plan of John Brownto arouse more slaves to strike out for their freedom. Having set out to eliminate slavery peacefully, Lincoln wound up prosecuting a ruthless, so-called hard war. In the end it was Browns strategy, not Lincolns, that destroyed slavery. Reynolds plays around with this imaginary history and wishful vindication of Brown at Lincolns expense, but he wisely backs off. The Union Army and Navy, with Blacks recruited through the Emancipation Proclamation, wreaking merciless havoc in the South wasnt at all Browns misbegotten plan or larger strategy. His raid, Reynolds writes, was a vigilante effort, motivated by the higher lawled, he might have added, by a self-appointed, God-struck avenger who hated the Constitution and took up arms against the federal governmentthat deepened the national divide. Lincoln, on the contrary, directed a Constitution-backed war that never lost sight of restoring the entire nation and putting it on a just basis. He honestly hoped that his legitimate, democratic election as president would help initiate slaverys eventual but sure extinction, yet the slaveholders would not stand for it. Lincolns strategy was to build a political party with a broad coalition, bring the issue of halting slaverys expansion before what he called the great tribunal, the American people, and win that contest in 1860, after which he held fast to principle against violent insurrectionists who would break up the Union rather than accept the elections result. That strategy led directly to the Civil War. It evolved, as all wartime strategies do, after it became clear that crushing the rebellion required Lincolns proclaiming slaverys immediate and not gradual demise, and even then on the strength of a Union military victory. The unforeseen result of slaverys immediate abolition, he observed in his second inaugural address, was fundamental and astounding, and it accompanied a broadening of his own views on racial equality. Yet as David Reynoldss brilliant cultural history reminds us, destroying slavery and saving American democracy had grown from Lincolns strategy, not John Browns. Fans of Liverpool and Manchester United called for the removal of their clubs' American owners during protests outside their stadiums prompted by the ill-fated European Super League project on Saturday. nough is nough FSG Out and Henry, You have blood on your hands, were the words on some of the banners held up by Liverpool supporters outside Anfield before the team drew with Newcastle 1-1 in the English Premier League. That's a reference to Fenway Sports Group and principal owner John Henry, who was one of the instigators of the controversial breakaway league featuring some of Europe's elite clubs which was aborted on Tuesday two days after it was launched. While the protests on Anfield Road were muted there were an estimated 150 fans there ahead of a match played in an empty stadium because of the pandemic more than a thousand United fans were estimated to have gathered on the concourse outside the club's Old Trafford stadium to protest against the Glazer family, which has owned the 20-time English champion since a debt-leveraged buyout in 2005. We want Glazers out, chanted United fans, who had banners and scarves with Glazers Out on them. Yellow and green-colored smoke bombs were let off the colors synonymous with the anti-Glazer protest movement at the start of the ownership's tenure. Local newspaper The Manchester Evening News reported there was a limited police presence and that the protest was peaceful. Six English clubs were among the 12 founding members of the Super League, and their owners are the targets of criticism that has been fierce this week, accusing them of attempting to destroy the structures of the English game. Several hundred Arsenal fans gathered outside Emirates Stadium on Friday ahead of its Premier League game against Everton to protest against their club's American ownership. Chelsea fans have protested against their club's Russian owner, Roman Abramovich, too. Story continues The Liverpool fans outside Anfield on Saturday greeted the players and management with warm applause as the team bus arrived at the stadium for the Newcastle game. That highlighted the separation supporters were making between the owners of England's so-called Big Six clubs who were behind the Super League, and the rest of the club. The part I have struggled with is seeing this club, a place I love and am now proud to call my home, trashed and done so in a manner which suggests no redemption is possible. That I cant take," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said in his notes in the matchday program. It was right to take apart the concept and it was fair to criticize it, along with those who came up with it and also how it was presented. All legitimate in my view. The anger and disappointment was justified but there were times when the distinction between club and this decision (and yes, those responsible for it) were too quickly blurred into one." A statement published late Friday by Chelsea expressed regret at members of its hierarchy getting involved in the Super League proposals, though there was no apology. It promised to involve supporters in any future discussions about new mechanisms or structures and to safeguard fan representation in the club's work. The club does ask, however, that this dialogue is conducted in a respectful way, the Chelsea statement said. The abuse which some club representatives have been the target of over the past few days is not acceptable. ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports ___ Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80 This settlement gives life to the promise of the California Equal Pay Act, resulting in millions of dollars of monetary payments for wages we believe Latinx employees deserve. Because Mr. Cuenca had the courage to step forward, thousands of Kaiser workers will benefit. Prominent Plaintiffs law firms Bryan Schwartz Law and Nichols Kaster LLP announced today that Plaintiff has reached an agreement with Defendants Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., and the Southern California Permanente Medical Group (collectively, Kaiser Permanente), in which Kaiser Permanente will pay $7.4 million to settle a class action national origin discrimination lawsuit. The settlement covers approximately 2,500 Hispanic and Latinx employees in Administrative Support, Consulting Services, and similar positions at each of the Kaiser Permanente entities. In addition to monetary relief, Kaiser Permanente agrees to institute comprehensive workplace programs to ensure that Hispanic and Latinx employees compensation and opportunities for advancement are fair and equitable. The changes build upon work that Kaiser Permanente announced in 2020 to strengthen its efforts to ensure a racially inclusive workplace. The Agreement between the parties was reached after more than six months of negotiations, and it settles the case, Cuenca et al. v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, et al., Case No. RG20065123, filed on June 17, 2020, in the Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland, California. Going forward, Kaiser Permanente will retain an independent consultant, agreed upon by all parties, to develop and manage a thorough job analysis review to be completed within one year. This review will be used to create additional equitable opportunities for Hispanic and Latinx employees, including career development guides and developmental resource guides for roles within the job families. Kaiser Permanente has also agreed to conduct an annual pay analysis for employees in the defined job classifications performed by an independent consultant for three years, wherein base pay, incentive pay, and promotions will be reviewed with an eye toward equity and swift remediation of any existing disparities. Additionally, Kaiser Permanente will continue annual pay reviews and appoint an internal Compliance officer to oversee the implementation of these policies and continued compliance with the settlement agreement. With the guidance of the findings and input and oversight by Plaintiffs counsel, Kaiser Permanente will make several enduring structural changes, including: investing in more leadership development initiatives for historically underrepresented groups; and additional training for employees and management on racial bias and equity, including Upstander Intervention and racial equity trainings, and debiasing programs for those engaged in enforcing company policy on equal employment opportunity. Kaiser Permanente has also agreed to appoint an internal compliance officer to oversee the implementation of these practices, continued compliance with the settlement agreement monitor and to meet with Plaintiffs Counsel twice each year for a 3-year compliance period to report on implementation of the terms of the Settlement. Plaintiffs: Named Plaintiff Michael Cuenca, who is Hispanic, worked for Kaiser Permanente for 10 years in the National Diversity & Inclusion Office and the Human Resources People Analytics Group. Next Steps: The court will set a hearing date for Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Approval, which if approved will issue notice to the approximately 2,500 class members. The third-party administrator will allocate settlement amounts based on an objective formula to each qualifying class member. More information will be available after the Court rules on Plaintiffs motion for preliminary approval. Statements on the Settlement: Plaintiffs counsel Bryan Schwartz, the founder of Bryan Schwartz Law stated, Mr. Cuenca firmly believes that Kaiser Permanente, as one of our states biggest employers, should represent the diversity of California and be fully inclusive of Hispanic and Latino people, who are a vital and growing part of the population. Mike raised these issues of racial and ethnic discrimination and pay disparities, in part, to help create better job opportunities for Hispanic and Latino Californians and believes this settlement will help move Kaiser in that direction. We are proud to have helped create important corporate change at the company. Plaintiffs counsel Matthew Helland of Nichols Kaster, LLP, added: This settlement gives life to the promise of the California Equal Pay Act, resulting in millions of dollars of monetary payments for wages we believe Latinx employees deserve. Because Mr. Cuenca had the courage to step forward, thousands of Kaiser workers will benefit. As a mission-driven organization, we hold ourselves accountable for living our values by strengthening our inclusive culture and expanding our work to address any disparities and their root causes. That is why we invited Plaintiffs to participate in a negotiation process that led to this settlement, said Christian Meisner, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, speaking on behalf of the Kaiser Defendants. Across Kaiser Permanente we are increasing our efforts to advocate for fair and just treatment, opportunity, and advancement as well as embedding accountability for equity at all levels of the organization. We will continue to promote positive change, equity, and total health for all inside our organization and within our communities. Information about Plaintiffs Counsel: Bryan Schwartz Law: Bryan Schwartz Law is an Oakland-based firm representing workers in class, collective, and individual actions in discrimination, wage/hour, whistleblower, and unique federal and public employee claims. Founder Bryan Schwartz practices in state and federal trial and appeals courts, in arbitration, and before a variety of administrative agencies. He is past Chair of the 8,000+ State Bar Labor and Employment Law Section (now called California Lawyers Association), and on the Board of Directors of Legal Aid at Work, the Foundation for Advocacy, Inclusion and Resources (FAIR), and is a former Board member of the California Employment Lawyers Association. Contact Information Email: bryan@bryanschwartzlaw.com Phone: 510-444-9300 Website: https://www.bryanschwartzlaw.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanschwartzlaw Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bryanschwartzlaw Twitter: https://twitter.com/bryanschwartzla Nichols Kaster, LLP: For more than forty-five years, Nichols Kaster has enjoyed a sterling reputation as a top employment and consumer plaintiffs litigation firm. With over 35 lawyers in its Minneapolis and San Francisco offices, the firm has represented hundreds of thousands of employees and consumers nationwide on a variety of legal issues arising under both state and federal laws. The National Trial Lawyers and ALM have named Nichols Kaster the Employment Rights Law Firm of The Year, and U.S. News and World Reports has named Nichols Kaster a Best Law Firm and its lawyers as Best Lawyers, consecutively since 2012. Together the National Law Journal and law.com named Nichols Kaster a top 50 firm for Elite Trial Lawyers that are doing the most creative and substantial work on the plaintiffs side. Contact Information Email: helland@nka.com Phone: 415-277-7235 Website: http://www.nka.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/nicholskaster Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NicholsKaster Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nicholskaster New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday (April 24) announced stringent measures in order to tackle the worrisome spike in COVID-19 cases. The lockdown-like restrictions will come into force from 4 am on April 26. Here is a list of all that will be closed from Monday: 1. Cinema halls, gyms, recreation clubs, bars, auditoriums, meeting halls and similar spaces where large crowds can gather. 2. Big format shops, shopping malls, supermarkets located in shopping malls. 3. Salons, spas, barbershops, beauty parlours in Chennai and other cities, towns. 4. Dine-in at hotels, restaurants, mess, tea stalls has been banned. 5. Devotees will not be allowed at places of worship, only staff can perform rituals. 6. No temple functions, even if permission was granted earlier. Only staff can conduct the event. No permission for new events. 7. No dine-in services at hotels, even for guests staying there. 8. Sport training facilities and academies have been shut. Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government had announced several curbs including night curfew, ban on tourists at the hill stations and complete lockdown on Sundays with essential services exempted, in view of the deteriorating COVID-19 situation. As per the new guidelines, food delivery from hotels/restaurants is permitted between the timings- 6 am till 10 am, 12 noon till 3 p.m., and 6 pm till 9 pm, IANS reported. While vegetable, meat and fish shops, movie theatres, shopping malls and commercial establishments will remain closed. Live TV Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 09:19:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. ex-police officer Derek Chauvin will be sentenced on June 16 for the death of George Floyd, an African-American, according to a schedule posted on the website of U.S. Minnesota Judicial Branch. The online schedule stated that the sentencing time is set at 1:30 p.m. CT (1830 GMT). Chauvin was convicted Tuesday by a 12-member jury of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd on May 25, 2020. While the three charges have a collective maximum sentence of 75 years in prison, Minnesota sentencing guidelines recommend that Chauvin only be sentenced for the most serious charge -- the second-degree murder that carries a maximum sentence of 40 years behind bars. Prosecutors have already asked for a harsher sentencing, seeking what's known as an "upward departure" that will make the defendant serve a longer jail term. They planned to argue that there were "aggravating factors" in the case, including that Floyd was treated with "particular cruelty" and his death occurred in front of children. Enditem Members of the French team that participated in the "Deep Time" study, emerge from the Lombrives Cave after 40 days underground in Ussat les Bains, France, Saturday, April 24, 2021. After 40 days in voluntary isolation, 15 people participating in a scientific experiment have emerged from a vast cave in southwestern France. Eight men and seven women lived in the dark, damp depths of the Lombrives cave in the Pyrenees to help researchers understand how people adapt to drastic changes in living conditions and environments. They had no clocks, no sunlight and no contact with the world above. (AP Photo/Renata Brito) Ever wonder what it would feel like to unplug from a hyperconnected world and hide away in a dark cave for 40 days? Fifteen people in France did just that, emerging Saturday from a scientific experiment to say that time seemed to pass more slowly in their cavernous underground abode in southwestern France, where they were deprived of clocks and light. With big smiles on their pale faces, the 15 left their voluntary isolation in the Lombrives cave to a round of applause and basked in the light while wearing special glasses to protect their eyes after so long in the dark. "It was like pressing pause," said 33-year-old Marina Lancon, one of the seven female members in the experiment, adding she didn't feel there was a rush to do anything. Although she wished she could have stayed in the cave a few days longer, she said she was happy to feel the wind blowing on her face again and hear the birds sing in the trees of the French Pyrenees. And she doesn't plan to open her smartphone for a few more days, hoping to avoid a "too brutal" return to real life. For 40 days and 40 nights, the group lived in and explored the cave as part of the Deep Time project. There was no sunlight inside, the temperature was 10 degrees Celsius (50 F) and the relative humidity stood at 100%. The cave dwellers had no contact with the outside world, no updates on the pandemic nor any communications with friends or family. Members of the French team that participated in the "Deep Time" study pose for a photo after exiting the Lombrives Cave in Ussat les Bains, France, Saturday, April 24, 2021. After 40 days in voluntary isolation, 15 people participating in a scientific experiment have emerged from a vast cave in southwestern France. Eight men and seven women lived in the dark, damp depths of the Lombrives cave in the Pyrenees to help researchers understand how people adapt to drastic changes in living conditions and environments. They had no clocks, no sunlight and no contact with the world above. (AP Photo/Renata Brito) Scientists at the Human Adaption Institute leading the 1.2 million-euro $1.5 million) "Deep Time" project say the experiment will help them better understand how people adapt to drastic changes in living conditions and environments. As expected, those in the cave lost their sense of time. "And here we are! We just left after 40 days ... For us it was a real surprise," said project director Christian Clot, adding for most participants, "in our heads, we had walked into the cave 30 days ago." At least one team member estimated the time underground at 23 days. Johan Francois, 37, a math teacher and sailing instructor, ran 10-kilometer circles in the cave to stay fit. He sometimes had "visceral urges" to leave. With no daily obligations and no children around, the challenge was "to profit from the present moment without ever thinking about what will happen in one hour, in two hours," he said. Members of the French team that participated in the "Deep Time" study, celebrate as they emerge from the Lombrives Cave after 40 days underground in Ussat les Bains, France, Saturday, April 24, 2021.After 40 days in voluntary isolation, 15 people participating in a scientific experiment have emerged from a vast cave in southwestern France. Eight men and seven women lived in the dark, damp depths of the Lombrives cave in the Pyrenees to help researchers understand how people adapt to drastic changes in living conditions and environments. They had no clocks, no sunlight and no contact with the world above. (AP Photo/Renata Brito) In partnership with labs in France and Switzerland, scientists monitored the 15 member's sleep patterns, social interactions and behavioral reactions via sensors. One sensor was a tiny thermometer inside a capsule that participants swallowed like a pill. It measured body temperatures and transmitted data to a computer until it was expelled naturally. The team members followed their biological clocks to know when to wake up, go to sleep and eat. They counted their days not in hours but in sleep cycles. On Friday, scientists monitoring the participants entered the cave to let the research subjects know they would be coming out soon. "It's really interesting to observe how this group synchronizes themselves," Clot said earlier in a recording from inside the cave. Working together on projects and organizing tasks without being able to set a time to meet was especially challenging, he said. Members of the French team that participated in the "Deep Time" study, emerge from the Lombrives Cave after 40 days underground in Ussat les Bains, France, Saturday, April 24, 2021. After 40 days in voluntary isolation, 15 people participating in a scientific experiment have emerged from a vast cave in southwestern France. Eight men and seven women lived in the dark, damp depths of the Lombrives cave in the Pyrenees to help researchers understand how people adapt to drastic changes in living conditions and environments. They had no clocks, no sunlight and no contact with the world above. (AP Photo/Renata Brito) Although the participants looked visibly tired Saturday, two-thirds expressed a desire to remain underground a bit longer in order to finish group projects started during the expedition, Benoit Mauvieux, a chronobiologist involved in the research, told The AP. "Our future as humans on this planet will evolve," Clot said after emerging. "We must learn to better understand how our brains are capable of finding new solutions, whatever the situation." Explore further Video: Geologists explore the history of cave ice 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. State workplace safety officials have issued at least 20 citations to Oregon businesses for flagrantly violating COVID-19 safety restrictions since the start of the pandemic last March, collectively fining those businesses more than $400,000. But the state has yet to collect any of that money. The 20 citations were issued to 15 businesses that willfully defied COVID-19 safety standards, with two businesses receiving multiple citations for repeated violations. The businesses had appealed 16 of the 20 citations as of April 8 and the state anticipates the other four will be appealed as well. Of those that have appealed, only one has reached a settlement with the state so far. Kozy Kitchen in North Bend, which was issued an $8,900 fine last June for opening for indoor dining against state health restrictions, reached an agreement to have its violation downgraded from willful to serious and its fine reduced to $4,000 less than half the original penalty. Oregon is waiting for payment. The other appeals could take months to resolve, or longer. Aaron Corvin, a spokesperson for the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health administration (Oregon OSHA), said the appeals process can last up to two years. That means businesses the state believes committed the most egregious COVID-19 safety violations will be able to delay fines until long after the pandemic is over and could end up paying significantly reduced penalties after their appeals are resolved. The situation illustrates the limitations of applying Oregons standard workplace safety rules to the extraordinary circumstances created by the pandemic. While Oregon OSHA tells businesses they must remedy violations during the appeals process, the agency has little power to force those businesses into compliance and the state has been unwilling to pursue criminal charges against repeated violators. Many businesses have continued to defy state COVID-19 health restrictions while appealing their citations, or have publicly solicited donations to fight their penalties. Oregon OSHA says even if businesses are delaying fines through appeals, and some remain hell-bent on breaking the rules, the threat of a fine is enough to get most businesses to comply. But that logic is frustrating to worker rights advocates. Were talking about a pandemic that has resulted in 103 workplace-related deaths in Oregon, said Jess Giannettino Villatoro, political director for Oregon AFL-CIO, one of the states largest labor groups. There should be a stronger way to hold bad actors accountable. THE APPEALS PROCESS Safety officials visited Gold Miner Restaurant in Grants Pass earlier this year after receiving multiple complaints from patrons and a request from Josephine County Public Health. They found that the restaurant wasnt requiring that employees wear masks and had remained open for indoor dining in violation of state regulations in force at the time. Nancie Bowers, the restaurants owner, told officials during the inspection that she knew she was violating state rules, according to Oregon OSHA. Multiple calls to the restaurant seeking comment went unanswered. On April 6, Oregon OSHA levied a nearly $18,000 fine against the restaurant. Bowers hasnt officially informed the state whether she will appeal, but a day after the citation was issued she launched a GoFundMe campaign, asking supporters to donate money to help the restaurant fight the fine. The campaign has raised more than $6,700 so far. I believe they have no right to close my business and allow others to be open, Bowers wrote. We practice high standards to protect our employees and customers. We are gonna give them a good fight, she added. When Oregon OSHA hands down a willful violation, it knows it is likely in for a time-intensive and sometimes costly fight. Oregon OSHA administrator Michael Wood said even before the pandemic, the vast majority of businesses that received willful violations appealed because those violations come with larger fines and employers generally want to avoid having them become a permanent part of their record. If anything, employers have been even more keen to appeal willful COVID-19 safety violations. In every one of these cases, in particular, were likely to see an appeal because, frankly, almost without exception, were dealing with employers who have made a conscious decision that they arent going to submit to our requirements, Wood said. That makes it unlikely they would step away without appealing, even compared to the norm. As of April 8, the state had issued 125 citations to businesses for violating COVID-19 safety standards. Nearly 75% of employers who have received fines for non-willful COVID-19-related violations have already paid. In the vast majority of those cases, fines were under $1,000. Oregon has a history of handing out fines for non-willful violations that are significantly smaller than the national average, according to annual reports from the U.S. Department of Labor. On the other hand, employers cited for intentionally flouting COVID-19 safety standards have received fines of between $8,900 and $126,749, and almost invariably appealed. After an appeal, Oregon OSHA will try to negotiate an agreement with the employer during an informal settlement conference. If the two sides cant reach a settlement, the case will go on to the Workers Compensation Board where an administrative law judge will rule on the appeal. The state and the employer often end up spending more on legal fees than the initial fine when a case goes that far, Wood said. But the burden falls on Oregon OSHA in those cases to prove that the penalties were appropriate. That means the agency has an incentive to negotiate lesser penalties or violations during those initial conferences if they arent convinced they will prevail in front of an administrative law judge. A total of 1,629 Oregon OSHA violations were resolved through the appeals process over the last three years, with 43% amended on appeal and 12% rescinded, according to Oregon OSHA data. Oregon collected 64% of the total value of penalties issued over the past three years due to a portion of fines being reduced on appeal. Businesses can also work out payment plans once their appeals are resolved. When safety officials inspected Kozy Kitchen in North Bend on May 14, 2020, they found the restaurant open for indoor dining against state health regulations and observed employees without face masks failing to maintain social distance, according to field notes. According to the notes, restaurant owner Dave Grover told Oregon OSHA officials that he was aware he was violating state rules but refused two requests from the officials to shut down for the remainder of the day. Grover didnt respond to a request for comment. The result of the inspection prompted Oregon OSHA to issue Kozy Kitchen a willful violation and a fine of $8,900 for remaining open for indoor dining. After a settlement conference, Wood said, he signed off on an agreement that would downgrade the violation to serious and reduce the restaurants fine by more than half. In coming to the settlement, he said the agency considered the timing of the fine Gov. Kate Brown allowed restaurants to reopen for indoor dining shortly after Oregon OSHA inspected Kozy Kitchen and the fact that a $4,000 fine still seemed substantial for a small restaurant with five employees. Wood, though, insists that the settlement with Kozy Kitchen wont serve as a baseline for other businesses that flouted COVID-19 safety standards, especially those that have been fined multiple times for repeated violations. Most of the employers were citing, we know arent going to come into compliance simply because we cited them, Wood said. Weve had ongoing activity with them and that certainly makes the possibility of a settlement a good deal less likely. FLOUTING SAFETY STANDARDS But even if violators could pay substantial fines in future, those fines arent forcing them into compliance now when workers and patrons are most at risk of contracting COVID-19. When the governor mandated that gyms close in November with COVID-19 cases rising throughout the state, Salem-based gym chain Courthouse Club Fitness refused. That prompted Oregon OSHA to fine the gym $90,000 for operating four facilities in defiance of state regulations. The gym appealed the fine and continued operating, calling the states regulations unreasonable. Many other businesses have complained about the states revolving and what they see as arbitrary COVID-19 safety standards, although the vast majority appear to have complied with the rules. I repeat my pledge to support any reasonable request to help in the fight against covid, owner John Miller wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post. Voluntarily bankrupting a business my members depend on for their health, and 300 employees depend on for a living, is not reasonable. In January, Oregon OSHA issued the gym a second fine of $126,749 for continuing to defy Browns mandates, by far the largest fine it has issued for a coronavirus violation. Again, the gym appealed. No other steps were taken to ensure the gym complied. Brown has since allowed gyms to reopen. Theres folks that seem to think we have the authority to put padlocks on doors. We dont, Wood said. All we can really do is increase the penalty. There is a lot of room to increase the penalties. Kevista Coffee in Bend was fined $8,900 by Oregon OSHA last July after the state alleged it willfully failed to require face coverings. Like Courthouse Club Fitness, the coffee shop appealed and continued to defy state rules. Between Dec. 30 and Jan. 5, five people complained to Oregon OSHA that the cafe wasnt requiring masks or physical distancing. One complaint noted that the coffee shop was soliciting donations to help in its fight against Oregon OSHA, according to state records. The agency levied a second fine of $27,470 against the coffee shop last month for opening up against state regulations in December. Owners Kevin and Krista Lauinger have not yet told the state if they will appeal the second fine. They did not respond to a request for comment. Oregon OSHA adopted a temporary COVID-19 rule in November meant to strengthen its ability to enforce COVID-19 safety standards, but beyond issuing fines and citations the agency has little power to force businesses into compliance. And other state agencies havent stepped in. Liz Merah, a spokesperson for the governor, said in January that businesses that violated the states COVID-19 safety standards could be charged with Class C misdemeanors, but also acknowledged the state hadnt taken that approach to force businesses into compliance, instead relying on an education-first approach. Still, Wood said he believes the threat of fines from Oregon OSHA are effective in encouraging most employers to adhere to safety guidelines. I do believe that our penalties and awareness of them have an effect on other employers who may be wavering in their decision to follow the closure orders and to require the use of facial coverings, Wood said. The penalty serves a purpose both to try to address the future behavior of that particular employer, but its also intended to address the behavior of other employers. But Kate Suisman, an attorney at the Northwest Workers Justice Project, which supports low-wage and immigrant workers, said employees arent seeing businesses held accountable when they flout safety regulations. She said the workers she supports feel disillusioned with the system and that has made them less willing to speak up about safety violations. Workers know the whole system isnt going to bring them satisfaction, Suisman said. What they want is for their employer to change their practices, but workers have given up on that during the pandemic. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg Clarification: The original headline, Oregon has yet to collect any money from businesses fined for flouting COVID-19 safety rules, has been changed to emphasize that the uncollected fines are from businesses that willfully violated COVID-19 safety regulations. Photo: Contributed My hubby, Martin, and I have always made a big deal about Oscar night. We do much planning and research, culminating in a celebration with close friends and festive food. You are probably thinking we are a bit nuts. Why would we want to make a big deal about the Oscars, another award show in a whole season of them, like another silly not-so-real reality show. Well, perhaps if I give you some background, you can better understand our point of view I grew up in the film business. Most of the sets I visited over the years were for the small screen, but my Dad did work on a few feature films. I loved the smoke and mirrors the magic of how a story came together and was conveyed onto the screen. I used to dream of seeing my father accept an Oscar when I was little. The crews of people I got to know over the years were like family, all helping to make the magic of movies happen. Recognizing those people was important; it made the magic even more real. Martin and I share another link to the world of film: we met in the movie business. We were both cooking for film crews when we first dated, and we quickly learned a common interest was seeing movies as well as helping to make them. Over the years, we have seen films on birthdays, on vacation, on the night we got engaged, and even on our first night of married life. So, to say that movies hold a fond spot in our hearts is certainly not a stretch. This year the movies we have seen have been at home, just the two of us. The last time we were in a theatre was March 12, 2020. The Oscars will not be the same show, but we will still be celebrating another year of magic on the screen and another year together. In the spirit of keeping some traditions alive, I offer up some tips my wonderful chef hubby included when we wrote about our Oscar festivities way back in 2007. He Says: This weekend we will drive to Calgary to visit some friends and enjoy the Oscars with them. Just like the big movie stars in California, we will dress up, kick back and cheer for our favourite movies, congratulating the winners and celebrating so many great memories. I thought I would give you recipes for a few simple appies, in case you are planning to watch the show, too. Stuffed Mushrooms: Take a white mushroom, remove the foot with a melon baller and stuff it with a mixture of crab meat, mayonnaise, and Cajun spices. Bake on a tray in a 350F oven, around 20 minutes. Sausages on a Crouton Grill some nice Hungarian sausages (in Kelowna, Illichmans Deli has tasty ones). Slice them thin and place them on a piece of fresh baguette with a chipotle mayonnaise or horseradish mustard. Citrus Thai Prawns Choose medium prawns (21/25 per pound, 3-4 prawns per person.) Grate the rind of 1 lemon and 1 lime on raw, peeled prawns, four hours ahead of time to marinate them. In a large pan, start cooking your prawns. Once they are almost finished cooking, add some green curry paste, the juice of a lime and a few handfuls of cilantro. Smoked Salmon Tarts Buy some mini tart shells and fill them up with some cooked shredded smoked salmon. Add some fresh whipping cream mixed with a bit of Parmesan on the salmon, and top the whole thing with some more parmesan cheese. Bake in a 375F oven until done, around 12 minutes (pastry should be golden and filling bubbling). Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, the union government decided to grant full exemption from basic customs duty and health cess on import of oxygen-related equipment for a period of three months with immediate effect. "The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," said the government on Saturday. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Principal Secretary to the PM, and other senior officials. He was told that basic customs duty was exempted on Remdesivir and its API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) recently, and a suggestion was made that the import of equipment related to providing oxygen to patients needs to be expedited, the government statement said, announcing the measures. The Prime Minister emphasised that there was an immediate need to augment the supply of medical grade oxygen as well as equipment required for patient care both at home and in hospitals. During the meeting, the government also decided that basic customs duty on import of Covid vaccines be exempted with immediate effect for a period of 3 months. "Modi stressed that all ministries and departments need to work in synergy to increase availability of oxygen and medical supplies," the government said in an official statement. The items to benefit from the decision include medical grade oxygen, oxygen concentrator along with flow meter, regulator, connectors and tubing vacuum pressure swing Alabsorption (VPSA) and pressure swing absorption (PSA) oxygen plants, cryogenic oxygen air separation units (ASUs) producing liquid/ gaseous oxygen. Oxygen cannister, oxygen filling systems, oxygen storage tanks, oxygen cylinders, including cryogenic cylinders and tanks besides any other device from which oxygen can be generated are among several other items under this category. The statement noted that the government has taken a lot of measures in the last few days to improve supply of oxygen and medical supplies. "IAF planes are bringing in cryogenic oxygen tanks from Singapore. IAF is also transporting oxygen tanks in the country to reduce travel times. Similarly, in a major decision yesterday, free food grains will be given 80 crore Indians for the month of May & June," it added. Govt says the above decisions will boost availability of these items as well as make them cheaper. The PM directed the revenue department to ensure seamless and quick custom clearance of such equipment. Accordingly, the Department of Revenue has nominated Gaurav Masaldan, Joint Secretary, Customs, as the nodal officer for issues related to customs clearance for the above-mentioned items. India on Saturday reported a world record of 346,786 fresh infections, taking the cumulative caseload to 16,610,481. The country also saw 2,624 deaths in highest single-day spike as hospitals and patients gasp for oxygen and plead for supplies. Patton is a 1969 epic biographical film that was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and won as many as seven Academy Awards, among other accolades. The movie was critically acclaimed for its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance. Read along and find out where was Patton filmed? Where was Patton filmed? According to IMDb, The movie which was based on the Patton: Ordeal and Triumph biography was shot in various parts of Spain, Morroco, Italy as well as the UK and the USA. The list of location where the movie was filmed in Spain include Cabo de Gata, Sierra de Urbasa, La Granja, Almeria, Royal Palace of Madrid, Tabernas, La Alcazaba and La Granja de San Ildefonso. In the UK the movie has sequences shot at Over Peover in Cheshire, while some were shot at Timgad, Algeria. The scenes which were filmed in Morocco were at Volubilis, Casablanca, and Rabat. The iconic opening scene which features the monologue by George Scott was shot at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in Downtown LA, California. More about Patton The movie is a biopic based on the life of U.S. General George S. Patton and his times during World War II. Patton stars George C. Scott as Patton with Karl Malden as General Omar Bradley and was directed by Schaffner for a script penned by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North. The scribes took inspiration from Patton: Ordeal and Triumph authored by Ladislas Farago as well as Bradley's memoir, A Soldier's Story. Patton bagged not one or two but a total of seven Academy Awards which included Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Design; however Scott who won the Best Actor award declined from taking it because he didn't agree with the idea of actors being pitted against each other. In the year 2003, the film was selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved at the United States National Film Registry for being culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. The Academy Film Archive also preserved the film in 2003. Patton had music by Jerry Goldsmith, along with cinematography Fred J. Koenekamp and editing by Hugh Fowler. Promo Image Courtesy: Still from Patton 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. Karren Brady has revealed that insults were flying at a meeting of the 14 Premier League clubs left behind by the attempted European Super League breakaway. While UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin described those executives involved in the project as 'snakes', the West Ham vice-chairman said they were called far worse at the emergency summit. Brady says 'trust has been vanquished' between the Premier League's self-styled 'big six' and the rest of the league, despite the collapse of the proposals following a furious backlash. West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady has described how executives at the 'Big Six' clubs were slammed by the other 14 Premier League sides at a meeting on Tuesday Fans at the clubs involved in the attempted Super League breakaway helped sink the plans The six Premier League clubs who'd signed up were forced into a humiliating retreat The sextet of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur joined three Spanish and three Italian clubs in signing up for the European Super League. Backed by 3.5billion of funding from the Wall Street bank JP Morgan, they wanted to break away from UEFA's Champions League and Europa League to form a more lucrative competition. It would have seriously devalued the Premier League and other domestic competitions across Europe even though the 12 clubs intended to continue playing in them. But after it became clear that supporters and even players and managers opposed the idea, all six English clubs withdrew on Tuesday evening. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin described those seeking to break away as 'snakes' Brady revealed some of the insults aimed at them during the meeting were worse than that However, that wasn't before the other 14 top-flight clubs resolved to fight the Super League every step of the way in their meeting on Tuesday. Writing in The Sun, Brady said: 'I watched four of the six give apologies to their fans and players for being part of the money cartel and wondered where the apology was to their colleagues in the Premier League, as well as all our managers, players and fans. 'The crime was great. All six clubs pretended to be working for the best interests of the Premier League they were plotting to destroy. 'No wonder UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin called them snakes. 'At last Tuesday's meeting of the other 14 clubs, I can assure you they were called worse.' Juventus president Andrea Agnelli (left) was one of those called a 'snake' by Ceferin (right) Although the breakaway plan has failed, Brady says it will take a long time for the six clubs to regain the trust and co-operation of the other 14 in the division. She added: 'Trust has been vanquished. In future, how could my board ever ask one of them to represent the best interests of the Premier League and West Ham on a committee or working group?' The 14 clubs who were almost left behind are West Ham, Leicester, Everton, Leeds, Aston Villa, Wolves, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Newcastle, Brighton, Burnley, Fulham, West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United. Ceferin took aim at Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli for leading the planned breakaway when the news broke on Sunday. He said: 'We might be naive in not knowing we have snakes close to us. Now we do.' The Biden administration has came under intense pressure from various quarters, including the powerful US Chambers of Commerce, lawmakers and eminent Indian-Americans, to ship AstraZeneca and other Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines along with several life-saving medical supplies to India, which is witnessing a deadly surge in coronavirus cases. "As the Covid pandemic inflicts a heavy toll on countries around the globe, the US Chamber strongly encourages the administration to release the millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses in storage - as well as other life-saving support - for shipment to India, Brazil, and other nations hard-hit by the pandemic," said Myron Brilliante, executive vice president and head of international affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce. He said these vaccine doses will not be needed in the United States, where it's estimated that vaccine manufacturers will be able to produce enough doses by early June to inoculate every American. "This move would affirm US leadership, including in initiatives such as COVAX, and as we work with partners around the globe because no one is safe from the pandemic until we are all safe from it," Brilliante said. The US Chambers issued the statement after Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar sought global help in fight against Covid-19. Will strive to ensure that our supply chains are as smooth as possible in a difficult global situation. The world must support India, as India helps the world, he said in a tweet. US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter told reporters that the United States continues to work closely with India to facilitate the movement of essential supplies and also address the bottlenecks of the supply chains. The Covid-19 situation in India is a global concern, she said. "We also continue to collaborate with our partners in India to battle this at the highest level. We know Secretary (of State, Tony) Blinken spoke to his counterpart on Tuesday and we remain deeply engaged with India at all levels as we work to combat this crisis of the pandemic together," Porter said. Congresswoman Rashida Talib tweeted that the Covid-19 crisis in India is a harsh reminder that the pandemic is not over until the whole world is safe. President Biden must support a patent waiver to ramp up global production now, she said. As we look to our Indian friends battling this pandemic, we'll also acknowledge the toll that it's taking, not only on the people of India, but as well as all throughout South Asia and, quite frankly, all over the world, Porter said. The Washington Post in a lead editorial hoped that all of India can seize the moment and begin to reverse the course of this disaster. India is not a faraway problem. In pandemic time and distance, every place is nearby, it said. Major Democratic fundraiser for the Biden's presidential campaign Shekar Narasimhan urged the US President to speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have to do something in the face of a humanitarian disaster. Every friend I know in the US with family in India reports that relatives have died or been affected, he said. "President please speak to Prime Minister and see if we can lend 10M doses of AZ vaccine like tomorrow. We must help now!" he said. Also read: European Union to sign world's largest vaccine deal with Pfizer Home death sparks outcry over bed shortages BANGKOK: The death of an 85-year-old while waiting at home to be admitted to hospital for COVID-19 treatment has sparked a public outcry over bed shortages for virus patients. COVID-19Coronavirushealthdeath By Bangkok Post Saturday 24 April 2021, 09:55AM An elderly woman from Bang Kholaem district (right) begs for someone to help her gravely ill sister get hospital treatment. Photo: Drama-addict Facebook page The woman, who died on Thursday, was among six elderly members of a family living in a shop house in Bang Kholaem district of Bangkok struck by the virus, reports the Bangkok Post. Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Friday (Apr 23) said he was sorry for the death. Although insisting the Public Health Ministry is trying its best in working to coordinate COVID-19 hospital admissions with available beds, Mr Anutin promised the ministry will work harder to find space for those in most need. On Thursday, Drama-addict, a popular Facebook page run by a doctor, posted a plea by a relative of the family, who lives on Soi Charoen Rat 5, for help in finding hospital beds. Three of the six had already been sent to the hospital in an ambulance, while the other three, including the 85-year-old patient who later died, had been left at home, according to the Facebook page. The author later updated the post saying the 85-year-old had died and an ambulance was on its way to pick up the other two, who were 70 and 75 years old. Im not exaggerating. But this is exactly what happened in Italy in the first wave of Covid-19 there. And as the healthcare system fails, not only those infected with Covid-19 will be dying but also other patients with critical health conditions, wrote the Facebook page administrator. The body of the dead patient was transported for funeral arrangements immediately after the death on Thursday night, according to a source. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration was alerted to the first COVID-19 infection in the family, an 89-year-old, before the Songkran holiday, said the source. It is unclear what action was taken. Netizens slammed authorities over the care given to the family and warned that unless action is taken, home deaths could follow the same sharp upward curve seen in other countries at similar stages of the outbreak. On the 1970s classic television comedy Good Times, the shows biggest draw and reason for its popularity was its star Jimmie Walker. Walker played J.J. Evans, the eldest son of James and Florida Evans portrayed by John Amos and Esther Rolle. As much as executive producer Norman Lear supported the program, there was one part of it that Walker said the All in the Family creator had a difficult time accepting. Jimmie Walker and Janet Jackson of Good Times, 1978 | CBS/Getty Images Some of Walkers co-stars did not like working with him The J.J. Evans actor told the Television Academy Foundation that he and his on-screen parents did not have a friendly camaraderie on the shows set. I dont remember ever speaking a word to Esther the whole time she was there, Walker said. I think the same basically goes for John. We talk more now, a little bit, but very, very little. We were never friends, we never talked. If you said at that time Call Esther and ask her about [anything], I wouldnt even have her number. We never spoke to each other. Only on the set. Lear wished Amos and Rolle had been more welcoming to Walker The shows producer in his memoir Even This I Get to Experience wrote of the shows stars undisguised dislike of Walker, his style of acting, and especially the catchphrases of his that they seemed embarrassed by. J.J.s popularity with the largely Black audiences that came to the tapings was a friendly, joyful distraction to the company, but a great annoyance to to [Amos and Rolle], Lear wrote. Frankly, they hated it. And as sensitive to these fine actors as he was, Jimmie knew how they felt and it tore him up inside. That caused him to be more of what they hated on the outside, to the point where the press began calling him a stereotype. RELATED: Good Times: What Fans Had to Say About Live in Front of a Studio Audience Lear hoped during the shows run that Amos and Rolle would have embraced Walker more. As he saw it, their rejection of Walker as an actor caused an unacknowledged rift in the cast. Had John and Esther thrown their arms around this wild but tender talent and been grateful for what he brought to the show, so hungry for their respect and kindness was Jimmie that they could have owned the lad and helped him to mature, to become more an actor and less a type, the producer added. Lear really hated Walkers J.J.-isms Walker created a few memorable catchphrases on the show, such as Dyn-no-mite, and Well you know, what can I say? The actor said that it was director John Rich who encouraged him to throw himself fully into saying Dy-no-mite! as frequently as possible, to Lears immense displeasure. Thats when all hell broke loose, Walker said. Because we were doing it like two or three times a show, and Norman said, I dont know what it means, I dont know what its about, I dont know where it comes from, its the stupidest thing Ive ever seen. I hate it.' Lear campaigned to get rid of Dy-no-mite! The cast also detested the phrase and refused to be on the stage when Walker uttered it. [Director] John Rich went to the mat for it, Walker continued. He could talk to Norman like this; he said, Norman youre an a****le. This thing works. This is fabulous. So what they did was, to calm everything down was they said Its only going to be once a show.' Once a show was still too often for Lear, who was willing to have the word said once every other show but Rich stood his ground. No, its going to be once a show,' Walker quoted Rich as telling Lear. [Dy-no-mite!] became the bane of Norman Lears existence. Labour today wielded Dominic Cummings's explosive blogpost to demand an investigation into Boris Johnson's refurbishment of his Downing Street flat. No10's former chief adviser yesterday claimed to have warned the Prime Minister that using Tory donations to foot the costs of the renovation was 'possibly illegal'. Sir Keir Starmer said: 'Publish the details, have the full inquiry. If there's nothing to see here... have a full inquiry. Every day there's more evidence of this sleaze and frankly it stinks.' Shadow cabinet minister Rachael Reeves this morning wrote to Mr Johnson with 14 questions Labour wants answered, including why he did not pay for the renovations himself 'from the outset'. Labour today wielded Dominic Cummings's explosive blogpost to demand Boris Johnson comes clean about the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat Shadow cabinet minister Rachael Reeves has written to Mr Johnson with 14 questions Labour wants answered, including why he did not pay for the renovations himself 'from the outset' A statement from the Cabinet Office yesterday revealed Mr Johnson has repaid the 58,000 donated by Tory peer Lord Brownlow of Shurlock Row. It came before Mr Cummings launched a devastating attack on his old boss that poured petrol on to the row over the No11 flat decor scandal. Mr Cummings said: 'The PM stopped speaking to me about this matter in 2020 as I told him I thought his plans to have donors secretly pay for the renovation were unethical, foolish, possibly illegal and almost certainly broke the rules on proper disclosure of political donations if conducted in the way he intended.' Downing Street said that the Government and ministers had 'acted in accordance with the appropriate codes of conduct and electoral law' throughout. But Ms Reeves accused the PM of 'ignoring repeated questions on basic transparency'. The shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster added: 'Throughout the course of the last year the Government has been repeatedly evasive about who has been paying for the refurbishment of the flat.' It came before Mr Cummings launched a devastating attack on his old boss that poured petrol on to the row over the No11 flat decor scandal The total cost of the work on the Downing Street flat overhaul is believed to be a five-figure sum This month leaked emails revealed that Lord Brownlow had gifted the Tory party 58,000 that was earmarked for the renovation of the No11 flat Mr Johnson shares with his fiancee Carrie Symonds and their son Wilfred. Lord Browlow wrote to the party's head of fundraising, Mike Chattey that '58,000 to cover the payments the party has already made on behalf of the soon to be formed 'Downing Street Trust' - of which I have been made chairman, as you know.' No such trust has yet been created and the Electoral Commission is in talks with the party about the donations. A commission spokeswoman said: 'Discussions with the Conservative Party continue as we work to establish whether any sums relating to the works at 11 Downing Street fall within the regime regulated by the commission, and therefore need to be reported and subsequently published. The party is working with us on this.' This morning former attorney general Dominic Grieve said: 'Ministers cannot accept gifts in their ministerial capacity, and the refurbishment of his flat clearly is in his ministerial capacity. 'And if it really is 58,000 I'm not surprised he's paying it back.' He added: 'My impression is that there's been constant wriggling about the source of the money, and that's just one illustration of the chaos Mr Johnson seems to be bringing in his wake and the reason for that is that he's a vacuum of integrity.' Nicola Sturgeon said in a statement issued on Saturday: 'The stench of sleaze that is surrounding this UK Tory Government is becoming quite overpowering. 'There are very serious allegations being levelled at Boris Johnson and his Government, including by people who worked closely inside it. 'As someone who has recently been subject to far reaching inquiries and scrutiny, a thorough investigation is needed here given the range and seriousness of the allegations.' 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 [April 24, 2021] Breaking News: John Helms Dallas Criminal Defense Attorney Weighs in on North Texas Attorney Accused in Drug Money Laundering Scheme Dallas, TX , April 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A prominent attorney with a high-rise office in Downtown Dallas has been arrested and charged in a drug money laundering investigation. According to a federal criminal complaint, 51-year-old Ray Jackson was caught in an undercover DEA sting laundering nearly $400,000. The complaint states the DEA started a sting after an opioid dealer they were investigating told them he used Jackson to launder money. That dealer reportedly took undercover agents posing as drug traffickers to Jacksons law office, and then Jackson started laundering money for the undercover agents he thought were drug traffickers. Investigators said Jackson deposited nearly $300,000 to an undercover DEA account last year. Jackson was released on bond Friday after an initial court appearance at the Earle Cabell Federal Building in Downtown Dallas on money laundering charges. Its the same courthouse he's represented clients as a defense attorney, including Don Hill, the late Dallas City Council member who went to prison after a 2009 bribery and corruption conviction. And Jackson has appeared on FOX 4 as a guest legal analyst on several cases, including the Amber Guyger police shooting trial. Jackson is also a current member of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors. "Is it clear what he is being asked to do is launder money, instead of rendering some sort of services, or to help a client with a transaction," John Helms said. * Helms is a former assistant U.S. attorney who is not involved with this case. He said investigators gave more details than usual. "They think they have a lot of evidence that this was really a corrupt deal," he explained. Court documents state the drug dealer and undercover agent posing as an opioid drug trafficker met in Jacksons Downtown Dallas office last year. The court documents state that while discussing the deal, the undercover agent told Jackson: "Its straight dope money," Documents state that Jackson replied: "I dont care where the money comes from." Investigatorssaid the two negotiated a 4% fee and bonus. Court documents show that Jackson suggested setting up a "shell corporation," and the pair agreed on a $100,000 trial run. Investigators said Jackson asked: "I can get out at any point, right? Long as yall got your money?" The undercover agent replied: "When you are ready to be done, then were going to be done." Investigators said the following month, a Jackson law firm bank account made three deposits to an undercover DEA account totaling $95,000. Court documents stated that three months later, the Jackson law firm bank account made 11 more deposits, totaling $285,000. FOX 4 called and emailed the attorney representing Jackson, and are still waiting for a comment about the allegations. "Attorneys swear an oath to conduct themselves with integrity and uphold the rule of law. Mr. Jackson instead chose to ignore his oath by allegedly laundering money for purported narcotics dealers," said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah. "He explicitly instructed them on how to further violate the law and profit from the devastation of our nations opioid epidemic, lining his own pockets in the process. He will now have to face the consequences of his actions." "As alleged, Mr. Jackson used his law degree not in the furtherance of justice, but to line his own pockets, a true travesty of the law. The DEA will tirelessly investigate and seek justice for drug money launderers, who enable criminal organizations to profit from those who find themselves addicted to controlled substances," said Eduardo A. Chavez, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA in Dallas. Jackson was featured on FOX 4 in 2015 after publishing his first novel "Lone Justice." He's was also appointed by the Dallas City Council to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit board of directors in 2017, according to the agency's website. He was released from jail after posting bond and surrendering his passport. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each transaction. *(based on the complaint) Media Contact: R. William 214-666-8010 https://johnhelms.attorney Content Disclaimer: The above review statements are those of the sponsor (Source of content) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or views of the content publisher. 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[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] | By Alex Likowski Grief, the experts tell us, is not an emotion like sadness, but a process by which we come to terms with loss. Seen through that lens, in different ways and for different reasons, we are all grieving right now. Certainly, the families and friends of the 570,000 Americans who have died in this pandemic are suffering the greatest loss. Many of them were unable even to provide comfort in sickness or to be present at the end of life. And the need for social distancing has prevented or at least impeded the group rituals and practices like vigils for the dying and funerals that provide guidance and reassurance for survivors. Funerals held via Zoom, while not uncommon today, cant offer the same depth of emotional support. (l-r) John Cagle and Susan Carole Roy About 31 million more Americans contracted COVID and survived. But there, too, is loss. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted as early as last July that prolonged symptom duration and disability are common in adults hospitalized with severe coronavirus disease. As many as 80 percent of patients continue to have bothersome symptoms three months after the onset of COVID-19. A smaller, but troubling subset of survivors the so-called long-haulers may suffer from fatigue, body aches, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating, inability to exercise, headache, and difficulty sleeping. Without certainty when or if those symptoms will subside, they are left in an emotional limbo, mourning the loss of the lives they knew. Another group particularly hard hit are health care workers. A recent article in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management calls health care workers witnesses and victims both and cautions that special attention must be paid to our Health Care Worker (HCW) trainees, who may have not yet developed personal or professional grief management strategies and are coming into health care practice during a time of great disruption to both teaching and clinical care. In an interview with USA Today, David Kessler, the founder of Grief.com, put it this way: Theyre [HCWs] always second-guessing themselves, wondering if they could do more. Nurses and doctors are seeing multiple deaths in a day, and theyre sitting with the anguish of the families. No one has been trained for this much death. Even those lucky enough to have never been directly impacted by COVID have experienced the loss of gatherings with family, social networks, freedom to travel, in-person classrooms, financial security, and even a feeling of safety and confidence about the future. Writing in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, researchers from Rice University caution that the effects of grief, particularly long-term or complicated grief, may be as physically damaging as any disease. Among the list of grief-induced maladies are trouble sleeping, higher blood pressure, depression, even serious inflammation. So, what is to be done? We have experienced loss, but the experience is not over. How can we process our loss, make sense of it, or at least reconcile it so we can move forward and live the best lives we can? And what can we do for our patients, colleagues, and families to help them? On the April 22 edition of Virtual Face to Face with President Bruce Jarrell, substitute host and the Bill and Joanne Conway Dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing Jane M. Kirschling, PhD, RN, FAAN, explored these issues with two guest experts. Rev. Susan Carole Roy, DMin, BCC, is director of pastoral care services at the University of Maryland Medical Center. She has served in that role for nearly 24 years, providing spiritual care, crisis intervention, family conferences, consultation on end-of-life issues, and help with treatment decisions. Roy was joined by John Cagle, PhD, MSW, associate professor in the University of Maryland School of Social Work. His work has focused on end-of-life, hospice, and palliative care issues, identifying effective models of care and support for dying patients and their families and implementing those models into routine clinical practice. His research is informed by nearly a decade of clinical work as a hospice social worker. Watch their discussion, including questions from the audience, by accessing the link at the top of this page. (Natural News) TV journalists are carrying water for Democrats by framing the new Georgia election security law as a racist roll-back of voting rights. But they deliberately mislead audiences about the numerous ways in which the bill actually expands voting access in the state. (Article by Bill DAgostino republished from NewsBusters.org) Watch the video below for a breakdown of how the media are failing in their duty to cover the new law fairly: Here are some of the most common complaints about the bill youll hear from the news media: ? Claim: The bill restricts ballot drop boxes. Before this bill was passed, Georgia had no law requiring ballot drop boxes anywhere in the state. Thus, the bill actually establishes drop boxes, rather than reducing them. While its true that the bill includes an upward limit on how many can be available in the state, this does not represent a reduction. ? Claim: It creates new voter ID requirements. Voters in Georgia were already required to show ID in order to vote in person. This law simply replaces the outdated (and sometimes inaccurate) practice signature-matching for absentee ballots. Instead, under the new law absentee ballots are verified with a voters identification card number. And those cards are provided for free to any voter who needs one. ? Claim: The law makes it illegal to give food or water to voters waiting in line. This change eliminates a loophole in existing Georgia laws against electioneering. In the past, there have been instances in the state of Democrat activists engaging in line-warming by handing out freebies to people waiting to vote. This change addresses that, while still allowing vendors to set up food trucks and all manner of refreshments outside polling locations as long as theyre 150 feet away from the polls. ? Claim: The bill is designed to make it harder for minorities to vote. This is the most absurd of the bunch. Aside from the medias (arguably racist) suggestion that its unfair to expect people of color to own ID, its hard to get anyone to explain how this bill even targets minorities. Thats probably because it doesnt. Obviously there is no provision in the bill that references race, or even alludes to it. Read more at: NewsBusters.org and MediaFactWatch.com. For a Government that launches a leak inquiry at the drop of a plumber's wrench, it's odd that Boris Johnson is so reluctant to find out who leaked a text from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. MBS, as he is known, likes to WhatsApp the powerful when his interests are threatened, and last June lobbied Boris to 'correct' the Premier League's 'wrong' decision not to allow his 300 million take-over of Newcastle United. Boris, the Culture department and the Foreign Office were supportive of the Saudi's demand for a new toy and the PM asked key ally Eddie Lister to get involved. Lister's sudden resignation as Gulf envoy last Friday night should only add to the need to widen the leak inquiry to MBS and not just focus on the PM's texts with James Dyson over ventilators. After all, there are potential national security considerations at stake, considering the allegations by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos that the Crown Prince hacked his phone in 2018 through a WhatsApp message embedded with Israeli-developed spyware called Pegasus. For a Government that launches a leak inquiry at the drop of a plumber's wrench, it's odd that Boris Johnson is so reluctant to find out who leaked a text from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman (pictured) Boris, the Culture department and the Foreign Office were supportive of the Saudi's demand for a new toy and the PM asked key ally Eddie Lister to get involved Details of the affair that ended Bezos's marriage were subsequently leaked to US magazine the National Enquirer. In return, the world's richest man financed a recent documentary on the Saudi royal that contained the hacking claim and the CIA's belief that the future Saudi king authorised the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for the Bezos-owned Washington Post. MBS denies both claims. But his lobbying over Newcastle United needs investigating alongside whether Boris may have exposed himself to hacking by a foreign power or rogue operatives. Asked if the PM's phone has been checked for spyware, Downing Street refused to comment. Asked why the MBS messages leak isn't part of the leak inquiry, No 10 also declined to comment. Meanwhile, Boris refuses to change the phone number he's had for ten years, which, let's face it, is likely to contain compromising details of his liaisons dangereuses. If not for us, do it for Carrie. Long list of questions that saw off Lister... Farewell Eddie Lister. Five days after this column revealed he owns shares in a company that won 1 million in Government and NHS contracts since he joined No 10, the PM's most senior adviser has quit. His brief time as envoy for the 'Gulf and Special Projects' has been marred by questions over his private interests. Farewell Eddie Lister. Five days after this column revealed he owns shares in a company that won 1 million in Government and NHS contracts since he joined No 10, the PM's most senior adviser has quit When appointed, he refused to answer questions about what his consultancy firm did or the identity of its clients. Weeks later, his Lords register of interests revealed its sole client was property giant Delancey, who put him on its payroll as an adviser. But pay cheques from two developers he is also a director of Stanhope on top of a 140,000 Downing Street salary isn't enough for some. I hear the peer was 'shaken' when told he had to turn down a 400,000-a-year job with PR firm Finsbury two weeks ago after The Times asked him questions about it. Funny, then, that last night No 10 insisted Eddie was 'always expected to leave around this time'. Which might seem news to the PM, who, two months ago tasked him with 'unlocking the potential' of the Gulf. And even bigger news to Lister, who must be pining for that 400,000. If you want an insight into how MPs view calls to tighten rules on their second jobs, look no further than George Freeman. The Tory former Health Minister has been rapped for his 'clear' breach of the ministerial code over failing to ask permission before taking paid work last summer for a firm that makes PPE. When I asked him for a comment, the MP was so indignant he threatened to sue the Government over 'prevention of livelihood'. He believed he had a case with the European Court of Human Rights. Poor George, struggling on his 82,000 MP salary, his taxpayer-funded mobile phone, utility bills, travel costs and until recently 2,300 a month rental home. Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a dying cell (blue) heavily infected with SARS-CoV-2 (yellow), the virus that causes COVID-19. Credit: NIAID Integrated Research Facility, Fort Detrick, Maryland. The world hit a new daily record of coronavirus cases due mainly to an explosion of the virus in India, but COVID jabs also approached one billion globally on Saturday, offering hope after months of pandemic misery. Cases topped 893,000 worldwide on Friday, with more than a third of the infections in India. Authorities there announced 332,730 new cases on Friday and another 346,786 on Saturday, also a record for a single country since the start of the pandemic, according to an AFP count. India also reported another 2,624 deaths hours, taking the official toll to nearly 190,000 since the pandemic started. India has become the new pandemic hotspotqueues of COVID-19 patients and their fearful relatives have built up outside hospitals in major citiesand acute shortages of oxygen have been reported from all over the country. A surge blamed on a new virus variant and recent "super spreader" public events has wrought devastation on the country of 1.3 billion, with charities forced to set up makeshift funeral pyres in a bid to reduce the strain on crematoriums. Indian social media and WhatsApp are white-hot with volunteer calls for vacant ICU beds and medicine and the central government is scrambling to organise special trains to get oxygen supplies to worst-hit cities. One 'oxygen express' carrying 30,000 litres of oxygen arrived in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh state at dawn on Saturday, where armed guards were waiting to escort trucks to hospitals. The Indian air force is also being used to transport oxygen tankers and other supplies around the country and to bring oxygen equipment from Singapore. West accelerates rollouts Kuwait and Iran on Saturday restricted flights and passengers from India until further notice. Canada suspended flights from both India and Pakistan for 30 days, while the US State Department urged Americans to avoid travel to India, even if they are vaccinated. The grim scenes out of India were in stark contrast to the quickening vaccine rollouts in much of the western world, with US regulators approving the re-start of a rollout of Johnson & Johnson vaccines halted over blood clotting concerns. The number of jabs is approaching one billion worldwide, according to an AFP count based on official statistics. Health authorities had proposed a halt following instances of severe blood clots among a handful of the millions of Americans who received the jaba decision overturned after an expert panel said the shots' benefits exceeded possible dangers. In Europe, Belgium said Saturday it would authorise the J&J shot for all adults, having already received 36,000 doses and expecting a total of 1.4 million between April and June. Meanwhile the country became an outlier in Europe by saying it would use the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged 41 and over "as soon as possible", where most have restricted it to older people. 'Best thing I have done' "It really is the best thing I've ever done," said 91-year-old British grandmother Margaret Keenan who on December 8 became the first person in the Western world to get an approved coronavirus vaccine. "I'm telling everyone to go and get it... I hope everyone comes forward," she said. Fears over blood clots had also threatened to hamper vaccine roll-out efforts in Europe, where medical regulators said the benefits of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine increase with age and still outweigh the risks for adults despite links to very rare side effects. The news came as the European Union also said it would have enough vaccines to immunise 70 percent of its adult population by the end of July. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen had previously set a goal of late September for the target, but announced the new date during a visit to a Belgian vaccine plant that is ramping up production of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. But despite the optimism the threat of the virus remains ever-present, with Germany set for a tough new lockdown Saturday, including night curfews and school closures, after the government passed a disputed new law designed to slow infections. The controversial new rulespassed this week amid huge protests in Berlinwill apply in all regions with incidence rates of more than 100 new infections per 100,000 people over the last seven days. Mounting cases have also forced Japan to issue a state of emergency in some areas just three months before the Olympics are due to open. The country's minister for virus response, Yasutoshi Nishimura, has warned of a "strong sense of crisis," saying current restrictions were not sufficient. Thai premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha said Saturday that more than 1,400 COVID-19 patients are waiting to be admitted into hospitals, as the kingdom grapples with a spiralling caseload. "If the outbreak becomes more severe, [the government] may consider reducing hospital quarantine for asymptomatic people from 14 days to 10 days," he said in a move intended to free up hospital beds. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Under classical conceptions of monopoly, economists and lawyers often interpreted labor unions as unfair barriers to competition. Instead of allowing employers to freely compete for individual workers, their reasoning went, unions forced them to negotiate with a cartel. In the 1920s, an influential Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises, declared that the entire function of labor unions was to prevent fair competition for wages through the threat of primitive violence against strikebreakers. But under Robinsons framework, it was not unions that created competition problems in the market for labor; instead, labor markets were anti-competitive by their very nature, except in rare, special cases. In effect, she had reimagined competition policy as a labor-rights issue. The problems she exposed were not the excesses of a few over-the-top corporate behemoths, resolved with a few breakups and spinoffs. Monopsony, Robinsons argued, is endemic to the labor market and demands an ongoing regulatory response throughout the economy. By the time Robinson published her landmark book, she was already partnering with another genius at Cambridge, John Maynard Keynes, on what would become The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936. Though the byline went to Keynes, the book was the product of a collaboration between him, his closest aide, Richard Kahn, and Robinson. It would revolutionize economics, providing a new intellectual justification for government budget deficits, relief aid and jobs spending. Like Robinsons work on competition, it emphasized that full employment, another ideal of classical economics, was not a normal product of the market, but rather a rare, special case. A large majority of the time, Keynes and Robinson argued, governments would have to spend money and run deficits to ensure that everyone who wanted a job could have one. As The General Theory guided policymakers through the 20th century, Robinsons work on competition reached a wide audience, but largely through its influence on John Kenneth Galbraith, who incorporated her ideas into his own best-selling books. But with the rise of Milton Friedman in the 1970s, the economics profession once again began invoking the natural harmony of the free market as the cure for social evil. Robinson died in 1983 without ever enjoying the public recognition her male friends received. Today, however, her ideas are enjoying a remarkable renaissance. The renewed influence of The General Theory has been evident in the series of multi-trillion-dollar stimulus bills signed into law over the past year. And a continuing revival of interest in monopsony may prove equally potent. A growing body of empirical literature indicates that Robinsons conceptual insights were correct: Intensifying corporate concentration has suppressed worker wages over the past quarter-century. Imperfect competition is not only real but also appears to be intensifying. The economist Simcha Barkai pegs the figure at about $14,000 a year in lost wages for the typical worker. The conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh cited monopsony in a 2019 ruling against Apple; a recent investigation by House Democrats concluded that Amazon deploys monopsony power and that its warehouses tend to depress wages for warehouse and logistics workers when they enter a local market. In an era of historically weak organized labor and the accelerating concentration of job opportunities in a few big cities, much of the country faces a decline in potential buyers of labor and limited opportunities for redress through collective bargaining. Economists are growing increasingly comfortable with the idea that large government budget deficits are not merely an emergency measure, but a normal part of a high-functioning economy. The same must be understood for regulation to ensure that workers are fully paid what they deserve. Joan Robinson is, at long last, getting her due. Mr. Carter is a writer in residence with the Omidyar Network and the author of The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. Wed like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. OShea got about three or four complaints in one week, most of them with secondhand knowledge of the situation, he said. But in reaching out about the concerns, he saw that clearly there was something there. It's been almost a year since their royal wedding day, and Princess Beatrice and her new husband are clearly still in the honeymoon phase. The Queen's granddaughter, 32, and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 36, were spotted enjoying dinner at the exclusive members club George in Mayfair last night before hopping into a taxi home. Beatrice opted for a casual look in a head-to-toe black ensemble which she accessorised with black boots, while Edo looked smart in a simple navy suit, white shirt and black coat. The couple appeared smitten as they enjoyed dinner on the terrace at the club, with Beatrice beaming as she chatted to her husband. The Queen's granddaughter, 32, and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi , 36, were spotted enjoying dinner at the exclusive members club George in Mayfair last night before hopping into a taxi home Beatrice could be seen sipping on a glass of wine while chatting with her husband on the date night yesterday Beatrice opted for a casual look in a head-to-toe black ensemble which she accessorised with black boots, while Edo looked smart in a simple navy suit and white shirt The VIP visitor wore her hair in loose curls which were brushed back into a loose side parting, keeping her makeup to a minimum. The couple could be seen chatting animatedly, before stepping out of the club and climbing into a taxi. Once in the taxi, Edo could be seen carrying a colourful yellow present wrapped with an orange ribbon. While it is not Princess Beatrice or Edo's birthday in the next few months, Edo's son Woolfie's fifth birthday was last month. The Queen's granddaughter appeared to chat animatedly to her husband during the dinner as they enjoyed al fresco dining in Mayfair The Queen's granddaughter, who married Edo in a small ceremony last July, beamed at her husband during the intimate dinner It is not known whether Beatrice is a member of the exclusive club - which counts the likes of David Cameron among its regulars and costs more than 750 a year - or just a guest. Infamous for its strict dress code, t-shirts, leggings and flip flops are strictly banned for female guests while men are forbidden from sporting untucked shirts. A bottle of wine can cost as much as 28 a glass, while one bottle of vintage champagne is priced at an eye-watering 700. She has been spotted at the club in the past, and was seen leaving the exclusive bar at 2.30am the week of her sister Eugenie's royal wedding. It is not known whether Beatrice is a member of the exclusive club - which counts the likes of David Cameron among its regulars and costs more than 750 a year - or just a guest The night out comes after a difficult period for the couple, as the royal family came to the official end of the mourning period for Beatrice's grandfather Prince Philip. Edo joined Beatrice for the funeral last week, marking his first royal ceremony since the couple tied the knot last summer. Beatrice wore a long collared jacket, believed to be a custom Claire Mischevani coat, as she attended St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, accompanied by her husband for the funeral last weekend. She paired her sophisticated ensemble with a round hat embellished with a large black bow and a pair of understated stiletto heels as she joined her family to mourn the loss of the late Duke of Edinburgh. While it is unknown if the couple dined with others during their evening at the club, Edo left holding a present wrapped in yellow dinosaur wrapping paper Meanwhile Princess Beatrice broke social distancing rules by hugging someone just outside the club while leaving Beatrice and her husband joined other royals outside St George's Chapel ahead of the funeral, including her younger sister Princess Eugenie, her husband Jack Brooksbank, Kate Middleton and Zara and Mike Tindall. The couple then entered St George's Chapel and sat alongside Eugenie, 31, and her husband Jack, as well as Zara and Mike - both of which have recently welcomed baby boy's who they named after Prince Philip - for the emotional ceremony. Days earlier, Princess Beatrice shared a lesson she learned from her grandfather at her final public appearance before his death - explaining how he encouraged her not to become 'obsessed with solutions' and to focus on the journey to get there instead. A handful of Bunnings workers on TikTok have surprised shoppers by revealing the hardware giant's signature price signs are handwritten in black marker. 'Not the best sign writer,' one Northern Territory based worker said, before showing herself dancing in the aisles after getting the job done. Another labelled her own work 'perfection' after etching an eye-catching sign for an $85 tub of water based enamel. Ryan Baker, Bunnings General Manager of Operations, has revealed a unique calligraphy style is taught to all employees when it comes to sign-writing Much like their famous sausage sizzles, Bunnings' orange signs with black markers (pictured) displaying in-store bargains are looked at fondly Ryan Baker, Bunnings General Manager of Operations, told news.com.au that the unique calligraphy style is taught to all employees. 'All team members can hand write approved signage, but some may do this more regularly than others,' he said. And if the posts on social media are any guide, the challenge of signage perfection motivates many Bunnings staff. TikTok followers were quick to praise the creative genius of those on the payroll at Bunnings. One said watching the staff get to work was 'pleasing on the eye', while another 'couldn't believe' the staff hand draw the signs. Another was in equal disbelief, previously believing the flashy signs were printed. Bunnings was founded in 1886, by two brothers who moved to Australia from the United Kingdom. The first warehouse style store was opened in Victoria in 1994. The chain currently has 295 stores in Australia, New Zealand and the UK with over 31,000 employees. KYODO NEWS - Apr 24, 2021 - 00:06 | World, All, Japan The Japanese ambassador to Myanmar spoke with a Japanese journalist detained in the country by phone on Friday and confirmed that he is in good health, an embassy official said. Yuki Kitazumi, 45, was arrested and taken from his home in Myanmar's largest city Yangon on Sunday and is being held in prison for allegedly spreading "fake news" after covering protests against the military that seized power in a February coup. The Yangon prison where he is being held is known for housing political prisoners. During the phone conversation with Ambassador Ichiro Maruyama on Friday afternoon, the first direct contact with him since his arrest, Kitazumi said, "I have not been treated improperly," according to the official. The embassy called for Myanmar authorities to release him soon, the official said, adding that no in-person meeting was granted due to anti-coronavirus measures. A freelance journalist who previously worked at the Tokyo-based Nikkei business daily, Kitazumi has been writing about the protests for Japanese media outlets and posting about the situation on social media. He was also briefly detained by security forces while covering a protest in Yangon on Feb. 26. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Chinese authorities have sent three Vietnamese pregnant women back to their homeland after detecting their illegal entry for the purpose of selling their newborns after birth. Law enforcement officers in Nghe An Province on Saturday morning said they were coordinating with the Blue Dragon Childrens Foundation and police of Nghe Ans Ky Son District to hand over three local women to their families. These pregnant women are of the Kho Mu ethnic group, including Ven Me Trang, 33, Lu Thi Nhung, 18, and Moong Thi Sen, 26, Nghe An Online newspaper reported. Of these women, Sen have entered the ninth month of pregnancy while Trang and Nhung have been pregnant for seven and five months, respectively. All the three women suffered difficult circumstances before illegally crossing the border to China, local police said. Trang could not raise her child after her husband died of a fatal illness. Meanwhile, Nhung got pregnant with her boyfriend, but their families did not approve their marriage. As for Sen, she got pregnant with a man but he abandoned her after knowing her pregnancy. They then decided to illegally cross the border to China to sell their newborn babies after birth under the arrangements of some brokers. The broker for Sen and Trang is 35-year-old Ven Thi Son, while that for Nhung is Luong Thi San, 29. Both Son and San married to Chinese men and have lived in China for many years, according to police information. The three women left Vietnam separately in late March and they met in the Chinese province of Guangxi on April 1. When they were waiting for moving to another Chinese locality, local authorities detected and kept them in custody. After the three women had completed the required period of medical quarantine for COVID-19 prevention, Chinese authorities handed them over to their Vietnamese counterparts. In 2019, the Peoples Committee of Nghe An Province issued documents requesting measures to be taken to boost the prevention of human trafficking. The provincial authorities warned that human traffickers often incited pregnant women of six to eight months who are minority ethnic people living in mountainous areas to go to China for selling their future babies. By November 2018, 25 pregnant women of ethnic minority groups in Ky Son District had left for China for giving birth and six of them had sold their newborns for VND80-140 million (US$3,500 - 6,100) per baby, local police said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Russia is planning to leave NASA's International Space Station (ISS) and has begun building its own amid reports of renewed tensions between the eastern country and the United States. The news comes after Moscow expressed intentions to leave the ISS program and told Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscosmos) to build an equivalent space station. Russia's Decision to Leave the International Space Station Program Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov had recently expressed the country's intentions to leave the ISS program in 2025 but defended that it is not driven by political reasons. FirstPost reported on Apr. 23 that Roscosmos, the country's very own space agency, said that the decision is due to the ISS's age, adding that the decision is not yet final. Russia had boasted its monopoly for manned flights in the past, but Elon Musk's SpaceX took that crown after successfully launching the Crew Dragon capsule to ISS in 2019, and NASA began tapping the American company's rockets in 2020. "When we make a decision we will start negotiations with our partners on forms and conditions of cooperation beyond 2024," the Russian space agency said in a statement. The news is a complete reversal of previous reports of Russia's intent to extend its collaboration with the ISS program. Roscosmos' Progress in Building Russia's Space Station On Apr. 20, a Russian news agency said that Roscosmos had begun building the first base module for the space station. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said that Russia's Energia space corporation is aiming to have the module for the new Russian orbital station "ready for launch" in 2025. The Russian space agency also expressed its intention to launch the orbital space station in 2030 by using repurposed modules first designed for ISS. "If in 2030, in accordance with our plans, we can put it into orbit, it will be a colossal breakthrough," Rogozin said, adding that the Russian orbital space station will be operated differently than the ISS. However, Roscosmos would need to seek approval from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is known to favor military technology over space exploration. Also Read: NASA, SpaceX Completes First Commercial Launch From Historic Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A International Space Station Program: A Quick Recap Launched in 1998, the ISS is one of the most ambitious international collaborations in human history involving the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and the European Space Agency. According to NASA's infographic, the ISS has a wingspan of 104 meters (357 feet), weighing 419,725 kilograms (925,335 pounds), and a habitable area of 388 cubic meters (13,696 feet). It houses four pairs of solar arrays that provide the space station up to 90 kilowatts of power, enabling it to move at a speed of 28,000 kph (17,000 mph). In its 20 years in space, the ISS had hosted more than 3,000 research investigations in the field of space and physical science, human research, biology, and biotechnology, as well as technology development. Related Article: Elon Musk And Roscosmos Head Rogozin Have Friendly Exchange On Twitter This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Leigh Mercer 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It's been more than a year since the Houston Symphony's last Wine Dinner & Collector's Auction. Nearly 15 month ago, 330 patrons feted the "Judgement of Paris Act II"-themed evening onstage at Jones Hall, raising $560,000 for the Symphony's community engagement and educational programming. By Friday night's end at the Astorian, the 20th anniversary "Joie de Vivre: A Celebration of Wine and Music" dinner and auction raised a record $601,000. Quite the accomplishment considering this year's crowd had just over 200 guests -- some 120 fewer than in 2020. The Cesar E. Chavez High School feeder pattern is one beneficiary of those funds. Its goal is to create a robust system of music education within HISD, beginning with Chavez students. About 95% are economically disadvantaged; 78 percent are Hispanic, and 21 percent are Black. The Symphony plans to replicate the string orchestra program that was first established at Lewis Elementary in 2018 at two other elementary schools in 2022 and 2025. By 2028, the plan is to have three, full elementary school string programs, which feed into Ortiz Middle School and the Chavez High School. COVID-19 briefly interrupted the Chavez feeder pattern's 10-year plan. Symphony staff members responded by organizing a drive-in, instrument pick-up day at Lewis Elementary with 30 students receiving violins to continue their practice throughout the pandemic. John Mangum, Margaret Alkek Williams Executive Director/CEO Chair of Houston Symphony, explained how money raised at the Wine Dinner & Collector's Auction funds community-embedded musicians in addition to the Chavez Feeder Pattern's string instruments and string instrument instruction. "We typically bring in $2.5 million from our three signature events: Opening Night, Symphony Ball and the Wine Dinner. Our community engagement and education programs cost $6 million annually," he explained. "Those are audiences that we don't necessarily serve with our Jones Hall concerts. When we look at a map at our ticket buyers, and partner with the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, we can see there are neighborhoods that are not served. These programs reach people from all age groups, from pre-K to senior citizens." It's been a big week for the Symphony on the philanthropy front. On Thursday, the organization and Rice University's Shepherd School of Music announced a new pilot program: the Shepherd School-Houston Symphony Foundation Community-Embedded Musician Fellowship. One student from Rice's graduate program will be awarded the fellowship annually; he or she will apprentice under the guidance of Symphony Community Embedded musicians and community engagement staffers to learn how to best work with children and residents from under-served communities. The fellowship aligns with the Shepherd School's newly-formed task force, Musicians United for Social Equality, which is designed to engage with young musicians from underrepresented groups. The latter strikes a chord with Ann and Jonathan Ayre, chairs of this year's Wine Dinner & Collector's Auction. "I grew up playing the cello, so I've always had a passion for music. I started at a young age," said Ann, a 2020 Houston Chronicle Best Dressed honoree. "Right before lockdown, Jonathan said I should pick up my cello again and practice while we're all at home." Both husband and wife have been attending Houston Symphony concerts since childhood. They've supported the organization as a couple since 2006. "When we first met, Jonathan's family was really into classical music. So one of our first dates was at the Symphony," Ann said. "I've sat on almost every single committee and Jonathan is on the board. We're both legacy members." Her husband grew up playing the piano. "I got far enough to appreciate the skills of people who are very good," he quipped. Abandoned childhood hobbies aside, the Ayres now have great confidence in their palate. "We are huge fans of French wine and food. The last several years, we've made pilgrimage to Paris and then head out to various regions," Ann shared. "It's a totally different feel than going to Napa. When you're in Burgundy you're literally in someone's homes." In that sense, Friday night felt much like dining inside a tasting room at Chataeu des Ayres. The couple's three favorite regions are Burgundy, Champagne and Bordeaux, which greatly influenced French-inspired experience. "We love our vintage Champagne, so we are excited John Rydman at Specs was able to secure 2009 Roederer Philippe Starck Brut Nature -- 2009 was an exceptional vintage," Ann explained. "Not every year in the Champagne region is a vintage year and the growing conditions must be ideal to be classified as vintage." Steven McDonald, Master Sommelier and Pappas Bros. Steakhouse wine director, agreed. "This is the second version of a wine that's only been made four times," he told the crowd. Other highlights included a R De Rieussec Bordeaux Blanc 2017, Henri Villamont Chassagne Montrachet 1er Morgeot 2016, and a pair of Burgundy reds for the duck course, Jerome Castagnier Chambolle Musigny 2017 and Pierre Labet VV Gevrey Chambertin 2018. "When you travel its lovely to bring home your experiences and share that with your friends," Ann said. "The dessert is something youll see only at a Parisian restaurant. And we worked with the chef to come up with a mushroom crepe and really buttery sauce to complement the white Burgundy." The Ayres tasked Jackson & Co. to construct a menu reminiscent of their favorite meals abroad. DeMartino Design Group crafted a soft, romantic ambiance with tone on tone golden hues. "I wanted to give it a new, fresh look," Ann said. "Sleek and modern. We updated everything with champagne Lucite chairs and orchids." The laid-back feel relaxed wallets, too. The auction -- which featured a robust collection of impossible-to-find bourbons -- brought in $162,000 alone. A bottle of Eagle Rare 17 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey started a frenzied bidding war. "Thanks to the Rydman family, more wines have been donated than ever before," Jonathan said during his brief, but spirited remarks. For the past 20 years, Lindy and John Rydman, along with daughter Lisa Rydman, of Spec's Wines, Spirits and Finer Foods have sponsored the dinner's wine pairings. The original concept was fathered by the Houston Symphony's former music director Hans Graf in 2001, when Robert T. Sakowitz served as the event's inaugural auction chair -- a position he held for 10 years. Sakowitz, a guests of the Ayres, nodded approvingly throughout the meal. Though perhaps none shone brighter than Ann and Mangum. "In a typical year we reach 400,000 people with our concerts and our education and community engagement programs," Mangum said, as Ann beamed beside him. "This year, with those programs being both online and in-person we reached 1.1 million people in all 50 states and 36 countries. It's been a difficult year, but that's a real silver lining. Everyone in Houston can be proud of their Symphony." amber.elliott@chron.com RADNOR, Pa., April 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) (Emergent) investors that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland against Emergent on behalf of those who purchased or acquired Emergent common stock between July 6, 2020 and March 31, 2021, inclusive (the Class Period). Lead Plaintiff Deadline: June 18, 2021 Website: https://www.ktmc.com/emergent-biosolutions-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=emergent Contact: James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453 Adrienne Bell, Esq. (484) 270-1435 Toll free (844) 887-9500 Emergent is a specialty biopharmaceutical company that develops vaccines and antibody therapeutics for infectious diseases. The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, the defendants failed to disclose that: (1) Emergents Baltimore plant had a history of manufacturing issues increasing the likelihood for massive contaminations; (2) these longstanding contamination risks and quality control issues at Emergents facility led to a string of U.S. Food and Drug Administration citations; (3) Emergent previously had to discard the equivalent of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines after workers at the Baltimore plant deviated from manufacturing standards; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, the defendants public statements about Emergents ability and capacity to mass manufacture multiple COVID-19 vaccines at its Baltimore manufacturing site were materially false and/or misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. Emergent investors may, no later than June 18, 2021 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class members claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Story continues Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com. CONTACT: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP James Maro, Jr., Esq. Adrienne Bell, Esq. 280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 (844) 887-9500 (toll free) info@ktmc.com Santiago, April 24 : Chile's Ministry of Health on Friday reported 7,525 new Covid-19 cases, its highest figure of the week, bringing the national count to 1,155,902. The South American country confirmed 109 more fatalities, raising the national death toll to 25,641, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. Health Minister Enrique Paris urged Chileans to maintain self-care measures to "avoid new infections and take care of our families." Chile's borders have remained closed since April and the entire Santiago Metropolitan Region was under lockdown to stem the spread of the virus. Alexandra Schwartz in The New Yorker: Philip Roth has not had much luck with biographers. Late in his life, furiously aggrieved after the failure of his marriage to the actress Claire Bloom and the publication of Blooms incendiary memoir of their years together, he asked a close friend, Ross Miller, an English professor at the University of Connecticut, to take on the task. Roth sent Miller lists of family members and friends he wanted to be interviewed, along with the questions that he felt should be asked. (Would you have expected him to achieve success on the scale he has?) It didnt work out, for various reasons. Roth had wanted Miller to refute a familiar charge, this whole mad fucking misogynistic bullshit! that he felt flattened his long erotic history into one false accusation. But Miller came to his own conclusion. There is a predatory side to both Sandy and Philip, he told a cousin of Roths. (Sandy was Roths older brother.) They look at womenIm not gonna write about thisbut they are misogynist. They talk about women in that way. This anecdote is recounted by Millers successor, Blake Bailey, in Philip Roth: The Biography, his eight-hundred-page account of Roths eighty-five-year life, which was published earlier this month. Talking about women in that way didnt seem to be a problem for Bailey. Roth had read and admired Baileys biography of John Cheever, but Bailey was offered the job, by his own account, after enthusing with Roth over the qualities of Ali MacGraw, who starred in the film adaptation of Goodbye, Columbus. Readers of Baileys book will encounter a lot of that sort of thing, to an often voyeuristic degree. (Locker-room chummy sex talk, a male writer friend texted me, of a passage in which the young Roths girlfriend Maxine Groffsky, the model for the Goodbye, Columbus character Brenda Patimkin, is described as slipping into his cabana, say, and blowing him while Roth changes into a bathing suit. Who is he writing that sentence for? It sounds like hes bantering with Roth.) But the books readers are now limited in number. On Wednesday, after allegations surfaced that Bailey had groomed and harassed female students in the nineteen-nineties, when he was an eighth-grade English teacher at Lusher School, in New Orleansand that he had raped two women, including a former studenthis publisher, W. W. Norton, halted distribution of the biography. Bailey was dropped by his literary agency earlier in the week. More here. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. New Delhi: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday (April 24) announced free COVID-19 vaccination for all above the age of 18 years. Earlier in the day, the Haryana CM chaired a state-level meeting of the COVID Monitoring Committee to discuss ways to curb the prevailing COVID-19 situation. The government will also open a registration portal which will be made operational from April 28 where everyone will have to register themselves for vaccination. Registration is must to get the jab. More details on how and where the registration can be done are awaited, news agency ANI reported. Telangana had earlier on Saturday announced that it will administer free Covid-19 vaccine to all, irrespective of age at the government hospitals. Meanwhile, the Haryana government on Thursday (April 22) had announced several restrictions to control the COVID-19 second wave. The new slew of measures included closure of shops by 6 pm and a ban on all non-essential gatherings. The restrictions came into effect from Friday. "All shops will remain closed from 6 pm onward in Haryana from tomorrow, all non-essential gatherings are banned, anybody holding any function within prescribed limit will have to seek permission from concerned SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate)," state Home and Health Minister Anil Vij had said. (With inputs from agencies) Live TV I still back the police. I still back our fellow Midlanders. On Tuesday, we learned the fate of a former policeman in Minnesota that was involved in the killing of George Floyd. A jury found him guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Unlike the talking heads on TV, I dont have any insight on the jury members motive. I wasnt in the jury room. Im just going to believe they decided on the verdict based on the facts of the case. Their decision doesnt excuse politicians deciding to weigh in on this case like we witnessed. I agree with those who believe that our leaders should just keep their mouths closed about preferred outcomes during the trial. I hope that all Americans are frustrated. My guess is about half of the country is willing to overlook it. But todays column isnt meant to be about the jurys decision in Minnesota. I choose to stand on the side of our community, and that means backing our police and local law enforcement officials. They are after all members of our community. Sometimes, I think we choose to overlook that. They are our neighbors, friends and people we see in grocery stores and churches. I remember my conversation with the incomparable Sgt. Geo Mitchell last year after the protests at Midland Park Mall. He is a member of the police department, but hes also been a Midlander for decades. What did he think about what happened to Floyd? It is sickening. If you look at some of the things that happened, it is embarrassing, Geo said in June. If an officer does something like in Minnesota, all are held accountable. That doesnt sound like someone who thinks they are above the law. The spotlight will remain on police officers across the country and the spotlight will be a bright one. Even Tuesday, there was a headline about a Columbus, Ohio, police officer shooting a teenage girl. As it turned out in later reports, she was swinging a knife at other people. But our community, I believe, chooses to see police as those who are there to help. It doesnt mean law enforcement officials are perfect. I dont think anyone would say that is the case. But I am not perfect, and the community, as a whole, isnt either. As Sgt. Mitchell said in June, change and a better connection with all residents in Midland require the community and police to meet in the middle. It requires the community and police department to work together. It has to be a cohesive effort, Geo said. The goal for Midland has to be better. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that if he were to order the military to take the streets and restore order, 'the order will be followed,' raising fresh questions about his politicisation of the armed forces. Speaking during a TV interview, Bolsonaro declined to 'go into details into what he is preparing.' But he then said: 'If we were to have problems, we have a plan of how to enter the field. Our armed forces could one day go into the streets.' The comments by Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who has long praised Brazil's two-decade military dictatorship, will do little to assuage critics who fret about his politicisation of the military. Others worry about his commitment to a peaceful handover of power in the event of a tight result in next year's presidential election. Pressure has grown on the president while Brazil's coronavirus pandemic has spiraled out of control. Jair Bolsonaro, pictured above, said: 'If we were to have problems, we have a plan of how to enter the field', adding: 'Our armed forces could one day go into the streets' He has faced widespread criticism for his handling of the outbreak in Brazil, which has the world's second highest coronavirus death toll after the United States. Brazil's public healthcare system has shown growing signs of buckling under the caseload, and a survey by the National Association of Private Hospitals (ANAHP) this week suggests even the richest hospitals are running short on critical medicine. Three out of four private hospitals said they have a week or less of supplies for treating Covid-19, including oxygen, anesthesia and essential drugs for intubation, according to the ANAHP survey of 88 member hospitals across the country. President Bolsonaro continued to play down the risks of the crisis - insisting that 'people die everywhere', there is no use 'crying over spilled milk' and hitting out at state leaders for tightening lockdowns. In response, Brazil's senate opened an inquiry into his handling of the pandemic including whether the government was responsible for oxygen running out in hospitals in Amazoas state in January which has been blamed for dozens of deaths. The leader of the Brazilian senate had been resisting the move, but his hand was forced after a judge ruled the inquiry should go ahead. A woman carries a red cross as she takes part in a protest against Bolsonaro and his handling of the coronavirus crisis in Manaus, Brazil, on April 23 Last month, Bolsonaro put his former chief of staff in charge of the Defence Ministry and swapped all three commanders of the armed forces as part of a cabinet reshuffle that was met with shock from senior military officers. Since his 2018 election victory, Bolsonaro has made baseless allegations of voter fraud in Brazil, which critics say could lay the groundwork to challenge upcoming elections in the same vein as his political idol, former US President Donald Trump. Bolsonaro threw his support behind Trump's conspiracies of a stolen election last year, which culminated in his supporters' deadly January 6 assault on the Capitol building in Washington. New Delhi: As many as 383 police personnel, including 56 belonging to the BSF and 42 from the Jammu and Kashmir, have laid down their lives in the line of duty in last one year, Director of Intelligence Bureau Rajiv Jain said on Saturday. Addressing the Police Commemoration Day, where Home Minister Rajnath Singh led the nation in paying tribute to martyrs of police forces, Jain said the 383 police personnel were killed while performing various duties across the country from September 2016 to August 2017. Among these police personnel, 76 belonged to the Uttar Pradesh Police, 56 belonged to the BSF, 49 were from the CRPF, 42 from the Jammu and Kashmir Police, 23 belonged to Chhattisgarh, 16 were from West Bengal, 13 each belonged to Delhi and the CISF, 12 each were from Bihar and Karnataka and 11 from the ITBP. Majority of the police personnel died while dealing with cross-border firing from Pakistan, fighting militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Naxals and other law and order duties. The day is observed to pay homage to 10 policemen killed in firing by Chinese troops in 1959 and 34,400 others who laid down their lives protecting Indias unity and integrity. Observed as Police Commemoration Day, October 21 commemorates the sacrifices of the 10 policemen while defending Indias borders with China in 1959, a statement issued by the Home Ministry said. The Indian police personnel were responsible for manning the 2,500 mile-long border of India with Tibet until the autumn of 1959. On October 20, 1959, three reconnaissance parties were launched from Hot Springs in North Eastern Ladakh in preparation for further movement of an Indian expedition which was on its way to Lanak La. While members of two parties returned to Hot Springs, the third one comprising two police constables and a porter did not return, the statement said. The remaining forces were mobilised next morning in search of the missing personnel. A party of about 20 police personnel led by Karam Singh, a Deputy Central Intelligence Officer (DCIO) rank officer, proceeded on horseback while others followed on foot in three sections. At mid-day, the Chinese Army personnel were seen on a hillock who opened fire and threw grenades at the Indian party, the statement said. Since there was no cover, most personnel were injured. Ten of the brave police personnel were killed and seven others sustained injuries in the incident. Bodies of the 10 personnel were returned by the Chinese on November 13, three weeks after the incident. The bodies were then cremated with full police honours at Hot Springs in Ladakh. The annual conference of Inspectors General of Police of States and Union Territories held in January, 1960 decided that October 21 would, henceforth, be observed as Commemoration Day in all police lines in the country to mark the memory of these gallant personnel, the statement said. It was also decided to erect a memorial at Hot Springs, and that members of police forces from different parts of the country trek to Hot Springs every year to pay homage to the gallant martyrs. Since independence, 34,418 police personnel have sacrificed their lives for safeguarding the integrity of the nation and providing security to people of this country, the statement said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. DEAR ABBY: I am a 34-year-old woman. I live in a ground floor unit in an apartment complex with my terrier-collie mix, who is a very good judge of character. An elderly neighbor has a habit of walking his German shepherd by my unit. My dog does not like the man and barks ferociously every time he hears them. What unsettles me is that something seems off about him, and his behavior is becoming intrusive. The couple of times he has seen me outside, he has asked me if I live all alone or comments that he hasnt seen my boyfriend around in a long time. He peers into my window when he walks and lingers, despite my growling and snarling dog. I tried closing the blinds, but now he comes to my door and knocks. I havent answered because he makes me feel unsafe. I want to confront him, but Im not sure what to say. Its also happening right in front of the building I live in, which makes me nervous. What should I do? -- WARY IN WASHINGTON DEAR WARY: The person you describe may be more lonely -- or nosy -- than dangerous. You cant stop someone from walking his dog past your front door if that is where the exit is located. Talk to your other neighbors and ask if he has a history of doing this with them. If he knocks on your door again, tell him you are busy and dont like being disturbed and to stop doing it. If he asks any more personal questions or comments again about your boyfriends absence, tell him your social life is none of his business. If it will make you feel more secure, install security cameras in your apartment, and if you catch him peering into your windows again, tell him you have him on camera and you will report him not only to building management but also the police. DEAR ABBY: Im a middle-aged woman needing to know what to do. I have family members who say if I werent around, things would be a lot better. I was told from the beginning that I was a mistake. I am wondering, should I stay hurt with them for saying these things, or should I let it go? They are always saying I will never amount to anything. When I say something to them about the way they make me feel, they tell me to be quiet and mind my own business. Should I tell them how I feel or what? -- DEVALUED IN THE SOUTH DEAR DEVALUED: A family member (!) who would say something so cruel as what you have described is someone you should avoid contact with, if possible. Its very important that you spend time with people -- other family members or friends -- who help you to feel BETTER about yourself rather than worse. Should you tell these family members how you feel? Ordinarily, I would say yes. However, because you have already done that, I dont think it would enlighten them. Believe me, you have my sympathy because these relatives are toxic. 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. 'Coupon kid': Money blogger Jordon Cox Millions of households now regularly use the internet to do their shopping and although lockdown restrictions have eased, many are expected to continue to shop from their homes rather than venture on to their local high street. Apart from convenience, one big advantage of buying goods online is that you can use cashback websites to cut your shopping costs. These popular websites provide 'money back' offers on all types of products from big-brand retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Sky, Argos and Tesco. In effect, a percentage of your spending is paid back into your online cashback account, which you can then either empty into your bank account or convert into shopping vouchers. To get the cashback, shoppers need to remember to first click on the cashback website and then look for deals from the retailer they want to buy from. Money blogger Jordon Cox, who is known as Britain's Coupon Kid, is a big fan of cashback. He says: 'One extra click through to the retailer of your choice can save you money. Using a cashback website each time you buy online could add up to savings equivalent to hundreds of pounds a year.' Cashback websites TopCashback and Quidco say their customers save 300 and 325 on average a year, respectively. TopCashback and Quidco are the two biggest providers, but others include My Money Pocket a sister company of TopCashback and Widilo. TopCashback and Quidco offer deals from more than 5,000 retailers and have over 10 million subscribers each. They tend to offer the best deals, but not in all cases. For example, TopCashback pays 8 per cent cashback on Adidas items, rather than between 6 per cent and 6.6 per cent from other providers. Quidco pays 210 when you take out a phone contract with Tesco Mobile, but other websites do not offer this deal. Widilo and Quidco, meanwhile, offer 3 per cent on all Halfords transactions, whereas TopCashback does not offer cashback with the bike retailer. And TopCashback and Quidco both offer 16 per cent cashback to new customers of online clothes retailer Asos, as well as 4 per cent to existing customers. Widilo pays new customers 3 per cent and existing customers 1 per cent. There are three ways to shop via cashback websites. Shoppers can sign up to several websites and then compare deals each time. Alternatively, they can pick one website and accept it will not always get them the best deal available. Or they can take advantage of the price guarantees offered by TopCashback and Quidco. These mean that if you spot a better deal on a different website, they'll make up the difference if you let them know. Signing up to a cashback website is free, so it may feel like there is little downside to using one. After all, you are effectively receiving free money just for shopping. But Sara Williams, of money blog Debt Camel, urges caution. She says: 'It's easy to think you are getting a bargain, but it can result in people spending more than they intended simply to get the biggest cashback.' Chelsea are the latest Premier League club to issue a grovelling apology to supporters for their involvement in plans for a breakaway European Super League (ESL), that collapsed within 48 hours this week. The Blues were one of 12 clubs included in the proposals released on Sunday that would have seen 15 founding members compete in the tournament every year without having to qualify on the pitch. The closed-shop format and repercussions for national leagues sparked outrage across the world from governments, governing bodies, players and fans. In England, the reaction was particularly fierce with around 1,000 Chelsea fans protesting in front of Stamford Bridge ahead of Tuesday's 0-0 draw with Brighton in the Premier League. "The owner and board understand that involving the club in such a proposal was a decision we should not have taken. It is a decision we deeply regret," Chelsea said in a statement. "As concerns were raised following the announcement, the club took a step back to listen and speak to supporters. Following those conversations and taking into account the extremely strong views against the proposal, we reassessed our initial decision and decided we did not want to be part of this league. "We also recognise the sentiment that had been expressed about whether the ESL relied strongly enough on sporting merit. "This is something we had strong concerns about from the start and were confident would have been addressed during a further consultation process with various stakeholders, along with other concepts in the proposal about which we had reservations. "We firmly believe that we must protect a structure which allows all clubs, players and supporters to dream of, and achieve, success." The reaction of the Chelsea fans helped hasten the ESL's collapse as one by one on Tuesday night, the six English clubs involved all signalled their intention to withdraw. The Chelsea Supporters' Trust has called for resignations from the club's board in light of the fiasco. However, no members of the club's hierarchy are yet to leave their positions. kca/pb Myanmar's military cracked down on anti-coup protesters on Saturday, killing at least one according to a witness, as the junta leader sat down with heads of states in a regional summit over the violence. The country has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup, triggering a mass uprising from all corners of Myanmar society demanding a return to democracy. Cities, rural areas, remote mountainous regions and even the rebel-ruled territories along Myanmar's borders have erupted in dissent, protesting near-daily for the military to step down. While Western powers have imposed targeted sanctions on military top brass, regional leaders from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations have sought to open a communications channel with the junta. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing took part in a high-level summit Saturday in Jakarta to discuss Myanmar's mounting crisis -- his first overseas trip since he seized power. But across Myanmar Saturday, protesters persisted in taking to the streets -- angered by ASEAN's invitation to the junta regime. A demonstration on motorbikes where protesters flashed the three-finger salute of resistance as they drove outside Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw turned violent by afternoon when police and soldiers opened fire. A 50-year-old protester was detained and killed, a witness told AFP. "Police held him on each side, then a soldier shot him in the back," the 27-year-old protester said, adding that security forces took the man's body. "We only had the three-finger salute, but they had weapons to take our lives," he said. "I want to deliver a message to the ASEAN leaders... do not support him (Min Aung Hlaing)." Saturday's violence adds to the more than 740 people killed since the coup, according to a local monitoring group. Clashes between the military and ethnic rebel groups with territory along Myanmar's eastern and western borders have also ramped up in recent weeks. Story continues Among the most vocal opponents of the coup is the Karen National Union (KNU), who are sheltering dissidents and activists in their territory along the Thai-Myanmar border. On Friday night, two people in the southern city of Thaton were killed in crossfire between the military and the KNU, a resident told AFP. "No one dared to retrieve the two dead bodies last night, and the people went to take them this morning," said the resident, who blamed the military for the shooting. The KNU's head of foreign affairs Padoh Saw Taw Nee said the fighting had killed at least one civilian. He added that another "small clash" occurred Saturday morning along the Salween river, which serves as a border between Thailand and Myanmar. In March the military launched airstrikes into the KNU's territory, displacing thousands of civilians from their homes -- some of whom crossed into Thailand briefly for refuge. bur-dhc/axn In addition, another Michelin-starred chef, Thierry Marx, and Raphael Haumont, a physical chemistry professor at the University of Paris-Saclay, have created some dishes specifically for Pesquet. The two run the universitys French Centre of Culinary Innovation and cooked some meals for Pesquets first trip to the space station in 2016. (Pesquet and Marx met by chance at a judo conference a few years earlier. Both are black belts.) The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the companys Crew Dragon spacecraft is rolled to Launch Complex before take off. Credit:NASA Pesquet, a former Air France pilot, also asked Servair, a catering company for Air France and other airlines, to devise some dishes for him. Ive enjoyed their food for a long time, he says. Pesquet will not be dining on lobster and beef bourguignon every day. These meticulously prepared dishes are intended for celebrations of special occasions like birthdays, with enough servings for Pesquet to share. But even everyday space cuisine that NASA provides for astronauts these days is pretty fantastic, says Shane Kimbrough, the NASA astronaut who is the commander of Fridays SpaceX mission. A member of French chef Alain Ducasses team prepares a low-temperature cooked salmon for the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet at the canning factory Henaff in Pouldreuzic, near Brest, western France. Credit:AFP Ryan Dowdy, who just left NASA after managing food on the space station for more than two years, says there are 200 items on the menu to ward off monotony. Theres no grocery store, he says. You cant DoorDash anything. You got to make do with whats there. He touts the pulled beef brisket and the macaroni and cheese as particularly scrumptious. It needs to remind people of their experiences of eating food on Earth, he says. It reminds them of all those good things in this really stressful spaceflight environment. Food in space cannot be exactly like food on Earth. Much of it is freeze-dried, with the water extracted, to reduce its size and volume. Other foods are heated to high temperatures to kill off germs so that they can sit around at room temperature, sealed in cans and plastic bags, for a couple of years before being eaten. Everything fine but the food: the now-deorbited Russian space station Mir in 1996. Credit:NASA TV Space food should also not be crumbly, disintegrating into bits that could be inhaled or float into sensitive equipment. Astronauts inject water into the plastic bags to rehydrate dried foods. A forced-air convection oven heats other dishes. For the health of the astronauts, the foods are usually low in sodium, sugar and fat. They are high-performance athletes, Marx said. Alcohol is also prohibited a particular challenge for French cuisine that prizes wine. Marx did not leave out the wine from the mushroom sauce accompanying an entree of slow-cooked beef and vegetables. But then the alcohol was extracted through a spinning evaporator without removing the flavour. The sauce was then verified to be alcohol-free via a nuclear magnetic resonance instrument. Out of this world: the view of Earth from the International Space Station. Credit:Alamy The flavours also have to survive the sterilisation process what food scientists call thermo-stabilisation. That usually means heating the food to 140 degrees Celsius for an hour, Haumont says. Can you imagine a cake or a piece of chicken or something like that on Earth? he says. More than an hour of cooking at 140 destroyed the structure. So we have to rework the cooking techniques. But instead of frustration, Haumont describes the process as exciting playing with spices and ingredients not traditionally found in French food, like seaweed. Loading There are small tricks like this to produce umami that will reveal certain flavours, he said. Marxs dishes were assembled in the cans by hand to offer the visual flare of fine dining. Francois Adamski, the corporate chef of Servair, also had to experiment with his recipes. A risotto-like dish used einkorn, an ancient wheat grain, instead of rice, to add some crunchiness, and sauces were thickened so droplets were less likely to float away. The history of French chefs cooking for astronauts goes back to 1993 when a French astronaut, Jean-Pierre Haignere, returned from a visit to Russias Mir space station and said everything in space went well except the food. Richard Filippi, a chef and cooking instructor in southwest France, heard Haigneres complaints on the radio and contacted the National Centre for Space Studies Frances equivalent of NASA offering to help. Filippi and his students then cooked up beef daube, quail, tuna and lemon confit, and other foods that accompanied French astronauts on subsequent missions to Mir in the 1990s. When the French space agency looked to restart the program in 2004 for the ISS, Filippi had retired and suggested Ducasse. The first of Ducasses food for the agency was eaten in space in 2007. Ducasses team has now come up with more than 40 recipes for astronauts, including recent additions like flourless, gluten-free chocolate cake and vegetarian options like carrot clafoutis with smoked paprika and quinoa cooked with saffron broth and vegetables. NASA continues to add to its space menu, too. Perhaps befitting an agency of rocket engineers, the processes for creating the foods are recorded not as recipes but as specifications. The food is produced a few hundred pounds at a time, and it has to be manufactured the same way each time. Just like any other piece of a rocket engine or a spacesuit, our food is a government-certified spaceflight hardware that fulfils a specific function, Dowdy says. One of the newest pieces of NASA edible spaceflight hardware is a sweet and savoury kale salad. With advances in food science, the kale, after adding 75 millilitres of hot water and waiting five to 10 minutes, retains some crunch and texture. Its not like eating straight-up raw kale, Dowdy says. We developed a specific cooking and freeze-drying process that doesnt completely turn it to mush. The astronauts at the space station do eat ice-cream on occasion. There are freezers on both the spacecraft taking cargo to the space station and the space station itself. If there ends up being a little extra space in a cold stowage area, then well try to fill that with a frozen dessert for the crew members, Dowdy said. Indeed, in the 60 years of the Space Age, no astronaut has ever eaten astronaut ice-cream, at least not in space. The freeze-dried ice-cream was indeed developed in 1974 for NASA for the gift shop in the agencys Ames Research Centre in California. The company that makes it, Outdoor Products of Boulder, Colorado, now sells a couple million of them a year. Cargo missions to the space station also take up fresh produce like apples, oranges and tomatoes. Recently, refrigerated cheese has started going to space too, a request by Shannon Walker, a NASA astronaut currently at the station. Dowdy worked with a Houston cheesemonger to find a Belgian Gouda. We actually developed a way to send refrigerated cheese as Class 1 government-certified spaceflight hardware, Dowdy said. The crew members absolutely loved it. Future food challenges in space will include cooking and growing crops. That will become crucial on longer missions like trips to Mars, where there will not be a continual arrival of supply ships. Already, astronauts have grown and eaten small harvests of lettuce and radishes grown on the space station. Guest Column ASEAN for Whom? The Jakarta Summit on Myanmar Will Tell Myanmar coup leader Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing arrives in Jakarta for the ASEAN summit on Saturday morning. / BPMI Setpres / Rusman The Special Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Myanmar has begun in Jakarta today amid controversy over the expected attendance of Myanmars coup leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. ASEAN has promised outcomes while being tightlipped on the summits specific aims, with most observers assuming that the regional block will strive to attain open access for humanitarian aid and an end to violence so as to make dialog among the different parties possible. This well-meaning intention is, however, challenged by civil society groups across the region. Participants at the Southeast Asia Peoples Summit on Myanmar held virtually on April 22 by key regional and local civil society organizations and networks rejected any interaction with the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw). They also requested ASEAN condemn the coup a word used so far only by Malaysiaand recognize and invite the National Unity Government (NUG) announced on April 16 as the true representative of the people of Myanmar. The NUG itself had the wit to urge Interpol to collaborate with the Indonesian police and arrest the junta leader when in Jakarta for having committed crimes against ethnic minorities, the Rohingya and now the entire population. The tension between governments and civil society has been a constant feature of ASEAN history. Looking back, it took a long time for the former to realize the latters contribution to regional development. Only in 2008, the adoption of the ASEAN Charter brought significant changes with the placing of the well-being, livelihoods and welfare of peoples at the center of the ASEAN community building process. To promote the envisioned people-oriented ASEAN, all sectors were expected to engage in the political, economic and sociocultural communities that constitute the three pillars of ASEAN and (accredited) civil society groups were finally listed among the entities associated with ASEAN. In the same charter and successive documents, the ASEAN Mechanisms were created for civil society to formally interact with ASEAN, foremost the annual ASEAN Peoples Forum (APF) to be held on the sidelines of the annual ASEAN summits and the commissions on human rights and on women and childrens rights. This period of change coincided with the 2010 Myanmar decision to transition to democracy, with the Tatmadaw allowing elections and assigning a role to the opposition, and the resulting general sense of optimism that Southeast Asia was distancing itself from its authoritarian past and heading toward a more democratic future. In those years, the World Governance Indicators (WGI) showed a modest improvement in the lagging-behind indicator of voice and accountabilityas an expression of political participation, freedom of expression and association, and a free media. The regional environment, however, eventually (re)turned hostile towards civil society due to democratic backsliding and authoritarian endurancewith the possible exception of Myanmars move towards a semblance of democracy. At the regional level, Laos refused to host civil society groups and the APF in 2016 and the 2019 one saw support by the Thai government withdrawn at the last moment. More generally, the rights-based preoccupations of civil society and the communities they represent, expressed with recommendations and calls for action at the end of every APF, have remained marginal to ASEAN interests and processes. Yet, a 2018 poll mandated by ASEAN itself found that among its top five key regional issues the general public emphasized protection of human rights, fighting corruption and good governanceall themes dear to civil society and consonant with the ASEAN Charter, but generally disregarded in ASEAN practice. Fast-forwarding to today, the region, and thus ASEAN as its regional body, remains dominated by centralized and populist governments of diverse ideological orientations, but with a shared tendency to curtail civic space by limiting public gatherings and freedom of expression, imposing repressive rules for civil society organizations (CSOs) and peoples movements, and increasing use of force and human rights transgressions. In the face of this democratic regression and undermining of progressive forces, new movements are emerging that reach beyond borders in their search for strength and sources of inspiration. And if initially the so-called Milk Tea alliance stretched between Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand, since the February coup it has become centered on Myanmar and rapidly expanded to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The violent brutality in Myanmar resonates as an extreme representation of the oppression felt in other countries in the region and admiration for the populations courage and determination in opposing the coup is re-energizing activism in neighboring countries. A sense of solidarity is emerging in parallel to the growing realization that the fight of the people of Myanmar has repercussions for democratic forces in the entire region. Irrespective of the specific context of each country, the challenging of authoritarian manifestationsbe it the coup in Myanmar, the war on drugs in the Philippines, the anti-reform government in Thailand, draconian order rules in Singapore or identity politics in Indonesiaare starting to be seen as in need of a shared effort if they are to be addressed. In the same way that the three-finger Hunger Games salute first adopted by Thai activists has become a symbol of resistance for people in Myanmar and their allies in other parts of the region, information and tactics are shared regionally against the pending threat of pan-Asian authoritarianism. Civil societies and like-minded people are taking what is happening in Myanmar as a warning and a reminder that democracy is fragile and ought to be treasured. As Ati Nurbaiti, a senior Indonesian journalist, put it, Its that once you have gone so far to achieve some democracy, you hold on to it for dear lifeliterally. The summit will now show whether governments share the same principles upheld by their people and enshrined in the ASEAN Charter. In this context, the summit is not only a litmus test for the diplomatic capacity of ASEAN in resolving a major crisis in a member state, but will also shed light as to the extent that ASEAN is indeed people-oriented. If the voices of the people of Myanmar, their legitimate representatives and their growing region-wide alliance are ignored, as many fear in view of the current rights-averse climate, it would imply that the governments of ASEAN are not representing the We, the peoples of the member states of ASEAN as they have committed to in the first sentence of the ASEAN Charter. And with that, ASEAN would not only forgo its stated democratic principles, but also its very raison detre, as without people there can be no ASEAN. The writer is founder and executive director of SEA Junction, Bangkok; and emeritus regional director for Asia with the Rockefeller Foundation and the International Development Research Center. You may also like these stories: Bangkok Ducks ASEANs Myanmar Challenge Myanmar Crisis Poses a Challenge to the ASEAN Way A Textbook Example of Authoritarian Rule in Myanmar WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI For Marwan Al-Rabie, the long wait is over. In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, its time to return to the restaurant business. His recent grand opening for Alpha Diner, 4389 Jackson Road, drew customers whod been eating his food for years, most traveling the short distance from Ann Arbor to enjoy the Greek diner classics that sent them flocking to Alpha Koney Island for 17 years until it closed in 2019. The story of his new space started when Alpha Koney Island closed in Oak Valley Plaza, as the rented space was cleared to make way for an Old Navy store. After months of searching for a suitable spot to relocate, and with the pandemic looming and his funds dwindling, Al-Rabie finally secured funding from a business partner to open his new location. That location presented itself when Al-Rabie said Classic Cup Cafe closed in Scio Township due to financial issues stemming from the pandemic. He took over the space at 4389 Jackson Road and his coney concept was reborn as the full-service Alpha Diner. This spot has special significance for Al-Rabie. Thirty years ago, when he immigrated to the U.S., Al-Rabie said he worked at Classic Cup Cafe as a dishwasher. From that humble beginning, his restaurant career grew until he took over for the original Alpha Koney Island owners in 2002. In his 17 years there, he said he built a crowd of regular customers, established a good relationship with landlords Tom and Fred Goldberg and built a strong base in a part of town he eventually hopes to return to. For now, Al-Rabie is bringing back the Mediterranean favorites Alpha Koney Island was known for - gyro sandwiches and Greek chicken salads - as well as adding new items to round out the menu. The signature saganaki - a Greek appetizer of pan-fried Kasseri cheese served with pita bread is also back. What makes our Greek salad different is the dressing - its homemade, Al-Rabie said. The gyro sandwich comes on a Grecian Delight pita, and we serve it on a stick... so its always fresh, we serve it as we go. The new Alpha Diner also serves fish tacos with homemade Chipotle sauce, grape leaves, hummus and breakfast specials, including a full slate of pancakes and Belgian waffles. Al-Rabie looks forward to welcoming his regulars back, as well as meeting new customers. My old customers from Alpha Koney Island, they keep checking in on us on our website - theyre excited to come back, he said. People, they appreciate that I give them good food at decent prices. While hes working hard to sanitize and social distance as he opens at 50 percent capacity, Al-Rabie is also looking forward to a return to full dine-in under state COVID regulations. In the meantime, hes established a new online ordering system to allow for convenient carryout dining. In the future, Al-Rabie would like to bring Alpha Koney back to Oak Valley Plaza. He said hes grateful to Ann Arbor and his landlords for their help over the years and still maintains a good relationship with his former landlords, whom he invited to the grand opening of his new location. They were good people... Id like to say thanks to them, too, he said. Id like them to see what ideas I have, if I want to go back there. Alpha Diner, 4389 Jackson Road, is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Customers can order online at www.alphadiner.com. More Washtenaw County local eats: Local Eats: Moon-Skys cheesesteak truck slings simple, savory sandwiches Local Eats: Metzgers German restaurant has survived depressions, wars and a pandemic Local Eats: Ann Arbors Jagged Fork features breakfast and boozy brunches Local Eats: Jim Bradys adds show-stopping apps, new pastas, salads at Ann Arbor restaurant Local Eats: Chelsea Burger brings fast casual concept to historic downtown space Local Eats: Franks Place keeps family pizza tradition alive in Manchester Local Eats: Smokehouse 52 serving comfort food during COVID in Saline, Chelsea Local Eats: Chelseas newest restaurant is burger joint meets sushi bar and more Local Eats: L.A.s Bao Boys bring steamed-bun sliders to Ann Arbor via food truck Local Eats: Goras Grill continues vegetarian tradition in Ypsilanti fast-casual space Local Eats: Childhood friends, EMU alums open Halal burger joint in Ypsi Local Eats: Ann Arbors Earthen Jar pivots from buffet style to Thali feast on a plate Local Eats: Sip a cocktail or try steak on toast at Ravens Club in Ann Arbor Local Eats: Try a taste of authentic Turkish cuisine at Ann Arbors Ayses Cafe Local Eats: Miss Kim serves a taste of Korean zing in Ann Arbor Local Eats: Gabriels Cheese Steak Hoagies has been serving sandwiches for 60 years Local Eats: Taco Tuesday, margaritas keep Maiz Mexican Cantina lively in Ypsilanti Local Eats: Old Town Tavern has served downtown Ann Arbor for nearly 50 years Local Eats: Jamaican Jerk Pit serves a taste of the Caribbean in downtown Ann Arbor Local Eats: Relish Red Hawks comfort food in Ann Arbor Local Eats: Savor a bowl of ramen at Slurping Turtle in Ann Arbor Islamabad, April 24 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that he had asked the Pakistan Army to assist the police and law enforcement agencies in enforcing SOPs for curbing the spread of the coronavirus, warning that Pakistan may soon be facing a situation similar to India if the current trend continues. Addressing the nation after a meeting of the National Coordination Committee, he said: "I am appealing to you to follow SOPs so that we don't have to take steps that India is taking which means imposing lockdowns. Half the problem is solved when you wear face masks." New SOPs announced by the NCOC: Schools in districts with over 5 per cent positivity rate closed till Eid Markets to be closed at 6 p.m. Indoor and outdoor dining banned till Eid; only takeaway and delivery to be allowed Office timings limited to 2 p.m. 50 per cent of staff to be allowed in offices "If our circumstances become the same as India, then we will have to close down cities. We can't do that because, as experience has shown, the poor suffer the most when lockdowns are imposed," the Prime Minister said. "People are telling me to impose a lockdown today, but we are not going to do so because, and I keep repeating this, daily wagers and labourers will suffer the most." That is why we have not taken action, he said, adding that however long this lasts will depend on the people. The premier called on the nation to start observing precautionary measures, in the same way which you did the previous year during Ramazan, the Dawn reported. "Pakistan was the only country which had kept mosques open last year during Ramazan. I was proud of the way our religious scholars and imams informed the people about precautionary measures," he said. The premier also noted that very few people were following SOPs. "If we don't take precautionary measures, we will have to impose a lockdown which will also affect our economy at a time when it is on the rise." The Prime Minister added that he had asked the Pakistan Army to assist the police and law enforcement agencies in enforcing SOPs. "We have been asking people to follow precautionary measures. But we have seen that people have become careless." He added that the government was making all out efforts to procure vaccines. "We have asked China, but their demand is also quite large. There is a shortage in the rest of the world." Even if we get the vaccines today, it will take at least a year for them to have an impact, he said. "What will make the biggest difference is following precautionary measures," he said, reiterating that half the problem is solved when wearing face masks. He hoped that once the nation starts following SOPs, the number of cases would decrease. "Until we face this together, we will not be able to win. I remember how a year ago people adopted precautionary measures and followed SOPs before Ramazan because they were scared. "But citizens have become tired over the span of a year and fatigue has set in which is why there is such a stark difference." He hoped the nation would follow SOPs so that the government is not forced to lock down cities. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain India's daily COVID death toll hit a new high Saturday, with hospitals facing oxygen shortages and crematoriums pushed to capacity, as US regulators said pharma giant Johnson & Johnson can restart a vaccine rollout paused due to worries over blood clots. India has become the new pandemic hotspotqueues of COVID-19 patients and their fearful relatives have built up outside hospitals in major cities as another 2,624 deaths, a daily record, were reported in 24 hours. A surge blamed on a new virus variant and recent "super spreader" public events has wrought devastation on the country of 1.3 billion, with charities forced to set up makeshift funeral pyres in a bid to reduce the strain on crematoriums. Indian social media and WhatsApp are white-hot with volunteer calls for vacant ICU beds and medicine and the central government is scrambling to organise special trains to get oxygen supplies to worst-hit cities. One 'oxygen express' carrying 30,000 litres of oxygen arrived in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh state at dawn on Saturday, where armed guards were waiting to escort trucks to hospitals. The grim scenes out of India were in stark contrast to the quickening vaccine rollouts in much of the western world, with US regulators approving the re-start of a rollout of J&J vaccines halted over blood clotting concerns. Health authorities had proposed a halt following instances of severe blood clots among a handful of the millions of Americans who received the jaba decision overturned after an expert panel said the shots' benefits exceeded possible dangers. According to data presented Friday, of 3.9 million women in the United States who got the Johnson & Johnson shot, 15 developed serious blood clots and three died. Most of the patients were younger than 50. There were no reported cases among men. Hopes high in Europe Fears over blood clots had also threatened to hamper vaccine roll-out efforts in Europe, where medical regulators Friday said the benefits of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine increase with age and still outweigh the risks for adults despite links to very rare side effects. The news came as the European Union also said it would have enough vaccines for most of its adult population by the summera marked shift in tone for a bloc plagued by problems with vaccines, first failing to secure much-needed supplies and then relating to safety concerns. "I'm confident we will have enough doses to vaccinate 70 percent of all EU adults already in July," European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said. The EU chief had previously set a goal of late September for the target, but announced the new date during a visit to a Belgian vaccine plant that is ramping up production of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. But despite the optimism the threat of the virus remains ever-present, with Germany set for a tough new lockdown Saturday, including night curfews and school closures, after the government passed a disputed new law designed to slow infections. The controversial new rulespassed this week amid huge protests in Berlinwill apply in all regions with incidence rates of more than 100 new infections per 100,000 people over the last seven days. Mounting cases have also forced Japan to issue a state of emergency in some areas just three months before the Olympics are due to open. The country's minister for virus response, Yasutoshi Nishimura, has warned of a "strong sense of crisis," saying current restrictions were not sufficient. In a fresh blow to trans-Tasman travel New Zealand on Friday paused arrivals from Western Australia, temporarily excluding the state's travellers from a quarantine-free bubble due to a fresh COVID-19 outbreak. It is the first major snag since the two countries opened their bubble on April 18, almost 400 days after both closed their international borders due to the pandemic. Explore further India hospitals overwhelmed by virus as Japan declares emergency 2021 AFP Standing Up to Communist China: A Peaceful Appeal That Made History NEW YORKBeijings days were always a bit dusty and gray in Zhang Yijies memory. That day was no different. A division-head at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, she had just gotten back home from a month-long business trip in Germany. It was afternoon and there was no time to lose. As she put down her luggage, rather than grabbing lunch, she went straight for her phone. She was eager to touch base with her group of friends with whom she studied Falun Gong teachings and practiced meditative exercises daily. But there was no one to be found. Then, an urgent phone call rang from her director Shi Guangsheng to her husband, who also worked at the ministry. He sprinted to another room, shutting the door behind him. All of this made Zhang feel uneasy. Standing on tiptoe outside the door, she heard that a group of Falun Gong practitioners had gone to Zhongnanhai, the compound of the top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership. Go to the demonstration and tell all foreign trade ministry staff attending the event to leave immediately, the director told her husband. The day, April 25, 1999, would eventually see around 10,000 adherents from all over the country congregate mostly along the red walls enclosing the government complex on Fuyou Street to appeal for their right to freely practice Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. First introduced to the public in 1992, the spiritual practice spread by word of mouth across the country, with between 70 million and 100 million people practicing by 1999. Adherents could be seen doing the practices slow meditative exercises every morning in parks across China. Yet the practitioners had begun to feel more and more pressure from authorities in recent years, with the practices books banned from distribution, state-owned programs spewing propaganda vilifying the discipline, and the public security bureau ordering a thorough investigation into the practice. The Chinese regime would later portray the April 25 event as a provocative protest in order to justify an all-out persecution campaign targeting Falun Gong, which would be launched in July the same yearand which continues to this day. But Zhang, who soon jumped on her bike and rushed toward Zhongnanhai, saw nothing threatening about the adherents demeanor that day. With pride, she and many others who were there recall the long, straight rows of practitioners lined up neatly along the street. Many were reading books or sitting on the ground to meditate. Some, holding plastic bags, made rounds to collect trash from the demonstrators. Falun Gong practitioners gathered around Zhongnanhai to silently, peacefully appeal for fair treatment on April 25, 1999. (Courtesy of Minghui.org) One simply feels different when among such a peaceful crowd, Zhang said. When have you seen a petition like this? Zhang, now in the United States, said in an interview with The Epoch Times. The pedestrian paths and the main road were all clear. There was no shouting at all, not a single scrap of paper on the ground. Shi Caidong, who was working on a masters degree at the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences at the time, was one of three delegates who met with Premier Zhu Rongji that morning to explain their requests. Zhu reaffirmed his support for their freedom of belief and arranged for four officials to meet with them, including his vice secretary in chief and the state petitioning bureau director. The three delegates delivered three major requests: to release the dozens of practitioners from the nearby city of Tianjin who had been beaten and detained two days prior, to allow the publication of Falun Gong books, and to restore an environment in which they could exercise in public without fear. The officials accepted a few copies of the practices main book of teachings, Zhuan Falun, and promised to relay the situation to the top leadership of the CCP. The masses gradually dispersed in the evening when word got out that the Tianjin practitioners had been set free. If the besieging was real, would Zhu Rongji appear so composed when he came out? Shi said, rebutting the state medias characterization of the event. Tensions grew in the afternoon when riot police appeared, carrying rifles, but none of the demonstrators stirred, according to Kong Weijing, another delegate. Zhang stayed until dark and left quietly after most of the petitioners withdrew. Some practitioners with insider knowledge later told her that the regime had originally prepared to use violence on the demonstrators that evening. She credited the crowds extraordinary tranquility for circumventing a possible repeat of the Tiananmen Square massacrethe regimes bloody suppression of student protesters, which had taken place just down the road a decade earlier. They couldnt find any excuse for a clampdown, Zhang said. Sticking to Whats Right The second day after the appeal, official orders were sent to companies nationwide alerting ordinary citizens about what had taken place. It was the first time that Luan Shuang, a human resources director in a transportation firm in the city of Shenzhen, had heard about Falun Gong. Years earlier, Luan, then still in college, learned in shock about how the Chinese regime gunned down unarmed youths in Tiananmen Square. With the brutal killing still fresh in her memory, she was struck by the bravery of the Falun Gong practitioners in coming forward. As with other political movements, Luan, like everyone else, had to submit written promises to their superiors distancing themselves from the incident and declaring it wrong to stage a protest or parade in Beijing. No one would go at all, she said. I wouldnt have gone even if they gave me a bonus for itwouldnt that be putting an end to your own career? she recalled thinking at the time. Falun Gong practitioner Luan Shuang in New York on April 19, 2021. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times) Determined to find out why people would take such a risk, she asked for a Falun Gong book from a coworker who happened to be a practitioner. After reading it once, she made up her mind to practice. She described the values emphasized in the book as a beam of light into her muddled life. I know now that I can use the standard of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance to evaluate everything, she said, referring to the core tenets of the practice. So as long as something is right, I will stick to it to the end. Retaliation Despite the officials conciliatory stance on April 25, the regime had deemed the practices popularity a threat and began a statewide campaign just three months later, aiming to wipe it out. In the years since, several million practitioners have suffered detention for persisting in their faith, according to estimates from the Falun Dafa Information Center, and unknown numbers of adherents have been killed using various forms of torture. After meeting with the premier during the appeal, Shi was targeted by the Party committee at his workplace, which began monitoring his activities. Law enforcement officers combed through files about his past that very night, although they didnt find any issues. Falun Gong practitioner Shi Caidong in Flushing, New York on April 18, 2021. (Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times) Zhang, the foreign trade official, paid a dearer cost. Over seven years, she experienced seven arrests and spent 28 months in a labor camp, where she was beaten, starved, force-fed, and deprived of sleepthe longest stretch being 42 days nonstop. When the grueling session was over, her hair had turned white and her teeth had become loose. The fact that I survived was proof of Falun Dafas wonder, she said. This was in sharp contrast to her pre-persecution life, when she held a lucrative government post and had a perfect family, with a daughter and a son both about to go to college. Many people could work their whole life without reaching where I was, she said. At that time, if I had agreed to stop practicing, I wouldnt have lost anything. Luan, who was still new to the practice, similarly faced a wrenching choice. As a 34-year-old, she was living the white-collar success story, enjoying a life that many her age wouldnt dream of. She had recently moved into a 4,300 square foot seaside mansion, ready to enjoy the fruits of her hard work. She could practice secretly inside her house without letting anyone know. Or she could speak her mind and risk it all. Luan chose the latter. In 2001, the human resources director went to Tiananmen Square to protest the persecutionthe very place that two years earlier she said she wouldnt have gone even if they gave [her] a bonus to protest. Luan was thrown into various detention centers and endured three months of torment. She slept on blankets that she suspected were never washed as they emitted a strong odor. While she was not beaten, she worked long hours with no break making Christmas lights that her fingers couldnt straighten after the shift ended. She managed to come out mostly intact, but others were not so fortunate. A detainee had told her that another Falun Gong practitioner, a foreign language teacher from the same city as Luan, was driven to insanity there. The Party also expelled her from its membership, cutting off the economic and political privileges associated with the affiliation. Her company organized a denunciation meeting to announce the expulsion. During the meeting, Luan was made to endure an endless stream of criticism about her faith from company higher-ups. Luan Shang in her 20s at Jilin University in Changchun, Jilin, China. (Courtesy of Luan Shuang) Luan maintained a bright smile as her superiors announced the decision in front of dozens of her colleagues. This evil Party cant tolerate good people. Even if you dont expel me, I would have to get out of it anyway, she remembered telling herself at the time. While Luans company didnt fire her outright, she was only assigned the lowliest of jobs. She eventually submitted her resignation. No Regrets Recounting their journeys long after resettling in the United States, the adherents exuded an air of sereneness incongruent with their past suffering. They had made the right choices, they said. The belief in the truth, when its elevated from an emotional to a rational level, transcends any suffering, said Zhang, who made her escape through Thailand in 2006. Zhang Yijie (C) is pictured in large, shaded glasses, when she was secretary to Chen Muhua, who later became the vice chairman of the PRC. (NTD Television) Zhang saw her life as a legendary one. Whatever ordeals and circumstances, I have seen them all and been through them all, she said. On April 18, they gathered with about 1,000 other practitioners in New York for a parade and rally to commemorate the historic demonstration of peaceful resistance and to say no to the CCPs continued repression of their faith, they said. If everyone was like those at the April 25 appeal, Chinese society would be better off, Luan said, smiling as she was 20 years ago. Because of April 25 I finally became one of those good people who stand for justice, which I had aspired to be since I was young. The world hit a new daily record of coronavirus cases due mainly to an explosion of the virus in India, but Covid jabs also approached one billion globally on Saturday, offering hope after months of pandemic misery Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2021 ) :The world hit a new daily record of coronavirus cases due mainly to an explosion of the virus in India, but Covid jabs also approached one billion globally on Saturday, offering hope after months of pandemic misery. Cases topped 893,000 worldwide on Friday, with more than a third of the infections in India. Authorities there announced 332,730 new cases on Friday and another 346,786 on Saturday, also a record for a single country since the start of the pandemic, according to an AFP count. India also reported another 2,624 deaths hours, taking the official toll to nearly 190,000 since the pandemic started. India has become the new pandemic hotspot -- queues of Covid-19 patients and their fearful relatives have built up outside hospitals in major cities -- and acute shortages of oxygen have been reported from all over the country. A surge blamed on a new virus variant and recent "super spreader" public events has wrought devastation on the country of 1.3 billion, with charities forced to set up makeshift funeral pyres in a bid to reduce the strain on crematoriums. Indian social media and WhatsApp are white-hot with volunteer calls for vacant ICU beds and medicine and the central government is scrambling to organise special trains to get oxygen supplies to worst-hit cities. One 'oxygen express' carrying 30,000 litres of oxygen arrived in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh state at dawn on Saturday, where armed guards were waiting to escort trucks to hospitals. The Indian air force is also being used to transport oxygen tankers and other supplies around the country and to bring oxygen equipment from Singapore. 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. GRAND RAPIDS, MI An expungement fair held in Grand Rapids Saturday brought Eloise Ledesma one step closer to getting a decades-old misdemeanor wiped from her record. Ledesma, 47, was picking up her ex-husband and his brother at a bar in 1996 when a fight broke out. She said she wasnt involved in the altercation, never leaving the car, but still received an assault conviction. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, she said. The conviction has affected Ledesmas ability to get certain jobs and babysit her grandchildren. It only took about 15 minutes for a lawyer sitting under a tent in the parking lot of the Kent County Human Services Complex to help Ledesma fill out paperwork on the lingering charge, get the documents notarized and explain the next steps in expungement. Wow, its been a lifetime, she said. Ledesma was one of about 180 people who registered for expungement fairs hosted by the Black and Brown Cannabis Guild (BBCG) in Grand Rapids and Benton Harbor this weekend. The events offer free legal support and resources for people looking to clear low-level offenses from their criminal records. Weve had expungement laws on the books in Michigan for a long time. The problem was that so few people knew how to navigate it and so few people had the resources to do so easily, said BBCG founder Denavvia Mojet. An expungement fair held in Grand Rapids on Saturday, April 24, 2021 helped people navigate the process to clear their criminal records. Lawyers volunteering their time sat under tents in the parking lot of the Kent County Human Services Complex. (Photo by Rose White | MLive) According to researchers at the University of Michigan, only 6.5% of residents who qualify for expungement obtain it within five years of eligibility. An estimated 1 million Michigan residents are newly eligible for expungement under the clean slate law, which went into effect on April 11. Mojet said it has been frustrating to hear from hundreds of community members who did not qualify to have their records cleared under the previous law. Those barriers were overwhelming for us as an organization. When Clean Slate finally passed, when the governor signed it into law and when it recently took effect, we started immediately, she said. Related: Up to 1 million Michigan residents may be eligible for clean slate criminal expungements Under the new legislation, up to three felony convictions, unlimited misdemeanors and lesser traffic offenses can be expunged. Residents can also request a judge to expunge marijuana offenses if they occurred after recreational use was legalized in 2018. This was the third fair hosted by BBCG, but the first to occur in the spring around April 20a marijuana holiday. Its an important testament to remembering the people who were criminalized for the plant that we today openly celebrate, said Mojet. Automatic expungement is also included in the new law for nonviolent misdemeanors after seven years and felonies after 10 years for residents with no additional convictions. Attorney General Dana Nessel said that wont take effect until late 2022 at the earliest. Most violent crimes, criminal sexual conduct and alcohol-related driving offenses are not eligible for expungement. A Kent District Library bookmobile parked at the expungement fair in Grand Rapids on Saturday, April 24, 2021 to sign people up for virtual classes to get their high school diploma. (Photo by Rose White | MLive) About 40 lawyers from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Cannabis Workers Rising and Legal Aid of Western Michigan volunteered their time for the expungement fairseither doing prep work before the events or assisting people on the day. People dont realize how common your criminal history is a barrier, Mojet said. It can affect peoples ability to get a job, find housing or volunteer in their communities. The fairs also provided employment resources, and the Kent District Library brought a bookmobile for people to sign up for a virtual classes to get their high school diploma. The Benton Harbor event, scheduled for Sunday, April 25, is the first one BBCG is hosting outside of Grand Rapids. Mojet said people were driving in from across the region to attend previous events. Organizations in Detroit, Muskegon, Jackson and Lansing have reached out to BBCG about possibly holding expungement fairs in their cities. Information about future events will be made available at www.bbcannabis.com. More on MLive: At this point, COVID-19 is a preventable disease -- even as thousands continue to get infected every day Electric vehicle road rally aims to educate west Michigan community on going green Michigan to resume use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine following federal review Introduction Incestuous relationships are of such nature that they are considered highly controversial and shameful all around the world. Incest basically means, being involved sexually or romantically with your own family member. Since ancient times anything even remotely related to sexuality had been considered a very shameful act, it is only today when we are in this modern world that people are open and try to be aware of themselves sexually however it is still not highly accepted or appreciated in the society, and if we talk about the incestuous relationship that it is a great shock to the family system. However, the incestuous relationship was present in ancient times as well, in ancient times it became a medium to protect the royal lineage of the persons from the same kinship, to avoid the dissemination of power amongst the non-royal clans. Soon it evolved to be a prohibited form of relationship as it led to multifaceted genetic disabilities amongst the offsprings. Today, there are countries that have legalized incestuous relationships but there are a lot of countries where it comes under criminal offenses. Why it is not accepted in society Incest is a social taboo. Such kind of relationships is generally rejected by the society. Incest sparks strong emotions in the society, which for now are mostly negative. A sexual or romantic relationship with a close relative is considered detrimental and stigmatized in our society. However, this also shows the hypocrisy of our society as they consider incest depraved but most of the child, a daughter, a sister, a niece or any other member mostly faces sexual harassment in their family itself. In the cases, where it is forced, this is no less than rape and can leave lifetime traumas on a person Another reason because of which is why incest is widely rejected is that it is considered morally wrong. To have a kind of relationship with a close relative, which can only be spoken of behind closed doors is considered morally degrading. It is morally and socially unacceptable in many societies for now. The third and most important reason or factor for opposing these relationships is the health effects on the offspring of such parents. It is believed after the research by various experts that incest harms the genes of the child who is the result of such a relationship. They have defected children and sometimes they can even have some issues medically as well and they can also maybe physically defective child. Such relationships sometimes also leave a heavy impact on a person's mental health which can change a person's psychology from being healthy to deteriorating. What is the current scenario Talking about what people in present think about the incestuous relationship, it can be said that many people still hold negative feelings against it but you can also see a shift in society. Now, what is going around is that many fewer people are concerned with what the other does and hence they have no point of view regarding others' matter. Also, the mindset of many is becoming liberal regarding such topics as when you open your browser and search on such a controversial thing, you can see various remarks given by people which are sometimes positive and sometimes negative but most of the time neutral. A country's stand regarding incest also varies. In some countries like Brunei, Iran, Nigeria, etc., incestuous relationships are punished by death. However, in some countries like Italy, incest is only illegal when it is the cause of provoking a public scandal. Also, in countries like Russia and Spain, incest is fully legal and some countries like Belgium, etc do not have any strict laws regarding incestuous relationships. Even in Indian law nothing is mentioned about incestuous relationships, however, some degrees of relationship are prohibited for marriage. Many people are working towards legalizing incestuous relationships as well and decriminalize them from the countries where it is prohibited. People are also working to strive for providing marriage rights to incestuous couples as well. They call it the freedom to true marriage equality. Legal provisions Incestuous relationships are not openly accepted by society, hence, in many countries, there are legal provisions regarding them. 1) Although there are no provisions mentioning incestuous relationships under Indian law, however, it does have a provision under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which prohibits certain degrees of marriage. Section 3(g) of the Hindu Marriage Act, talks about the degrees of prohibited relationship. According to this, people who come under the degrees of prohibited relationship cannot marry each other Hindu Law. The relations which come under this are:- If one person is a lineal ascendant of the other. If one was the wife or husband of a lineal descendant or ascendant of the other. If two of them are brother and sister, uncle and niece, aunt and nephew, or children of brother and sister or of two brothers or of two sisters. If one person was the wife of the brother or of the fathers or mothers brother or of the grandmothers or grandfathers brother of the other. 2) In the U.S.A incest relationship are a criminal offense. Very recently, some advocates also in the U.S.A have filed a petition to decriminalize incestuous relationships and allow incest couples to marry each other. Richard Morris, an Australian, said that he is in favor of the legal push in the Manhattan Federal Court and this behavior between the two consulting adults, should not be criminalized. He is also trying and pushing to change the incest laws, in about sixty countries. He also told, The Post, that he and other advocates have filed around thirty petitions, seeking to change incest laws around the world but have received very less support till now. These advocates talk about true marriage equality and are fighting for the decriminalization of consensual incest relationships. 3) In countries like Russia and Spain, although incest relationships are legal yet they are still not provided marriage rights. 4) Around twenty-two countries have not criminalized incestuous relationships. 5) Under Muslim Law as well, although marriage between the relatives is legal and is performed, but the marriage between the direct relation like a brother, sister, mother, father, grandmother, grandfather is prohibited. 6) Incest is not strictly prohibited under Portuguese law. Additionally, no law prohibits consenting relatives from having sexual relationships in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. People of the Netherlands are also allowed to engage in incest as well but cannot get married as such. Conclusion The incestuous relationship can be considered as scandalous generally but there are many customs and societies in which they are accepted. Every thought present in society is the result of the different thought processes of people. For some incest is a sin however for others it can be as normal as any other relations. But it can be seen, that in the world we are living today, everyone is becoming accommodating and tolerant to different and uncommon ideas and thought processes. Many countries have legalized incest relationships and many are in their way and still many are there who are totally against such an idea. In the end, it is an individual's point of view that shows how she/he perceives different thoughts and customs, and ideas or in this case relationship. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 20:58:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A Chinese-educated Cambodian medical worker gives a dose of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine to a man in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, April 15, 2021. (Xinhua) by Nguon Sovan PHNOM PENH, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Choeng Senglim, a Cambodian medical student at a university in China, said she is thrilled to be able to help inoculate people in Cambodia against COVID-19 as the kingdom has seen a spike in new cases. The Southeast Asian nation registered 511 new cases on Saturday, pushing the national total to 9,359, with 71 deaths, the Ministry of Health said, adding that there are currently 6,072 active cases in the country. Senglim, the first-year student at the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong province, has joined other Chinese-educated doctors and medical students in vaccinating people at an inoculation site in Porsenchey district of the capital Phnom Penh. The 28-year-old student said she and other medical professionals volunteered to administer the COVID-19 vaccines following calls from the ad-hoc committee for COVID-19 vaccination and that the volunteers had been well trained by veteran doctors before being deployed to the inoculation sites. "I'm proud to work with other medical professionals during this vaccination drive because I want to help protect our people against this highly contagious disease," she told Xinhua. Senglim said she has no hesitation in volunteering for this humanitarian task, saying that medical students are future healthcare providers and must be courageous. "When I chose this profession, I already knew that I would face such a situation or a similar situation one day, so I'm ready to challenge it, and if we don't do our job, who will do it on our behalf?" she said. "This is my first experience, and I will never forget it." Cambodia launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive on Feb 10. So far, around 1.3 million people in the priority groups had been vaccinated against the virus, showed a government report. Sroy Sopheaktra, a fresh graduate with a bachelor's degree in clinical medicine from the Guilin Medical University in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said the vaccination drive gave him an opportunity to serve people and help the country fight against the disease. "We know that our job is at high risks of infections, but we're still keen to work on it because we want to protect our people and to win over COVID-19 as soon as possible," he told Xinhua. "As doctors, our obligations and duties are to save people and we cannot hide ourselves at home when people are in need of medical help," the 25-year-old doctor said. Sopheaktra said that the demand for vaccines is high in Cambodia because the pandemic shows no signs of abating yet. The Association of Cambodian Students in China (ACSC) has mobilized 51 Chinese-educated Cambodian doctors and medical students to take part in the inoculation drive, said ACSC's founder and honorary president Um Vuty. "Currently, 26 have already been sent to inoculation sites in Phnom Penh, as the rest of them are being deployed to inoculation sites in various provinces," he told Xinhua. "Vaccine is like a bulletproof vest that can protect our lives, so we hope that our doctors' participation will contribute to protecting our people's lives and to rebuilding our economy," he said. Ministry of Health Secretary of State Or Vandine, chairwoman of the ad-hoc committee for COVID-19 vaccination, said earlier this month that the kingdom has arranged about 250 inoculation sites nationwide, requiring roughly 2,200 doctors and health workers. Enditem Coburg once had two Coles outlets just 100 metres away from each other picking which one to shop at came down to personal preference. But one of those stores has now closed for good after the supermarket giant handed over the keys to a group of artists to help revitalise the area. The aisles, fruit and veg section and bakery have been pulled out from the Waterfield Street Coles to make way for Schoolhouse Studios, a not-for-profit group that provides space for artists. The old Coles in Coburg will become the new home of arts organisation Schoolhouse Studios. Artists (L-R) Alice Glenn, daughter Wanda, Grace Dlabik with son Elijah and Fiona Figliomeni and Hollie Fifer. Credit:Justin McManus The arrangement, which comes with the support of Moreland City Council as land owner, is part of a five-year sublease of the prime location next to Coburg Station. It started with a map, hand-drawn on a piece of paper and filled using the memories of Charlestonians who could recall when Morris Street had one of the highest concentrations of Black-owned and operated businesses in the city. The Morris Street laid out on that map looked very different from the Morris Street of today. Now, details of Morris Street's history have been preserved in a new online exhibit from the College of Charleston's Lowcountry Digital History Initiative and the Preservation Society's Thomas Mayhem Pinckney Alliance that celebrates the district's stories of resilience, community and cultural identity. Tour the Digital Exhibit The Morris Street Business District Project can be viewed online via the Lowcountry Digital History Initiative at http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/msbd. That alliance was formed with the intent of honoring talented craftspeople like Pinckney himself, an African American artisan who specialized in historic structures and, though relatively unsung, was integral to the city's preservation movement. Susan Pringle Frost, founder of the now century-old Preservation Society of Charleston, was quoted saying that, while she often got credit for starting the movement, Pinckney was "the one who really started" it. In that spirit, the group hosted events lifting up the work of people who continued Pinckney's legacy of craftsmanship. They also celebrated community figures like Esau Jenkins, known for establishing the Progressive Club on Johns Island and founding the C.O. Credit Union. The group had the expressed goal to "identify, recognize and preserve" contributions of African Americans to the region's built environment and "places that are significant to the African American experience." At one of the Alliance's meetings, founding member Julia-Ellen Craft Davis brought that hand-drawn map of Morris Street, partially filled, and people took turns adding to it a doctor's office here, a pharmacy there. Some of the places mostly the churches were still standing, but others were not. Or, if they were, the present-day buildings had no indication of what used to be there. Drawing out that map was the beginning of a bigger effort to preserve at least the histories of the establishments that were in that part of the city and the Black and immigrant families who owned and operated them, since much of the physical evidence of their existence was gone. There was the Brooks Motel, which opened in 1963 and counted Martin Luther King Jr. among its prominent guests during the civil rights movement. In 1969, it served as lodging for activists who converged on Charleston during the Hospital Workers Strike. The motel was demolished in 2000. Benjamin and Albert Brooks, who founded the motel, also ran a pool hall on Morris Street, which they later turned into the Brooks Restaurant, a business the exhibit describes as "part of the social backbone of the Black community." It was listed in the Green Book, which provided African American travelers with a guide of safe places to eat and sleep while traveling during the Jim Crow era. Like the motel, it welcomed its share of high-profile visitors, like James Brown, who received his key to the city there in 1976 at the restaurant's second location across the street at 57 Morris St. Brown ate the restaurant's beef stew, according to a News and Courier account. The restaurant has long been closed, but its first location a one-story structure at the corner of Morris and Felix streets, which also housed another Brooks business, Brooks Realty is still there with its Philip Simmons iron gratings in the windows. At the corner of Coming and Morris streets, Robert F. Morrison opened his Esso gas station in 1938. Morrison, a prominent Black resident of the district who fought for civil rights, employed Black attendants and provided services for Black motorists. Morrison lived right behind the station in a two-story single house. It was demolished in 1974, and the property now sits vacant. For me, the thing thats really startling is the loss of the school, Craft Davis said, in reference to the Simonton School. Founded as the Morris Street School in 1865, it was the first public school for African American children in Charleston. Later renamed the Simonton School, it was open for more than a century. The school was demolished in 1976, and the block where it had been was developed with townhomes and condominiums. A grassy area surrounded by the residences was named Simonton Park. Seeing what's been lost in the Morris Street district says something about "who's history has been more valued" in a city that "prides itself on its preservation," said local historian Millicent Brown, who was also serving on the Thomas Mayhem Pinckney Alliance when that first map was drawn up. Were left at meetings trying to see what people can remember because the structures arent there to tell the stories," Brown said. Sites included on that map informed the research process that followed. That research went back to times well before the Morris Street of that map, to when the area was established just before the Civil War. The neighborhoods around the district were home to free and enslaved African Americans and European immigrants. After the Civil War, new waves of European and Asian immigrants arrived. From the 1860s to the 1960s, the exhibit recounts, Morris Street was home to "German grocers, Irish laborers, Chinese businessmen and Russian Jewish merchants." By the 1950s, many of those immigrant-owned properties left by 1979, the street had just one Jewish business, the exhibit says but the street was filled with "essential mid-century Black-owned businesses." Desegregation in the 1960s and 1970s "marked a significant shift" in the history of the district. Black-owned and White-owned businesses competed for customers, and White-owned businesses that had unequal advantages "were often victorious," the exhibit explains. The construction of the Crosstown, which bisected neighborhoods and displaced many Black residents, was also a "trigger for change." There was a sense of urgency to documenting the Morris Street business district's history, said Craft Davis. Because the area retains so little visual evidence of its past as a hub of Black-owned and operated businesses, that history lives largely in memory. "Our children will not know these stories personally, so its important that we go after this information now because we have already lost so many people of the previous generation that knew it," Craft Davis said in an announcement from the Preservation Society about the exhibit's debut earlier this month. "We cant lose our history; once its lost you cant regain it. That first hand-drawn map and the memories used to fill it in were essential to the process of putting together the digital interactive map that now lives online through the Lowcountry Digital History Initiative. It highlights 20 sites on Morris and connecting side streets, including text and images to explain the evolution of each location. The Preservation Society is also offering an opportunity to experience that research in person on new walking tours of the district. The first was offered in March. Another is being held in May, and they're hoping to keep offering the tour more in the future, said Erin Minnigan, director of historic preservation. Anna-Catherine Carroll, manager of preservation initiatives for the society, said the progression of the Morris Street project, which has been years in the making, shows the importance of "telling undertold stories" before it's too late. And while this research won't bring back the places that have been lost, like the Brooks Motel or the Simonton School, it could inform future decisions about development in the still-changing area. Arizona News Phoenix, Arizona - The FBI Phoenix Field Office and Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations continue to seek information about the disappearance and/or death of Jamie Lynette Yazzie. Yazzie was last seen near Pinon, Arizona, within the boundaries of Navajo Nation Indian Reservation, on June 30, 2019. She has yet to be found. The FBI is now offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Yazzies disappearance and/or death. We are confident someone has information about the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and possible death of Jamie Lynette Yazzie, said Sean Kaul, special agent in charge of the FBI Phoenix Field Office. We hope this reward will encourage anyone with information to come forward and do the right thing. The FBI and Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations have worked tirelessly to locate Yazzie since her disappearance in June. We are committed to bringing justice to Jamie Yazzie, her family, friends, and the entire Pinon community. Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations, along with our federal partners, remains committed to finding resolution and closure for the family of Jamie Yazzie, said Michael Henderson, director of the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations. She has a family who loves her and misses her every day. Any information regarding this case is important, regardless of how insignificant you may think the information is. Someone in the community has answers or information that will help solve this case. The FBI Missing Persons Poster was first released in July 2019 and has been updated to reflect the reward. Photos and the updated poster can be found here: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/jamie-lynette-yazzie Anyone with information about her whereabouts or the details and circumstances surrounding her disappearance and/or death is asked to contact: New Delhi, April 24 : Traders in Delhi will observe voluntary lockdown for one more week to assist the government in bringing down the Covid numbers, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said on Saturday. Accordingly, more than 100 leading associations from all parts of Delhi have decided to observe 'Voluntary Self Lockdown' from April 26 April to May 2. In a virtual meeting held on Friday, CAIT urged Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to extend the current six-day lockdown, scheduled to end at 5 am on Monday, for one more week. "The lockdown is going to get over at 5 am on April 26. The trade leaders at the conference said that considering the present deplorable situation of medical facilities and the rising number of Covid cases in Delhi, it will be appropriate to continue the closure of shops for one more week from April 26," CAIT said. "During this time, it is hoped that the government will be able to check the extensive spread of coronavirus, besides augmenting the medical facilities in Delhi. If the government does not take such a decision for any reason, the trade associations of Delhi will observe a week's voluntary self lockdown from April 26 to May 2," it added. According to CAIT, the call for the self lockdown is purely voluntary and if any association wants to open the market, it will be free to do so. "However, during the self lockdown, the supplies of essential commodities will be maintained as usual as per the Covid guidelines of the government," the traders' body said. Besides, CAIT has also urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to waive the GST on oxygen, which is 18 per cent at present. The national president of CAIT, B.C. Bhartia, said that in view of the oxygen shortage in Delhi, the trade associations have decided to procure oxygen concentrators in good quantity and given them to the people in need. In addition, the traders' body said that it will soon form a Plasma Bank where the names of the people who have recovered from Covid will be enrolled with their consent to be plasma donors, and any one requiring plasma will be able to contact the donor directly. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Editor's note: This story was done in collaboration with The Index-Journal of Greenwood, an Uncovered partner. McCORMICK The John de la Howe school campus sits on a bluff by Lake Thurmond, hidden by 1,300 acres of forests and fields. Its South Carolinas oldest public high school and one of the states newest and most ambitious educational experiments: a statewide governors school for students interested in agriculture. But in the push to create a new era for this old school, school leaders waded into murky waters involving state laws designed to prevent conflicts of interest and fraud, a Post and Courier Uncovered investigation found. Among the findings: The school poured $70,000 into the pocket of a paving contractor with business ties to a school construction manager. The states ethics law prohibits government employees from using their positions to benefit business associates. And when the schools top official quit last year, she immediately went to work for the schools consultant, a company that charged $1,500 a day. The ethics law also prohibits employees from milking their government experiences by cashing in as private-sector contractors. Meantime, the school has burned through $5.1 million to upgrade the campus, but doesnt yet have enough students to fill a single school bus. And school officials estimate it will cost at least $14 million more to bring campus buildings and enrollment numbers in line with the states other governor's schools in Greenville and Hartsville. School leaders paint a different portrait, saying theyve worked hard to reinvent an institution with a past marred by mismanagement and waste. They said they had to make difficult decisions early on, such as laying off half of the staff. This freed up money to change the schools mission from a haven for troubled youths to a highly selective magnet school. They said these changes cultivated a crop of angry former employees who are still working against them. While the school only has about 40 students this year, they hope to have about 75 come fall and more than 160 in the future. And they argue that the millions of tax dollars theyre spending now will pay dividends for generations. But a deeper look reveals a lesson for all government agencies: how cozy relationships and loose adherence to procurement and government accountability laws can lead to ethical quagmires, no matter how good the intentions. To understand where the school is today, its helpful to look at its storied past and more recent troubles. And a good place to start is with a Frenchman from Charleston who bought land here long ago, then named it after a river in Hades whose waters cause drinkers to forget their sins. On the river of forgetfulness This man was John de la Howe, a physician who immigrated from France in the 1760s. He settled in Charleston and soon married a widow. He bought a mansion on Church Street, close to the harbor, and began acquiring land in the hinterlands. He cobbled together a sprawling farm in what today is McCormick County. Then he left his wife behind in Charleston and moved to the farm with another woman. He named his new home Lethe, after a river in Greek mythology. It was said that those who drank from the River Lethe lost all of their memories. In this forgotten place, De la Howe grew indigo and practiced medicine until his death in 1797. He apparently was childless despite his past relationships. With no direct heirs, he decreed in his will that his estate be turned into an agricultural seminary for orphans. Time passed, and the school educated thousands of South Carolina children on these forested and farmed hills. The school became an independent state agency in 1918. But as orphanages fell out of favor, the schools mission changed to one that educated children with behavioral problems. More decades passed, and enrollment declined as counties established similar programs. By 2016, the school was on the brink of closure. Talk to current and former employees and you often hear the words middle of nowhere. There, in the woods, in South Carolinas second smallest county, the school became a lesson in bloated government. Its budget eclipsed $5 million a year. Lawmakers questioned why the state was spending so much money on so few students. At one point, enrollment was so low that the cost per student exceeded $58,365 thats more than a year of tuition and room and board at Clemson University, another institution with agricultural roots. Meantime, the school lost its accreditation, a blow to its credibility. The state inspector general investigated and found staff bypassed proper purchasing rules. Despite the schools failures, the agency head scored an $800 bonus contrary with state law, the inspector general reported, adding: "Not a healthy work environment." Something needed to change. A new school In 2017, the schools board of trustees sought a consultant to come up with options. With the schools reputation in tatters, Student-Centered Education Consulting Group was the only bidder. Student-Centered Education describes itself as a team of veteran, experienced, highly successful South Carolina superintendents, district and school-level administrators. Its led by Jimmy Littlefield, a retired school superintendent from Spartanburg, and Gerald Moore, a former principal of two Upstate high schools: Dorman and Boiling Springs. In the background, Frank Dorn, the schools director of agriculture, began identifying a list of new trustees to give to the governor. Dorn was born in neighboring Edgefield County and could trace his familys roots to 1765, before de la Howe arrived. Dorn landed a job at the school in 2015, after his farm and hardware business in Saluda went under during the 2008-10 recession. Hed filed for federal bankruptcy protection then. And hed also been charged with writing a fraudulent check worth more than $1,000, a misdemeanor that was dismissed after he paid restitution, records show. Dorn said an employee wrote the check, and "I corrected it through the proper channels." We cannot forget the work done by Frank Dorn, said Moore, the consultant, in an email last year to a school official. Moore wrote that Dorn helped them create the schools plan and reconstitute the board. One of the new trustee candidates was Hugh Bland, also from Edgefield. Bland had built an agriculture program at Piedmont Technical College in Greenwood. Without Bland and the other new appointees, Moore wrote in the email, the same questionable bunch of do-nothings would still be there. In late 2017, Student-Centered Education issued its findings. One option was to close the school. But the preferred path was to create a boarding school that focused on agricultural studies. This is our last hurrah, board member Tom Love said during a board meeting at the time, The Index-Journal of Greenwood reported then. Weve got to make it work. It was a bold idea, one that marked a return to the schools past as an operating farm. It was a nod to de la Howes wishes in his will to leave behind an agricultural seminary for children. And it reflected an often-overlooked fact about South Carolina: Agriculture is a $46.2 billion industry, the states largest economic sector. State lawmakers jumped on board. To add luster, they agreed to make it a governors school, a high bar. The two governor's schools were the state's educational gems. The arts and humanities school is in downtown Greenville, overlooking a waterfall. The math and science school is in Hartsville and looks like a small college campus. Highly selective, their programs are similar to elite boarding schools. Students' average SAT scores consistently ranked among the five highest in the state. Student-Centered Education said the state should also set high expectations for the new John de la Howe school. If successful, it would be the only agriculture-based boarding school in the nation. And to make all this happen, in May 2018, the schools board of trustees fired the schools president and hired a new one: Sharon Wall. *** Wall also is from Edgefield and is an experienced and well-connected education leader. She had chaired the South Carolina Board of Education, the panel that sets policies for the states public elementary, middle and high schools. Shed held superintendent or interim superintendent positions in Edgefield, Abbeville and Greenwood counties. When I first rode around campus, I thought, I just dont want to do this, she said in a recent interview. Restoring the school's buildings and creating a new academic program "was going to be a huge undertaking." She agreed to take the job as an interim president. But she had second thoughts as she learned more about staffing levels and building conditions. We had something like 56 employees and just one student, and that one had already been assigned to a group home in Aiken. I actually never met that kid. She laid off 34 employees and shifted the savings into campus renovations. We didnt need any teachers because we didnt have any students, so we put all that money into trying to get the buildings back so we could actually have students. The school had 72 buildings on its sprawling campus, ranging from residential cottages to the imposing John de la Howe administration building, a two-story brick structure built in the mid-1930s. To supervise much of this work, Wall hired two politicians from her hometown. Edgefield, Edgefield, Edgefield Edgefield County, population 27,000, has a rich history, known for its peaches, politicians and scandals. Old Edgefield again! Another murder in Edgefield! one writer wrote in 1816 after a woman named Becky Cotton murdered her husband, earning her the moniker Devil in Petticoats. Edgefields other notable denizens included Preston Brooks, a U.S. congressman who in 1856 caned a fellow lawmaker over an anti-slavery speech. And Pitchfork Ben Tillman, a governor in the 1890s, a senator thereafter, and a vicious white supremacist who also helped establish Clemson University. And, more recently, Strom Thurmond, a foe of integration and a U.S. senator for more than 47 years. The John de la Howe campus is 35 miles north of Edgefield in neighboring McCormick County, but the school increasingly had an Edgefield flavor. With Wall as president, Dorn as head of agriculture and Bland as board chair all from the Edgefield area the school hired Ken Durham, the mayor of Edgefield, to oversee construction and maintenance. Wall also hired Scott Mims to be Durhams second-in-command. Mims served on Edgefield Town Council with Durham. Soon, the John de la Howe campus had contractors with Edgefield connections, as well. Here we go There was no shortage of work. The residential cottages needed new roofs and electrical and plumbing upgrades. The administration building leaked. Roads were chewed up. On one of his first days, Durham gathered his staff. He told them hed worked at the Savannah River Site, the National Wild Turkey Federation and once ran a construction company in Edgefield, according to three former employees who were present. Durham also told them he was a longtime friend of Wall, the new interim president. He reportedly said that he planned to work at the school for only three years and that he hoped his time would boost his retirement nest egg, said Frank Walker and Richard Lewis, two employees in the meeting who recently retired. Lewis thought Durhams comments were another example of people getting their friends jobs. When asked recently about that meeting and the employees recollections, Durham said, Here we go, then stood up and yelled, Hell no! He apologized and then said, When I came in I had a handful, explaining that he found his staff resistant to change and not up to the challenges of rebuilding the campus. I came to open this school, and I did. Lewis had been in charge of maintenance before Durhams arrival. Hed retired from the Highway Patrol in 2007 after 25 years, finishing his tenure as a first sergeant and post commander of Edgefield, McCormick and Saluda counties. Hed taken a job at John de la Howe in 2008 and later trained as a heating and air-conditioning technician. He said he soon grew frustrated with Walls and Durhams management. He felt many decisions were wasteful and violated accepted purchasing practices. On several occasions, contractors approached him with bid quotes and asked him to give them to Durham and Mims. No, Lewis said he told them, you have to send them directly to the procurement office. Emails reviewed by The Post and Courier showed at least one contractor sent a bid directly to Mims, who forwarded it to the procurement officer. In fact, state purchasing rules generally require contractors to submit sealed bids for projects worth more than $10,000. Bids are supposed to go directly to the procurement offices. And agency officials are barred from circulating the quotes before the bid-opening day. The process is designed to prevent kickbacks, bribery and other illegal attempts to favor one contractor over another. Lewis and Durham agree on one thing: Tensions grew throughout 2019 and 2020 as longtime staffers and the new managers butted heads. Lewis, Walker and other current and former employees watched as more contractors with Edgefield connections landed work, including a contractor who lived across the road from Wall. Then, last year, Lewis said he noticed a truck hed seen before. He pulled out his phone and began to shoot a video. Paving the way Scott Mims has a full plate. In addition to his $70,674 job assisting Durham to rebuild the campus, he sits on Edgefield Town Council with Durham. He volunteers at the Edgefield Fire Department. And he also has several Edgefield-area businesses, including Edgefield Asphalt & Concrete, All-Star Cleaning Services and the Edgefield Pool Room restaurant, records show. He works closely with Shannon Philpott, a council member for the nearby town of Trenton. Their social media pages show them running the Edgefield Pool Room together, along with a business that cleans up the messes made when chicken trucks wreck and spill their contents on local highways. In 2020, the school sought bids to demolish and repave campus sidewalks. A company called Faith Construction had low bids: $33,000 for the demolition and $37,000 for the paving. Shannon Philpott was listed as owner on both quotes. Faith Constructions paper trail is thin. The South Carolina secretary of state has no record of it, and theres no licensed contractor by that name, even though state procurement rules generally require commercial contractors licenses for jobs more than $5,000. A company called Faith Remodeling 2 Construction is, however, on the states list of approved vendors, with Philpott as the owner. Philpott did not respond to requests for comment. Last summer, Lewis said he watched the sidewalk paving crews at work. He spotted Mims and Durham on the job site, as well as a truck he recognized, a heavy-duty pickup with dual tires in the rear. He'd seen it used by Mims Edgefield Asphalt & Concrete company. His mind moved back to his years in law enforcement. He was concerned about a possible ethical breach and began shooting video from his phone, images he shared with The Post and Courier. What was so strange to me was that Scott pulls up in a de la Howe truck, gets out, goes to the dually, opens the toolbox and gets a Gatorade from a cooler just as if it's his own truck," he said. South Carolinas ethics laws say that no public official or employee may knowingly use his or her office to obtain an economic interest for himself, a family member, an individual with whom he is associated, or a business with which he is associated. Mims did not respond to requests for comment. Asked about the bids, Durham said he phoned Mims, who told him this: On the bid for the demolition, Faith Construction and another contractor had the same quote: $33,000. Mims wanted the contract to go to the other bidder, but procurement officials told him to go with the first one in, which was Faith's. I dont think we did anything illegal, Durham said. Revolving door? Sharon Wall said shed planned originally to be at the school for six months but was still there two years later, earning about $121,000 her last year, including expenses for mileage, records show. She continued to work closely with the consultant, Student-Centered Education. After doing its initial report in 2017 on the school's future, it landed a lucrative contract to help administrators hire staff and craft a new curriculum. It was an arrangement that also landed Wall in hot water. Wall hadnt put the new contract out for bids as required by the states purchasing laws, John White, the states chief procurement officer, wrote in a letter to the school on April 18, 2019. After negotiations with school leaders, White OKd the contract anyway. White also ordered Wall to take an Introduction to the South Carolina Procurement Code training class as soon as possible, he wrote in his letter. In an interview, Wall said she didnt know about the training requirement and never took the class. Student-Centered Education charged $1,500 a day per consultant, money that added up when two or more attended board meetings at the school. So far, the school has paid the company at least $477,400, records show. In late 2019, the school's board of trustees gave Wall the authority to negotiate another contract for Student-Centered Education. And even as late as April 2020, she worked with staff to make sure Student-Centered Education was the school's consultant, an email showed. But her two years as interim president were coming to an end. Shed found a replacement, Tim Keown. Keown had joined the school in 2019, responsible for recruiting students and helping with the creation of a new agriculture curriculum. He'd known Wall for years, the Index-Journal reported then. He'd earned a Masters degree in agriculture education from Clemson, and taught at two high schools before taking an agriculture education position at Clemson. In July 2020, Wall handed him the reins. And then she began working with Student-Centered Education, earning that $1,500-per-day fee. State law generally prohibits public officials from quitting and immediately taking new jobs with companies that work for their old agencies. The law calls for a one-year "cooling off" period before that prohibition ends. Common in federal and state government circles, these laws are sometimes called revolving door statutes. Their intent is, as one federal judge wrote, to stop the nagging and persistent conflicting interests of the government official who has his eye cocked toward subsequent private employment. 'I do plead ignorance' Sitting for interviews in a school conference room, Wall and Keown struggled at times with questions about the consulting work. Wall said that the board of trustees approved her work with Student-Centered Education, and that her attorney had told her she was on firm ethical ground. At one point in the interview, she left the room to call her attorney. When she returned, she said: If I thought this was wrong, I wouldnt have done it. Ive got a sterling reputation in the past. If I didnt know something, I just didnt know it. I do plead ignorance. I follow the rules. I really did not know. Keown also didnt see any ethical conflicts. Asked if he thought it would create a negative perception if he quit and immediately went to work for the schools consultant, he said: It would not be to me. But Im not a politician. Im a school guy who cares for kids. Gerald Moore, the consultant, also didnt see a conflict in hiring Wall. In an email to the newspaper, he wrote that it was a common practice for retiring school superintendents to stay on as a contractor to help in a transition period. And Hugh Bland, chair of the schools board, said the board wanted Wall to continue helping the school after she left her state position. And we were encouraged by state representatives to keep her on for a while. We were not wasting money. Shes done a wonderful job. In the conference room interviews, Keown grew flushed at times. He defended Walls consulting work, saying the contract called for her to work as many as 80 days at $1,500 per day, but that shed only worked 35 days so far, equivalent to $52,500. Her institutional knowledge was invaluable, he said. Her job is to hold my hand through the accreditation process. He said he was worried that negative publicity would harm the schools progress. *** This new governor's school faces many challenges. It has spent more than $5.1 million to fix cottages for students and staff, along with classrooms and other upgrades. It spent nearly $500,000 to build a guard station at the entrance and repave a campus road. Beyond the $5.1 million already spent, the school has identified an additional $14.1 million in other restoration and construction projects, budget requests show. Its unclear where that money will come from and when. Though angry after being questioned about the school's construction and consulting work, Keown and Durham offered a tour, first to a cottage that hadnt been used for years and had peeling paint on nearly every surface. The imposing administration building had been renamed John de la Howe Hall. It had a new roof, but the auditoriums ceiling had caved in. In a nearby room, a dead squirrel lay on a dank carpet. Keown said he expects the renovation of John de la Howe Hall alone will cost at least $6.6 million. But conditions were different at two newly restored cottages for students. With their tall ceilings, freshly painted walls and newly sanded hardwood floors, the rooms felt spacious and airy. The school has roughly 40 students from across the state, Georgia and North Carolina. Keown said he hopes someday to charge out-of-state tuition to bolster the schools finances, similar to what Clemson and other state colleges do. In the fall, he expects about 75 students as coronavirus limitations end and the school renovates more cottages. The school's existing buildings could house 160 students. Keown said he'd love to have 280 students, similar to the state's two other governor's schools, but that would require a new dorm and even more money. Scattered in small groups across the campus, students worked on a tractor engine and planted trees. They groomed a rabbit for a future 4-H presentation and studied in the library. Around them, on this remote campus, in the place where John de la Howe and his mistress were buried roughly two centuries ago, amid the deteriorating old buildings and newly renovated ones, the questionable contracts and the anger, the school's grounds had the vibrant green of spring's new growth. This old school's new era has the same potential if the lessons of its past failures aren't forgotten. Representatives of member states of the Central American Integration System and South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, fifth from left, pose for a group photo during the meeting between Choi and vice-ministers and other experts from the region's eight countries in Costa Rica, April 23. The participants jointly expressed concerns about Japan's decision to release radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. / Courtesy of Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs South Korea and Mexico shared their concerns during a vice-ministerial meeting about Japan's planned release of contaminated wastewater from its destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant, the foreign ministry here said Saturday. First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, who is now on a nine-day trip to Latin America, met with Carmen Moreno Toscano, Mexico's undersecretary of foreign relations, in Mexico, Friday (local time), to discuss Fukushima and other issues, the ministry added, At the talks, Choi delivered the concerns of the South Korean government and people about Japan's recent decision to discharge the radioactive water into the ocean and asked for support and cooperation from Mexico whose eastern coastline borders the Pacific. The victims of last weeks mass shooting in Indianapolis felt familiar to Gurpreet Kaur, despite the distance between her Portland-area home and the Midwestern FedEx facility. Of the eight people killed in the April 15 attack, four were members of the Sikh religious community. And in viewing photos of the victims, Kaur saw the faces of her own family and friends. There was a woman in her 60s. My mom worked till she was close to 60, said Kaur, secretary of the Sikh Center of Oregon. In the U.S., Canada, there are so many places where theres an Indian concentration in the workforce. Its harrowing to think of something like this happening because of identity. Authorities have not yet specified whether the shooter, a former worker at the FedEx facility, was targeting Sikhs. But members of Oregons Sikh community say the threat of violence is always in the back of their minds. For many people like us non-Christian, nonwhite its not if, but when, Kaur said. Theres always fear that something might happen in your community. The region is home to several gurdwaras, or Sikh temples, including the Sikh Center of Oregon in Beaverton and other locations in Salem, Eugene and Vancouver. Kaur said its been difficult to have conversations about safety and the Indianapolis shooting because of restrictions on in-person gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the limited conversations that have occurred are not new to her and other Sikhs. These conversations happen on and off, but at the end of the day, how much can you let these fears incapacitate you from living your life of faith? Kaur said. You can safeguard the gurdwara, but when I go to work, I cant leave my identity back at home. Sarabjeet Teja, former chairman of the Guru Ramdas Gurdwara Sahib in Vancouver, said the Indianapolis shooting sent shockwaves through the local Sikh community and resurfaced memories of a 2012 shooting that killed six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin. Still, he hopes Sikhs will remember its important to not be intimidated by the Indianapolis attack. Being at the gurdwara, doing other stuff we normally do in our daily lives that cannot stop, he said. The Indianapolis shooting comes against a backdrop of ongoing concerns for Sikhs, Muslims and other religious minorities. Teja said that prior to the pandemic, when more people were gathering in person, temple leaders hired Vancouver police officers or private companies to offer security during Sunday services. Kaur also described an uptick in the bullying of Sikh children after the election of former President Donald Trump and said adult Sikhs who were bullied or harassed as children increasingly sought counseling for painful memories. Violence against several south Asian communities, including Sikhs and Muslims, also rose 64% in the year after Trumps election, according to the advocacy group South Asian Americans Leading Together. In one such attack, a man asked to come into a Gresham temple to use the restroom in 2017, then attacked a Sikh woman and attempted to sexually assault her. Gresham police later said there was no evidence the suspect assaulted the woman because of her race or religion. Kaur also noted that its important for Oregonians to know the history of violence toward Sikhs in their own state. She referenced the St. Johns Riot of 1910, during which about 200 St. Johns residents attacked several Sikhs who lived in the area and worked at a lumber mill, forcing them onto trains south to another part of Portland. But Kaur said the Sikhs came back, filed police reports and tried to take legal action against their attackers. Now, like then, members of the community have been strong, she said. I think the Punjabi community and the Sikh community tend to be very resilient, she said. People carry on with their regular lives, but there is a psychological cost that is very apparent. Kaur believes more interfaith conversations can help create a safer environment for Sikhs and members of all religious groups. What happens in an immigrant community doesnt just affect that community, she said. It has repercussions for the wider society. Jayati Ramakrishnan; 503-221-4320; jramakrishnan@oregonian.com; @JRamakrishnanOR True to its doctrine: Conservatives plan for a new church after United Methodism splits over homosexuality debate Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The United Methodist Church, the third-largest Christian sect in the United States, took another step toward schism over their longstanding debate on LGBT issues when theological conservatives recently unveiled their plan for a new denomination. Known as the Global Methodist Church, it was the product of the 17-member Transitional Leadership Council, a group of theologically conservative United Methodists. The Wesleyan Covenant Association, a conservative United Methodist advocacy group, announced the launching of the GMC on March 1, explaining that it will not officially begin operations until a formal separation policy is approved by the UMC. Theologically conservative United Methodists have made no secret of their efforts to form a new church, stated the WCA in the announcement. In late 2018, the Wesleyan Covenant Association created a Next Steps Working Group to begin drafting its own Book of Doctrines and Discipline outlining essential theological confessions and governing structures for a new churchs consideration. The creators of the GMC and other United Methodists are holding off further action until the results of the next churchwide legislative meeting, known as the General Conference. Due largely to the coronavirus pandemic, the global denomination has had to postpone the legislative meeting multiple times, with it presently being scheduled to take place Aug. 29 Sept. 6, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On the agenda for General Conference 2022 will be a proposal to fund and create at least one new separate denomination for those who no longer want to remain in the UMC. The Christian Post reached out to United Methodists supportive of or tied to the Global Methodist Church to find out how the proposed new denomination will operate, what opposition exists, and if the new denomination will abort its launch if General Conference fails to approve a separation measure. The endless debate For decades, the UMC has debated whether to change their official stance, as outlined in the Book of Discipline, that labels homosexuality a sin, bars the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, and prohibits the blessing of same-sex marriages. These efforts to amend the Book of Discipline have regularly been brought up at General Conference, the churchwide legislative meeting that normally occurs every four years. Every attempt to change the UMC's stance at General Conference has failed, largely because of delegates from Africa and elsewhere abroad who tend to be more conservative. In February 2019, at a special session of General Conference held specifically to address the issue, delegates voted to reaffirm the traditional stance, rejecting a proposal known as the One Church Plan that would have allowed regional bodies and local congregations to determine their own position on LGBT issues. Despite the many losses, progressive United Methodists have continued to campaign against the official stance, sometimes engaging in outright defiance of the rules by ordaining openly gay clergy or officiating same-sex marriages. For example, in 2016, the UMC Western Jurisdiction unanimously elected Karen Oliveto to be bishop of the UMC Mountain Sky Area, making her the first openly gay bishop in the Church. Although the United Methodist Judicial Council, which is the denominations highest court, ruled in 2017 that her election violated church law, she remains in office as of April of this year. Keith Boyette, president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and spokesman for the Global Methodist Church, told The Christian Post that UMC leadership has shown an unwillingness to uphold its teachings. In the United States, particularly, some bishops, clergy, and churches are operating in open defiance to the teachings of the United Methodist Church, Boyette said. The Church has become ungovernable as a consequence, such unchecked defiance has destroyed the integrity of the Church. Boyette said that this defiance has only increased in recent years, noting that those who advocate for change in the official teachings and who are in defiance have made it very clear that they will not leave the Church voluntarily. With the defiance and disobedience in the leadership of the Church, they cant be forced to leave, he continued. In light of this, theologically conservative leaders have decided to launch a new denomination that will be true to its doctrine and teachings and end this endless conflict within the United Methodist Church. John Lomperis of the Institute on Religion & Democracy, who has served as a delegate to the UMC General Conference, told CP that he believed the cat is out of the bag when it came to the schism. Leaders of all major factions have admitted that we need to split, and a split is coming. The main question is if we are going to split in a relatively amicable way acceptable to all sides, or if we will split in a much more combative and bitter way, Lomperis said. Traditionalist United Methodist leaders have been willing to make great, painful sacrifices for the sake of getting the former. But it remains to be seen if bishops and other liberal leaders will be willing to restrain their own greed and selfishness enough to make the transition smoother. Little dissent among conservatives In January 2020, a group of theologically diverse United Methodist leaders expressed their support for what they called Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation. If passed, the Protocol would, among other things, allocate $25 million for conservative Methodists to create a new denomination, tentatively called "traditionalist Methodist." By March 2020, three regional conferences had voted to send the Protocol to General Conference for consideration, with two expressing overt support for the measure. Boyette told CP that the Global Methodist Church is the traditionalist Methodist denomination referenced in the Protocol and that he was not aware of any other theologically conservative groups or denominations being planned to emerge from the United Methodist Church. The Rev. Thomas Lambrecht, vice president and general manager of Good News magazine, who supports the creation of the GMC, told CP that there was little opposition among conservative United Methodists. Echoing Boyette, Lambrecht reported that he knew of no other group that is organizing as a traditionalist alternative to the Global Methodist Church. There are always a few disgruntled people for whom the GMC is not the perfect answer, but I know of no organizational work going on to form an alternative, Lambrecht said. The people who are disgruntled are not prominent, but rather ordinary pastors and laity who leave comments on Facebook or Twitter bashing this or that provision of the new proposed church. Given that the General Conference and the likely approval of separation has been postponed until 2022, debates over the GMCs exact structure will likely come later, Lambrecht said. The polity has only been public for a few weeks, so some of that may come in the future, he told CP in an earlier interview in March. Now that General Conference has been put off, there may be plenty of time for critique. A preliminary structure Although not officially launched, the Global Methodist Church already has a website that includes a mission statement and information on their plans pending General Conference. The new denomination, should it formally begin operations, will allow for female ordination and be committed to racial equality, as well as have measures to prevent theological liberals from taking over their leadership. According to Boyette, as an example, this includes measures laid out in their transitional book of doctrines and discipline regarding leadership structure and the ordination process. The ordination process is structured so as to ensure allegiance to that doctrinal position, those disciplines, the accountability structures within the Church are robust at every level, he told CP. In the Global Methodist Church, bishops are accountable not to each other but to a global commission on episcopacies, which is composed of laity and clergy who would have been elected to that position because of their allegiance to the doctrines and teachings of the Church. The GMC also has a process comparable to that of the Southern Baptist Convention, in which a congregation found in violation of their positions can be removed from the denomination. There is a provision in the for the involuntary disaffiliation of a congregation if it fails to adhere to the doctrines and teachings and ethical practices of the Global Methodist Church, Boyette explained. Theres a whole process that is outlined to try to bring the congregation in alignment. But if it persists in their disobedience to the doctrines, discipline, ethics of the Church that would be the ultimate remedy. Lambrecht of Good News magazine has heard his share of critique about the plans for the GMC structure and said to CP that he believed the most common criticism has been that churches should be able to pick their own pastor, more of a call system, rather than having the bishop appoint the pastor. More congregational veto power was considered in earlier drafts of the polity, but we reconsidered in light of the need to ensure that women and ethnic clergy would have an equal opportunity to serve in pastoral ministry in any church, he continued. That issue of pastoral appointment will undoubtedly become a matter of discussion in the first inaugural General Conference of the new church. How many will leave? Adam Hamilton, a United Methodist megachurch pastor known for his support of changing the Book of Discipline's stance on LGBT issues, said in 2019 that he expected as many as 7,500 congregations would leave the denomination due to the debate. Hamilton made this prediction at the Leadership Institute gathering held September 2019 at his Kansas-based Church of the Resurrection, when the General Conference was still scheduled to take place in May 2020. A year from now, we will not be the same church that we are today, said Hamilton, who went on to predict that there would be between 3,400 and 7,500 less churches in the UMC as a result. Hamilton reasoned that between 3,400 and 6,800 congregations will exit the UMC to join a new theologically conservative denomination while 300 to 1,000 churches will decide that the UMC is still not inclusive enough. So well lose 3,400 to 6,800 on one side and maybe 300 to 1,000 churches on the other side, said Hamilton in 2019, adding that this estimate was just a guess. Conservatives within the UMC who are sympathetic to the creation of the Global Methodist Church were hesitant to provide specific numbers or names of congregations open to joining the new denomination. Because the Protocol has not been adopted by the General Conference of The United Methodist Church, local churches cannot make a decision on alignment yet, Boyette explained. We have not asked churches to provide any indication of their plans to affiliate. Until that becomes possible, theyre not in a place to be making decisions. While Boyette said that they were not able to say how many of the local churches are planning to join the Global Methodist Church when it comes into existence, he did note that a lot of churches had expressed an interest. Lomperis of the Institute on Religion & Democracy, whose organization has many connections to conservative United Methodism, also declined to name specific congregations that would likely join the GMC once a separation proposal was approved. He told CP that it would be unwise to get into listing all the particular congregations likely to join the GMC due to possible vindictive acts from some left-leaning UMC officials. This could paint a giant target on such congregations and pastors, making them vulnerable to all kinds of repercussions, he said. Even if we get the Protocol passed, it will remain to be seen if bishops and others will have integrity in fairly implementing the Protocols terms, to let congregations and conferences make their own fair, free, and informed choices. Should the Protocol separation plan be enacted, Lomperis believed that we could expect a large critical mass of Americans joining the GMC, joined by others in Europe, especially Eastern Europe, the Philippines and Africa. Liberation Methodism Conservative churches are not the only ones considering a departure from the UMC, as some progressives have formed their own splinter church organization. Known as the Liberation Methodist Connexion, its creation was announced last December, with the group describing themselves as a grassroots denomination of former, current, and non-Methodist faith leaders working on the unfolding of the kin-dom of God. We intentionally invite the full participation of all who are living out their God-given identities and expressions, stated the website. We are journeying toward a new way of being followers of Christ that refute the imbalance of powers, principalities, and privileges that has plagued Methodism: colonialism, white supremacy, economic injustices, patriarchy, sexism, clericalism, ableism, ageism, transphobia, and heteronormativity. In response to the development, Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion & Democracy, wrote a blog post predicting that the progressive denomination would not become a major entity. LMX will live out theological pluralism to its more logical conclusions, minimizing if not altogether dismissing theological doctrine in favor of political activisms and identity politics, wrote Tooley last year. No doubt LMX will start very small and will remain a small niche movement. Most radicals will stay within United Methodism, or whatever it is ultimately called, shifting whats left of the old denominational structures ever leftward. CP reached out to the Liberation Methodist Connexion for this story. While a representative said they would respond, a response was not provided by press time. Leaving Regardless? Although the Global Methodist Church lacks any conservative splinter competition and many leaders have signed on to the Protocol, its passage is not inevitable. In September 2019, before the Protocol separation plan was announced, the Africa College of Bishops released a statement denouncing any plans to dissolve the United Methodist Church. That we do not accept any plan that calls for the dissolution of the church and by default, the closure of General Agencies, they stated, as reported by United Methodist Insight. we call on the entire denomination to exercise restraint and work towards an approach to the human sexuality debate in ways that are humane and respectful. Nevertheless, it was an African bishop, John Yambasu of Sierra Leone, who helped develop the Protocol plan that was announced months after the African bishops statement was released. Boyette told CP that he believed, when it came to possible opposition from African delegates and bishops, ultimately, it is the rank and file clergy and laity who will make the decision on what they will do. Those bishops from Africa who urged continued alignment with The United Methodist Church have not addressed how remaining aligned will solve the irreconcilable differences present in the Church, said Boyette. When asked by CP what the GMC will do if the Protocol fails to pass at General Conference 2022, Boyette responded that there was still a chance that many congregations would leave regardless. Those who are supportive of it and are theologically aligned with the Global Methodist Church have made it very clear from the inception that we cannot be part of the United Methodist Church if it changes its teachings or continues to be ungovernable, he explained. Should the Protocol not be adopted and the United Methodist Church either changes its teachings or fails to resolve its lack of coherence, we anticipate that the Global Methodist Church will be launched. Streetwise - Some Cast Changes by Frank Dunnigan May 2009 My parents were married in August of 1947 and bought their one and only house on 18th Avenue near Vicente just a year later, on their one-year anniversary. The newlyweds, still childless at that point, were especially impressed with the fact that St. Cecilia's School was just half a block away, a proximity that proved fortuitous in the years to come. The house had been built in January of 1936 (according to the electrical permit posted in the garage) for a Mr. & Mrs. Galleazi, whose family manufactured accordions. According one of the neighbors, all of these original homes sold for about the same price, $6,500 in 1936. By the time my parents became the second owners in 1948, the price had exactly doubled to $13,000. Mom never admitted that they had received help when buying the place, but among Grandma Dunnigan's papers when she died in 1960 was tiny check stub from the old Hibernia Bank at #1 Jones Street, in the amount of $1,500 with the notation "Frank & Kathy's new home on 18th Avenue." It was somehow reassuring to learn that we baby boomers were not the first generation to accept parental help when purchasing a home! The standard house back then was almost always two bedrooms. Even today, there are only two homes on that block (both built later, in the early 1940s) that have the coveted third bedroom on the main floor. What was the original builder thinking? Nobody was going to have children of opposite sexes? Or that no one with children would ever be buying a home? Likewise, that same builder never planned for the car situation, and most people eventually had to replace those original double garage doors with an overhead door, thus widening the opening to allow for the newer cars. This was a big issue circa 1960 when cars began sprouting tail fins. Electric openers began appearing in the 1970s and 1980s, as the neighborhood population began aging a bit. Our home's builder, a Mr. Johnson, constructed similar houses along the entire east side of 18th, from Vicente to Wawona, and along the west side of 18th, from Vicente only half-way up the block (the remaining homes were built circa 1939-40 by a different company). In trying to keep the prices consistent, the original homes were designed with three slight differences. The first group, from the corner of Vicente halfway up the east side of the block, had large kitchens, medium-size dining rooms, plus a breakfast room, but no view. Those on the west side, from the corner of Vicente halfway up the block, had medium-size kitchens, bigger dining rooms, a breakfast room, plus a view from the bedrooms. The final group had the large, eat-in kitchens, with medium-size dining rooms, and no breakfast room, but a spectacular westward view from the living rooms. In my early days, every house had the requisite wooden kitchen table and chairs, which morphed into formica-topped tables and chrome-legged chairs in the mid-1950s, and then into maple hardwood table-and-chair sets by the 1970s. Everyone seemed to have the same yellow-green-red-blue set of Pyrex bowls, a Sunbeam Mixmaster, and Revere copper-clad pots and pans. Appliances were always white, though most households embraced the classic 1970s Harvest Gold in later years when the San Francisco firm of Mayta-Jensen swept through the neighborhood in a series of kitchen updates (end of those built-in, pull-down ironing boards). These kitchen renovations always managed to add a lot more counter space and electrical outletsour original kitchen had only one outlet behind the stove and one other adjacent to the ironing board. All the kitchens on our block had a skylight, but during those remodels, most people had a light fixture installed within the skylight to brighten things up a bit at night. Our original refrigerator was huge for its timea white 1948 Hotpoint with 12 cubic feet total, and a freezer compartment that could hold four trays of ice and a few boxes of frozen vegetables, maximum. I still have the original instruction booklet, showing smiling whole fruits and vegetables dancing a conga line of sorts in and out of the two crisper drawers. A half gallon of ice cream would have taken up virtually the entire freezer unit, and therefore such treats were only purchased in small quantities and brought home for immediate consumption. Our kitchen dishes in the 1950s were white, with a pine branch and pine cones on them, to be replaced in the late 1960s with unbreakable Corelle with tiny little flowers around the border, and then in the 1970s with the classic Franciscan pattern, Desert Rose. Every home had a corner fireplace in the living room, but no gas starters. Numerous families never used their fireplaces, wanting to keep their homes "clean." Some rationalized that with a central gas furnace, there was no need to rely on a fireplace for heat, so why go to all the bother of lugging wood upstairs? In retrospect, this appears to have been a female argument. More than one young husband of the 1950s is reported to have said to his beloved, "Ya know, the day we get home from the cemetery after your funeral, the first thing I'm gonna do is light a fire in that fireplace!" Many of the living rooms had cathedral ceilings, some embellished with Philippine mahogany beams to match the wood molding and doors in the living, dining, and entry areas. Again, to equalize the costs of all the homes, the builder sometimes eliminated the beams, or dropped the living room ceiling a bit, though still leaving it vaulted, with or without plaster embellishments. Electric wall sconces were a standard source of light in the living rooms, and most dining rooms started with wrought iron chandeliers that gradually morphed themselves into crystal chandeliers as time went by. Almost without exception, these homes had a downstairs room, complete with a sink and bar set-up. These eventually became rainy day play locations for all of the kids who came along in the 1950s, and were the locales of most of our childhood birthday parties. Dad's friend Bill had an amazing set-up of glassware with recessed lighting and glass shelving behind the bar of his knotty-pine paneled room (complete with gold-color "comedy" and "tragedy" masks hanging above that I still remember to this day.) Most of us first-born sons eventually commandeered these spaces as our own bedrooms sometime during our high school years. The center patio was a standard feature of those homes, though as time went on, most people noticed the heat loss, or discovered that the patio floor was beginning to leak, and covered the whole thing over with a vented skylight. Many people filled these areas with a variety of flora and fauna. About 1961 or so, there was a big neighborhood push for fuchsias, which can thrive in cool, foggy weather. Mrs. Cauley had an enormous variety in her patio, and often rooted them for the neighbors. When given some attention, the plants produced steady streams of color, though there was a certain amount of maintenance involved, including daily watering (multiple times during warm weather), plus fertilizing, picking up fallen blooms, and chasing the ever-present bee population out of the house. Many of the adjacent dining rooms had built-in cabinets to store the china and crystal that the Moms had all collected upon marriage, and tables were lovingly set for all the christenings and birthdays, Thanksgivings and Christmases, and the buffet gatherings that always followed family funerals. The Moms always took their places at the table in a chair that was closest to the swinging kitchen door, with the Dads holding down the opposite end. Kids and grandparents, aunts and uncles all had their usual spots, assigned seating, so to speak, and no one ever had to wonder where they were supposed to sitthe Moms always had it planned out well in advance, and one look would tell a stranger immediately where to sit. Unlike Ward and June Cleaver, my parents never served regular weeknight dinners in the dining roomit was for special occasions only. In the 1950s, it was a real treat for kids to be allowed to have dinner on the coffee table in front of the TV in the living room, while the parents could then relax in the kitchen. While this was probably not the best for developing conversational skills in some, it did give the parents a brief respite before the turmoil involving bathtime and bedtime. The bathrooms on our block were all classic art deco, in various combinations of black tiles with pink, yellow, pale green, or powder blue. Some of the houses had "split" baths, with the toilet in a separate room that had access from the hallway and from the main bathroom. The sinks were the classic pedestal, and there were separate stall showers, originally with shower curtains, and later, many people updated to glass shower doors, with the requisite frosted swan, after an advertising blitz by the old Sears, Roebuck Co. at Geary and Masonic. Most of these bathrooms never had an electrical outlet, unless the owners had one installed in the years after construction. Presumably everyone towel-dried their hair and men shaved their faces and women their legs with a blade in those early days. Every house had exactly one bathroom, though some lucky folks had the "half-bath," often just a toilet, tucked away in the garage near the downstairs room and its barpresumably the builder knew the physiological effects of beer on the human body over time. It continues to amaze me how families with two adults and three or more kids could cope with just a single bathroom. Three kids seemed to be the demarcation lineat that point many families added an extra bathroom downstairs, much to relief of everyone's kidneys. The original single phone was in a recessed shelf in the hallway, complete with a telephone book holder beneath the shelf. These were obviously designed for the old "candlestick" style phones of the early 1930s, with the ringer located in a recessed, lattice-covered box above the shelf. By the time I arrived on the scene in 1951, the phone, with its 12-foot cord, looked like a late 1930s prop that might have appeared in The Maltese Falcon. This remained until the late 1960s, when it became modern, beige, and sported a 50-foot cord that could be dragged all over the house. I wonder just how many Outside Lands residents were tripped up in the 1950s by that black cord being stretched invisibly across the hall and into the bathroom when someone desired privacy for their conversation? When it came to phones, we always had a party line in the 1950s and early 1960s. Mr. & Mrs. Vincent, who lived next door to us, and Mr. Nielsen across the street, were on our party line all those years. Sometimes you would pick up the phone and hear that a party line neighbor was using it, and you would then hang up quietly, and wait for them to be donehowever, the phone rang only in the house that was being called. I don't know for sure, but I think that the telephone company must have matched subscribers up carefully. Our two-parent, two-kid household was linked with two childless households, which was a better situation than if we had been paired up with another household that had a bunch of kids. Calling a party line neighbor was also a tricky propositionyou had to go through the operator for that. We had many original neighbors for years, including those on both sides. Our uphill neighbor died in 1982, but one of his adult children continues to live there; our downhill neighbor lived until 1991, and our family was there until Mom died in 2002. This was par for the course for that blockeven today, there are still multiple houses there that are occupied by the children, grandchildren, and even the great-grandchildren of the original owners, due in some part to family ties, but also due to the intricacies of Proposition 13 and the laws involving real estate transfers among family members. By the 1980s, iron gates became a standard feature on most homes in the neighborhood, a factor that has been universally recognized as the beginning of a decline in the overall quality of life for the neighborhood. The fact is that the 1980s era corresponded with the passing of many of the men in the neighborhood. Many of the Moms, with kids grown and moved away, plus a recently deceased spouse, felt a far greater sense of security in their long-time homes with those iron gates in place. In spite of all the physical elements that surrounded us, what remains first and foremost in my memory are the people who came and went in the nearly 55 years that our family occupied that 25-by-120-foot spot of San Francisco. I can still see images, either in photos, or in my mind's eye of: Excited 30-somethings bringing me home from the hospital in 1951, Mom in her navy blue polka dot dress, along with a hat and gloves, and Dad in a light gray suit standing next to her in front of the dark green 1950 Plymouth. My christening party, a few weeks later, was the biggest gathering that they had hosted in the house up until then. Long-gone grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, schoolmates and prom dates who joined us for birthdays, first communions, confirmations, graduations, and all sorts of other events, and all the hugs and kisses that were exchanged at the front door as they arrived and left. Pictures were always taken of everyone around the dining room table, and again, posing in front of the fireplace. Looking back it's amazing that there were practically no changes to that fireplace/mantel backdrop in over 50 years, except for the occasional potted plant (sometimes real, sometimes fake) in one corner. There was the St. Patrick's Day in 1956 when Mom & Dad hosted an engagement party for Dad's brother, and Mom wowed everyone by placing a tiny drop of green food coloring in the bottom of each champagne glassa project in which I was allowed to help out. Thanksgiving had its own set of rituals. Although we always went to Mom's mother or her sister's house for ThanksgivingMom never hosted her own until 1992there was always a turkey in the oven "so we can have enough leftovers". Were we the only family that cooked a whole turkey just to have leftover turkey sandwiches with dressing after the holiday? I think not. Christmas, particularly on 18th Avenue took on a life of its own. The "night of the lighting" was usually the Saturday night two full weeks before Christmas, when Santa arrived on the fire engine and all the Christmas trees and outside lights were turned on. Everyone hosted an open house that night, with large quantities of Chex mix, Lipton's Onion Dip, and Christmas cookies consumed and washed down with a variety of beverages. Mom always recalled the Christmas of 1950 at the Kelly's house when one neighbor had to leave the party early, in order to get to the hospital just in time to deliver twin girlsthat was likely the inspiration that brought me onto the scene a year later. My parents always seemed to favor white trees, both flocked real ones and artificial, though in 1959, we had one of those ubiquitous aluminum trees with the color wheel. For the last 25 years of her life, Mom was committed to green trees, both real and artificial, with small clear lights and gold ball ornaments. Our long-time family friend Theresa, invariably dropping by in the middle of Dad's pre-July4th birthday dinner, with her ever-present box of See's candy for him. Originally one of Grandma's friends, she continued her ritual long after Dad died in 1980, a silent little reminder of a family friendship that went back to 1906 when my great-grandparents left their burned-out home South of Market and became next door neighbors and close friends to Theresa's parents on 21st Street in the Mission. My high school and college graduations from St. Ignatius and USF, and what had to be the two largest and longest parties that we ever held in that house both starting in the late afternoon, topping 60 people each, and spilling out, upstairs, downstairs, and into the big back yard, with the final guests departing in the wee small hours of the next morning. A good time, as they say, was had by all. Easter brunches were one of Mom's favorite get-togethers in later years, as we mixed and matched family and friends, older-middle-younger generations, co-workers and neighbors. The early morning buffet morphed itself into an all day snacking session, and the leftover ham became dinner for anyone who was still there. As happy as most events were, there were others that remain just as clear, though incredibly sad. I still remember where I was in the house when I was told of the unexpected deaths of some beloved neighbors, exactly where everyone was sitting around the dining room table that hot Indian summer afternoon after Grandma died, and the typically foggy Sunset District summer day in 1980 when we returned home after my father's funeral. In Mom's final months in 2002, approaching age 90, she remained housebound, save for that standing hairdresser appointment that she faithfully kept on Thursdays, almost up to the very end. Seated in her "den"almost all the women who lived alone converted the second bedroom into a den with a telephone, easy chair and console television, televisions having been banished from most of the living rooms on that block sometime in the 1970sshe continued to have visitors in person and by telephone daily. Assisted by a wonderful Irish woman, who had been helping her out a few hours each day for ten years, Mom got her fondest wishto remain in her own house right up to the end. No doubt, the ghosts of the past were especially friendly to her, and I'm sure that she was content to live out her days among so many fond memories. As I drive up and down that block today, I still see the manicured patches of lawn, the present generation of children, still running in and out of each other's houses, plus Dads in shirtsleeves and one or two Moms in aprons, chatting casually with one another. The Venetian blinds of living room windows still twitch, almost imperceptibly, as neighbors peer out to see just who is driving along so slowly and staring at things. It's as though a popular, long-running play is still in progress, being acted out upon the same stage and under the same lighting, with just a couple of minor changes in the cast of characters.. Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places! A California Air National Guard F-15C Strike Eagle was placed on alert status for a mysterious 'domestic mission' last year, drawing concern from pilots that they would be asked to buzz crowds of protesters, according to a new report. The fighter jet at the 144th Fighter Wing in Fresno that was put on alert days before the November election was not armed with missiles and its 20-millimeter cannon was unloaded, according to the Los Angeles Times. That led pilots to fear that the war machine would be used to intimidate protesters by flying low over crowds, spewing flames from its afterburners, sources told the paper. 'That's something that would happen in the Soviet Union,' one Guard source told the Times. 'Our military is used to combat foreign aggressors.' A California Air National Guard F-15C Strike Eagle was placed on alert status for a mysterious 'domestic mission' last year, prompting concerns it would be used to intimidate protesters Pilots feared they would be asked to fly crowds, spewing flames from its afterburners. Above, protesters march through downtown Los Angeles last June Officials with the California Guard and Governor Gavin Newsome denied that plans were ever contemplated to use an F-15C to intimidate protesters. 'We do not use our planes to frighten or intimidate civilians,' Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma, a Guard spokesman, told the Times. But documents reviewed by the newspaper revealed that the jet was placed on alert status during election week, and that officers also shared concerns in March 2020 and over the summer that the F-15C would be used to quell civil unrest amid the coronavirus pandemic and protests over the police killing of George Floyd. The alert status orders reportedly came down verbally or though text messages, rather than official channels, further stoking officers' fears over the nature of the mysterious 'domestic mission'. The week before the election, a lieutenant colonel sent a message to Guard members who maintain the F-15C, advising them that a jet must be 'ready to take off within two hours' starting the day before the election. Anti-lockdown protests were also widespread in California, which had harsh restrictions As early as last March, pilots expressed fears that plans were being contemplated to use the F-15C to quell unrest. Above, a Los Angeles supermarket is stripped bare in March 2020 The pilot and launch crew were required to be able to reach the base within 90 minutes of any order to deploy. The message said 'aircraft availability' for a domestic mission would be 'at a premium next week with the election. We may need to work on Saturday and maybe Sunday to ensure we have ... aircraft availability' for the potential mission. The unusual order prompted alarm among Guard officers, and the then-commander of the 144th Wing, Col. Jeremiah Cruz, tried to quell the fears by sending an email saying 'there is no expectation that the F-15C will be used in any way in support of civil unrest.' He also instructed officers to keep him apprised of 'any requests or upcoming requests' from California Guard headquarters in Sacramento. No such order to use the fighter jet against demonstrators ever came down, but even the possibility that such a contingency was being contemplated alarmed many officers. The F-15C is a tactical fighter aircraft designed for air-to-air combat, armed with a 20mm M61A1 Vulcan Gatling cannon and equipped to carry a variety of missiles 'It's a war machine, not something you use for [suppressing] civil unrest,' one source told the Times. The F-15C is a tactical fighter aircraft designed for air-to-air combat, armed with a 20mm M61A1 Vulcan Gatling cannon and equipped to carry a variety of missiles and bombs. A spokeswoman said that Newsom had never authorized the use of the F-15C to respond to civil unrest, and that the possibility of that type of mission for the jet 'was never a consideration before the governor's office.' If it had been, the spokeswoman added, Newsom 'would not have approved it.' Last summer, the California National Guard spurred controversy by sending an RC-26B spy plane to monitor Black Lives Matter protests in the wealthy Sacramento suburb of El Dorado Hills. The head of the California National Guard, Major General David S. Baldwin, lives in El Dorado Hills, but claimed at the time that it had 'nothing to do with' the spy plane's deployment. (Natural News) Towards the end of this week, the Texas House passed Constitutional Carry, which allows lawful individuals to carry handguns without a license. (Article by Joe Nino republished from BigLeaguePolitics.com) The bill was initially approved on April 15 by a 84-56 vote. The House later approved the bill one final time and now awaits a vote in the Senate. House Bill 1927 was introduced by Texas State Representative Matt Schaefer. The bill would scrap the requirement for Texas residents to acquire a license to carry handguns provided that theyre not prohibited by state or federal law from owning a firearm. Under Texas current law, Texans must possess licenses to carry handguns, whether concealed or open. This bill should be called common-sense carry, Schaefer declared as he argued in favor of the bill on April 15. Seven Democrats ended up voting for the Constitutional Carry. The Texas Tribune listed them off: Republican State Representative Jeff Cason put forward an amendment that would have lowered the age for Constitutional Carry from 21 to 18. However, Schaefer and some of his other Republican colleagues opposed this proposal, which led to the demise of his amendment by a vote of 12-121. The bill now has to be voted on in the Senate, which may be harder to pass. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, who is in charge of the Senate, has expressed hesitancy in the past about passing Constitutional Carry. In a 2017 radio interview, Patrick said with all the police violence today we have in our state law enforcement does not like the idea of anyone being able to walk down the street with a gun and they dont know if they have a permit or not. Gun owners in Texas will have to turn up the heat on the Texas Senate. For the past decade, Constitutional Carry has evaded grassroots activists in Texas. Now, Texans have a golden opportunity to make Texas the 21st Constitutional Carry state. Lets hope they dont become complacent. Relentless pressure is needed to pass a clean, Constitutional Carry bill. Read more at: BigLeaguePolitics.com or Guns.news . Among other things, there are basically two sets of issues that call into question governments approach and attitude towards handling the danger of the pandemic on the one hand and the election campaigners claim to put the right to campaign above responsibility. In response to the first set, one may possibly argue that the approach the central government seems to have adopted towards fighting the coronavirus has been criticised by different state governments. However, as far as the first issue is concerned, the editorial in the current issue convincingly helps us to understand the central governments problematic response to meet the need for vaccines as voiced by some of the state governments, particularly those that are outside the ruling combination at the centre. According to the press reports, the central government is accused of discriminatory approach towards those state governments that belong to the opposition. Since the editorial in the current issue deals with the central response to the vaccine crisis faced by the states, it is necessary to focus on the second issue. Political leaders could argue, and according to press reports, some of them have indeed argued that they have a constitutional right to campaign, irrespective of the crisis that has engulfed the entire country in its vortex. The second issue is privileging the right to campaign over responsibility to avoid crowded campaigning that is imminently active in spreading the virus. The desire to privilege right over responsibility led the star campaigners to bring the tension to bear on the relationship between the rights and responsibility on the one hand and duty and responsibility on the other. The James Fuentes Gallery has announced a fascinating show taking place next month celebrating a groundbreaking moment in the Lower East Sides history of art and activism. Heres a portion of the press release: James Fuentes is honored to announce its forthcoming exhibition which will revisit a seminal exhibition called The Real Estate Show, which took place in 1980 at 123 Delancey Street. Organized by Colab, a group comprised of artists and activists to collectively generate exhibition opportunities, funding and resources or artists, The Real Estate Show took place in a city owned building that the organizers and artists utilized without permission from the city. The exhibition aimed to deal with what they saw as a real estate crisis in New York City for the non-wealthy, the group dedicated the exhibition to Elizabeth Mangum, an African American woman killed by police and marshals as she resisted eviction in Flatbush. The Real Estate Show ultimately led to the birth of the anarchist art center, ABC No Rio, at 156 Rivington St. The new exhibition, titled, The Real Estate Show Was Then: 1980, will include many works from the original installation, films and related events at the James Fuentes Gallery, 55 Delancey St., Cuchiritos Gallery in the Essex Street Market and ABC No Rio. It takes place April 4-27 and is tied to the first annual Lower East Side History Month. The programming at Cuchifritos and ABC No Rio extends into the first week of May. The project is especially relevant today. The space at 123 Delancey St. is part of the former Seward Park Urban Renewal Area. One year from now, developers of the new Essex Crossing residential and retail development will break ground on the six acre site. Thirty years ago, the artists were told they could not use the vacant building on Delancey Street because the parcel was poised for development. Decades later, its finally happening. Were preparing a more detailed online story concerning The Real Estate Show, as well as a report for our April print magazine. Click here to see the full press release, including a listing of artists involved. WEST SPRINGFIELD ValleyBike, the Pioneer Valleys short-term bike rental program, opened in West Springfield this week with two stations. The stations are two of 20 new stations ValleyBike plans to add across its expanding network this year with a $1.1 million state and federal transportation grant, said Wayne Feiden, an administrator of ValleyBike in his role as director of planning and sustainability in Northampton. One station is on Park Street in front of the West Springfield Public Library. The other is at 158 Memorial Ave., near one of West Springfields shopping and employment districts. ValleyBike will open a fifth station in Easthampton this one on Parsons Street with an event Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., said community outreach coordinator Shannon Bliven. Bliven said shell be on hand in Easthampton helping people sign up for ValleyBikes Access Pass, its equity program that gives free passes to those on government assistance. The passes are funded by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. For others, annual memberships cost $80 and monthly memberships are $20. A pay-per-ride pass is $2. ValleyBike says riders have racked up 27,000 miles this year and have traveled more than 400,000 miles since the system opened 2018. The system, similar to Citibike in New York City, provides recreation and that last mile of transit, helping folks get from home to work. The bikes have an electric-assist motor. Feiden said five stations are opening in communities that didnt have ValleyBike before: the two in West Springfield plus three in Chicopee opening in July. As far as existing towns: Amherst is getting three additional stations, Holyoke four, Northampton four, Springfield four and Easthampton the one new station. The systems been well used during the coronavirus pandemic, considering that Springfield suspended its ValleyBike program temporarily due to COVID-19. Also, the stations at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, normally the busiest in the network, have been quiet because there are fewer students on campus, Feiden said. West Springfields administration fee for the first year of ValleyBike service is $4,981. It is also responsible for providing a concrete pad for the bike station and for paying the electric bill. Bliven said ValleyBike has only lost five bikes in four riding seasons, including one that was set on fire in Northampton. The bikes have GPS, so ValleyBike staffers know where they are and can come get them if they are not returned. Related content: A teenage girl at centre of Child Rescue Ireland alert located safe and well and am 18 year old male has been arrested. As a result, the Child Rescue Ireland Alert (CRI) has now been stood down. Svetlana Murphy has been located safe and well in the Belfast area. She is in the safe custody of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and will be re-united with her family tonight. An 18 year old male has been arrested by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and is currently in custody. Gardai say they are not providing any further information and have appealed that the privacy of the family be respected at this time. Gardai have also thanked the public, media and other agencies for assistance provided during this alert. Child Rescue Ireland (CRI) was introduced in May 2012 and this has been the eighth CRI Alert in that time. Kabul : , April 24 (IANS) Four police personnel and a private university lecturer were killed in two separate shootings in Afghanistan's Kabul on Saturday, the latest in a string of targeted killings in the war-hit country, reported a local TV channel. "Four policemen were shot and killed in Paghman district, in the western part of Kabul and Rafi Osmani, lecturer at private Peshgam University was killed by unidentified gunmen in Police District 4 of the city on Saturday morning," Tolo News TV reported. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far. However, Kabul police officials regarded the killings as targeted attacks by the Taliban militant group, the Xinhua news agency reported. Civilians considered to be supporting the government, civilian government employees, religious leaders, tribal elders and persons involved in peace and reconciliation efforts have come under attack in targeted killings over the past years. We dont want to be one of those single planet species, we want to be a multi-planet species, Space X CEO Elon Musk said on April 23 following the launch of the Crew-2 mission. Many times in the past, the tech billionaire has expressed his desire to establish a permanent human presence on the red planet with starship rockets carrying humans to and from Mars. On Friday, he went a step ahead by asserting that not only do humans need to colonize Mars but also have a present base on the moon in order to become a spacefaring civilization. Elon Musk wants humans to be 'multi-planet species' Its been now almost half a century since humans were last on the moon. Thats too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the moon again, like a big permanently occupied base on the moon. And then build a city on Mars to become a spacefaring civilization, a multi-planet species, Musk told reporters. Last December, the 44-year-old had blatantly claimed that it would just take another six years for SpaceX to land humans on Mars. He had further elaborated that SpaceX plans to send a Starship rocket without a crew in two years. SpaceX is currently developing Starship with an ambition to use it to launch cargo and people on missions to Moon and Mars. This comes as the California based Space X has won a $2.89 billion contract by NASA to build a spacecraft that would carry astronauts to the moon as early as 2024. The news was announced by NASA in a press release wherein it stated that the firm-fixed contract to construct the Lunar Lander was given to the Elon Musk owned company. The lander would be used as a part of the US Space agencys ambitious Artemis Programme, which would safely land two astronauts on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, taking to Twitter Musk hailed NASAs decision. NASA Rules!!, he wrote sharing a tweet that revealed that Starship has been selected for the project. In a subsequent tweet, he also reckoned that SpaceX was honoured to be part of the Artemis team. Image Credits: Pixabey/AP A mass cremation of victims who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen at a crematorium ground in New Delhi, India (Photo : REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui) Delhi resident Nitish Kumar was forced to keep his dead mother's body at home for nearly two days while he searched for space in the city's crematoriums - a sign of the deluge of death in India's capital where coronavirus cases are surging. On Thursday Kumar cremated his mother, who died of COVID-19, in a makeshift, mass cremation facility in a parking lot adjoining a crematorium in Seemapuri in northeast Delhi. Advertisement "I ran pillar to post but every crematorium had some reason ... one said it had run out of wood," said Kumar, wearing a mask and squinting his eyes that were stinging from the smoke blowing from the burning pyres. India recorded the world's highest daily tally of 314,835 coronavirus infections on Thursday, with the second wave of the pandemic crushing its weak health infrastructure. In Delhi alone, where hospitals are running out of medical oxygen supplies, the daily rise is over 26,000. People losing loved ones in the Indian capital, where 306 people have died of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, are turning to makeshift facilities that are undertaking mass burials and cremations as crematoriums come under pressure. Jitender Singh Shunty who runs a non-profit medical service, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sewa Dal, said as of Thursday afternoon 60 bodies had been cremated at the makeshift facility in the parking lot and 15 others were still waiting. "No one in Delhi would have ever witnessed such a scene. Children who were 5 years old, 15 years old, 25 years old are being cremated. Newlyweds are being cremated. It's difficult to watch," said a teary-eyed Shunty. Shunty, dressed in protective gear and a bright yellow turban, said last year during the peak of the first wave the maximum number of bodies he helped cremate in a single day was 18, while the average was eight to 10 a day. On Tuesday, 78 bodies were cremated in that one place alone, he said. Kumar said when his mother, a government healthcare worker, tested positive 10 days ago, the authorities could not find a hospital bed for her. "The government is not doing anything. Only you can save your family. You are on your own," he said. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes said she wants to be a voice for front-line workers who have continued to provide services to the public throughout the pandemic. In a conference call this week, Hayes, a Democrat who represents Connecticuts 5th congressional district, addressed front-line workers and spoke with members of AFSCME Council 4, a union that represents 30,000 employees across the state. She also addressed the impact of the American Rescue Plan on Connecticuts recovery from COVID-19. She said it has been imperative that the plan, which has been providing immediate aid to state and local governments, continue to help front-line workers on the ground. Connecticut will gain about $2.9 billion in aid and about $1.6 billion will go to municipalities as a result of the plan, according to Hayes. That is significant as we are trying to recover from the impacts of COVID. This money can be used to provide premium pay for essential workers, she said. The is work needed to save jobs and protect families continues, Hayes said. The plan has provisions for expanding paid family and medical leave so workers impacted by COVID can still take care of their families, according to Hayes. She said she wants to reassure front-line workers that, in the same way theyve worked throughout the pandemic, the country stands behind them. Those workers at the beginning risked their health and safety to continue to provide services in our community and I want to make sure that we are there for them, she said. Litchfield resident Joe Manes, who is retired from the Torrington public school system and works for the Torrington Public Works Department, said hes grateful for the plan as it relates to school funding. (The American Rescue Plan) provides $350 billion to state and local governments across the country, with Connecticut receiving approximately $4 billion, including $1.1 billion for K through 12 funding, he said. This funding will help alleviate extra costs incurred as a result of the pandemic, reduce layoffs in services in boards of education. These funds bring stability to public local government and boards of ed. Additionally, he said the plan provides funding for vaccine education and distribution. These resources have helped bring stability and safety to working families that have been on the front lines for the last year by helping speed up vaccine timelines, he said. (The plan) also provides funding for education and distribution, which will help get the vaccine into more people in the public. Hayes spoke of correction officers who worked through the pandemic long shifts, overtime, covering for co-workers as they were out sick, caring for sick individuals, she said. We have to make sure that those jobs are protected on the other side of this pandemic. Unionville resident Sean Howard, a correction officer at Cheshire Correctional Institute, said since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 1,000 correction officers and more than 4,100 offenders have tested positive for the coronavirus. Additionally, 17 offenders have died with COVID, he said. He said the plan allocates $140 million to support the mental health of health care professionals and public safety officers. Hayes said while she views the American Rescue Plan as immediate relief, shell continue to legislate long-term to protect workers and jobs, and make sure services in local communities remain. What we saw at the beginning of this pandemic is a heightened sense of awareness about making sure that our communities were safe and that we didnt have pockets of vulnerable people in our community and that only happens when we have clean and safe neighborhoods, active police forces, and strong schools. All those things can only happen with strong partnerships between state and local governments and with the federal government, so I will continue to be a voice for those people in our communities for the workers who are actually delivering those services. sfox@milfordmirror.com Advertisement An Ivy League professor was condemned for using the bones of a black child killed in a 1985 police bombing for an online lecture allegedly without the family's consent. Janet Monge, a visiting professor at Princeton University, led a highly-rated free course on forensic anthropology for the prestigious school in which she is seen holding the teenage girl's femur and pelvis and calling them 'juicy.' The teen, believed to be a 14 year-old girl called Tree Africa, was killed in 1985 in Philadelphia after police dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto a black liberation group called MOVE - killing six members of the group and five of their children. Her bones were originally found fused inside a pair of jeans, and there is speculation that the remains may also include those of a second child victim of the bombing. Janet Monge, a visiting professor at Princeton University, led a highly-rated free course on forensic anthropology for the prestigious school Monge is seen holding up the bones of a pelvis and femur without her mother's consent The teen was killed in a 1985 in Philadelphia after police dropped a bomb from a helicopter onto a black liberation group called MOVE, with 10 others dying in the ensuing inferno The bones were transferred back and forth over the years between Princeton and another Ivy League School - the University of Pennsylvania, with surviving members of MOVE outraged by the decision to display them Monge is pictured in an earlier lecture from the course, where she spoke about the bombing which killed the girl whose bones were used during a subsequent lecture Monge is heard to say of the bones: 'The bones are, I mean, we would say, like, juicy. You know, meaning that you can tell that they are of a recently deceased individual. Commenting on how they smell, Monge says their scent is 'like just kind of greasy like an older style grease.' Their use was condemned by MOVE member Michael Africa, who knew Tree, and was six years old when she was killed. 'Nobody said you can do that, holding up their bones for the camera. That's not how we process our dead. This is beyond words,' Michael Africa Jr., a current member of the group, told The Guardian. 'The anthropology professor is holding the bones of a 14-year-old girl whose mother is still alive and grieving.' The video lectures for the course were filmed in 2019 and posted onto the learning platform Coursera - but have since sparked outrage from current members of MOVE. The bones were transferred back and forth over the years between Princeton and another Ivy League School - the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, where Monge is also an adjunct professor. The course has a rating of 4.8 stars out of 158 ratings made to Coursera and nearly 5,000 students have enrolled in the course. Africa Jr. told the local outlet Billy Penn that he was outraged that the bones of his relatives have been kept all this time by the university. 'They were bombed, and burned alive and now you wanna keep their bones,' Africa Jr. said. The bones have never been positively identified but they are believed to belong to either Tree Africa, 14, or 12-year-old Delisha Africa, who are not related. Everyone who is a member of MOVE, which was formed by a man named John Africa who was born Vincent Leaphart, takes on the last name Africa. Consuela Dotson Africa, Tree's mother, was serving a 16-year prison sentence when the group was bombed. Delisha's parents, Delbert Africa and Janet Africa, were also in jail at the time. Neither Consuela or Janet gave permission for the bones of their children to be kept by the university, it is claimed. Neither woman commented on news of the remains being used for a lecture. Monge's course, provided to Coursera by Princeton, includes several videos which use the 1985 bombing as a case study. It is not until the course's final video that the professor is seen handling the bones with an undergraduate student. Philadelphia police carry away a MOVE supporter from the scene of a shootout between police and the radical back-to-nature movement Smoke billows over rowhouses in the West Philadelphia after the police bombed the home of MOVE during a standoff Mourners of MOVE members killed in the bombing by the Philadelphia Police stand in front of their former headquarters The three blocks on either side of Osage Street in Philadelphia are burnt to the ground as a result of a shootout and bombing during a police confrontation with MOVE Monge says in the video that 'only a few bones were actually recovered from this individual.' 'We're fortunate in the sense that this one is actually a pelvis and a femur bone. So, there's lots to do in other words with even just those two bones,' she says. 'This is one of these cases where the material has some flesh on it, which I know is not uncommon actually in forensics and forensic anthropology. In this case, there are some soft tissue which is actually remaining and the bones were actually burned as well. So, it's got quite a complicated history.' Monge then picks up one of the bones and shows the camera how there is tissue still attached to the bone. 'It's not a lot, but absolutely it's there. This is the tendon that goes to rectus femoris that's actually intact and it's there,' she says. She adds: 'The bones are, I mean, we would say like 'juicy.' You know, meaning that you can tell that they are of a recently deceased individual. They have a lot of sort of sheen to them, at least this one does.' Several Philadelphia police officers stroll through the West Philadelphia neighborhood destroyed by the bombing of the MOVE headquarters Members of MOVE, founded by John Africa, avoid being arrested as they gather in front of their house in the Powelton Village section of Philadelphia Police use extreme force when they attack the MOVE headquarters in the Powelton Village section of Philadelphia The police use extreme force when they attack the MOVE headquarters in the Powelton Village section of Philadelphia Monge explains that the bones still contain bone marrow in the marrow cavity and that it is 'sort of leaching basically out and into the bone. 'So it gives that kind of slick sort of appearance. If you smell it, it doesn't actually smell bad, but it smells like just kind of greasy like an older style grease,' Monge says. Monge explains that the bones are 'really very worthy in a study sense' before letting the undergraduate student, Jane Weiss, explain how researchers try to identify the age of the child they belonged to. Weiss said that the child was 'malnourished' making it difficult for researchers to determine their age. 'It makes it a lot more difficult because they may appear as a younger individual when they're really an older individual,' she says. Mike Africa Jr. told Billy Penn that he was just six years old when the home was bombed but he remembered Tree 'as being sensitive and brave.' 'When we would be at the park, especially if we went to a new park, she would run, scour the park, for the biggest tree. The biggest tree. So she could climb it. And no one, no one could climb higher than she could,' he said. 'She didn't have any fear about the height. It seemed like the higher she went, the more comfortable she was. She never feared the way up.' Relatives and supporters of the radical back-to-nature group MOVE conduct an anniversary march through the Osage street neighborhood, one year after police bombed a MOVE house, destroying 61 homes and killing 11 MOVE members An Aerial view of smoke rising from smoldering rubble where some 60 homes were destroyed by fire after a shootout and bombing at the back-to-nature group MOVE Heavy equipment is seen after Philadelphia police bombed a home in Western Philadelphia Workers sort through debris on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia, May 15, 1985, several days after a blaze destroyed houses in the area The revelation regarding the online course came just days before Philadelphia was scheduled to remember the bombing for the first time. MOVE was founded by John Africa in 1972. Members lived in a communal setting in a townhouse in Western Philadelphia and followed teachings of anarcho-primitivism - shunning industrialization and calling for a return to a hunter-gatherer society. The group had a strained relationship with the local community and the police before the horrific bombing. In 1977, police were granted a court order that allowed them to order MOVE off the property after neighbors complained. But the following year, MOVE members had not left the property and got into a shootout with Philadelphia police when they tried to enter the home. A police officer named James J. Ramp was killed during that confrontation. Nine members, including the parents of the two girls whom the bones are believed to have possibly belonged to, were later charged with third-degree murder for Ramp's death. Two of nine members died in prison. The other seven were eventually released on parole, the most recent leaving prison in January 2020. A couple of years after the shootout, the group moved to 6221 Osage Avenue in the Cobbs Creek area of West Philadelphia - where they were later bombed. Neighbors continued to complain about obscene political messages and piles of trash. In 1985, police obtained warrants to arrest four members of MOVE and charge them with a variety of crimes including parole violations and the illegal possession of firearms. The group was also classified as a terrorist organization by then-Mayor Wilson Goode. Police evacuated nearby residents and tried to force their way into the home with around 500 officers on May 13 of that year. When MOVE did not leave the property, police threw tear gas canisters at them. Members of MOVE then fired at officers prompting a 90-minute shootout before the police commissioner ultimately ordered for the home to be bombed. The raging inferno destroyed nearly an entire city block. MOVE founder John Africa Sr was among those who died in the fire. Monge said that there had been several canisters of gasoline on the roof which acted as an accelerant for the blaze. However, she said the Philadelphia Fire Department decided not to fight the fire. 'The fire burns out of control. The fire actually damages 60 plus houses. It really burns down a city block. And, according to most kinds of tallies approximately 100 houses in that area are actually damaged,' she said. Academic institutions have long received criticism for the alleged misuse of black remains for scientific and medical research purposes. The Guardian noted that construction workers in Augusta, Georgia made a grisly discovery of nearly 10,000 individual human bones under the former premises of the Medical College of Georgia in 1989. The bone fragments had been sold to the school by grave robbers who had taken them from a cemetery for poor black Americans. Gas provided nearly 45% of Irelands power generation in the first quarter of the year, up nearly 5% on the same period last year as wind contribution fell by over 7%. There was high demand for gas fuel across data centres, transport, manufacturing, and the pharmaceutical sector. The 48-hour lockdown- like curbs imposed by the Kerala government following unprecedented COVID-19 surge, came into force in the state with only essential services and emergency activities being allowed and a holiday declared for government offices and PSUs. Police carried out intense vehicle check across the state since early this morning to ensure that nobody ventured out on roads and public places unnecessarily. In all major thoroughfares, police personnel could be seen stopping both two-wheelers and cars and verifying the identity cards and mandatory self-declaration to know their purpose of the travel. According to police sources, those travelling for needy and genuine purpose would not be stopped. Those violating the government restrictions and COVID-19 protocols would be slapped with a fine. Though the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses operated service, the number of passengers was very less in majority of districts due to virus scare. Hotels and restaurants are remained open but in-house dining is banned and only parcel service is permitted across the state. Shops selling provisions, vegetables, fruits, and meat, are also functioning. Police sent back a group of migrant workers, who came without any self-declaration, in Ernakulam district in the morning. A case was registered against a private taxi cab, which was overcrowded, for violating the COVID protocols in Kochi, police said. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said further restrictions would be discussed at an all-party meeting on Monday. In a Government Order issued on April 21, the state government stated that a holiday will be declared for all government offices, banks, public sector undertakings on April 24. Only essential services would be allowed on April 24 and 25. Kerala accounted for 28,447 COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest single day surge so far and 1.78 lakh people were presently undergoing treatment for the infection, as per the government figures. Also read: Rs 1.5 lakh cr hit on India's GDP due to lockdown; Maha, MP & Rajasthan account for 80% Also read: CAIT seeks extension of lockdown in Delhi beyond April 26 to curb COVID-19 spread Also read: Night curfew in Andhra Pradesh from Saturday amid rise in COVID-19 cases Bali, Indonesia, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Apr, 2021 ) :An Indonesian submarine that went missing off the coast of Bali has sunk, the country's navy said Saturday, dashing hopes that its 53 crew would be saved. The navy's chief said a search party had recovered fragments from the KRI Nanggala 402 including items from inside the vessel, whose oxygen reserves were already believed to have run out. Warships, planes and hundreds of military personnel have been searching for the stricken vessel. Authorities had said the German-built craft was equipped with enough oxygen for only three days after losing power. That deadline passed early Saturday. "We have raised the status from submiss to subsunk," navy chief Yudo Margono told reporters, adding that the retrieved items could not have come from another vessel. "(The items) would not have come outside the submarine if there was no external pressure or without damage to its torpedo launcher." Navy officials displayed several items including a piece of a torpedo and a bottle of grease used to lubricate a submarine's periscope. They also found a prayer mat used by Muslims. The submarine -- one of five in Indonesia's fleet -- disappeared early Wednesday during live torpedo training exercises off the Indonesian holiday island. An oil spill spotted where the submarine was thought to have submerged pointed to possible fuel-tank damage, fanning fears of a deadly disaster. There were concerns that the submarine could have been crushed by water pressure if it sank to depths reaching 700 metres (2,300 feet) -- well below what it was built to withstand. The vessel was scheduled to conduct the training exercises when it asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after. Authorities have not offered possible explanations for the submarine's sudden disappearance or commented on questions about whether the decades-old vessel was overloaded. The military has said the submarine, delivered to Indonesia in 1981, was seaworthy. Neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia, as well as the United States and Australia, were among nations helping in the hunt with nearly two dozen ships deployed to scour a search zone covering about 10 square nautical miles (34 square kilometres). Australia's HMAS Ballarat arrived on Saturday with a US P-8 Poseidon aircraft also helping to look for the craft. Singapore's MV Swift Rescue -- a submarine rescue vessel -- was expected later Saturday. Indonesia's military said earlier it had picked up signs of an object with high magnetism at a depth of between 50 and 100 metres (165 and 330 feet), fanning hopes of finding the submarine. But Saturday's announcement means the Southeast Asian archipelago joins a list of countries struck by fatal submarine accidents. Among the worst was the 2000 sinking of the Kursk, the pride of Russia's Northern Fleet. That submarine was on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea when it sank with the loss of all 118 aboard. An inquiry found a torpedo had exploded, detonating all the others. Most of its crew died instantly but some survived for several days before suffocating. In 2003, 70 Chinese naval officers and crew were killed, apparently suffocated, in an accident on a Ming-class submarine during exercises in 2003. Five years later, 20 people were killed by poisonous gas when a fire extinguishing system was accidentally activated on a Russian submarine being tested in the Sea of Japan. And in 2018, authorities found the wreckage of an Argentine submarine that had gone missing a year earlier with 44 sailors aboard. bur-pb/leg/axn Imperial Valley News Center Hospital Researcher Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Steal Trade Secrets and Sell to China Washington, DC - An Ohio man was sentenced Monday to 33 months in prison for conspiring to steal exosome-related trade secrets concerning the research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions. Yu Zhou, 51, of Dublin, Ohio, pleaded guilty in December 2020 to stealing scientific trade secrets related to exosomes and exosome isolation from Nationwide Childrens Hospitals Research Institute for his own personal financial gain. Zhou also conspired to commit wire fraud. Yu Zhou sought to exploit U.S. taxpayer dollars intended to fund critical, life-saving research at Nationwide Childrens Hospital through the whole-sale theft of their trade secrets, said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Departments National Security Division. Zhous greed was encouraged and enabled by a series of Chinese Government programs which incentivize thievery in an attempt to supplement Chinas own research and development goals on the back of American ingenuity and investment. This successful prosecution should serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to profit from pilfering hard-earned U.S. trade secrets. Yu Zhou willingly took part in the Chinese Governments long-term efforts to steal American intellectual property, said Acting U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel for the Southern District of Ohio. Zhou and his wife executed a scheme over the course of several years to set up businesses in China, steal American research, and profit from doing so. The couple deserves the time it received in federal prison. According to court documents, Zhou and his co-conspirator and wife, Li Chen, 48, worked in separate medical research labs at the Research Institute for 10 years each (Zhou from 2007 until 2017 and Chen from 2008 until 2018). They pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal at least five trade secrets related to exosome research from Nationwide Childrens Hospital. Chen was sentenced in February to 30 months in prison for her role in the scheme. Exosomes play a key role in the research, identification and treatment of a range of medical conditions, including necrotizing enterocolitis (a condition found in premature babies), liver fibrosis and liver cancer. Court documents detail that Zhou and Chen conspired to steal and then monetize one of the trade secrets by creating and selling exosome isolation kits. Zhous research at Nationwide Childrens included a novel isolation method in which exosomes could be isolated from samples as small as one drop of blood. This method was vital to the research being conducted in Zhous lab because necrotizing enterocolitis is a condition found primarily in premature babies, only small amounts of fluid can safely be taken from them. Zhou and Chen started a company in China to sell the kits. The defendants received benefits from the Chinese government, including the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Zhou and Chen were also part of application processes related to multiple Chinese government programs, including talent plans, a method used by China to transfer foreign research and technology to the Chinese government. As part of their convictions, the couple will forfeit approximately $1.45 million, 500,000 shares of common stock of Avalon GloboCare Corp. and 400 shares of common stock of GenExosome Technologies Inc. They were also ordered to pay $2.6 million in restitution. Chen and Zhou were arrested in California in July 2019 and their case was unsealed in August 2019 when they appeared in federal court in Columbus. Acting U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel for the Southern District of Ohio; Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the National Security Division; and Special Agent in Charge Chris Hoffman of the FBI's Cincinnati Division announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Sarah D. Morrison. National Security Division Trial Attorney Matthew J. McKenzie, Assistant U.S. Attorneys S. Courter Shimeall, Peter K. Glenn-Applegate, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Michael Marous are representing the United States in this case. Even with Canadas third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic flaring, the countrys airlines are banking on vaccination rates providing a path towards recovery for the industry battered by the pandemic. Even with Canadas third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic flaring, the countrys airlines are banking on vaccination rates providing a path towards recovery for the industry battered by the pandemic. Today, low-fare carrier Swoop, a subsidiary of WestJet, returns to servicing Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport after suspending flights to the city last year. "Were focusing, to start, on essential travel only. And for that reason, were flying just two flights a week to both Hamilton and Abbotsford from Winnipeg, and then laying the groundwork for expanding that service, when its safe to do so," Charles Duncan, president of Swoop told the Free Press. Duncan said the plan is to add flights between Winnipeg and Kelowna in June, should it be safe to expand service at that time. "It was really a difficult decision a year ago, to stop flying to Winnipeg," Duncan said. "If the (vaccination) rates continue, it will really get us much closer to normal by this summer. So, we kind of have our sights on that." Duncan said that the hunger for travel, especially domestic travel, is likely to pick up as more Canadians are vaccinated the same trends have been witnessed in Europe and the United States. But in order to prepare for that, some return to service must start now. "Were certainly not focusing on leisure or trying to undercut or undermine government directives and those kinds of things. We very much want to follow them and be good citizens," Duncan said. Karl Moore, an airline industry expert and an associate professor at McGill Universitys business school, said the return of low-fare carriers to the Canadian market is not surprising as there is enormous potential for profits in that segment of the industry. "Now, low-fare carriers may do better. Because when you look at Air Canada, a big part of the profitability comes from business class," Moore said. "And thats great, except for business travel is way down. And working from home, and less business travel will probably be the future But theres a huge pent-up demand for you and I going, We want to go somewhere. Family travel. And if youre traveling by yourself or with your family, youre more apt to go on a budget airline." Earlier this month, Air Canada received $5.4 billion in loans from the federal government, along with a $500 million equity investment to help the company recover from financial losses suffered during the pandemic. Moore said this deal is something that WestJet is definitely watching closely, so its also possible theres a political motivation for WestJet and Swoop to return service to cities where it was disrupted. They saw with Air Canada what the government wanted: resuming flights, and paying back money to people who had not been refunded, Moore said. Base fares for one-way Swoop flights to Abbotsford and Hamilton are priced under $100. sarah.lawrynuik@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @SarahLawrynuik The PEI Harness Racing Industry Association is pleased to offer eligible Island industry participants the opportunity to join a group Benefits Program. The PEIHRIA has been working with a Benefits Consulting Firm and has developed a proposed Benefit Program, which includes affordable Life insurance, Medical/Drug, and Dental benefits for plan members and dependents. RWAM Insurance will underwrite the Benefits Program and requires a minimum of 50 members to enroll. The PEIHRIA will subsidize $20 of the monthly member premiums to promote eligible Island horsepeople to enroll. The Benefits Program coverage will be effective July 1st, 2021, and there will be no medical evidence requirements, providing members submit completed Member Enrolment Form and Pre-Authorized Payment instructions by May 28, 2021. Premiums can be paid via pre-authorized bank debit, or Credit Card. Applications for enrollment after May 28, 2021, will require medical evidence, and coverage is therefore not guaranteed. PEIHRIA has retained a consulting firm, The Leslie Group Limited, to assist with the set-up and ongoing management of our new program. They have previously set up and currently manage similar industry programs in Ontario. The new program provides enhanced coverage and lowers costs versus traditional Individual medical and dental programs available in the marketplace. In addition, most individual programs do not allow applications beyond age 60 and will have reduced benefits and termination ages. Coverage under the Benefits Program will be outlined in the RWAM member booklet. This Life/Health/Dental Program will be available to all eligible Island horsepeople who: 1. Are 19 years of age or older 2. Under age 75 3. Are an active member of Standardbred Canada or work for an active member of Standardbred Canada To enroll, the following needs to be provided: 1. Completion of RWAM Insurance enrolment form 2. Completed agreement for Pre-Authorized bank withdrawal or credit card information for monthly premiums 3. Proof of PEI residency (i.e. government bill) and copy of PEI health card 4. Provide a copy of your Standardbred Canada membership or letter of employment from a Standardbred Canada member Click here to discover more information about the program and to find the required forms that need to be printed off and filled out. Those wishing to participate in the program can mail, email, or fax completed forms to the PEIHRIA. Please contact Julie @ 902-569-1682 if you have questions or require further assistance. (PEIHRIA) DJ Khaled is feeling good about his upcoming new album, which he announced to be '99% done' in a series of social media posts on Friday. His enthusiasm was sparked, in part, when he was able to land the two Justins: Timberlake and Bieber, to appear on the solo project titled, Khaled Khaled. While his day included a confirmation from Timberlake that his 'vocals is in', and a celebratory jump into his backyard pool, the famed record producer did miss out on a FaceTime call from the two pop superstars. Scroll down to video Legendary: Pop superstars Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake tried to FaceTime DJ Khaled to no avail after the famed record producer celebrated his upcoming studio album is '99% done' The social media flurry began before noon when Khaled celebrated the news that Timberlake had submitted his vocals for a song on his new studio album. 'THE VOCALS IS IN!' Khaled yelled repeatedly at the top of his lungs in an Instagram video as he ran outside his posh home and jumped into his pool. While underwater, and upside down, the Louisiana native continued to yell 'the vocals is in' two more times as bubbles from his breath surrounded his face and body. When he finally did come up for air, he yelled out: 'The Justin Timberlake vocals is in' and that his new album is '99% done.' 'The vocal is in': The day's events began with Khaled celebrated the news that Timberlake had submitted his vocals for a song on his new studio album Hyped: The Louisiana native repeatedly yelled at the top of his lungs that the 'vocals is in' as he ran outside his posh home and jumped into his pool Making a splash: While underwater, and upside down, he continued to yell 'the vocals is in' two more times as bubbles from his breath surrounded his face and body Take a breath: When Khaled finally did come up for air, he yelled out: 'The Justin Timberlake vocals is in' and that his new album is '99% done.' Not long after his escapade in the water, Khaled had a FaceTime call with JT, where the two talked about how 'important' they feel their collaborative song means to each of them. 'J U S T I N T I M B E R L A K E VOCALS IS IN!! This LAST MINUTE MAGIC DIFFERENT,' he declared in the caption of the video showing Timberlake's face during their call. Wanting to build up the excitement and surprise Khaled, Timberlake and Bieber tried to FaceTime him together - to no avail. It turns out the I'm The One producer missed the call because he was hard at work on the song and album. Reaching out: After his escapade in the water, Khaled had a FaceTime call with JT, where the two talked about how 'important' they feel their collaborative song means to each of them Pop superstars: Timberlake shared a screenshot of himself and Bieber from their failed FaceTime call, which Khaled conceded he missed because he busy working on his album, but 'would call you back' 'I'm so stressed out in a good way mixing and mastering this album I missed the legendary FaceTime of the ICONS @justinbieber and @justintimberlake,' Khaled shared alongside a screenshot of the two Justins. 'My brothers I'm gonna call you back! I'm mixing BOTH of y'all's VOCALS!' He proceeded to reveal that Bieber's song was mixed 'a few days ago' and ready for mastering, while Timberlake's tune is already 'off to mix.' 'My brothers I will call you RIGHT BACK! I'm in ALBUM MODE !!!! #99% DONE. KHALED KHALED THE ALBUM COMING.' Hours later, Timberlake shared the same screenshot from the missed FaceTime call of himself and Bieber. More star power: The I'm The One producer also shared a photo from his meeting with Diddy 'The eyes never lie': There's another photo of Khaled in mid-conversation with Diddy The star power didn't end there. Later in the evening Khaled posted a photo of himself having a conversation with Diddy in an outdoor patio. 'KHALED KHALED x @diddy BILLI AND DIDDY ALBUM MODE. STILL IN THE MEETING, he wrote in the caption. About an hour later, he shared another image of the two chatting with the caption: 'AT THIS MOMENT I TOLD @diddy THE EYES NEVER LIE. Cigar music alert. KHALED KHALED ALBUM MODE.' In mid-July, Khaled released two singles simultaneously: Popstar and Greece, both featuring Drake, two days after announcing his twelfth studio album would be titled Khaled Khaled, which is his legal name. Pumped: Khaled announced 'we focused VERY FOCUSED' in another Instagram post He's been hard at work filming the latest installment in the John Wick series. And Keanu Reeves cut a casual figure as he headed out of his hotel during a break from the film's set in Berlin on Friday. The actor, 56, wrapped up in a navy blue coat after exiting his hotel and briefly stopped to wave to a fan before jumping in his car. Jovial: Keanu Reeves, 56, cut a casual figure as he headed out of his hotel during a break from filming John Wick 4 set in Berlin on Friday Keanu opted for a low-key navy jacket and a matching beanie hat as he headed to his car during a break from his busy filming schedule. The actor chatted to a member of his team before jumping into the car, ahead of another day's work on the fourth John Wick film. Development on the latest entry in the action thriller franchise began shortly after the release of its third film, John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum, in May of 2019. Low-key: The actor wrapped up in a navy blue coat after exiting his hotel as he headed to a waiting car that had been parked outside Simple: Keanu opted for a low-key navy jacket and a matching beanie hat as he headed to his car during a break from his busy filming schedule In April of last year, series director Chad Stahelski spoke to Collider and noted that the project's creative team had set their bar much higher for the upcoming film from its inception. 'We submitted an idea or thematic [plan] and it was really big. So, we're talking about doing a little bit more than a [John Wick 4], or something like that, and trying to develop that,' he said. The filmmaker also expressed that the development team had a relatively fleshed-out story in mind for the forthcoming feature and that they were glad to have a roadmap of sorts. Friendly: As he headed out, Keanu briefly stopped to greet a fan that had been waiting outside the hotel Stahelski said, 'I'm in a happy place where we are in development...we're in a place where we know what we want do and where we want to do it.' The director then remarked that the planned film would not lose its action-focused core, as he and creative partner David Leitch regularly looked back on their past roles for creative inspiration. 'I think Dave and I were both good at what we did as stuntmen and as choreographers. So, we don't want to lose that,' he stated. Coming soon: Development on the latest entry in the action thriller franchise began shortly after the release of its third film, John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum, in May of 2019 Prepping for success: The series' director also noted that the team had fleshed out a concept for the upcoming film, and expressed, 'we know what we want do and where we want to do it' Production for the fourth entry in the franchise will primarily take place in Berlin and Paris, with New York City and Japan serving as additional filming locations. The crew behind the film originally intended to shoot back-to-back for another John Wick feature, although this idea was later shot down, leaving the possibility of a fifth movie in limbo. The fourth entry in the action franchise was originally scheduled to make its debut sometime this year, although the onset of the global pandemic forced the release date to be pushed back to May 27th, 2022. The time change was partially done to avoid a potential conflict with Reeves' upcoming science fiction-action movie, the currently untitled fourth film in the Matrix series. Trump: All Joe Biden had to do was sit back and do nothing At least 88 people killed in Nigeria attacks Armenia former President Sargsyan visits memorial chess tournament in Jermuk (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM's election campaign is carried out with large-scale use of administrative resources Mexico holding parliamentary, local elections Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Not safe today even in Yerevan (PHOTOS) 78,004 more passengers leave Armenia by air in first 5 months of 2021 than arrive Putin-Biden possible meeting place in Switzerland is named UN condemns "heinous attack" in Burkina Faso Prosperous Armenia Party leader: Only Russia can ensure security of our country Stoltenberg warns Russias Putin, Belarus Lukashenko against destabilization in NATO eastern flank Woman found dead in Yerevan Lake Catholicos of All Armenians presides over Divine Liturgy in Stepanakert Turkey airstrike kills at least 3 Kurdish refugees in Iraq Trump demands billing China $10 trillion for coronavirus damage Bright Armenia Party leader: We are on verge of civil war Several explosions occur in Syria Biden not seeking conflict with Russia Armenia acting PM sends congratulatory message on Sweden National Day Passenger flow at 2 Armenia international airports increase by 24% in May 37 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Apple employees are against returning to work in office Person dies in Armenia town mountains Kim Jong Un appears in public for first time since early May Armenia Ombudsman: Azerbaijanis fire at Gegharkunik Province village shepherd for about 30 minutes Iraq may face severe water shortages G7 countries sign deal to tax largest multinational companies 1st round of debates of presidential candidates takes place in Iran 6 die and 5 go missing in Sri Lankan flooding Powerful blast thunders in Somalia capital A body found in Artsakh Nearly 100 people killed in Burkina Faso Acting PM: It is necessary to create professional army in Armenia UN demands investigation amid discovery of mass grave of children at Canada school Acting PM: Armenia is a paradise for business ICRC representatives visit 6 captured Armenian soldiers Pashinyan: An absolute record for Armenia has been set for number of registered jobs Civil Contract party holding fundraising evening Nikol Pashinyan sends congratulatory message to Bashar al-Assad South Korean air force chief resigns amid scandal over female sergeant suicide Nikol Pashinyan visits morgue in Abovyan Acting PM announces interference of external forces in electoral processes in Armenia Pashinyan conducts procession in Abovyan MO: Azerbaijanis carry out engineering work on territories without crossing Armenian border 8 security officials killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan Philip T. Reeker's visit to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia Biden gives prosecutors more freedom to terminate immigration cases 93 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Armenia per day Total of 1,557 bodies found in territories not controlled by Artsakh Twitter launches paid subscription Twitter Blue Robert Kocharyan: We are able to find solutions Tennessee boat merchant willing to pay $ 100,000 to anyone who catches specially marked fish 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 Some of the wisest advice Ive been given? Life is short. You need a cat The year was 1991. I was working on a new womens magazine called Mirabella. The staff were stellar: the editor was Lesley White, who started out on The Face. Deputy was Sally Brampton, the Vogue talent winner who launched Elle. She had cropped bleached hair, wore Levis and was unerringly encouraging to us minions. Fashion editor was the legendary Caroline Baker, who had worked at Nova and would later work at YOU. And my trainee, J, from Central Saint Martins, would go on to be my best friend and a star in his own right. We tended to put the celebrities on our cover sitting on a chair, so it looked as if they were on the loo. Perhaps thats why, in May that year, I was hauled into the managing editors office to be told the magazine was closing. I was just about to buy a flat in Londons deeply unfashionable Old Street; I used my redundancy pay as a deposit but had no job to go to. Another friend from the magazine came round to see my new home. I cant remember her name, just that she had been on the Marchioness when it sank, and had choked on silt at the bottom of the Thames before somehow swimming to the surface. She gave me some wise advice: Life is short. You need a cat. A fashion designer friend had a litter of kittens from a stray. I took Snoopy home. Soon came Squeaky, who squeezed her way into my flat via the catflap (she wasnt slim). When I moved to my first house in Hackney two years later, along with a live-in boyfriend/cat sitter, I adopted Susie, born on the streets of the Isle of Dogs. Next came Sweetie, who had been battered by her previous owners, leaving her with brain damage and a broken tooth. Sweetie was indeed very wobbly; she once fell into a pond, emerging wet and embarrassed, smelling of fish. My life revolved around my cats and my, by now, husband loved them, too. Hed phone me at work to say, Im having a contest to find out which cat has the best tail. When I became editor of Marie Claire, a newspaper ran a story saying Id failed to turn up for work on the day of the total eclipse of the sun as I was shielding my cats eyes. It was a lie. I had, in fact, rushed home to feed them, thinking they would be looking at their bowls instead of skywards. When I was sacked, I wrote a press release announcing the news, saying I had left because, I want to spend more time with my cats. After my divorce, a few weeks before I sold my London house and moved to Exmoor, a kitten turned up in my kitchen. Leo was badly wounded from fighting, as he hadnt been snipped. I took him to the vet, where he was treated and microchipped. My last night in London, he escaped: he had managed to move a huge pile of Vogues blocking the catflap. What a strong little man. It was years before we were reunited. And then, while still on Exmoor, a reader got in touch. Her cat, a large, long-haired male called Minstrel, had bitten her husband, who ended up in hospital. Would I take him? The couple, clutching his special blankets and boxes of food, were tearful when they dropped him off. He had huge green eyes. He would wee in plug sockets, fusing everything. He was the feistiest cat Ive ever met. When it became clear Gracie my collie was not to be trusted she killed Leo, having lived with him for a decade Minstrel went to live with my assistant Nic. If he ever loses sight of her, he screams and searches. He sleeps on her head. For the past year or so, he has been having fortnightly injections of steroids. But in the past few weeks he has developed an inoperable tumour. He will no longer even lap condensed milk. And so it is that tomorrow his usual vet, whom he trusts, will go to the house to put him to sleep. He has so loved being a cat. But hes the last one. I wont be getting any more. Contact liz at lizjonesgoddess.com and stalk her @lizjonesgoddess Everyones talking about Liz Joness Diary: The Podcast! Join Liz and her trusty (long-suffering) assistant Nicola as they dissect her weekly YOU magazine diary and delve into the archives to relive the bust-ups, betrayals, bullets and so much more in this brilliant podcast. Theyre outspoken, outrageous and utterly hilarious. Find it now at mailplus.co.uk/lizjones, iTunes and Spotify. Uber and Lyft are offering drivers generous cash bonuses in order to keep up with the demand for rides as vaccinations climb and people start to return to their pre-pandemic activities. With the new incentives, drivers for Lyft are earning as much as $44 an hour in Denver and $43 an hour in Philadelphia, while Uber drivers can make an average of $37.44 an hour in New York City and $32.60 in Philadelphia. Drivers for ride-hailing services appear reluctant to return to their cars amid concerns for safety, while the shortage of work during the pandemic has meant that many have turned to other employment. Meanwhile, rising vaccination rates and easing of restrictions has meant that more people are keen to travel for work and socializing so demand for rides has rapidly begun to outstrip supply. In order to entice drivers back to the road and meet demand from riders, Uber and Lyft are offering large cash bonuses and incentives that are boosting driver wages significantly. Uber and Lyft are offering drivers generous cash bonuses in order to keep up with the demand for rides as vaccinations climb and people start to return to their pre-pandemic activities Lyft revealed that drivers now making an average $16 an hour more in the company's top 25 markets, earning an average of $36 an hour compared with $20 before the Covid-19 pandemic. Figures provided by Uber indicate that drivers are making, on average, more than $25 an hour before tips in an array of US cities. The company said drivers spending 20 hours online per week in many cities were seeing median hourly earnings around 25 per cent to 75 per cent higher than pre-pandemic. Those earnings are after Uber's fee but before customer tips and expenses, which drivers are responsible for as independent contractors. At the ride-hailing giant, drivers who take advantage of the new incentives can earn close to $2,000 extra cash if they make between 100 to 200 trips in a month. According to Bloomberg, demand for ride-hailing tumbled a year ago when the pandemic and lockdown restrictions set in, with volume for Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. dropping more than two-thirds in a single week in March 2020. This year initially saw a gradual increase in demand, but this accelerated last month as vaccination rates increased and people increasingly returned to their pre-pandemic activities. Drivers appear reluctant to return to their cars amid concerns for safety, while the shortage of work during the pandemic meant that many have turned to other jobs Data from Bloomberg's Second measure revealed that Lyft's sales for the week ended March 29 were 80 per cent higher than in the first week of the year, and Uber's climbed 76 per cent over the same period. At the start of this month, Uber launched a $250 million 'stimulus' plan to boost US-based driver earnings and lure wary drivers back to the ride-hailing platform. The company did not offer specifics on how it would allocate the funds for each driver. In a blog post, Dennis Cinelli, mobility vice president for Uber, said that the company wanted to reinvest in drivers to welcome pre-existing ones back and ensure first-time drivers do well as they learn the ropes. 'In 2020, many drivers stopped driving because they couldn't count on getting enough trips to make it worth their time,' he said. 'In 2021, there are more riders requesting trips than there are drivers available to give them - making it a great time to be a driver.' This year initially saw a gradual increase in demand for ride-hailing, but this accelerated last month as vaccination rates rose and people returned to pre-pandemic activities Cinelli also noted that the company expected this to be a short-term situation and that bonuses and incentives would not continue when more driver returned to the road. He added: 'We want drivers to take advantage of higher earnings now because this is likely a temporary situation. As the recovery continues, we expect more drivers will be hitting the road, which means that over time earnings will come back to pre-Covid levels.' Uber and Lyft executives have told investors driver supply was a concern as demand is expected to ramp up further. Lyft said investments to boost driver supply will create first-quarter revenue headwind of $10 million to $20 million. Both companies have been criticized by city officials and worker advocacy groups in the past for paying too little by oversaturating markets with drivers, pushing down prices. Uber and Lyft reject those claims. In Seattle, which in January implemented the city's minimum wage of $16.39 per hour for ride-hail drivers, a city-commissioned study found drivers net only about $9.70 an hour, while a study of data provided by Uber and Lyft showed most drivers' earnings are roughly in line with the city's median. Millennial Liu Lurui quit her job and moved to the outskirts of Beijing, where she built a farm on three acres of land to create a healthier lifestyle for herself and five friends. The farm was completed in April 2020, and includes a house, a garden and an organic orchard. They hope that their hobo life can set an example for people looking to lead alternative way of life Jun 04, 2021 06:31 PM New Delhi: In a bid to meet the demand for medical-grade oxygen amid the second wave of Covid-19, ITC is airlifting 24 cryogenic ISO containers from Asian countries to ship the life-saving element across the country. Each container weighs 20 tons. The Indian conglomerate has partnered with Linde India for this noble initiative. In addition, the company has announced that is going to airlift oxygen concentrators and oxygen generator machines from Asian countries. These concentrators and oxygen generators can be directly installed in Covid-19 hospitals that are running short. Separately, ITC is supplying oxygen in many parts of Telangana. The company is using its paperboards factory in Bhadrachalam to commence the delivery of medical-grade oxygen to hospitals in need. In a tweet, ITC said it is committed to support the government and will continue to explore other avenues to help address the emerging challenges. For oxygen concentrators, ITC has placed direct orders to distributors. The company is planning to import and supply concentrators to Covid-19 centres. Meanwhile, it is mulling importing oxygen generators to be installed in Covid-19 hospitals, according to a report by Economic Times. ITC is among a few other Indian companies that have stepped up to support the nation which is choking due to the shortage of oxygen and other basic Covid-19 fighting supplies. The second wave is already proving to be way more serious than the first one that shook the nation last year. Over 300,000 Covid-19 cases and 2000+ deaths due to the virus are currently reported on a daily basis. Besides ITC, Tata Steel and Reliance have also said that they are supplying hundreds of tonnes of oxygen to hospitals across the country. Live TV #mute Advertisement The United States should follow the example of Los Angeles County and 'make amends' with black Americans by returning land which was owned by their ancestors and taken from them, the county supervisor has said. Janice Hahn on April 9 announced a historic first for the nation, giving back land wrongfully taken from black owners to their descendants. The land in question, a beachfront plot in Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles, was taken from the owners under eminent domain, or forced sale, in 1924. It is now worth an estimated $72 million. Hahn on Friday told TMZ that other local governments should follow her lead. 'I think this is the first time in our nation that a government has given land back to an African American family to make amends for past discrimination and atrocities and policies that were enacted, that really limited African Americans' ability to own businesses, to own property, to even buy homes in certain neighborhoods,' she said. 'This is a very small step towards what I think this whole country should be doing - and that is working to repair and to make amends with the African Americans in this country.' Janice Hahn, pictured on April 9 announcing the return of the land to the Bruce family, said others should follow their lead Hahn further said that a widespread apology was necessary for the historic wrongs. 'We as a collective society should apologize - not just to African Americans, but to indigenous Americans,' she said. 'There are a lot of people we should probably apologize to for how we literally stole land for public benefit.' Hahn said that, despite growing up in Los Angeles County, she was unaware of the story in her own community. 'I learnt to swim in the ocean a couple of blocks from this lot, and I never knew this story,' she said. Key dates in battle for Bruce's Beach 1912 - Willa and Charles Bruce, who moved to California from New Mexico, buy a beachfront plot of land in Manhattan Beach. She had purchased for $1,225 the first of two lots along the Strand between 26th and 27th streets. They open up a resort. 1924 - Manhattan Beach city council orders the Bruces sell, via eminent domain. They say they need to build a park. The Bruces challenge it in court, but lose. The city paid them $14,500, and they left their beach and lost their business. 1950s - The area had sat empty for decades, but the city council began to realize that questions might be asked unless the park, for which the land was supposedly taken, was not built. They create City Park, later renamed Beachfront, then Bayview Terrace Park. In 1974, it was named after a sister city in Mexico, Parque Culiacan. 2006 - Amid a growing interest in the history of the area, the city council voted 3-2 to rename the beach after the Bruce family largely because of an appeal by Councilman Mitch Ward, the citys first black elected official. 2017 - Kavon Ward moves to the area and hears the story of Bruce's Beach. She begins campaigning to hand it back to the original owners. 2018 - A Bruce family reunion is held at the beach, with around 150 people attending. 2021 - The City Council agrees to hand the land back to the Bruce family. Advertisement 'I always thought the atrocities against African Americans happened in the South. 'Because I grew up in LA, we never saw drinking fountains that were labelled colored or white, so I felt like we in LA County sort of escaped some of those horrible injustices that were inflicted on African Americans in our country.' She then discovered, around a year ago, that 'we had this story right here in our back yard, in Manhattan Beach.' She added: 'When I looked at the plot map and realized that through a series of land transfers, the property that was the original Bruces' Beach resort was now owned by the county of Los Angeles, I knew in my heart there was only one thing to do, and that was to figure out how to give the land back.' Los Angeles County now plans to return prime beachfront property to descendants of the black couple, Willa and Charles Bruce, who built a seaside resort for African Americans. The story of the Bruce family caught the eye of a Los Angeles county supervisor who earlier this year started looking into what could be done to make things right, according to ABC. Advocates and others had for years been telling the story of the Bruce family - and the remaining members of the family itself had been speaking out over what they saw as the injustice. The Bruces and their son, Harvey, came from New Mexico during the early 1900s and were among the first black people to settle in what would become the city of Manhattan Beach. The city of Manhattan Beach issued a statement acknowledging and condemning its city's actions from the early 20th century - but the statement stopped short of a formal apology. The site, known as Bruce Beach, now has a county lifeguard training headquarters building on the property. It is along some of the most coveted coastline in Southern California. The property encompasses two parcels purchased in 1912 by the Bruces, who built the first West Coast resort for black people at a time when segregation barred them from many beaches. They built a lodge, cafe, dance hall and dressing tents with bathing suits for rent. Initially it was known as Bruce's Lodge. 'Bruce's Beach became a place where black families traveled from far and wide to be able to enjoy the simple pleasure of a day at the beach,' Hahn said. It did not last long. The Bruces and their customers were harassed by white neighbors, and the Ku Klux Klan attempted to burn it down. Charles Bruce was often out of town, working as a dining car chef on trains to Salt Lake City, so it was Willa Bruce who bought the property and handled much of the business at the resort. She had purchased for $1,225 the first of two lots along the Strand between 26th and 27th streets. 'Wherever we have tried to buy land for a beach resort, we have been refused,' she told The Los Angeles Times in 1912. 'But I own this land and I am going to keep it.' The Manhattan Beach City Council finally used eminent domain to take the land away from the Bruces in the 1920s, purportedly for use as a park. Charles and Willa Bruce moved to Manhattan Beach from New Mexico with their son, Harvey, and bought land in 1912 The beachfront lot, which now has a red-rooved lifeguard station, will be returned to the Bruces. The parking lot behind it, and the park, were not the Bruce's and will remain the city's Eminent domain is when a government body takes private land for public use - oftentimes to build infrastructure like a highway. The Bruces fought the eminent domain order in court, but lost their case. The city paid them $14,500, and they left their beach and lost their business. 'The Bruces had their California dream stolen from them,' said Hahn, announcing the news at an April 9 press conference. 'And this was an injustice inflicted not just upon Willa and Charles Bruce but generations of their descendants who almost certainly would have been millionaires if they had been able to keep this property and their successful business.' The value of the property has not been assessed, officials said. However, homes along the sea front, known as The Strand, regularly sell for around $20 million. One blog estimated that the land alone was worth $72 million. The family are yet to say whether they will sell it for developers, or keep it in the family. A return of the land could include an option for the Bruce descendants to lease the land back to the county for continued use. A couple in their 1920s swimming attire relaxed at Bruce's Beach at a time when few beaches in the area allowed blacks Bruce's Beach and resort ran by the Bruces soon became a popular destination for black Americans, barred from other areas Beachgoers flocked to the southern Californian coastline to relax at Bruce's Beach People are seeing enjoying Bruce's Beach, in the city of Manhattan Beach, in the 1920s Bruce Beach is seen in the 1920s, when the land was owned by a black couple, Charles and Willa Bruce The Manhattan Beach seafront lot was renamed Bruce's Beach in 2006, after its original owners The beach today can be seen as a relatively empty space amid a sea of development along Manhattan Beach in Los Angeles Manhattan Beach today Population: 35,183 Racial makeup: White - 78.2% Asian - 13.5% Hispanic - 8% African American - 0.5% Average house price: $2 million plus Average per capita income: $96,343 High school or higher education: 98% Source: US Census Advertisement Their case aroused anger. Members of the NAACP participated in a 'swim-in' to assert their right to the sea in 1927, and several black beachgoers were arrested that year. One of their descendants, Anthony Bruce, 38, said it was time to correct a historic wrong. 'I just want justice for my family,' he told The New York Times. He now lives in Florida and has childhood memories of visiting the California land his relatives once owned. Another descendant described the 1920s decision as a 'scar' on his family. 'What we want is restoration of our land to us, and restitution for the loss of revenues,' said Duane Yellow Feather Shepard, 69, a relative of the Bruces who lives in Los Angeles and is a chief of the Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe of the Pokanoket Nation. 'It's been a scar on the family, financially and emotionally.' Both descendants told the paper that the issue was about more than just their family. 'We've been stripped of any type of legacy, and we're not the only family that this has happened to,' said Shepard. 'It's happened all over the United States.' The Bruce's Beach decision comes at a time some see as a reckoning in relation to land rights. Last month Evanston in Illinois became the first city to announce it would pay reparations to black homeowners, in recognition of the horrors of slavery. After lying unused for years, the land was transferred to the state of California in 1948 and in 1995 it was transferred to Los Angeles County for beach operations and maintenance. The last transfer came with restrictions that limit the ability to sell or transfer the property and can only be lifted through a new state law, Hahn said. The pale blue lifeguard tower can be seen in front of what was the Bruce family land The Bruce descendants will reclaim the lot, and will be able to lease it to the city if they wish Janice Hahn is the member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors who heard about the family's plight and decided to do something about it. Duane Shepard, a spokesman for the descendants, said that the forced sale of the land was a 'scar' on his family's history State Senator Steven Bradford said that he will introduce legislation, SB 796, that would exempt the land from those restrictions. 'After so many years we will right this injustice,' he said. If the law passes, the transfer to the descendants would have to be approved by the county's five-member Board of Supervisors, said Liz Odendahl, Hahn's director of communications. Manhattan Beach is now an affluent city of about 35,000 people within Los Angeles County on the south shore of Santa Monica Bay. Its picturesque pier juts into swells prized by surfers, and luxury residences have replaced many of the beach houses along an oceanfront walk called The Strand. According to Census data, its population is 78 per cent white and 0.5 per cent black. The current City Council this week formally acknowledged and condemned city leaders' efforts in the early 20th century to displace the Bruces and several other black families, but stopped short of formally apologizing, Southern California News Group reported. 'We offer this Acknowledgement and Condemnation as a foundational act for Manhattan Beach's next one hundred years,' a document approved by the council says. 'And the actions we will take together, to the best of our abilities, in deeds and in words, to reject prejudice and hate and promote respect and inclusion.' A hill rising steeply behind the beachfront property has a beach parking lot and above that is an ocean-view city park that was renamed Bruce's Beach in 2006. The lot and park were not part of the Bruces' property and would not be part of a transfer to the family, Odendahl said. A sheriff in Texas has called the border crisis 'unprecedented' and said that migrants are causing costly damage to ranches in his community. 'Right now, we're seeing something unprecedented, I've worked in this county for 35 years, and we are seeing a vast number of human smuggling events there,' Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe told Fox & Friends on Friday. Kinney County is a mostly rural area bordering the Rio Grande River, with a population of just 3,600, but is near the busy Del Rio border crossing. On Friday, the Kinney County Sheriff's Department, which employs just six deputies, said in a statement that it had encountered five human trafficking cases and one stolen car in a mere 18 hours. Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe has called the border crisis 'unprecedented' and said that migrants are causing costly damage to ranches in his community On Thursday, Kinney County deputies encountered this group of migrants packed into the back of a cargo van on Interstate 90 'I've got six deputies to cover 1,300 square miles. So this push is keeping my deputies working overtime. We can't sustain this,' Sheriff Coe said. 'We're seeing property damage that I've never seen before. We probably have $100,000 worth of fence damage in the past two weeks, where large groups of aliens are cutting fences on private property and walking through like they own the place,' he continued. Coe said that he has been keeping a tally of the damage to present to state and local lawmakers to 'try to open up people's eyes' to the impact of the migrant surge on his community. 'I've been talking to a number of ranchers and I told them to keep track of what it's costing to repair the fences, how much damage they're doing to their property, the crops, the animals that they're losing, the money lost, trying to round up these animals and get them back,' he said. It comes amid a dramatic surge in illegal crossings at the border, with more than 172,000 encounters in March alone, including an historic number of unaccompanied children. Border Patrol agents from the Del Rio Sector, which includes Kinney County, apprehended this group of about 20 migrants crossing the border illegally on Wednesday near Dryden On Tuesday, Kinney County deputies were called to a report of children wandering unaccompanied at a rest stop on I-90. A deputy found the children with their mother, who said that they had been abandoned in the bush by a smuggler because the children were crying. The group of migrants, seen above, was handed over to Border Patrol The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is spiking in 2021 compared to 2020, which saw a decrease in illegal crossings due to the coronavirus pandemic On Wednesday, Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan, the top executive in the county, declared a local state of disaster due to 'thousands of illegal aliens invading Kinney County.' 'This continual violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity has resulted in residents of Kinney County being assaulted, threatened with violence, and robbed, while also sustaining vast amounts of property damage,' the judge's order read. The disaster declaration activates the county's emergency management plan and requests National Guard assistance from Texas Governor Greg Abbott. In a joint statement, Shahan and County Attorney Brent Smith described the situation in stark, militaristic terms. 'On April 21, 1863, Texas won her independence during the battle at San Jacinto, the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution,' the statement read. 'Today, 185 years later, Texas is once again under siege, as thousands upon thousands of illegal aliens invade our State through our border with Mexico,' it added. 'As Texans, we will no longer allow the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our borders to be violated.' 'I've got six deputies to cover 1,300 square miles. So this push is keeping my deputies working overtime. We can't sustain this,' said Sheriff Coe (above) Kinney County's top executive and city attorney issued a stark statement on Wednesday announcing a local state of disaster, describing the situation in militaristic terms Many of the migrants apprehended at the border are unaccompanied children, or adults traveling with small children, who are likely aware that they cannot be quickly deported. However, large groups of solo adults have also been using the chaos to cross the border illegally while Border Patrol agents are distracted, officials say. Border Patrol officials in the Del Rio Sector, which includes Kinney County, said this week that they had seen a 250 percent increase in encounters with migrants who have U.S. criminal convictions and are barred from re-entry. Last weekend, agents in the sector apprehended two such migrants, one with convictions for multiple counts of 4th degree sexual assault in Wisconsin, and another convicted of sex with a minor in California. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press conference before the opening of a mass COVID-19 vaccination site in the Queens borough of New York City, on Feb. 24, 2021. (Seth Wenig/AP) Cuomos Office Wont Reveal What It Told DOJ About CCP Virus Deaths at Nursing Homes The office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo refused to say what it told the Department of Justice regarding CCP virus outbreaks in nursing homes, in part because the disclosure would be an invasion of personal privacy. The DOJ sent requests to several states last year concerning statistics on deaths and infection in nursing homes from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. The initial request was expanded in December following news reports that the states nursing home numbers were significantly undercounted. Cuomo has been cooperating with the DOJ since last year, but his office declined a request from The Associated Press for copies of what was provided to the federal authorities. Notably, the governor had supported releasing the same records earlier this year. Look, I would have no problem with it, the governor said in February. I would have to have the lawyers talk to DOJ, but I would have no problem with it. Cuomos records access officer, Jaclyn Clemmer, told AP in a letter dated April 15 that releasing the documents would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The letter did not explain whose privacy would be violated. Clemmer stated further that the public cannot view the records because they were compiled for law enforcement purposes and their disclosure would interfere with law enforcement investigations. The initial nursing home statistics were compiled for public health purposes. It is possible that Cuomos office made a revised compilation for the DOJ. New York is not the only state that has declined to make public its response to Justice Department inquiries. A spokesperson for Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfs office said it could not provide a copy of its Sept. 9, 2020 response because the Justice Department hadnt yet indicated it has closed the investigation. New Jerseys attorney general declined to comment. Michigan provided The Associated Press with its Sept. 9, 2020, response to the Justice Department. It included information on deaths in state-run veterans homes and nursing homes run by counties. In January, after a critical report by state Attorney General Letitia James, Cuomos office revealed that thousands more nursing home residents had died of COVID-19 than the state had previously reported. COVID-19 is a disease caused by the CCP virus. Cuomo has since said it was a mistake to take so long to release the statistics, but he insisted the delay was not an attempt to obscure the death toll. The administration said it didnt release a full tally sooner because it needed time to verify how many nursing home patients died after being transferred to hospitals. The administrations handling of the data is now the subject of an FBI investigation and an inquiry by the state Assembly, which is assessing whether there are grounds to impeach Cuomo. The U.S. attorneys office in Brooklyn, which is overseeing part of the federal inquiry, declined to comment. In its document requests, the Justice Department asked for the number of residents, staff, and visitors who contracted COVID-19 or died of the virus and the number of people admitted to each nursing home after being treated for COVID-19 at a hospital. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Debris from the missing Indonesian submarine has been found on April 25. Unfortunately, no signs of life for the 53 sailors onboard were discovered. Authorities feared that all crew members have perished in the sinking. In an effort to strengthen the marine combat fleet of Indonesia's maritime world, Indonesia, known as the world's largest island country in the archipelago, carried out a torpedo drill held by the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine fleet, 51 miles north of Bali waters. Indonesia seeks to modernize its aging defense technologies and strengthen the maritime fleet for the Indonesian archipelago. Unfortunately, this escapade has gone the other way around. Who would have thought that the attempt to maintain Indonesian sovereignty would end in a disaster? According to the Navy, the submarine lost its contact right after requesting permission to launch torpedo and failed to relay the result. Events Later the Disappearance Three hours after contact with the KRI Nanggala-402 was lost, a search for the missing submarine started. The Indonesian navy have undergone the process of surveilling the area both by air and sea. The navy has also deployed scores of ships to search the area, including a hydrographic survey ship. In an aerial search, an oil spill was found near the submarine's dive location and it was where the rescue groups focused on. Indonesian Navy's chief of staff also said that the oil may have come out of a crack in the fuel tank to release fuel and reduce the submarine's weight. The periscope disappeared from view and a moment later, the communication disappeared too. Despite having the oxygen capacity to withstand blackout conditions for up to 72 hours, the loss of contact from the submarine has raised concerns for the maritime world, especially in Indonesia. According to Al-Jazeera report, the submarine is presumed to have sunk after some of its debris were discovered. All of the 53 sailors onboard were presumed to be dead. Also read: North Korea's Nuclear Missile Submarine Sets Out to Sea Efforts to Rescue the "Underwater Monster" What's meant to be a proud moment for Indonesia has become one of the saddest moments in history. 53 people were recorded to have gone missing along with the submarine on the coast of Bali. On the last number recorded, six people were rescued and five more bodies were found in the water. According to authorities and military analysts, it's way too early to determine exactly what caused the incident, but they suspected the vessel to have traveled to a depth of anywhere from 600 to 700 meters, or roughly 1,968 to 2,296 feet. Geographically, the Indonesia is surrounded by vast oceans which makes it much harder for the search. Other countries like Australia, Singapore, and India have responded to take part on the search and rescue. However, rescuers doubt that the systems can survive the depth. Given the chance that they will, it's still highly doubtful that the operation will be successful. The disappearance of the KRI Nanggala-402 submarine fleet is considered to be one of the failure Indonesia has made to upgrade its defense capabilities and evolve their military strength. The incident of losing contact with the KRI Nanggala-402 has further confirmed the commitment to fulfill these needs. As what the Indonesian government confirmed, the incident highlighted that the national defense and effort is a very complex process and requires very high technology. That is why it is urgent to modernize the defense equipment more quickly and efficiently. Also read: NASA May Send a Submarine to Saturn's Moon Titan 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. Vietnam veteran Andy Lapins was almost going to give this years Anzac Day march a miss. He couldnt help but feel slighted by the miserly COVID-safe caps on marchers, especially when tens of thousands of fans would be crowding MCG concourses just hours later. Vietnam Veteran Andy Lapins and his wife Anita at their Glen Waverley home. Credit:Penny Stephens The 79-year-old had lost comrades to a foreign war and years of his youth to post-traumatic stress. Registering online to participate in the annual parade felt more like applying. Mr Lapins believes such frustrations, taken with nervousness about mass gatherings, may be reasons behind why only 1736 people had signed on to march by Saturdays noon cutoff from 8000 available places. Listen to journalist Brandon Lingle explain his time spent reporting on SpaceX in Boca Chica and Brownsville. When hes in town, Elon Musk surely cant miss neighbor Rosemarie Workmans frayed Come and Take It flag whipping in the coastal breeze. Workers tinker in the side yard of the SpaceX founders temporary home on Weems Street. Across the road, Workman stands on her porch, her gaze gliding past them and the Teslas parked on the street to focus on the South Bay and the bright afternoon sky. Truck engines drown out the songs of the areas many birds. A quarter-mile down the street, a silver rocket nose cone marks the skyline, and behind the small ranch homes, massive tracking antennas aim skyward. On ExpressNews.com: SpaceX Starship chasers converge in South Texas So goes another afternoon for the holdouts in the tiny community next to SpaceXs Starship facility near Boca Chica Beach, about 25 miles east of Brownsville. Many things merge in this part of Texas: land and sea, the Rio Grande and the Gulf, Mexico and the United States, big business and the federal government, and now the Earth and space. The relationships are complicated, and so is SpaceXs with the Rio Grande Valley. SpaceX has followers around the world who devour every scrap of news about the pioneering commercial space company and Musk. But not all of SpaceXs South Texas neighbors are thrilled with a rocket factory and launch pad in their backyard. Musk, who also founded electric-vehicle maker Tesla, is trying to incorporate Boca Chica and the surrounding area. He announced SpaceXs plan on Twitter on March 2: Creating the city of Starbase, Texas and From thence to Mars, and hence the stars. He said the city will encompass an area much larger than Boca Chica. According to property records, SpaceX and its affiliates Dog Leg Park and the Flats at Mars Crossing are gobbling up real estate throughout the area. The company hasnt spoken publicly about its plans, but the Starbase name is taking hold among SpaceX fans. The village The unincorporated area known as Boca Chica has roots in space exploration at least in name. In the 1960s, as the Cold War space race played out, the areas original developers called it Kennedy Shores, after President John F. Kennedy. In 1975, residents renamed it Kopernik Shores, after astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Photos by Jessica Phelps / San Antonio Express-News Hurricane Beulah flooded the 30-home community in 1967, and it hasnt had running water since. Cameron County trucks in water monthly. The villagers have lived with SpaceX since 2014, but the companys operations have exploded both literally and figuratively since 2019. Weve been going through it for a long time, and weve got to live here, Workman said. You dont want to say some of the words youd like to use theyre still neighbors, whether you like it or not. SpaceX has already bought out many of her neighbors. And in October, the company sent the dozen or so remaining property owners an email final offer of three times their propertys appraised value roughly $150,000. They say its the final offer in every offer, Workman said. SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment. Since October, county appraisal district records show that property values on Weems Street have exploded, in some cases quadrupling. SpaceX and its shell companies own 25 of the 37 properties on the street, according to property records. The company has renovated the houses, painting the bricks black and the trim white. They contrast sharply with the holdouts orange brick homes. On this street, Boca Chicas only residential thoroughfare, 1960s Americana meets the new space race. The people who still live there, mostly retirees, want to be left alone. Only three or so residents not counting SpaceX employees stay in the village year-round. The others are snowbirds from Northern states who spend their winters in Boca Chica. Some of the residents have an uneasy relationship with SpaceX. Workman said someone on Musks security detail hassled her husband about using binoculars for bird-watching in his front yard. We complained, she said. This is not SpaceX property this is my property. Not everything out here is owned by SpaceX. In another incident, a reporter and a photographer were speaking with a neighbor when a bodyguard told them they couldnt take photos in the direction of Musks house. A few doors down from Workmans house, dozens of birds milled around Jim and Nancy Crawfords lawn. This is one of their main flyways when they head back north, said Jim Crawford, a retired sheriff from Osceola County, Mich. Its real unique as far as wildlife goes. In his backyard, he pointed out hummingbirds, indigo buntings, orioles and summer tanagers. On ExpressNews.com: Starbase, Texas? Really? To her disappointment, Nancy Crawford said SpaceX hasnt messed with the makeshift town sign, a cylinder that looks like a rusted propane tank with the words Boca Chica Village Welcomes You painted in white. I was kind of having hopes that theyd get rid of that big ugly thing and put in a proper sign, said the retired Osceola County register of deeds. But then theyd probably want Starbase, Texas, on it. Asked about the prospect of SpaceX turning the area into Starbase, she said, It doesnt matter to me as long as they leave us alone. The couple said communication between the company and residents has improved over the years. A couple of young SpaceX employees, whom they call the boys, are their liaisons with the company. Theyre nice and easy to talk with, she said. Theyre like our grandkids. SpaceX employees hosted residents for an informal block party recently. Residents can stay in the village during static engine tests of the Starship, a reusable spacecraft that Musk hopes will someday carry people and cargo anywhere on Earth and to the moon, Mars and beyond. But they receive notices from SpaceX that a malfunction could break their windows. The company asks residents to go outside when a siren sounds as a safety precaution. When a Starship launches, SpaceX evacuates the villagers and pays for them to stay at a hotel on South Padre Island, according to Jim Crawford. I dont like what they do, but you dont want to start a fight with them, he said. It really dont matter anymore they do what they want to do anyway. Nancy Crawford added: Right now, weve been left alone since last October and we really like it that way. Neighbors Jessica Phelps, Staff photographer / San Antonio Express-News About 5 miles from the Starship production facility, a wrecking ball painted yellow with a smiley face welcomes people to Masseys Gun Shop and Range, the southernmost shooting range in Texas. The compound lies at the end of a dirt road on the banks of the Rio Grande. Its the closest people can get to SpaceX when Texas 4 is closed for launches, and the business has capitalized on its proximity. It charges $20 per vehicle to park on its road for launches. On ExpressNews.com: SpaceX to convert offshore oil platforms into spaceports SpaceX employees, including Musk, the big man himself, as well as space tourists, visit the range, said a volunteer at the facility who identified himself only as Z. SpaceX has brought a lot of business out here, he said. The range makes ammunition and rents many types of weapons, including machine guns and a .50-caliber rifle. When SpaceX came along, thats a huge diversion, and now everyone just talks about it in town, Z said. Theres people who are coming from all over the world, and they come down here to the very tip of Texas. Another place space tourists gather is Rocket Ranch, a couple of miles from Masseys. Jessica Phelps /San Antonio Express-News Teslas kick up dust from the washboard road leading into the space-centric campground near the site of the Civil Wars Battle of Palmito Ranch. After battling crowds for the launch of SpaceXs Falcon Heavy ship from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Rocket Ranch owner David Santilena thought there had to be a better way to watch blastoffs. So the resident of Kingwood bought 10 acres with a ranch house on the banks of the Rio Grande in January 2020. In less than a year, he created a campsite complete with vintage trailers for rent, a fishing dock, family-style meals, bonfires and a laid-back vibe. The ranch house is now a community area. Its walls are adorned with space memorabilia, including chunks of ill-fated Starships. Everybodys interested in Elon and SpaceX and everything, so the conversations are good, and theres some super smart people that come through here, Santilena said. Scientists and people that have knowledge of all different things, you know, and everybodys kind of an intellectual, and they want to talk about it. Guests can book a seat on the ranchs pontoon boat for $350 to watch the launch from a special viewing area on the Rio Grande. Each launch is getting more and more popular, so this place is just kind of running away on its own, he said. Brownsville Jessica Phelps, Staff photographer / San Antonio Express-News On March 30, a Starship exploded and rained stainless steel and rocket parts across the Boca Chica marshes. About an hour after the blowup, Musk tweeted that he was donating $30 million to Cameron County schools and the city of Brownsville. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio company working with military, SpaceX to move cargo anywhere in world in an hour or less The announcement caught Brownsville Mayor Trey Mendez off guard. I just heard about it at the same time everybody else did, he said. You know, Mr. Musk likes to move quickly, and he can be impulsive at times, and his tweets have worldwide effects. The city is working with the Elon Musk Foundation and developing a plan for the funds. Local school districts are already receiving checks. Mendez sees SpaceX as a boost for his community, which has had a rough year with COVID-19 and Februarys winter storm. Cameron County, with a population of 423,000 as of 2019, has had nearly 40,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 1,600 deaths from the disease. SpaceX has been a real positive when it comes to the economic impact theyve had on our community, Mendez said. He also highlighted a real estate boom fueled in part by Musks March 30 tweet calling for people to move to the Brownsville area because SpaceX is hiring. Starbase will grow to several thousand people over the next year or two, he said. Home prices have been going up, Mendez said. I've met quite a few people that have moved down here lately. Despite the goodwill, a half-dozen community members spoke out against SpaceX at the Brownsville City Commission meeting April 6. SpaceX wasnt really on my radar until they started cranking up their operations and, you know, breaking rockets, said Chris Sandoval, a high school physics teacher and one of those who spoke out. Hes concerned about environmental, economic and civic consequences of SpaceX development. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates, debris from the late March explosion traveled 1,100 yards into federally managed land. Currently, huge pieces of the rocket remain lodged in a marsh as the Federal Aviation Administration continues to investigate the explosion. And while the Starbase name itself doesnt bother Sandoval, he sees it as an act of colonization that downplays the areas native history. Not that Boca Chica was the original name of the area, he said. The Carrizo Comecrudo people are indigenous to the region, and they are absolutely not given the opportunity to offer their input for the original names of the places around the Valley. Sandoval and other activists also say the company isnt hiring many local workers though Mendez said the majority of the facilitys 1,400 employees live in the area. Another activist, Bekah Hinojosa, has distributed 50 yard signs and several hundred stickers challenging SpaceX, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the border wall and liquefied natural gas development. SpaceX colonization of Mars is starting to impact the Rio Grande Valley, she said. Its stripping away our access to our pristine beach, gentrifying our community and causing devastating explosions. Jessica Phelps, Staff photographer / San Antonio Express-News The mayor has little patience for the smoldering opposition to SpaceX. He called the public comments at the commissioners meeting and ongoing criticism just ridiculous. I think its a bunch of people that are upset about certain things. But I dont think they understand the big picture, and I dont think they understand everything thats happening and the real big impact thats occurring, he said. I certainly understand their concerns, and I dont want to dismiss their concerns, he said. But I do think that some of them are misplaced. A few blocks from a house with some of Hinojosas yard signs, Alexandro Gonzalez-Hernandez was hard at work on a ladder, spray-painting the finishing touches on a mural on the front wall of an old Brownsville building. The words Boca Chica to Mars frame a portrait of a smiling Musk. Mars hangs in the corner. Gonzalez-Hernandez, whos painted 60 murals across the Valley, joked that Musk is my uncle. I hope he sees it, he said. I want to inspire other artists and give them that little push. The mural is part of a pop-up exhibit featuring local photographers SpaceX and Starship art opening next Saturday. Diane Milliken Garza, a nonprofit consultant directing the art exhibit, sees it as a critical step in revitalizing Brownsvilles downtown. Its like a ghost town compared to what it normally is, and theres a lot of people that are dedicated to bringing it back, she said. And I feel like if we dont get up and do it and right now with SpaceX and Elon Musk realizing the same thing well never get this chance again ever. Boca Chica Beach Jessica Phelps, Staff photographer / San Antonio Express-News In the afternoon light of April 19, a Brownsville family wrapped up their Boca Chica beach day celebration of 16-year-old Brianna Chavezs birthday. Jesus Chavez, Briannas father, manned the grill barbecuing beef fajitas and chicken. Cousins Andrea Gonzalez, 4, and Allison Chavez, 8, splashed in the surf. We come here every weekend and we barbecue, thats what we do here in Brownsville, Chavez said. Now we have to accommodate and check the time. We called the (county judges) office today to make sure that its open. Jessica Phelps, Staff photographer / San Antonio Express-News In addition to closures for tests and launches, SpaceX often closes Texas 4 when moving equipment or rockets. The highway is the only way to the beach, and SpaceX needs county permission to close the road. Despite publishing expected closures, the schedules often change. Even after checking, the family got hung up in a 40-minute delay on the highway as SpaceX moved a giant crane. But the family didnt let the delay dampen their party. Boca Chica Beach is a national treasure theres nothing like it, said Emma Gonzalez, Jesus Chavezs sister-in-law. Before, we never had to wait. It was just a straight shot from Brownsville, she said. Im not for SpaceX, Im sorry. As the family packed their vehicles and prepared to head home, the constant activity continued at the launch site. A sense of inevitability like ocean waves or the onshore breeze permeated the air. Welders sparks flashed and heavy equipment rolled. A small group of visitors stood together across the highway from Starship SN15. They stared at the craft, snapped some photos and imagined it roaring toward the darkness. A few miles down the road, in Boca Chica, Rosemarie Workmans Come and Take It flag continued to fly. Brandon Lingle writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. brandon.lingle@express-news.net Nurses Nadia Boudra, left, and Yvana Faro, right, care for a patient inside an operating room now used for unconscious COVID-19 patients at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) Cradling the head of the deeply sedated COVID-19 patient like a precious jewel in his hands, Dr. Alexy Tran Dinh steered his intensive-care nurses through the delicate process of rolling the woman off her stomach and onto her back, guiding the team like a dance instructor. They moved only on Tran Dinh's count, in unison and with extreme care, because the unconscious patient could die within minutes should they inadvertently rip the breathing tube from her mouth. "One, two and threeonto the side," the doctor instructed. His next order quickly followed: "Onto the back." "Perfect," he concluded when the move was done. Pulling in three nurses and a burly care worker from another section of the Paris hospital, the series of coordinated movements was just one of thousands of medical interventionsbig and small, human, mechanical and pharmaceuticalthat were maintaining the 64-year-old retired waitress on the threshold of life, while she fought to heal her diseased lungs. And she was just one of nearly 6,000 critically ill patients still in French intensive care units this week as the country embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing out of its latest lockdowntoo prematurely for some frontline workers in hospitals. French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in Mayeven though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first surgemarks a shift away from prioritizing hospitals that is taking place in multiple European capitals. Nurse Nadia Boudra, left, Doctor Alexy Tran Dinh, center, and nurse Yvana Faro, right, care for a patient inside an operating room transformed as a room for COVID-19 unconscious patients at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. In France, Greece and elsewhere, the cursor is moving back toward other economic, social and educational imperatives. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) In France, Greece and elsewhere, the cursor is moving toward other economic, social and educational imperatives. Governments are using ramped-up vaccinations to bolster arguments to ease restrictions, although just one-quarter of adults in Europe have received a first dose. With record-high numbers of COVID-19 patients in critical care, Greece announced the reopening of its tourism industry from mid-May. Spain's prime minister says the state of emergency that allowed for curfews and travel bans won't be extended when it expires May 9, in part because vaccinations are allowing for a safe de-escalation of restrictions. This despite more than 2,200 critically ill COVID-19 patients still occupying one-fifth of Spain's ICU beds. Beginning Monday, in low-risk zones, Italy's schools can reopen for full-time, in-person learning, and restaurants and bars can offer sit-down, outdoor service. The Netherlands is ending a night curfew and reopening the outdoor terraces of bars and cafes for the first time since mid-October, even as hospitals scale back non-urgent care to increase ICU beds for COVID-19 patients. Student nurse Soraya Ngin Tun, left, Dr. Atanas Sabahov, center left, nurse Rim Omrani, center right, and student nurse Landry Nzoyem, right, rest at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) In France, Prime Minister Jean Castex said the latest infection surge that pushed the country's COVID-19-related death toll beyond 100,000 people has begun a slow retreat, allowing for all schools to reopen and day-time travel restrictions to end starting May 3. Castex also raised the prospect that stores and outdoor service at restaurants and cafes closed since October could reopen in mid-May. "The peak of the third wave appears to be behind us, and the epidemic's pressure is lifting," Castex said Thursday. That's not how it feels to Nadia Boudra, a critical care nurse at Bichat Hospital in Paris. Her 12-hour shift Thursday started with the unpleasant job of sealing the corpse of a 69-year-old man who died overnight with COVID-19 in a body bag, just hours before his daughter flew in from Canada hoping to see him alive. Dr. Philippe Montravers rests in Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) "We have our noses in it. We see what's happening, we see that people are dyinga lot," she said. For her, reopened schools and, possibly, outdoor eating and drinking in May are "too soon"a misleading message that "things are getting better." "Clearly," she said, "that is not the case." After sending the man's body to the hospital morgue, Boudra tended to the critically sick retired waitress, now the solitary occupant of the makeshift ICU set up for COVID-19 patients in what had been an operating room. The tender care, expertise and technology poured into keeping this one woman alive offered a micro-level look at the momentous national effortshuman, medical, financialthat France and other countries are still expending in ICUs as healthy people now plan May getaways and drinks with friends. Nurse Guillaume Meuleman is seen through the window of an operating room at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. In France, Greece and elsewhere, the cursor is moving back toward other economic, social and educational imperatives. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) As the woman lay unconscious, 5,980 other gravely ill patients were also being kept alive with round-the-clock human and mechanical devotion in other critical care units across France. Automated drips supplied sedatives, painkillers and drugs to prevent deadly blood clots and leaks from the woman's veins. Enriched oxygen, first bubbled through water to warm and humidify it, pumped mechanically into her lungs. The ICU team also took a call from the woman's daughter, who telephones morning and night for news. It was bad on Thursday morning: Tran Dinh told the daughter her mother's breathing had deteriorated. "If you took away the machines, she would die in a few minutes, perhaps less," the doctor said. "There is no room for error." Yet this patient wasn't even the most fragile. An artificial lung, a last resort for patients with lungs ravaged by the disease, was keeping a 53-year-old man alive. Costly and resource-intensive, the state-of-the-art treatment is reserved for patients thought strong enough to have a chance of surviving. About 50% still die, said Dr. Philippe Montravers, who heads the surgical ICU department at Bichat, run by Paris' hospital authority, AP-HP. A member of staff passes in front of a collection of portraits of medical staff at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) Medical staff, including Dr. Alexy Tran Dinh, left, attend an afternoon meeting at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) Nurse Yvana Faro holds a patient's hand inside an operating room now used for unconscious COVID-19 patients at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) A Covid-19 patient under ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) remains unconscious, at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) Nurse Yevana Faro, center, cares for a patient inside an operating room now used for unconscious COVID-19 patients at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) Nurse Nadia Boudra cares for a patient inside an operating room now used for unconscious COVID-19 patients at Bichat Hospital, AP-HP, in Paris, Thursday, April 22, 2021. France still had nearly 6,000 critically ill patients in ICUs this week as the government embarked on the perilous process of gingerly easing the country out of its latest lockdown, too prematurely for those on pandemic frontlines in hospitals. President Emmanuel Macron's decision to reopen elementary schools on Monday and allow people to move about more freely again in May, even though ICU numbers have remained stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemic's catastrophic first wave, marks another shift in multiple European capitals away from prioritizing hospitals. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly) His unit has four of the ECMO machinesall of them used for COVID-19 patients. The man has been hooked up to his for over a month but "is not improving at all," Montravers said. "This machine only buys time," he said. "It's a life buoy, nothing more." Nurse Lea Jourdan said tending to someone so fragile is physically and mentally wearing. "You have to be careful about everything, all the tubes, not ripping anything out when you turn him over," she said. "It's tough to see the positive and say to oneself, 'He will survive.'" 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. Floyd case historic for racial justice: media Xinhua) 14:56, April 24, 2021 A man celebrates outside the Hennepin County Government Center reacting to the trial verdict that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts in Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 20, 2021. (Photo by Ben Brewer/Xinhua) "People of color were among those hardest hit by the virus and by the economic dislocation that followed," said an opinion piece in The New York Times. WASHINGTON, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The George Floyd case has brought historic profound ramifications to the issue of racial justice in the United States, U.S. media said Tuesday. An opinion piece in The New York Times holds that the killing of Floyd not only led to massive protests, but also brought salience to racial justice in many aspects of American life, policing and healthcare, for example. "The entire arc of the Floyd case -- from his death and the protests through the trial and conviction of Mr. Chauvin -- played out against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, which further focused attention on the nation's racial inequities: People of color were among those hardest hit by the virus and by the economic dislocation that followed," it said. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty Tuesday on all the three criminal charges in the murder of George Floyd last summer. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) Entire staff BRKR Bhavan have been directed to ensure compliance with physical distancing norms at all times, including during lunch break. Video grab HYDERABAD: The state government on Friday issued orders imposing restrictions on entry of visitors into BRKR Bhavan, the temporary secretariat of Telangana, amid spike in Coronavirus positive cases among employees and officials working in the building complex. Over 80 employees and officials, including Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, who work from BRKR Bhavan, have tested positive in the past three weeks. Four staff of the chief secretarys peshi also contracted Covid-19 positive on Thursday. In his orders, Somesh Kumar stated, "Routine issue of visitors and temporary passes should be suspended. Only those visitors, who have proper permission of the officer who they want to meet, should be allowed after being properly screened." In addition, general measures like face mask, social distancing and frequent sanitisation of the premises shall be strictly adhered to. Only three persons, in addition to the lift operator, will be allowed in the elevator at a time. Entire staff BRKR Bhavan have been directed to ensure compliance with physical distancing norms at all times, including during lunch break. All employees will have to bring their own lunch and individually have their meal, without mingling with others. All drivers will sit in the concerned peshi and not be together in the parking. All officers have been advised to refrain from using air conditioners in their respective rooms and ensure adequate ventilation. Saturday, April 24, 2021 By Corinne Murdock This week, Dr. Carol Swain unveiled on Fox and Friends what children endure through educational equity: bullying if they are white, forced victimhood if they arent, and indoctrination to view everything through a racial lens. - Advertisement - As a result, Dr. Swain said, schools are becoming hostile, intimidating environments. She predicted that homeschooling, or private schooling sans the equity programs, will soon become the last best form of education available. Fox and Friends host Pete Hegseth asked Dr. Swain for her thoughts on the latest trend in education: parents waking up to the woke anti-racist curriculum. Hegseth described one father who withdrew his daughter from the Brearley School, a private Manhattan school, over their politically-correct indoctrination disguised as education. This is not a rich person issue. This is not a New York City issue [] It is a disaster for education nationwide, which is a disaster for our future, wrote the father in a letter to all Brearley parents. Hegseth asked Dr. Swain if anything could be done to fight these ideas. Dr. Swain said that parents should be organizing and speaking out. Well, first of all, I can tell you that across the country people are pushing back, said Dr. Swain. I would encourage whistleblowers to step forward with your information because what has taken place is very dangerous. It has created a hostile environment for students as well as teachers and administrators. I know from firsthand experience: if youre in an environment that feels hostile, you cannot be your best self. Critical race theory (CRT) is pushed as the undeniable truth of existence: that all sociopolitical structures are inherently, permanently racist against people of color. Hence, systemic racism. Dr. Swain argued that CRT is pure indoctrination because of its unfriendliness toward discourse. Its not teaching young people how to think. In fact, its teaching the opposite because if they have questions and the questions are not politically correct, then they risk getting themselves into trouble, explained Dr. Swain. Hegseth asserted that fear of whistleblowers is why many teachers have asked parents to stay out of the room while virtual classes are underway. Hegseth asked Dr. Swain if the increased numbers of whistleblowers could curtail woke curriculum. Swain said it likely would. When you point out that the learning environment is hostile and the environment for teachers I mean, thats running counter to Civil Rights laws. At least, when it comes to workplaces, said Swain. Teaching young children to hate themselves and their ancestry because of the color of their skin I mean, that is not something we should be doing in America. We should not be shaming children, we should not be bullying them. We should not be creating intimidating environments. We are doing that under the guise of educational equity, and its very harmful to minority children because it teaches them that they are victims. Due to that, Dr. Swain asserted that CRT creates problems where none existed before. As a new initiative under the Biden Administration, the Department of Education is proposing the launch of educational equity nationwide. Dr. Swain assured Hegseth that the federal government wouldnt mandate it, because mandates wouldnt be necessary. She explained that the substantial federal grants would be enough for schools to adopt educational equity. If educational equity becomes standardized nationwide, Dr. Swain predicted that students from government-funded schools would be uneducated. Were going to reach a point, Pete, where the only educated children in America are the homeschooled children and the ones in classical education programs in those few private schools where they have not allowed the nonsense in, stated Dr. Swain. Individuals interested in speaking out against the Biden Administrations new educational initiatives should go online to the Federal Register and comment on the rule, per Dr. Swain. MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will speak with Mexico's president on May 7 about his proposal to expand a tree-planting program to Central America as way to reduce poverty and migration, Mexico's foreign minister said on Saturday. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has suggested the U.S. government offer temporary work visas and eventually citizenship to those who take part in the tree-planting program, called "Sembrando Vida," or "Sowing Life." Harris' senior advisor and chief spokesperson, Symone Sanders, confirmed next month's virtual meeting between the U.S. vice president and Obrador. "This meeting will deepen the partnership between our countries to achieve the common goals of prosperity, good governance, and addressing the root causes of migration," Sanders said in a statement. The program aims to create 1.2 million jobs and plant 3 billion additional trees through expansion into southeastern Mexico and Central America, Lopez Obrador said at a White House virtual climate summit last week. He also said U.S. President Joe Biden "could finance" the program's extension to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said in a Tweet that he and Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier would participate in the May 7 meeting, which is also slated to touch on cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden tapped Harris last month to lead diplomatic efforts to cut immigration from Mexico and Central America. (Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon, additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani in Washington; editing by Diane Craft and Marguerita Choy) Chick-fil-A Employee Sees Co-workers Outside Struggling in Storm, Rushes to Help, Hailed a Hero A Chick-fil-A employee was recently honored by the restaurant for his heroic deed, helping fellow employees struggling during a raging windstorm. Nathan Armstead, a 21-year-old Riverview, Florida, resident, rose to the challenge when he went to help his co-workers outside the restaurant who were assisting customers at the drive-thru. Surveillance video shows Armstead fighting the winds to help his team members. We want to honor a true hero in our staff who ran out into tornado force winds during the intense storm that swept through our community Saturday night, the restaurants Facebook page captioned on April 12. When the weather turned on a dime, Nate didnt hesitate to rush to the team members who were serving guests in our drive thru. We wanted to shoutout and praise this act of bravery shown on Nates behalf, as well as thank all of our team members who pulled through such a difficult night and continued to serve this community with love & care. Nate can be seen wearing a sling in one of the pictures posted by the restaurant. They stated that Nate suffered an arm injury the night before. The incident didnt cause any harm to his already injured arm. Not calling it a big deal, Nate is glad he could be of help. When the wind picked up and the storm rolled in so quickly, I knew I needed to help get them to safety, he told CBS. Were like family here at Chick-fil-A Riverview, so I did what I would have done for my younger siblings. Armstead joined the Chick-fil-A team in 2020 and was quickly promoted to team lead due to his hard work and professionalism. The young man, who has been hailed a hero for his bravery, has gone viral. The Facebook post highlighted his unselfish act and received 1,500 likes and nearly 250 shares. Users were quick to compliment the employee. What a wonderful story! Love hearing about things like this! What a brave selfless young man! read one comment. Way to go, Nate! Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter The leaders of Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan may come together for more talks in the future regarding the issue of peace in Afghanistan, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said after a meeting with his Turkish and Afghan counterparts in Istanbul on Friday MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) The leaders of Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan may come together for more talks in the future regarding the issue of peace in Afghanistan, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said after a meeting with his Turkish and Afghan counterparts in Istanbul on Friday. "If the possibility of a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan is not realized now, then everyone will suffer, especially the Afghan people. The talks [between the foreign ministers] took place at a critical and crucial period, and we want to hold another such meeting at the level of heads of state," Qureshi said. The prospect of peace in Afghanistan has reemerged, albeit it is still with much uncertainty, amid talks of a full US withdrawal from the country in the near future. The three countries' foreign ministries called upon all the conflicting parties, and the Taliban in particular, to keep their commitments to a lasting peace in Afghanistan. "Our desire is to organize a dialogue with the participation of the conflicting parties. Turkey will continue its active efforts to achieve peace in Afghanistan," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu added. In addition to discussing peace in Afghanistan, the three top diplomats also touched upon security in the meeting more generally and energy cooperation. Each pair also met separately for discussions of bilateral relations between their respective nations. Thousands of Armenians marched in Yerevan on April 23 to commemorate World War I-era mass killings of their kin by Ottoman forces, a bloodletting which U.S. President Joe Biden might reportedly recognize as genocide. The annual torch-lit march was held on the eve of the 106th anniversary of the massacres in which -- Armenians say -- up to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed as the Ottoman Empire collapsed. So far about 30 countries have recognized the events as "genocide," a characterization which Turkey objects to. This image is from the body camera footage of the Virginia police officer who shot Isaiah Brown. (Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office) Body camera footage and audio from a 911 call appear to show that a Virginia police officer mistook a wireless house phone for a gun, leading the deputy to shoot the Black man holding the phone multiple times. The video and audio recordings were released late on Friday. The family of 32-year-old Isaiah Brown said he entered intensive care with ten bullet wounds after the shooting, which took place early on Wednesday in Spotsylvania County in the northeastern part of Virginia, WRC-TV reported. Mr Brown's lawyer, David Haynes, said in a statement: It is evident that the tragic shooting of Isaiah Brown was completely avoidable. The body camera video shows an officer yelling at Mr Brown to raise his hands. The deputy then commands Mr Brown to "drop the gun" and seemingly says into his radio that hes got a gun to his head. The family of Mr Brown watched and listened to the recordings before they were released, WRIC reported. The officer appears to say stop walking towards me, stop walking towards me and stop, stop before he discharges his gun towards the man at least seven times. According to the 911 audio, Mr Brown was speaking to a dispatcher on the wireless house phone when the officer arrived at the scene. On the audio, the dispatcher is heard telling Mr Brown to hold your hands up as sirens approach. Mr Haynes said: The deputy in question made multiple, basic policing errors and violated established protocols. The deputy was situated nearly 50 feet from Isaiah, was never threatened and should not have discharged his weapon. The video and audio recordings were released after mounting pressure from the family and the Virginia ACLU. Sheriff Roger Harris said that a special prosecutor had been appointed and recommended the release of the recordings. Mr Harris added that the deputy has been placed on administrative leave and that the investigation into the case is being led by Virginia State Police. The family of Mr Brown told WRC-TV that the very same deputy had driven Mr Brown home from the gas station after his car broke down. Tazmon Brown told the TV station that the deputy had said that his brother wasnt in any trouble. Story continues Later, a 911 call was made on which Isaiah Brown can be heard saying that his brother is not allowing him to enter his mother's room and that he can't get into his vehicle. The dispatcher tells Mr Brown that his car is broken and has been towed. Mr Brown then says: Alright, give me the gun." His brother can be heard in the background, saying "no". The dispatcher inquires as to what is happening, to which Mr Brown says: Im about to kill my brother. Dont kill your brother, the dispatcher says and asks several times if Mr Brown is armed. Mr Brown says he isn't. Mr Brown tells the dispatcher hes walking down the roadway. The dispatcher asks: How are you walking down the road with the house phone? "Because I can," Mr Brown says. A short time later, the deputy, who has not been identified, arrives on the scene. He can be heard on the 911 audio yelling at Mr Brown. The deputy is heard giving aid to Mr Brown and telling his brother to get a first aid kit from the police vehicle. Its not clear if the officer knew Mr Brown had told the 911 dispatcher that he was unarmed or if he was aware that what Mr Brown was holding was a wireless house phone, the AP writes. Mr Haynes said the family is also asking for the release of dispatch audio from the moments before the shooting took place. Read More Elon Musk to host Saturday Night Live alongside Miley Cyrus Owner of Florida mansion calls police when wedding party turns up without booking Seven deputies put on leave after fatal shooting of Black man in North Carolina The work of the latter two is called Defiant X , and it has been in the works for some time now. At the beginning of 2021, Boeing and Sikorsky presented the first details of the new helicopter, and now we get word of the helos weapons system being in the works.In mid-April, the two companies said theyve already started putting the finishing touches on the Defiants weapon system requirements, but also that they have completed the preliminary design review for the system.Given the nature of the project, no additional details were provided, but the two added that work continues on other fronts as well, including virtual testing of a prototype, testing of the helicopters modularity, and testing of the way Defiant will feel for pilots and the troops who will fly with it.The things we already know about the helicopter is that it comes with counter-rotating blades fitted on top, and another, vertical propeller at the rear, fly-by-wire controls, and integrated auxiliary propulsion. Just like its predecessor, it should be capable of flying fast and low, land and take off quickly. Only, of course, better, as Boeing describes the Defiant X as the fastest, most maneuverable and most survivable assault helicopter in history.The Black Hawk was introduced in 1974, and so far around 4,000 of them have been deployed. Next year, the U.S. Army plans to announce its replacement, and prototype building may commence. Plans are to start rolling out the new helicopter sometime over the next decade. Scammers are coming up with newer ways to steal your personal information every now and then. In a new method, scammers are now sending malicious links offering free access to video streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video or Netflix. If you got a similar message on your WhatsApp, then be warned that could be malicious links that could steal your personal data. Scammers might also steal your banking details via this route. In a post on microblogging site Twitter, Delhi Police Cybercrime posted a warning, making netizens aware of the malicious scam being run by scamsters. The law enforcement agency has urged people not to click on any such malicious links and break the chain by not forwarding malicious links to their friends and family. Multiple antivirus engines have already detected and blocked the malicious links. These messages have URLs/Links which are flagged as malicious by multiple antivirus engines. The Links have been blocked. WARNING... Never click on such links. Never forward to others, the DCP Cybercimes tweet read. Additionally, Delhi Police shared screenshots of malicious links that were received by users on WhatsApp. Get 2 months of Amazon Premium Free anywhere in the world for 60 days. http://profilelist.xyz/?livestream one such message read. However, you can also easily spot these messages because of the visible mistakes made by the scamsters. One such message has an error that says Amazon Premium instead of Amazon Prime. Also, if you see profilelist in the URL, then this link might be malicious. Attackers might also attempt to install malware on your device to steal your personal information, including your financial details such as credit or debit card details, according to a report by Gadgets Now. Singapore: Its the terrible outcome that was feared inevitable when a submarine vanished off the coast of Bali three days ago. Indonesias navy on Saturday announced that debris from its missing KRI Nanggala 402 submarine had been found in the search area, with items including prayer rugs, a grease bottle for oiling the periscope and a torpedo straightener. The KRI Nanggala stopped responding at about 3am on Wednesday, Indonesian time. With 53 personnel on board 49 crew men, three gunners and the commander the submarine has been declared likely to have sunk in what would be a national tragedy for Indonesia and for the families of the sailors. The submarine disappeared in the early hours of Wednesday during a diving manoeuvre that was part of a training exercise. DEAL OF THE WEEK Wells Re-ups at Tordotcom for Six Tordotcoms Lee Harris took world English rights to six books by Martha Wells. The six-figure acquisition, which the imprint said is its largest to date, was brokered by Jennifer Jackson at the Donald Maass Literary Agency. Wells is the author of the bestselling Murderbot Diaries series, which is published by Tordotcom; the new deal covers three more books in that series, as well as three unrelated novels. The first book under the agreement, Witch King, is set for fall 2022. FROM THE U.S. Delacorte Wins Trilogy by Carter After an auction, Kelsey Horton at Delacorte won North American rights to a YA trilogy by Aimee Carter for six figures. Carter was represented in the deal by Rosemary Stimola and Allison Remcheck at the Stimola Literary Studio. The Royal Blood series, Stimola said, is a contemporary reimagining of the royal family pitched as The Princess Diaries with murder. In it, a 17-year-old American girl is outed as the British kings illegitimate daughter and then finds herself in an even bigger royal scandal as the primary suspect in a murder investigation. The first book in the trilogy is slated for fall 2022. Berkley Opens Canass Hacienda After a five-house auction, Berkleys Jen Monroe won world rights to two titles by Isabel Canas, including her debut novel The Hacienda. The publisher said the book is a tale of witchcraft and suspense set in the 1800s, adding that it reads like Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca. Canas, who is Mexican American, is currently finishing her PhD in medieval Islamic literature. She was represented in the deal by Kari Sutherland at Bradford Literary Agency. The Hacienda is slated for spring 2022. St. Martins Bows to Goodwins Maid Daisy Goodwin (The American Heiress) sold a new novel, The Maid of Honor, to Charles Spicer at St. Martins Press. In the book, the publisher said, an Anglo-American ingenue returns to London, where her aristocratic grandmother has secured her a place at the court of an austere, rather temperamental, and very unpredictable Queen Victoria. Caroline Michel, CEO of U.K. literary agency Peters Fraser + Dunlop, brokered the North American rights agreement with Spicer. Harper Biz Buys Wangs Bad Bitch For Harper Business, Wendy Wong preempted world English rights to Lisa Carmen Wangs The Bad Bitch Business Bible. The author, an entrepreneur and former USA Gymnastics national champion, was represented by Stephanie Kim at New Leaf Literary & Media in the six-figure deal. Kim said the book is a bold, irreverent manifesto on how good girl brainwashing has kept working women from thriving in and out of the business world, and what they can do to overcome it. The Bad Bitch Business Bible is set for fall 2022. Loves Reform Sways St. Martins Elisabeth Dyssegaard at St. Martins preempted North American rights to Bettina Loves Reform Destroyed My Generation. The book, the publisher said, is a powerful indictment of the miseducation and incarceration of Black children... told through Loves own story and those of her peers. It focuses on the impact of a 1983 government report on the U.S. education system and the reforms that followed in its wake. Love, an associate professor of educational theory and practice at the University of Georgia, said, This book is filled with the voices of Black adults, who were once Black youth impacted by educational reform that punished Black children, turning our schools into prisons, and stole our Black childhoods. She was represented in the deal by Tanya McKinnon at McKinnon Literary. The aid was handed over to Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Chhay Navuth by Nguyen Huy Tang, Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for External Relations, on April 23. The Vietnamese Party, State and people keep a close watch on the COVID-19 situation in Cambodia and wish to share the difficulties facing the country, Tang said at the hand-over ceremony. He expressed his belief that under the leadership of Cambodian People's Party President and Prime Minister Hun Sen and with the solidarity of Cambodians and support of international friends, Cambodia will soon contain the pandemic. With this assistance, together with another aid package of US$200,000 from the Vietnamese Government, which was granted to Cambodia earlier, Vietnam hopes to join the anti-COVID-19 efforts of the Cambodian Government and people, he said. Cambodian Ambassador Chhay Navuth stressed that these aid packages demonstrate the special sentiment between the two countries' Parties, States, and peoples, saying Vietnam's timely support has served as a source of encouragement for Cambodia in its efforts. The ambassador also lauded the achievements Vietnam has recorded in fighting COVID-19 and maintaining socio-economic development. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. One year ago VINUM owner Massimo Felici sold toilet paper and cleaning supplies alongside Italian fare from his Michelin-noted eatery, a survival tactic at a rather bleak time for restaurants during the COVID-19 crisis. Yet on Friday afternoon, a more optimistic scene played out in the Stapleton spot as the proprietor hosted a celebratory press conference led by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer. The news met with cheers and claps from those gathered: Staten Island food service operators will see a sizable portion of the $28 billion, recently passed American Rescue plan. Schumer said that the first bill he vowed to pass as Senate majority leader was the RESTAURANTS Act pitched in 2020, a former bill that served as a model to the ultimate legislation. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer spoke from VINUM in Stapleton and donned a "Save Restaurants" mask. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri) It was a bipartisan effort. It passed overwhelmingly, said the senator. Now hes leaning on the Small Business Administration (SBA) to dish out funds ASAP, meaning owners can start to apply for relief within the next two weeks. He said this round of aid will be easier to acquire compared to the more restrictive Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) monies dispersed in 2020. Food service or drinking establishments including caterers, brew pubs, taprooms and tasting rooms that are not part of an affiliated group with more than 20 location will be eligible. To provide comprehensive support to local restaurants, grants from the fund can be used alongside first and second PPP loans, SBA economic injury disaster loan assistance and the Employee Retention Tax Credit. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer addressed an audience of restaurant owners with Staten Island officials on hand at VINUM in Stapleton on Friday, April 23, 2021. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri) Staten Island restaurants, their employees and the overall Island economy need immediate federal relief to weather COVID because too many of the places we know and love could close without the help, leaving a giant hole in our local economy, said Schumer from a podium set up in VINUMs dining room. Behind him stood some of Staten Islands elected officials State senators Diane Savino and Michael Cusick, Assemblyman Charles D. Fall, plus Councilwoman Debi Rose. Each stepped up to publicly congratulate Schumer on the passage of such direct relief. Cusick said that the relief came in part from politicians work with a newly formed, Staten Island-based restaurant group dubbed IROAR Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue that officially formed in May. Max's Es-Ca's chef and owner Max Calicchio, a founder of restaurant lobbying group IROAR, spoke at the podium set up at VINUM to address media about the passage of a major restaurant relief bill for which IROAR fought. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri) Savino called the announcement a monumental moment for the restaurant industry on Staten Island. She said she comes from the food service industry and, pandemic restrictions aside, she subsequently understood the efforts that go into running a restaurant under normal circumstances. The state senator announced that further aid will some day come to food operators courtesy of the state budget with over $800 million in grants plus a return-to-work tax credit. Rose said, Just months ago we didnt see this coming. People had no hope, but despair. This is a quality of life issue. Restaurants not only feed our souls but they offer emotional support. She gestured to chefs and owners in the room that included two of the several IROAR founders, Felici and Max Calicchio of Maxs Es-Ca in Dongan Hills. In a nod to IROAR and its members as well as restaurants in general she said, I just want to give you all kudos for staying open despite the problems you had to suffer through. I thank you for being so vocal and so vociferous in this time. Enoteca Maria is closed during the pandemic. The St. George eatery said it would consider reopening in May. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri) THE MEAT OF THE RELIEF BILL Schumer maintained that without the dedicated relief to the industry many borough eateries were and are at risk of closure and many state businesses would not survive the next six months. Across New York City, 250,000 jobs in the hospitality industry including the food industry were lost in 2020 due to the regional industrys struggles throughout the pandemic, according to Schumers office. The senator said that with Staten Island poised to see a sizable share of the $28.6 billion federal pot, local restaurants we know and love on the Island can stay open for business and opportunities for workers to return to old or new restaurant jobs can emerge. Schumer also said the countless jobs Staten Island restaurants still provide will be less uncertain now that this direct relief is on the way. Eligible expenses include payroll and benefits, rent, mortgage, utilities, maintenance, supplies including protective equipment and cleaning materials, food, operational expenses, covered supplier costs as defined by the SBA under the PPP program, sick leave and any other expenses deemed essential by the administrator. Grants can be spent on eligible expenses from Feb. 15, 2020 through December 31, 2021 and the period has potential to be extended. A sum of $5 billion of the total is reserved for restaurants with less than $500,000 in gross receipts in 2019 for the first 60 days of the program. During the initial 21-day period, the administrators will prioritize awarding grants to eligible women- or veteran-owned businesses. Bar service is still illegal in New York City putting a continued crimp on the food industry. Griff's in New Dorp Beach, like other bar-only formatted eateries, serves patrons at tables instead. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri) OWNERS DISH ON THE BILL Ted Fleetwood Nugent of The Richmond in Stapleton, The Belvedere Club on Grymes Hill and Cebu Bistro in Bay Ridge said, Its a very awesome Act for the mom and pops, those small restaurants to maintain staying open or getting reopened. This is a much-needed life support to get the industry back. Im looking forward to the day when we have people sitting and eating at the bar. Partner with Nugent in two other ventures, The Richmond and Belvedere Club, Felici said, All in the business have been following this Act. We consider ourselves lucky that we survived this as opposed to our Manhattan colleagues. For a long time many of us didnt know how we were going to get through this. He joked about his former stint selling toilet paper. Schumer chimed into the discussion and quipped to Felici, What do you call that food in, food out? Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@siadvance.com. Keith Wille, a self-described treasure hunter and metal detectorist, has a motto: You lost something. I find it. And thats exactly what he did for one woman in Western Massachusetts who called him about trying to locate a cashbox potentially missing beneath the floorboards of the attic in her family home. The treasure hunt wound up being the best of 2021 so far, according to Wille, whose operations are based in Connecticut. One question I get all the time is how many treasures do you think are out there? Wille said at the opening of the episode of his show, Rediscover Lost, posted to YouTube on Wednesday. I think there are countless treasures still out there, and if its there, Ill find it. The treasure hunt in Western Massachusetts was the product of decades of rumor about hidden loot in the 1950s home, which was owned by the womans aunt and uncle. The womans mother moved in after her aunt died roughly five years ago, and the house is set to go up for sale soon. However, the family didnt want to sell it without first finding the rumored treasure. She believes the loot was hidden in the attic a long, long time ago. Floorboards in the space have white x- and star-shaped symbols drawn on them, piquing the familys interest and leaving them with questions about where the cash was. After decades of failed attempts to find the treasure, Wille said, the family grew tired of trying to figure out if a metal detector would work indoors and even hired a construction contractor to find the treasure underneath the floorboards. Their efforts werent fruitful. The family eventually discovered Wille online and hired him to figure out where the money was hidden. The search started in early April with the treasure hunter getting a tour of the attic space. There, he spotted the damaged parts of the floor where people in years past had unsuccessfully searched for the money and figured out a game plan for how he would find the cash. Turning on my metal detector, I walked over to where light from the two windows intersected, Wille said on his website. The rumor was that a person could see the box through the floorboards when the light shined into the room. Naturally, I started in the middle of the floor, looking for cracks where light could shine through. Using the metal detector, an endoscopic camera and his iPhone, Wille kicked off his quest to find the stashed money in the attic space. It took only around 50 minutes before he struck gold. After decades of rumor, treasure hunter Keith Wille found $46,000 hidden in a cashbox beneath the floorboards of a Western Massachusetts familys home. (Keith Wille/Rediscover Lost) With his endoscopic camera, Wille found the cashbox in one corner of the attic. He noticed jagged saw marks in the rafters of that section of the space, searched the floor and saw the keyhole of the cashbox. The treasure hunter then removed two suspiciously cut floorboards to take the loot out of its 63-year old hiding place. Cash was packed to the lid of a metal box in the bundles, with individual bills dating all the way back to 1934, 1935 and 1950. The date Dec. 19, 1958, along with a teller number, was stamped on each currency strap, and highly collectible silver certificates were visible in three of the bundles, Wille noted. These were shortly after the Great Depression, so people were still holding onto cash, hiding it, clearly. There were still some trust issues with the banks, Wille said in the video. The cache of vintage banknotes totaled $46,000. Wille pointed out that in 1958, the purchasing power of that amount of money would be equivalent to $421,603 today. We found the cashbox. So, we retrieved it. The family now has closure on the cash, Wille said. They can sell the house. Its unclear who hid the cashbox in the floorboards to begin with, but its likely that a family member of the woman did so. There were a number of possibilities of who could have hidden the treasure, but its not 100%, Wille told MassLive. In an interview with MassLive, Wille said he didnt want to specify where in Western Massachusetts the home is to protect the familys privacy. More: Woman who never returned VHS rented in 1999 finds out she was charged with felony How a toddler ended up inside malls toy machine: They could have used the claw to pick her up You are here: Business More than 300 companies from home and abroad have confirmed they will participate in the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China) later this year, the organizer said. Airshow China is scheduled to be held from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3 in the city of Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, said Zhou Zuode, deputy secretary-general of Airshow China's Zhuhai executive committee. The confirmed participants include well-known international aircraft and aerospace companies such as Boeing, Embraer, GE Aviation, Honeywell and Parker Aerospace, Zhou, also deputy secretary-general of the Zhuhai municipal government, told a press briefing. This year's Airshow China has an indoor exhibition area of 100,000 square meters, with 80 percent already booked, and also an outdoor exhibition area of 360,000 square meters. The airshow will offer an online version to allow audiences to watch aerobatic flights, dynamic presentations of ground equipment and online forums, Zhou said. The event will also invite professional visitors and trade delegations from home and abroad to conduct tours and exchanges and ink deals both online and offline. Apple Inc. on April 23 announced that it was starting a programme that would aid its employees to get voluntary COVID-19 vaccination at the companys office. With the Joe Biden administration making vaccine shots available to all residents ageing 16 and above, Apple has become the first Silicon Valley giant to support Americas mass vaccination drive. Speaking about the ambitious drive, a spokesperson revealed that the tech giant has partnered with drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. as its vendor and would soon open a website for its workers to sign up for appointments. America, which restarted administering Johnsons & Johnson jab amid reports of blood clots has registered 31,730,950 COVID-19 cases as of now. As of April 24, at least 137,234,889 or 41.3 per cent of the US has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines while 91,175,995 or 27.5 per cent of them have been fully vaccinated. As per the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country has received 286,095,185 doses of vaccines out of which 222,322,230 million have been administered. Deutsche Bank AG starts inoculation Last month, tech giant Amazon Inc. started onsite vaccinations for front-line employees, starting in Missouri, Nevada and Kansas. The online retailer announced that it would give $80 to its front line workers with no access to on-site clinics to get COVID-19 vaccines. Deutsche Bank AG earlier this month became the first big bank in New York to say it would offer employees COVID-19 vaccinations at its offices. Meanwhile, health authorities have pulled all stops to encourage residents to get their jabs. Just recently, they added the distinguished American Museum of Natural History to the list of vaccination sites. All the eligible candidates would be able to register themselves for the mass inoculation process in the Museums iconic Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, which is known to highlight the drama of the undersea world. Announcing the news on social media, Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio wrote, Were WHALE-coming #COVID19 vaccines to the American Museum of Natural History! referring to the gigantic 94-foot blue whale model that hangs right above the vaccine registration spot. Image Credits: AP/PTI/Representative Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (L) gestures as he is welcomed upon his arrival ahead of the ASEAN leaders' summit, at the Soekarno Hatta International airport in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, April 24, 2021. (Courtesy of Rusman/Indonesian Presidential Palace/Handout via Reuters) Southeast Asian Leaders Discuss Burma Crisis With Junta Chief JAKARTASoutheast Asian leaders began a crisis meeting on Burma (also known as Myanmar) on Saturday aiming to persuade Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military takeover that sparked turmoil in his country, to forge a path to end the violence. The gathering of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta is the first coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Burma, an impoverished country that neighbors China, India, and Thailand. Burma is part of the 10-nation ASEAN. With participants attending in person despite the pandemic, Indonesias Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday that the summit reflected the deep concern about the situation in Myanmar and ASEANs determination to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation. Its unusual for the leader of a military government in Burma to attend an ASEAN summitusually, the country has been represented by a lower-ranked officer or a civilian. Min Aung Hlaing was seen disembarking after arriving on a special flight from Naypyitaw, the Burmese capital, according to footage on the official video channel of Indonesias presidential palace. Leaders cars later entered the ASEAN Secretariat in the Indonesian capital, the venue for the meeting. About two dozen protesters gathered nearby, beating pots and pans and holding signs saying Democracy for Myanmar and We stand against the military coup. Police quickly moved them on. Several protests were also held in Burmas main cities but there were no immediate reports of violence. Activists hold placards and banners during a protest to support the anti-coup movement and democracy in Burma, near the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat building, ahead of the ASEAN leaders meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia April 24, 2021. (Willy Kurniawan/Reuters) Diplomats and government officials who asked not to be named said many ASEAN leaders want a commitment from Min Aung Hlaing to restrain his security forces, who monitors say have killed 745 people since a mass civil disobedience movement emerged to challenge his Feb. 1 coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. This is what Myanmar must avoid: geographical, political, social, and national disintegration into warring ethnic parts, said Philippines Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin on Twitter. Myanmar on its own must find peace again. Min Aung Hlaing, on his first foreign trip since the coup, will address the summit later on Saturday along with each of the participants before more informal discussions begin, said three sources familiar with procedures. The summit will be held in a retreat format, with leaders sitting in a circle and only one or two officials assisting each one, said Usana Berananda, a Thai foreign ministry official. Push for Dialogue ASEAN officials and diplomats have also worked on an initiative to send a humanitarian aid mission to Burma and appoint an envoy to encourage dialogue between the junta and the ousted lawmakers and armed ethnic groups who have formed an opposition National Unity Government (NUG). The leaders of Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Brunei are at the meeting, along with the foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines. ASEAN has a policy of consensus decision-making and non-interference in the affairs of its members, which include Burma. While that makes it difficult to tackle contentious issues, the body is seen by the United Nations, China, and the United States as best placed to deal with the junta directly. We in the [@UN] Security Council eagerly await the outcome of the @ASEAN meeting on Burma, which deserves serious and immediate attention, said U.S Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Twitter. Still, some analysts warned of the dangers of giving legitimacy to the junta by inviting its leader to the summit. Formal representation of the Tatmadaw [Burmese military] at the ASEAN summit, without giving any concessions in return, including first and foremost a commitment to stop the bloodshed, is not constructive, Huong Le Thu, of the Australian Strategic Policy Initiative, wrote in an analysis of the ASEAN meeting. A spokesman for the NUG, which is not attending the summit, told Reuters the group had been in contact with ASEAN leaders. Dr. Sasa, an international envoy for the NUG, who goes by one name, said ASEAN should insist the military stops killing civilians, halts the bombing of villages in ethnic minority areas, releases political prisoners, and hands power to the NUG. By Martin Petty and Raju Gopalakrishnan U.S. police groups to meet with Garland as Minneapolis review begins Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks about a jury's verdict in the case against former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, (Photo : Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo) Leaders of U.S. police groups will meet with Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday to discuss his sweeping civil investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis and similar probes, according to a spokesman for the National Sheriffs' Association. The investigation, which follows this week's jury verdict that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck, marks a return to more assertive federal oversight of state and local police, a policy the Justice Department largely abandoned during Republican Donald Trump's presidency. Advertisement "We are looking forward to continuing the conversation and collaborative relationship between the Justice Department and sheriffs to work on solutions to continue to keep our communities safe," Sheriff's Association spokesman Patrick Royal said ahead of the virtual meeting. The national Fraternal Order of Police said its executive director, Jim Pasco, would attend the session. Justice Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Floyd's death was one in a long series of killings of Black men and women by law enforcement that sparked nationwide protests over racial injustice. "Officers welcome accountability because accountability is an essential part of building trust with the community and public safety requires public trust," Garland said when he launched the investigation on Wednesday. Friday's meeting with leaders of law enforcement groups was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Chauvin's conviction on all three counts of murder or manslaughter was a milestone in the fraught racial history of the United States and a rebuke of law enforcement's treatment of Black Americans. Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said they welcomed the federal investigation, and pledged to cooperate. There have been questions by groups representing law enforcement officers and conservative politicians over the effectiveness of federal efforts to reform police departments, which are typically achieved through court-approved settlements known as consent decrees. During Democratic President Barack Obama's presidency, some police unions complained that the decrees stigmatize police and impose overly restrictive limits on use of force. Garland on April 16 rescinded a Trump-era memo that curtailed the use of consent decrees in investigations of law enforcement agencies. Teachers demonstrate outside a school during a morning walk-out in Longueuil, Que., Wednesday, April 14, 2021. A temporary strike by around 73,000 Quebec teachers scheduled to take place Tuesday has been suspended after a breakthrough at the bargaining table, two teachers unions said Friday evening. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson On April 16, 2021 a Hong Kong judge placed more nails in the coffin of freedom in Hong Kong. Nine pro-democracy leaders, including Martin Lee, Jimmy Lai, Albert Ho and Margaret Ng, were sentenced to prison for peacefully demonstrating in August 2019. They had been participating in protests that had ballooned to unprecedented proportions over the Hong Kong governments attempt to impose an extradition law, which would have enabled the transfer of Hong Kong citizens and foreign nationals to courts in mainland China. In October, Hong Kongs chief executive, Carrie Lam, withdrew the legislation. But she made no attempt to close the gap with the millions of people, especially the youth, who had protested the injection of mainland Chinese legal authority into Hong Kongs prized rule of law. Instead, the government undertook to punish those who had peacefully demonstrated. Since then, the fabric of Hong Kongs one country/two systems framework has been shredded. In its 1984 Joint Declaration with the United Kingdom on the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty, Beijing committed to a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong and to the preservation of Hong Kongs capitalist system and distinct way of life for 50 years until 2047. Silencing the pro-democracy old guard Early in 2020 the Chinese Communist Party apparently concluded the Hong Kong authorities were incapable of controlling the restive Hong Kong populace. General Secretary Xi Jinping rolled the historical dice, effectively taking control of Hong Kong through imposition of a National Security Law, the broad reach and vague terms of which subject anyone in Hong Kong, Chinese or foreign, to potential charges of threatening Chinese national security based on the dictates of special security authorities and courts. Media tycoon and newspaper founder Jimmy Lai, center, leaves a police station in Hong Kong on Aug. 12, 2020. The law gives the Communist Party the writ to replace the rule of law the foundation of Hong Kongs way of life and status as an international finance center with Beijings political rule. The Communist Party is now dismantling the Hong Kong political system to make it loyal to China, gutting the prospects for democratic influence in political life, and scouring education to ensure it is patriotic. Story continues The April 16 sentences are designed to silence the pro-democracy old guard, in parallel with the persecution and intimidation of younger generations of democratic leaders like Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow (imprisoned), and Dennis Kwok and Nathan Law (in exile) and their fellow protesters. But there is a special place in Beijings pantheon of enemies of the people for Lai, the wealthy publisher and champion of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong. Despite his age (73), Lai was sentenced to serve more than a year in jail. He is also being charged with multiple civil-disobedience and other bogus offenses. Much more ominously, he faces years and possibly the rest of his life in prison as the first high-profile figure arrested and charged under the National Security Law. In August 2020 hundreds of police swept into his offices, shackling and parading him as if he were a violent terrorist. Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S.: Ukraine crisis may be Putin's test for the Biden administration When the judge at his first bail hearing granted bail under the most stringent of controls, Chinese state media labeled Lai a traitor and pronounced his guilt. Hong Kong prosecutors immediately appealed, arguing that Lai was too dangerous to be free under any circumstances. A second judge helpfully rectified the previous judge's mistake and remanded him to custody, where he will remain until trial on the national security charges (two more of which were also levied on April 16). It now seems that his trial on the new charges may be put off until, oddly enough, well after the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. Or maybe never, since he can be held without bail as a danger to national security indefinitely; who needs a good, old fashioned show trial? Turning the page of history Ironically enough, on April 15 Lai was honored by the Freedom Forum in Washington. Many in Hong Kong merit such recognition of their own commitment. The Freedom Forum is dedicated to the foundational freedoms guaranteed in U.S. Constitution: freedom of the press, speech, religion, peaceful assembly and the right to petition the government. Hong Kong, the pro-democracy movement and Jimmy Lai instill fear in General Secretary Xi and the Communist Party because they represent this vision of freedom. These are rights for which Americans continue to fight every day. Under one country/two systems, they were recognized until recently as key elements of Hong Kong's distinct "way of life." Intimately linked to this value-driven vision of society is the notion that these freedoms, to speak and demand and object, are the means by which citizens hold their government accountable. But the guiding principle, as Margaret Ng eloquently reminded on April 16, must be that the law must serve the people, not the people the law. Otherwise, it is the people who are accountable to the government. That challenge is the crux of Beijings fixation with Hong Kong. That competition of values will dominate the relationship between China and much of the rest of the world in the 21st century. Jimmy Lai and the other prisoners of conscience already in Hong Kong jails, and those being repressed and intimidated and weeded out as unpatriotic, represent that battle over freedom and accountability. Xi is a strongman acting from insecurity, fearful of accountability, mired in a dynamic where repression begets further repression. Biden on China and Russia: Joe Biden is right to be blunt with Russia and China, but wrong on what to do next China, facing daunting economic, environmental and demographic issues, needs international cooperation. Its repression of Hong Kong, abrogating its 1984 commitments, is already among the leading obstacles to the international engagement China needs, and currently believes it can have on its own terms. But the page of history is turning. Beijings behavior is rapidly becoming an obstacle to China taking the place Xi envisions for it on the world stage. Only a decade ago, Hong Kong proudly touted itself as Asias World City. Today, it is taking political prisoners, generating exiles and being drained of its reputation for political and economic freedom. A truly international city and center of finance cant crush the rule of law, and it cant hold political prisoners. James B. Cunningham is board chair of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong and former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Israel, the UN and ConsuI General in Hong Kong. You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong democratic protesters, and Beijing's oppression The 93rd Annual Academy Awards will air live on ABC Sunday night at 7 p.m. central, and several races are more wide open than you might think. It looks like best picture is down to Nomadland or The Trial of the Chicago 7, but could The Father or Minari shock the world with an upset victory? Well help you fill out your ballot and maybe win at your Oscar party with these predictions. If not, just tell us how wrong we were on Monday. ANIMATED SHORT Will win: Burrow. LIVE ACTION SHORT Will win: Two Distant Strangers. DOCUMENTARY SHORT Will win: Colette. SOUND Will win: Sound of Metal. The audio experience is a character onto itself in Darius Marders drama. Might win: Mank. David Finchers technical marvel will earn recognition somewhere, perhaps here? MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING Will win: Ma Raineys Black Bottom. Viola Davis gave a transformative performance, thanks in large part to the work of Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson. Might win: Hillbilly Elegy. They buried Glenn Close with an amazing character design. COSTUME DESIGN Will win: Ma Raineys Black Bottom. Everyone looks sharp during the fateful recording session. Might win: Mank. Recreating the golden age of Hollywood through the periods suites and dresses might prove irresistible to voters. PRODUCTION DESIGN Will win: Mank. If nothing else, this is a masterstroke that cannot be denied (further enhanced by the snubbed visual effects). Might win: Tenet. Christopher Nolan insists on building everything from scratch for his gargantuan set pieces, only to blow it all up. VISUAL EFFECTS Will win: Tenet. Nobody does blockbuster effects like Christopher Nolan, who upped the ante one more time in his time-shifting adventure. Might win: Mulan. Disneys live-action adaptation of the animated hit took a big risk releasing where others stood by. Will the Academy reward the effort? ORIGINAL SCORE Will win: Soul. Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste teamed up for the most memorable film music of 2020, mixing gorgeous jazz piano with Reznor and Ross standard synth brilliance. Might win: Mank. Reznor and Ross are winning either way. ORIGINAL SONG Will win: Fight for You from Judas and the Black Messiah. H.E.R. has earned a lot of fans lately, and voters might opt for a song and film that had so much to say. Might win: Husavik from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Or they could have a laugh and go with the track sung by Will Ferrell and Molly Sanden. FILM EDITING Will win: The Trial of the Chicago 7. Aaron Sorkins drama has a lot of ground to cover, frequently shifting from one moment in time to another. Might win: The Father. If it wins this category, watch out for Hopkins for best actor. CINEMATOGRAPHY Will win: Nomadland. Joshua James Richards stretches the canvas beautifully in Chloe Zhaos road movie. Might win: Mank. Erik Messerschmidts black and white photography is a knockout. INTERNATIONAL FEATURE Will win: Another Round. Thomas Vinterbergs widely liked dramedy runs away with this one. Might win: Quo Vadis, Aida?. Jasmila Zbanic's war drama has drawn more fans since it arrived on Hulu. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Will win: My Octopus Teacher. Academy voters cant resist a heartwarming animal flick. Might win: Collective. This doc about investigative journalists at a Romanian newspaper broke into the international feature category, so it has its fans in the Academy. ANIMATED FEATURE Will win: Soul. Pixar scores another Oscar in the surest bet of the night. Might win: Wolfwalkers is the closest thing it has to competition, but its a wrap. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Will win: Nomadland. Chloe Zhao will make a lot of history Sunday night. Might win: The Father. Christopher Hampton and Florian Zellers adaptation of Zellers own play has momentum at the right time. Could it be a bigger night than expected for the film? ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Will win: Promising Young Woman. Possibly Emerald Fennells best shot at a win. Might win: The Trial of the Chicago 7. Hes Aaron Sorkin, so he has a shot. SUPPORTING ACTRESS Will win: Youn Yuh-jung. The standout star of Minari has charmed the awards circuit for months now, but voters likely considered her performance charming enough. Might win: Glenn Close. This marks her eighth nomination, so she is due to win at some point, but for the polarizing Hillbilly Elegy? Not likely. SUPPORTING ACTOR Will win: Daniel Kaluuya. While up against his co-star Lakeith Stanfield, Kaluuya has won basically ever other award leading up to Sunday, so consider it all but in the bag. Might win: Paul Raci. The acting journeymans performance is tender and truthful, and he just picked up the Independent Spirit Award. ACTRESS Will win: Viola Davis. It seems down to Davis and Frances McDormand. Each would be a repeat winner (possibly a third for McDormand in the category). Were giving Davis the edge thanks to her SAG win. Might win: Carey Mulligan. Many thought she had the momentum early on in the race, but until her Indie Spirit win, Mulligan hadnt won a major award prior to Sunday. Theres still hope. ACTOR Will win: Chadwick Boseman. The late actors legacy will be honored with the first posthumously awarded acting Oscar since Heath Ledger in 2008. Might win: Anthony Hopkins. Many consider this Hopkins best work since his Oscar win for Silence of the Lambs back in 1991. This could be the nights big upset. DIRECTOR Will win: Chloe Zhao. The Chinese-born director is already one of the most decorated filmmakers in history after this awards run. She seems a lock in this category by now. Might win: Thomas Vinterberg. There is a lot of love out there for Another Round, reflected by his surprise nomination in this category. It would be an absolute shock, so were out on a limb with this one. PICTURE Will win: Nomadland. While set in the wake of the Great Recession, the grief and economic uncertainty facing its lead character rings true for many now, especially after what Americans have endured the last year. Beautifully shot and patiently paced with grace and humor, it clicks with seemingly everyone who watches it. Might win: The Trial of the Chicago 7. Sorkins look at the anti-Vietnam protestors reflects modern unrest that could inspire voters. ANN ARBOR, MI Family and friends of Nyesha Mercedes Robinson gathered at Ellsworth Park Saturday afternoon to remember her as a fighter and a woman of faith. Robinson, also known as Angel Mercedes Pritchard, died of injuries suffered in a triple stabbing that occurred in an Ann Arbor hotel on April 4. Robinson was one of three women stabbed in the incident. Woman critically injured in Ann Arbor hotel triple stabbing dies Thomas Robinson, Nyesha Robinsons father, said she always was reading and studying the bible. She went through struggles, Thomas Robinson said, but through those struggles, his daughter was always fighting and making progress. She would call me and say, Dad, Im going through this or that, and I would just console her the best way I could, Thomas Robinson said. For me to get a call that my daughter was involved in a triple stabbing was devastating because, even though you have your own struggles, you never put in the element that your daughter could get killed. Family and friends listened to speakers give prayers and read poems, as well as the song Deliver Me by LeAndria Johnson. Alicia Ortiz, Nyesha Robinsons second cousin, chose that song and was there when Nyesha Robinson was born. She remembers Nyesha as vibrant and full of life with a contagious laugh, and someone who was always protective of her family. We love her, we miss her, were all sad and this was a tragic loss, Ortiz said. The group also held a balloon launch, where they let go of 27 purple and blue balloons 27 for how old she was when she died, and purple and blue because those were her favorite colors, Ortiz said. Henry Brown is Thomas Robinsons best friend and was Nyesha Robinsons godfather. Nyesha had a tremendous amount of love and was a good kid, he said, and reiterated that Nyesha would reach out to her dad to let him know what was going on in her life, even if it wasnt positive. Nyesha and Thomas Robinson had conversations about her trying to make a change, Thomas Robinson said, and at just 27 years old, she had the time in her life to make those changes. Theres no perfection in a human being, Thomas Robinson said. Thats all I could tell her theres nobody perfect. Youre going to make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes, make a turnabout and come back better, and thats what she was working on. Nyesha Robinsons alleged attacker, Madron Aldonijah Austin, 47, was charged Monday, April 5 with two felony counts of assault with intent to murder, one felony count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and one felony count of armed robbery. An autopsy was performed on Robinson Monday, April 12. Its findings will be sent to the Washtenaw County Prosecutors Office for potential additional charges against Austin. Austin was arrested the day of the attack at a home of an acquaintance in Ypsilanti Township, according to police. Family hope that the person responsible for Nyesha Robinsons death gets justice, and I hope he pays for it, Ortiz said. Nyesha Robinson is survived by both her parents and five sisters, Britley Holmes, Alexandria Lashelle Danzy, Latajha Robinson, Remembrence Gittens and Tamara Tillman; sons Keith Michael Robinson and Jafarri Robinson; uncles Robert E. Smith and Kito M. Smith; and grandmother Diane Holmes. READ MORE: Man with knife detained by police after brief standoff in Calhoun County Unlock Michigan petition effort was sleazy, but not illegal, AG says Oh deer! Police officer helps free young buck stuck on fence along U.S. 23 The Lake Merced Fair that Could Have Been by Woody LaBounty (Adapted from article published in Outside Lands magazine, Jan-Mar 2015, and is put online with support from the Schwemm Family Foundation.) In 1915, San Francisco celebrated the centennial of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE), the fair that remade a swampy area called Harbor View into a wonderland of exhibit halls, courts, plazas, technology showcases, a Joy Zone, and a Tower of Jewels centerpiece. All that remains of the PPIE in todays Marina District (other than Marina Green) is Bernard Maybecks haunting Palace of Fine Arts, an imagined ancient ruin of domed temple and colonnade beside a tranquil lagoon. With full-figured reliefs of mournful weeping women atop ochre columns, the whole landscape is a Maxfield Parrish painting come to life. Built to resemble something from antiquity, the Palace feels eternal, like it has always been where it is, but if west side boosters had had their way, the fair, with its dazzling attractions and architecture, could have been on the shores of Lake Merced. After San Francisco beat out New Orleans and won a Congressional vote to host the 1915 Exposition, organizers faced an intra-city battle on where to put it. The San Francisco Chronicle described the problem on March 5, 1911: There is hardly a section of San Francisco that has not many to do it reverence in asserting it to be the logical and only defensible place in which the exposition should be established. Harbor View, Lake Merced, Golden Gate Park, the waterfront around the Ferry Building and the Bay View District all had supporters. In making a decision, the fairs Board of Directors had to weigh land title issues, weather, topography and natural beauty, as well as the political clout of boosters. Our friend Ron Ross has been kind enough to share a proposed site plan prepared by the Lake Merced Fair Site Association. The creation and opening of the Panama Canal was a primary inspiration for the fair, and engineer J. E. Popes plan for Merced Park has a number of references to the ocean-connecting waterway. The expositions midway in the upper right is nicknamed The Canal, and where the San Francisco Zoo would eventually reside, a Venetian-themed zone features a Panama Canal in miniature. Grand courts, plazas, and fountains are situated where the Merced Manor and Lakeshore developments would be built south of Sloat Boulevard. One wonders if the proposed Tropical Orchard in the southwest corner of the plan may have struggled with the areas fog. By the time President Taft came out to perform the groundbreaking in October 1911, a whole city compromise had been reached, spreading the fair from Telegraph Hill to Golden Gate Park, but excluding Lake Merced. (In the end, the whole city ended up only being the Marina.) So, when the president pushed his spade into the sandy loam of Golden Gate Parks Polo Fields he might as well have been digging the grave of the Merced Park Fair. Why didnt Lake Merced win? Grading and landscaping on such a large site would have been costly. Transportation was a key factor as well. Thousands visit world fairs, but most are local, and at the time, few lived near Lake Merced. Getting everyone out to the southwest section of the city would have required the proposed Twin Peaks streetcar tunnel to be finished quickly. The tunnel was a very expensive project and didnt end up opening until 1918. If the PPIE had come to Lake Merced there is no surety wed have something like Maybecks masterpiece still standing there, or that wed have anything left at all. The fair architecture was meant to be temporary, and outside of the Palace of Fine Arts and Marina Green, the entire wonderful fair of 1915 has been replaced by apartment buildings, houses, and flats. Still, as it must have been for the Lake Merced boosters a hundred years ago, its fun to imagine the glorious fair around the lake that could have been. Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places. Shammi Kapoor had first met actress Geeta Bali during the shooting of Miss Coca Cola (1955), directed by Kedar Kapoor. It was a musical whodunit where Geeta Bali played a nightclub dancer called Miss Coca Cola, and Shammi played a rich young man who helps her clear her fathers name.He was initially said to be tongue-tied in her presence as Geeta Bali was a star and Shammi hadnt found his footing yet. She had a warm and generous personality in any case and was known to put people at ease. The two Punjabis seemed to have hit it off soon and became friends. Three years ago, he had almost married an Egyptian belly dancer called Nadia Gamal. The duo had met in Colombo and sparks flew. But things didnt work out as she wanted him to come and settle in Cairo. Also, she was reportedly only 17 then. Things certainly would have been different if he had followed his heart.Geeta helped Shammi get over Nadia. He was reportedly so smitten by his co-star that he began to request her songs on the radio. They met again on the sets of Rangeen Raten which was released in 1956.The film was directed by Kidar Sharma, the mentor of Shammis elder brother Raj Kapoor. It starred Chand Usmani and Mala Sinha besides Geeta Bali and has Geeta Bali dressing up as a guy for a scene. There was nothing substantial for her to do in the film and some say she took it up just to be in his company again. Kidar Sharma was a strict disciplinarian but somehow, their romance blossomed even under his watchful eyes. Perhaps the picturesque locales of Ranikhet, where a large portion of the film was shot, are to be blamed. By the time they came to Mumbai, they were reportedly madly in love.Shammi Kapoor had sworn to marry Geeta. But he knew very well that it would not be so easy. Geeta Bali was not only older than him by a year but she had also acted with his elder brother Raj Kapoor in Bawre Nain (1950) and also with his father Prithviraj Kapoor in Anand Math (1952).Thus she was considered a senior heroine and it would have been a breach of protocol for him to have married her. It was evident that the Kapoor family wouldnt give them consent to be married so easily. Nevertheless, he used to propose to her on the phone every day after coming to Mumbai but she kept saying no as she had family responsibilities. But one day, to his delight, she said yes. But her condition was that they should be married right away.Shammi contacted Johnny Walker, who had recently married Shaikilas sister Noor despite facing opposition. Johnny told his friend to follow his heart and get married to Geeta pronto. Buoyed by his pep talk, Shammi decided to immediately take the plunge. Johnny Walker suggested that they can go to a temple and get married by a priest. Shammi reportedly collected Geeta from a studio and along with Johnny Walker and another friend Hari Walia, landed up at a temple at Mumbais Banganga. Alas, they had arrived too late, as it was the closing time at the temple. The priest, however, assured them that hell definitely marry them in the morning. Shammi was allegedly so afraid that Geeta would change her mind if she went home that he requested her to wait for the morning at a friends place. The couple, along with Johnny Walker and Walia, chatted away the night and landed up at four am in the same crumpled clothes they were wearing.It would have been one of the strangest of sights for the priest to see two film stars in such a condition but he kept his promise and got them duly married. While Johnny Walker arranged for two garlands reportedly from a nearby flower shop, they all had forgotten to bring sindoor in their hurry. When the priest asked Shammi to apply sindoor to her, he was at a loss. Geeta solved the problem by bringing out a lipstick from her clutch and telling him to use that instead.The Kapoor family, which was said to be out of the station at the time, was initially taken aback but later organised a reception for the newlyweds. Geeta proved to be lucky for Shammi. His career soared after marriage. The blockbuster success of Nasir Hussain's Tumsa Nahi Dekha, which came out in 1957, changed the course of Shammi's career. He came to be known as the rebel star, challenging the authority of Dilip-Raj-Dev, the ruling troika of the industry.They had a son, Aditya Raj Kapoor, in 1956, a year after they were married. Five years later, in 1961, they had a daughter, Kanchan. Their happiness was however short-lived. Geeta Bali died from smallpox in 1965. Shammi was shooting outdoors for Teesri Manzil and rushed back when he heard her condition was serious. Doctors werent able to save her. He later married Niela Devi, who belonged to the former royal family of Bhavnagar, in 1969. She shot to fame on Married At First Sight back in 2019. But now Martha Kalifatidis has reached official style icon status - at least according to her network, Channel Nine, she has. During a Today Extra segment on Saturday, a reporter from the show branded the 32-year-old 'an Insta style icon'. She's made it! Reality star Martha Kalifatidis has reached official style icon status - at least according to her network, Channel Nine, she has Martha was being interviewed to promote her new collaboration with Myer for the department store's new denim campaign. Despite her newly-minted status as a social media style icon, Today Extra hosts David Campbell and Belinda Russell admitted that they had no idea how to pronounce her Greek surname. 'Martha Ka-, how do we pronounce her surname?' a puzzled Belinda asked as she tried to introduce the segment. Iconic: During a Today Extra segment on Saturday, a reporter from the show branded the 32-year-old influencer 'an Insta style icon' 'Just Martha,' shrugged David as he concealed a wry smile before chuckling to himself. The former Married At First Sight bride is currently busy promoting her new gig with Myer. And last week, the pint-sized Instagram model shared the secret to finding the perfect pair of jeans with news.com.au. Who? Despite her status as a style icon, Today Extra hosts David Campbell and Belinda Russell admitted that they had no idea how to pronounce her Greek surname 'Everyone has something they love about their body,' the 32-year-old told the publication. 'Find what you want to highlight whether it's your petite ankle, narrow waist, long legs, or an hourglass silhouette and choose the jeans that will illuminate it. 'Once you do find the right pair of jeans you have instantly been transformed,' she added. 'You are now the most confident, cutest, stylish version of yourself that can take on anything.' A man who was arrested on cocaine charges in North Carolina has appeared in his mugshot with a suspicious white powder under his nose. Jamichael Walton, 30, appeared in the police snap when he was arrested last week in Lenoir, just outside of Charlotte. Police had responded to a call about property damage. When officers arrived Walton refused to go easily and fled on foot, sending officers on a chase, according to police documents. Jamichael Walton, 30, was arrested last week after police responded to a call about property damage in Lenoir When police apprehended Walton he continued to resist, 'pulling away and kicking' officers, a Lenoir Police Department report obtained by The Smoking Gun said. Walton also allegedly threatened to kill the mother of his brother's child, telling her 'I'll come back and kill you, or my cousin will roll thru and kill you.' Once placed in the squad car Walton turned his rage on police officers, threatening to shoot them. 'When I get out, I'm going to shoot up this car and all y'all,' Walton said. Walton was taken into custody and charged with felony possession of cocaine, according to charging documents. Police did not say whether the white powder on Walton's face was in fact cocaine, or another substance. Police say Jamichael Walton threatened the mother of his brother's child telling her 'I'll come back and kill you, or my cousin will roll thru and kill you' Walton is also involved in two pending cases for marijuana possession and a case of reckless driving and driving with a revoked license due to an earlier conviction for impaired driving, The Smoking Gun reports. Walton is due to appear in court on May 5. Help India! Human rights defender and environmental activist Hidme Markam has been in jail for over 40 days now. She was arrested on March 9 by police and paramilitary forces from Dantewadas Sameli village in Chhattisgarh. She was attending a programme to remember and mourn the rapes and murders of Adivasi women. TCN Staff Reporter Support TwoCircles Over a thousand activists, academics, journalists, filmmakers and concerned citizens from across the globe have petitioned Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel demanding the release of Adivasi human rights defender and environmental activist Hidme Markam and take pro-active steps to end the cycle of repression against Adivasis in Chhattisgarh. Condemning Hidmes arrest as entirely wrongful, the signatories of the letter called upon the Chief Minister to immediately, Free Hidme Markam and drop all charges against her, including UAPA, and Stop clamp down on environmental, Adivasi and other human rights activists as well as Adivasi villagers in Chhattisgarh, especially women in the garb of combating Naxalism. The letter is signed by Adivasi rights activists like Elina Horo, Lingram Kodopi, Aloka Kujur, groups like Adivasi Ekta Manch, Adani Watch National Alliance for Peoples Movement, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties, Stop Adani and Saheli, and, feminist activists such as Aruna Roy, Meera Sanghamitra and Syeda Hamid. Hidme Markam, who is in jail for over 40 days now, was arrested on March 9 by police and paramilitary forces from Dantewadas Sameli village in Chhattisgarh. She was attending a programme to remember and mourn the rapes and murders of Adivasi women. The signatories stressed that inquiry be conducted into all instances of sexual and state violence in the state. The signatories demanded that the Chhattisgarh government should halt all potentially destructive projects that displace Adivasis and jeopardizes the environment and dialogue with the Adivasi communities, and urged the government to disband questionable schemes like Lon Varatu and unconstitutional entities like the District Reserve Guards Force (DRGF). The signatories urged the Chief Minister to institute an independent and high-level inquiry into the sexual violence and alleged suicide of Kawasi Pande, the rape and death of Nande, the rape and murder of Bheeme Mandawi and other young women who have been sexually assaulted by the police. Put an immediate end to the sexual violence being rampantly inflicted by the police and security forces on the women of Bastar, the signatories demanded. Arrest of Hidme Markam On March 9, 2021, Hidme Markam, a committed environmental activist from the Adivasi community, working in the Nandraj Pahad anti-mining movement was openly abducted by the Dantewada Police (and later shown as arrested) when she was attending a programme commemorating the International Womens Day in Sameli, Bastar, the letter states. The letter says that several women had gathered peacefully to remember and mourn the rapes and murders of Adivasi women at the hands of the State. But ironically, that day became witness to another incident of state high-handedness, it says. The letter states that Hidme Markam along with other Adivasis, organized as the Nandraj Pahad Bachao Andolan, has been resisting the mining of a sacred indigenous hill by corporations like Adani Pvt Ltd. She has also been organizing against the Bailadila Mine Deposit project that would result in grave ecological damage in the region, especially on the local forest, land and water bodies. As a member of the Chhattisgarh Mahila Adhikar Manch, Hidme has been present in numerous public spaces and meetings in Chhattisgarh, asserting the rights of Adivasi women, especially against displacement and state repression, the letter said. Her arrest is just the latest in the chain of the State hounding Adivasi women activists who are fighting for constitutional and human rights, it said. The violence of ill-thought and arbitrary development projects have haunted the Adivasi state of Chhattisgarh and Central-Eastern India for decades. The wide-scale displacement and environmental devastation caused by these projects remain unaccounted for, and they multiply constantly, to cater largely to corporate profits, the letter says. The local communities who have peacefully existed there for decades, not only depend on these forests and mountains for their sustenance but also sustain them, have been violently crushed to build mines and industries. But they continue to resist, and democratically fight for their rights, the letter maintains. PHILIPSBURG:--- A young boy is badly injured and currently at the St. Maarten Medical Center taking medical treatment after he was run over by a scooter in St. Peters in the vicinity of the ballpark. Police Spokesman Joe Josepha said that the young lad is in critical condition. Police also arrested the scooter rider who is also wanted by police. Boy in critical condition after being hit by a motorcycle rider. A little boy is in critical condition at St. Maarten Medical Center after he was hit by a motorcycle rider on St. Peters Road on Friday, April 23, around 1:00 pm. The preliminary investigation shows that the minor was attempting to cross the road when he was struck by a motorcyclist who was riding at such a high speed that he could not stop in time to avoid the child. The minor sustained injuries to his head and body from the hit. He was rushed to the St. Maarten Medical Center by ambulance. The motorcyclist was arrested at the scene and taken to the Philipsburg Police Station where he remains for questioning. Police have found that the motorcyclist also has an outstanding arrest warrant for a previous unrelated offense. The Police Force of St. Maarten KPSM continues to warn motorcycle and scooter riders about their reckless behavior in traffic, especially during the school hours. KPSM Press Release. Natasha Mikulich, the outreach librarian at the Trenton Free Public Library, was on a Zoom call a few weeks ago with some community partners when someone from another organization, The Father Center of New Jersey, mentioned the mayor of Secaucus having a load of donated designer clothes. So I was fortunate enough to drive up and get a carful of them, Mikulich said Thursday at the Trenton library. So why would a librarian be interested in boxes of Ralph Lauren slacks and shirts? Mikulich works on Trentons chapter of Fresh Start @ Your Library, which aids those returning to society from prison. Marla Pilier, left, accepts literature from Natasha Mikulich, outreach librarian at the Trenton Free Public Library on April 22, 2021. In the background is J. Jondhi Harrell of Fresh Start @ Your Library. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Libraries have long been more than just books, and at six locations across New Jersey, libraries are now a nearly one-stop shop for the formerly incarcerated. The Fresh Start program offers an assortment of resources, from job training and housing assistance to connections to social workers. The grant that funds it allots 50 people at each location to take the GED exam. The Ralph Lauren duds were laid out Thursday so anyone interested could peruse them and assemble a work outfit. Marla Pilier picked up some clothes for her boyfriend, who works two jobs. He always needs a pair of slacks, she said. The hope is that when folks are home from prison looking for a job they have the attire necessary to go out in the world and be presentable as they work, said J. Jondhi Harrell, who coordinates the program for the New Jersey State Library, and who was on hand in Trenton. Its a wonderful opportunity, said Harrell, a former inmate who founded The Center for Returning Citizens in Philadelphia. Abdul J. Muhammad, right, coordinator of Trenton Violence Reduction picks up free designer Ralph Lauren clothing for people in his organization from Natasha Mikulich, of the Trenton Free Public Library in April 22, 2021.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The Fresh Start program started at a library in Long Branch in 2009, and in late 2019, the state library was awarded a grant to expand the program to libraries in Newark, Paterson, Trenton, Atlantic City and Bridgeton, until the end of August this year. Abdul Muhammad, who works with former offenders at Reducing Trenton Violence, did some shopping for the men he works with. Nice work clothes are often not on an ex-offenders budget, he said. He knows. He was once in prison, and has been home now for 18 years. He never found such a program when he got out, he said. Anything to remove an obstacle from someone fresh out of prison will help them from re-offending and improve their transition. I think its that we have these particular programs in the city to help our men and women, our returning citizens, transitioning back into the community, Muhammad said. Its a breath of fresh air. So back to the clothes, from the mayor of Secaucus. Its about the most Jersey part of their journey to the state capital. Mayor Michael Gonnelli said he has connections with businesses ranging from J. Crew to Walmart, and often donates to organizations. He declined to elaborate, saying he did not want the conduits to dry up. In 2015, the connections led to the opening a thrift store in Secaucus in donated space that grew out of Superstorm Sandy relief and does not accept payments. (Its still helping people through the coronavirus pandemic.) Gonnelli slyly said he and Secaucus are just happy to help. We donate clothes often, was all he wanted to say, clearly smiling through the phone. J. Jondhi Harrell of Fresh Start @ Your Library at the Trenton Free Public Library on Academy Street in Trenton on April 22, 2021.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. 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. SPRINGFIELD The Illinois House of Representatives approved legislation to enact term limits for top leadership posts in the House and Senate. The bipartisan term limit legislation passed unanimously and was co-sponsored by State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Fosterburg. Its about time the legislature adopt leadership term limits, Elik said. If this bill was the law back in 1970, then Mike Madigan would not have been House Speaker for as long as he served. Leadership term limits will ensure fresh leadership in the legislature and should prove positive for the people of Illinois. Shirt and trousers, By Committtee. Bikini top, Asceno But, dating again after her divorce, self-confessed prude ROSIE GREEN decided it was time to find out. And, as our candid new columnist, shell be sharing all her discoveries every week 'Green, laughs my friend B, choking on her rose. Im not sure youre qualified to write about sex. Ive slept with more people on one holiday than you have in your entire lifetime. Its true, Im the worlds least likely sex columnist. If the planet was reliant on me to sow oats, there would undoubtedly be a porridge famine. Why? Well, until my marriage broke up two years ago, I spent 26 years in a monogamous relationship. Right up until the age of 44, my sexual experience (apart from some forgettable teenage fumbles) was pretty much limited to one man. Which, given we are living in a time where sex is omnipresent, feels retrograde. And a bit, well, embarrassing. I had my first kiss at 14 (at an inauspicious social club with Erasure playing in the background). Then I acquired a serious boyfriend at 16 which resulted in some gratifying teenage experimentation. And then I fell for the sailing instructor on an American summer camp. (His sailor look, so alluring on Cape Cod, did not translate to the UK and I felt the flames of desire extinguish upon seeing his seersucker at Heathrow arrivals.) I had sex with him anyway. It was OK. (When we broke up he cut off his hair and posted me all his curls in a shoe box.) Then, at 18, I met my husband at university. We borrowed each others highlighter pens and hung around each others halls of residence rooms. We fell in love, we had sex. And it was good. Uncomplicated by anxieties. We worked out the sexual shorthand to achieve satisfaction. I laughed with my girlfriends that sex was like going to the gym you sometimes had to make yourself do it, but you were always glad you did. Once I started working in an office, I would tell my friends in the kitchen that a night where I had washed my hair and had sex made me feel like I was winning. Which is probably not how you should think about sex. But its the reality for lots of us. So why am I telling you all this? Because when my marriage ended I suddenly found myself with the very real prospect of having sex with someone new. The break-up with my husband was not something I planned for. Not something I wanted. I was blindsided by his decision and behaviour. In the dying throes of our relationship the tables turned and I, for the first time, craved really craved the intimacy and connection sex gives. He declined. Which made me feel next-level sh**. I felt like no one would ever want me again. It also made me reflect that perhaps my reluctance over the years might have left him feeling the same way. I had to admit that, thanks to children and tiredness and a degree of body anxiety, I slowly shut down erogenous zones. Sealing them off, like aristocrats do with rooms of a stately home they dont have the time or energy to keep open. But here I was, in my mid-40s, faced with a decision: I could either remain celibate for ever, destined to live out my days surrounded by cats and daytime TV. Or I was going to enter into a new relationship. And have sex with someone new. At first the thought was horrifying. Getting naked in front of an almost stranger? Exposing myself literally and emotionally? Would men be put off by my un-notched bedpost? I mean, had I even been doing things right? I had no way of knowing. I have never even seen porn (unless you count the Porkys films). I had also never been on a date (unless you count going to the cinema to see Mannequin in 1987 with Chris Molloy and, er, three of my mates). But after a year of singledom I started going on some. And after a few duds, I went on some where I actually fancied the man in front of me. And the post-dinner kisses fired up a desire that had been dormant for so long. Now sex had become a real prospect. Which was thrilling and terrifying. Thrilling because, well sex is, right? Terrifying because I felt so inexperienced. (Though I would like to point out that 26 years of regular sex did, in a way, make me very experienced.) And then some dates turned into longer relationships and eventually I had sex. What was it like the first time? asked all of my friends. Contrary to my worries it was very pleasant. More than pleasant. Great. Any worries about my body were dissolved by a few glasses of decent wine. The strangeness was reserved for the mornings, seeing unfamiliar shoulders in the bed, hearing unfamiliar breathing. But Id done it. I had overcome the obstacle of sex with someone who wasnt him. And then, after that relationship fizzled out, I went on a string of fun dates. On one of these I met my boyfriend (aka The Viking so named for his Scandi heritage, not because, as he says, hes big and horny) and he said, What do you like in bed? Calmly, without sniggering. Or embarrassment. He really wanted to know. In the same way he was interested in my food and wine preferences. I was floored. The truth was I didnt really know what I liked. How could I have got to 46 without really knowing what I liked? Did I have any sexual fantasies? Truth? Not really. I wasnt just vanilla, I was flavourless. A bit of history: Ive always been a bit of a prude. Why? Societal conditioning. To me sex was private, done in the bedroom, in semi-darkness, with minimal fuss and discussion. Oh yes, I laughed with my girlfriends about penis beakers (google it, its not as rude as it sounds) and bush maintenance (what are the 2021 expectations for down-there hair?), but talking about sex with the person I was having intercourse with? Nope. Which is funny, because Im relentlessly open about the things others would keep quiet about. I confess to having a car thats essentially a skip on wheels. I own up to the fact Im often looking for my phone while holding my phone. But sex? Sex was taboo. Being openly desirous of it was what the girls who were desperate for attention did. It was what the girls who couldnt get boyfriends did. When I was growing up, a sexual appetite was a sign of weakness and wantonness. To be the school bike was the ultimate slur. Slag, slut they were the worst insults you could throw at a girl. If you were girlfriend material, the one the boys wanted to love rather than discard like soiled goods after a few fumbles, then you needed to withhold sex. Be the gatekeeper of your vagina. Dangle it like a carrot, not give yourself until you had extracted some kind of commitment in exchange. Because all these thoughts lurk in many of our minds, a great deal of guilt and shame exists around our desire, with many women pushing it so deep down they cant really let themselves go, cant really enjoy it. And isnt that a tragedy? Its one of lifes main pleasures. If not the main pleasure. But, like with food, many of us have over-thought the enjoyment out of it. Clinical psychologist Dr Karen Gurney, who specialises in therapy around sexual wellbeing and is the author of Mind The Gap: The Truth About Desire And How To Futureproof Your Sex Life, says: I write a lot about how women are socialised not to be assertive, to put others needs above their own, and that also translates to sex. We are conditioned not to be overly sexual or sexually confident. Cardigan, BA&SH. Bikini top, Asceno. Shorts, White Company. Stylist: Nicola Rose. Make-up: Caroline Barnes at Frank Agency. Hair: Ben Cooke at Frank Agency. Hair colour: Nicola Clarke. fake Tan: Amanda Harrington London Weirdly, though, Western society has consistently sent us the message that while being sexually free is dangerous, to be sexually desirable is good. To wit as a (fairly) innocent teenager I was happy to make myself look as hot as hell. I went clubbing in hot pants which consisted of less material than your average J Cloth, and paired them with a net mesh top and a Wonderbra. I noticed a similar contradiction when I worked with Britney Spears on a photo shoot once (pre-meltdown). She talked like a God-fearing, True Love Waits kind of girl, peppering her conversation with gosh and oh Lord, yet wanted to strip off naked save for a tiny pair of silk knickers and some black gloves at the first opportunity. Hmm. But back to the end of my marriage and the beginning of my sexual odyssey. What did I want from a sexual relationship? How was I to find out? How could I start talking about it, communicate my desires and boundaries? How could I find the words to say what I wanted, and overcome shyness and shame? Its not like the men I have slept with have made me feel this way. In fact, the opposite. All of them wanted me to communicate more. I was the one putting up barriers. I realised I needed to come out of my comfort zone. The end of my marriage had forced me to do this in so many areas of my life, but this felt like the biggest. I could also see that there was potential for a whole new world of pleasure if I was brave enough to seize it. A chance to get in tune with my body and sexuality. However, this would involve talking about it, thinking about it and evolving from that 18-year-old who found it all a bit cringe. Ive noticed that women around me want to, er, open up about sex too. But where do we go to learn about it? To discover how we make it fulfilling and how to maximise enjoyment for ourselves and our partners? How do we share stories and experiences? For me, for years, the options seemed to consist of a) kaftan-wearing, free love sexperts (think Roz from Meet The Fockers) or b) slightly smutty, titillating advice columns that vibed rubber basques and pampas grass. Neither of which was particularly appealing. But now, and serendipitously for me, and you, the conversation around sex is opening up. Cool, sophisticated women are talking about it without shame or embarrassment. Just like we talk about mental health, the menopause and the career/childcare juggle. I recently watched Gwyneth Paltrow chic, classy Gwyneth on the Netflix docuseries The Goop Lab. She appeared in an episode called The Pleasure is Ours which focused on female orgasm. Its compulsive viewing. Especially the bit where Gwyneth reveals even she isnt 100 per cent confident about sex or her appearance. I know! Then I saw that Goop had brought out a vibrator. Which looks aesthetically pleasing and non-scary. And I noticed a glossy, aspirational lifestyle magazine dedicated a whole page to a selection on the best ones. Suddenly female masturbation is an open topic of conversation. Which can only be a good thing. So I want my new column to be a place of sexual discovery, to enlighten and inform. A place to laugh about the realities (does sex in front of a pet constitute animal abuse?), the fantasies and the fundamentals of female pleasure. Speaking of which, a (46-year-old) friend of mine rang me recently. Once wed moved past the pleasantries, she said, apropos of nothing, I have something to tell you. Ive got my first vibrator. I havent left my bedroom for three days. Welcome all latecomers See here for Rosies debut column Biden Walks the Walk on Climate Change While China Talks the Talk Commentary President Joe Biden organized his two-day virtual climate summit to start on the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement and end on Earth Day, so as to reassert U.S. leadership in the fight to halt so-called climate change. However, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News, The decision for the United States to reenter the Paris Climate accord and then the announcement that the president made today [to reduce U.S. CO2 emissions by 50 percent by 2050] is an enormous gift to the Chinese Communist Party and a real threat to the United States of America. According to Statista, China has far more capacity from installed coal power plants than other nations, at 1,041.9 gigawatts, followed by the United States at 233.6, India, 229.2, and Russia with 44.8. In 2020, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists USA, China was producing 28 percent of CO2 emissions, the United States 15 percent, while the UK and other European nations, apart from Germany, each produced around 1 percent. By law, Germany is committed to shutting down all its nuclear power stations by 2022; it currently accounts for 2 percent of global CO2 emissions. China has 1,058 coal plants, yet its Paris pledge was to only start reducing its emissions beginning in 2030. In the meantime, it aims to add to its number of coal-fired plants substantially, with new plants already under construction capable of producing 97.8 gigawatts, and others yielding a further 151.8 gigawatts at the planning stage, totaling almost 250 gigawatts. Then add to that the numerous coal plants that China is helping to construct elsewhere in the world, plus any more it manages to build domestically in addition to those already planned, by the time its pledge is due to start. Just those known new builds are more than the United States entire current coal power capacity, which is around 234 gigawatts and dropping fast; the EUs capacity in 2020 was 143 gigawatts and is set to fall to 60 gigawatts by 2030. Strangely, those who passionately believe that the kind of air they breathe out every day and plants breathe in is now the biggest danger facing the world dont seem to have a problem with CO2 levels rising exponentially in China. As things stand, the sacrifices that the populations of the countries that have signed the Paris Agreement will have to make, from a net emissions perspective, will be meaninglessother than to take the hit and attempt to offset Chinas phenomenal and dirty growth until its 2030 promise. Rather than accept this gloomy prediction, the huge climate-change lobby believes its possible to change China sooner. One of those adherents is British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Having legally committed the UK to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, he hopes his example will influence other nations to follow suit. Hes also including climate change reduction in trade deals. Seeing America now reverse its skeptical climate policy under President Donald Trump seems to validate that view. Even before Bidens inauguration, Johnson said, I think now with President Biden in the White House in Washington, we have the real prospect of American global leadership in tackling climate change. While Johnson leads the Conservative Party, he has more in common with Americas Democrats, which explains the speed with which he rushed to congratulate Biden for winning the election before key states had finished counting, and despite mounting legal challenges. His former finance minister, Sajiv Javid was more blunt and dismissed Trumps election-result legal challenges: The behavior of the U.S. president is frankly adolescent. Yet the change in Americas climate policy only came about because of a controversial election resultcertainly not because of Johnsons bargaining. Indeed, his attempts at climate hardballing seem to have blocked the all-important, post-Brexit U.S.UK trade deal with the otherwise anglophile Trump administration. And he has stuck to the same formula in his negotiations with the new Biden administration. He told reporters, Those measures can not only reduce your CO2 emissions and enable us to get to net-zero by 2050, but theyre also capable of really moving the economy forward. So we look forward to talking about that issue with the White House. Yet the signals from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are still not looking hopeful for an imminent bilateral trade deal, this time due to Northern Ireland. Soon after the U.S. election was called, a reporter asked the president-elect if he would be willing to say a few words to the BBC, which he did: The BBC? Im Irish. "A quick word for the BBC?" "The BBC? I'm Irish." https://t.co/GtJ5It4KE0 Nick Bryant (@NickBryantNY) November 7, 2020 Bidens blatant snub of the UKs national broadcaster led Nigel Farage to ruefully comment, The Conservatives had four years to do a trade deal with the USA and pro-UK President, and they failed. There is no chance now. Nevertheless, buoyed on by the outcome of the U.S. election, China is now the next big hope for the global climate change lobby. But it doesnt do elections, or get too worried about trade battles, and for all the encouraging speeches its delegation gave at the Biden climate change summit, these are still only words. Just how virtual was it? Andrew Davies is a UK-based video producer and writer. His award-winning video on underage sex abuse helped Barnardos childrens charity change UK law, while his documentary Batons, Bows and Bruises: A History of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, ran for six years on the Sky Arts Channel. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. EV The number they quote would be the EPA rating for a Tesla model of choice, and as we all know, that figure is usually higher than anything on the market. For instance, the Tesla Model 3 Long Range has an official maximum range of 353 miles (568 km), which is way beyond the reach of anything in its segment.However, several real-world tests have proven that the procedure used by the EPA to come with these numbers has nothing to do with what happens on actual roads. The most recent example is Edmunds ' massiverange test that revealed how most of the models from other manufacturers exceeded their EPA ratings, while no Tesla managed to meet theirs.Now, French publication LAutomobile put the new Volkswagen ID.4 1st electric crossover through its EV range testing procedure, yielding the kind of results that probably caused several parties throughout Wolfsburg. According to the magazine, the ID.3's bigger brother was able to break the publication's highway range record with a distance of 211 miles (340 km).It may not sound too impressive, but it's actually 12 miles (~20 km) better than what the Model 3 Long Range did, and these two aren't even direct competitorsthat would be the Model Y. However, with Tesla's crossover unavailable in Europe for the time being, the sedan will have to take its place and accept the beating on its behalf.It's not just the highway where the autonomy of the Long Range proved not to be so long. Out on regular roads, the French found out the Model 3 will cover a distance of 244 miles (393 km), while in the city, it will empty its battery after 276 miles (445 km). Meanwhile, the ID.4 did 241 miles (388 km) and 288 miles (464 km), respectively.Despite these results, however, don't feel too bad for any Tesla fan because they still have a few comebacks whenever the weaknesses of their favorite cars are pointed out. "Yeah, but how quick is it to 60 mph?" would be one, but also, "Yeah, but does it have a Supercharger network?"all valid points at the moment, especially in the U.S. Some might even go as far as to bring the Autopilot into the discussion, but you can ignore those. New York, April 24 : US President Joe Biden's administration is "working closely" with Indian officials to find ways to help the country facing its worst Covid-19 surge, according to his spokesperson Jen Psaki. However, neither she nor other officials would say on Friday if the US would lift the embargo on exporting vaccine raw materials, which India has requested, or share the unused stockpile of AstraZeneca vaccines. "We are working closely with Indian officials at both political and experts' level to identify ways to help address the crisis," she said on Friday. "There are ongoing discussions," she said at "a range of levels about how we can help get through this period". While sidestepping the questions of providing vaccines or raw materials for it, Psaki spoke of the assistance the US had provided for the pandemic and for other health programmes. She said: "From the earliest stages of the pandemic, we've provided India with emergency relief supplies, medical consumables, pandemic training for Indian state and local health officials, and ventilators." Psaki claimed that the US has also given $1.4 billion in health assistance to help it "prepare for pandemics in the future and deal with the current one we're facing". The $1.4 billion cited by her was the total US aid for health programmes in India over a 20-year period according to USAID, the agency that channels international assistance. Only $5.9 million was given directly for dealing the Covid-19 pandemic, and it was last year by former President Donald Trump. At the State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Jalina Porter, who was also asked about the ban on vaccine raw materials export, avoided a direct answer. Instead, she said, "We have continued to work closely with India to facilitate the movement of essential supplies and also address the bottlenecks of their supply chains. But we'll also continue to collaborate with our partners in India to battle this at the highest level." She added, "We remain deeply engaged with India at all levels as we work to combat this crisis of the pandemic together." At another briefing, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients was asked if the US would share with India the AstraZeneca vaccines that it has stockpiled but has not yet approved to use in the US. He did not directly answer it; instead he said, "We have a longstanding commitment to India's public " and added that the US was "working closely with them in the Covid-19 response". The AstraZeneca vaccine that was developed by Oxford University is approved for use by the World Health Organization and in India under the brand name Covishield. Zients also asserted that "the Quad partnership and team is providing assistance across government to the country". The Quad made up of India, the US, Australia and Japan has in fact agreed on a joint programme for the US and Japan to finance the manufacture of one billion of Covid-19 vaccine by India, which are to be distributed with Australian logistics. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis) Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer The man accused of gunning down another man before being shot and killed by San Antonio police Tuesday was identified as 36-year-old Brian Deleon, the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office said Saturday. Bobby Borrego, 49, was in his backyard shed of his South Side home when Deleon drove up to the home Tuesday, police said. Deleon went into the backyard and shot and killed Borrego, police officials said. Ever since Prince Philip died on April 9, all eyes have looked towards the Queen with downcast expressions. With her birthday on Wednesday her first without her husband in 73 years she was not only isolated because of COVID but mourning amidst family rancour. And lets face it, her family isnt exactly a pack of huggers. And yet historians say that when it comes to grieving and expressing loss, the royals have something to teach us rather than the other way around. Famously stoic in person, Queen Elizabeth (then princess Elizabeth), pictured in Windsor Castle in 1944, is far more effusive in personal letters. Credit:Lisa Sheridan/Getty Images People are often very afraid of expressing feelings around grief and sorrow and bereavement, because they fear an emotional cascade, says Dr Chloe Ward, an expert on 20th century culture and politics at RMITs Social and Global Studies Centre. No one knows what to say, so no ones comfortable talking about [death], they get really anxious, and thats the situation where youre going to spill out something really inappropriate. But the British royal family, she says, enjoys long-standing formal traditions and protocols surrounding death and dying that have - for centuries - enabled them to not only provide solace for each other and to strangers in the midst of often unprecedented loss but to grieve in a way that enables those around them to feel comfortable. COLUMBUS, Ohio State health officials, who planned but then nixed a plan to offer Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines in the last days of the coronavirus mass vaccination clinic in downtown Cleveland, are now awaiting more federal guidance before announcing how they will proceed. On Friday evening, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended the use of Johnson & Johnsons vaccine again for Americans age 18 and older. This comes after the federal government suspended the vaccines use on April 13. Fifteen women, including three who have died, developed blood clots after receiving the vaccine. Almost 8 million doses of J&J had been administered in the U.S. In Ohio, there were around 245,000 unused Johnson & Johnson doses that Gov. Mike DeWines administration asked vaccine providers to store until there was more information, said Alicia Shoults, an Ohio Department of Health spokeswoman. Although the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has made their recommendation, we will await the CDC and FDAs further action before commenting, she said in an email. We anticipate moving forward with the CDC recommendation after it is announced. At the Wolstein Center, the original plan was to administer Pfizer shots for the first six weeks of the mass vaccine clinic. Then the plan had been to switch to J&J for the final two weeks, beginning Tuesday, since people wouldnt have to return for a second dose. That plan, however, changed when the J&J pause was announced. On Wednesday, Gov. Mike DeWine said the mass vaccination center would continue with Pfizer because of the pause. DeWine had also said that the clinic would possibly have to be open for an extra four weeks so people could get the second dose. Additional information on mass vaccination clinics, mobile vaccine strategies, and specific sites resuming Johnson & Johnson are not available at this time, Shoults said. More coverage: 89 new coronavirus deaths reported in Ohio: Friday update Gov. Mike DeWine looking at changing metric for ending public health orders from case levels to vaccine levels Wolstein Center mass vaccination clinic may stay open for an extra 4 weeks State board votes to increase Ohio medical marijuana dispensaries to 130 from current 57 Oregon / Washington Coast Aglow Above and Below: Meteors, Glowing Waves Published 04/21/21 at 6:35 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Portland, Oregon) Youd better jump to the coastline of the Northwest soon or youll miss it. The Lyrid meteor showers are peaking right now above the Washington and Oregon beach towns, and theres a run of glowing waves caused by bioluminescence. (Photo above: taken last year at Fort Stevens by Steven Smith / Solution 7 Media) There have been sporadic reports of glowing waves along the Oregon coast for the last few weeks, and recently a big run of them has gotten plenty of notice up on the northern Washington coast. Since these dinoflagellates the bioluminescent form of phytoplankton that causes this are fair weather critters, that run of the right conditions is about to run out. Now is the time to look, but it's not guaranteed. Meanwhile, in the skies above all of planet Earth, the Lyrid meteor showers will be peaking tonight and tomorrow. To top it off, Mondays full moon will be a super moon. If you can see it with the current weather patterns is another matter, however. Various photographs shared on social media have been popping up with brilliant captures of the glowing waves phenomena around the Oregon coast coastline, especially some from Cape Kiwanda. Likely not all are from recent weeks, but some appear to be captures from early April onwards although periodic. Up on the upper Washington coast, photographer Matt Nichols has been photographing a lot of the phenomena in recent days with some stunning results. You can see them on the Facebook group that he created talking about Pacific Northwest bioluminescence sightings. Dinoflagellates are like fireflies: bioluminescent, meaning their body chemistry causes them to fire off a glow, according to Oregon scientist Sheanna Steingass (who is likely the northwests expert on them). Their presence also creates the delight of glowing sands, where the wet sand at the tideline can give off tiny bluish sparks as you scuffle your feet. How to see them? You have to have good weather for a start. Nichols says from his experience it takes a few days of nice Washington coast weather to spot them. You also need a very dark beach with no light, even from your cellphones. Let your eyes adjust. Runs of nice days are a signal to keep looking, but its not a guarantee. One other big factor is in play, said Steingass, but its a difficult one to see on your own. Dinoflagellate and algal blooms happen during periods of heavy upwelling in which northerly winds cause upwelling of cold, nutrient rich water along the coast, making these nutrients available for primary producers, she said. So look for times when that cold wind blows heavily from the north, and for a few days/weeks thereafter. Weather along the Oregon and Washington coast is about to turn, starting Saturday. Rain always kills off these forms of phytoplankton. See the bioluminescent waves / sand article about Oregon / Washington coast for full tips on finding this For the next night or four, keep looking up as well. They Lyrids are just hitting their stride, according to OMSIs Jim Todd. Every year in late April earth passes through the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1), and the encounter causes a meteor shower: the Lyrids, he said. These meteors tend to be bright and often leave trails. About 10-20 meteors per hour at peak can be expected. Todd said about 10-20 meteors per hour at peak can be expected. On April 21 and 22, the moon will be 68% full. The Lyrids is visible from April 16 through April 30. Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW (Photo above: taken last year at Fort Stevens by Steven Smith / Solution 7 Media) More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted The Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) has appointed former Ambassador Osmar Chohfi as its new president, replacing Rubens Hannun, who helmed the ABCC in the past four years. Chohfi was Brazils diplomatic representative to Spain and Ecuador during his time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was also assigned to the embassies of Brazil in France, Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela. He was the Secretary General to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the final years of the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration and the Head of Brazils permanent mission to the Organization of American States (OAS). As Chohfi assumes the ABCCs presidency, he vowed to lead the Arab Chamber towards Trade 4.0. Part of his plans is to implement Ellos Blockchain platform, a chain of records of commercial, banking, trade and export transactions to revolutionize the business transactions between Brazil and the Arab countries, which is set to go live on the second half of the year. By the end of 2021, he also aims to establish a local ABCC office in Brasilia and international offices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Cairo, Egypt. The planned Riyadh and Cairo establishments will add to ABCCs first international office in Dubai, which recently marked its second anniversary, said the statement from ABCC. These facilities are intended to build closer connections between Brazil and three key Arab destinations for Brazilian goods, as well as enhance the ABCCs foothold and influence on major Arab markets, it stated. The international ABCC outposts will also pave the way for a deeper knowledge of local markets, including new developments and trends, and new partnerships in value-added segments such as innovation, technology and products, the statement added. On his new role, Chohfi said: "I feel very privileged to take on this role at an incredibly exciting time. We will build a Chamber 4.0 digital transformation, the new digital thread transforming global trade as it crosses borders, in line with modern social and environmental governance standards." "As part of our modernization process to increase the ABCCs prowess in optimizing Industry 4.0 technologies and to hone its data analytics capabilities, we will invest in technology platforms and brick-and-mortar infrastructure to broaden our presence in strategic areas across Brazil and the Arab markets," he added.-TradeArabia News Service New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday (April 23) urged the Rae Bareli District Magistrate to utilize her Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund to combat rising cases of COVID-19 virus in the city. Gandhi, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradeshs Rae Bareli, penned a letter to the DM and said that she wants to contribute Rs 1.17 lakh from her MPLAD fund for the safety of the people from the deadly coronavirus. Further, she requested the DM to employ her funds for purchasing COVID-19 related equipment. At present, COVID-19 pandemic is widespread in the district besides the entire country, due to which the public is facing extreme difficulties. Therefore, my MPLAD fund should be spent in purchasing necessary equipment and other items, to save the people of my constituency Rae Bareli from the deadly pandemic, the letter by Gandhi read. Congress interim president and MP from Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh), Sonia Gandhi writes to the District Magistrate, asking him to utilise her remaining MPLAD funds in the fight against #COVID19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/CIoBE36V4f ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2021 On April 17, Sonia Gandhi had slammed the central government for its "gross unpreparedness" and "adhocism" in tackling the COVID-19 crisis. Chairing a meet of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Gandhi had said that despite a year to prepare, Centre is caught off guard as the second wave of coronavirus hit. Discussing ways of dealing with the coronavirus crisis, Gandhi had demanded that the government should reduce the immunization age to 25 years from the current 45 years. On Friday, Uttar Pradesh reported a record 37,238 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the total infection tally to over 10 lakh. While 196 fatalities took the death toll to 10,737 in the state. The active cases have reached 2,73,653 in the state, the Health Ministry data said. Live TV Aditya Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 11,513 Thanked: 51,552 Times View My Garage Brand new Mahindra Thar | Oil leak | Towed to dealer Vaibhav Singh Rajput for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via Quote: Hello Team-BHP, Thank you for the wonderful content. I'm a frequent visitor to the forum and have been following the Mahindra Thar 2020 thread from the past 2 years. The thread has kept my patience in check while I was waiting for Thar to launch and then for the delivery. After a waiting period of 5 months, I got the delivery of new Mahindra Thar on 26th March. The same evening, I took it out for a drive and after driving it for about 100 kms, I noticed the left-side of the footwell area getting hot. I cut short my drive and came back home. The next day, I drove the car, and the heating issue did not arise again. So, I thought maybe it was because of the heater. First service was done after 950 kms on April 1st, 2021. In the first service, I mentioned this one-time issue to the service advisor to which he said he will see. The oil filter and engine oil were changed on my request, though it was not necessary. While the Thar was getting serviced, I was present there. I managed to capture a photograph of the underbody and there was no leak. Oil filter (could not take proper photo as filter was hot): Quote: After the first service, I have driven around 1,900 km which includes a 1,100 km road trip (some offroading as well) and did not face the heating issue in the footwell again. But yesterday, when I was driving Thar, I noticed the footwell area near the clutch getting hot again and figured out that it might be gearbox. I came home and checked the parking area only to find drops of oil on the floor which I hadn't noticedf earlier. Then I got under the vehicle to confirm the oil leak. Below are the photos of oil leaking near gearbox area and on the floor. Floor of the parking: Quote: Immediately, I called Mahindra customer care, and informed them about the issue. They were helpful in arranging the roadside assistance towing service. The Thar has been handed over to the Sireesh Auto service center in Marathalli, Bangalore. Unfortunately, the service center is closed as it is Sunday. Will update you guys tomorrow. Advice Needed: This is my first new purchase, and I really love this vehicle. I don't know if should be satisfied by the repair work, or ask for replacement of the defective part (in this case it might be the gearbox). Some have suggested that I should ask for a replacement since the issue may resurface in the future if the same part is used. I would be grateful if Mahindra vehicle owners, or other members can share what they think I should do. Thanks and Regards Vaibhav Thanks tofor sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page Underbody photo taken during first service:Oil filter (could not take proper photo as filter was hot):Oil Leak:Floor of the parking: Last edited by Aditya : 19th April 2021 at 10:27 . In Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Little, Brown), set 15 years after 9/11, 10-year-old Deja learns about the terrorist attack in school, not realizing its catastrophic impact on her own family. The middle grade novel has resonated with readers, selling, per the publisher, 170,000 copies in all formats to date. PW spoke with Rhodes about the healing power of storytelling and what she wants children to take away from reading the book. What prompted you to write a book about 9/11 for children? Writing about 9/11 was not my idea at all. My editor at the time, Liza Baker, said, There are so many children who know nothing about 9/11. Why dont you write a book? And I said no. But then I thought to myself that children really deserve a safe space in which to talk about these events. They are our citizenry; they are going to be charged with keeping our nation safe in the future. I cried most of the time while writing it. When I presented my book in schools, the kids were so curious but lots of teachers were crying. What I discovered was that parents, teachers, and librarians whod lived through it did not want to talk about it. The trauma was still so present. Teachers could teach about the Holocaust, but they could not bring themselves to teach about 9/11. Why do you advocate for adults telling children stories about painful life experiences? There is a healing process that happens with storytelling. A lot of adults need a child to say, Tell me your story. Thats good, not only for the relationship but also for the adultlike Dejas dad. We sometimes patronize children, or we keep from them things we think theyre too young to know about. Children are very wise: they deserve a chance to know. That was an important point for me, that its Deja who says, Dad, tell me your storythat its Deja who leads the family on the path to healing. Besides informing children that there once was a terrorist attack on U.S. soil, what do you want them to know after reading Towers Falling? History is alive, history is personal, and America has been resilient when we try in our own imperfect way to make our nation a more perfect union. Return to the main feature. ADVERTISEMENT Nigeria recorded no deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, making it the eleventh consecutive day that nobody died from the disease in the West African country. Also, in continuation of a steady run of low infection figures, the country recorded 45 new cases on Friday, according to data released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The new figure, lower than the 100 recorded a day earlier, raised the total number of infections in the country to 164,633. With no deaths recorded on Friday, the death toll from the virus in Nigeria remains 2,061. A breakdown of the data shows that 65 persons were discharged on Friday after testing negative to the COVID-19 virus following treatment. This brings the total number of discharged persons to 154,643. Latest data According to the NCDC, the 45 new cases were reported from eight states: Lagos-26, Rivers-10, Delta-3, Kano-2, Akwa Ibom-1, FCT-1, Kaduna-1 and Nasarawa-1. Lagos had the highest figure with 26 new cases on Friday, followed by Rivers and Delta with 10 and three new cases respectively. Since the pandemic broke out in Nigeria in February 2020, the country has carried out over 1.8 million tests, according to the NCDC. Although 154,643 people have been discharged, the country still accounts for 9,990 active COVID-19 cases. Vaccination Nigeria has vaccinated over a million people barely two months after the country received approximately four million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines through COVAX, a UN-backed effort that promises access to free vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries population. The current phase of vaccination covers health workers and other frontline workers although Nigerians from other groups are also getting vaccinated. The head of Nigerias immunisation agency, Faisal Shuaib, recently said the inoculation of frontline health workers in some states has been completed, and attention has shifted to older adults, aged 65 and above. We have been careful to ensure that only those who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the current phase are being vaccinated. These include health workers and their support staff, other frontline workers, strategic leaders and in the last few days, we have also included those who meet the age requirements, he said. Mr Shuaib has also assured the general public of the efficacy of the vaccines and urge everyone to get vaccinated when they can. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Heres a look at the top criminal-justice-related headlines across the borough this week. OFFICER WHO WROTE BOGUS TICKETS PLEADS GUILTY The police officer wrote the tickets in 2018 while assigned to the 120th Precinct in St. George, said prosecutors. A Staten Island cop who, authorities said, wrote fake summonses to his girlfriends ex-beau, has issued his last ticket. Eric Matos has also lost his job in the process. Matos pleaded guilty on Thursday to felony charges of first-degree perjury and first-degree tampering with public records to resolve his case. Matos was assigned to the 120th Precinct when the incidents occurred in 2018. Click here for more story details HE SHOT PASSENGER ON BUS, NOW HES OFF TO PRISON The defendant wounded the victim as he was departing a city bus on Castleton Avenue in West Brighton, on April 8, 2019. A Port Richmond man who shot and seriously wounded a victim exiting a city bus in West Brighton two years ago has been sentenced to seven years behind bars for attempted murder. Kameek Salinsky was a teen when he pegged the victim on April 8, 2019, said authorities. The victim was departing a bus on Castleton Avenue in West Brighton, prosecutors said. Click here for more story details NYPD: HEROIN FOUND UNDER PILLOW IN RAID Castleton Avenue and Caroline Street in West Brighton (Courtesy of Google Maps) A police raid could prove to be a nightmare for a 55-year-old man who allegedly kept heroin under a pillow and sold dangerous drugs to an undercover officer in West Brighton. Labels such as Black Magic also apparently didnt bring any luck to suspect Michael Spreen when police armed with a search warrant swarmed his Caroline Street home and arrested him on April 15 around 6 a.m., according to the criminal complaint. Authorities recovered more than $1,000 in cash in addition to an undisclosed number of glassine envelopes containing heroin stored inside a plastic bag underneath a pillow on his bed, the complaint alleges. Click here for more story details 3RD ARREST IN ATTACK ON MAIL CARRIER The NYPD had asked for the public's help locating these individuals in connection with the beating of a mail carrier. (Courtesy of NYPD) Police apprehended a third suspect in connection with an alleged broad-daylight beatdown of a mail carrier in Oakwood that left the victim with painful injuries. Michael McLaughlin, 23, of Acorn Street in Oakwood, was taken into custody in the attack against the U.S. Postal Service employee, which occurred on April 7 at about 2:20 p.m. on Guyon Avenue, according to a spokeswoman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Ahmad Omar, a 22-year-old man, and Dounia Alrobaee, a 23-year-old woman, both of Willow Road West in Westerleigh, were arrested in the incident on Tuesday. Click here for more story details WOMAN, 37, OFF TO PRISON IN BURGLARIES A New Dorp Beach woman who broke into two North Shore homes last summer has some new living arrangements. Christine Hanna has been sentenced to up to four years in prison. Hanna, 37, was busted on Aug. 23 after the second of her two burglaries, said authorities. Shortly before 3 p.m. that day, the defendant illegally entered a residence on Metcalfe Street in Stapleton, said a criminal complaint. Click here for more story details HE ALLEGEDLY ATTACKS WOMAN WITH CANE The incident occurred in the confines of the 121st Precinct. Here, the precinct stationhouse is shown in a file photo. (Staten Island Advance/Shane DiMaio)Staff-Shot When a woman refused his request for $20 last Saturday, a Port Richmond man didnt just walk away. Instead, Driton Kadriu, 35, allegedly got aggressive. The Park Avenue resident punched the 46-year-old victim in the head on Port Richmond Avenue, said a criminal complaint. He then snatched her purse and banged her in the leg with a cane while he tried to flee, the complaint said. TEEN CAUGHT WITH FIREARM, CRACK COCAINE, COPS SAY Last night this illegal firearm was removed from our streets by the Field Intelligence Officers and Public Safety teams pic.twitter.com/N3DRJ8UZQ0 NYPD 120th Precinct (@NYPD120Pct) April 19, 2021 A 15-year-old male was arrested with a loaded handgun and crack cocaine in Stapleton, police allege. The suspect was apprehended on Sunday at about 8 p.m. He was seen in front of a building on the 200 block of Broad Street with the gun and two bags of crack cocaine, according to a spokeswoman for the NYPD. Click here for more story details HES ACCUSED OF POURING SUGAR INTO GAS TANK The alleged incident happened on Rumpler Court in Port Richmond. (Google) A Port Richmond man has been arrested for allegedly pouring sugar into the gas tank of another persons car. Shomari Palmer, 24, of the 100 block of Heberton Avenue, was busted on Friday in connection with the alleged March 19 incident. A criminal complaint said the defendant was seen around 3:45 p.m. on Rumpler Court in his community closing the gas tank door of a 2008 Mercedes-Benz. Click here for more story details Sao Paulo, April 24 : The government of Brazil's southeast state of Sao Paulo announced on Friday a weekly reduction of 23.6 per cent in the number of deaths from Covid-19, after two months of a relentless rise. "For the first time in eight weeks, Sao Paulo had a 23 per cent decline in the number of deaths. This is due to the progress of vaccination and quarantine measures," the state's vice governor Rodrigo Garcia said during a press conference. Sao Paulo, the state most affected by Covid-19 in Brazil, will reopen parks, restaurants, museums, beauty salons and gyms on Saturday until May 3, when the results of the quarantine will be analysed, the Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. According to the Health Secretariat, the red phase of the quarantine in Sao Paulo reduced the daily average of deaths in the last week from 813 to 621, while the average number of cases fell 14.3 per cent and hospitalisations down 4.5 per cent. In addition, intensive care unit bed occupancy was down 10 percentage points from April 1, to 81.1 per cent, Sao Paulo's Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn reported. As of Friday, the state had registered 91,673 deaths and 2,811,562 cases, according to state health authorities. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Stoneson Brothers Henry Stoneson's obituary captures the legacy of these two brothers: "Mr. Stoneson was given credit for a new concept in buildings---the city within a city." Henry (1895-1958) and Ellis (1893-1952) Stoneson created major housing and shopping near San Francisco's Lake Merced. The Stoneson Development Corporation built close to 25,000 homes in the Bay Area and became one of the nation's largest home building companies. Born in Victoria, Canada (the sons of immigrant Icelanders) the Stoneson Brothers arrived in San Francisco in 1920 and started building houses on a small scale. Business increased during the Depression with the liberal lending policies of the Federal Housing Administration, and later the Stonesons benefited greatly from government funding to create wartime housing during World War II. In the late 1930s they started work on the Lakeside development, a strip of immaculate homes served by a small commercial section (Lakeside Village). In Lakeside, both brothers constructed personal mansions: Ellis at 30 Stonecrest Drive and Henry just down the street at 100 Stonecrest Drive. In 1949, the brothers took the ideas of Lakeside a giant step further. Across 19th Avenue they broke ground on Stonestown. Featuring over 700 apartments next to a major shopping center of some 75 businesses, a medical building, grocery store, and eventually a theater, Stonestown attempted to be a self-contained community within a major city. Both served as presidents and directors of various local and national home builder and contractor associations. On the cusp of their greatest success, the opening of Stonestown in 1952, Ellis died of a heart attack at only 59 years of age. Younger brother Henry passed away just a few years later. Because of their proclivity for sneaking derivatives of "Stone" into their street names and developments, the Stoneson brothers made sure San Francisco couldn't forget their work. In Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction (Solaris, June.), Ni brings together 13 never-before-translated sci-fi shorts. You prefer to be thought of as the anthologys curator. Why is that? This book has been a passion project; Ive been talking about Chinese genre fiction for years. Finding a publisher made me feel like I was doing an agents job, and a commissioning editors job in the selection and negotiation of the stories, and then a translators job of bringing them all into English, and an editors job of collating them into a form which showed the cornucopia of Kehuan [Chinese science fiction] out there. Then as an author, I created intros for each story to give readers cultural context. So none of the roles that others described me as really encapsulated what this book meant to me. The closest thing I could picture to describe what I was doing, was trying to tell a wider story by gathering these amazing artifacts, displaying them, labelling them, explaining them. What misconceptions do people have about Chinese science fiction? Anglophone audiences tend to be surprised that Chinese science fiction even exists, let alone has a long tradition. China still tends to be seen as a remote land of dragons, kung fu, and terra-cotta warriors, not one of robots and spaceships, despite having some of the worlds greatest numbers of both. A second misconception is that a lot of Western sci-fi fans tend to worship Liu Cixin, building a bubble around his work and ignoring the literary tradition its part of. A third misperception has to do with subject matter. If a Chinese writer tells you their story is about genetic modification, time travel, or cloning, well, these things have been done to death in the West, and its likely the story will be dismissed as bereft of anything unique. There are only so many themes and tropes in any genre, but the key is in how theyre used and how the story is told. So much of that reflects the quirks and preoccupations of a certain culture. It doesnt matter how many times a subject has been handled in one culture, if its new to Chinese writers, then I see them doing some very interesting things with it. What was the hardest part of putting this volume together? There has been a huge amount of gatekeeping in translation circles and Anglophone publishing. I actually first worked in translating about a decade and a half ago. Im a literary translator but also a geek, and I saw huge, important cultural content coming out in forms such as manhua [graphic novels], contemporary fiction, and genre fiction. At the time, most of the literary translators in the U.K. were Western academics, and there was a baked-in belief that non-Western translators somehow couldnt do as thorough a job in the localization as Western translators. So I was left seeing these cultural touchstones whizzing past unregarded. It was infuriating, but I continued to write about China and its culture. Its only taken about 10 years to get someone to listen to me. Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 23:37:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NANJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China aims to launch the Chang'e-6 probe to collect samples in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon around 2024, said a space expert on Saturday. Hu Hao, the chief designer of the third stage of China's lunar exploration program, told the China Space Conference, held in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, that detailed designing on the mission is in progress. China launched the Chang'e-5 probe in 2020, successfully bringing home 1,731 grams of moon samples. As the backup of the Chang'e-5 mission, the Chang'e-6 mission would also collect lunar samples automatically for comprehensive analysis and research. The China National Space Administration has invited scientists around the world to participate in the program, offering to carry solicited payloads. Four payloads developed by scientists from France, Sweden, Italy, Russia and China have been preliminarily selected. After the detailed plan of the Chang'e-6 mission comes out, the payloads will be finally determined, said Hu. China will carry out lunar resource exploration, scientific research and technological experiments in the Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8 missions, aiming to build a prototype scientific research station on the moon by 2030, Hu added. Enditem Garcetti Speaks With HUD Secretary About Federal Funding For Homeless Crisis Mayor Eric Garcetti today joined a news conference with Rep. Maxine Waters and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge to discuss the $5 billion allocated through American Rescue Plan to states, tribal areas and local governments to address homelessness. The funding will be given to 651 grantees, and the city of Los Angelesn is slated to receive $99.89 million, according to Garcettis office. With the robust funding, along with additional emergency rental vouchers that HUD will soon announce, communities across the country will have the resources needed to give homes to the people who have had to endure the COVID-19 pandemic without one, Fudge said. Garcetti spoke about the work L.A. is doing to address funding, including the nearly $1 billion allocated for the issue in his budget proposal for the next fiscal year. But he also noted that the problem is bigger than individual cities and must be met with a federal response. ADVERTISEMENT For too long, we havent treated this like the catastrophic emergency that it is, but thanks to this administration and thanks to the loud voices of state leaders too, we finally have literally gotten a FEMA-level response to a FEMA-level crisis, he said. He said the city would use the federal funding to double down on its Project Homekey initiative, which provides people experiencing homelessness with longterm housing in hotels and motels, as well as other programs for housing people in shelters and trailers. Theres no sugarcoating the streets of Los Angeles and so many American cities weve got to end Americas addiction to poverty, and theres no place we see that addiction as desperately articulated as on streets and in cars and shelters across America. Waters, D-Los Angeles, who serves as chairwoman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, said one of her main priorities is to address the homelessness crisis across the U.S. Over half a million people across the country experience homelessness on any given night, and the pandemic has only worsened the crisis, she said. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and San Francisco Mayor London Breed spoke about homelessness in their regions, which are also receiving federal funding through the American Rescue Plan. Heather Boulger, executive director of the MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board, and Taconic High School students Jayden Cross and Kelsi Houghtlin work on a presentation at a board-sponsored youth employment event in 2019. The board will be staging 2021 Berkshire Virtual Career Week next week, which includes a virtual job fair open to all ages, and a series of daily virtual presentations open to Berkshire residents ages 14 to 24. EV,Psaki The administration has repeatedly cited the use of Title 42 to demonstrate that the border is not open. This is a Trump policy that progressive groups are increasingly arguing that it denies migrants who are flying [sic] fleeing violence and persecution a right to even apply for asylum. I wanted to know what is the White Houses message to these groups who largely are supportive of this White House, who are concerned about the continuation of this Trump policy? more details or full transcript can be found here some user comments can be found here youtube As Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and trustee of two debt advice charities, Chris Leslie spent years trying to protect vulnerable borrowers from the tactics that lenders use to claw back loans. How the tables have turned. The Mail on Sunday can reveal that the former Labour MP has been advising bankers on how to recoup emergency Covid loans in his new role as boss of the trade body for Britain's army of debt collectors. Swapping sides: Former Labour MP Chris Leslie with Gordon Brown and Tony Blair in 2005 Speaking at a round table event led by the Chartered Banker Institute, Leslie said 'bounce back' loans of up to 50,000 should be repaid and not written-off at the expense of taxpayers. The round table event was called 'How can banks recover bounce back loans?.' These were launched last year with 100 per cent taxpayer-backing to give small businesses a crucial lifeline through the pandemic. About 46.5billion has been handed out and there are fears that vast sums may never be repaid. Leslie, who was briefly Labour's Shadow Chancellor in 2015 and was also a trustee of two debt charities (now called StepChange and Money Charity) in the financial crisis, said: 'We're talking 1.5 million businesses here. If they get that sense there's a write-off in prospect, then payments will simply cease. 'The scheme in the UK has already baked in a certain approach to forbearance. It started with the option of a six-year repayment period that has been extended to a potential ten-year period. 'There are already options within there about interest and payment holidays for six months and so forth if repayments can't be made in a particular way. To what extent can the banking community have that hard incentive or moral imperative to collect on behalf of the taxpayer?' He added: 'It is a really hot potato. It's going to take a lot of sensitive moving around. 'The public sector, to be frank, doesn't always have the best reputation when dealing with debt management on a sensitive basis.' His comments have emerged as the first wave of interest payments on emergency Covid loans kick in this week. The Mail on Sunday revealed a fortnight ago that the biggest high street lenders had started sending letters to thousands of customers warning that interest charges would be due imminently. Banks are spending millions on debt recovery amid fears that they will be forced to use heavy-handed tactics to avoid turning to the taxpayer to recoup losses. Leslie, who became chief executive of the Credit Services Association in August last year, is defending the debt collection industry nearly a decade after he criticised lenders for ripping off customers. In 2012 Leslie said that the Financial Conduct Authority needed to 'tackle high-charging payday lenders who are exploiting some of the poorest'. As MP for Nottingham East, he also said, referring to another MP: 'Certainly, the number of people in my honourable friend's constituency who are suffering from indebtedness is exceptionally high. In my constituency, over 40 per cent of people are struggling to make ends meet when faced with these crippling burdens and debts.' Consumer experts last night called on Leslie to use his experience in charity and Westminster to help ensure that Covid debts are collected in a fair way. James Daley, founder of the campaign group Fairer Finance, said: 'Leslie has always been respected as a hard-working politician who championed a good consumer outcome. Although it looks odd that he's moved from sitting on debt charity boards to running a trade body for debt collectors, I'd like to think he'll ensure members are professional and treat customers with the right level of sensitivity.' But the memory of aggressive post-financial crash collection tactics still haunts many small businesses as Britain's debt pile mounts. Figures from the Office for National Statistics released on Friday showed that the Government borrowed 303billion in the year to the end of March, up from 57.1billion the previous year a record amount and, as a proportion of gross domestic product, more than at any time since the Second World War. Earlier this month, Leslie and other City leaders attended a virtual summit to discuss 'unwinding' the Government's emergency schemes and how it would 'inevitably have very significant implications for UK lenders'. Leslie said at the presentation that taxpayers would be concerned about recouping the money because the alternative could be a hike in taxes to foot the bill. He said that he hoped the Treasury did not imply these loans can be 'written off' and recommended that banks 'engage' with customers. 'It will take a particular set of skills to do that and a lot of the core banks don't necessarily have that in-house, a lot of that is outsourced to collections,' he said. 'The capacity in the banking sector and the wider non-banking financial services sector is really going to get put to the test here.' Leslie did not comment on his job change. On Bounce Back loans, he said: 'When such vast sums of taxpayer money have been lent to business in the expectation it will eventually be repaid, Ministers have a responsibility to pursue an effective as well as a sensitive approach to recovering that debt.' Police said Leon was arrested at 7:35 a.m. Thursday after being positively identified as the person who participated in an attempted carjacking during which he fired a gun in the 3700 block of West Hirsch Street; another attempted carjacking while armed in the 1500 block of North Avers Avenue; an armed robbery in the 3800 block of West North Avenue; a vehicle theft that also involved him firing a gun in the 1500 block of North Hamlin Avenue; and an aggravated assault of a police officer in the 1700 block of North Lawndale Avenue, police said. 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However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Submit A 'perfect storm' of conditions has created a housing crisis in Byron Bay, with locals left frustrated and tension rapidly building within the community. Skyrocketing prices for short-term rentals and an influx of arrivals during the Covid-19 crisis leaving the tourist mecca unaffordable for a growing number of residents. Recent figures from Domain revealed rent has increased by 26.4 per cent in Byron Bay in the last year, with the median now at $885 per week. The median house price is now a whopping $1.68million, up 37 per cent in 2020, with nearby Mullumbimby up 16.6 per cent and Bangalow up 24 per cent. A 'perfect storm' of conditions has resulted in a housing crisis in Byron Bay, (pictured) with locals left frustrated and tension rapidly building within the community A number of Byron Bay councillors fear the tourist mecca (pictured) will result in unattainable house prices for frustrated locals A lack of social housing has further fuelled concerns, and Byron Bay councillor Cate Coorey said the community had fall victim to 'touristification on steroids'. 'This was made much worse by social media - the "influencers" flogging the perfect life, celebrity culture and gentrification,' she told The Sydney Morning Herald. 'Then add in cheap lending rates (from banks) and Covid - which saw a boom in domestic travel, plus people working remotely.' Ms Coorey said the growing issue could be addressed and fixed by better rent controls and stronger rules in place for the growing number of AirBnB rentals. Paul Spooner, another Byron Bay councillor, fears many locals will never be able to purchase property in the holiday town many grew up in. Mr Spooner's thoughts were echoed by Lisa Sandstrom, spokeswoman for community group Bayside Connected, who said the glamorisation of Byron Bay has been detrimental. 'Thousands of people moving in, in such a short time, is driving speculation and prices through the roof,' she said. 'Netflix shows (like the pending Byron Baes) don't help either.' Housing Minister Melinda Pavey said social housing in the state had risen 10 per cent since 2012. An estimated 300 additional social homes are planned for the northern NSW region by 2024, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Earlier this month, the local council voted for a land trust that would see affordable homes built in Byron Bay - but this would require significant help from the state government to become a reality. Hollywood heart-throb Chris Hemsworth (pictured with wife Elsa Pataky) is one of many celebrities to call Byron Bay home when in Australia On Monday, April 12, Jay Bergman, a professor of history at Central Connecticut State University, wrote a commentary titled Perception and reality of racism are often at odds. In reality it is the opposite of what Mr. Bergman espouses. Bergman criticizes Central Connecticut State University for establishing The John Lewis Institute For Social Justice. Early in his article, he states in reference to the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that there is a common misconception that white police are generically racist and kill large numbers of (Black people) because of their skin color. He tries to back this statement up by quoting Peter Kirsanow, a conservative member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. According to Kirsanow, in 2016 police killed 16 unarmed Black victims and 22 unarmed white victims. A Statistica study shows that the rate of police shootings of Black Americans are much higher than any other ethnicity at 30 per million. The rate is 23 per million for Hispanics and 12 per million for whites. A Washington Post study showed that Black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police officers than white Americans. Of all the unarmed people shot and killed by police in 2015, 40 percent of them were Black men even though Black men made up only 6 percent of the nations population. Next Mr. Bergman denies that there is systematic racism in the United States. He says that the charge is false. As a history professor he is denying the true history of the United States. He is denying that the GI Bill discriminated against Black people; denying that many New Deal reforms excluded the vast majority of Black workers; denying that the Federal Housing Administration specifically excluded African- Americans who wished to buy homes, and he is also denying redlining. These are only but a few examples of systemic racism in the United States. It is incomprehensible to me that Bergman, a history professor, denies that racism exists in our country. Whites people have had affirmative action for centuries here as Black people were discriminated against. If the John Lewis Institute helps students to learn the truth about America and learn to be activists against racism the more power to it and to Central Connecticut State University. Norwalk resident Tom Carey is a graduate of Holy Cross College, Worcester, Massachusetts, with a bachelors degree in history. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Nearly one billion COVID jabs have now been administered worldwide but reaching people in all four corners of the planet is an unprecedented logistical challenge. While Japan is best known for its teeming megacities, much of its countryside remains remote and depopulated, making vaccination of its often elderly residents a huge headache. The village of Kitaaiki, in the foothills of the picturesque mountains of Nagano, is a case in point. It is home to just over 700 peopleone third of them over 65and with only one doctor to give everyone their jab, Kazuhiro Matsuhashi. Matsuhashi has received one box of Pfizer jabs, enough to inoculate everyone who wishes to receive the vaccine, but he has to work fast, injecting around 60 people per day. The doctor said his local knowledge helped him in his mission to vaccinate as many villagers as possible. "I can make these thoughtful decisions for each resident," he told AFP. The approach seems to be working. Kakino Yamaguchi, a 93-year-old woman, said: "When I saw those thick needles on TV, I thought to myself 'I don't want that'. But I didn't feel anything today." "This doctor has been looking after me for so many years. So I wasn't worried about getting the vaccine at all, because I trust the doctor," Yamaguchi told AFP. 'House to house' For Anselmo Tunubala, a nurse from the Misak ethnic indigenous group in Colombia, the problem is battling scepticism over the vaccine due to a belief in traditional plant-based medicines. On foot or by motorbike, Tunubala tours the mountains in the country's southwest searching for people over 70 to vaccinate. "I go from house to house raising awareness about vaccination, because grandparents always have low defences and it is to protect them from the disease that we are facing. Without this vaccine you can get ill with the coronavirus that is bearing down upon us." Sometimes he is successful, other times he finds himself rebuffed. Carlos Tunubala, 22, said his pastor had told him vaccination was unnecessary. "Trusting in God we move on, we overcome everything that comes our way," he said. Others were won over, however. Gerardo Muelas, a 72-year-old from the Misak group said: "We didn't think of getting it, because we used to cure ourselves of anything with plants." "But as this is a worldwide problem, there is no other solution. Whoever wants to can get it. It's not obligatory, but you would feel safer getting it." In the remote Sudanese village of Seer, the residents do not have much, but they do have vaccines, courtesy of the Covax initiative that seeks to deliver to the world's poorest areas. The health ministry has secured 3,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, trained medical staff and monitored for possible side-effects, with the process going without a hitch so far. "Thank God, everything is going well and there are no delays, the process is going smoothly, the turnout is high and all is well," said lab technician Seifeldin Khodr. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP 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 The hardest time in the lives of the young couple may never have ended if their infant child didnt survive that afternoon. IN PREPARATION: Dr Nguyen Ly Thinh Truong goes through Quoc Thiens medical records. At about 3pm one day last February, Do Van Luong, 35, from the northern province of Bac Giang, clung tightly to his four-day-old son for the final time before leaving him with the medical staff. In just a few minutes, his son, Quoc Thien, would enter into a life and death struggle at the National Childrens Hospital (NCH). He was ready for Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) surgery, one of the most complicated heart operations, especially for new-borns. The infant had a heart deformity related to the arterial stem, a particularly dangerous condition for infants when not treated in time. HOLDING TIGHT: Do Van Luong and his four-day-old son Quoc Thien just before the surgery. Dr Nguyen Ly Thinh Truong, director of the Heart Centre (CHC) at the NCH, and his colleagues carefully prepared for the surgery and were ready to do everything to save the little boy. The father said that although he was upset and anxious, he felt relieved after being told that the operation would be conducted by a team headed by one of the leading doctors in childrens heart surgery. He learned that Dr Truong is an expert in handling rare cases like his son. Little Thien was diagnosed with TGA disease when he was still in his mothers womb, and Luong had come down to Hanoi from Bac Giang with his wife to the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. His wife was yet to see their child, as he had been immediately taken to the NCH. WATCHFUL EYE: A nurse cares for Thien just before he enters the operating room. Although he had handled many such cases, this was only perhaps the second time he had seen such a condition. This case was especially difficult, he said. A deviation of only one-third or half a millimetre will affect his life, because the coronary arterys job is to supply almost all of the hearts blood. According to the doctor, the diameter of a coronary artery in a new-born is only about 1-1.5mm, which is not even visible to the naked eye, so doctors use a magnifying glass to perform the surgery. The permissible deviation is only about 0.2-0.5mm. TOGETHER AS ONE: A 10-member surgical team - including five doctors and five nurses - perform the surgery. There are hundreds of patients needing TGA surgery as soon as possible, but Dr Truong said Thiens case was difficult since the position of the coronary artery was abnormal. Most babies in this condition undergo TGA surgery within their first month of life, but there are some who need it within two weeks. If the surgery is successful, the baby will go on to lead a normal life, the doctor said. However, he added, it was important to take special care of such children and attend periodic examinations, as patients with other congenital heart diseases must do. A few patients will need a second operation at some point in their lives. UNDERWAY: A moment during the operation. TGA is a serious heart defect that occurs before birth. It causes a change in the blood circulation throughout the body, resulting in a lack of oxygen in the blood when it leaves the heart. The little patients may face severe complications or even death if not diagnosed and treated quickly. Arterial transfer disease may be found before birth or from the first hours to weeks after birth, Dr Truong said, adding that this was the 581st TGA surgery performed at the NCH. It is a complicated and serious congenital heart disease that often requires surgery in the first month after birth. If not detected in time, 80-90 per cent of babies will die in the first year. And they cannot undergo surgery after they are two or three months old. SUCCESS: The operation concludes after more than five hours. VNA/VNS Photos Minh Son The doctor has made a significant contribution to the success of the CHC in treating childrens heart conditions. Since 2016, when he became director of the centre, the number of heart surgeries has nearly tripled, from about 500 to 1,453 a year. More than 30 per cent of those are performed by Dr Truong. At times he may perform four such surgeries in a single day, with him finally putting the scalpel down well into the evening. A report from the NCH put its success rate for surgery on complicated congenital heart disease at over 93 per cent. Doctors performed 60 surgeries last year on patients suffering these types of heart defects, with a success rate of 96.7 per cent. It is an encouraging rate for Vietnam and even outpaces the figure of 90 per cent in other Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. The CHC performed surgery on about 1,660 patients last year, of which 1,650 had complex heart defects. Prior to 2010, a majority of paediatric patients with such defects died, as surgery in Vietnam was impossible and heading overseas wasnt an option for most people. Recent figures show that the rate of children with cardiovascular disease in Vietnam is about 1-1.5 per cent. Of these, 60 per cent need surgical intervention, and 80 per cent of those go on to lead a healthy life. Surgery is the only treatment for complicated congenital heart disease, because without direct intervention the risk of death within the first week of life is about 30 per cent and almost 100 per cent within a year. The surgical process is divided into several stages and include the administration of anaesthesia, stopping the heartbeat, running an artificial heart machine, the actual surgery, and then active resuscitation. Dr Truong said making the heart stop beating is the most difficult, as even the smallest of mistakes can have terrible consequences. To ensure the heart functions as normal post-operation, doctors must relocate both the aorta and the pulmonary artery. The most complex part is repositioning the coronary arteries, which are only about 0.5mm in diameter, meaning absolute precision is needed. Other heart defects are also addressed during the surgery. About a decade ago, TGA struck fear into the parents of new-borns diagnosed with the condition. Now, though, at the CHC, the disease can be treated effectively thanks to talented surgeons, advancements in diagnosis and treatment, and, especially, the centres post-surgery care. A complex operation such as TGA now takes four or five hours, whereas in the past it was anywhere between half a day or even more than a day. Not only little Thien but also hundreds or even thousands of other new-borns suffering from congenital heart diseases will survive in the future, thanks to advancements in medicine and healthcare in Vietnam. The TGA surgeries performed at the CHC affirm that the professionalism of Vietnamese doctors and medical staff is at least the equal of those in the region and the world, filling people with confidence that even the most severe condition can now be treated right here at home. VNS Three-year-old girl saved after heart surgery A team of surgeons from private Da Nang-Hoan My Hospital have successfully operated on a three-year-old with congenital heart disease the second surgery after the first emergency operation in 2018. We have confirmed that the doses received from the United States a number of weeks ago are not, have not been subjected to the challenges that have come up currently in the Baltimore plant, Mr. Trudeau said at a news conference. There is absolutely no danger of that for Canadians. In Mexico, a senior government official said AstraZeneca had provided documentation indicating that the doses had passed quality tests and were not affected by issues at the Emergent factory. We are sure that the product that was applied to Mexican people was a safe, quality product, Mexicos coronavirus czar, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, said at a briefing on Friday night. The Biden administrations acknowledgment that it had been unaware of the discarding of the lots of AstraZenecas vaccine, which The New York Times reported occurred between October and January, underscores concerns about the governments oversight of a key contractor in the federal response to the pandemic. U.S. officials bet on Emergent to manufacture both the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines even as a series of audits identified serious quality shortcomings at the plant. The F.D.A. has still not cleared the Emergent plant to release doses of either vaccine in the United States and has not indicated when, or whether, it will do so. While AstraZenecas vaccine is not authorized for use in the United States, tens of millions of doses of it have been sitting idly at manufacturing plants. The White House said last month that the federal government, which committed last year to buying 300 million doses from AstraZeneca, intended to loan 2.5 million doses to Mexico and 1.5 million doses to Canada. U.S. officials say the two countries were eager for the doses and have since expressed interest in getting more, especially because of a recent drop in supplies from India, another major supplier of vaccine. Canadian officials, however, said on Friday that the nations own regulators were reviewing the recent F.D.A. report on its inspection of the Baltimore facility, which will inform whether additional measures are required to ensure the safety of future supply. Emergent is a longtime government contractor that has virtually cornered a lucrative market in federal spending on biodefense. The Times reported last month that sales of its anthrax vaccines to the Strategic National Stockpile accounted for nearly half of the stockpiles half-billion-dollar annual budget throughout most of the last decade, leaving the federal government with less money to buy supplies needed in a pandemic. PHILIPSBURG:--- Administrative Professionals Day is celebrated on April 21st, National Administrative Professionals Day, formally known as Secretaries Day or better known as Admin Day, which is observed on the last full week in April of each year. It is a week to thank and recognize the work of secretaries, administrative assistants, receptionists, and other administrative support professionals. On behalf of the Council of Ministers, the Government of St. Maarten recognizes and celebrates all administrative professionals for their contribution in the workplace. Within the governments apparatus, your work is invaluable. We appreciate you every day, as we could not meet our goals without the hard work that you do. Your administrative support ensures that government can meet the needs of our citizens, stated Prime Minister Jacobs. Today, government commemorated the administrative professional week with a workshop and motivational session for all its administrative staff under the theme A Decisive Administrative Professional in an Ambitious Country. Prime Minister Jacobs encourages all managers in both the public and private sector to take this time and let your administrative staff know how their work has helped you or your organization. It is imperative that St. Maartens administrative professionals remain motivated and ambitious. Trust that your work does not go unnoticed as you continue to build your careers. An ambitious professional plays a big role in creating an ambitious country. You need us and we need you. Lets do it together for St. Maarten. Best wishes are extended to all administrative staff on your special week, concluded Prime Minister Jacobs. Sri Lanka's police arrested a top Muslim legislator Saturday in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks that killed 279 people, as pressure mounted to speed up the investigation. Detectives took Rishad Bathiudeen, leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Party (ACMP) and a former minister, into custody under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), police spokesman Ajith Rohana said. Bathiudeen and his brother Riyaaj were arrested in pre-dawn raids on their homes in Colombo. "They were arrested under the PTA based on circumstantial and scientific evidence that they had connections with the suicide bombers who carried out the attacks," Rohana said in a statement. A lawyer representing the brothers said a presidential inquiry had found no evidence linking them to the bombers and the arrests were a political vendetta. "The arrests are politically motivated," lawyer Rushdhie Habeeb said in a statement, which highlighted how the ACMP had opposed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019 elections. The arrests came three days after the head of Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, accused the government of allowing investigations to stall. Nearly 200 people were arrested within days of the suicide attacks on hotels and churches by local Islamist extremists, but no one has been charged. Ranjith, who led commemorations on the second anniversary of the Easter attacks on Wednesday, said he was "deeply saddened" by the lack of progress in the investigation. He renewed his call for swift action against the perpetrators and said "political posturing and the need to safeguard alliances" was hindering the probe. Bathiudeen's party is a member of an opposition coalition, but three of his legislators defected to the government in October to amend the constitution and give Rajapaksa wider powers over the judiciary and legislature. aj/leg By Neil Marks and Nidhi Verma GEORGETOWN/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India, the world's third-largest crude consumer and importer, has approached Guyana's government about a possible long-term deal to buy the South American country's oil, a Guyanese official said. India has expressed interest in buying one of the 1 million-barrel cargoes Guyana's government is entitled to in order to test the crude in its refineries, according to Guyana's Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat. If the crude is compatible, the parties could begin talks on a long-term arrangement. India's oil demand has risen by 25% in the last seven years, more than any other country, and officials there have pledged to use the country's position as a leading purchaser as a "weapon" in an effort to keep prices low. New Delhi is already exercising its growing clout in the crude market. It viscerally opposed a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to extend production cuts that have lifted the price of oil, and is seeking to diversify its purchases away from top producer Saudi Arabia. State refiners plan to buy 36% less oil from Saudi Arabia in May than normal, sources told Reuters, and the country is now attempting to swap out Saudi supply with new origins like Guyana. Private Indian refiner HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd purchased India's first-ever cargo from Guyana this month, but the talks have taken place on a government-to-government basis. "India is interested in taking Guyana's share of its crude, based on mutual agreements, as part of its crude source diversification across the world," said one source with knowledge of the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The two parties are still negotiating pricing, said the person, adding that the crude would be processed by state-owned refineries in India. Bharrat said pricing was the "most important" factor for Guyana in any potential deal. Story continues "First and foremost is us getting the best price for our crude," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. Guyana has become the world's newest energy hotspot after a consortium led by Exxon Mobil Corp began to produce light crude at the offshore Stabroek block in late 2019. But with no domestic refining nor state oil company, Guyana has relied on private companies like Hess Corp and Royal Dutch Shell PLC to market its share on a spot basis. President Irfaan Ali's government has relaunched a search for a long-term partner to market its share, but has not yet selected a firm. Bharrat said the government planned to re-launch the search for a marketing firm "soon." He said there was no guarantee the government's next cargo - which he said is due in June but may be delayed due to mechanical issues that have reduced production levels - would go to India. Long term oil export deals negotiated between governments have been common in some South American oil-exporting countries in recent decades. Venezuela and Ecuador, for example, have supplied large quantities of crude to China under such long-term deals. Guyana and India have strong historical and cultural ties. A large portion of Guyana's population of around 750,000 is of Indian descent, and Ali's People's Progressive Party - which won parliamentary elections last year - is traditionally associated with the Indo-Guyanese population. (Reporting by Neil Marks in Georgetown and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Additional reporting and writing by Luc Cohen in Caracas; Editing by Marianna Parraga and Marguerita Choy) YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. The President of the Senate of France Gerard Larcher emphasized that Azerbaijan must immediately return the Armenian prisoners of war. This visit of ours is the continuation of the resolution which was adopted in parliament in November with rather overwhelming majority, only 1 vote against. This is a unique thing, each of us would dream for such votes to happen more frequently, he said in a joint statement with Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan, referring to the resolution of the French parliament which called on the government to recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabakh. Larcher said that at the same time the resolution mentions that the recognition would become a tool for reaching lasting and stable peace through peace talks. Lets be clear, Azerbaijan must immediately release all prisoners of war in accordance to the signed agreement and all international treaties, Larcher said. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Chennai, April 24 : Providing green corridor for medical oxygen tankers, setting up of 24x7 call centre for hospitals/nursing homes to solve oxygen related issues and instructing industries to increase production of oxygen are some of the measures taken by the Tamil Nadu government. In a statement issued here the government said it has asked oxygen manufacturers to explore methods to increase production. The government also said tankers carrying medical oxygen are being provided a Green Corridor along with Police Patrol wherever necessary for fast movement of vehicles carrying oxygen. In order to resolve any issues related to medical oxygen supply faced by some hospitals/nursing homes, the Government has established a 24-7 call centre under the State Drug Controller. Hospitals/nursing homes in Tamil Nadu facing any shortage of medical oxygen may immediately call 104 for assistance. The government said the demand for medical oxygen from Covid-19 treatment facilities such as hospitals/nursing homes is expected to rise as the number of Covid-19 cases increase. ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) A man who was apparently angry over the death of Daunte Wright has been charged with shooting at a St. Paul police officer. The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Friday that 24-year-old Jamoni Raekwon Blackstone of North St. Paul was charged this week with attempted murder. According to the criminal complaint, the officer was monitoring retail areas for potential looting in St. Paul on April 13 amid protests in Brooklyn Center over Wright's death at the hands of a white female officer. He said someone shot at his vehicle. Blackstone told police he saw the window of the officer's vehicle come down and he thought he was going to be attacked and he had to defend himself. Marcus Williams, Program Director for CSRS | Tillage Program Management, talks about a corner classroom at Jefferson Terrace Academy, the new K-8 school replacing nearby Jefferson Terrace Elementary Tuesday August 4, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La.The school is substantially complete, with a few items left to complete. But thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, rather than a celebratory opening for this modern, 21st century tech-rich school, there will be very little fanfare initially. That's because students won't be arriving until after Labor Day, thanks to the coronavirus. Teachers will be teaching them remotely in meantime. (Photo by Bill Feig, The Advocate) AP government has entered into an MoU with IT giant Microsoft to skill up students and youth, so that they become employable by various companies due to their additional qualifications. Representational Image/AP VIJAYAWADA: Microsoft is collaborating with Government of Andhra Pradesh in imparting digital skills to 1.62 lakh students and unemployed youth across 300 plus colleges and skill development centres in the state. Announcing this, IT minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy pointed out that for the purpose, AP government has entered into an MoU with IT giant Microsoft to skill up students and youth, so that they become employable by various companies due to their additional qualifications. He underlined that Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy wants every house to be digitally connected. About 80 lakh houses will be provided with digital connection in three years. The minister said the focus will be on remote learning, a major challenge during the Covid times. He disclosed that efforts are being made to provide computers and laptops to 1.30 crore people in the state. Microsoft India president Anant Maheshwari said their vision is to build an inclusive, skills-based economy in the state. For the purpose, Government of Andhra Pradesh, Department of Higher Education (APHeD) and Microsoft have entered into a strategic partnership to create a holistic and scalable skilling experience that includes access to learning content on Microsoft Learn, educational webinars, and experiential learning, apart from hands-on lab exercises and industry certifications courses. Anant announced that every learner will get free $100 Azure credit for practical experiential learning, test preparation and certification to become a Microsoft Certified Professional. He pointed out that over 40 courses and certifications will be made available to students on Microsoft Learn, covering a broad range of emerging technologies, such as cloud computing, AI, data sciences, IOT and M365, among others. To enhance their employability, students and youth will also get access to over 8,600 courses on LinkedIn Learning. This will help them develop not just their technical skills but also their business knowledge and soft skills. Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The more people get vaccinated, the more likely it is youll be able to shed your mask in public outdoor spaces. In recent days, health experts and government officials have discussed potentially easing outdoor mask requirements, as new research shows that the risk of viral transmission is significantly lower in such settings. According to new research published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, less than 10% of all coronavirus transmission occurs outdoors and the chances of spreading the virus are 19 times higher when indoors. In response to the new findings, there have been growing calls for health experts and government officials to revise existing guidance on outdoor mask usage, particularly with a growing number of Americans receiving their vaccinations. During a Thursday interview, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that the agency will consider revising its existing guidance. Well be looking at the outdoor masking question, but also in the context of the fact that we still have people who are dying of COVID-19, Walensky said. Existing CDC guidance on outdoor mask usage is ambiguous to begin with, meaning any additional clarification regarding when residents should be wearing masks outdoors would be welcomed. Masks may not be necessary when you are outside by yourself away from others, or with people who live in your household. However, some areas may have mask mandates while out in public, so please check the rules in your local area (such as in your city, county, or state). Additionally, check whether any federal mask mandates apply to where you will be going, according to CDC guidance. Mayor Bill de Blasio also received questions regarding outdoor mask requirements on Thursday, stating that the citys plan is to maintain its existing guidance over the next two months before reevaluating. We want to hold the line through June, so well keep the masks on and well do all the things we need to do, de Blasio said. After that well be able to reassess. In New York, residents are currently required to wear a mask whenever they are in public and unable to maintain six feet of social distance between themselves and others. This applies to both indoor and outdoor public settings. The mayor went on to say that New Yorkers looking to do away with masks, social distancing and other coronavirus-related restrictions can help do so by getting vaccinated and encouraging others to do the same. One of things we can say to people is if you want to get rid of masks, if you want to get rid of the social distancing, if you want to get rid of the restrictions go get vaccinated, the mayor said. So far, more than 3.2 million New York City residents, nearly 50% of the adult population, have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to city data. A group of illegal immigrants with Border Patrol after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in La Joya, Texas, on April 10, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Group Headed by Top Former Trump Adviser Assisting Texas in Lawsuit Against Biden Administration A legal nonprofit headed by a former top immigration adviser to ex-President Donald Trump is helping the state of Texas in its recently filed lawsuit against the Biden administration. Stephen Millers America First Legal, which was just launched, is acting as outside counsel for Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as he seeks to convince a judge to block Bidens immigration-related executive orders for alleged violation of federal law by releasing illegal immigrants into the country without testing them for COVID-19. The Biden administration set an illegal policy of mass releasing COVID-positive illegal immigrants during a pandemic, Miller said on Fox Newss Hannity on Friday. President Joe Biden, shortly after taking office in January, stopped the expelling of illegal immigrant children who cross the border without a responsible adult, even though a Title 42 emergency order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that contains limited exceptions that virtually all aliens who illegally cross from Mexico should be sent back to their home countries. In doing so, the Biden administration did not provide proper reasoning, plaintiffs allege, citing how the Supreme Court used that argument last year to block the Trump administration from rescinding the Obama administration executive action that shielded some illegal immigrants from deportation. Plaintiffs are asking a judge to order the Biden administration orders illegal and declare defendants must enforce Title 42 actions, such as expelling most illegal aliens, since the pandemic is still happening. Joe Biden is violating congressionally passed law passed over a series of decades. And perhaps even more importantly, by refusing to uphold our laws, Joe Biden is violating the Constitution and his obligation to take care of the laws we faithfully executed. And the courts can and should enjoin his lawless conduct and order him to enforce our borders, Miller said on Fox. Stephen Miller, senior advisor to the president, attends a joint press conference with President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Sept. 20, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) The Biden administration has not responded to requests for comment and White House press secretary Jen Psaki was not asked about the suit during a briefing on Friday. Psaki told reporters in Washington that the administration is continuing to enforce parts of the Trump era Title 42 order because were still in the middle of a global pandemic. Keeping the American people safe and ensuring that we are taking responsible steps as it relates to the pandemic is front and center for the President. And certainly, thats what we would convey to any of these groups, she said, referring to groups that think the administration should completely repeal the order. At the same time, we absolutely believe that we should be a country thatwe are a country that wants to treat people humanely, as is evidenced by our efforts to treat children who come into this countrywho are under 18, who are coming as unaccompanied childrenin a manner that was not the same as the former administration, she added. SKIP DICKSTEIN/ALBANY TIMES UNION ALBANY - A state Department of Motor Vehicles office assistant was arrested for illegally accessing DMV records of family members and other persons for personal financial gain, the state Inspector General's office said Friday. Wanda Turner, 53, of Troy, of the Title Bureau at DMVs Swan Street location in Albany, was arraigned in City Court on charges of felony computer trespass and misdemeanor official misconduct, officials said. She has been suspended by the DMV. Turners job duties include reviewing title applications and supporting documents for completeness and accuracy. However, the Inspector Generals investigation found that Turner, a DMV employee for 20 years, allegedly charged people between $40 and $50 per transaction essentially a personal convenience fee on top of existing DMV charges to produce driver abstracts and other documents, which removed the need for them to physically appear in DMV offices. The investigation also found that Turner allegedly accessed records of estranged family members and an ex-boyfriend to obtain addresses and other personal information in violation of the Drivers Privacy Protection Act and DMV policies, officials said. Over the course of six months, Turner conducted at least 225 unauthorized DMV database searches for information on herself and people known to her, the IG said. This individual allegedly misused her taxpayer-funded position to create a side hustle where she illegally accessed DMV information and produced official documents while essentially charging her own convenience fee, said Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro in a statement. According to the DMV, Turner received training regarding rules, policies and laws addressing the use of personal information maintained by the DMV, including the Drivers Privacy Protection Act; the DMVs Code of Conduct; and the contents of the DMVs Employee Handbook. Additionally, Turner has received annual training in Protecting DMV Records. DMV policies also provide that any work done for friends and/or family of an employee should not be done by the specific employee. As Word War II wound down, Major J.H. Tarbell returned from Europe to Easton with $3,000 in seed money to start an investment club. Who would have guessed 75 years later that four-digit investment would have grown to $1 million? The Lafayette College investment club portfolio surpassed the seven-digit mark in February, according to club president Noah Grossman. Grossman is among the 150 members of the student-run club. For decades, Lafayette students have managed and grown the fund based on the principles of doing their homework and choosing long-term investment opportunities. We encourage pretty much all students to join regardless of how much they know about investing, Grossman said. You could be a freshman who knows nothing about the stock market or someone who runs their own portfolio. All are welcome. The club fund is part of the college endowment, Grossman said. The club is the oldest student-run investment club in the nation. Tarbell received the initial $3,000 from grateful soldiers for whom he provided helpful financial advice. Many were afraid to invest, having grown up during the Great Depression. Tarbell wound up at Lafayette after the war, where he became a professor of finance. Investment club members can pitch stocks to buy at the weekly Friday meetings. They need to speak intelligently about the companys background, its officers, its strengths and weaknesses. Then the members decide whether to buy. A new rule requires the club to consider whether companies value hiring diversity and environmental sustainability. Theres a faculty adviser, but he rarely needs to step in to help, according to club marketing director Jack Evans. What makes the club special is that its entirely student run, Evans said. The portfolio includes stocks such as Apple, Microsoft, Caterpillar and IBM. The club invested in Amazon more than 10 years ago and rode it to the top of the market. Reaching $1 million isnt just a thrill for the members. Its a thrill for former club members who have gone on to finance careers. We have alumni from all years following the portfolio. Someone who pitched a stock in 1999 can see we still have the stock in our portfolio. Thats a pride thing, Evans said. The group meets every Friday. All the proceeds stay in the club fund, although some dividends pay for trips to Wall Street and for pizza and soda for the meetings. The club also invites guest speakers from major banks and financial institutions. Theres no financial benefit to being a member. Its an informal opportunity to learn more about what might become a career for some students. People use the experience in job interviews. Its a great networking opportunity, Grossman said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Lehighvalleylive.com. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. On the FactCheck page, The Associated Press tracks down some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals that were shared widely on social media. The AP takes those untrue stories, checks them out and sets the records straight in this weekly series of news articles. Texas lifted a pause on the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, state health officials said. Department of State Health Services officials notified providers that they can resume administering the vaccine following a safety review and a determination by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee that benefits outweigh risks, according to DSHS. We know some Texans prefer the simplicity of a single-dose vaccine, and the ease of storing and handling this vaccine gives providers more flexibility, Dr. John Hellerstedt, the agencys commissioner, said in a statement. Resuming the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will prevent hospitalizations and save lives in Texas. State officials asked health care providers to stop administering the single-dose vaccine while federal officials investigated a rare blood clotting disorder experienced by six recipients in the U.S. Since then, nine more cases of the disorder have been confirmed, including one in Texas. Johnson & Johnson plans to add a label with a warning about the uncommon disorder. alejandro.serrano@chron.com Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 00:21:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Boxes of Sinovac vaccine donnated by China are seen at the Gnassingbe Eyadema International Airport in Lome, Togo, April 23, 2021. The government of Togo received a batch of Sinovac vaccine donnated by China on Friday in support to its fight against COVID-19 as part of the cooperation between the two countries. (Photo by Koffi/Xinhua) LOME, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The government of Togo received a batch of Sinovac vaccine donnated by China on Friday in support to its fight against COVID-19 as part of the cooperation between the two countries. Chinese ambassador to Togo Chao Weidong and the Togolese Minister of Health Mustafa Mijiyawa received the vaccines at the Gnassingbe Eyadema International Airport about midday on Friday. "The donation of the vaccines is a perfect proof of the excellent quality of the relations between our two countries and the depth of the friendship between our two peoples", Chao said. "It is also an illustration of the sense of common destiny to the humankind", he said, underscoring that the donation is in line with the decisions of the Chinese government to make the Chinese vaccine a worldwide public good. Mijiyawa said it is "a very effective vaccine, with minimal side effects and the benefit-risk ratio is clearly in favour of the benefit". "Very shortly, we will administer these vaccines to our people", he said, recalling that his country began immunization operations against COVID-19 on March 10. So far, Togo has reported 12,698 COVID-19 confirmed cases with a death toll of 121 since it recorded its first COVID-19 positive case on March 6, 2020. Enditem Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media HAMDEN Town officials announced the states mobile vaccine clinic will visit the city on Sunday, allowing people to get vaccinated without an appointment. The clinic will be held at Christian Tabernacle Baptist Church, at 425 Newhall Street, and will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Residents of Geidam have reported that Boko Haram insurgents are still engaging the Nigerian troops in a gun battle in Geidam town. The residents made the disclosure after military sources claimed that the troops had foiled the attack, which began on Friday. Some of the residents who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES Saturday morning said they were still in hiding because the gun battle was still raging. Idriss Geidam, in a whatsup message to PREMIUM TIMES reporter, said the insurgents had taken over Hausari Primary school in Geidam as their operational base. Another resident, who corroborated the report, said many of the insurgents gathered in the Hausari area on Friday after one of their vehicles broke down. We gathered that one of their vehicles developed a fault at the Hausari area yesterday so it is possible they have taken over the primary school for their operational base, the source said. Another source also said another group of the attackers have moved to the Fulatari area of Geidam town. A local vigilante told PREMIUM TIMES that dozens of Boko Haram fighters had been killed but added that innocent civilians too could be among the casualties. He said a military artillery fired in the direction of the insurgents hit a residential building, causing an unspecified number of casualty. An artillery gun was dropped at a civilian residence at Aungar (area) Samanaka where an unspecified number of people are believed to have been killed. That gun was fired in that place because the insurgents came and started engaging the military from that place. I am sure some Boko Haram too were killed, the source informed. READ ALSO: A security source also told PREMIUM TIMES that the insurgents had taken two gun-trucks to the Geidam police station and engaged the officers in a gun duel. Destruction PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the insurgents have looted and burnt many shops in the town. They were also reported to have burnt a telecommunication mast and a heavy-duty vehicle for road construction. Recruitment during attack PREMIUM TIMES obtained a pamphlet which was widely circulated in Giedam by the Boko Haram members at the time of their incursion into the town. ADVERTISEMENT The pamphlet contains a campaign in Hausa language for the people to join their brand of Islam. Health officials confirmed they are attempting contact tracing to control case Resident sought test after being in close contact with positive case Western Australia has recorded another locally acquired case of coronavius Western Australia has recorded another locally acquired case of coronavius a day following the snap lockdown of greater Perth and Peel. A resident sought a test on Friday after realising they had been at one of the exposure sites visited by a man who tested positive after flying to Victoria. They tested positive and have since worked with state officials to attempt to identify any trail of the virus. Western Australia Health have confirmed they are attempting to identify any further areas of risk and have confirmed the resident is self-isolating following their positive test. The case takes the state's total to four since the newest outbreak that saw a three-day lockdown imposed which ended all Anzac Day celebrations. Millions of Western Australians have been plunged into a three-day lockdown after one local case of coronavirus A Western Australia Health Department review into its hotel quarantine facilities and their ventilation on April 8th found the Mercure Hotel to be the most at risk of transmission It comes after a 54-year-old man who was released from quarantine at the infamous Mercure Hotel and spent four days in the city tested positive in Melbourne on Friday morning. The man's friend who he stayed with also tested positive in Perth. The man had caught the virus while in hotel quarantine from returned travellers, who had arrived from India and were staying in a nearby room on the same floor. A Western Australia Health Department review into its hotel quarantine facilities and their ventilation on April 8 found the Mercure Hotel to be the most at risk of transmission, along with the Four Points and the Novotel Langley. The report shows three hotels given a 'high-risk' designation, with the Mercure receiving the worst score and recommendation to be shut down as a hotel quarantine facility Documents from Western Australia Health Department anaylsed the viability of Perth's 10 hotel quarantine facilities That led Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson to tell Premier Mark McGowan on April 14 the Mercure should not be used for returned travellers. Less than a week later the hotel would be responsible for the state's latest outbreak - which has now spread to Victoria and sparked a snap three-day lockdown over the Anzac Day weekend. The results of the review were not published until after the latest infections, and Mr McGowan has been accused of 'burying' the report and presiding over a quarantine system full of 'fatal flaws'. Washington: The US Chamber of Commerce on Friday (Saturday AEST) called on the Biden administration to release millions of doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from storage for shipment to India, Brazil and other countries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The vaccine doses will not be needed in the United States, where its estimated that vaccine manufacturers will be able to produce enough doses by early June to vaccinate every American, Myron Brilliant, the chambers vice president and head of international affairs, said in a statement. A truck transports a first shipment of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Santiago, Chile. Credit:AP Shipping stockpiled AstraZeneca vaccine doses to countries struggling with the coronavirus would affirm US leadership, including in COVAX he said, referring to an international partnership to ensure broad access to vaccines. No one is safe from the pandemic until we are all safe from it. (CNN) Debris believed to be from the missing Indonesian navy submarine has been found, Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono told a news conference Saturday. Six pieces of debris believed to be from the submarine, which was lost in the Bali Sea on Wednesday, were presented to journalists. The latest update came as hopes faded for the 53 crew members who were expected to have run out of oxygen early on Saturday. The United States is deploying a P-8 Poseidon submarine hunting aircraft to assist in the search and rescue operation for the submarine. The Indonesian navy said it was sending search helicopters and ships to the area where contact was lost with the 44-year-old KRI Nanggala-402 submarine on Wednesday as it prepared to conduct a torpedo drill. Australia has also deployed a sonar-equipped frigate with a helicopter to help the submarine hunt, while a deep submergence rescue vessel is on route from India, as concerns grow the submarine might have been crushed by water pressure. "The possibility of it having fallen underneath its maximum diving depth thereby leading to the implosion of the submarine will have to be considered," said Collin Koh, research fellow at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies. If the submarine is still intact, Indonesian officials said Friday it would only have enough air to last until about dawn on Saturday if equipment was functioning properly. "So far we haven't found it... but with the equipment available we should be able to find the location," Achmad Riad, a spokesman for the Indonesian military, told a news conference. Koh said the assumption the submarine had 72 hours of oxygen was optimistic given the submarine's limited ability to generate oxygen due to its conventional power generation. "So there's a possibility...oxygen might have already run out," Koh said. Indonesia's navy said it was investigating whether the submarine lost power during a dive and could not carry out emergency procedures as it descended to a depth of 600 to 700 meters (1,968 to 2,296 feet), well beyond its survivable limits. An object with "high magnetic force" had been spotted "floating" at a depth of 50 to 100 meters (164 to 328 feet), Indonesian Navy Chief of Staff Yudo Margono said on Friday, and an aerial search had earlier spotted an oil spill near the submarine's last location. The diesel-electric powered submarine could withstand a depth of up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) but anything more could be fatal, navy spokesman Julius Widjojono said. Experts like Koh say Indonesia will have to expand the area of search again if the magnetic anomaly is proven not to be the vessel and warn that if the submarine is lost at an"extreme depth," it might be possible to retrieve. The Bali Sea can reach depths of more than 1,500 meters (4,921 feet). One of the people on board was the commander of the Indonesian submarine fleet, Harry Setiawan. Late on Friday, the Pentagon said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto and offered additional support, which could include undersea search assets. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Debris from missing Indonesian submarine found, Navy says." Turkey on Saturday accused the United States of trying to rewrite history, resoundingly rejecting US President Joe Bidens decision to formally recognise the Armenian genocide. From the streets of Istanbul to the halls of power, Turks were united in anger at Bidens decision to side with Armenia, France, Germany, Russia and numerous other countries in their interpretation of the horrific World War I events. Words cannot change or rewrite history, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted moments after Biden announced his decision. We will not take lessons from anyone on our history. Biden became the first US president to use the word genocide in a customary statement on the anniversary of the 1915 to 1917 massacre, which happened as the Ottoman Empire unravelled. Trying to soften the inevitable blow to the pride of the strategic NATO ally, Biden on Friday placed the first phone call since his election to Erdogan. The two leaders agreed to meet on the sidelines of a NATO summit in June, and Erdogan who has spent his 18 years in power trying to fight the US decision carefully calibrated the weight of his response. In a message to the Armenian patriarch in Istanbul, Erdogan accused third parties of trying to politicise the century-old debate. Nobody benefits from the debates which should be held by historians being politicised by third parties and becoming an instrument of interference in our country, Erdogan wrote. On a more conciliatory note, Erdogan said Turkey was ready to develop our relations with Armenia based on good neighbourhood and mutual respect. Very bad step But the message from Cavusoglus foreign ministry was strident. We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the president of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups on 24 April, the foreign ministry said in a separate statement. It is clear that the said statement does not have a scholarly and legal basis, nor is it supported by any evidence, it said. With regards to the events of 1915, none of the conditions required for the use of the term genocide that is strictly defined in international law are met. The Armenians, supported by many historians and scholars, say 1.5 million of their people died in a genocide committed under the Ottoman Empire, which was fighting tsarist Russia in areas that include present-day Armenia. Turkey accepts that both Armenians and Turks died in huge numbers during World War I, but vehemently denies there was a deliberate policy of genocide a term that had not been legally defined at the time. Turkey puts the Armenian death toll at around 300,000. Ordinary Turks said Bidens recognition of the genocide underscored the troubled nature of Turkeys current relationship with Washington, which had once benefited from Erdogans personal friendship with Donald Trump. Its a very bad step. Our relationship is already really bad with the US, and this will only worsen it, said Istanbul resident Dilek Mercin. During a war, things happen to both parties, so it is meaningless to call it like that, added Selda, a pensioner. Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed into law Monday an anti-riot bill aimed at suppressing and criminalizing popular protests against police violence. The bill asserts the false equivalence Republicans across the US have sought to draw between peaceful anti-police violence protests and looting and property damage that has sometimes coincided with demonstrations. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (Credit: Facebook) The law was passed ahead of the verdict in the trial of police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd. Chauvins killing of Floyd triggered a wave of anti-police marches throughout the nation last summer, including in cities across Florida. The draconian legislation is the latest in a series of measures Republican state legislators nationwide have taken to repress social opposition and attack democratic rights. In presenting the law, the so-called Combating Public Disorder bill, the Republican governor asserted that it was the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement measure in the country. While the vast majority of demonstrations over the summer remained peaceful, DeSantis claimed that the law was needed to stop rioters, which in reality means cracking down even further against any opposition to police brutality under conditions where workers and youth continue to protest the uninterrupted wave of police killings. After signing the bill, DeSantis said that the legislation would introduce new protections for police officers and put an end to the bullying and intimidation tactics of the radical left. It grants police districts and state officials the right to appeal if a municipality or county seeks to reduce its local police budget. The bill also contains a slew of anti-democratic and punitive procedures aimed at emboldening the police and punishing discontent. It allows authorities to detain arrested protesters until they make their first appearance in courtpreventing them from immediately posting bail. It enlarges the penalties for any damage to property or other forms of violence during protests. The law also penalizes mass public demonstrations, characterizing them as mob intimidation and makes it a crime to dox police officials, hampering the ability of protestors to record and expose instances of violence from law enforcement officials during protests. Protestors could now face longer prison sentences of up to 10 years for targeting public memorials or historic structures, such as the dozens of Confederate monuments, dedicated to those who fought to defend slavery during the Civil War, that were either removed or rebranded last year. In supporting and carrying the reactionary bill into the state senate, Republican senator Danny Burgess said, rights have limits, and violence is where the line is drawn and the bill is about preventing violence. Legislation targeting protests is only one of several other initiatives being launched by Republican state officials to erode key democratic rights. A bill introduced in recent weeks, known as S.B. 90, imposes new voting restrictions in local and federal elections. The legislation adds stringent requirements for absentee voting, expanded powers for voting observers overseeing vote counts, limits on drop off ballots and new requirements for voters requesting absentee ballots. The bill was approved by the Senate Rules Committee by a margin of 10-7, with only one Republican joining every Democrat in opposing it. The committee approval sets up a possible floor vote on the legislation in the coming weeks. Republicans have falsely claimed that the bill is necessary to ensure the states elections are secure, citing unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud during Floridas 2020 elections. The restriction of voting rights is being repeated in countless states throughout the country, with the Republican Party promoting the fraudulent claim first proclaimed by former President Donald Trump that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, which was the political pretext for the mobilization of fascist forces during the January 6 insurrection aimed at overturning the victory of President Joe Biden. According to a report released by the Brennan Center for Justice in February, Florida is among 33 states where lawmakers with dominant Republican control are pursuing legislation to massively restrict voting. The report found that around 165 of such bills had been filed up until then, compared to just 35 in February 2020. DeSantis and Florida republicans have been among the most ferocious in their campaign to alter state voting laws. These changes include raising the threshold for passage of a referendum to alter Floridas constitution from 60 percent of ballots to around 67 percent and lowering the donation caps for political action committees sponsoring constitutional amendments, rendering it far more difficult for petitioners to place amendment proposals up for votes. Floridas Democratic Party has responded to the brazen attacks on democratic rights with their usual rhetorical posturing. Democratic Senate leader Gary Farmer called the proposals a suppression campaign not seen since Jim Crow days. U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Broward County said the Republicans were making deceitful claims about elections and using manufactured fears of fraud. Florida Democrats earlier in the year went out of their way to solidarize themselves with the Republicans in praising the relative smoothness of the states November 2020 elections in contrast to the contentious national presidential outcome. This was despite the Democrats encountering major electoral defeats, including losing five state representative seats, increasing the Republicans control over the lower house of the legislature. The Democrats have used their platform to make criticisms of the Republicans policies while making no serious attempt to oppose the latters undemocratic maneuvers, by above all refusing to mobilize popular opposition against the bills out of fear of provoking a greater social upheaval. State Democratic officials, in lockstep with their nationwide counterparts, have gone out of their way to maintain bipartisan unity with their Republican colleagues, by combining whimpers of opposition with utterly feckless claims that nothing can be done to stop the descent towards authoritarianism. Kindhearted strangers have raised $200,000 for the three children of a mum who was allegedly burned to death by her estranged husband. Kelly Wilkinson's charred body was found early on Tuesday morning in the backyard of her home in Arundel on the Gold Coast, after neighbours reported hearing screams and the sound of an explosion. Her former partner Brian Johnston, 35, was found two blocks away on a front lawn in a 'semiconscious state'. The horrific tragedy shocked the nation and prompted an outpouring of grief and anger around the globe. Her distraught family set up a GoFundMe page earlier this week asking for help to pay for the funeral of their 'beautiful angel'. 'Unfortunately Kelly has passed away... we are trying to raise money to pay for the funeral, the kids schooling and all other costs,' her sister Natalie wrote. The GoFundMe page has now raised over $200,000, surpassing the original goal of $50,000 in just a day Her estranged partner Brian Johnston, 34, (right) was found two blocks away on a front lawn in a 'semiconscious' state and has been charged with Ms Wilkinson's (left) murder Donations from more than three thousand people have now climbed to $204,000 after surpassing the original goal of $50,000 in just a day. 'We would like to say thank you to every person who has donated or shared our post!' Natalie wrote. 'We are lost for words with the generosity found within the community. 'We would like to let everyone know we really appreciate all the donations and kind words.' In a tragic double blow, Kelly's mother, Karen, died in February. Several people responded to Ms Wilkinson's sister's post, expressing their condolences and devastation at the news. 'Rest in Peace Kelly. Sincerest condolences to your family. Your passing is tragic and senseless. I am so sorry,' one person replied. 'What a tragedy for the beautiful family that I remember. Sending love and prayers to you all. May you all be strong and help each other,' another wrote. 'I am so so so sorry Natalie,' a third wrote. Kelly Wilkinson's father Reg Wilkinson and sisters Danielle Carroll, Natalie and Emma Wilkinson said the young mother endured 'months, years of abuse' Kelly Wilkinson pictured with one of her three children during her time living in the US Ms Wilkinson is believed to have visited police on two separate occasions before her American husband, a former US marine allegedly set her on fire in the backyard of her home. Her devastated family claim Johnston was controlling and dictated what the young mother wore, how she styled her hair, and banned her from getting a driver's licence or a job. Ms Wilkinson told officers at Southport Police Station that Johnston breached a March 29 domestic violence order, police said. She then asked for help from a domestic violence agency on April 13, just one week before she was allegedly burned to death. However, assistant commissioner Brian Codd told media on Thursday police did not believe that at the time Johnston had breached his conditions. 'Contact was made [by Ms Wilkinson] because of suggestions there were breaches of conditions and they were looked at and assessed and it was determined the scenario was consistent with the conditions,' he said. A local Arundel resident, Louise Christie, paid her respects at the scene on Wednesday Police and SES search along the street where Kelly Wilkinson and her children were living Forensic officers during their lengthy investigation of the Arundel property REVEALED: BRIAN JOHNSTON'S MILITARY RECORD By Daniel Piotrowski The ex-US Marine accused of killing his wife was a corporal who served two tours of Iraq over five years of service between 2005 and 2010. In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, the Marines confirmed Corporal Brian Johnston was a fixed wing aircraft mechanic. He was deployed to the Middle East under Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007 and 2008. Johnston received various awards including the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and Marine Corp Good Conduct Medal. He was last attached to the Fourth Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. Advertisement Johnston was allowed to walk free from custody after he was arrested on April 12 for what were described as 'serious crimes' allegedly committed on February 18 to 23. He was given home-watch bail until his first court appearance at Southport Magistrates Court the following week. Assistant Commissioner Codd said an internal review would be conducted and admitted police had failed to protect Ms Wilkinson. 'Ultimately it's a failure,' he said. 'A woman has died. She's been killed. Somewhere along the line she has engaged with the system, and we were unable to prevent this from occurring.' Johnston was charged with murder and breaching a domestic violence order following his arrest on Tuesday. He was taken to the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital to be treated for burns injuries before he was placed into an induced coma. Ms Wilkinson met Johnston online 10 years ago and shortly after travelled to the US to meet him. The pair married when she was just 18, before separating a couple of months ago. 'She was just starting to become who she was, who she wanted to be and discover what she wanted, and what she liked, who she could be,' her sister Emma said. Another sister, Danielle, said her sibling returned to Australia five years ago to allegedly try and flee Johnston, an ex-US Marine, who followed her Down Under. The devastated family said it wasn't until Ms Wilkinson came home that they realised the true extent of their alleged marriage problems. 'She was such a private person and didn't want to burden any of us with what was happening and I guess that was her fear of speaking out and people not believing,' sister Natalie said. Kelly Wilkinson, 27, (left and centre) visited police on two separate occasions before her American husband and former US marine Brian Earl Johnston, 34, (right) allegedly set her on fire in the back yard of her home An operation to put out one of the largest gorse fires in recent years in Northern Ireland is to continue into a third day. Firefighters have been tackling the blaze in the Mourne Mountains since Friday. More than 100 firefighters and 12 appliances from across Northern Ireland were supported by police, the Coastguard, Mourne Rescue Team, the Forestry Service, National Trust, NIEA and Sky Watch Patrol. Coastguard helicopters from the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain allowed fire chiefs an aerial view of the blaze to help inform tactics as well as transporting personnel to remote locations to tackle the flames. Aidan Jennings, assistant chief fire and rescue officer, said the view from above also allowed them to plan which resources to deploy on Sunday. We are working closely with many partner agencies at the scene and this support has been invaluable. This is truly a multi-agency effort to bring this fire under control, he said. An Irish Coastguard helicopter landing in Newcastle, Co Down on Saturday (Rebecca Black/PA) We are making good progress however its been a challenging and exhausting day for everyone involved. Every firefighter on the mountain has been working exceptionally hard and I want to pay tribute to them. They have had to work in intense heat, carrying equipment and they have been physically beating fires out. They have witnessed first-hand the devastation on the mountain yet they are heartened by the support of our local community and the generosity in providing refreshments. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Mr Jennings said with warm weather expected to continue, the conditions are perfect to allow wildfires to start and spread quickly. He has urged the public to stay away from the area of the blaze, and also to be fire aware. He also provided reassurance that fire crews will be available to those who need them despite the operation in the Mournes. Northern Irelands assistant fire chief Aidan Jennings (Rebecca Black/PA) I want to reassure everyone that we have put contingency measures in place and if you need us in an emergency we will respond, he said. However, I am asking everyone to be extra fire aware at this time both in your home and in particular in the countryside. The blaze in the Slieve Donard area started in the early hours of Friday morning. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service declared a major incident on Saturday. Dramatic images of the Co Down peak ablaze sparked concern, with First Minister Arlene Foster tweeting: This is devastating and tragic. The impact on wildlife and flora is unimaginable. Full support to those battling the flames. The huge gorse fire spreading across the Mourne Mountains, as seen from Newcastle, Co Down (@DeeJayDready) Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis described the scenes as deeply distressing at one of the regions most beautiful landmarks. He paid tribute to the firefighters at the scene. Environment Minister Edwin Poots said horrifying damage is being done over a wide spread area, particularly to wildlife and biodiversity. He met emergency responders at the major incident command centre in Newcastle on Saturday. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. Mr Poots commended all involved in the effort to stem the fire. This should not be happening, it is a time of the year when there is a lot of dry grass about, and people need to be ultra cautious that they dont accidently start a fire like this, he said. And for those who do it deliberately you are doing massive damage to the environment, to biodiversity and to wildlife. Environment Minister Edwin Poots meeting with firefighters in the operation against a huge gorse fire spreading across the Mourne Mountains in Co Down (Press Eye/PA) He said the area could take years to recover from the damage. Mr Jennings said this is undoubtedly one of the most challenging gorse fires firefighters have ever had to deal with. The flames were spread from Bloody Bridge, across Thomas Mountain and the base of Slieve Donard. The fire also extends up Slieve Donard to higher and less accessible ground. He said: Firefighters are wearing personal protective equipment, travelling for an hour, hour-and-a-half, up the mountain, carrying equipment you cant get water to the scene of the fire. Were working with small pumps out of rivers but predominantly it is a physical, hard, beating out job up there. We use landrovers to get crews up as far as we can, but then its out on foot, walking up with all of that equipment. He described the fire as naturally fed with the terrain, and moving quickly with the easterly wind. Mr Jennings said the focus is currently on preventing the spread of the fire, and not on working to determine how it started. However, he said wildfires are predominantly caused by human behaviour. I dont expect to find that this is any different. South Down MP Chris Hazzard (Rebecca Black/PA) South Down MP Chris Hazzard said the local community is both shocked and angry at the impact on a popular spot with visitors, particularly after the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. He said hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to the area every year. Mr Hazzard described seeing the smoke on Friday, but then watching the wildfire escalate later after winds saw it spread rapidly towards Slieve Donard. People will have seen the shocking images, the Mournes last night looked like a range of volcanos that were erupting, he said. There was shock, but also anger in the community that here we are again, another event we have to deal with. Obviously they have been dealing with Covid-19, but there was also a large flood last year and now were going to have to pick up the pieces after the fire. For every parent who takes a child to Lakeside Shopping Center to scope out favorite characters at the Disney store, here's some bad news: The Metairie store is set to close by May 19, according to shopdisney.com. More than 30 Disney stores were expected to close in March, and The Walt Disney Co. has said it will close at least 60 this year, according to USA Today. That's about one third of the company's North American locations. USA Today reported that Disney is refocusing on e-commerce. The Lakeside location is the only Disney store in Louisiana. The next closest to New Orleans is in Houston, Texas. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on April 24 attended the ASEAN Leaders Meeting held at the ASEAN Secretariats headquarters in Jakarta, the first in-person meeting of its kind in 2021. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the ASEAN Leaders Meeting (Photo: VNA) Sharing concerns of other participants on the Myanmar situation and ASEANs role, Chinh affirmed that Vietnam, as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021 and the president for April, has worked to create favourable conditions for the ASEAN member nations to collaborate closely at UN forums in mobilising support for the blocs efforts in approaching and finding suitable solutions to the Myanmar issue. At their meeting, ASEAN leaders focused on discussing ASEAN Community building, the blocs external relations, and issues of regional and international concerns. They said facing many challenges to regional peace, stability and development, more than ever, ASEAN needs to push for solidarity and mutual assistance to overcome difficulties and sustain its centrality and position. Stepping up COVID-19 response and promoting comprehensive recovery are among the top priorities of the bloc at the moment. The leaders agreed to continue effectively implementing pandemic-response initiatives passed last year, particularly completing and conducting a plan for employing the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund as soon as possible to buy vaccines and support recovery efforts. They said they back the ASEAN Responses to Emergencies and Disasters (ASEAN SHIELD), an initiative of Brunei. Participating nations also agreed ASEAN should further strengthening effective, practical, and balanced dialogues and cooperation with its partners based on its basic principles and ensuring its central role. They supported proposals for increasing the blocs relations with China, Australia, the US, and the UK. On the Myanmar situation, the leaders expressed their concern and said it is worsening, and held that it is necessary for ASEAN to promote its role and employ its existing mechanisms to assist the nation in line with the blocs spirit of solidarity and non-interference in internal affairs. Accordingly, ASEAN representatives will be sent to Myanmar to learn about the situation, contact with the sides involved, and propose ways and measures to promote dialogue and conciliation. ASEAN member states agreed to continue boosting humanitarian assistance efforts to help Myanmar people via the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA). ASEAN leaders discuss Myanmar situation ASEAN leaders sat down together in Jarkata on April 24 to mull over the Myanmar situation. According to Indonesia President Joko Widodo, the leaders reached an agreement on the issue, which will be announced by the Secretary General of the bloc. Widodo proposed ASEAN send a special envoy to contact all sides in Myanmar and set up aid channels for the country. The discussion took place at the ASEAN Secretariats headquarters in the capital of Indonesia at the invitation of Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, who is the Chair of ASEAN 2021. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh represented Vietnam at the event./.VNA Mondays Australian Story revisits Forever Young an update on the 1987 disappearance of Ursula Barwick. This episode is introduced by Loren OKeeffe, founder of the Missing Persons Advocacy Network. A litany of errors and a blatant lack of investigation by NSW Police has been laid bare during evidence at a recent coronial inquest into the disappearance of Ursula Barwick. The bubbly 17-year-old vanished without a trace in 1987. Her family dropped her to the train station on the NSW Central Coast, where she was headed to Sydney to start a new job. But they never saw her again. Police failures in Ursula Barwicks case were first raised in an Australian Story program in 2019. Evidence presented to the Coroner last month upheld many of the familys concerns and documented a trail of errors and missed opportunities to piece together what had happened to her. We now know through the evidence from the inquest that the missing persons report that Pete put in, there was no record of it. It appears that there was no investigation into her disappearance from day one, says stepmother Liz Barwick. Despite the evidence being available to locate Ursula weeks after she disappeared it took police 29 years to connect the dots. This inaction, this carelessness has led to three decades of absolute unnecessary, preventable torment for the family, says Loren OKeeffe from the Missing Persons Advocacy Network. In the wake of widespread criticisms, the NSW Police Force launched a new Missing Persons Registry in 2019 and have updated procedures in relation to missing persons cases. Monday 26 April at 8pm on ABC. Related Matovic emphasised that it was not the actual reason. The actual reason according to him was that it was a matter of honour. Font size: A - | A + Finance Minister Igor Matovic finally organised a press conference at the Governments Office on April 15 after several days of avoiding journalists. Matovic repeatedly attacked Zuzana Batova, director of the State Institute for Drug Control (SUKL), and journalists. He called the SUKL a hostile institution and said that they have been publishing political hoaxes. Matovic also complained that he has been publicly lynched and expected praise for what he called his daring deed of bringing Sputnik V to Slovakia. Slovakia did not pay He went on to cite a messages from Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Fund for Direct Investments, directly from his phone, according to which he said, the Russian side asked for the vaccines to be returned as soon as possible which should not be a problem because Slovakia had not paid for them. State controllers will not decide on Sputnik V. They do not have enough data Read more He went on to say that the RDIF also stated in their letter dated April 6 that the reason for requesting the return of the vaccines was that Slovakia failed to pay. Matovic emphasised that this was not the actual reason. The actual reason according to him was that it was a matter of honour. The finance minister also said that he believed Slovakia had paid for the vaccines on April 6, the very same day the letter from Russia arrived. Matovic said he was later informed that the Russian side returned the payment on April 15. I am afraid we might lose the vaccines, he noted. Budapest chosen by Matovic Matovic stressed that the Russian side had requested that Slovakia has the vaccines tested in an OMCL laboratory, after they saw the statement issued by the SUKL. Matovic said he chose Budapest, because it was the closest laboratory and that his Russian partners had not insisted on a particular country or a particular laboratory. Finance Minister Matovic flew to Moscow for Sputnik negotiations Read more Russia is a big country but they deserve our support, he noted and repeated that his Russian negotiation partners were offended by the SUKLs statement. He also admitted that he has not read the purchase contract for the Sputnik V vaccines between Slovakia and Russia. The contract was probably signed by the then health minister Marek Krajci, he said. 15. Apr 2021 at 19:43 | Compiled by Spectator staff YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan sent a letter to President of the USA Joe Biden, thanking him for naming the developments in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 ''Armenian Genocide''. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime MInister, the letter runs as follows, Excellency, The people of Armenia and Armenians all over the world perceived with great enthusiasm and welcomed your message, in which you officially recognized and condemned the genocide of Armenians perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in 1915-23. I highly appreciate your principled position, which is a powerful step on the way to acknowledging the truth, historical justice, and an invaluable of support for the descendants of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. By making special mention of the resolutions on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide passed by the two houses of the U.S. Congress in 2019, I wish to state that your message brought to completion the process of recognizing the Armenian Genocide in the United States. The acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide is important not only as a tribute paid to the 1.5 million innocent victims, but also in terms of preventing the recurrence of similar crimes against mankind. The recognition of the Genocide is a matter of truth, historical justice and security to the Republic of Armenia, especially in the light of the events that took place in our region last year. I fully share your view, namely that If we fail to fully acknowledge, commemorate genocide and teach our children about it, the words Never again become meaningless. Honorable Mr. Biden, The recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States is a much-needed message to the international community, which comes to reaffirm the primacy of human rights and values in international relations. From this perspective, it sets an encouraging and inspiring example for all those who want to build a just and tolerant international society. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration. Actor Varun Dhawan will be seen next in Jug Jugg Jeeyo will be directed by Raj Mehta. According to media reports, the second schedule of the movie was supposed to start this month in Mumbai but as India battles the second wave of the dreaded novel coronavirus, the state of Maharashtra has entered a janta curfew and hence, the shooting for the film is stuck. We were supposed to shoot this month, but are faced with a challenge again, director Raj Mehta told a leading newspaper, adding: "We had shot the first schedule right after the first wave of the pandemic. It was difficult, and we did have cases on the set. But at the end of the day, you have to take safety precautions and trust the team." As India announced a grim records - the highest daily coronavirus infection tallies in a single country - Americans were enjoying a spring of vaccine abundance. In India, just 1.4% of the population has been fully vaccinated, and overwhelmed hospitals have been running short of oxygen. Meanwhile, in the United States - where 1 in 4 Americans are fully vaccinated and more than 40% have gotten at least the first dose - a major Miami hospital, Jackson Memorial, said it would begin winding down vaccinations because of excess supply and weakening demand. In Michigan, health workers are rolling out shots to high school students. In North Carolina, doses sat on shelves earlier this month during a pause for spring break. A long-simmering debate over the glaring gap in vaccine access - largely between rich and poor countries, but among some developed nations, too - is now boiling over, with global figures and national leaders decrying the vaccine plenty in a few nations and the relative drought almost everywhere else. African nations such as Namibia and Kenya are denouncing a "vaccine apartheid," while others are calling for policy changes in Washington and a broader rethink of the intellectual property and trademark laws that govern vaccine manufacturing in global pandemics. "It's outrageous ethically, morally, scientifically," said Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization, on global vaccine inequities. "We have all the kindling to start fires everywhere," she said in an interview. "We're sitting on a powder keg." It is happening at a demarcation point in the pandemic. In some countries with high vaccination rates - including the United States, Britain and Israel - coronavirus numbers are decreasing or plateauing. But globally, the number of new cases per week has nearly doubled since February, according to the WHO, particularly as some nations in the developing world witness their highest infection rates yet. "Many countries still have no vaccines whatsoever," said Rob Yates, executive director of the Center for Universal Health at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. "You're seeing much anger, and I think it's justified." The surging numbers come as a chain reaction of vaccine nationalism is hindering the flow of doses to poorer nations through Covax, a WHO-backed effort to distribute vaccines around the world. India, a massive vaccine maker - mostly producing the AstraZeneca formula - has largely stopped exporting as its own surge worsens, dealing a major setback to the slow Covax rollout. The global initiative had expected 71% of its initial doses to come from India's Serum Institute, the country's largest vaccine maker. But so far, Covax has delivered 43 million doses of its 2 billion-dose goal this year. On Friday, India set global single-day record of more than 314,000 new cases on Thursday. Critics in India, in turn, have blamed the United States for policies that have curbed the export of vaccines - as well as the supplies used to make them. The Trump administration tapped the Defense Production Act to hasten vaccine development. The Biden administration has also used it, including to increase production of materials used in vaccine manufacturing. The White House stresses that the rules do not amount to an export ban. Critics, however, say the result is similar because it allows U.S. companies to cut to the front of the line for supplies, effectively shoving some global customers toward the back. "Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the U.S., I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S. so that vaccine production can ramp up," Adar Poonawalla, head of India's Serum Institute, tweeted to Biden on April 16. "Your administration has the details." "It is disastrous for low- and middle-income countries," said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University, "particularly countries like India who could be the engine to vaccinate the world." Many developing nations argue that the United States and other wealthy Western countries could rapidly boost global vaccine supplies by temporarily suspending pharmaceutical companies' intellectual property rights. That could allow poorer countries to produce their own versions of trademarked vaccines, such as Pfizer's or Moderna's. In March, the United States, Britain and members of the European Union blocked a World Trade Organization proposal backed by roughly 80 nations, including India and South Africa, to waive patent protections for coronavirus vaccines. The WTO plans to revisit the issue in May. A group of U.S. senators led by Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., along with former heads of state and Nobel laureates, have urged Biden to support a temporary waiver. Nicholas Lusiani, senior adviser at the anti-poverty group Oxfam America, said Biden administration officials indicated a potential about-face to support the proposal during recent talks with the group. He said Washington was also considering backing an ambitious effort to help fund vaccine manufacturing hubs in Latin America and Africa. "In the last few weeks, we've seen a groundswell of support for what was seen as a place the U.S. would never go - temporarily suspending patent rights," Lusiani said. A Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media, declined to specify whether it would support the trademark waiver. In remarks to a virtual WTO summit last week, however, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai suggested the status quo was not working. "This is not just a challenge for governments," she said. "This challenge applies equally to the industry responsible for developing and manufacturing the vaccines." The administration has defended its response, pointing to its financial support for Covax - it has pledged funding up to $4 billion - as well as plans to work with Australia, Japan and India to boost supply in Southeast Asia in the years ahead. Separately, the Biden administration has "loaned" a combined 4 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine - not yet authorized by U.S. regulators - to Mexico and Canada. France this week donated about 100,000 doses to Covax and has said it may contribute 13 million doses by the end of the year. New Zealand has pledged 1.6 million doses to Covax. Both China and Russia have focused on bilateral vaccine diplomacy, but have also said they will work with Covax in some way. Biden suggested Wednesday that vaccine donations to Covax may be in the offing at some point. But he has stopped short of outlining a timeline or strategy for sharing the U.S. surplus, which could reach 300 million doses or more by the summer, according to an estimate from researchers at Duke University's Global Health Innovation Center. The vaccine divide is not just between rich and poor, but between wealthy neighbors, too. Canada brokered advance-purchase agreements with several pharmaceutical firms for hundreds of millions of potential doses, far more than it needs for its 38 million people. But it has had limited capacity to manufacture coronavirus vaccines at home, leaving it eying the U.S. rollout with jealousy and some resentment. "You really see who your friends and foes are," Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters last month, suggesting "our closest friend" Washington should be doing more to help. "I thought I'd see a little bit of a change with the new administration, but, again, it's every person for themselves out there." What the World Bank classifies as 'high-income countries" - accounting for just 16% of the world's population - have locked up more than 50% of near-term supply, according to research from Duke University. There is no question the United States is practically rolling in vaccines. All Americans 16 and over are now eligible for a shot. Health officials in states including West Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania have said that supply is already exceeding demand, and their new challenge is combating vaccine hesitancy. While it's difficult to determine exactly how many vials of vaccines are sitting unused across the United States, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that a dozen states are administering less than three-quarters of the doses they receive. A spokesperson for the vaccine alliance Gavi, a partner in Covax, said vaccine deliveries were happening faster now than during the H1N1 "swine flu" pandemic in 2009, when a few wealthy countries tied up almost all the global supply. Covax is also seeking to make up for delays in exports from India by pursuing deals with other vaccine makers. But countries are growing impatient. In Namibia, home to 2.5 million people, only 128 people had received two doses of vaccines as of mid-April. "We did apply and paid our deposit for the covid vaccine, but there is a vaccine apartheid," Namibia's president, Hage Geingob, told reporters this month. "I'm saying that we, a small country, have paid a deposit but up to now we didn't get any vaccine." Guatemala's president, Alejandro Giammattei, echoed those sentiments, saying Covax had failed his country and Latin America at large. He said Guatemala - where cases are spiking - has had to turn to India and Russia for vaccines, because it has only received 81,000 of the 3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine it purchased through Covax. "The Covax system has been a failure," he said. "A small group of countries have all the vaccines and a large number do not have any access." Countries in the Caribbean - which consider themselves a "third border" with the United States - have expressed particular frustration with Washington. Timothy Harris, prime minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, said in an interview with The Washington Post that India had stepped in to aid his and other Caribbean nations with thousands of doses. "But from the United States, disappointedly, we have not had one dose of vaccines," he said. "Not one dose." - - - The Washington Post's Joel Achenbach in Washington, Amanda Coletta in Toronto, Quentin Ariesin Brussels and Ana Vanessa Herrero in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report. BOSTON (AP) Kyle Seager singled, doubled and tripled, Sam Haggerty and Ty France also had three hits apiece, and Chris Flexen limited Boston to four hits over seven innings on Saturday to lead the Seattle Mariners to an 8-2 victory over the Red Sox. Seager singled in a run in the first inning, tripled home two more in the second and doubled in the fifth. Seager, who homered in his last at-bat on Friday night, had two chances to complete the cycle on Saturday, but he struck out on three pitches in the seventh and popped out in foul territory in the ninth. The thought crossed my mind, he said. Its not something you go into the game thinking about. So that was pretty cool for me. It was definitely something that gets you thinking. Flexen (2-1) gave up one run, striking out seven while walking one and hitting a batter. He took a two-hit shutout into the seventh before Rafael Devers doubled high off the Green Monster and scored on Marwin Gonzalez's single to make it 5-1. Bobby Dalbec grounded out to end the threat. It was the third time in Flexen's four starts this season that he has allowed one or fewer runs. Confidence is growing every time out there with Flex, manager Scott Servais said. He feels like he belongs. I love the way hes growing. Nathan Eovaldi (3-2) snapped a personal three-game winning streak, allowing five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits in five innings. He struck out three, walking one batter, hitting another and throwing two wild pitches. Devers doubled off the left field wall again in the ninth to make it 8-2. TROUBLE IN THE TRIANGLE The Mariners scored three in the second inning when Haggerty singled, stole second and took third on France's slow roller that a charging Devers couldn't barehand. Seager followed with a high fly ball that turned center fielder Alex Verdugo around in the deepest part of the park. The ball one-hopped the 420-foot marker, with both runs scoring before Seager chugged into third without a throw. He scored on Eovaldis wild pitch to make it 4-0. Story continues Absolutely terrible aim, said Seager, who also had a long double in the fifth. Im glad to hit a ball hard, so that was really nice. Seager also scored in the fifth when shortstop Xander Bogaerts fumbled what could have been Taylor Trammell's inning-ending grounder behind second base. Haggerty hit a solo homer in the eighth to make it 6-1 before Seattle tacked on two more in the ninth. (Seager) probably should have had a couple of homers. Those balls to center, thats a long way out there, Servais said. Our offense really rolls when hes swinging the bat that way. Seager has five hits in his last two games to snap an 0-for-20 skid. After reports that he had purged some of his unlucky bats from his locker, Seager joked that clubhouse manager Ryan Stiles had ordered him right-handed bats. Nothings that weird when youve been around Kyle Seager, Servais said. He needed to clean out some garbage. Those bats that werent working, he got rid of those. UP NEXT Seattle lefty Nick Margevicius (0-1) is scheduled to face Boston lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0) in a 1:10 p.m. start. Rain is in the forecast. - More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports ADVERTISEMENT The police in Lagos have arrested a 39-year-old man, Udu Augustine, for impersonating a police officer. Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the police spokesperson in Lagos, said in a statement that officers stopped the suspects motorcycle at Orile Bus Stop, and he introduced himself as a police officer to them. The operatives suspected him and put some questions to him but he could not provide any satisfactory answer. Hence, he was arrested in possession of a police warrant card. After the arrest, he was taken to his house, where one police camouflage T-shirt, one face cap and some police accoutrements were recovered from him, he said. Mr Adejobi added that the Commissioner of Police, Lagos state, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered that the suspect be transferred to the commands Special Squad for thorough investigation. The police boss, however, directed all the Divisional Police Officers across the state to be on the lookout for and arrest impersonators who are on the prowl as their activities dent the image of the Nigeria Police Force, he said. Robbers arrested In another development, the police say operatives attached to Itire Division in Lagos arrested a suspected armed robber in Surulere area of the state. The suspect, Samuel Ayooluwa, 24, was arrested at about 9.40p.m. on Thursday at No 54, Olatilewa Street, Lawanson, Surulere, Lagos, Mr Adejobi said. Mr Adejobi said police operatives on routine patrol around the area had responded to a distress call from one of the shop owners at the address before the suspect was arrested. The spokesperson said the complaint was that three armed men on motorcycle attacked customers in the shop and dispossessed them of their belongings. The police, who raced to the scene, gave the suspects a hot chase and eventually arrested one of them, Samuel, while the other two escaped. Items recovered from him included two locally-made pistols, three live cartridges, three expended cartridges and two mobile phones, he said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 24) Sen. Leila de Lima on Saturday began her three-day medical furlough at the Manila Doctor's Hospital after having a suspected mild stroke. Two Muntinlupa city courts earlier allowed De Lima, who is facing drug charges, to temporarily leave detention and have a medical examination after she had headaches and exhibited weakness, which her doctor said could be a mild stroke. De Lima arrived at the hospital to undergo medical tests. The opposition senator also tested negative for the coronavirus, her chief of staff Fhillip Sawali told reporters. De Lima had a one-day medical furlough in February for her routine check-up. The 61-year-old senator has been detained since 2017 on drug-related charges, which she describes as trumped up. One of the three charges was dismissed. Traders in Delhi will observe voluntary for one more week to assist the government in bringing down the Covid numbers, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said on Saturday. Accordingly, more than 100 leading associations from all parts of Delhi have decided to observe 'Voluntary Self Lockdown' from April 26 April to May 2. In a virtual meeting held on Friday, urged Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to extend the current six-day lockdown, scheduled to end at 5 am on Monday, for one more week. "The is going to get over at 5 am on April 26. The trade leaders at the conference said that considering the present deplorable situation of medical facilities and the rising number of Covid cases in Delhi, it will be appropriate to continue the closure of shops for one more week from April 26," said. "During this time, it is hoped that the government will be able to check the extensive spread of coronavirus, besides augmenting the medical facilities in Delhi. If the government does not take such a decision for any reason, the trade associations of Delhi will observe a week's voluntary self from April 26 to May 2," it added. According to CAIT, the call for the self lockdown is purely voluntary and if any association wants to open the market, it will be free to do so. "However, during the self lockdown, the supplies of essential commodities will be maintained as usual as per the Covid guidelines of the government," the traders' body said. Besides, has also urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to waive the GST on oxygen, which is 18 per cent at present. The national president of CAIT, B.C. Bhartia, said that in view of the oxygen shortage in Delhi, the trade associations have decided to procure oxygen concentrators in good quantity and given them to the people in need. In addition, the traders' body said that it will soon form a Plasma Bank where the names of the people who have recovered from Covid will be enrolled with their consent to be plasma donors, and any one requiring plasma will be able to contact the donor directly. --IANS rv/arm (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) HORRY COUNTY Horry County has created a program, "Map Your Move," that allows residents to understand if they are moving into a flood zone. Since 2015, Horry County has developed 500 homes in a Special Flood Hazard Area also known as a 100-year flood zone. And with more properties being approved to be built in flood zones, Horry County is attempting to aid its newest residents in identifying homes that are in a flood zone. "Map Your Move" will allow people to look up properties by address; learning current flood zones, preliminary flood zones, road closures from Hurricanes Florence and Matthew, and more. The program can be viewed at the following website: www.horrycounty.org/apps/mapyourmove. "We heard feedback from folks ... that they were moving to the area they didn't have knowledge, or the tools that they thought they needed to make decisions or understand some of their risks," said Kelly Moore, a county spokesperson. "And even now as we have begun the buyout process, we're hearing folks say that they moved to the area and they didn't know something would flood." While a lot of the information on the program has been publicly available, Kelly described this site as a "one-stop shop" for potential residents to begin finding information on flooding and living in Horry. Sign up for our Myrtle Beach weekly update newsletter. Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Myrtle Beach area. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Myrtle Beach news staff. Email Sign Up! Throughout the April 23 infrastructure and regulation Sub-Committee on Flooding meeting, where the program was presented, officials emphasized that this should not be the only tool potential residents use to understand moving into flood zones but did say it is a good starting point. The program breaks down some of the following potential hazards: Proposed FEMA Flood Zones: These are the most current FEMA flood zones, though they have not been officially approved. These are the most current FEMA flood zones, though they have not been officially approved. Current FEMA Flood Zones: These are the most recent approved FEMA flood zones, and have been approved by FEMA. They do not include data from Hurricane Florence. These are the most recent approved FEMA flood zones, and have been approved by FEMA. They do not include data from Hurricane Florence. Florence Road Closures: This shows roads which were closed during Hurricane Florence. Florence was a category four hurricane that hit Horry County in 2018. This shows roads which were closed during Hurricane Florence. Florence was a category four hurricane that hit Horry County in 2018. Matthew Road Closures: This shows roads which were closed during Hurricane Matthew. Matthew was a category five hurricane that hit Horry County in 2016. This shows roads which were closed during Hurricane Matthew. Matthew was a category five hurricane that hit Horry County in 2016. Proposed Supplemental Flood Zones: These flood zones were created by Western Carolina University at the request of Horry County. They reflect flooding from Hurricane Florence which was the highest flood ever record in Horry County, and go further than FEMA's flood zones. Along with the hazards, the program shows residents nearby districts and infrastructure resources within the county such as school districts, police precincts, fire rescue stations, county facilities, library locations, hospital locations, utility providers and waste center locations. The program is still in beta-testing and is still being actively updated, according to the website. If users have suggestions on how to improve the application, the county is asking them to email them at mapyourmove@horrycounty.org. Aside from the presence of masks, signs of the COVID-19 pandemic were hard to spot Saturday at Quassy Amusement Park, as the park welcomed guests for the first time this year. A line of cars stretched well outside park gates. Families scurried across the grounds from attraction to attraction. Kids packed happily onto rides. It felt, co-owner George Frantzis said, something like a normal Opening Day. I thought it would be busy because tomorrow is rain, but I didnt expect it to be this much this soon, Frantzis said, while directing visitors in the Quassy parking lot. I expected it to be more spread out and relaxed. But its great. As of April 2, Connecticuts outdoor amusement parks are allowed to operate at full capacity as part of a gradual loosening of pandemic-related restrictions. Gov. Ned Lamont has said all restrictions except an indoor mask mandate will be fully repealed by May 19, allowing many Connecticut residents a return to something like pre-pandemic life. The scene at Quassy, which offers rides, games and concessions along Lake Quassapaug, felt like a sign of things to come. Weve been inside with the virus for a year, said Fiona Sims, a New Britain resident who visited the park with 5-year-old Josiah. So its nice to get out and see that everything is open. Quassy is the first amusement park in the region to reopen, with Lake Compounce in Bristol set to follow on May 8. Six Flags in Agawam, Massachusetts, has not yet announced its schedule. Frantzis said Quassy will continue to follow the states COVID-19 guidelines but wont impose additional ones, meaning guests wont be required to wear masks at the park beginning next month. While some Quassy visitors Saturday said they remained wary of the pandemic, others said they felt comfortable because they were vaccinated or because of reduced risk of spread outdoors. Signs instructed guests to wear masks and maintain social distancing, but guests packed closely in lines and on rides nonetheless. Story continues Its outside, I feel good, we know the sanitizing rules and staying away if you can and all that, so we werent nervous at all, said Hattie Ewing of Middlebury, who brought her two young children to the park Saturday. The anxiety is kind of dying down a little bit and were starting to get back to normal. Some guests said they were drawn Saturday by a fundraiser in which Quassy charged reduced admission but asked visitors to bring canned goods, toiletries, dog food and other items a promotion that will last through next weekend. Eric Kohler, who visited with his wife and two kids, said his only complaint was that he still needed to wear a mask. I got my vaccine, Im ready to go, he said. Frantzis said Quassy will operate this summer much like any other. All attractions except the waterpark will be open weekends from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Memorial Day, when the waterpark will open and hours will expand. I think people are ready to get out, Frantzis said. There are people who are still concerned, and I respect that. But you can see the schools want to come back, they want to do their proms, they want to do their graduation, the vaccines are rolling out fast. I think well be OK. I dont think will be a banner year, but Im optimistic. Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com. A U.S. health panel says it's time to resume use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, despite a very rare risk of blood clots. Out of nearly 8 million people vaccinated before the U.S. suspended J&J's shot, health officials uncovered 15 cases of a highly unusual kind of blood clot, three of them fatal. All were women, most younger than 50. But advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday the vaccine's benefits outweigh that serious but small risk -- especially against a virus that's still infecting tens of thousands of Americans every day. The government will rapidly weigh that recommendation in deciding next steps. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. In March, a 10-year-old Nicaraguan boy crossed the US-Mexico border into Texas with his mother, only to be immediately expelled to Mexico, where they were kidnapped, according to their family. The widely shared case of Wilton Obregon and his mother Meylin is among at least 492 publicly shared reports of attacks against asylum seekers entering the US within the last few months after they were denied entry under a public health policy invoked by Donald Trump and kept in place by Joe Biden. While the administration has brought more than 6,000 asylum seekers into the US who were forced to wait indefinitely in Mexico while their cases were processed under a Trump-era rule, the White House has kept in place a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provision known as Title 42, which human rights organisations argue was weaponised by the former president and continues to wreak havoc on families and the immigration process. It endangers children, drives family separations, and illegally returns asylum seekers to danger, including Black and LGBTQ refugees forced to endure bias-motivated violence in Mexico, according to an extensive report from Human Rights First, Haitian Bridge Alliance and Al Otro Lado. The policy also creates disorder by forcing asylum seekers without legal options to cross into the US between ports of entry, according to the report. Rather than protecting public health, the expulsion policy threatens the health and safety of asylum seekers and migrants, the report says. US law provides that anyone entering the country is eligible to apply for asylum, a form of humanitarian protection for those fleeing violence and persecution from their home countries. But the former presidents invocation of Title 42 effectively suspended asylum laws, now superseded by a 19th century public health law that has led to the expulsions of more than 637,000 asylum seekers since March 2020, at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. None of the more than 150 asylum seekers interviewed by Human Rights First in March and April 2021 was referred to apply for asylum or screened by immigration officials before their expulsion under Title 42, according to the report. Within the last year, US Customs and Border Protection has screened less than 1 per cent of people who were expelled under the order. Only 143 asylum seekers were deemed to have a credible case of fear of torture to be admitted for asylum under the US Department of Homeland Security. In March, more than 104,000 asylum seekers were denied entry under Title 42. That figure has been growing nearly every month since last year. Within the first three months of 2021, more than 241,300 people were expelled from the border under the rule, according to border officials. Within the first two full months of Mr Bidens presidency, the US expelled more than 177,000 people, including more than 26,000 families, under Title 42, according to government data. The report Failure to Protect: Biden Administration Continues Illegal Trump Policy to Block and Expel Asylum Seekers to Danger illustrates several cases from migrants who were denied entry under Title 42 despite their appeals to law enforcement over fears of persecution or imminent danger in their home countries without protection, including a Mexican asylum seeker who was kidnapped by cartels, and a Nicaraguan woman and her family who were stranded in Tijuana after their expulsion from the US led to their detention and abuse in their home country. The groups identified nearly 500 cases of violent attacks including kidnapping, assault and rape against migrants who were expelled or stranded at the US-Mexico border since 21 January, one day after Mr Bidens inauguration. Al Otro Lado identified 81 per cent of LGBTQ asylum seekers who were abused or attacked in Mexico within the past month of their interview with the organisation between mid-February and early April, including sexual assault by Mexican law enforcement and human trafficking. The expulsions also have had disproportionate impacts among African, Caribbean and other Black asylum seekers stranded at the border. The report found that 61 per cent of Haitian asylum seekers blocked from asylum protections were victims of a crime while stranded in Mexico. Advocates also collected reports of physical and verbal abuse from federal law enforcement, including abysmal conditions in detention facilities. The report found migrants in freezing holding cells, officers denying food and medical care and tossing out important paperwork, or relying on cruel jokes and threats to traumatise and deter asylum seekers before expelling them. One Honduran family with a baby was told congrats, youre going to New York City before they were expelled to Tijuana in March, according to the report. Another Honduran woman was told we have a surprise for you before she was expelled to Tijuana in April, the report says. DHS did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent about the report. Asked for a response to criticism of Title 42, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on 23 April that the US remains in the middle of a global pandemic and keeping people safe is front and centre to the president. At the same time we absolutely believe we are a country that wants to treat people humanely, she said. We understand, and weve heard the frustration about this issue, but our objective is to keep systems in place or policies in place or to implement policies that help us address the pandemic. Lifting the policy will be based on guidance from health officials, she said. The White House and immigration advocates have rebuffed attempts to define the rise in migrants arriving at the border as a crisis, instead arguing that the latest crisis is the consequence of failed and neglected immigration policy, violence and persecution in other countries inflamed by the US, the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and trade agreements, and two devastating hurricanes that impacted Central America in 2020. Border authorities are not expelling unaccompanied minors, reversing a Trump-era policy along with the practice of zero tolerance prosecutions for illegal entry that separated thousands of families. In a lengthy statement last month, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the majority of those apprehended at the southwest border are single adults who are currently being expelled under the CDCs authority to manage the public health crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic. Single adults from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are swiftly expelled to Mexico, and single adults from other countries are expelled by plane to their countries of origin if Mexico does not accept them. But the ongoing reliance on Title 42 follows its use against the objections of public health officials when it was implemented, as the previous administration presided over a sweeping anti-immigration agenda across several agencies. The Trump administration reportedly pressured the CDC to rely on emergency powers to close the border, overruling agency officials who argued there was no evidence that doing so would combat Covid-19, according to the Associated Press. Physicians for Human Rights has also urged that the Biden administration immediately rescind the policy. Human rights groups in the report have issued a range of policy recommendations to the White House and Congress, including urging the administration to direct the CDC to employ rational, evidence-based measures to safeguard the lives of asylum seekers and protect public health rather than issuing xenophobic bans. The United States cannot use the pandemic as a pretext to shirk international obligations to refugees, the report says. We have much to be proud of, but so much of that pride extends beyond what happened at Gallipoli. I reckon it is time to move on from that story. Loading Give the public a Captain Cook Good to see two of the Berejiklian governments better ministers, Rob Stokes and Dom Perrottet talking up the virtues of investing in good architecture design at the Sydney CBD Summit this week. The pandemic has turned the citys attention on public spaces, Stokes noted, and we need to grab that and use that to do great things while we have the opportunity now. Treasurer Perrottet agreed, floating an idea: We could either knock down the Cahill Expressway, or we could at least turn it into the high line. That is the kind of bold decision making which may cost money, but we have to get over the fact that every time we invest in Sydney, its seen to be a vanity project. Its not its a great opportunity not just to recover but to transform. Agreed! But on that very subject the government is getting close, I am told, to announcing their plans for Circular Quay, within spitting distance of where the summit took place. There are two major design proposals on the table. What do they consist of? We dont know. And there is the nub of the rub and the rub of the nub. Previous iterations of Circular Quay planning have given us the bloody Cahill Expressway and the Toaster? Why cant we, the people, see what is being proposed this time? And why does it fall only within the bailiwick of the Ministry of Transport, before it submits it to cabinet? Will Stokes and Perrottet get to insist that their fine words above show up in the bricks and mortar that is planned? But I repeat, why no public display of what is being proposed, so we can all have a look? I will be in my trailer. Plans are on the table for Circular Quay, but the public dont know the details. Credit:James Alcock Make your mark, Andrews Last month, you will recall, I wrote of Priya and Nadesalingam Murugappan, two Tamil refugees who came here separately from war-torn Sri Lanka nigh on a decade ago, seeking asylum. Granted bridging visas they landed together in the tight-knit community of Biloela in central Queensland, worked hard, paid their taxes, and had two Australian born daughters, Kopika and Tharunicaa only to be raided at 5am on the very day after their visa expired by Australian Border Force accompanied by police and security guards. They are now, if you can believe it, the sole detainees on Christmas Island. They remain there despite a concerted push by community members in Biloela who want them back, not to mention the sheer insanity of the whole situation. (Border Force? Police? Security guards? Christmas Island? All for a family of refugees with two Australian born daughters? This week, after much pushing, Senator Kristina Keneally managed to visit them. The entire family sleep in one room. She reports the family remains stoic and hopeful and, wonderfully, that the community of Christmas Island have reached out to them, and think it as ludicrous as everyone else that they are there. Despite that, when the little girls leave for school every morning, they are accompanied by guards. (Did I mention this is insane? And that the cost to the Australian taxpayer so farm detaining and trying to deport this family is $50 million.) The family are clearly close and loving, Senator Keneally tells me, but they are traumatised by both their past in Sri Lanka and their present circumstances in immigration detention. The family only have hope because so many Australians from regional Queensland and throughout the country want them to come home to Biloela. They asked me to let everyone know how thankful they are for this support, how it keeps them going. The Minister for Home Affairs Karen Andrews will make a decision at some point, and I hope its to let them stay. But, in the meantime, perhaps she could release the last two children in immigration detention and allow the family to live in the community on Christmas Island. And so say all of us. We look to you, Minister Andrews, to make your mark on the side of decency and sanity. Tharunicaa, left, with her sister Kopika in 2019. Credit:AAP Another Digger down Back in 1968, Sid Jeffries and his brother Michael both raised in an orphanage with their two sisters volunteered to join the army, and soon found themselves in 7th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, serving in Vietnam. Michael was killed in action on his second tour, never to meet his son Sean, conceived before he left with his bride of 18 months. Sid returned to Australia, married his sweetheart and had four kids. Though he never stopped grieving for his brother and did his best to help his widow and family he threw himself at life thereafter. For him the glass was never either half-full or half-empty, it was always overflowing. And on his coffin last Friday in Albury, that glass had his dentures and some beer in it because he said he wanted to attend his own funeral with a beer. Another Digger down this Anzac Day. Vale. Anecdote of the Week Winston Churchills first impression of Free French leader Charles de Gaulle was not strong. He looks, Churchill wrote, like a female llama who has just been surprised in her bath. But he would warm to him and, well after the war was over, when Churchill was in his second incarnation as British prime minister, he and his wife, Clementine, invited President de Gaulle, with his wife, Yvonne, to stay with them briefly at the British prime ministerial country residence, Chequers. When the subject turned to de Gaulles forthcoming retirement, Clementine asked Madame de Gaulle what she was mostly looking forward to in the quiet years ahead. A penis, the Frenchwoman replied without hesitation. A stunned silence followed, for all of three seconds, until Charles de Gaulle coughed and said, Actually, ma cherie, I think ze English call it appiness. Quotes of the Week I think we should be far less rigid in how we approach the vaccination rollout given we know there is no issue with anyone over 50 having the AstraZeneca and theres quite considerable supply in Australia at the moment, we need to really crack on with it. These are conversations Im looking forward to having and these are conversations we need to have ... I think we can do better. Premier Gladys Berejiklian. The spirit of welcome that is here amongst everyone thats working here, its been incredible. NZ PM Jacinda Ardern at Queenstown airport to welcome Australians back to New Zealand. Suicide prevention is a key priority for the Federal Government. We have always recognised that the rate of suicide of Australian Defence Force members and veterans is unacceptably high. In recognising the sacrifices made by our serving and former members and their families on behalf of the nation, we owe it. Scott Morrison, at long last agreeing to a Royal Commission into veteran suicide rates. In my first speech as a Senator, I called for a royal commission into veteran suicide. Its the end of a long fight. For me, for Julie-Ann, for Karen, for Colleen, for Nikki, for too many to name. Todays the end of a fight, and the start of a whole new one. Tweet from Senator Jacqui Lambie. Hey, fella, dont talk for long, people want to go to the toilet. Peter VLandys, imagining what Tommy Raudonikis would say to him about his eulogy. We together flew at Mars, and we together now have this Wright brothers moment. MiMi Aung, the project manager for Ingenuity to her team after their small robotic helicopter made space exploration history on Monday when it lifted off the surface of Mars and hovered in the wispy air of the red planet. It was the first machine from Earth ever to fly like an airplane or a helicopter on another world. Can pain kill you? Teenager Alex Braes on his tablet device before he died from septic shock. He had been turned away three times from Broken Hill Hospitals emergency department. Trash TV equals trash town. - Tess Hall, one of the many locals in Byron Bay protesting against the proposed TV series Byron Baes about purported Byron Bay social influencers. Painfully earned justice has arrived for George Floyds family and the community here in Minneapolis, but todays verdict goes far beyond this city and has significant implications for the country and even the world. Justice for black America is justice for all of America. This case is a turning point in American history for accountability of law enforcement and sends a clear message we hope is heard clearly in every city and every state. - Ben Crump, the Floyd familys attorney, after Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who was filmed kneeling on the neck of black Minneapolis resident George Floyd on May 25 last year, was found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter. New Delhi: Batra Hospital and Medical Research Centre on Saturday (April 24), after requesting assistance from the state government, received only 500 litres of medical oxygen. Considering the hospital has around 260 patients, this supply will not last more than one and a half hours. Dr SCL Gupta, MD said that they sent an SOS to the national capital government asking for emergency medical oxygen supply in the morning. We have received only 500-litre of oxygen after pleading for 12 hours. Our daily requirement is 8000 litres. We've 350 patients in the hospital. The treatment of choice in COVID is oxygen but when we don't get it what will happen? he told news agency ANI. He further said, Delhi Govt has provided us with an oxygen tanker. We have another one to one and a half hours of oxygen for all our patients. There are 260 patients in the hospital. Meanwhile, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday informed that the Indian Railways` second Oxygen Express reached Lucknow from Jharkhand`s Bokaro on Saturday morning and it will ensure "oxygen availability in Uttar Pradesh" amid the unprecedented rise in COVID-19 cases. Live TV The Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) has appealed to the Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice to expedite action on the process to prosecute persons whose actions led to the closure of seven banks in the country. The General-Secretary of the ICU, Mr. Solomon Kotei, expressed concern about the delay in initiating court action against those implicated in the crisis after the Bank of Ghana (BoG) had concluded investigations into the collapse of the banks. Addressing delegates at the Greater Accra Regional Council of Women and Youth Conference of the ICU in Accra last Wednesday, Mr. Kotei said the time had come for the A-G to either name those implicated in the BoG clean-up exercise and initiate court action against them or clear them of any wrongdoing. Even if the wheel of justice grinds slowly, one year is enough for action to be taken. However, It seems those alleged to have used dubious means to acquire wealth at the expense of the ordinary people are enjoying their booty freely, while their victims continue to bemoan their losses. This is the pain of the ICU, especially considering the fact that employees who were engaged to work in the affected banks did not know that their employers used fraudulent means to start their operations, he said. Affected banks The banks affected by the BoG exercise about two years ago included uniBank, the Beige Bank, the Sovereign Bank, the Construction Bank, the Royal Bank, Capital Bank and the UT Bank. Some 49 micro-finance companies were also affected in the exercise, leading to many workers losing their jobs. The ICU General-Secretary further entreated the government to compensate banks exonerated after the clean-up exercise to enable them to start operating their businesses and offer employment to qualified youth. Mr Kotei said the collapse or closure of the banks for supposed financial improprieties had aggravated the fight against unemployment and heightened the poverty index in the country, adding that the loss of a job by one person could have a ripple effect on an entire family. Furthermore, he urged the government to lower the rate of tax exacted on formal sector workers in the form of Pay as you earn (PAYE). He said instead of expanding the tax net for more people, including those in the informal sector, to honour their tax obligations, the burden of tax had always been on the poor worker. The government should, as a matter of urgency, extend the tax net to include all those operating in the other sectors of the economy, especially the big-time business captains, for total national development, Mr. Kotei added. Robbery cases The Greater Accra Regional Officer of the ICU, Mr. Thomas Atiah, also urged the government to put measures in place to curb the upsurge in robbery in the country. The rising spate of armed robbery has put many workers in great fear. Since some robbery cases take place in broad daylight, with others in the night, the lives of workers are at stake, he said. Ms. Belinder Cochraine of DAS Pharma was elected the Chairperson of the ICU in the Greater Accra Region, while the Chairman of the Local Union of the Graphic Communications Group Limited ( GCGL), Mr. William Ashaley, was chosen as her vice. Ms. Anita Yirenkyi was also elected as the Chairperson of the Regional Women Executive Committee, with Ms. Ransfordina Kwegyir Aggrey of the SG Bank as her vice. 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 The worst film of the year has been awarded to Sias controversial drama Music, which took home the most Razzies this year. As is customary ahead of the Oscars tomorrow (25 April), the winners of the Razzies a ceremony that awards the worst films of the year have been announced. The Golden Globe-nominated film picked up three dishonours, including Worst Director for Sia, Worst Actress for Kate Hudson and Worst Supporting Actress for Maddie Ziegler. Music, which stars Hudson and Ziegler, was written and directed by the Australian musician Sia, and revolves around a recovering addict who becomes a carer for her autistic half-sister. The film attracted widespread criticism earlier this year for its portrayal of autism, particularly for its casting of the neurotypical Ziegler as a neurodivergent character, and for including scenes in which an autistic character is restrained in a physical position that has led to injuries, and even death, in reality. The film was nominated for two Golden Globes last month, including Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for Hudson. A Change.org petition calling for these to be rescinded has since been signed by nearly 152,000 people. Among the other Razzie winners was Rudy Giuliani who took home Worst Supporting Actor for his role as himself in the Borat sequel. Likewise, Mike Lindells part in his documentary Absolute Proof, in which Lindell (the CEO of MyPillow) purports to explain the unfounded claims of election fraud in last years US presidential race, earned him Worst Actor. Robert Downey Jr as Dr John Dolittle alongside a talking parrot voiced by Emma Thompson (Universal Pictures) Netflixs erotic romance drama 365 Days based on the first novel of a trilogy by Blanka Lipinska was awarded Worst Screenplay, while the Robert Downey Jr-led Dolittle won Worst Remake/Rip-Off/Sequel. In a rare twist, Hillbilly Elegy star Glenn Close had been nominated for Worst Supporting Actor the same role for which she has received a Best Actress Oscar nod. With the Razzies out of the way, you can look forward to the Oscars ceremony tomorrow (25 April) by following along with our live blog here. Former President Donald Trump said on April 19 that he'd been asked to film an advertisement promoting America's coronavirus vaccination campaign because "a lot of our people don't want to take the vaccine." It's ironic. Trump had claimed credit for the development of the vaccines, the first of which was approved for use in December 2020, because some received funding through a government program. Now that the vaccines are available for mass distribution, however, many of his supporters both ordinary citizens in small towns and politicians and pundits in DC have soured on vaccination. Conservative columnist Michael Goodwin called vaccines "Trump's greatest achievement as president" in an article published on Fox News. Trump himself called them a "great miracle" at the time and this past month called them "Trumpcines." How things have changed since Trump left office and was replaced by a liberal Democrat as president. Now the conservative media outlets are sewing distrust in the vaccines. In the span of just a few days, Fox News has broadcast multiple pundits saying vaccines don't work and that they will not get vaccinated. Tucker Carlson, the network's highest-rated anchor, said: "Maybe it doesn't work, and they're just not telling you that." What gives? Are conservative pundits really this dense, or are they playing to their viewers? It's a bit of both. American conservatives are less likely to believe in the efficacy of vaccines and scientific expertise generally. Even before the coronavirus, a 2019 survey by Gallup found that only 79% of Republicans supported vaccinating their children against widespread diseases, compared to 92% of Democrats. Residents of conservative rural counties are also more likely to express "hesitancy" about getting vaccinated, analysis published by Axios found. These are the same places where people were less likely to wear masks over the past year. Driving through rural Wyoming last summer, I found that people in a gas station there gave me strange looks for wearing a mask. Hence, it's no surprise Fox News' Tucker Carlson decided to change his mind about masks in the opposite direction of most educated Americans going from claiming they worked, to opposing them as more data came in about how well they worked. The media plays its audience for ratings. What impact will this have on America's vaccination campaign? The easy work is being done now. Those who want the vaccine are anxiously seeking it out. Some are even crossing state lines or driving hours to counties where the lack of demand from anti-vaxxers is leaving surplus vaccines in the fridge. But will vaccinating everyone who wants it be enough to achieve herd immunity? It is much harder to convince conspiracy theorists to take the shot than it is to convince those eagerly seeking it out. Considering that the coronavirus has behaved quite differently from many other viruses, we don't really know. Many experts originally suggested it would take 60% to 70% coverage to create herd immunity. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has since stated that it might take 70% to 85% coverage, while acknowledging that this is a crude estimate. According to the most recent survey by Gallup, 74% of Americans say they are willing to be vaccinated. But that is the percentage for the whole country, and the rate of vaccine opposition is not uniform across the U.S. If the rate in some towns and communities is much lower than 70%, the coronavirus could continue to spread among those areas. The true level required for herd immunity is unknown, of course, so we will have to wait and see on that. There are some immediate problems that anti-vaxxers and right-wing politicians are already causing, however. They have pushed a narrative that masks are unnecessary if you are vaccinated, which is startlingly wrong for multiple reasons. Most notably, a minority of Americans have been vaccinated so far, and there is no way to check at the supermarket, for example, whether someone has been vaccinated or not. American anti-maskers have lied about having medical conditions that prevented them from wearing masks. It therefore stands to reason that they are going to lie about having been vaccinated. Meanwhile, some states have already lifted mask mandates and other anti-coronavirus measures at a time when the daily total of new cases continues to rise in the U.S. One conservative representative, Jim Jordan, sanctimoniously bemoaned that there will never be "freedom" in the U.S. There won't be if the same people who opposed masks oppose vaccines, too, and jump the gun by reopening too early, allowing new outbreaks to surge before the problem is solved. Mitchell Blatt is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm 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. The CM said he would hold a meeting soon, a couple of days after undergoing necessary medical tests and completely recovering from Covid infection, and personally monitor the vaccination programme. (Photo: Twitter @TelanganaCMO) HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday announced that Coronavirus vaccination will be done on the entire population in the state free of cost and irrespective of the age limit. He noted that the state has a four-crore population including those who came from different states and are working in different sectors. Of these, 35 lakhs have been vaccinated. The rest would be vaccinated at the earliest and free of cost. This would cost the state more than Rs2,500 crore in expenses, but saving the lives is a matter of first priority, he stressed. Rao also issued instructions to this effect to chief secretary Somesh Kumar and heads of the medical and health department. He noted that Bharath Biotech is producing vaccine and several firms including Reddy Labs are coming forward to do the same. Hence, there will be no dearth of vaccine. The CM said he would hold a meeting soon, a couple of days after undergoing necessary medical tests and completely recovering from Covid infection, and personally monitor the vaccination programme. Necessary steps would be taken to see that there is no shortage of Remdesivir as also other life-support medicines required for Corona treatment. Oxygen supply would also be ensured in hospitals. Rao said there was no need to turn panicky. A large-scale sanitation programme will be taken up as part of the efforts to check the Corona spread. Whether it be for hospital care, beds or medicines, the government will take maximum care, he promised, and advised the people to cooperate with the authorities in the attempts to check the pandemics spread. Observe self-discipline and avoid coming out of homes as far as possible, he said. Investment trust Middlefield Canadian Income represents an unusual but attractive proposition for investors looking for a mix of income and capital return. Although the 108million stock market-listed fund invests ten per cent of its assets in US equities, it is unique among North American funds in having a majority of its stakes in Canadian businesses. It's an investment strategy that means the trust has missed out on the big gains to be made from holding some of the US's big technology shares. But it's kept many shareholders sweet by continuing to pay a robust dividend throughout the pandemic, equivalent to just below five per cent a year. These dividend payments, made quarterly, look set to continue this year with the trust's board determined to hold the overall annual dividend at 5.1 pence per share the same level as for the past three years. Increases could then follow in 2022, especially if the Canadian economy makes a strong recovery from the pandemic on the back of increased consumer spending and greater capital investment by businesses. The trust's manager is Dean Orrico, based in Toronto and chief investment officer for Middlefield Group an asset manager running funds in excess of 2billion, most with an income bent. 'What we're offering is a Canadian-centric trust, providing investors with a stable income,' says Orrico. 'Last year, less than a fifth of listed Canadian companies cut or eliminated their dividends a figure lower than in the UK but in line with what happened in the United States. 'The result is a market offering a dividend yield of between 2.5 and 3 per cent a year, higher than in the US where the average yield is between 1.5 and 2.5 per cent.' Orrico side-stepped most of the cuts by concentrating the portfolio around the country's leading banks and selected property companies. 'The country's biggest banks are among the strongest in the world,' he says. 'None of the top six cut their dividends in 2020 and they are well placed to increase them this year.' The trust holds five of the top six banks with four Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal, CIBC and TD in its top ten holdings. Bank of Novia Scotia is the top holding Property companies, adds Orrico, should do well as the economy reopens, especially those focused on retail and e-commerce. It also has holdings in companies with a renewable energy focus such as Brookfield Renewables and Northland Power. The trust typically holds no more than 50 stocks with positions ranging in size from one to five per cent. Holdings above five per cent are usually trimmed to ensure the portfolio remains diversified. Over the past three years, the trust has under-performed the average North American fund, generating a return of 28 per cent compared to a sector average of 68 per cent. But in the past six months, its relative performance has improved and Orrico believes this could continue as valuations for many Canadian firms remain more attractive (less expensive) than their US counterparts. Although the trust is allowed to invest up to 40 per cent of its assets in US equities, its US exposure is currently limited to sectors poorly represented by the Canadian market for example, technology and healthcare. The trust's annual charges total 1.3 per cent and the stock market identification code is B15PV03. In a recent research note by Investec, analysts said the trust has potential for 'strong capital growth and attractive income streams' if the global economy continues to recover strongly. India has ordered thirty American 30 SeaGuardian UAVs, ten each for the army, navy and air force. SeaGuardian is the latest version of the American MQ-9B Reaper SkyGuardian UAV and was modified to handle maritime surveillance. This process was completed and certified in late 2020. India will pay about $3 billion for the 30 Seaguardians and that includes sensors, training and tech support. This is something new for the United States and India because since the 1990s India has obtained nearly a hundred similar large UAVs from Israel. There were two reasons for this. Israel pioneered the development and use of these larger UAVs carrying vidcams and radar for surveillance. The Americans developed their very successful Predator based on the Israeli originals. One difference between the Israeli and American UAVs was that early on the Americans armed their UAVs with Hellfire laser guided weapons, and equipped all these large UAVs with satellite communications. There were practical reasons for this as Predator was used overseas, usually to search for Islamic terrorists and, with the addition of Hellfire missiles, kill them. A decade later Predator was joined by the larger Reaper, which has now replaced the Predator. The Americans also pioneered the development of laser guided bombs and missiles, putting the first of these into service during the 1970s. The Israeli situation was different. They are a smaller nation and have no foreign commitments that can be handled by armed or unarmed UAVs. Israeli UAVs of similar size and capability as the Predator and Reaper were optimized for reconnaissance and surveillance and offered as export items. Most of that surveillance was along Israeli borders or in neighboring countries. If an Israeli UAV found something that needed an airstrike, they could quickly dispatch a nearby helicopter gunship or jet fighter armed with guided bombs or missiles. The Americans considered Predator and Reaper military systems and restricted exports. The Israeli UAVs, especially the Herons, were easily obtained and optimized for the surveillance work the Indians needed done. Israel was also willing to lease their UAVs and had used this technique profitably with a number of its export customers. Finally, for most of the past two decades the American manufacturer of Predator and Reaper could barely keep up with orders from the U.S. Air Force, Army and CIA. This left Israel with most of the civilian market. Over a decade ago China began producing Predator clones, armed Chinese laser guided missiles. These were sold to anyone who could afford them and that included the many countries that did not qualify to buy weapons from the Americans. The Guardian versions of the Reaper are selling mainly to export customers. This version was originally called MQ-9B ER (Extended Range) Reaper but, after potential customers were approached, it was decided to expand the capabilities of MQ-9B ER into what is now the unarmed MQ-9 SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian. New features include compliance with NATO STANAG 4671 standards. This means Guardian UAVs can fly in commercial airspace. STANAG 4671 sets the strictest UAV commercial airspace rules in the world. If a UAV is STANAG 4671 compliant, it can basically operate anywhere. SkyGuardian can operate as high as 15,000 meters (50,000 feet) and stay in the air for up to 40 hours. This means SkyGuardian can (and has in 2018) flown across the Atlantic. SkyGuardian is equipped with a de-icing system and lightning strike resistance. There is more systems redundancy, which increases reliability and reduces losses to mechanical or electrical failure. SkyGuardian is based on the MQ-9B Reaper, which has been in production since 2013. The MQ-9B cost about $12 million each and the U.S. Air Force has been replacing its older A models with the B model. In mid-2017 a MQ-9B Block 5 model flew its first combat mission. The latest 9B is called Block 5 and is a tremendous improvement over 2013's Block 1. The American air force was planning to halt production of Block 5 by 2019 and begin replacing Predator with the new ER/SkyGuardian version, which has passed initial flight tests in 2016 and has already broken endurance records with flights of over 40 hours. The ER is so impressive that the air force is making plans to upgrade Block 5s to the ER standard by equipping older MQ-9s with the larger (by 20 percent) ER wings, a new engine, two additional two fuel tanks (one under each wing) and new fuel management software. There are also several other electronic upgrades. These include the ability to land automatically. The new engine is more reliable and generates much more power on takeoff, enabling the MQ-9 to carry up to 1.3 tons of weapons, about twice what the 9B Block 1 could carry. Fire control electronics and software have been upgraded to enable the MQ-9 to use GPS guided bombs including the 500-pound (227 kg) Paveway smart bomb that uses laser and GPS guidance. Weapons carried now include Hellfire missiles (up to eight), two Sidewinder or two AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, two Maverick missiles, or two 227 kg (500 pound) smart bombs (laser or GPS guided). The new engine and electrical systems generate a lot more electrical power and do so much more reliably, eliminating frequent problems with inadequate or interrupted electrical supplies. With the new electrical systems Predator can handle more powerful sensors and radios. In addition to larger (24 meters versus 21 meters) wings, the SkyGuardian is heavier (5.6 tons versus 4.6 tons) than Reaper 9B and its payload is twice that of the original Reaper. The original MQ-9 Reaper looked like the earlier 1.2-ton MQ-1 Predator but was larger. The 4.6-ton MQ-9 is an 11.6 meters (36 foot) long aircraft with a 21.3 meters (66 foot) wingspan. It has six hard points and can carry 682 kg (1,500 pounds) of weapons. Max speed is 400 kilometers an hour, and max endurance was originally 15 hours. The Reaper is considered a combat aircraft, to replace F-16s or A-10s in many situations. Most of the over 200 Reapers built so far have been for the U.S. Air Force and, since introduced in 2007, these Reapers have flown about 2.5 million hours. Efforts to design and build a Reaper replacement have so far failed, in part because the Reaper keeps getting upgraded to match proposed specifications for a replacement UAV. This a somewhat rare, and welcome, pattern in aircraft (and weapon) design. SaeGuardian is going to operate in areas, and from bases, already operating the Israeli Heron. This UAV was developed during the 1990s as an improvement on earlier Israeli UAVs that the Predator was based on. The first version of Heron entered service in 2005 and India was one of the first export customers. So far India has bought or leased over 70 Herons and most of them are still in service. The latest order, in early 2021, leased four Heron TPs. India was one of the first export customers for the TP, having ordered 15 of them in 2013. The Indian air force and navy both have Herons. The navy uses them for coastal patrol while the air force is moved more of its Herons, including the Heron TPs, to the 4,000 kilometers long Chinese border. Heron TPs use satellite communications and can also be armed but most users prefer the unarmed version because that means the entire payload can be devoted to cameras, radars and other sensors. India sticks with Israel as its main UAV supplier in part because Israel is always improving its equipment. In early 2014 Israel rolled out another new model of its Heron I (or Shoval) UAV. The new version is called the Super Heron and is a little heavier (1.45 tons) and uses a more powerful engine that burns diesel instead of aviation gas. The Heron I is similar to the American MQ-1 Predator and has long been popular in India. The main improvements for the Super Heron are mainly the result of the more powerful (200 HP versus 115 HP) engine. This increases cruising speed to 210 kilometers an hour, provides for a faster climb rate and greater maneuverability. The Heron 1, because it was so similar to the Predator, has sold well to foreign customers who cannot obtain the MQ-1. In addition to being one of the primary UAVs for the Israeli armed forces others like India, Turkey, Russia, France, Brazil, El Salvador, the United States, Canada, and Australia have either bought, leased, or licensed manufactured the Heron. The original Heron 1 weighs about the same (1.2 tons) as the Predator and has similar endurance (40 hours). Heron 1 has a slightly higher ceiling (10 kilometers/30,000 feet, versus 8 kilometers) than Predator and software which allows it to automatically take off, carry out a mission, and land automatically. Only some of the American large UAVs can do this. Heron 1 cost about $5 million each although the Israelis are willing to be more flexible on price. Heron 1 does have a larger wingspan (16.5 meters/51 feet) than the Predator (13.2 meters/41 feet) and a payload of about 137 kg (300 pounds). The Super Heron has a payload of 450 kg (990 pounds) and stays in the air for 45 hours. Super Heron was designed to respond to requests from many users, especially export customers who like to use Heron for maritime patrol over long coasts (as in India) and need more payload, endurance and maneuverability to deal with the nasty weather sometimes encountered at sea. The larger payload also makes it easier to arm the Super Heron. The Heron TP has been in service since 2009 and is similar to the 4.5-ton American Reaper. Equipped with a powerful (1,200 horsepower) turboprop engine, the 4.6-ton Heron TP can operate at 14,500 meters (45,000 feet). That is above commercial air traffic and all the air-traffic-control regulations that discourage, and often forbid, UAVs from flying at the same altitude as commercial aircraft. The Heron TP has a one-ton payload, enabling it to carry sensors that can give a detailed view of what's on the ground, even from that high up. The endurance of 36 hours makes the Heron TP a superior surveillance UAV compared to the MQ-9 Reaper. The big difference between the two is that Reaper is designed to be a combat aircraft, operating at a lower altitude, with less endurance, and able to carry a ton of smart bombs or missiles. Heron TP is meant mainly for reconnaissance and surveillance, and Israel wants to keep a closer, and more persistent, eye on Syria and southern Lebanon. But the Heron TP has since been rigged to carry a wide variety of missiles and smart bombs because there were a few situations where Heron TPs operating far from Israel needed the weapons to deal with a distant threat. This page requires Javascript. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. George Floyd Officer Trial (ASSOCIATED PRESS) Eight weeks after being convicted for the murder of George Floyd, ex-cop Derek Chauvin will return to court to learn how long he will remain behind bars. Hennepin County District Court on Friday confirmed that sentencing by Judge Peter Cahill was set for 16 June at 1.30pm local time, according to online records. While Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, he will only face sentencing for the most serious charge due to Minnesota statutes. Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 40 years, but sentencing guidelines allow judges to sentence someone with no criminal record from 10 years and eight months to 15 years. Prosecutors will seek a sentence above the guideline range due to aggravating factors. Chauvin was taken away in handcuffs on Tuesday to await sentencing at the maximum-security prison, Minnesota Correctional Facility in Oak Park Heights. He was separated from the general population "for his own safety". The Daily Mail reported that he was on "suicide watch", while The New York Times said he was spending 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. TheTimes was first to report the 16 June sentencing date before it was confirmed by the court. Mr Cahill, meanwhile, ruled on Friday that the identity of jurors would remain under seal for at least 180 days before he revisited the confidentially. In Fridays order, he said that the case remains of high public interest and the seal would "protect those jurors desiring to remain anonymous from unwanted publicity or harassment. That seal covers the list of prospective jurors, juror profiles, questionnaires and the original verdict form. Jurors who wish to identify themselves and speak publicly, however, may do so voluntarily. One alternate juror who lives in Brooklyn Center, the scene of unrest over the shooting of Daunte Wright, said in an interview with KARE11 that she had mixed feelings about being on the jury for fear of rioters coming to her house. Story continues The reason, at that time, was I did not know what the outcome was going to be, so I felt like either way you are going to disappoint one group or the other, she said. I did not want to go through rioting and destruction again and I was concerned about people coming to my house if they were not happy with the verdict. Additional reporting by the Associated Press Read More Crowd outside Minnesota court react to news that Chauvin is found guilty for the murder of George Floyd Biden failure to overturn Trump border rule leading to rise in attacks against asylum seekers, activists warn US to restart use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine LOS ANGELES (AP) Armenian Americans celebrated the news Saturday that President Joe Biden formally declared the systematic killing and deportation of hundreds of thousands of their ancestors by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 1900s to be genocide, saying the recognition was long overdue. His action came after decades of activism, most of which was centered in California, home of the largest Armenian community in the nation. He's the first American president to have the guts to talk about it. I never understood why the U.S. waited this long when they knew the truth about what happened. It's amazing and I'm very happy he did what he did, said Varoujan Kioudjian, 74. He was among hundreds of people who streamed to a hilltop monument in Montebello, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles, to mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Dressed in black for the solemn ceremony, they laid flowers around a tomb and said prayers for the estimated 1.5 million Armenians who were killed in the events beginning in 1915 known as Metz Yeghern. Kioudjian said for as long as he can remember his late father, whose parents were killed in the genocide and grew up in an orphanage, took him to memorials and demonstrations every April 24. That was the day in 1915 when Ottoman authorities began arresting Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, now known as Istanbul. The day April 24 comes around, tears flowed from his eyes, from his heart. It was that sad, he said. Outside the Turkish consulate in Beverly Hills, several thousand people blocked off Wilshire Boulevard, the main artery through the city, to demand that Turkey recognize as genocide the events that began 106 years ago. The demonstrators waved the national flag of Armenia and called for reparations. Taleen Nazarian, 22, said at the rally that activists like herself have built their identities around fighting for recognition. We feel this passion to continue the fight for justice ... and do everything we can to pass it down to the next generation," she said. Story continues She said she was gratified by Biden's proclamation. It's still surreal that the day we've been fighting for finally came, she said. Can Oguz, consul general of Turkey in Los Angeles, said his country vehemently rejects Biden's statement. None of the conditions defined by the international law have been met that would warrant the use of genocide concerning the events of 1915, Oguz said in a email. "Todays statement will hurt our bilateral relations and undermine dialogue efforts for peace and stability in the region. The White House had avoided using using the term genocide for decades for fear of alienating Turkey, a NATO ally and important power in the Middle East. Biden followed through on a campaign promise to make human rights a central guidepost of his foreign policy. He argued last year that failing to call the atrocities against the Armenian people a genocide would pave the way for future mass atrocities. Today is an historic and emotional day for the Armenian people, including members of my own family who are descendants of genocide survivors, state Sen. Andreas Borgeas, a Republican from Fresno, said in a statement. "After more than a century, the United States has mustered the courage to acknowledge the truth despite the potential political consequences with the Republic of Turkey. Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat from Los Angeles, praised Biden for following through on his pledge. This is a momentous day for thousands upon thousands of my Armenian American constituents who have been working, advocating, and praying for recognition for their entire lives and I am heartened that this announcement comes at a time when there are still some genocide survivors alive to witness it, though their numbers are very small," he said in a statement. The survivors, many of them orphans who were brought to the United States, were recognized by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who proclaimed Saturday a day of remembrance of the Armenian genocide." Forced to build new lives in all corners of the globe, Armenians bravely forged ahead in the face of unimaginable tragedy. Thousands made their homes in California, and we are greater for their contributions, the proclamation states. Today and every day, let us recommit ourselves to making certain that we never forget the Armenian Genocide, and that we always speak out against hatred and atrocities anywhere they occur. ____ Nguyen reported from Oakland. (@ChaudhryMAli88) London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2021 ) :A new malaria vaccine has proven 77 percent effective in trials on infants, British researchers said Friday, in what could prove to be a potential game-changer against the deadly mosquito-borne disease. In a clinical trial in Burkina Faso, the Matrix-M vaccine -- developed by the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute -- was found to be 77 percent effective after 450 infants inoculated in 2019 were followed up for a year, the Oxford researchers said in a statement. No serious adverse events were reported. It is the first candidate vaccine for malaria to surpass a target set by the UN's World Health Organization, for researchers to create a jab of 75 percent efficacy by 2030. A broader "Phase 3" trial involving 4,800 children will now be carried out in four African countries, in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India and the US pharmaceutical company Novavax. Professor Adrian Hill, head of the Jenner Institute -- which developed the coronavirus vaccine now being distributed worldwide by Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca -- said the test results marked "a great day" in the global fight against malaria. "We need to build on this, we need to keep all our ducks in a row, we need to avoid any safety signal, but I think the odds are now on our side, we can get this through," he told the PA news agency. He pointed out that vaccines against Covid-19 were approved rapidly while the first trials for one against malaria date all the way back to the 1940s. Ahead of World Malaria Day on Sunday, the UN health agency has insisted that elimination of the disease that kills some 400,000 people each year around the globe is a "viable goal for all countries". But a vaccine breakthrough remains key, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Oxford trial result was a "landmark achievement". "Malaria kills hundreds of thousands of children a year. An effective vaccine holds out the possibility of ending this global tragedy," he said on Twitter. - Children at greater risk - "Malaria killed at least four times as many more people in Africa last year as Covid did," Hill said. "And nobody for a moment questioned whether Covid should have an emergency use review and authorisation in Africa -- of course it did, very quickly. "So why shouldn't a disease that firstly kills children rather than older people, certainly killed an awful lot more, be prioritised for emergency use authorisation in Africa?" The Serum Institute has committed to make at least 200 million doses annually, and Hill said Matrix-M "has the potential to have major public health impact if licensure is achieved". The vaccine was given in a randomised trial involving 450 babies and toddlers aged five months to 17 months. A control group received a rabies vaccine instead. The infants received a booster vaccine after a year. Professor Charlemagne Ouedraogo, minister of health in Burkina Faso, said: "Malaria is one of the leading causes of childhood mortality in Africa. "We have been supporting trials of a range of new vaccine candidates in Burkina Faso and these new data show that licensure of a very useful new malaria vaccine could well happen in the coming years. "That would be an extremely important new tool for controlling malaria and saving many lives."The results of the clinical trial were reported in a pre-print article on the website of the British medical journal The Lancet. Airfares soared and demand for private jets boomed on Friday as Indians who could afford it scrambled to escape a Covid surge before flights to the United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom shut down. All flights from the UAE to India -- one of the world's busiest air corridors -- will be suspended from Sunday as coronavirus cases in India reach record levels and overwhelm hospitals. Reuters Dubai, UAE Price comparison websites showed one-way commercial flights from Mumbai to Dubai on Friday and Saturday costing as much as 80,000 rupees ($1,000), around 10 times the usual rate. Tickets for the New Delhi to Dubai route were going for more than 50,000 rupees, five times the normal level. No tickets were on offer from Sunday when the 10-day flight suspension comes into force. For private jets, the amount of interest was "absolutely crazy", a spokesman for charter company Air Charter Service India told AFP. "We have 12 flights going to Dubai tomorrow and each flight is completely full," the spokesman said. PTI 'We have requested more aircraft from abroad to meet the demand... It costs $38,000 to hire a 13-seater jet from Mumbai to Dubai, and $31,000 to hire a six-seater aircraft,' a spokesman for Enthral Aviation, another provider, told AFP. Travel restrictions in UAE About 300 commercial flights a week usually operate between the UAE and India, according to local media. The UAE is home to roughly 3.3 million Indians who make up a third of the population - most of them in Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the federation. The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority said those coming from India through other countries must stay in that third destination for at least 14 days. BCCL London, UK At least six private jets flew from India to London with super wealthy families paying more than 100,000 (INR 1,04,40,389) to beat today's 4am Covid-19 red list deadline. A fleet of jets flew from Ahmedabad, Delhi and Mumbai into London Luton airport - with one aircraft touching down just 40 minutes before the deadline was imposed. Desperate passengers chartered the aircraft from Qatar, Germany, Malta and one belonged to a private owner, leading to the sky-high demand. India was added to the UK's travel red list at 4am on Friday, meaning arrivals from the country must now enter quarantine in a Government-approved hotel for 10 days. Google maps Travel restrictions in UK Four airlines asked for a total of eight extra flights to arrive at Heathrow before the 4am cut-off; however, it is understood that Heathrow declined the airlines' requests to ensure existing pressures at the border were not exacerbated. Anyone who is not a UK or Irish resident or a British citizen will be banned from entering the country if they have been in India in the previous 10 days. PLA Navys birthday photo album shows decades of hardship, confidence, and ambition Global Times) 11:00, April 24, 2021 Photo: Screenshot of a commemorative photo gallery published by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy A US-shot image has become the "Easter egg" of a commemorative photo gallery published by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on its 72nd birthday on Friday. Experts said it reveals the PLA Navy's "blue ocean" path and that the US Navy should not be surprised about increasing encounters with the Chinese Navy in the future. Friday marks the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy. According to the content from the abstracts of the photo gallery published on the PLA Navy's WeChat public account on Friday, the PLA Navy is trying to show its 72 years of transformation, from small fishing boats to an independently built aircraft carrier, through 72 photos since 1949. The "Easter egg" that appears in the photo collection is an image released by the US Navy on April 11, which recorded two US officers sitting on the USS Mustin watching China's Liaoning aircraft carrier a few thousand meters away in a very relaxed manner even with one officer's feet up. The picture was seen as a provocative sign by some observers, amid the increasing tensions in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea, as some media said it shows US Navy treating its Chinese counterpart "lightly." A naval fleet comprised of the guided-missile destroyers Ningbo (Hull 139) and Taiyuan (Hull 131), as well as the guided-missile frigate Nantong (Hull 601), steams in astern formation in waters of the East China Sea during a maritime training drill in late January, 2021. Photo:China Military Online A naval fleet comprised of the guided-missile destroyers Ningbo (Hull 139) and Taiyuan (Hull 131), as well as the guided-missile frigate Nantong (Hull 601), steams in astern formation in waters of the East China Sea during a maritime training drill in late January, 2021. Photo: China Military The caption for the picture on the PLA Navy's birthday gallery, however, describes it simply as "the PLA navy's aircraft carrier Liaoning having a close encounter with a US navy destroyer in the Philippine Sea," pointing out that the Liaoning's patrol was a routine exercise. Meanwhile, the US Navy's caption reads "the captain and the executive officer of the USS Mustin observe the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning in the Philippine Sea on April 4." "The people's navy is guarding the vast maritime frontiers of the motherland with greater strength," reads the PLA Navy photo gallery. Experts said the 'specially selected' photo that represents the year of 2021 is an unofficial response to the US, which demonstrates the confidence and openness of the PLA Navy. The photo illustrates the fact that after 72 years of development, the PLA Navy has gone from looking up to its US counterparts to viewing them as equals, Song Zhongping, a Chinese mainland military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Friday. It also outlines the hardship the PLA Navy encountered on its path of development over the past few decades, Song said. Liaoning is China's first aircraft carrier and the most typically representative of the development of the PLA Navy. Analysts said the photo, shot in the Philippine Sea, also shows the PLA Navy's path from the "yellow sea" to the "blue ocean." No matter whether in China's coastal waters, middle and far seas, or far ocean, the PLA Navy and the US Navy will meet in a normal way regularly, said Song, noting that the US Navy "should not be surprised about that, but have to get used to it." As strategy shifts, the PLA Navy may sail to more places that the US might not believe it can, said Song, noting that the US needs to view the development of the PLA Navy objectively and re-conceptualize the Chinese navy's capabilities. One day earlier, the PLA Navy released its commemoration video for its 72nd birthday on Thursday, which also depicts the development of the Chinese navy in a timeline. China's first 10,000-ton class destroyer, the Type 055 Nanchang, appeared in the promotional video. "The helplessness of smaller ships fighting larger ones has become a thing of the past," the video said. (Web editor: Bianji, Liang Jun) Cairo, April 24 : Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Mangoush on Saturday discussed ways to boost bilateral relations. During a phone conversation, the two officials exchanged visions on the latest developments in Libya, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. They also tackled efforts exerted to fully implement the outcomes of the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) and the relevant United Nations Security Council resolution, in a manner that guarantees the stability and prosperity of Libya and its people, according to the statement. Shoukry also invited al-Mangoush to visit Egypt at the earliest opportunity so as to resume consultations and coordination aimed at strengthening stability in Libya, Xinhua reported. Libya had been politically divided between eastern and western governments for years before the Government of National Unity was approved recently by the House of Representatives, or the Parliament. The new government's main task is to prepare for the upcoming general elections in Libya on December 24, as agreed by the UN-sponsored LPDF. Thiruvananthapuram, April 24 : The Congress-led opposition in Kerala on Saturday asked both the authorities and the media to ensure that no one should spread panic among the people regarding surge in Covid cases. This comes after they announced complete support to the Kerala government as the state witnesses an unprecedented surge. Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala told the media that like in the first wave, the opposition is with the state government and is extending all the support in its activities to help reduce the spread. "What needs to be done is none should make any attempt to spread a sense of fear when the cases surge. We request that an admission protocol for Covid patients be put up so as to reduce the load of patients in the hospitals and through this, only those who really need a hospital admission be brought to the hospital," said Chennithala. On Friday, 28,447 turned Covid positive, an all time high in the state after 1,30,617 samples was send for testing in the past 24 hours. Across the state there were 1,78,983 presently positive people, of which in the past one week the tally touched one lakh. Ernakulam district with a record 29,708 active cases is now has the highest number of cases. With regards to the vaccine policy of the Centre, Chennithala said it was most unfortunate that there has been a differential pricing in the vaccines, when it should have been given free. "In the recent budget speech of the State Finance Minister Thomas Issac, he had mentioned that vaccines would be given free and this means there is an allocation that has been made. The state government should open a vaccine call centre to facilitate for answering all the queries of people," said Chennithala. "The authorities should see whether more vaccine centres could be opened and also if it could be given at home, especially where there were senior citizens. "There has been a complaint that tribal and Scheduled Castes hamlets are being ignored when it came to vaccination. There have been complaints private hospitals are charging high and there should be an immediate intervention to check this," said Chennithala. He also asked the state government to see if it could supply oxygen cylinders to places like Delhi, where there is a serious shortage. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 15:28:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chen Yinghua embroiders at her Suzhou Embroidery studio in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, April 14, 2021. Chen Yinghua, an embroidery artist, has brought her own "universe" created with needles and silk threads, to the opening ceremony of the Space Day of China held here on Saturday. Based in Suzhou, a city with time-honored embroidery arts in east China's Jiangsu Province, Chen's studio outshines its peers with a series of cosmos-themed artworks. The dreamy celestial bodies in her studio are skillfully knitted with the help of multiple silk threads and a needle, just like pictures captured by satellites in the outer space. Chen has created 26 pieces of universe embroideries since 2006, including the Milky Way galaxy, sunspot, Neptune and the Leonid meteor shower. (Xinhua/Li Bo) NANJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Chen Yinghua, an embroidery artist, has brought her own "universe" created with needles and silk threads, to the opening ceremony of the Space Day of China held here on Saturday. Based in Suzhou, a city with time-honored embroidery arts in east China's Jiangsu Province, Chen's studio outshines its peers with a series of cosmos-themed artworks. The dreamy celestial bodies in her studio are skillfully knitted with the help of multiple silk threads and a needle, just like pictures captured by satellites in the outer space. Chen has created 26 pieces of universe embroideries since 2006, including the Milky Way galaxy, sunspot, Neptune and the Leonid meteor shower. "The Crab Nebula is the most difficult one. It took me six months to knit the nebula with over 4,000 kinds of silk colors," Chen said. It is no easy task for Chen to use traditional stitches to bring out those heavenly bodies in the art featuring hazy sketches and irregular lines. She has to keep looking for new stitching skills. "I embroidered and took out stitches again and again. I even lost my appetite in the beginning," she said. After several months of painstaking trials, Chen gradually developed her own approach to creating a miniature universe. She even split a normal thread into 64th of its width in order to accurately present color gradations of heavenly bodies. "Science and art are as inseparable as two sides of the same coin. In Chen's work, we can see how the interaction of the two helps catalyze interest in each other," said Pang Zhen, secretary general of Suzhou Association for Science and Technology. The artist fell in love with mysterious stars and space since she was young, sitting in the yard and listening to fairy tales about the faraway Milky Way galaxy during starry summer nights. In 2006, Chen happened to meet astronomer Mei Bao from the Purple Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The researcher showed her pictures of various galaxies and asked her if she could depict the images in real artworks. And that was when Chen's childhood dream began to turn into reality. Suzhou Embroidery, one of China's four famous embroidery varieties, has always focused on themes of figures, animals and landscapes, while Chen opened up a whole new world for the old craftsmanship. "The universe-themed embroidery employs innovative stitches and patterns and is a modern interpretation of the intangible cultural heritage," Chen said. Recently, Chen completed her latest work based on a star chart carved in stone from the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The circular inscription from 1247 displays about 1,440 stars in nearly 300 constellations as well as the Milky Way. "I plan to bring this embroidery work to various international exhibitions in the future, so that I can show the world the past achievements and ingenuity of ancient Chinese people in exploring the cosmos," Chen said. Enditem Today, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reacted to US President Joe Bidens phrase "Armenian genocide" in relation to the 1915 tragic events in the Ottoman Empire promoted by Armenian nationalists. Azerbaijani diplomats expressed regret for the distortion of historical facts admitted by the American leader. "Those who politicize the so-called Armenian genocide "are silent about the mass killings of more than 500,000 people by Armenian armed formations during that period, as well as about the mass killings committed by Armenian Dashnaks in March 1918 in Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan said. With the support of Congressman John Moolenaar, the House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation extending the federal order keeping fentanyl-related substances on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. This legislation is vital to the fight against the opioid epidemic and it will help law enforcement keep fentanyl and related drugs off the streets so our communities stay safe, Moolenaar stated in a news release. "The opioid crisis has hurt families across mid and northern Michigan, and this legislation will help stop the flow of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues that are brought into the United States from other countries." New Delhi: Patidar leader Hardik Patel kept the Congress guessing on Saturday after being invited by the grand old party to join hands against BJP in the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections. Hardik Patel, however, said that although he believes it is necessary to unite against BJP, it isnt only a BJP-Congress election and 6 crore people of Gujarats future depend on it. He also said that constitutionally, neither can he contest the elections nor does he intend to do so. Apart from Hardik Patel, Thakor community leader Alpesh Thakor and dalit leader Jignesh Mevani were also invited for a pre-poll alliance. Although I believe we must unite against BJP, this isn't a BJP-Congress election but of 6 crore people of #Gujarat: Hardik Patel pic.twitter.com/TWmDXjjbHC ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2017 If that was not enough, the Congress also hinted at an alliance with Sharad Pawar-led NCP. Addressing a press conference in Ahmedabad on Saturday, state Congress chief Bharatsinh Solanki expressed confidence that the party would easily win over 125 seats, out of total 182, with the "support and blessings" of all these leaders and parties. Constitutionally speaking, I can't contest election and I don't need to, in the first place: Hardik Patel pic.twitter.com/NvlACG0xzI ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2017 "Though the BJP is trying its best to win the polls, it will not succeed in stopping the Congress' victory march to Gandhinagar. "We respect as well as endorse the cause for which Hardik Patel is fighting. I appeal to Hardik to support theCongress during the polls. ALSO READ: Hardik Patel, aide detained in 'assault' case in Gujarat We are also ready to give him a ticket if he wants to fight elections in the future," Solanki told reporters. "Similarly, we also invite Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani to join hands with the Congress. I also invite Chhotu Vasava, who helped us in the Rajya Sabha polls, to support the Congress," he said. If Hardik Patel wants to contest election, then Congress invites him to do so: Bharat Solanki, #Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee President pic.twitter.com/R424kmSQRS ANI (@ANI) October 21, 2017 Though the NCP had "betrayed" Congress in the RS polls, the party's doors are still open for them if they also want to overthrow the BJP from Gujarat, he added. In the Rajya Sabha polls, two NCP MLAs claimed to have voted for BJP candidate Balwantsinh Rajput despite their promise to vote for Congress leader Ahmed Patel. READ: MP: Hardik Patel detained on way to Mandsaur to meet farmers JD(U)'s lone MLA Vasava, whose party has formed the government in Bihar with the support of BJP, had voted for Ahmed Patel, who eventually won the election. Vasava had said after the Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat in August this year that he had decided to vote for the Congress candidate as he was "unhappy" with the ruling party's works for the poor and tribal population that he represents. He was elected from Scheduled Tribe-reserved Jhagadia assembly seat in Bharuch district in south Gujarat. Solanki also claimed that some Aam Admi Party (AAP)leaders from Gujarat were also in contact with his party and may join hands with it ahead of the polls. Senior AAP leader Kanubhai Kalsariya had met Rahul Gandhi during the latter's visit to central Gujarat early in October. "Just like Kalsariya, many other AAP leaders are intouch with us. They may join the Congress soon," Solankiclaimed. He claimed that his party has emerged as a strong contender in the upcoming polls. The Congress is out of power in Gujarat for 22 years. With PTI inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Military strikes in southwestern Venezuela and the resultant surge of refugees into neighboring Colombia have sparked renewed claims that the autocratic Maduro regime in Caracas is a major destabilizing force in South America. Those events occurred after an earlier escalation in regional tensions when Venezuela reasserted its territorial claims over Guyana to the disputed Essequibo region in the west of the former British colony. That dispute dates back to 1962 when Venezuelas government asserted that the 1899 Paris Arbitral Award, which determined the South American countrys border, was null and void because of conflicts of interest and collusion between arbitrators. The Essequibo region, which contains around three-quarters of Guyanas national territory, also includes the seabed where a slew of major oil discoveries was made in recent years. Maduros last round of saber-rattling toward Guyana was triggered by the International Court of Justice in December 2020 affirming its jurisdiction to resolve the territorial dispute. In response, Maduro issued a decree claiming Venezuelas exclusive sovereignty to the waters of Guyanas west coast, which includes part of the offshore region where recent major oil finds were made. Those significant petroleum discoveries have breathed life into Guyanas struggling economy which was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. They will see the impoverished former British colony become a leading regional oil producer in six years. Caracas is clearly eyeing the vast petroleum wealth held in Guyanas territorial waters. Maduro is desperate to revive Venezuelas foundering oil industry and a shattered economy while fashioning a popular distraction for everyday Venezuelans struggling to survive the worlds worst peacetime economic collapse. Related Video: Guess What? Offshore Oil Is Cleanest Producer On 21 March 21, Venezuelan military and police units commenced armed strikes against elements of the dissident 10th FARC Front, which was one of the units of Colombias FARC guerillas who refused to recognize the 2016 peace deal. Considerable uncertainty exists as to what has triggered Caracas decision to commence military strikes against Colombian guerillas in the border state of Apure near the municipality of La Victoria. Many commentators, including Colombias defense minister, believe the conflict relates to disputes over drug trafficking profits between the FARC dissidents and Venezuelas military. While there is a history of collusion between various elements of the Venezuelan government apparatus in various illicit activities, the ferocity and duration of fighting points to the driver being something else. Apure is an important region for hydrocarbon exploration and production in Venezuela containing the La Victoria and Guafita oilfields. Maduro, as part of his strategy to rebuild Venezuelas petroleum industry, which is the petrostates economic backbone, is focused on attracting urgently needed foreign investment to rebuild energy infrastructure and oilfields. He even went as far as proposing private control of Venezuelan oil assets, something not considered by Caracas since Maduros predecessor Chavez nationalized the oil industry as part of his socialist Bolivarian revolution. To attract the considerable foreign investment required, tipped to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, Maduro needs Washington to ease harsh U.S. sanctions, instituted under the Trump administration, that cut Venezuela off from vital energy markets. What is undeniable is that military actions in Apure have amplified Venezuelas humanitarian crisis with it estimated that around 5,000 Venezuelans fled the fighting for the relative safety of Colombia. It is also contributing to greater instability in a region that has long been the focal point for the illicit activities of Colombian and Venezuelan non-state armed groups vying for control of lucrative smuggling routes. Related: OPEC Urges Its Members To Lobby Against NOPEC Bill Those routes are not only used to traffic cocaine but also for gasoline and petroleum stolen in Colombia, predominantly from the Andean countrys pipelines. Colombias National Police estimates 35% (Spanish) of all petroleum stolen from domestic pipelines ends up in Venezuela, underscoring the porous nature of the border and the importance of controlling smuggling routes. The sharp increase in illicit oil cargoes from Venezuela since strict U.S. sanctions were enacted, combined with a lack of state control and dwindling oil production makes the crisis-torn country the ideal location to dispose of stolen crude oil. Colombias national oil company Ecopetrol claims that the theft of crude oil from pipelines is rising, soaring 46% from a year earlier to 2,638 barrels per day. The popularity of stealing petroleum from pipelines is easy to understand. Not only are Colombias pipelines very accessible, passing through remote terrain, but oil theft is seen as a victimless crime which has become increasingly lucrative because of higher oil prices. There is a lengthy record of enmity between Caracas since Chavez commenced his socialist Bolivarian revolution in 1999, and Colombias national government. The autocratic socialist regimes Maduro and his predecessor Chavez have long been accused of harboring and aiding Colombian socialist rebels, from the FARC and ELN, heightening tensions along the border. A weak almost non-existent government presence along the Venezuelan and Colombian frontier has led to a long history of lawlessness along the border, which is illustrated by Caracas latest military strikes against armed non-state groups around La Victoria. It is entirely plausible that Maduro is attempting to build political capital with the Biden administration by removing U.S. designated terrorists and criminals from its national territory in the hope that sanctions are eased. The latest military actions in Apure will strengthen Caracas presence in a region that possesses significant hydrocarbon resources but has long been neglected by an overstretched state leaving it subject to considerable lawlessness. When those developments are coupled with Venezuelas smoldering economic collapse and grinding humanitarian crisis, now described as the worlds worst, it is clear the Maduro regime is a highly destabilizing regional influence. It is Colombia that is bearing the brunt of the turmoil created by Venezuelas economic crisis and the erratic actions of Maduros autocratic regime. That is compounding the severe headwinds impacting Colombia, the most perilous being a domestic security crisis and rapidly rising coronavirus cases. Those events are weighing heavily on an already badly damaged economy and Colombias vital petroleum industry, where investment, oil production, and drilling activity is well below pre-pandemic levels. That underscores the significant destabilizing effect the political, economic, and humanitarian crises triggered by Venezuelas near-collapse are having on its immediate neighbors and northern South America as a whole. The situation is so severe international thinktank the Council on Foreign Relations ranked Venezuela as one of the top conflict risks to watch in 2021. Those factors underscore the urgency with which the crisis in Venezuela needs to be resolved to substantially reduce instability in an economically shattered and highly unstable post-pandemic Latin America. By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com . The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle. No one does ripped-from-the-headlines movies like Lifetime. So far in 2021, the network, known for its made-for-TV films about notorious and bizarre crimes, has already aired movies based on the case of a Kansas woman who killed two of her children and tried to poison her husband (A House on Fire) and the notorious unsolved mystery of the Long Island serial killer. Movies about doomsday mom Lori Vallow and the disappearance of Jennifer Dulos are on tap for this summer. In short, if theres a strange, salacious, or scandalous crime, theres a good chance theres an accompanying Lifetime movie. Many Lifetime movies based on a true story are inspired by crimes that got a lot of national media attention (think Jodi Arias or Casey Anthony). But others are less well-known. Weve rounded up this list of some Lifetime movies that you might think are fictional, but are actually based on shocking real-life cases. Abducted: The Mary Stauffer Story RELATED: The True Story Behind the Lifetime Movie Abducted: The Mary Stauffer Story Is Incredibly Disturbing In 1980, Minnesota teacher Mary Stauffer and her 8-year-daughter were kidnapped by one of Stauffers former students. Ming Sen Shiue whod become obsessed with his one-time math teacher abducted them at gunpoint and held them captive for nearly 2 months before Stauffer managed to escape. Buffy alum Alyson Hannigan plays Stauffer in the 2019 movie. Who Is Clark Rockefeller? Clark Rockefeller/Christian Gerthartsreiter | John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Eric McCormack played con man Christian Gerthartsreiter (aka Clark Rockefeller) in this 2010 Lifetime movie. Gerthartsreiter spent decades living a life of fraud and deception, including pretending to be a member of the wealthy Rockefeller family. A jury eventually convicted him of kidnapping his daughter and murdering a man named Jonathan Sohus. Girl in the Box In 1977, Colleen Stan hitched a ride with a young couple with a baby while on her way to a friends birthday party. The couple, Cameron and Janice Hooker, kidnapped Stan and held her captive for seven years at their home in northern California. Her captors beat and raped her and forced her to spend most of her time inside a coffin-like box. Abducted: The Carlina White Story In 1987, a woman abducted 19-day old Carlina White from a hospital in New York City. More than two decades later, Carlina discovered shed been kidnapped. That led her to seek out her biological parents. Keke Palmer plays Carlina in the 2012 movie, while Sherri Shepherd plays her biological mother Joy White. Beautiful & Twisted Rob Lowe stars in this 2015 movie, about the murders of Ben Novack Jr. (heir to the famed Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach) and his mother Bernice Novack. Bernice was found dead in her garage in April 2009. Her sons body was discovered in a New York hotel room several months later. Suspicion soon fell on Novacks estranged wife Narcy Novack, a former stripper who wanted to get her hands on the family fortune. Death of a Cheerleader There are actually two versions of this movie about Kirsten Costas, a high school cheerleader murdered by a jealous classmate in small-town California in 1984. The first, from 1994, stars Tori Spelling as the cheerleader and Kellie Martin and her murderer. It originally aired on NBC; Lifetime later aired the movie as well. A 2019 Lifetime remake stars Aubrey Peeples and Sarah Dugdale. Romeo Killer: The Chris Porco Story This 2013 Lifetime flick focused on Chris Porco, who murdered his father (and attempted to kill his mother) with an ax. Porco actually sued Lifetime over the movie. He argued it misrepresented many aspects of the case, the Albany Times-Union reported. A Murder to Remember Kevin Rodriguez and Maddie Nichols star in this 2020 movie, about a young couple whose camping trip goes horribly wrong. Its inspired by the real story of Julio Torres, who was murdered during the trip, and Candra Torres, who was raped by her husbands killer. Candra initially defended the killer due to Stockholm syndrome, according to A&E. Obsessed RELATED: Stalked By My Husbands Ex Is a Different Kind of Movie for Lifetime, Director Says Jenna Elfman plays a writer who becomes fixated on a surgeon with whom she claims to have had an affair. This 2002 Lifetime movie was inspired by the real case of Diane Schaefer, a woman with erotomania who was convicted of harassing a New York surgeon (via the AP). Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! JOHNSON CITY, Tenn., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Trending Today airs a new episode on Fox Business Saturday, April 24th at 12:30 pm EST, featuring business leaders and lifestyle Innovators disrupting the marketplace with products and technologies at home and work. It's challenging to bring a paradigm-shifting technology to market. Trending Today shares companies' secrets to success. Find out how artists at Ink Factory draw attention to business presentations and complex concepts, making ideas easy to understand with pictures. "Our brains process visuals 60 thousand times faster than text because our brains evolved before written language. By using the visual language that Ink Factory has developed, we can help people understand things quickly," says Dusty Folkwarczny, Co-Founder and CEO of the women-owned small business based in Chicago, Illinois. Stirista helps companies connect with the right customers to maximize marketing dollars. "We have data sets that we utilize to help companies make their data better, or we take our data and help companies find people that might be interested in their products," says AJ Gupta, CEO of Stirista. Based in San Antonio, Texas, the company makes headlines for its sophisticated, highly targeted data solutions that help companies identify their ideal customer profiles and target those prospects. Lawyer April Arslan recognized marketing challenges in both the law profession and the food and beverage industry, so she developed a client-customer-service matching platform for each. Law-Whiz is an online site that connects lawyers with clients across the globe. I-Whiz puts buyers and suppliers together to do business locally or globally. Both intuitive platforms operate globally out of sister companies based in Australia and streamline marketing and sourcing tasks. Jackson Hedden, an industrial design firm, takes a forward-looking approach to product design to outlast the traditional lifespan of products. "We believe in not just making products but making a future for our clients' products. We design products that make you stop and think. If we cause a thought, we have done our job," says Jackson Hedden, design studio founder. The company, based in Birmingham, Alabama, offers product design, branding, and manufacturing management. Jackson Hedden was recognized with an Inc. 500 award and has worked with many famous name brands, including Gillette, Lego, Lamborghini, and 3M. Better Air, based in New York City, is bringing a paradigm-shifting technology to market with the world's first air and surface purifier using probiotics. Successful entrepreneur Richard Miller founded Better Air to advance his humanitarian efforts and improve people's health and wellbeing. "I'm a firm believer that money must have a specific purpose, and simply accumulating it as a social trophy makes no sense. We are put here on this earth to help each other, which is why I got involved with Better Air," says Miller, who donates 100 percent of his profits to charity. Better Air works to rid indoor environments of allergens, toxins, molds, microbes, and other pollutants by diffusing probiotic droplets up to 800 square feet. The company calls The Biotica 800 air diffuser "an immune system for your home." Trending Today invites you to interview any of these visionary business leaders who can speak to the following topics:-How to identify and build a successful niche in the marketplace-Qualities of a visionary business leader -Lessons learned building a paradigm-shifting business -The road to disruption, how they identified an untapped opportunity To schedule an interview, contact Karen@trendingtoday.com or call 407-416-1566For photos that you can publish with any editorial coverage, click the dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0fcdr9cvsmozday/AADKxwv-iKwrgRLvkBsmRXB4a?dl=0 Tune in on April 24th at 12:30 pm EST on Fox Business to watch Trending Today, the award-winning business show tracking what's new and next in the marketplace. About Trending Today:Trending Today is a business show that features entrepreneurs and companies disrupting and innovating the business world. Learn how they build their brands as guests share their stories, passion, knowledge, and expertise to inspire entrepreneurship. Trending Today airs on Fox Business on Saturdays at 12:30 pm EST. Learn more at www.TrendingToday.com. Here is a link to watch the latest episode Media Contacts:Liz Plummer, Executive Producer, C: 561 201 0506, liz@trendingtoday.comKaren LeBlanc, Director of Publicity, C: 407.416.1566, karen@trendingtoday.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/visionary-business-leaders-share-success-stories-301276202.html SOURCE Trending Today Carrollton native Todd Steinacher uses his knowledge in the agronomy industry to educate others. Steinacher first won an award in 2020 for Illinois Certified Crop Advisor. He is a regional agronomist. Winning that award allowed Steinacher to compete for the 2021 ICCA of the year which was international. He started his education at Lincoln Land Community College in its agriculture program for two years and then transferred to Western Illinois University, where he finished his bachelors degree in agronomy. He went back to graduate school for distance program in crop science at the University of Illinois. The International Certified Crop Adviser of the Year Award is designed to annually recognize a certified crop adviser who delivers exceptional customer service, is highly innovative, has shown that they are a leader in their field, and has contributed substantially to the exchange of ideas and the transfer of agronomic knowledge within the agriculture industry. The Illinois CCA board nominated Steinacher. The board nominates people who stand out in advising farmers. These farmers bring innovative ideas to the market place that share educational opportunities with farmers. Steinacher said he has worked on the CCA board. He has been a member for that board for the past two to three years. He worked with the Illinois Soybean Association, developing things such as webinars, and has worked with the CCA Soy Envoy Program. His full-time job is being a regional agronomist for AgriGold, which covers central and western Illinois. Every day, I get to work in agronomy. I enjoy thoroughly what I do, he said. I enjoy agronomy. I enjoy trying to educate customers and salesman on our new products. In 2018, he went to Africa. Illinois Rotary sponsored a project in Zambia, Africa to try to improve food sustainability. Steinacher said he worked with the village to discover what their farming challenges were and then created a plan and educated them on how to improve yields. Most of the farms he worked with were small villages. Because there isnt a market like there is in the United States in another country like Africa, we may take our soils or the education we learn for granted at times and until you actually see an area that doesnt have that, it just really makes you respect it much more, Steinacher said. What they grew is what their family ate, he said. When crop advising, he said he tries to understand what theyre currently doing and he tries to find out what their challenges may be. From different stand points, he knows where to go such as if they crop is running out of nutrition. Depending on what challenge the farmer is going through, it can change the recommendation. Every year he said he tries to have special projects that he works on and tries to elevate customer awareness and uses those things as talking points on sharing how yield is gained and loss. Next year he said he has a goal of expanding tissue sampling project for corn and then adding soy beans, tracking nutrition content. It gives a good understanding on how fields are doing by doing that sampling. He said he would like to share information with growers this fall during agronomy meetings going into next year. He uses insight from the previous five seasons to make recommendations. When Im doing these projects hopefully it will make growers make better decisions moving forward, Steinacher said. Six patients died at a private hospital here on Saturday allegedly due to a shortage of oxygen, prompting authorities to order a probe into the incident. Five of the six patients were infected with COVID-19, the hospital said. "Despite the district administration being repeatedly asked to extend help, no one turned up to do the needful," Sunil Devgan, the chairman and managing director of Neelkant hospital where the deaths occurred, alleged. "Six patients, including two women, died due to the shortage of oxygen," he claimed. However, Medical Education Minister O P Soni refuted the charge and claimed that no proper information was given by the hospital about any shortage of oxygen. A mere simple message was dropped in a WhatsApp group to the administration," he said. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner (DC) to initiate a thorough probe into the incident. Singh also said the hospital prima facie seemed to have flouted orders given to all private hospitals facing oxygen shortage to shift their patients to government medical colleges. The incident comes amid a deepening crisis over the scarcity of oxygen vital to save critically ill COVID patients, with similar tragedies unfolding in hospitals in other parts of the country over the last few days. Devgan claimed that after the death of patients, only five oxygen cylinders were supplied to the hospital. The hospital chairman claimed that three main oxygen suppliers have said that government hospitals are being prioritised. "Heavy police force has been deployed outside the oxygen units to prevent oxygen supply to private hospitals," Devgan alleged. Of the six patients who died at the hospital on Saturday, two were from Gurdaspur, one from Tarn Taran district and the remaining three were from Amritsar. The DC has set up a two-member committee, comprising a PCS officer, Dr Rajat Oberoi who is also in-charge of the death analysis committee, and a civil surgeon from Amritsar, to probe the matter, an official spokesperson said. The DC told reporters that oxygen was being supplied to private hospitals without any prejudice and that the government hospital here was also running short of oxygen supply on Friday night. The DC said private hospitals had been told not to admit patients if they do not have oxygen and they should refer patients to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. (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.) Australias government this week took to a new level its support for the US-backed confrontation with China and also set a global precedent for tearing up economic agreements previously signed with Beijing. The Liberal-National Coalition invoked new powers introduced last December in order to cancel two deals previously struck by the Victorian state Labor government under the umbrella of Chinas massive infrastructure Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The 2018 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and 2019 Framework agreements were vague and non-enforceable, and had never actually been activated. That only makes their overturn by Prime Minister Scott Morrisons government more clearly a direct and deliberate attack on the BRI. Washington regards with hostility, as a threat to US hegemony, the ambitious BRI project to link China by road, rail and sea with the rest of the Eurasian continent, right across to Europe, as well as to help build infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific and Africa. The four-page 2018 MoU merely agreed to cooperation within the Framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative. Much of the language in the MoU consisted of motherhood statements, such as form synergy in cooperation, Likewise, the nine-page 2019 agreed to jointly promote that Framework without any concrete proposals. It contained more general statements, such as a desire to enhance two-way trade Evidently, Victorian construction companies hoped for lucrative opportunities in China, while Chinese infrastructure firms could tender for Victorian government projects. Amid growing US and Australian trade war measures against China and the stepping up of the US-led military build-up in Asia, however, no projects ever resulted. Marise Payne, Australias Minister of Foreign Affairs. (Wikimedia Commons) Nevertheless, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne formally declared these deals to be inconsistent with Australias foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations in line with the relevant test in Australias Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020. She gave no further reasons and provided no other explanation. By further cutting across economic relations with China, on top of a series of bans on Chinese investment, and steps to stop reliance on supply chains from China, Canberras move points to the accelerating US-led preparations for a war against China to prevent it from challenging US power. The White House was clearly involved in the decision. Asked if the Biden administration had been in touch with Canberra over the issue, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki did not deny it. Instead, Psaki revealed how much Washington is preoccupied with combating China. How we can work together as a global community and in a coordinated fashion as it relates to China is part of nearly every discussion the President has with a European partner or country in the region, she said. Morrison defended scrapping the Chinese deals, saying his government would always act in Australias national interest to protect Australia and advance our national interests of a free and open Indo-Pacific and a world that seeks a balance in favour of freedom. Such provocative language declares China to be a threat to Australia and world freedom, when in reality it is the US and its allies that have conducted barbaric neo-colonial wars for decades, from Vietnam to the Middle East, and are now menacing China. Defence Minister Peter Dutton added to the belligerence by saying Australia would not be bullied by anyone in exerting its sovereign rights. He denounced the Victorian government for betraying the national interest by signing the two documents. This anti-China campaign has bipartisan backing within the parliamentary establishment. For its part, the Victorian Labor government readily accepted the cancellation of its deals. Federal Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese sought to outbid the Morrison government, saying a proper explanation was needed about why Victorias deals were scrapped but not the 99-year lease of the civilian Port of Darwin to Chinese company Landbridge in 2015. The Darwin lease is particularly sensitive because President Obama personally rebuked Morrisons predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull in 2015 for allowing the lease of the northern Australian port to go ahead without consulting Washington. Albaneses stance is in line with his message at Labors recent national conference, where he said Labor governments were needed for periods of war and crisis, as a Labor government had proved by initiating the US military alliance during World War II. Backed by the trade unions, Labors conference passed no less than six resolutions denouncing China. Murdoch media outlets and most others hailed the Morrison government for standing up to China. Some nervousness was voiced by sections of mining-related business, however, because China has become Australias largest export market over the past two decades, with iron ore sales and revenues soaring. Todays Australian Financial Review editorial criticised the government for prodding China for no obvious gain on moribund Belt and Road agreements. Malcolm Broomhead, the chairman of mining, oil and gas giant Orica and a BHP board member, told the Australian: I just dont understand the deliberate provocation of China which sits at odds with we want to be friends. Despite such qualms that the attacks on China are provoking restrictions on Australian exports to China, the ruling class as a whole depends heavily on US investment and on Washingtons support to pursue its own neo-colonial interests. That is why the Australian ruling elite has joined every major US war since World War II. The Chinese government reacted angrily and lodged a formal protest. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused the Morrison government of political manipulation and bullying and setting a bad global precedent. He said China had signed BRI cooperation documents with 140 countries and 31 international organisations. Australia is the first and only country to tear apart an agreement. Last year, the Chinese embassy issued a 14-point complaint against Australias discriminatory tariff and other economic measures against Chinese companies, including the ban on the teleco giant Huawei. That ban, imposed in 2018, was demanded by Washington and mirrored by other US allies. More widespread cancellations of China-linked economic, educational and cultural agreements by state and local governments and universities are looming. So far, Payne said she had reviewed more than 1,000 existing or proposed deals and decided to cancel only fourthe two with China and older Victorian agreements with Syria and Iran. Later, after landing in New Zealand, she said she expected further such decisions. Universities have until June to submit their lists of exchange and other agreements with overseas universities and other entities. Already, the US-aligned and government-subsidised Australian Security Policy Institute is calling for the shutting down of the dozen or so Confucius Institutes on Australian campuses. The rapidity of the shift against China is underscored by the fact that in 2017 Turnbulls Coalition government reached its own BRI agreement with the Chinese government. Then trade minister Steven Ciobo said: Australia supports the aims of initiatives such as the Belt and Road that improve infrastructure development and increased opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the past three years, the Australian government has become a frontrunner in measures against China, including the far-reaching, anti-democratic foreign interference laws passed in 2018, that Washington regards as a model for similar provisions internationally. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality in Australia and New Zealand is today, April 24, at 4 p.m. [AEST] holding an online meeting in opposition to the drive to war against China. Register here. Imperial Valley News Center Residents of Davis, Sacramento and Roseville Indicted for International Drug Trafficking Sacramento, California - A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment Thursday against Parampreet Singh, 55, of Davis; Ranvir Singh, 38, of Sacramento; and Amandeep Multani, 33, of Roseville, charging them with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 5 kilograms of cocaine, at least 1 kilogram of a mixture containing heroin, opium, and ketamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. According to court documents, no later than August 2020, an investigation began into a drug trafficking organization that was based in Sacramento and extended to the greater Toronto Area in Canada. Parampreet Singh, Ranvir Singh and Multani allegedly were facilitating the trafficking of cocaine, heroin, opium, and ketamine across international borders. Between October 2020 and March 2021, the defendants arranged multiple kilogram-level drug deals with a Canadian undercover officer using encrypted applications on their cellphones. This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the York Regional Police in Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Placer County Special Investigations Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney David W. Spencer is prosecuting the case. Parampreet Singh was ordered to be released upon posting a $6 million secured bond. Ranvir Singh was ordered to be released upon posting a $700,000 secured bond. Amandeep Multani was ordered detained pending trial. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This oyster, dubbed Grand Ma by the researchers, is over 15 years old Decimated by over-fishing and pollution, British oysters could make a comeback as a hatchery in the Channel port city of Portsmouth is helping to revive a native species. At Portsmouth University's Institute of Marine Sciences, huge piles of empty oyster shells are stacked in the courtyard, ready for the young oyster larvae to move in. "In the wild environment, the oysters will be reproducing roughly May through to September, and we're hoping that that will be mimicked here in the hatchery," said Luke Helmer, a scientist at the Blue Marine Foundation, which co-launched the project in 2015 with the university of Portsmouth. The hatchery is the first in Britain to focus solely on saving oysters, without any commercial motivation. It aims to reintroduce millions of the European flat oysters (ostrea edulis), a species that is almost extinct in this region. At the centre of the research centre is a small room full of salt water tanks that hold the adult oysters that will lead their revival. The team of scientists are "feeding them, keeping the conditions right," said Helmer. The team of eight researchers will soon start slowly raising the water temperature to match that of nearby seawater, triggering the oysters to release their larvae. Oysters reproduce by male oysters releasing sperm into the water, which fertilises eggs released by female oysters. Larvae initially drift in the water but then seek out an oyster shell to attach to and live in. At the hatchery, the larvae will live in incubators before being released in June into the Solent, a shallow strait next to the laboratory. Water conditions are monitored regularly Overfishing and pollution Human intervention is required because oysters have almost disappeared from the Solent in recent decades. "If you take it back to the 1970s, there were about 15 million oysters taken out from the fishery each year," said Helmer. "That has now declined to almost nothing." In Europe as a whole, the population of this oyster species has fallen by 90 percent since the end of the 19th century, according to the University of Portsmouth, and is almost extinct in some regions. The reasons for this is "mainly overfishing and harvesting," said Monica Fabra, a Ph.D. student in marine biology. Other factors include pollution and the introduction of non-native species which compete for space and food, she added, most importantly the Pacific oyster. Also known as the "Japanese oyster," this was introduced in the last century to compensate for falling numbers of native molluscs and it is now the main species in Europe. It proved a highly invasive species that has a profound effect on the ecosystem and squeezed out the European oyster. These molluscs will hopefully lead to a revival of their native oyster species in the waters near the British city of Portsmouth "Making them reproduce in the hatchery is a safer environment," said Fabra as she gently handled Grand Ma, who is over 15 years old and as large as a hand. Here, "we can ensure that they survive until the very end of the production," when they enter the sea, she added. Environmental clean-up Even though it will take a while to reverse the drop in the oyster population, Helmer hopes to reintroduce "somewhere between half a million and a million larvae" into the Solent in the next year or so. If successful, these will help clean up the water. Each oyster can filter up to 200 litres of water a day (4.4 gallons), "which is a phenomenal amount," said Helmer. They used to play a considerable role in improving water quality in the area when you take into account the millions of oysters that used to live on the seabed. "The oysters are known as an ecosystem engineer so they enhance the environment", due to their constant filtering, he added. Oysters will also improve the biodiversity of the reef where they settle, as their shells can shelter many other species, said Fabra. The Langstone Channel where the oysters will be released from the hatchery During a preliminary trial, researchers put oyster cages down into the sea and were astounded when they pulled them up and discovered 97 species. This result is particularly spectacular for European oysters since it has evolved to live alongside local species, he said. What's more, some studies have shown that the European oyster could be better adapted to deal with the warming climate than the Pacific one. The hatchery's findings could be rapidly duplicated around Europe as the researchers are collaborating with similar projects in Germany and the Netherlands. But Helmer cautions that a commercially viable population is still a long way away, and it could take a decade to sample delicious local oysters in Portsmouth. Explore further Native oysters restored to Conwy Bay in Wales 2021 AFP Tehran, April 24 : The Iranian health ministry on Friday reported 22,904 new Covid-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 2,358,809. The pandemic has so far claimed 68,746 lives in Iran, up by 380 in the past 24 hours, said Sima Sadat Lari, spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, during her daily briefing. A total of 1,850,791 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 5,107 remain in intensive care units, she noted. The spokeswoman added that 14,966,149 tests have so far been carried out across the country, the Xinhua news agency reported. As of Friday, 563,810 people have received the first dose of coronavirus vaccines and 154,700 people got the second dose. On Friday, Mahmood Vaezi, head of the presidential office, told official IRNA news agency that the priority of the government is to acquire Covid-19 vaccines from abroad. Medical staff first receive the vaccines in the country, and the elderly with background diseases are the second group of vaccine priority, said Vaezi. "As promised, all the government's efforts are to produce and use the domestic vaccine in spring and early summer," he added. Currently, Iran implements restrictions on businesses and traveling in high-risk areas amid a new wave of the virus spread in the country. Iran reported first cases of the disease in February 2020. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) MINNEAPOLIS One was crowned homecoming king. One was voted class friendliest. One was a member of the African American club. All three played crucial roles in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer found guilty of murdering George Floyd. And all three Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, lawyer Eric Nelson and high school student Darnella Frazier spent their formative years at Minneapolis' Roosevelt High School. Chauvin's conviction this week sent a ripple of relief throughout the school and its south Minneapolis community and ushered in a wave of pride for Frazier, who helped make it so. "She set the stage for girls like me looking up to her," said Markeanna Tyus, 16, a junior and friend of Frazier. "She's a hero." Darnella Frazier, left, chats with school resource officer Drea Leal at Minneapolis Roosevelt High School in January 2019. (David Joles / Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS/Sipa USA file) Frazier was 17 when she recorded a cellphone video of Floyd's arrest that drove much of the public's understanding of what took place May 25. She and Arradondo, the city's first Black police chief, testified for the prosecution, with Frazier tearfully expressing regret for not physically intervening before Floyd died. "I go to school with a revolutionary," Markeanna said. "I feel powerful to know I have a Black woman attending my school who endured all of that." Roosevelt High School is 2 miles from the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in south Minneapolis, where Chauvin pinned Floyd under his knee for 9 minutes. The area is now known as George Floyd Square. Arradondo graduated from the high school in 1985. He was part of the gymnastics team. He joined the Minneapolis Police Department four years later and was inducted into the Roosevelt High School Hall of Fame in September 2018. Nelson was part of the student council, sang in the choir and was inducted into the National Honor Society. He graduated in 1992. It was Nelson, Chauvin's defense attorney, who made the connection between the three during his closing argument Monday. Story continues "We all went to the same high school, obviously at different times," Nelson told jurors. "We had the same perspective, sat in the same classrooms, saw the same chalkboards or whiteboards, the same perspective. But our perception of our experiences there is going to be much different." Darnella Frazier, third from right, films as former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin presses his knee on George Floyd's neck for several minutes in Minneapolis on May 25. (Minneapolis Police Department via AP file) Some members of the school community were less than eager to claim the attorney as their own. (Markeanna said he is an "imbecile" and that he weaponized Floyd's feelings.) "Our school has some of the most fervent social justice activists that I've ever seen among young adults," said Marcia Howard, 47, whose teaching career began at Roosevelt High School in 1998. "What's special about that school is our commitment to creating civic-minded students. Our model is: Enter to learn and leave to serve." Howard, who teaches English, said that at the onset of the civil unrest over Floyd's death, she encouraged her students to learn from the moment. She said she told them: "Class is over, you all have credit. Just take care of yourselves, practice social distancing and seek justice." Members of the school community were galvanized into action. Greta Boogren, 18, a senior, said she participated in protests every weekend last summer and took part in the statewide walkout Monday to protest racial injustice. "We've had so many protests this past year and people are still going," she said, "which is great because we can't stop now." She believes the profession of policing needs widespread changes. "From its very roots, it's just evil," said Boogren, who is white. Markeanna said she has attended hundreds of protests since Floyd was killed and has been pepper-sprayed and hit with rubber bullets at some of them. She lives down the road from Cup Foods, where Floyd is alleged to have used a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes in May. She said she wishes the school had done more to support students this past year who have been dealing with the pandemic, distance learning and a racial reckoning spurred by Floyd's death. School district spokesman Dirk Tedmon did not return requests for comment. Image: Eric Nelson (Court TV via AP, Pool) "I don't think people realize that this right here, this racism, this white supremacy right here, that's a virus, too," she said, adding that it's the equivalent of two pandemics "stacked on top of each other." Howard, who said she lives "260 walking steps" from where Floyd died, is still navigating the emotional stress from his death. "I never really went back to teaching after that," she said. "Because I was dealing with trauma." Chauvin's conviction Tuesday on charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter won't diminish calls for racial justice, members of the school community say. In fact, Markeanna wishes people would stop describing Chauvin's conviction as justice. "It was bittersweet. It wasn't justice, but it was accountability," she said. "George Floyd isn't here. His daughter doesn't have a dad." Markeanna, one of the presidents of the Black Student Union, said the group plans to hold a walkout Wednesday in solidarity with Floyd and the racial justice movement. Students will walk from the high school to George Floyd Square, she said. Howard, who has kept in close touch with her students, plans to participate. She'll be waiting for them when they arrive at George Floyd Square, which she helps oversee. Minneapolis Public Schools said students would not be disciplined for participating in protests "as long as the protest remains peaceful." Walking out of school is counted as an unexcused absence, according to the district's policy. "You have to understand that on May 25, students were dealing with a global pandemic, distance learning, quarantine from their friends and loved ones," Howard said. "They had already gone through a lot." They were exposed to flash-bangs, rubber bullets and the drone of helicopters night after night, she said. "Our students are probably still dealing with the trauma of the early days of the uprising," Howard said. "They saw the National Guard rolling up their street. They saw a phalanx of police marching toward protesters. It's a lot to process when they could've been thinking about prom or a test or graduation or applications for college." Minneapolis police Chief Medaria Arradondo drives a vehicle as he leaves the Hennepin County Government Center on April 5. (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images) Howard said she was initially ambivalent about Arradondo because Black and brown people in the city have suffered under the Minneapolis police and he is the captain of a force that "continually abuses people." Her opinion changed after he testified. "In a way, he sort of acquitted himself on the stand," she said. "He crossed the blue line." As the students walk Wednesday, many very well may be thinking of Frazier, who told the Minneapolis Star Tribune a day after Floyd's death that she started recording "as soon as I heard him trying to fight for his life." "The world needed to see what I was seeing," she said. "Stuff like this happens in silence too many times." Boogren, Markeanna and Howard all said they are amazed by and admire Frazier. "There's not a thing she could have done differently," Boogren said. "Everyone at Roosevelt is so proud of her." Markeanna believes Frazier did more than she had to do. "She could have kept walking," Markeanna said. "She could have went home and went to bed." Below a yearbook photo of Frazier from her sophomore year reads the quote "Some people say that you just can't win, when people choose to judge you by the color of your skin." Howard said Frazier was one of her students last year and she also taught two of her older siblings. She holds Frazier, whom she said "did a service to our city and a justice to our country," in high regard. "Being in Minneapolis at Roosevelt, the epicenter of a global social justice movement, and knowing that one of their classmates helped strike the match that lit the world's fervor for social justice," Howard said, "I personally can't be more proud to be from the school at which I've taught for 23 years." A heavily intoxicated Wilkes-Barre Area School District teachers associate went after a bartender with throwing darts and injured a man who tried restraining her after she got cut off from alcohol last weekend, according to police. Jamie L. Pesotski, 41, of Wilkes-Barre, is facing simple assault and terroristic threat charges following her arrest Sunday night. Pittston Twp. police were dispatched to the Italian American Citizens Club at 126 Oak St. around 11:40 p.m. The bartender, Leslie Monk, reported that Pesotski had approached her and become irate, making statements that did not make sense. When Monk cut her off, Pesotski went nuts and grabbed some darts, which she used to make a stabbing motion toward the bartender, police said. Pesotski threatened to kill them all before several men helped restrain her, according to police. During the scuffle, Pesotski swung a dart that caused a small cut on the abdomen of one of the men, Dino Argo, who declined medical treatment, police said. She remains free on $5,000 bail. Recovered Afghan artifacts: Head of a Bodhisattva with a headdress, 3rd century, valued at $2,000; Standing Buddha, 3rd-4th century, valued at $167,500; and Relief depicting Buddhas first sermon, 3rd century, valued at $55,000. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Manhattan district attorneys office) WASHINGTON Ambassador Roya Rahmani never cried as a young woman in Afghanistan. Tears were a sign of a womans weakness, she recalled being told, a dogma she said she swore to defy. Then she turned on the television in March of 2001 and saw the Taliban detonating explosives to destroy the ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan, a pair of towering statues carved into a cliffside. I started weeping, she said during an event Tuesday evening at the Afghan Embassy in Washington, D.C. The bullets and dynamite chipped away, piece by piece, one of the greatest architectural monuments in Afghanistan. The destruction took place just months before the 9/11 attacks, which led the U.S. to invade Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban government. As the U.S. two decades later prepares to leave Afghanistan, the destruction of the Buddhas remains a lasting physical reminder of the Talibans rule. The Buddhas of Bamiyan were more than stone, Rahmani said. They were a bridge between the past and present. On Monday, Ambassador Rahmani received back what she described as other pieces of that bridge, in the form of 33 Afghan artifacts dating back to the 2nd century. Ambassador Roya Rahmani speaks at the Afghan Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. (Jenna McLaughlin/Yahoo News) The pieces were recovered as part of Operation Hidden Idol, a years-long investigation into an art smuggling ring by the Manhattan district attorneys office and the Department of Homeland Securitys Investigations unit. Those relics were returned to the Afghan government in a repatriation ceremony on Monday. In July 2019, the Manhattan DAs office filed criminal charges against Indian art dealer Subhash Kapoor and seven co-conspirators, alleging that he and his compatriots, working out of his New York City art gallery, made over $143 million looting and reselling ancient relics from around the world, including the ones on display from Afghanistan as well as some from Nepal, Pakistan, India, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar and elsewhere. Kapoor is currently facing criminal trial in Tamil Nadu in southern India, where he has been held since 2012, though the DAs office filed paperwork for him to be extradited to the United States to face additional charges once the trial concludes. While he was arrested in Germany in 2011, investigations into his smuggling ring began years earlier. Story continues Today is one of the most gratifying days of my tenure here in the United States, said Rahmani. Without respecting and celebrating our past and present, we will not be able to move forward to a future where Afghanistan is at peace. Recovered Afghan artifacts: Mask of Silenus, 2nd century, valued at $165,000; Head of a Bearded Man, 3rd-4th century, valued at $175,000; and Head of Buddha, 3rd-4th century, valued at $167,500. (Manhattan district attorneys office) The event at the embassy was aimed at celebrating the South Asian countrys rich cultural history, amid a news cycle populated by headlines about President Bidens recent decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan 20 years after the U.S. invaded the country in response to al-Qaidas 9/11 attacks. Neither the war nor its end was mentioned, but the timing of the event just seven days after Biden announced that the U.S. would withdraw its remaining troops by Sept. 11 was clearly meant to highlight Afghanistans progress under the current government. The artifacts were briefly on display in New York following the investigation, and flown to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday for a brief reception, before heading off to Kabul on Wednesday afternoon. Edgar Zambrano, the president of an international shipping company hired to transport the artifacts, told Yahoo News he got the call about moving the antiquities from New York about a week ago, and he traveled with them to make sure they made it to Washington safely. Zambrano, who has lived in the Washington area for the last 20 years, says he has long transported cultural artifacts and art for embassies, recently moving a 1,400-pound bust to the Turkish ambassadors residence. Moving the Afghan antiquities felt special, he said, particularly after listening to the ambassador talk about them Tuesday evening. After hearing her speak about it, its really kind of an honor, he said. Recovered Afghan artifacts: Seated figure with leaves, 3rd century, valued at $2,000; Head of Buddha, 3rd-4th century, valued at $15,000. (Manhattan district attorneys office) The antiquities on display, including several Buddhist heads made of schist stone, stucco or baked clay, were valued by the Manhattan district attorneys office at approximately $1.8 million. According to Fredrik Hiebert, an archaeologist and National Geographic fellow who spoke at the reception, many of the Buddhist statue heads were stolen or separated from their bodies in Afghanistan over the years and are in markets throughout the world. Now that some of the pieces are being repatriated to Kabul, theres a hope that the statues will be made whole, he said. Prior to the Muslim conquest of the region in the 7th century, Buddhism was a prominent religious force south of the Hindu Kush mountains, a result of the influence of one of the earliest Indian dynasties, which extended to parts of modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. That area was also along a major trade route, and Alexander the Great established several cities in the region, leaving behind bits of Greek culture, visible in the artifacts, according to Hiebert. The oldest piece on display, from the 2nd century, was a Greek work made of bronze: a mask of Silenus, a companion of the god of wine, Dionysus, in Greek mythology. Perhaps the heaviest and most intricate piece featured Hindu religious figures from the 8th century: a marble sculpture of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and regeneration, and his wife, Parvati, who represents fertility, love and beauty, weighing in at approximately 150 pounds. Recovered Afghan artifact: Shiva and Parvati, 8th century, valued at $120,000. (Jenna McLaughlin/Yahoo News) According to the Afghan Embassy, there are more [artifacts] to come as investigations into worldwide art smuggling continue. As a result of years of conflict, Afghan relics have disappeared or been destroyed over time. The return of the Buddhist relics surfaces painful memories of the Talibans previous attempts to erase all evidence of a time before Islam reached Afghanistan. In contrast, Rahmani said, the Afghan government will cherish these relics. Returning stolen artifacts has been an ongoing mission of a group of investigators within the Manhattan district attorneys office and the Department of Homeland Security. The DAs office has its own Antiquities Trafficking Unit, and a team within the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is tasked with investigating cultural heritage properties and returning them to their countries of origin. Recovered Afghan artifacts: Head of a Bodhisattva, 6th-7th century, valued at $125,000; Bodhisattva under a tree, 3rd century, valued at $35,000; and Figure of a winged Atlas/Cherub, 3rd century, valued at $55,000. (Manhattan district attorneys office) ICE has been working with the State Departments Cultural Heritage Center and the Smithsonian Institution to repatriate more than 12,000 objects to more than 30 countries since 2007. In recent weeks, the Manhattan district attorneys office and DHS also returned artifacts to the governments of Sri Lanka and Nepal. Crimes of culture involving looted and stolen religious relics, such as the nearly two dozen Buddhist statues being repatriated today to the people of Afghanistan, not only tear at the societal fabric of nations but also deprive millions of believers worldwide of the earliest sacred symbols of their faith, District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement Monday. ____ Read more from Yahoo News: A former medical examiner who served as a witness in Derek Chauvin's murder trial will have 17 years' worth of his in-custody death reports independently reviewed after he testified that the cop was not responsible for George Floyd's death, officials have announced. Dr. David Fowler, Maryland's chief medical examiner from 2002 to 2019, was a key defense witness for Chauvin, who was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes last May. During the four-week trial, Fowler testified that the primary cause of Floyd's death was a sudden heart rhythm disturbance during police restraint due to underlying heart disease, contradicting several experts who said Floyd had died due to a lack of oxygen. He also said that Floyd's drug use and exposure to carbon monoxide from the police car contributed to his death. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh made the review announcement Friday, a day after receiving a letter from former Washington DC medical examiner Roger A. Mitchell that was signed by 431 doctors from around the country. Maryland's Attorney General Brian Frosh and Governor Larry Hogan have called for an independent review of former medical examiner Dr. David Fowler's (pictured) in-custody death reports during his 17-year tenure after he testified that Derek Chauvin was not responsible for George Floyd's death Chauvin was charged wit murdering Floyd after kneeling on his neck (pictured) for nine minutes last May. However, Fowler had testified that the primary cause of Floyd's death was a sudden heart rhythm disturbance during police restraint due to underlying heart disease, contradicting several experts who said Floyd died due to a lack of oxygen The letter said Fowler's testimony and conclusions were outside the bounds of accepted forensic practice and all of his previous work should be questioned, The Baltimore Sun reported. Frosh later released a statement in agreement, saying: 'It is appropriate for independent experts to review reports issued by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) regarding deaths in custody.' He said his office is already in talks with the governor's office about how to coordinate the review. The investigation would call into question the validity of all of Fowler's in-custody death reports during his tenure, which includes the deaths of Anton Black, a 19-year-old who died in police custody in Greensboro in 2018. Raquel Coombs, a spokeswoman for Frosh, said in a statement that the review of will not involve any state officials or staff connected to a lawsuit filed by Black's family. Black's death was captured on video, which showed Greensboro police holding the unarmed teenager down for more than six minutes. Fowler ruled that Black died because of a sudden cardiac event while struggling with police, and not because they pinned him in a prone position. Frosh (left) made the review announcement Friday, a day after receiving a letter from former Washington DC medical examiner Roger A. Mitchell that was signed by 431 doctors from around the country The family of Anton Black (pictured) filed a lawsuit accusing Dr David Fowler (right) of covering up the 19-year-old's true cause of death in 2018 Included in the time period to be reviewed is the death of Tyrone West (pictured) who died after struggling with Baltimore police following a traffic stop in 2013 The attorney general's office is defending the state in the lawsuit brought by Black's family against Fowler, the state and others. They have asked for the Black case to be thrown out. Fowler told The Baltimore Sun Friday that he was not aware of any review but defended his office's work and said he is not the only person responsible for autopsy conclusions. 'There's a large team of forensic pathologists, with layers of supervision, and those medical examiners always did tremendous work,' Fowler told the news outlet. Fowler was called to the stand by Chauvin's defense team and testified that Floyd died of a sudden heart rhythm problem due to his heart disease. 'The cause of death statement of any individual should be injury, disease, or combination thereof, reached to a reliable degree of medical certainty,' DC medical examiner Roger A. Mitchell wrote in the letter. 'Dr. Fowler's stated opinion that George Floyd's death during active police restraint should be certified with an 'undetermined' manner is outside the standard practice and conventions for investigating and certification of in-custody deaths,' Mitchell said. Chauvin (pictured in court and booking photo) was convicted this week of killing George Floyd during an arrest last May 'This stated opinion raises significant concerns for his previous practice and management.' 'We have taken steps to wall off those in our office who are representing the (Office of the Chief Medical Examiner) and its current and former employees, including Dr. Fowler, from those who might be involved in any review of (the examiner's) reports,' Coombs wrote. Included in the time period to be reviewed is the death of Tyrone West, who died after struggling with Baltimore police following a traffic stop in 2013. Witnesses and the officers themselves said there was a violent struggle between the officers and West, but the state medical examiner's office ruled that he died from natural causes exacerbated by the struggle and the summer heat. West's sister, Tawanda Jones, has been fighting for eight years to get her brother's case re-opened. She said word of the review was 'the best news I've gotten all day.' People lay flowers at a memorial in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis following Chauvin's conviction One of Fowler's office's best known rulings came in the death of Freddie Gray, who they determined died from injuries suffered in the back of a police van. The autopsy concluded that officers' failure to take care of him and seek medical attention made his death a homicide, and prompted State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby to swiftly file charges against six officers. All were either acquitted or had their charges dropped. Brian Peterson, chief medical examiner for Milwaukee County, said he and Fowler have been friends for years and served together on committees. Peterson told The Washington Post he finds the investigation into Fowler's time as chief medical examiner unnecessary and called Fowler an 'excellent, experienced forensic pathologist.' (Natural News) The timing was incredible: Shortly before a jury pronounced Derek Chauvins fate on Tuesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a police officer shot and killed a 16-year-old black girl named MaKhia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. A large crowd gathered almost immediately and a protest took place downtown later that night. (Article by Evan James republished from BigLeaguePolitics.com) But to many Americans it was clear from the get-go that the officer who shot Bryant was 100 percent justified. Police body cam footage captured Bryant lunging at two women with a knife and obvious intent to cause serious harm or death. Some despicable agitating, race-baiting, and excuse-making persisted through Wednesday, but by Thursday cooler heads have prevailed. Security camera footage lends additional credence to Nicholas Reardons decision to shoot MaKhia Bryant, and major news networks are beginning to change their coverage of it. Donovan Brinson, a military veteran and neighbor of Bryant, said his home security camera captured the entire incident and clearly shows that Columbus police saved the life of the young woman whom Bryant attackedand perhaps the lives of others as well. He could have either not fired and the young lady in pink could have been stabbed in the neck and brutally or fatally injured and then he could shot [Bryant] and we could have had two [young women] deador he could have responded in the way that he did and one young lady lost her life, he told Fox News Thursday morning. And on Thursday mornings episode of New Day, CNN law enforcement analyst Anthony Barkdale told hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar that the officer did his job, and we need to start looking at each incident as its own incident. Berman then replied as follows: Im so glad you said that. Im so glad you put it that way. Because we have to be able to say that, Yes, things are a tragedy. Something can be tragic and not necessarily call into question the entire way that an officer responded. And you say, Look, weve got to look at each of these cases differently. Watch: Wow CNN isnt going with the the cop should have let her stab the girl take. Interesting pic.twitter.com/zQUjCy9246 CURE (@CureHipHop) April 22, 2021 LeBron James also deleted his outrageous Wednesday tweet that targeted Officer Reardon and said YOURE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY. BERLIN (Reuters) -Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday called on Germans to stick to tighter coronavirus restrictions imposed in areas with high infection rates over the weekend, saying the step was needed to break a third wave of infections. Both chambers of parliament approved the amendments to the Infection Protection Act earlier this week to give the federal government more powers to fight the third wave in the pandemic. Merkel drew up the law after some of the 16 federal states refused to implement tougher measures despite a surge in COVID-19 cases and in defiance of a lockdown agreement reached in March. "This is something new in our fight against the pandemic. And I am convinced that it's urgently needed," Merkel said in her weekly video podcast. "It serves the goal of first slowing down the third wave of the pandemic, then stopping it and finally reversing it." Like many other European countries, Germany is struggling to contain an aggressive third wave of cases, with efforts being complicated by the more contagious B117 variant, which first emerged in the UK, and a relatively slow vaccination start. TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS To stop the spread of other variants, Germany has classified India as a new coronavirus "high incidence area" due to the number of infections there, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases said on Friday. People returning to Germany from high incidence areas must register with the authorities before travelling and then quarantine for 14 days on their return. "In order not to endanger our vaccination campaign, travel to India must be significantly restricted," Health Minister Jens Spahn told Funke media group. From Monday, Germans coming from India will only be allowed to enter the country with a negative test result and then go into quarantine while foreign travellers coming from India will no longer be allowed to enter, Spahn said. If the number of infections goes down in the coming weeks, systematic testing will help to enable a controlled and sustainable loosening of restrictions, Merkel promised. Story continues "And our vaccination campaign, it's gaining momentum. It is the key to overcoming the pandemic," the chancellor added. "I am convinced that if we can now manage to reduce infections significantly and quickly, we will be able to relax them step by step in the foreseeable future," Merkel said. "Let us now do what is necessary again and together show each other respect and responsibility," she added. The new law enables the government to impose curfews between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in areas where the virus incidence exceeds 100 cases per 100,000 residents on three days in a row. The rules include stricter limits to private gatherings, sport and shop openings. Schools will have to close and return to online lessons if the virus incidence exceeds 165 cases per 100,000 residents on three days in a row. Factories and offices remain open, with employers expected to enable most employees to work from home and to offer frequent coronavirus tests for those who cannot work remotely. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 23,392 over the past 24 hours to 3,268,645, data from RKI showed on Saturday. The nationwide seven-day average of cases per 100,000 people stood roughly unchanged at 164. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber, editing by Clelia Oziel and Jason Neely) As India ramps up its vaccine production, Bharat Biotech Chief Dr. Krishna Ella on Saturday, spoke about the global recognition and demand of COVAXIN in an exclusive conversation with Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami. During the televised conclave, Dr. Ella was asked about the international reception that COVAXIN has attained. To this Dr. Ella responded that as of today, global demand is such that COVAXIN production in enterity could be exported. According to him several countries including the United States of America have shown their interest in procuring Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN. He said, "Many countries want this vaccine, including the USA, even they want this vaccine. The reason behind that is its safety pattern. It is so good that it can safely be administered to children. It can be administered to a two year old baby to an eighteen year old grown-up. On the other hand, one does not know of this in other vaccine." Dr. Ella further informed that COVAXIN has been sourced and formulated by old technology. Preaching that 'old is gold' he assured that COVAXIN can be administered to people with allergic reactions or people dependent on blood thinners too. It provides such a platform owing to the oldest most reliable technology. He candidly clarified that COVAXIN might not be highly responsive like that of a Pfizer vaccine or so but COVAXIN is an effective compound in order to provide protection to people. According to him, given the ongoing scenario and of utmost importance, safety must be provided to people. This is taken care of by COVAXIN's efficacy. He further adds, "...particularly in adults, the adults are the worst to get vaccinated. A child is very easy to vaccinate as all you have to do is inject one prick and they are fine with distraction or toys. Whereas adults are very sensitive to every small reaction. This is the first time we are dealing with adults vaccaination too." COVAXIN, according to Bharat Biotech Chief, has attained considerable global recognition. However, Indian demand will be first met and ensured, he assured. He spoke of his company's formulated vaccine and its high demand across the globe. He enumerated on countries, namely the Philippines, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Iran, Iraq, Abu Dhabi (UAE) amongst others that have established their COVAXIN demand. Dr. Ella then indicated the said vaccine is currently undergoing Phase 3 of the trials. He said that figures of these trials will be submitted before the Drugs Controller General of India. He ascertained that because India's demand is much higher and relevant today, ergo, Indian demand will be first met and ensured. Klein announces virtual academy Klein ISD announced that students in fourth through 12th grade may apply for the districts new tuition-free virtual school Klein Virtual Academy, or KVA. The school district will be continuing in-person learning at school campuses as well. KVA is a virtual learning option that will replace Klein Online, according to the announcement posted April 19. On HoustonChronicle.com: Spring students ready to experience in-person proms Pending full funding from the Texas Legislature, Klein ISD is prepared to offer a unique online learning environment for students who exhibit success learning online, states the announcement. Klein Virtual Academy (KVA) is Klein ISDs new remote learning program going forward in response to the families seeking flexibility for remote learning. Klein Virtual Academy takes the place of Klein Online, which will conclude at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. For more information and updates about the program, visit https://kva.kleinisd.net. Klein ISD has scheduled a Facebook Live event for 7 p.m. on April 29 to provide more information about the KVA. The KVA application can be found at kva.kleinisd.net/student_applications. -From the Klein ISD website Spring considering Virtual Academy Spring ISD students in third through 12th grade could have the option of attending a full-time Virtual Academy next school year if state funding allows and enough parents indicate they would be interested in having their students take part, states an April 23 Spring ISD press release. We know that online learning has really been a great fit for some families, so were looking at offering a virtual academy for students who really thrive in this learning environment, Superintendent Rodney E. Watson said in the release. This new program would build upon our experience over the past year, giving students a combination of synchronous and asynchronous instruction with the opportunity to stay connected with their zoned campus through virtual clubs and in-person extracurricular activities. The school district is planning for the Virtual Academy but seeing whether legislation may be adopted by state lawmakers to fund the online option, states the press release. Spring ISD will also be measuring families interest in a virtual program through a parent survey. Students in the virtual program would be required to commit to the remote learning option for the year. Its made sense this year to allow families the flexibility to transition back and forth between in-person and remote, Watson said in the press release, but for next year, were going to be asking that families agree to online learning for the entire school year. For more information and updates, visit www.springisd.org. -Contributed by Spring ISD Students show animals at livestock show Thursday marked the start of the 2021 Spring Livestock Show & Fair a three-day event at Nagy Pavilion, announced a Spring ISD press release. On HoustonChronicle.com: 70th Annual Spring Livestock Show & Fair returning this year as an in-person event Spring ISD students are able to show their animals and projects during the in-person event this year while following health and safety protocols. Last years show was held as an online-only event due to the pandemic. The students are super excited about getting to show what theyve raised, Spring ISD school board trustee Jana Gonzales said in the press release. This last year has been hard and theyve accomplished a lot with what theyve been dealt. Proceeds from the sale of student projects held pay for the cost of future projects and postsecondary education costs. -Contributed by Spring ISD Klein ISD announces graduation updates Klein ISDs Class of 2021 seniors will get to walk the stage in June during graduation ceremonies at Klein Memorial Stadium. An April 23 announcement states that the number of tickets to attend the ceremony available to each graduating senior has increased from five to seven total tickets. Each graduating senior will get a total of two parking passes. A senior who chooses to park at the event would use one of the two passes. As conditions continue to improve in our local community, face coverings and masks will be optional at the ceremony for graduates and guests, states the announcement. Loved ones who cant attend the event can watch the ceremonies by live streaming the events through the Klein ISD website. Graduation ceremonies schedule: Klein Collins High School June 3 at 8 p.m. Klein High School June 4 at 8 a.m. Klein Forest High School June 4 at 8 p.m. Klein Cain High School June 5 at 8 a.m. Klein Oak High School June 5 at 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.kleinisd.net. -From the Klein ISD website .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... OLYMPIA, Wash. Gov. Jay Inslee said Saturday that inoculations with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can begin in Washington state following a review by scientific experts in a western states work group. The Seattle Times reports that the Western States Scientific Safety Review work group vaccine experts from Washington, California, Oregon and Nevada met Friday to review data about the vaccines potential risks, after more than a dozen women nationwide developed rare blood clots. The benefits of the J&J vaccine outweigh the risks associated with it, Inslee said in a statement. The federal Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday called for the 11-day pause on the J&J vaccine to be lifted after federal regulators reviewed data on blood clots and assess risks associated with the vaccine. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ ___ THE VIRUS OUTBREAK: Several U.S. states resuming J&J vaccines with warning after pause India reports record 346,786 coronavirus cases amid worlds worst surge New York City offers walk-up vaccinations for all ages Navajo students describe pandemic struggles to first lady Jill Biden ___ Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine ___ HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING: LOS ANGELES A panel of public health experts from California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington was meeting to discuss potentially lifting the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a spokesman for the California Department of Public Health said Saturday. Meanwhile, Los Angeles County public health officials went ahead with telling vaccine providers they could resume administering Johnson & Johnson doses on Saturday, if they give out an updated fact sheet about the vaccine to recipients. Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the countys Department of Public Health, said the county has been working on developing additional materials to explain the rare blood clotting issue that prompted the J&J vaccine pause on April 13. Those will include what we think is really important information about what to look forthe signs and symptoms if you were to have this, again, very rare reaction, he said. And we are going to underscore that this is a very rare reaction. ___ RIO DE JANEIRO Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has suggested that the army might be called into the streets to restore order if lockdown measures against COVID-19 that he opposes lead to chaos. In a television interview Friday night with TV Criticia in the Amazon city of Manaus, Bolsonaro repeated his frequent criticism of restrictions imposed by local governments to curb infections measures he claims do more harm than good. That lockdown policy, of quarantine, is absurd. If we have problems we have a plan of how to act. I am the supreme head of the armed forces, Bolsonaro said. Health experts urged Bolsonaro this month to impose a national lockdown after the nations daily toll of COVID-19 deaths reached new peaks. The Ministry of Health says theres been more than 386,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths in Brazil. ___ TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras President Joe Biden has highlighted how the United States has administered 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine before his first 100 days in office. Hes also signaled its time for the U.S. to begin sharing its surplus of doses. The staggering inequality of vaccines is clear throughout the Americas, Africa and parts of Asia. China and Russia have aggressively pushed their homegrown vaccines around the world. But the U.S. just shared its first 4 million doses last month with Canada and Mexico. Biden has said those countries would be targets for additional doses, and so too would countries in Central America. Honduras has obtained only 59,000 vaccine doses for its 10 million people. Similar gaps in vaccine access are found across Africa, where just 36 million doses have been acquired for the continents 1.3 billion people, as well as in parts of Asia. In the U.S, more than one-fourth of the population nearly 90 million people has been fully vaccinated. Some states are turning down planned shipments from the federal government. ___ AUSTIN, Texas State health officials say more than 1.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses are headed to Texas next week. The Texas Department of State Health Services say more than 708,000 first doses are headed to 928 providers in 129 Texas counties, while more than 570,000 second doses also have been ordered. About 470,000 first and second doses have been allocated to pharmacies, federally qualified health centers and dialysis centers. So far, more than 23.4 million doses have been distributed to Texas, and more than 36% of the states population has received at least one dose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 24% of the population has been fully immunized. Also, with the federal pause on the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine now lifted, the government is expected to make doses of that vaccine available soon. There have been more than 2.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 48,946 confirmed deaths in Texas since the start of the pandemic. ___ NEW YORK Several states have resumed use of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, after receiving the green light from federal health officials. Arizona, New York, Virginia, Missouri, Michigan, Tennessee and Virginia were among the states ordering or recommending a resumption. Indianapolis Motor Speedway is giving free J&J vaccinations to anyone 18 or older. Those moves came swiftly after U.S. health officials said Friday evening they were lifting an 11-day pause on vaccinations using the J&J vaccine. During the pause, scientific advisers to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention decided the vaccines benefits outweigh a rare risk of blood clots. There were 15 vaccine recipients who developed a highly unusual kind of blood clot out of nearly 8 million people given the J&J shot in the U.S. All were women, most under age 50. Three died and seven remain hospitalized. Advisers to the CDC say warnings could help younger women and their doctors decide if they should use that shot or an alternative. ___ PARIS France and other countries in Europe are preparing to relax coronavirus restrictions while still pouring medical, financial and technological resources into keeping thousands of COVID-19 patients alive. Inside one of Paris biggest hospitals, state-of-the-art artificial lungs are giving the most critical patients a last-ditch shot at survival. Outside, healthy people are planning getaways and drinks with friends as the country embarks on the perilous process of easing out of its latest lockdown. French President Emmanuel Macron is reopening elementary schools on Monday and allowing people to move about more freely again in May. Some frontline caregivers in hospitals see the easing as premature. Intensive care unit admissions at French hospitals remain stubbornly higher than at any point since the pandemics first deadly surge. In France, Greece and elsewhere, governments are using ramped-up vaccinations to bolster arguments to ease restrictions. However, just one-quarter of adults in Europe have received a first dose. ___ RICHMOND, Va. Virginia health officials have told providers to immediately resume their use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after federal agencies lifted a pause on the vaccine. The decision came after the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration found the benefits of the one-shot vaccine outweigh its risks of rare blood clots. This month, the agencies announced an investigation into six cases of an extremely rare blood clot disorder in recipients. The one woman who died was a 45-year-old Virginia resident who received the vaccine on March 6. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports before the pause, Virginia had administered 184,000 J&J shots. This extra scrutiny should instill confidence in the system that is in place to guarantee COVID-19 vaccine safety, says Dr. Danny Avula, the states vaccine coordinator, who received a J&J shot on April 1. As with any vaccine, we encourage individuals to educate themselves on any potential side effects and to weigh that against the possibility of hospitalization or death from COVID-19. ___ SRINAGAR, India For the third day in a row, India set a global daily record with 346,786 coronavirus cases. That increased Indias total to more than 16 million cases, behind only the United States. The Health Ministry reported another 2,624 deaths in the past 24 hours, pushing Indias confirmed death toll to 189,544. Hospitals in New Delhi and some of the worst-hit states have reported critical shortages of beds and oxygen supplies on Saturday. Families are waiting for days to cremate their loved ones at overburdened crematoriums, with many turning to makeshift facilities for last rites. Health experts and critics say a downward trend in infections late last year lulled authorities into complacency, and they failed to plug the holes in the ailing health care system that had become evident during the first wave. They also blame politicians and government authorities for allowing super-spreader events, including religious festivals and election rallies, to take place as recently as this month. Its not the virus variants and mutations which are a key cause of the current rise in infections, Dr. Anant Bhan, a bioethics and global health expert, tweeted this week. Its the variants of ineptitude and abdication of public health thinking by our decision makers. ___ DAMASCUS, Syria The Syrian government has received the first batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, a gift of 150,000 jabs to Damascus, according to Syrian and Chinese officials. The Chinese vaccines arrived on Saturday in Damascus airport where they were received by Syrias Health Minister Hassan Ghabbash and Chinas ambassador to Damascus. The Chinese batch comes a few days after more than 200,000 jabs were delivered to Syria through the United Nations-led platform which provides vaccines to the needy. The new vaccines are likely to speed up a slow inoculation campaign in the war-torn country whose health sector has been overwhelmed by the virus amid a new surge of infection. The Syrian government has registered nearly 22,000 confirmed infection cases and more than 1,500 confirmed deaths in areas under its control. Another batch of UN-provided vaccines some 53,800 shots arrived in Syrias last rebel-held enclave from neighboring Turkey on Wednesday. The first inoculation campaign is expected to begin in that territory, home to some 4 million people, on May 1. Over 21,000 infections and 640 deaths have been recorded in rebel-held northwestern Syria, while the Kurdish areas in the northeast registered 14,400 cases and 477 deaths. ___ CAIRO Egypts top health official says there is a slight but continual spike in confirmed cases of coronavirus across the country in recent weeks. Health Minister Hala Zayed says authorities have registered a weekly increase by up to 10% in some areas amid a third wave of the pandemic. She didnt provide numbers. She says they provided large numbers of intensive care units and ventilators to provinces where cases have been spiked. Zayed urged people in the Arab worlds most populous country to stick to preventive measures, including wearing face masks and avoiding gatherings during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The minister also called for health care workers to register to be vaccinated against the virus. She said only 50 percent of the targeted health care workers registered. Egypt, with 100 million people, has reported more than 220,650 confirmed cases and 12,959 confirmed deaths. ___ NEW YORK Appointments are no longer necessary at any of the coronavirus vaccination sites run by New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced anyone eligible for the vaccine could walk up to any of the citys mass vaccination sites and get a shot. The change comes as supplies of the vaccine have increased. Among the citys unique locations: Beneath the giant blue whale at the Museum of Natural History. Last week, the city began offering walk-up vaccinations to everyone age 50 and over. De Blasio said it went well enough that the city is now doing the same for people of all ages. Through Friday, about 40% of all New York City residents had gotten at least one vaccine dose. About 26% have been fully vaccinated. ___ CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has reached an agreement with the global aid agencies he has often shunned to bring help to his countrys people. Maduro this week signed a deal to let the United Nations World Food Program provide school meals for 1.5 million children. It follows an agreement worked out with another agency to access COVID-19 vaccines under a U.N.-backed program. Maduro for years had rejected numerous humanitarian aid offers as unnecessary and as veiled attempts by the United States and other hostile forces to destabilize his socialist government. That stance appears to have wavered amid continuing hardships. Venezuela has been vaccinating part of its population with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and the Chinese Sinopharm. Maduros government on April 10 announced it had covered a $64 million down payment to join the U.N.-backed COVAX vaccine program, which helps poorer nations get shots. ___ TEHRAN Irans state-run IRNA news agency is reporting the countrys civil aviation agency has banned all flights to and from India and Pakistan because of the dramatic surge in coronavirus cases in the two nations. IRNA says the decision was made by Irans Health Ministry and it takes effect Saturday at midnight. Mohammad Hassan Zibakhsh, spokesman for Irans Civil Aviation Organization noted there are no routine flights between Iran and India and flights are operated occasionally. Several other countries in the region, including the sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait, also have banned flights to and from India over the rise in coronavirus cases there. Zibakhsh said flights to and from 41 countries already were prohibited in Iran, while those who want to fly to other countries listed as high risk are required to have a coronavirus test in Iran. Travelers over 8 years old need to submit a negative PCR test within 96 hours of departure and do another test on arrival. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said 18,230 new confirmed cases over 24 hours, bringing Irans total on Saturday to more than 2,377,000. ____ BERLIN Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Germans to accept nationwide pandemic restrictions that came into force at midnight, resulting in a 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfews, further limits on personal contacts and access to non-essential stores in regions with high infection rates. In her weekly video address Saturday, Merkel acknowledged the new rules are tough but insisted they are needed to curb the spread of the virus in the country. Germanys disease control agency on Friday reported 23,392 newly confirmed cases and more 286 deaths from COVID-19. Since the start of the pandemic, Germany has recorded almost 3.3 million cases and 81,444 deaths. Merkel says the new measures, which automatically start regions with more than 100 newly reported cases a week per 100,000 inhabitants, are urgently needed. She cited Britain, Portugal and Ireland, which had infection rates sharply reduced during strict lockdowns, and defended Germanys new restrictions against critics who have called them excessive. Also, Germany is restricting travel from India because of concern about a mutated version of the coronavirus amid surging cases there. India reported a global daily record of more the 346,000 infections. ___ Ghanaian actress, Rosemond Brown, popularly known as Akuapem Poloo has asked the public to give her time to put herself together before addressing them. In a short comment following her release after she fully satisfied the bail conditions set out by the criminal division of the Accra High court, Akuapem Poloo expressed appreciation to everyone who supported and called for her release. The social media sensation who was sentenced for posting nude pictures with her son on social media advised others to desist from the act of posting naked pictures on the internet. I want to say this to my colleague and the young ones coming that it is not a good act. I didnt know and I did it and this is what I got myself into; it is not good and they should stop...nudity is not good at all" she indicated. Meanwhile, his lawyer, Andrew Vortia, has bemoaned how traumatized and pale his client looks. I could see that her spirit is still very low, she appears very slim, pale but having seen part of her family, at least by this time her spirit is getting up he indicated. 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 While enacting this law, the Haryana government failed to do adequate pre-legislative exercises to test its economic rationale The Haryana government recently enacted the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act 2020, which requires private establishments that employ 10 or more workers to reserve 75 per cent of new jobs with a monthly salary of less than Rs 50,000 for domiciles of Haryana. (Photo: PTI) Haryana is the latest addition to the growing phenomenon where Indian states are formulating laws and policies to reserve jobs for locals in the private sector. Other states that have undertaken such measures, though with negligible implementation, include Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Is it a race to the top or the bottom? It is certainly petty, immoral and may not achieve its objectives. The Haryana government recently enacted the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act 2020, which requires private establishments that employ 10 or more workers to reserve 75 per cent of new jobs with a monthly salary of less than Rs 50,000 for domiciles of Haryana. It has resulted in a rift between the state government and the private sector, as evident from the backlash, it has received from private entrepreneurs and industry bodies. Many private-sector firms have threatened to move out. This practice of regional protectionism has a ripple effect, that is likely to push other states to follow suit due to populist considerations, or a race to the bottom. It will end up restricting the freedom of workers to migrate and access better employment opportunities. It may also push employers to leave places where such laws are applicable. Most critically, it will lead to the erosion of national unity. The perceived economic rationale of such laws to generate jobs for locals and boost local industrial ecosystems -- seems to get defeated. To govern a commercial ecosystem, the state government is entitled and mandated to enact laws concerning land, labour, capital and energy. These laws are meant to ensure smooth commercial activity. Each or both of the objectives forms the economic rationale towards formulation of a law. Additionally, under the new paradigm of stakeholder capitalism, the government, private sector, labour and civil society need to work in a compact over each others actions for inclusive and mutually beneficial governance. While enacting this law, the Haryana government failed to do adequate pre-legislative exercises to test its economic rationale. It also undermined its compact of cooperation with the private sector. The law restricts the opportunities of migrant workers and disrupts the industrial ecosystem of Haryana. It seems like an expression of the state governments insecurity towards unemployment and a classic example of ad hocism in lawmaking, driven by populism. There already exists a trust deficit between the government and private sector, as each has avoided accountability towards the other on various occasions. The private sector knowingly failed to adequately distribute its acquired wealth and institutionalise precarious jobs. The government has overregulated the private sector, leading to a high compliance burden. The world is debating stakeholder capitalism vs shareholder capitalism: to ensure that every enterprise works for society, not just its owners. In both instances of state supervision of business, however, labour has borne the brunt of the adverse consequences. What is unfortunate is that self-interest, rather than mutual interest, drives the solution of modern economic problems. There is nonalignment between the problem statement specified in the statement of objects and reasons of the Haryana law and its objectives. The statement specifies the influx of migrants competing for low-paid jobs as the prime reason for the adverse impact on local infrastructure and housing, and proliferation of slums. It further attributes these factors to the rise of environmental and health issues, thus affecting the quality of life and livelihood. Its true there is migrant influx for low-paid jobs in Haryana or the entire National Capital Region as it is in Mumbai or Kolkata. There can be two possible reasons. First, availability of abundant work opportunities under different industry segments; and second, lack of work in the states where the workers migrate from. However, the primary reason for the burden on local infrastructure, housing and proliferation of slums is not the presence of migrants. It can be attributed to factors like lack of state capacity in undertaking welfare measures, non-availability of decent jobs in the private sector. Further, the quality of life and livelihood is affected for the same reasons. Therefore, the solution to address this doesnt lie in reserving jobs for locals but in enhancing the investment on local infrastructure, welfare measures and strengthening skill development initiatives. The solution also demands ensuring decent work for low-paid workers in particular. Decent work implies that the primary needs of workers, including health, food, shelter and clothing, are fulfilled. It also places a worker in a position where monetary savings are ensured and there is an opportunity for skill enhancement. Ensuring decent work is a goal in itself and has an economic rationale of increased productivity and development of human beings. Working towards it requires the efficient performance of the compact between the government, labour and the private sector. The state governments also need to realise such quota enabling measures are accompanied by newer compliances for enterprises. The proliferation of compliance responsibilities dilute the states agenda of facilitating the ease of doing business and also reduces the governance deficit. The policies enabling employment quotas for locals is driven by populism. It has far-reaching consequences which goes beyond the direct impact on labour, the government and the private sector. It adversely affects the investment prospects for a commercial ecosystem, urban mobility of workers and has an immense opportunity cost. Therefore, any state action towards enhancing employment must be anchored through an economic rationale. This will be clear when the compact between the government, labour and the private sector is evidently functional. University of Louisiana System President Jim Henderson and Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne are being interviewed Monday for the top job at LSU. The LSU Presidential Search Committee is interviewing on Monday and Tuesday the eight semi-finalists to become president of the LSU System President/Chancellor of the Baton Rouge campus. Unlike the previous search, which led to the hiring of F. King Alexander in 2013, the LSU Presidential Search Committee has publicly named the candidates that interest them the most and are conducting the interviews in public, instead of keeping the whole process secret until the final choice, as was done last time. For Zoom webinar information for each of the candidate interviews, please visit https://www.lsu.edu/president-search/candidates/index.php. Jay Dardenne, Jim Henderson among 8 semifinalists in LSU president search; see full list An LSU special committee Wednesday picked eight candidates to interview next week for the universitys top job, including Commissioner of Admi At least most of the interviews will be public, said Winston DeCuir, LSU executive counsel. A short part will be done behind closed doors to ensure privacy on some for the candidates' personal matters. The interviews are being held remotely via Zoom to ensure that candidates from Baton Rouge are questioned under the same conditions as candidates from other parts of the state and nation. Public comment is allowed. Those interested in making public comments should submit a request to president-search@lsu.edu by 8 a.m. Monday, April 26, and Tuesday, April 27, 2021 and must be present. Search Committee Chair James Williams said each member of the panel are free to ask whatever questions they want. He does expect some queries about the sexual harassment issues the university is facing and how the candidate would handle the situation. The Search Committee will meet Friday to vote on candidates to recommend to the LSU Board of Supervisors, who will decide what to do next and ultimately make the final decision. Heres the search committees schedule Monday 9:00 a.m. 9:30 a.m.: Orientation 9:30 a.m. 10:45 a.m.: Laurence Alexander, J.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chancellor of University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff 10:45 a.m. 11:00 a.m.: Break 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 11:00 a.m. 12:15 p.m.: James (Jim) Henderson, D.M., System President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Louisiana System 12:15 p.m. 1:00 p.m. Lunch 1:00 p.m. 2:15 p.m.: Mary Ann Rankin, Ph.D., Professor, Former Senior Vice President and Provost, University of Maryland, College Park 2:15 p.m. 2:30 p.m. Break 2:30 p.m. 3:45 p.m.: Jay Dardenne, J.D., Commissioner of Administration, State of Louisiana Tuesday 9:00 a.m. 10:15 a.m.: Kelvin Droegemeier, Ph.D., Former Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, U.S. Government 10:15 a.m. 10:30 a.m. Break 10:30 a.m. 11:45 a.m.: Ronald (Ron) Clark, M.A., Major General & Chief of Staff, United States Indo-Pacific Command, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii, United States Army 11:45 a.m. 12:30 p.m.: Lunch 12:30 p.m. 1:45 p.m.: Lt. Gen. (Ret) Jeffrey (Jeff) Talley, Ph.D., President & CEO of The P3i Group, LLC 1:45 p.m. 2:00 p.m. Break 2:00 p.m. 3:15 p.m.: Rustin M. Moore, DVM, Ph.D., Professor and Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University 3:15 p.m. Until: Final Discussion Law enforcement leaders in Jefferson County said the uptick in violent crime in Birmingham and beyond is intolerable and they are renewing their vow to band together to stamp out gun violence. There is no individual or group who can compete with us,' said Birmingham City Councilman Hunter Williams, who chairs the councils Public Safety Committee. We will make sure that those who commit violent crime in our city will be outmanned, out-resourced and outworked to ensure a safer Birmingham to ensure that our residents have the opportunity to safely work and play and raise a family in this city. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin was joined Friday by Williams, Police Chief Patrick Smith, Sheriff Mark Pettway, District Attorney Danny Carr and Northern District of Alabama U.S. Prim Escalona. The group, which met recently, is looking for ways to identify the shooters in ongoing gun crimes, identify the reasons for the shootings, such as ongoing neighborhood feuds, and rid neighborhoods of the problem. As of Friday, there had been 33 homicides in Birmingham, which is actually four fewer than on April 23, 2020. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 66 homicides, including the 33 in Birmingham. At this time last year, there had been 57 homicides countywide. This is not about numbers or stats. This is about saving lives,' Woodfin said. Theres a considerable amount of anger and sadness, as well as concern, in our community. We want to address from a law enforcement perspective. The mayor said while police have made progress in lower all other forms of crime, gun violence still goes on at a rate that is unacceptable. He said city, county and federal agencies will intensify their partnerships. Woodfin described it as an all-hands-on deck effort to reduce gun violence. The goal is very clear,' Woodfin said. If you carry a gun in Birmingham intending to do harm or have already committed a violent crime, well find you and youre going to sit out. And if you havent committed a crime but are carrying an illegal gun, well give you a choice to either work with us to get the help you need to put the gun down or youre going to sit down too.' Law enforcement officials will work to execute a community safety program led by the mayors Office of Peace and Policy and incorporate strategies for predicting, intervening in, and responding to gun crimes with a particular focus on places where incidents of gun crimes have been the highest in the community. They will also model gun task force partnerships in other states where federal, state and local law enforcement agencies focus on information sharing and identifying trends in gun trafficking to keep guns off the streets. Woodfin said they will devise a plan for the citys 14 public housing communities to ensure safety there and look at ways they can protect witnesses who come forward to help authorities prosecute gun crimes. Were standing here with one voice and one goal, the goal of tackling a problem that has plagued communities all across the nation - the issue of gun violence,' Chief Smith said. Weve seen brazen acts of gun violence committed in private residences as well as public places. Criminals have become bolder. Their acts of gun violence, bolder. It can erupt even in the presence of law enforcement officers. So far this year, Smith said, Birmingham police have taken 800 guns off the citys streets. In all of 2020, police removed 2,570 weapons. The Birmingham Police Department is committed and will continue to work tirelessly to remove guns off the streets and from those who intend to do harm in the community and commit ruthless acts of violence,' he said. Sheriff Pettway said the group is committed to turn around the current trends in violent crime. When we think about all those families who have lost loved ones due to gun violence, our hearts grieve with them,' he said. Were talking about someones mother, someones father, someones child. Were going to do everything we can to prevent these violent acts from happening. District Attorney Carr said gun criminals can expect to face consequences. If you have a gun and you shouldnt have that gun, there are going to be consequences. If you indiscriminately fire that gun and you continue to perpetuate the violence in our community, theres going to be consequences,' Carr said. I want to give you a term consecutive. That means not only would you be punished in state court by the office of the district attorney, after that sentence is served, we will seek to have you punished in federal court as well. That means youll be serving two sentences for one event. The violence has to stop,' he said. We need to take people to court and hold them accountable. The U.S. Attorneys Office, Escalona said, will offer every tool available to help Jefferson County reign in the violence and it will be a top priority of her office. Too many families are suffering the loss of a loved one, stolen from them due to violence. While theres never an acceptable rate of homicide, violence or fear within our community, we know theres too much today. Too many deaths, too many gunshots, too much domestic violence and too much fear,' she said. The level of violence in Birmingham is intolerable and the fear of violence among our families and neighborhoods is unsustainable,' she said. Our communities deserve peace, and our children deserve a safe place to grow up. Woodfin said while the majority of Birmingham residents are law-abiding, this is a critical time in the community. We cannot let a small group of people who are hell-bent on destroying themselves and or hurting others rule and dictate the day,' the mayor said. I want you to feel empowered and would like to encourage parents, mothers, fathers, grandparents, before your child walks out of that homeknow what theyre getting into. Check their book bags, their car, under their bed make sure they dont walk out of your home with a gun or walk back inside with a gun. The request came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration on Friday said use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could resume after a pause due to a rare clotting disorder that was reported in roughly two of every 2 million doses. Advisers to the CDC said the vaccines benefits outweigh the risk against a virus thats still killing about 1,000 Americans a day. Kuwait on Saturday suspended all direct commercial flights coming from India until further notice due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country. The move came after instructions from health authorities. Kuwait's directorate general of civil aviation said that it had suspended all direct commercial flights coming from India, effective April 24. All passengers arriving from India either directly or via another country will be banned from entering unless they have spent at least 14 days out of India, it said in a statement on Twitter. Kuwaiti citizens, their first degree relatives and their domestic workers will be allowed to enter the country. Operations of freight flights will continue, it said. Over one million Indian community members live in Kuwait, the largest expatriate community in the country, according to the Indian Embassy in Kuwait. Earlier, the UK, the UAE and Canada announced ban flights from India amid the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country. A record single-day rise of 3,46,786 coronavirus cases pushed India's tally of infection to 1,66,10,481, while active cases crossed the 25-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday. Meanwhile, the UAE on Friday updated its travel ban for India, saying that all incoming flights on national and foreign carriers from the country will be suspended, while transportation of passengers from the Gulf country to India will be allowed. The UAE on Thursday banned travel from India for 10 days from Sunday due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country. The UAE's General Authority of Civil Aviation and the National Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) announced an update on regulations with the clarification that entry from India will be suspended for all incoming flights on national and foreign carriers. According to a statement released, this will also apply to those carrying transit passengers, except for transit flights coming to the UAE and heading onward to India. This decision includes the entry of travellers who were in India in the last 14 days prior to coming to the UAE, the statement said. The statement, however, said that the flights between the two countries will continue to operate allowing the transportation of passengers from the UAE to India. It will also allow the transfer of exempted groups from India to the UAE with the application of the aforementioned precautionary measures. These groups include UAE citizens, diplomatic missions appointed by the two countries, official delegations and those holding golden residency, it said. The exemptions will apply provided they undertake preventive measures that include quarantine for 10 days and a PCR test at the airport, as well as on the fourth and eighth days following the entry into the country. The required PCR test period has also been reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours prior to travel from accredited laboratories that issue test results carrying a QR code. The authority also confirmed that it is required for those coming from India through other countries to stay in those countries for at least 14 days before being allowed to enter the country, starting from 23:59 on Saturday, April 24, 2021, said the statement. These regulations will apply for a period of 10 days, which can be extended, while cargo flights continue to operate between the two countries. The authority called upon all travellers affected by the decision to follow up with the relevant airlines to change or reschedule their flights and to ensure their safe return to their final destinations without delay. Also read: COVID-19 second wave: Singapore bars long-term pass holders, visitors travelling from India Also read: Canada suspends flights from India, Pakistan for 30 days amid rising COVID-19 cases Governor School for the Arts Announces Recipients By West Kentucky Star Staff MURRAY - Several western Kentucky high school students have been selected for this year's Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts education program.Tilghman juniors Gloree Wood and Gabrielle Copeland and Tilghman sophomores Jensen Knudsen and Kate Bidwell have been selected as participants for the 2021 Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts program.Wood was chosen for Vocal Music, Copeland was selected for Musical Theatre, Knudsen will attend for Drama, and Bidwell was chosen for Musical Theatre.Murray High School students attending include Jeremiah Morris, (Instrumental Music-Brass), and Skylar Swalls (Drama). Carleigh Mollette (Instrumental Music-Brass), and Meg Robinson (Visual Art), were named as 2021 GSA alternates.The Kentucky Center Governor's School for the Arts (GSA) is an arts education program of The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. The GSA three-week summer program is for rising juniors and seniors in Kentucky.Each spring over 1700 students audition for spots in the program. Located at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, the ($3,800 per student) program is free for students to attend (full tuition, room and board), and is funded by the state and private fundraising. Premier Gladys Berejiklians pick to fill a vacancy in the upper house has won preselection, but cannot be sworn in while the house remains locked in a bitter stand-off over its presidency. Peter Poulos, a senior adviser to Environment Minister Matt Kean, comfortably beat three other contenders to claim the seat of recently-departed upper house president John Ajaka. Mr Poulos is a long-term party operative who previously worked for federal Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. He is a former Rockdale Councillor of twelve years, and served as deputy mayor for one year. Peter Poulos has been preselected to enter the NSW upper house. At a preselection event on Saturday Mr Poulos won 58 votes, claiming victory over ex-mayor Kent Johns on 26, Sam Elmir on nine and cardiologist Dr Fred Nasser on two votes. Jakarta: People in Myanmar have criticised an agreement between the countrys junta chief and South-east Asian leaders to end the violence-hit nations crisis, saying it fell short of restoring democracy and holding the army accountable for hundreds of civilian deaths. There were no immediate protests in Myanmars big cities a day after the meeting of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Jakarta, Indonesia, that agreed to end the violence but gave no roadmap on how this would happen. Myanmars Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is greeted by Indonesian officials upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on the outskirts of Jakarta on Saturday. Credit:Indonesian Presidential Palace via AP But several people took to social media on Sunday to criticise the deal. ASEANs statement is a slap on the face of the people who have been abused, killed and terrorised by the military, said a Facebook user called Mawchi Tun. We do not need your help with that mindset and approach. Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here. Advertisement There is a moment in the early morning, as the blood-red sun comes round the towering bulk of Babadag mountain and sucks up the mist, turning the sea to beaten pewter, when Cold Water Bay seems like the most beautiful place on earth. Its a small cove, a nick in the rugged, pine-clad range of capes in southern Turkey that make up what the tourist board people call the Turquoise Coast. Its near the town of Fethiye (about 45 minutes from Dalaman airport) and its Ali Tunas kingdom. My wife and I have been coming here since Ali was little more than a lad doing barbecues on the beach. Comely cove: Azure waters greet visitors in southern Turkey, also known as the Turquoise Coast Now he and Pavarotti, the singing donkey who does all the fetching and carrying, have built an alfresco restaurant up the hillside, decked with bowers of bougainvillea and Maltese plums. Theres a snake in this paradise. In the late morning the tourist boats arrive, with their music and their hordes from the honeypots of Oludeniz and Hisaronu. They come for the beauty and, for a time, ruin it. In the heat of the day, they jump off the cliffs into water that pulses with icy currents from the freshwater springs that give the place its name. And by five oclock, thank goodness, theyve gone. By then, Ali himself, under his trademark sombrero, is out in his launch helping customers moor up. Time for a quick dive off the stern, a glass (or two) of Villa Doluca, zingiest of Turkish white wines, then the row ashore in the gathering dusk and the climb up the path towards the lanterns of Alis restaurant. He still does much of the cooking on a large open fire; Turkish stuff to a high standard fresh fish, lamb, wild boar casserole supplemented by more exotic fare from his partner Lecks Thai homeland. The Daily Mail's Michael Buerk visited the town of Fethiye (above), which is about 45 minutes from Dalaman airport Theres the comradeship of sailors round the dying fire before the rather less steady row back to the boat guided by the moonlight. Up early in the morning. Breakfast at Alis, with its heartstopping view of the blue, blue cove below now lit with gold. And then a stiff walk up the wooded mountainside to one of Turkeys most extraordinary historic sites. Kayakoy was a Greek town for millennia until its population was ordered out at the end of the Greco-Turkish war in 1923. Extraordinary: Kayakoy is an abandoned Greek town made up of around five hundred ruined houses Five hundred ruined houses, untouched for almost a century, a monument to belonging and loss. Back down for a quick coffee, casting off before the tourist day boats arrive, punctual as Cinderellas midnight. I need to keep this dream intact until next time. YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. The Vice President of the European Parliament Fabio Massimo Castaldo says the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is significant also in terms of preventing the attempts of autocratic regimes to mystify the truth and fuel polarization in societies. There are days when more than others remind us of the horrible depths of which human nature is capable, and yet it is exactly in those days that we have the important task to look for a spark of hope, a deeper meaning to learn a lesson that will help us shape the future and ensure that certain events never happen again. Today is one of those days and I am honored, humbled, and deeply touched for the opportunity to address you directly. On April 24 we observe the genocide memorial day to remember the atrocities suffered by the Armenian people and to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated with barbarian efficacy by Ottoman Empire starting in 1915, Castaldo said in a video message for ARMENPRESS on the occasion of the 106th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In this spirit I stand in solidarity with you all and I appeal to my European brothers and sisters and to the whole humanity to join with the Armenian people in remembering and commemorating the victims of this horrible genocide and all other genocides in our planet. It is an important opportunity to deeply reflect on the necessity of historical knowledge and remembrance. Days like this are indeed precious, as they are reminding us the need to fight with all our strength any form of discrimination and hatred , past and present, and the need to actively and timely oppose any genocidal policy, be it in the bud or already manifested. The path towards justice and reconciliation, towards healing of the wounds that events like genocides leave in the history of communities, in the history of whole humankind, requires first and foremost as a first step the unequivocal recognition of the crimes that have been committed. For this reason I strongly call on all the European member states, all the members of the European Union to adopt a specific legislation that officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide. Turkey, still strongly nowadays denies the genocide, denies this tragedy, and to date only the governments of 30 countries have recognized the events of 1915 for what they really were. We have to do better, we have to do more. Recognition is not merely a formal act, but rather something of exceptional importance and significance. Silence, hesitation and hypocrisy undermine the collective use of memory to the detriment of the livelihood of liberal democracies, which are increasingly under siege. Taking a clear stance on this and other similar tragedies is essential to prevent totalitarian and autocratic states from attempting to mystify the truth and fuel polarization in our societies, ultimately changing our perception of reality and the actions of our governments. In this context education is a fundamental tool to ensure that such tragedies never happen again. The horrors of humanity must not only be remembered, they must be studied in depth. I firmly believe that events such as the Armenian Genocide must be compulsorily introduced into school curriculums along with programs aimed at preventing hatred and violence, which in recent years are increasingly and relentlessly spreading in all our societies and could only be contained by tolerance, by knowledge, by education. Castaldo expressed hope that next year hed be able to join Armenians in Yerevan and visit the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to lay flowers and the Eternal Flame. but today, as you let me participate I such an important and touching ceremony, I want to once again assure you of my unwavering friendship, my strong solidarity and my total engagement and commitment, and I join you all in metaphorically shouting to the sky that we do not forget, that we will never forget, that we will always remember. Firefighters are battling a huge gorse fire spreading across the Mourne Mountains, with to 60 firefighters and 12 appliances at the scene. The fire in the Slieve Donard area overlooking Newcastle, County Down, has been ongoing since the early hours of Friday morning. In a statement, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said: 'Firefighters are currently dealing with a large gorse fire in the Slieve Donard area of the Northern Mournes. Pictured: A gorse fire spreads across the Mourne Mountains overlooking Newcastle, Co Down. Firefighters were battling a huge gorse fire spreading across the Mountains on Friday, with to 60 firefighters and 12 appliances at the scene 'We would request that the public avoid the Glen River and Bloody Bridge River access points this weekend due to the ongoing incident and potential for further fires in the extremely dry conditions. 'NIFRS would like to highlight the unsuitability for wild camping in these areas this weekend due to current fire conditions. 'We would ask the public to exercise due care and vigilance in relation to fire safety if out in the countryside during this current dry spell.' Firefighters have been at the scene since Friday morning, with the constant movement of the blaze throughout the day constantly challenging the fire fighting efforts of those on the ground. Pictures from the town overnight on Friday showed locals watching over the small County Down town at the foot of the pitch-black hills, with blaze spreading across them and smoke rising into the night's sky. SDLP MLA Colin McGrath said Friday's wildfire in the Mournes highlighted the need to develop an all-island strategy to address the matter. 'With courageous fire crews tackling the blaze from early Friday morning there was a hope that the fire could be contained,' he added. 'However, with some light winds it unfortunately managed to spread down the eastern slope of Leganabruchan and eventually into Donard Forest in Newcastle. Twelve fire appliances and around 60 firefighters have been at the scene in the Bloody Bridge area since the early hours of Friday Pictured: A map showing the location of the fires in Northern Ireland 'By the afternoon of Friday there were some 60 brave firefighters doing their best to maintain the blaze, with the smoke visible from as far away as Downpatrick. 'I pay tribute to their bravery and determination. Sadly, this will not only have a devastating impact on the natural landscape but the local economy of Newcastle that relies so heavily on the tourist product we associate with the Mournes. 'Having met with the NIFRS it is clear that they are doing everything they can to combat these blazes. Pictured: Locals watch on over Newcastle, County Down as the blaze spreads across the mountains behind the town, in the late hours of Friday, April 23 'However, the issue of gorse and wildfires is something that affects our entire island and our response to it cannot just be a reaction to every outbreak of fire but a measured response that attempts to understand why these fires are happening so often and ultimately to prevent them. 'That over the last four years we have had three years with continuous fires tells me we need to act now for the health and wellbeing of all our people.' McGrath said that most firefighters were withdrawn for safety reasons over night, but that they would be back in the early hours of the morning when its cooler. Pictures from the town overnight on Friday showed locals watching over the small County Down town at the foot of the pitch-black hills, with blaze spreading across them and smoke rising into the night's sky Local residents told Belfast Live they had never seen such fires on the mountain, and feared the damage that the blaze could have done to the local wildlife. 'We have never seen it as bad at this.. it's frightening the damage that is being done. The ground nesting birds wildlife will be suffering so badly,' one person told the news outlet. 'We don't know what started it but it's been dry recently and we need rain to help. It is so upsetting to see it so bad even from a distance we can see the actual flames.' DUP Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots tweeted on Friday that it was 'sickening that one human can cause so much damage to our environment and biodiversity in the beautiful Mournes. Thank you so much to the NIFRS and first responders.' Sunny in color and sweeter in taste, Giada De Laurentiis Sicilian pesto has to be tried. A departure from the intensely green pesto you know and love, Sicilian pestos flavor profile is De Laurentiis fun opportunity to try pesto from a different region of Italy. With just a handful of ingredients, her easy and quick recipe is a great weeknight pick. Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis | Getty Images/Getty Images for NYCWFF De Laurentiis was born in Rome The Giada at Home star is a Roman citizen. De Laurentiis was born in The Eternal City and her family lived there until she was 6 years old. At that point, they moved to the United States. My family takes their culture very seriously, so even when we moved to the U.S., we still lived very Italian lives, De Laurentiis said. We spoke Italian at home, we only ate Italian food and let me tell you, back in the late 70s and early 80s, people were not as proud of their unique heritage as they are now. The popular chef explained that her family made the move to the U.S. thanks to her famous grandfather, film producer Dino De Laurentiis. If the patriarch went to America, they all did. Giada De Laurentiis explains how Sicilian pesto is different from regular pesto On her food and lifestyle blog Giadzy, De Laurentiis breaks down the difference between the sweeter Sicilian pesto and Pesto alla Genovese, the verdant sauce that most pesto lovers are familiar with. Pesto knows many forms all over Italy, and goes much further than just this one variety, she notes. Pesto, De Laurentiis explained, is thus named because in Italian it means to pound or to crush, referring to the traditional form of the recipes preparation using mortar and pestle. Pesto alla Genovese, de Laurentiis said, is the King of pestos. The fresh herbaceous flavor of basil, the salty savoriness of cheese, the zing of garlic plus rich olive oil and pine nuts make magic together. Sicilian pesto, also known as Pesto alla Trapanese, is much lighter and fresher tasting than the dishes of northern regions. What makes Sicilian pesto different from Pesto alla Genovese is that it uses almonds as opposed to pine nuts, and gets finished with fresh tomatoes, which are bountiful in the south. The addition of tomatoes gives Sicilian pesto the sweetness that regular pesto doesnt have as well as its uniquely golden hue. How to make De Laurentiis Sicilian pesto Pro-tip: make a jar of this Sicilian pesto tonight. Eat it all week on everything and anything. You're welcome!https://t.co/6dTYzghbK4 pic.twitter.com/nf3UkT3ntN Giadzy (@Giadzy) April 12, 2021 RELATED: Giada De Laurentiis Secret to Making Juicy Steak in a Cast-Iron Pan Without Firing Up Your Oven What youll need for this recipe (here, via Giadzy) is simple. Slivered almonds, a garlic clove, basil leaves, halved cherry tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, parmesan cheese, kosher salt, and red pepper flakes. Thats it! Pulse the almonds and garlic on their own in a food processor to break up the nuts. Add to that the basil, tomatoes, salt, and red pepper flakes until everythings mixed. Then, as with traditional pesto, stream the olive oil until its incorporated. De Laurentiis suggests stirring the parmesan cheese in without use of the processor. As well, the Eat Better, Feel Better author recommends Sicilian pesto on almost everything. Try it on pasta, bruschetta, or with just about any cut of meat. Tonights newsletter will focus on three points in time: The first point was almost two months ago when Manitoba finally released a long-overdue report on COVID-19s impact on race. Not surprisingly, the provincial data showed racialized people especially those living in lower-income neighbourhoods and overcrowded homes were bearing the brunt of the pandemic. "We knew early on that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) communities would be disproportionately affected, just as they are in other jurisdictions, so we really wanted to see the data to be able to report back to our partners and try to use this to find solutions," Manitoba chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said on March 1. Our second point in time comes on the evening of April 15. The phone rings in our home. We let the answer machine field the call. Its a message from Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead of Manitobas vaccine task force, inviting me to join a telephone town hall that evening. At that town hall, Reimers boss announces the province will up its vaccination game by moving those in geographic viral hotspots to the front of the line for jabs. "There is a third wave beginning in Manitoba and it is critical to protect those most at risk and those disproportionately affected," Health Minister Heather Stefanson said. That takes us to today, our third point in time. After taking even more time to do some statistical number crunching, the province finally revealed how it was going to address the problems identified on March 1 by way of the promise made April 15. There was no drum roll, nor should there have been given how easy it is to identify three neighbourhoods home to lower-income people of colour in crowded living conditions. "In these communities, we've seen, starting October forward, that they've had higher case counts than other parts of the province," Reimer explained of the rationale why some 35,000 people over the age 18 in Winnipegs core can now get the vaccine. Id like to think that the lessons of the pandemic have shown that speed matters, especially now that we have the vaccine in hand. Id like to think that if you know on March 1 how Filipinos, Blacks and Indigenous people are the most vulnerable, that you move then to protect them, not wait until April 23 to announce fast-track status. Id like to think that rather than phoning me on April 15 about a public forum, the provincial dialer would have been used to protect the public health of the most vulnerable by calling them at home so they could book their shots. Time matters in a pandemic. Time is of the essence in the variant-infused third wave. Weve got to get it right this time. Paul Samyn, Winnipeg Free Press editor THE LATEST NUMBERS Note: Manitoba and Canada figures may not match due to differences in data sources. THE LATEST IN MANITOBA Provincial health officials announced 181 new cases of COVID-19 and 2 more deaths in Manitoba Friday. The five-day test positivity rate is 6.5 in Manitoba, and 6.8 in Winnipeg, after 3,581 laboratory tests were completed Thursday. The new deaths include a man in his 50s from Winnipeg health region, and a man in his 70s from the Winnipeg health region, linked to the B.1.1.7 variant of concern. Of the new cases announced Friday, 103 are in the Winnipeg health region, 21 in Southern Health; 9 in Interlake-Eastern; 19 in Prairie Mountain; and 29 in Northern Health. Lab testing of previously reported cases has identified 103 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, 2 cases of the P.1 variant, and 195 uncategorized variant of concern cases. Public health officials reported a total of 1,201 variant of concern cases in Manitoba including 830 cases of B.1.1.7, 20 cases of B.1.351, 4 cases of the P.1 variant and 347 uncategorized variant of concern cases. There are 1,739 active cases in Manitoba, with 144 people in hospital, 35 of them in intensive care. The outbreak has been declared over at Boissevain School in Boissevain. The Manitoba government has selected three areas in Winnipeg for early access to COVID-19 vaccines. According to the province, all adults residing in the Downtown East, Point Douglas South and Inkster East neighbourhoods are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. The province estimates there are approximately 35,000 people residing or working in the area. People who work in specified jobs in those communities are also eligible. Previously, the province said that people who work in schools, child care and daycare centres, food processing, grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, as public health inspectors and at locations that serve food to the public (such as restaurants and food banks) in the community would be eligible. For the latest information on current public health orders, restrictions, essential items and other guidance, visit the provincial government's website. For up-to-date information about which Manitobans are eligible for vaccination, click here. Only individuals who meet the criteria on that page can make an appointment; provincial officials ask that you do not call if you are not yet eligible to avoid tying up phone lines. THE LATEST ELSEWHERE Saskatchewan reported 245 new cases of COVID-19 Friday. One additional person has also died from the novel coronavirus. The province says 186 people are in hospital because of the illness, and 52 of them are in intensive care. Saskatchewan has reported a total of 39,392 confirmed COVID-19 infections and 471 deaths linked to the virus. Alberta reported 1,690 new cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths Friday. The province says 549 people are in hospital with COVID-19, and 125 are in intensive care. There is a total of 19,446 active cases in Alberta. Nunavut reported nine new cases of COVID-19 and eight recoveries Friday. There are now 37 active cases in the territory, 33 in Iqaluit and four in Kinngait. Both Iqaluit and Kinngait are under strict lockdowns, with all schools, non-essential businesses and workplaces closed. To date, 14,915 people in the territory of about 40,000 have had one dose of the Moderna vaccine and 11,940 have had both doses. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, received their first shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine Friday at a pharmacy in downtown Ottawa. A national advisory panel has recommended Canadians 30 and older can get the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine if they don't want to wait for an alternative, but some provinces say they don't have enough supply to expand eligibility for the shot. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization provided the updated advice in a briefing on Friday. The committee initially recommended a pause on using AstraZeneca shots for people younger than 55 out of an abundance of caution after reports of rare and treatable blood clots. Although provinces initially suspended giving AstraZeneca shots to younger people based on the committee's previous advice, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia have since started administering it to people over 40, given the current spread of the virus. Quebec is offering the shot to those over 45. The European Unions chief executive says the 27-nation bloc is on track to vaccinate most of its adult population against the coronavirus by July, about two months ahead of schedule. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday that the EU, home to around 450 million people, has "already passed 123 million vaccinations." She says this total ranks the bloc third in the world after the United States and China. The EU has been widely criticized for the slow rollout of vaccines. India set another global record in daily infections for a second straight day with 332,730 cases Friday. The situation was worsening by the day with hospitals taking to social media pleading with the government to replenish their oxygen supplies and threatening to stop new admissions of patients. India has recorded 2,263 deaths in the past 24 hours for a confirmed total of 186,920. The government is putting oxygen tankers on special express trains to help save COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe. More than a dozen people died when an oxygen-fed fire ripped through a coronavirus ward in a populous western state. India, a country of nearly 1.4 billion people, has confirmed 16 million coronavirus cases. Thats second only to the United States. A Norwegian climber became the first to be tested for COVID-19 in the Mount Everest base camp and was flown by helicopter to Kathmandu, Nepal, where he was hospitalized. Erlend Ness told The Associated Press in a message Friday that he tested positive on April 15. He said another test on Thursday was negative and he was now staying with a local family in Nepal. Mountain guide Lukas Furtenbach, warned that if safety measures are not taken, the virus could spread among the hundreds of other climbers, guides and helpers who are now camped on the base of Everest. QUOTE, UNQUOTE "These models give us hope, illustrating that there is a safe way to lift most restrictive public health measures. This is why it is so important to roll up our sleeves and get vaccinated" Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said projections suggest some virus hot spots may be able to emerge from lockdown during the summer, depending on the success of the vaccine rollout LOCAL NEWS NATIONAL NEWS INTERNATIONAL NEWS COVID-19 BASICS Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 23, 2021) - 1290442 B.C. Ltd. (the "Company") announces that it has closed a non-brokered private placement, in which it raised gross proceeds of $100,000. This placement consisted of 100,000 common shares of the Company at a price of CAD$1.00 per common share (the "Offering"). No finder's fees were payable in connection with the Offering. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Offering for general working capital purposes. The Company further announces that Harvey McKenzie and Neil Novak have been appointed as directors of the Company. In addition, Balu Gopalakrishnan has been appointed CFO and Michael Lerner has been appointed CEO. Related Party Participation in the Offering Jennifer Goldman ("Goldman"), and L5 Capital Inc. ("L5"), both insiders of the Company, each subscribed for 50% of the offering, or 50,000 common shares. As insiders of the Company participated in this Offering, it is deemed to be a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Offering is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 (pursuant to subsection 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(b)) as the Company is not listed on the markets specified in MI 61-101 and neither the fair market value of the common shares distributed to, nor the consideration received from interested parties exceeded $2,500,000. The Company did not file a material change report more than 21 days before the expected closing of the Offering because the details of the participation therein by related parties of the Company were not settled until shortly prior to closing of the Offering and the Company wished to close on an expedited basis for business reasons. On behalf of the Board, Michael Lerner Director For further information: 1290442 B.C. Ltd. 2200 - 885 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC V6C 3E8 This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/81655 Gangs targeting the homes of elderly and vulnerable people living in remote areas bring terror to innocent people, a judge said as he jailed a getaway driver for such a crime for 12 years and banned him from driving for 20 years. A jury unanimously found the getaway driver guilty of this highly planned burglary in North Cork. The elderly couple planning to attend evening mass were informed of a plan to burgle their house when they were out and they gave permission to have six officers in the house to catch them in an investigation called Operation Evening Mass. Two men caught one inside and one outside the house pleaded guilty last year to their part in the crime and they were sentenced to nine years with the last two year suspended, last year. Jail sentence Now Judge Sean O Donnabhain has jailed John Faulkner, 38, of 4 Adelaide Place, St. Lukes, Cork, and originally from Tralee, County Kerry, for 12 years for being their getaway driver. He had two previous burglary convictions, including one from June 2007 again occurring in North Cork and again at the home of elderly people living remotely. 14 years ago, it was at the home of two elderly siblings. Detective Superintendent Vincent OSullivan who led the investigation in 2019 said Faulkner committed the 2007 offence with one of the two men jailed last year for the more recent burglary. He also said gardai, who had Faulkner under surveillance, saw him in Dromcollogher village the previous day watching the elderly withdrawing their pensions. Judge O Donnabhain said Faulkner took off from near the burgled house like a scalded cat and he did not accept the explanation put forward by defence barrister John Temple that Faulkner thought someone was chasing him in a feud. The judge said, This is a significant case in which there was a gang involved in a planned and determined burglary in North Cork a fair distance from the city where the accused lives. "There was meticulous planning and significant determination. The accused was totally and completely involved. No other type of offence causes more fear and misery than gangs going around committing burglaries. "It has caused a lockdown in communities long before Covid, bringing terror to innocent people. Despite the evidence than his two accomplices went to the house while he waited in the getaway car, the judge said that in a very real sense, he was in that house every bit as much as the other two men. They could not have got there without his active, conniving determination. The evidence against him was overwhelming, the judge said. Mr Temple BL cited the constitutional protection of the family in the context of Faulkner being away from his family when he is in custody. Mr Faulkner is a good man, a good father, a good son and a good friend. His family love him and are concerned about his panic attacks and depression, Mr Temple said. The jury of seven men and five women at Cork Circuit Criminal Court unanimously found Faulkner guilty to charges of entering a house as a trespasser to commit a theft at Freemount, Charleville, County Cork, on Saturday, October 19 2019, and endangerment and dangerous driving. The semi-retired farmer in his mid-80s who owned the house, said in a statement read in the course of the trial, Detective Sean told us they had information people were planning to rob our house. The guard asked me for permission to come to my house and catch the fellows when we go to mass. His wife said, I got an awful fright that people were calling to us. I just buried my sister last week "If the guards did not come out to us we might have nothing when we would come out of mass. Prosecution barrister Donal OSullivan said, A car arrived in the course of the afternoon and two people got out of it Driving the car was John Faulkner. The car drives off. Later in the afternoon (the elderly couple) leave. They are going to mass. As they leave and turn to the left in their driveway a vehicle passed against them. The car takes off and there follows a car chase. The car goes straight through Ballymaquirke Cross towards Banteer and goes around a bend passing another vehicle on the inside. That the prosecution says is the endangerment but that is a matter for you (the jury). At a certain point in time a bag was thrown out the window. The bag was recovered. Another bag goes out the window later. One of those bags has a fob for a gym in Mayfield that belonged to (the man caught inside the house in Freemount). The car goes through Banteer village at 150 kilometres per hour. The speed limit in the village is obviously not quite that. The dangerous driving charge consisted of speeding through the village. Shorter concurrent sentences were imposed on Faulkner in respect of the driving charges. Some 23 mobile oxygen generation plants are being airlifted from Germany and they will be deployed in military hospitals catering to Covid patients. Representational image/PTI New Delhi: Amid reports of shortage of oxygen, Armed Forces Medical Services has decided to import oxygen generation plants and containers from Germany. Some 23 mobile oxygen generation plants are being airlifted from Germany and they will be deployed in military hospitals catering to Covid patients. These oxygen generating plants are expected to reach India within a week. Each plant has a capacity to produce 40 litres of oxygen per minute and 2,400 litres an hour. At this rate it can cater to 20-25 patients round the clock. The advantage of these plants is that they are easily portable. Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out sorties in various parts of the country to airlift oxygen containers, cylinders, essential medicines and equipment required for setting up and sustaining Covid hospitals. The IAF also airlifted doctors and nursing staff from Kochi, Mumbai, Vishakhapatnam and Bangalore for various hospitals at Delhi. WHY: NEW YORK, April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Range Resources Corporation (NYSE: RRC) between April 29, 2016 and February 10, 2021, inclusive (the Class Period), of the important May 3, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline. SO WHAT: If you purchased Range Resources 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 Range Resources class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2053.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 3, 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 firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Range Resources had improperly designated the status of its wells in Pennsylvania since at least 2013; (2) the foregoing conduct subjected Range Resources to a heightened risk of regulatory investigation and enforcement, as well as artificially decreased the Companys periodically reported cost estimates to plug and abandon its wells; (3) Range Resources was the subject of a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigation from sometime between September 2017 to January 2021 for improperly designating the status of its wells; (4) the DEP investigation foreseeably would and ultimately did lead to the Company incurring regulatory fines; and (5) 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 Range Resources class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2053.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 lrosen@rosenlegal.com pkim@rosenlegal.com cases@rosenlegal.com www.rosenlegal.com Takashi Miyagawa was arrested in Japan after dating 35 different people at the same time. Miyagawa gave them different birthday dates so he could receive various gifts from each woman. However, his actual birthday is Nov. 13. A Japanese broadcaster released pictures showing the scammer with many different women, including a table with two birthday cakes and a note that said "happy birthday." Takashi Miyagawa Scam Takashi Miyagawa, a 39 year old, is serial dater who scammed 35 people. He is from Kansai. He is a part-time seller of a marketing company. Not much is known about him. His scams included telling one 47-year-old girlfriend that his birthday was on Feb. 22. One of his victims claimed that Miyagawa convinced her his birthday was in July. Another victim was fooled into thinking that her boyfriend's birthday is in April. As per SoraNews24, Miyagawa swindled them almost $1,000 worth of birthday gifts, including cash and clothes. Miyagawa has reportedly met his victims while working for a marketing company that sold hydrogen water showerheads. He allegedly targets single women and starts each relationship by suggesting that they would possibly get married someday. How Takashi Miyagawa Was Caught After conning at least 35 women, they created a "Victims Association" group and reported him to the police in Feb. to teach him a lesson. The matter is still under police investigation as of writing. READ ALSO: Ronnie Ortiz-Magro Arrested: 'Jersey Shore' Star In Custody For Another Domestic Violence Charge Fans React to Takashi Miyagawa's Crimes and Infidelity On social media, users were filled with a mixture of disgust and amazement at the fraudster's actions. One person wrote, "Can you imagine all that scheduling and planning to date 35 people at the same time?" Another added, "Even if he sees one every day, there's still five more after a month." Another person praised his selling skills, saying, "It seems like he should be a better MLM salesman if he's such a smooth talker." Others said how it's hard to maintain one relationship, let alone 35. "It's hard enough keeping a relationship with one person," while another person quipped, "He's an awful person, but I envy his time-management skills." Another couldn't help but say in awe, "It horrible yet impressive." Other Scammers Using Love To Commit Crimes Takashi Miyagawa wasn't the first person to use the name of love to commit horrendous acts. In December, an 80-year-old widow from Oregon lost her life savings after a scammer pretended to be his prospective love rand convinced him to buy a $200,000 sculpture from China. Meanwhile, a New Jersey man was caught scamming different women a whopping $2 million by posing as an overseas service member looking for a woman to settle down with. READ ALSO: Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani Wedding Guests: Who's Going To See Them Tie the Knot? See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles Travel paths of primates show how their minds work How primates get from A to B gives vital information about their cognitive evolution, say researchers in a new study looking at the travel paths of animals in the wild. Using data from 164 wild primate populations, the global survey examines the mental abilities that primates, including ourselves, use to know where and when to travel in the most efficient way. A birds eye view Co-author Miguel de Guinea, expert in Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University commented: "Imagine looking down on a huge outdoor market from high in the sky, perhaps from a drone hovering quietly above. The people below move in different ways. Some wander haphazardly among the stalls: they are learning what's available but are clearly not busy. Others take bee-line routes across the market to a destination they obviously wanted to reach, then, after buying what they need, head back in much the same way. "If you could distinguish individuals, and watch them on many occasions, these patterns are likely to change, sometimes dependent on fruit and vegetables in season. We would also begin to learn about social aspects, as networks of repeated contacts show who is friendly with whom. We can get a good idea of people's knowledge, their needs, their ability to think ahead and how they learn over time - just from watching their travel paths. The same observations have been made by the research team using data from GPS devices and in-field studies of wild primates, giving us fascinating information about their development." Travel decision-making adds to picture The original data was gathered from small GPS devices, used routinely in primate fieldwork: sometimes these are attached to the animals themselves, but in many studies a researcher follows the animals, usually noting a rich variety of background information on what they are doing and for how long. The international team developed a conceptual framework to highlight ways in which these data can be analysed. Currently, primate cognition is studied by comparing measures such as brain size, or conducting experiments with artificial problems to primates in captivity. The evidence from travel decision-making amongst wild populations will enhance these approaches and give a fuller picture of the cognitive development of these species. An urgent vision for primate research Lead-author Karline Janmaat from the University of Amsterdam said: "Our ultimate dream is to set up a consortium to support data sharing and collaboration among primatologists. Hopefully this attracts MSc and PhD students from around the world to share and compare their collected data to these existing datasets." The researchers say that further research is urgent, because so many species are now threatened with extinction in the wild. Since 1970, two-thirds of all vertebrate populations have been lost, and large, day-living animals like primates have been significantly impacted. Miguel de Guinea stressed: "Time is fast running out - if we don't act now we may never be able to understand the drivers of cognitive evolution. By applying our research methodology and findings we can make use of previously collected valuable data from wild populations and apply that to our understanding of the cognitive evolution of primate species." The research Using natural travel paths to infer and compare primate cognition in the wild is published in iScience. ### This story has been published on: 2021-04-23. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. SPRINGFIELD A former Springfield police officer was found guilty of two counts of sexually abusing a child and two more counts of intimidating a witness in his second Hampden Superior Court trial Friday afternoon. But Daniel Cintron was found not guilty of 17 other charges in the bench trial, and saw two more charges dismissed by the court. According to defense attorney Joseph Smith III, Cintron was found guilty of the four counts by Judge Douglas Wilkins. Sentencing is scheduled for April 30. I am in shock at this point, Smith said. I respect the judges decision but I believe that the testimony against Mr. Cintron was inconsistent and the case lacked any physical evidence to support the charges. Cintron originally stood trial in 2019 on 29 counts including several each of rape of a child with force, indecent assault and battery of a child, intimidating a witness, and single counts of distribution of obscene material to a minor and posing a child in a sexual act. He was accused by members of his estranged wifes family of raping and abusing three young girls and showing them child pornography at various times between 2015 and 2018. In the original trial, the jury acquitted Cintron of seven charges, including rape of a child with force and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older. But the jury deadlocked on the remaining 22 counts, sparking this weeks trial. Smith said he believes the charges stem from a vendetta by his estranged wifes family. Cintron left her for another woman in 2018, and 30 days later the three girls made the accusations. A fourth family member has since made additional accusations against Cintron. I believe this is a ploy by the womans family to ruin Mr. Cintron because he left her, Smith said. All of the alleged victims are members of the wifes family. On the eve of this trial, a new family member makes a report three years later with new charges. This family clearly has a vendetta. James Leydon, spokesman for Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, said he can neither confirm nor deny additional charges for Cintron. Cintron was on leave from the Springfield Police Department beginning in December of 2017 after he was indicted for his alleged role in a mugging of a teenager at the Eastfield Mall in August of that year. He was fired after the 2018 sex charges. Smith said Cintron is awaiting trial on the mugging indictment. Related content: Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic offers Zimbabweans alternative option to medical care Xinhua) 11:28, April 24, 2021 HARARE, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A newly opened Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinic is offering Zimbabweans an affordable alternative to medical care in a country where access to quality healthcare remains a challenge to many people. Last year the Zimbabwe-China Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Center opened at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the capital Harare. Since its opening, more than 150 people suffering from various ailments such as hypertension, lumbar spine pain, diabetes, hernia, and other health problems have received assistance free of charge. Sun Shuang, a Chinese TCM doctor at the clinic, said the facility is providing much-needed relief to locals. "Usually when people come here, they don't come here with new problems, usually they come here with old problems and unsolved problems, and very difficult problems," she told Xinhua. Sun said while western conventional medicine and TCM are different, they each have a place in today's health care landscape, adding that TCM can play a complementary role to modern treatment methods. "If painkiller can help you to reduce the pain in 5 minutes, why you should wait for a decoction in three days to work?" she said. "But the painkiller only can keep you without pain maybe in one day and another 24 hours, you need to take another pill. But with 3 days of Chinese traditional medicine decoction you will get free of the pain totally," she said. Sun said the center aims to train more local medical professionals to administer TCM to Zimbabweans. Fifty-nine-year-old John Mbondoza is one of many Zimbabweans who have turned to TCM to address their health challenges. Mbondoza has been battling muscle contraction challenges on his leg for 5 years before attempting TCM. After reading an article in the local press about the opening of the center, he decided to give it a try. Before coming to the center, he had tried different conventional medical treatments with little results. "I have been taking medication but there was no result," he said, adding that after his first acupuncture session with Sun there was a notable improvement. With his second acupuncture session, he felt even better, and he expressed confidence that he will be healed. Karen Gurure, a China-trained Zimbabwean medical doctor who is interning at the clinic, said the major advantage of TCM is that it has fewer side effects compared to conventional medicine. Gurure, who studied at Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said more benefits can be derived from adopting TCM locally. While western medicine tends to focus on diagnosing and treating illness based on a patient's symptoms, TCM uses complex patterns of imbalance within the body to determine a diagnosis. "TCM focuses on the whole body, while conventional medicine focuses on one certain part of the body. If you have back pain, conventional medicine would treat you for just the back pain, with TCM it treats the whole body," she told Xinhua. Gurure said there is room to incorporate TCM within Zimbabwe's traditional medicine practices, adding that collaborative effort between the two will contribute to the transformation of the local medical healthcare system. "So if we cooperate our work conventional medicine and TCM together, working along together, the prognosis will be so amazing, because we are tackling the western medicine and the traditional medicine," she said. Gurure said China offers valuable lessons to Zimbabwe in terms of modernizing and codifying traditional medicine. Zimbabwe has a long history of traditional plant usage for medicinal purposes and traditional medicines still play an important role as an affordable and easily accessible source of treatment for many people. Traditional medicine is recognized as a formal part of the country's healthcare system and is regulated by the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe, the state body responsible for ensuring that medical treatments used by the public are safe. Zimbabwe and China share a long history of cooperation in the health sector. Since 1985, China has dispatched 18 medical teams to Zimbabwe. China has also recently stepped up its efforts in capacitating Zimbabwe's health delivery system and enhancing its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by providing various donations of medical supplies, and most recently with COVID-19 vaccine donations. (Web editor: Guo Wenrui, Liang Jun) In the 1970s, when I was in high school, I gave a friend a ride home after school. We went to the corner of Babcock and Crestline, and there was a long driveway with a huge house on a hill. He said his father worked as a gardener for the Finesilvers. I also remembering seeing cattle on the other side of the house. The area is or was the Koger Center, I believe. Was this the Finesilvers house and property? Paul Carter Ballantyne This is one of those stories every native or longtime San Antonian has about a place that used to be way out in the country and has since been completely transformed by growth and development. The property you remember was originally owned by Sophie and Abraham Finesilver (spelled Fiensilber on some documents through the 1920s). In the 1929 San Antonio city directory, the couples residence was listed as ss Babcock rd 2 w Fredericksburg rd, meaning their home was on the south side of Babcock Road, 2 miles west of Fredericksburg Road, the nearest recognizable thoroughfare. Various Finesilver family houses built at this location went without a street number into the 1950s. It was Babcock Road, no number, said a family member familiar with the property that ran to hundreds of acres before the citys progress began to encroach. Later, it was assigned street number 1550 and finally 1400 Babcock Road. Literally out where the buses dont run, the area wasnt served by public transportation, trash collection or city water lines. There was a gravel road, an artesian well and dairy cattle; and at least one of the couples seven children remembered riding a horse to school. Born in 1869 in Russia, Abraham Finesilver may have had a special appreciation for owning land. He was the founder of Finesilver Overall Co., later Finesilver Manufacturing, makers of work clothes and uniforms. From 1897, the companys factory and warehouse was in whats now known as the Finesilver Building, near the juncture of interstates 10 and 35 - a long commute, then as now. His five daughters all married and had their own homes with their husbands. Sons Hertzel (1911-1991) and Mervin (1909-1988) joined their father in the family business and built houses on the family property after each married during the 1930s. Those two houses were on a hill, reached by a curving driveway, through grounds landscaped with trees and flowers. Mervins, built of pink brick, was on the left and was probably the one you remember; while his brother Hertzels house, across the driveway from it, was made of light Austin stone. Mervins house had some smaller servants quarters in the back; that may be where your school friend lived. The one-story, modern-style houses had large rooms and were expanded a few times with additions and conversions. A patio became a den, the kitchen was made bigger, bathrooms were added, said the family member. The property was huge, but the houses werent. This isolated, pastoral space changed with the construction of Loop 410 in the late 1950s. Part of the Finesilver property was taken by eminent domain to build the road that connected interstate highways and the citys military installations. The area became commercial, said the Finesilver family member, who recalled the living room in one of the houses had a beautiful view of the downtown lights at night. After the completion of Loop 410, more changes came. The brothers sold some of the land in the back of their property for development into the Koger Center, an office complex now known as the Brass Professional Center. After the deaths of both brothers, the rest of the land was sold, said the family member; the hill was leveled; trees were cut down; and a massive parking lot was built where the approach to the Finesilver property had been. Downtown, the family clothing plant also was changing. In the mid-1980s, with the brothers looking toward retirement, the Finesilver company switched from manufacturing to distribution. The ramp for an interchange between I-10 and I-35 was built in the early 1990s that saved the historic industrial building but sent a stream of traffic past its front door. The plant closed in 1993, before the ramp known as the Finesilver Curve opened. The pleasing name of this prominent family lives on in some ventures not directly connected to any of them. In the mid-1990s, the former factory was redeveloped as the Finesilver Building for office, restaurant and retail tenants, including the Finesilver Gallery for contemporary art. A Finesilver Ranch subdivision was developed in the late 1990s. CONTINUING CARE: A local agency is seeking descendants of the founders of its ancestor institution. In 1886, 13 women met in San Antonio to establish the Home for Destitute Children, later renamed the Protestant Home for Destitute Children. After successive changes in name, focus and location, the home has morphed into Clarity Child Guidance Center a nonprofit facility in the South Texas Medical Center providing mental health care for children and adolescents. The center is looking for descendants of the founders of the original institution so they can be invited to its 135th birthday celebrations in June. They were (in the style of their time): Mrs. Mary A. Maverick, Mrs. A.J. Dignowity, Mrs. Kate W. Norton, Mrs. D. N. Bash, Mrs. U. Lott, Mrs. A. J. Fry, Miss Lucy Cable, Mrs. Ed R. Norton, Mrs. George S. Chabot, Mrs. C. C. Cresson, Mrs. F. L. Talcott, Mrs. H. D. Kampmann, Mrs. I. P. Simpson and Miss Mary Lamb. Descendants are asked to contact Chandler Mantiply at claritycgc.org or 210-593-2148. historycolumn@yahoo.com | Twitter: @sahistorycolumn | Facebook: SanAntoniohistorycolumn Abbey Quinn regrets the Easter dinner. The 29-year-old celebrated the holiday with her roommate's family five days after nabbing her first Moderna vaccine shot. Later that week Quinn, a restaurant worker in Asheville, N.C., woke up feeling her shirt hurt against her skin and knew it wasn't a typical cold. Everyone at the meal tested positive for coronavirus, she said. Quinn falls into an unlucky group of Americans exposed to the virus before their vaccine doses could offer them full protection. Their stories offer a reminder of the danger of people letting their guard down while highly transmissible virus variants circulate and a spring wave drives up hospitalizations across the country. "We are all had an collective, 'Oh man, you were so close,'" Quinn recalled after telling her family about testing positive after her first shot. "I understood I wasn't fully protected. I did feel some sense of relief not because I felt like I was immune, but just because it felt the end was near. I saw a light at the end of the tunnel." There's no clear data on how many people contracted coronavirus before their vaccinations could take full effect. Based on a Washington Post analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Post estimates about 21,000 of 470,000 people who tested positive for coronavirus for the week ended Sunday already had their first dose. Michigan, where cases have been rising sharply with the rise of highly transmissible variants, accounts for about a tenth of that estimate. Experts warn these cases should not be interpreted as evidence vaccines don't work. The immune system needs several weeks to provide robust protection as the body learns the blueprint for stopping the virus before it can cause serious disease. They are not the same as "breakthrough infections" happening at least two weeks after the final dose - which are overwhelmingly mild and extreme outliers. With every American adult eligible for a vaccine this week, public health authorities and experts are pleading for vigilance and social distancing for a few more weeks to deliver a finishing blow to the pandemic in time for summer. photo for The Washington Post by Kim Raff. Experts say the first dose may keep coronavirus infections mild, but the protection probably wouldn't start kicking in for at least a week.A CDC study of 4,000 vaccinated health care workers and first responders found the risk of infection was reduced by 80% two weeks or more after the first shot and protection increased to more than 90% two weeks or more after the second shot. "Even if you develop disease, you already have a head start form an immune system standpoint on controlling the virus," said C. Buddy Creech, the director of Vanderbilt University's vaccine research program. "The real challenge is we have to show the blueprint to the immune system with enough lead time." Krutika Kuppalli, an infectious-disease doctor in South Carolina, said most patients who tested positive after a first vaccine dose that she encountered had mild symptoms. "The thing people need to remember is the vaccine is not 100% protective, nothing is 100% protective," Kuppalli said. "We want this to become akin to it feeling like a nuisance cold if you get vaccinated. We don't want people having significant morbidity and mortality from covid." In other cases, a person may have been exposed to the virus before their first jab. Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte may be among the most high-profile of those cases after experiencing mild coronavirus symptoms three days after his first shot. Anuraag Routroy, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Texas Austin, was excited for a shot on Jan. 25 through the university. Then he felt stomach pains, which he initially chalked up to bad dorm food, and tested positive for the virus on Jan. 24. "It felt like all the work that we had done since the pandemic begun being careful went to waste in a sense because you are so close to the vaccine, the final prize and you lose right before it," Routroy said. Kuppalli said vaccines for other viruses, such as Ebola, have been shown to effective as a post-exposure prophylactic that could prevent disease. But no studies have demonstrated a similar effect with the coronavirus vaccine, and the CDC advises people to wait until they are fully recovered before getting vaccinated. This is because the immune system could produce an "overly robust" response for people recovering from infection, Creech said. There's no clear cut guidance for people infected between shots, who are usually advised to consult their doctor. Zack, a 30-year-old Philadelphia entrepreneur, lucked out when a friend told him a mass vaccination site had leftover doses at the end of an early March evening. He wasn't particularly worried about the virus as a young adult without high-risk medical conditions. That weekend, he went to a restaurant to dine indoors for the first time in months and joined a small home dinner party with friends. He woke in the middle of the night with a fever a few days later. Tests confirmed he and a friend at the dinner party contracted the virus. "It's not like I was running around licking door handles or making out with random strangers, but I was thinking now I can eat indoors even though I knew I hadn't changed my risk profile that much at that point," said Zach, who asked his last name not be published to avoid harassment. His case was mild and he has since become fully vaccinated. Now he's trying to help others avoid his situation. "If I hear someone who says I got first vaccine, I say, 'Hey, just keep in mind you still got to behave safely and keep masking up," he said. "The first vaccine is not going to totally protect you." Others who tested positive for coronavirus after their first vaccine dose have been trying to make sure their bad timing does not fuel vaccine hesitancy among friends and family. Monica Martinez, a 25-year-old Utah resident, has been kicking herself for flying with her husband to visit relatives in Florida over the holidays. She tested negative five days before her vaccine appointment on Jan. 11, but felt feverish on the day of her appointment. Staff at the site told her she could get her shot anyway, but two days later, she tested positive. "I didn't tell everyone I got covid, at least not right away, and would say please get vaccinated - it's not the vaccine's fault," said Martinez, a psychology student. "I didn't want to add to any sensationalism that 'She just got vaccinated and she got covid two days later, I wonder what that's about.'" The disease hit her hard the first few days akin to a bad flu and leaving her with a high heartbeat. Her husband, who also tested positive, is just starting to recover his sense of taste and smell four months later. "The theme of this is we are trying to be as careful as we can during a pandemic and the one time we slipped up and went traveling is the time we paid the price," Martinez said. "We learned our lesson." A German tourist, missing for seven days in the jungles of Colombia, has been found and rescued by Colombian soldiers. In video taken by the Colombian troops on Wednesday, Daniel Florian, appearing disoriented and dehydrated, tells the soldier kneeling next to him that he is "not so good." "I have been eaten by the mosquitoes and the ants and I had not good equipment so I was seven days in the Amazon," Florian said. Florian went missing on April 13 after visiting an indigenous reserve in the Putumayo region of southwest Colombia. Local sources reported Florian had participated in an indigenous shaman ritual during which he allegedly drank Yage tea which is a psychedelic. Florian was taken to the Mocoa Putumayo City Hospital for treatment for dehydration and various bruises and lesions he suffered while alone in the jungle. His family in Munich, Germany had initially reported him missing. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Nursing and drama students from across the University of Huddersfield are collaborating on a ground-breaking project where role-playing could reap benefits for mental health patients. The students, from the Nursing (Mental Health) BSc and Drama BA courses, have worked on a range of scenarios involving patients, healthcare professionals and carers to help prepare the nursing students for situations they could encounter both during placements and after graduating. The drama students have also learned about how to apply their acting skills in unexpected areas, and the hope is that like their nursing counterparts, this will help prepare them for their professional career. Reaching out to local community helps with understanding The project is also involving the Universitys Public Partnership Group (PPG), which includes people with lived experience of mental health issues and of working in health and social care in the local community. The PPGs input has helped both sets of students to gain a better understanding of the complexities and nuances around working with mental health issues. Another key facet of the project is the use of Applied Theatre, the practice of applying theatre and drama to non-traditional settings. Previous versions of the role-play scenario for the Nursing course included using staff or external theatre companies, until the onset of COVID-19 provided an opportunity for this interdisciplinary collaboration. Using staff to act was too exhausting, we were spending too much time and money going down that route. Eventually, the penny dropped that we have our drama students here at the University, plus the PPG - could we not engage with them? In addition, because of COVID restrictions drama students were in need of a group to work with to complete their applied theatre studies; so it was a win- win. Dr Clementinah Rooke, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing Real world scenarios Initial sessions involved members of the PPG so that realistic situations that covered genuine, real-world mental health scenarios could be developed, giving the drama students a depth of knowledge that help them and the nursing students. The method draws upon the concept of Forum Theatre, a radical role-playing approach developed by Brazilian practitioner Augusto Boal in the 1970s. Boals Forum Theatre is the centre-piece of most of this kind of work, adds Dr Bridie Moore, Senior Lecturer in Drama Theatre and Performance. Our students work on what is known as an anti-model - a scenario which takes the wrong approach. They perform this to the nursing students, and it provokes a response about what should be done or said in that situation, for instance, when a carer feels the health worker is shutting them out. The nursing students would discuss how they would react if they were the carer. They would suggest how it should be played out, giving them insight into a carers feelings and attitudes. The drama students were assessed for these Forum Theatre sessions, while in April they will and in April 2021 they have portrayedact as mental health patients in scenarios that will form part of exams for their nursing counterparts. The nurses need to draw out a patients past history, medication, current situation and their future hopes," adds Dr Moore. Our drama students have learned about these kind of scenarios thanks to information from the PPG and Clementinah. These include issues like reducing medications, thinking about a patients back story and their history of mental health issues. It all helps so that our students can authentically act as patients, which also helps the nurses in their learning. Further benefits across and outside the University The concept could also have benefits for other areas of nursing, as Dr Rooke explains: We will certainly be using it with our international students, as it helps address the nuances of culture, language and intonation. It could help as students coming from overseas to work in the NHS probably wont have the knowledge of little cultural or national characteristics here in the UK. These sessions are a way to help address these issues, help the students, and ultimately help their patients. Bridies students said how well they had learned from this, and my students felt it helped them to prepare. The success and potential of the project is echoed by Dr Moore, who adds, My students have had their eyes opened to a whole new way that drama can engage with the public and the community. Making these connections with the two departments has been great and will bear fruits for the future. Working with the PPG has helped, as normally this could have been remote research by the students. Members of the group have critiqued their work, developed scripts that have been authenticated by people with these lived experiences, and have worked with people they would never have met. They are applying their skills to a real-world situation and exploring issues around communications and the needs of both the student nurses and people living with mental health issues. Alison Morris, Service User and Carer Involvement coordinator for the PPG, commented that, Six of our members came along to share their experiences, and instil a sense of authenticity to the students regarding the realities of mental health illnesses. The sessions worked superbly, added Service User and Carer Involvement development lead Chris Essen. Our members were able to share experiences and contribute to the development of the scenarios which were presented in the forum theatre. We very much hope that the PPG can be involved with more sessions like this in the future. Vienna, April 24 : Around 4,000 people gathered near Zurich on Saturday for an unauthorised protest against coronavirus containment measures, police said. The demonstration in Rapperswil-Jona was largely peaceful, but two people were detained and 45 others were banned from the city for a period of 24 hours, they said. Most participants were not wearing masks or maintaining a safe distance from one another. Some used banners and cow bells to express their discontent with the restrictions to contain the pandemic, DPA reported. A police spokesman said in a video released on Twitter that police had consciously decided not to break up the protest despite the hygiene rule violations. Srinagar, April 24 : The J&K police have arrested an Al-Badr terrorist from Budgam district and also recovered arms and ammunition from him, officials said on Saturday. Police said that on a tip-off about the presence of terrorists, Budgam police along with army's 53 RR and 181Bn of the CRPF launched a joint search operation in Nagbal village of Chrar-i-Sharif. During the search, a recently joined terrorist linked with proscribed terror outfit Al-Badr was arrested. He has been identified as Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Bathpora Arwani Anantnag. Police said preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested terrorist was in close contact with the handlers of the proscribed Al-Badr across the border in Pakistan and also active terrorists of Al-Badr outfit in South Kashmir. Arms and ammunition including one Chinese pistol, pistol magazine, 14 pistol rounds, two AK magazine, 58 AK rounds and incriminating materials of proscribed terror outfit Al-Badr were recovered from his possession. Commission on manmade disaster, emergency response cancels 'red' level of epidemic dander in Odesa region from April 25, transfers it to 'yellow' zone The State Commission on Environmental Safety, Manmade Disaster and Emergency Response, at an extraordinary meeting on Saturday, removed Odesa region from the "red" zone of epidemiological danger, said Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oleh Nemchinov. "The State Commission has decided to cancel the 'red' level of the epidemic danger of the spread of COVID-19 in Odesa region from 24:00 on April 25, 2021 and apply restrictive anti-epidemic measures in Odesa region, provided for the 'yellow' level of epidemic danger," wrote Nemchinov on the Telegram channel. will provide COVID-19 vaccine free of cost to people in the 18-45 age group, the office of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Saturday. "It has been decided that COVID-19 vaccination for people in the age group 18-45 years will be cost-free in the UT. The cost of vaccine will be fully borne by the government of J&K. The health department will constitute a panel to work out the logistics," the L-G's office said in a tweet. The vaccination of people in the 18-45 age bracket will begin from May 1. Meanwhile, Financial Commissioner of Health and Medical Education Atal Dulloo on Saturday chaired a meeting at the Civil Secretariat here to review the situation and the implementation of five-pronged strategy to tackle the surge in infections. Dulloo impressed upon the officers for effective implementation of the five-pronged strategy -- testing, containment, isolation and treatment, COVID-19-appropriate behaviour and vaccination -- to contain the spread of the virus, an official spokesman said. "We have to gear up all our efforts at all levels, only then we will be able to tackle the surge of cases. Testing has to be increased significantly at all designated facilities and bring down the test positivity rate in each district, he said, addressing the meeting. He said all the testing facilities have to make sure that the set targets are met on daily basis and installation of oxygen generation plants needs to be expedited which would augment oxygen supply to hospitals. Calling for an increase in the pace of vaccination, Dulloo directed the officers to make all the necessary arrangements to accelerate the vaccination drive to the population. "By vaccinating more people, we will be better equipped to fight the disease, he said, adding that they have an adequate supply of vaccines in all districts. (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.) KABUL, Afghanistan -- CIA Director William Burns made a recent unannounced visit to Kabul, a senior politician and a well-placed public figure told The Associated Press, as concerns mount about Afghanistan's capability to fight terrorism once the U.S. has withdrawn its remaining troops by summer. Separately, a senior former Afghan security official deeply familiar with the country's counterterrorism program said two of six units trained and run by the CIA to track militants have already been transferred to Afghan control. The three men spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive security issues with the media. Read Next: B-1 Bomber Fleet Grounded Indefinitely Over Fuel System Problem In Washington, the CIA declined to comment when asked about the director's schedule and the agency's role in Afghanistan. In deciding this month on an unconditional troop pullout by Sept. 11, President Joe Biden had argued that a key objective of the U.S. invasion -- to prevent terror attacks on the U.S from Afghan soil -- has been met. The pullout deadline marks the 20th anniversary of the al-Qaida terror attacks on the U.S., which triggered the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. However, senior U.S. officials have cautioned that the withdrawal poses risks. Burns recently told the U.S. Congress that neither al-Qaida nor Islamic State extremists have the ability to stage attacks against the U.S. Still, "when the time comes for the U.S. military to withdraw, the U.S. government's ability to collect and act on threats will diminish, that's simply a fact," he said. Burns quietly visited Kabul last weekend, the politician and the public figure said. They would not say whom Burns met with, but said some of the discussions addressed Afghanistan's preparedness after the U.S. pullout. Burns also reassured Afghan officials that the U.S. would continue to be engaged in counterterrorism efforts. Yet concerns are mounting that Afghanistan's security forces won't be able to halt a march by Taliban insurgents on government-held territory or battle terrorist groups without the help of U.S. and NATO soldiers. Already, the Taliban control or hold sway over half the country. The former security official said he believes terrorism-fighting capabilities will be significantly reduced once the roughly 2,500 to 3,500 U.S. troops and 7,000 allied NATO soldiers leave. The official said the CIA had been training and running Afghan special forces known as Counter Terrorism Pursuit Teams, or CTPT. The teams are located in the provinces of Kunar, Paktia, Kandahar, Kabul, Khost and Nangarhar. He said the plan is to gradually hand them over to the Afghan intelligence service, known as the National Directorate of Security. So far, the Kunar and Paktia units have been transferred to Afghan control, he said. The CTPT teams are feared by many Afghans and have been implicated in extra-judicial killings of civilians. In 2019, the head of the Afghan intelligence service, Masoom Stanikzai, was forced to resign after one of these units was implicated in the summary execution of four brothers. Earlier this year, in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province, one of the teams was accused of gunning down civilians in a counterterrorism operation. The United Nations has also criticized the tactics of these units, previously blaming them for a rise in civilian casualties along with insurgent groups. The former security official said that without the U.S. troops, Afghanistan's technical intelligence gathering will suffer. Right now, some of the greatest successes in fighting terrorism and the narcotics trade have come from U.S. intelligence gathering, he said. Several months ago, U.S. intelligence uncovered dozens of methamphetamine laboratories producing drugs with a street value in the West of over $1 billion, the official added. Meanwhile, both the U.S. and the Afghan government believe that the threat from al-Qaida and Afghanistan's Islamic State affiliate has been substantially reduced. Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. general for the Middle East, told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that both groups have been "significantly degraded" in Afghanistan because of U.S. military pressure in recent years. However, the post-pullout situation will be challenging, he said. McKenzie said getting drones and other aircraft into Afghanistan to provide overhead surveillance or to conduct counterterrorism strikes will take considerably longer and will require far more aircraft. He also said it will be extremely difficult but not impossible for the U.S. to find, track and take out terrorist threats in Afghanistan once all American troops are withdrawn. Meanwhile, a Western diplomat in Afghanistan said the unexpected U.S. announcement of an unconditional withdrawal left many security questions unanswered -- such as what happens to NATO's surveillance equipment and the giant blimp that hovers over the capital. The blimp provides real-time intelligence and 24-hour surveillance. David Barrett, a professor at Villanova University who specializes in the history of intelligence policy, said the troop pullout will reduce the amount of intelligence gathered by the military and ultimately provided to the CIA. But the U.S. can still monitor electronic communications and other signals with its advanced technology, and could intervene militarily if it assessed a threat to an American target, he said. "We have amazing capabilities for knowing what's happening on the ground," he said. "If anyone, anywhere in Afghanistan decides they want to develop any ability to strike the U.S., they would be making a very big mistake." Associated Press writer Nomaan Merchant in Washington contributed to this report. This article was written by KATHY GANNON from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com. Related: Leaving Afghanistan Is Good. Now What About the Other Wars? Apple has a few security issues you need to look out for. AirDrop is a convenient way to share files, but researchers found out that it comes with a risk as other people can hack into your device using the iPhone feature. AirDrop is one of the most convenient features Apple has installed on their iOS devices. It can send multimedia files in a few seconds directly to the phone number and email of a nearby AirDrop user. When using AirDrop to send files, the receiver will see a preview of the incoming content along with a link that can redirect them to open the file in Safari. AirDrop has three options when active, and it is "Receiving Off," "Contacts Only," and "Everyone." Often when using Airdrop, you select the "Contacts Only" option. AirDrop would then send the file to the other user that matches your contact information. AirDrop Hacking Gizmodo reported that researchers from the Technische Universitat Darmstadt in Germany detected some of these Apple AirDrop flaws. When using the "Contacts Only" option, researchers said that AirDrop uses a "mutual authentication mechanism" to cross-reference the user's email and phone number with the sender's contact list. Apple runs this system with a level of encryption during the exchange. Unfortunately, the exchange could be easily cracked through "simple techniques such as brute-force attacks." The hacker only needs a device with Wi-Fi and to be physically close by to start the attack. The hacker can open up the AirDrop sharing pane, break the encryption code, and now gain access to your personal files and start stealing them. You wouldn't even notice it happening! This is not the first flaw AirDrop has shown. The feature is also notoriously reported to be associated with digital harassment. Some people use cyber-flashing, where a stranger bombards a victim's phone with unwanted photos of graphic or sexual content. User @juliaebeebe tweeted her unfortunate experience on the topic. Someone just tried to airdrop a dick pic to my phone in a public space ???? I'm so confused and angry????? jules (@juliaebeebe) August 26, 2017 Mashable reported that other researchers such as Secure Mobile Networking Lab (SEEMOO) and the Cryptography and Privacy Engineering Group (ENCRYPTO) have also discovered these flaws. Both companies alerted Apple about the issue in May 2019. However, the company never responded or provided a solution to the problem Read Also: Apple AirTag Reviews Hype Up Precision Finding, Battery Life: How to Set Up and Other Features How to Turn Off AirDrop and Protect Yourself Unfortunately, with Apple being silent about the issue, you have to take other steps to ensure your privacy. Here are some practical solutions against hackers and cyber-flashers. Turn off your AirDrop and Bluetooth when not in use. These malicious actors use the open connectivity to launch their attacks, so be sure to turn them off when possible. This is not a permeant option, and you can always turn the AirDrop feature back on if you need it. When opening AirDrop, only receive files from close friends or contacts you know. Avoid using the feature in public spaces where malicious actors can detect your device. Related Article: iPhone 13 Mini Leaked Design Shows New Camera Arrangement: Apple Rumors, Renders and Other Updates CAIRO: In view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, the Government of Kuwait has now suspended commercial flights from India. Kuwaits Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a tweet on Saturday that it had suspended all direct commercial flights coming from India, effective April 24 and until further notice, according to Reuters. : 2021/4/24 . pic.twitter.com/lJuhqo0ypS (@Kuwait_DGCA) April 23, 2021 The move was on the instructions of health authorities after an evaluation of the global coronavirus status. All passengers arriving from India either directly or via another country will be banned from entering unless they have spent at least 14 days out of India, the statement said. Kuwaiti citizens, their first-degree relatives and their domestic workers will be allowed to enter. Cargo is unaffected. It may be noted that the governments of UAE and Canada have earlier announced to ban flights from Indian amid the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country. According to reports, the UAE banned travel from India for 10 days from Sunday due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in the country. The UAE travel ban came into effect from 11.59 PM on Saturday, April 24, and it will be subject to review after 10 days, the Gulf News reported. Passengers who have transited through India in the last 14 days are also not permitted to board from any other point to the UAE, the report said. However, departure flights will continue to operate, it added. UAE citizens, diplomatic passport holders and official delegations are exempted from the above conditions, it said. According to Khaleej Times, people are barred from booking flights from the UAE to Indian destinations after April 24 on the Emirates, Etihad, FlyDubai and Air Arabia websites. The UAE is the latest country to impose a travel ban on passengers from India after it recorded the world's highest daily tally of 314,835 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday. Meanwhile, Canada also said that it would ban all flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days due to the growing wave of COVID-19 cases in that region. Live TV Two weeks on from the latest step taken in lockdown easing and it seems the country has acquired an insatiable appetite for consuming pints of beer outside and queuing patiently to get into Primark. While our enthusiasm for alfresco drinking may be dependent upon the weather, investment analysts are busy assessing whether people's adoration of Primark will continue once a trip to non-essential shops becomes less of a novelty. Primark's fortunes matter because the clothing store is a bellwether for the health of the nation's high street. With so much shopping done online during the pandemic, as bricks-and-mortar stores have been inaccessible, its success or otherwise in the months ahead will show whether shopping habits have changed forever or not. Demand: Queues outside High Street favourite Primark in hunt for store's fashions 'Lockdown made us a hostage to our computers and mobile phones and we might now seek our revenge in the high street,' says Danni Hewson, financial analyst at investment platform AJ Bell. 'But the fact remains that most of us have become even more enamoured with our online captors than before the pandemic struck.' Alasdair McKinnon, manager of Scottish Investment Trust, believes lockdown 'has accelerated change that was already happening in retail'. He adds: 'This is not necessarily bad, but it has hastened the restructuring of the sector which has meant that some weaker players have closed, never to reopen.' While Miss Selfridge, Debenhams, Cath Kidston, Topshop and others have disappeared from our high street, McKinnon believes there are opportunities for those stores that remain. As a result, he has been increasing his trust's holdings in retailers that he believes will benefit. 'When restrictions are fully eased, a huge release of pent-up demand is anticipated,' he says. 'It will be spread around fewer competitors.' Stockbrokers are also positive on retail stocks, with Liberum issuing a note in recent days suggesting that the sector is 'now in an upgrade cycle' on a one to two-year view. In other words, there are share returns to be made. How retail has been performing Buying retail shares, even before lockdown eased, was not a bad investment call. The FTSE 350 General Retailers Index gives a good representation of the equity fortunes of UK retailers. It includes Dunelm, Halfords, Next and M&S among its constituents. Since the start of last year, this index has risen 19 per cent compared with a loss of 2.7 per cent for the FTSE 350 Index as a whole. Sam Dickens, portfolio manager at financial spread-betting firm IG Index, says: 'There has been mixed performance across these retail companies where those with a solid online offering have clearly reaped the rewards.' But now the tables may turn. Rory Bateman, manager of Schroder British Opportunities Trust, calls this a 'moment of clarity'. He says: 'This is when we find out the extent of pandemic fatigue and the degree to which consumers are willing to get out and spend. The pandemic has created severe short-term challenges for the economy but in doing so it has tested business models and allowed those with the strongest long-term potential to shine through. Investors can take advantage.' Jason Baggaley, manager of investment fund Standard Life Investments Property Income, says, as ever, savvy shoppers will pick and choose the best-placed companies rather than looking at retail as a whole. 'We have returned to a time of stock selection in retail,' he adds. Picking winners in the sector Investment expert Danni Hewson says those retailers that are ready for a hybrid world where we mix online shopping with high street browsing will do best. Callum Abbot, co-manager of investment trust JPMorgan Claverhouse, rates Next because of its fusion of online and high street shopping, which he says will continue to be successful as retail develops post-pandemic. He says: 'To survive and thrive as a retailer it is essential to have good logistics, good customer data and embrace technology. In this regard, Next is an example of a company which, in our opinion, continues to stand apart from its competitors.' He adds: 'Through the pandemic, Next has consistently outperformed expectations. It has continued to generate cash and has been one of the few high street retailers to fulfil its rent obligations. This should put them in good stead when selecting the best sites for any new stores and give it increased leverage when negotiating rent renewals.' Next shares have had a stunning year, rising from just over 45 to 78 in 12 months. Scottish Investment Trust's McKinnon has just bought into Swedish-listed high street retailer H&M, believing that the demise of other high street stores will be to the fashion store's advantage. He explains: 'With many big UK brands such as Debenhams, Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Burton and Dorothy Perkins all moving to online-only operations, H&M will have far less competition when shoppers return to the high street. 'With better cost control and online presence, we anticipate H&M will be a better business emerging from the pandemic.' The managers of investment trust Temple Bar have bought into Marks & Spencer on the back of its strong food retail business and its tie-up with Ocado which means it now benefits from growth in food deliveries. M&S shares have risen from 91p to 155p in the past year. Primark is owned by FTSE 100 company Associated British Foods. Analysts at Liberum have upgraded their view on the firm to a 'buy', with a share price target of 27 the shares are currently priced at just over 23. Liberum's Adam Tomlinson describes Primark's online competition as a 'manageable threat'. Investment funds for the shopping basket Plenty of investment funds have exposure to retail stocks. Jason Hollands, a director of wealth manager Tilney, likes AXA Framlington UK Mid Cap. Its top ten holdings include stakes in Dunelm and Pets at Home. Hollands also rates Jupiter Income, a fund focused on identifying cheap shares with recovery potential. Among its key holdings is retailer Kingfisher, owner of brands such as Screwfix and B&Q. Investment fund Fidelity Special Situations has stakes in Inchcape, Halfords and Kingfisher all bought last year and also has a holding in Dixons Carphone. For those who prefer online retail, Hollands suggests Jupiter UK Mid Cap, which has big stakes in Boohoo and Asos. The Peoples Committee of Lam Dong Province, in collaboration with Novaland Group -- a prominent real estate investment and development firm in Vietnam, on Friday launched the planting of 50 million trees for a five-year period in order to increase the green coverage in the Central Highlands province. The 50 million trees will contribute five percent to the Vietnamese governments campaign of planting one billion trees. Lam Dongs scheme is meant to increase the provinces green coverage by two percentage points to more than 55 percent from now to 2025. In the urban area alone, the green coverage is expected to soar by 70 percent to hit the target of building a forest in a city, a city in a forest in accordance to the vision designed for Da Lat -- the capital city of Lam Dong. Of the 50 million trees, 30 percent will be planted on empty forest land while the other 70 percent will cover vacant slots for public landscape in urban areas, according to Nguyen Van Son, director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Members of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union's division in Lam Dong Province plant a tree at the launching ceremony of a mass planting project, Vietnam, April 23, 2021. Photo: Duc Tho / Tuoi Tre The planted trees include 9.77 million trees for urban landscape greenery, 6.95 million forest trees and 33.28 million shade trees, Son said. Specifically, 280,000 cherry-like apricot trees will be planted in many locations in Da Lat City and its vicinity. Son also hailed the planting scheme as it will greatly expand the green space for the areas of living, business, tourism and relaxation in the province. A bird's eye view of blooming cherry-like apricot trees in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, April 23, 2021. Photo: Duc Tho / Tuoi Tre Likewise, Van Ngoc Thinh, country director for the World Wildlife Fun - Vietnam, praised that the planting project would help deal with the actual situation in Da Lat, which is facing a lack of urban greenery. On the launching ceremony of the project, Novaland Group also announced a grant of VND11 billion (US$478,450) for the local tree planting activity, becoming the very first sponsor for the five-year project. Its a pleasure of Novaland Group and our members to lend a hand and accompany Lam Dong Province, said Bui Xuan Huy, general director of Novaland Group. Forest protection officials plant a tree at the launching ceremony of a mass planting project, Vietnam, April 23, 2021. Photo: Duc Tho / Tuoi Tre According to Huy, scholarships will be provided to the children of those involved in the tree planting scheme. The VND11-billion sponsored by Novaland Group accounts for 22 percent of a total of VND50 billion ($2.17 million) that, Lam Dong chairman Tran Van Hiep said, needs to fund the planting. The provincial authorities also plan to mobilize more resources from donors, using official development assistance (ODA) loans, and incorporating public investment programs of the state for the project in the future, according to Hiep. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The League of Women Voters of the Harrisburg Area (LWVHA) conducted a Candidates Forum for the PA 48th Senatorial District on Tuesday, April 20. PennLive had a very informative article about this Forum on April 21. However, the article was then updated by Mr. Christopher Gebhards response regarding his absence from this forum in which he stated that he had a conflict for that night. Mr. Gebhard is the Republican candidate for the 48th District. LWVHA invited all four candidates running for this vacant seat to participate in a Forum, and we asked each to provide dates they were available during the week of April 12. Three of the four responded, but Mr. Gebhard did not respond. Then we asked for availability the week of April 19. Again three candidates responded, but Mr. Gebhard did not. LWVHA then selected a date suitable to the three candidates who replied. LWVHA would gladly have selected a date that suited Mr. Gebhards schedule if he had contacted us to discuss his availability. In that he never contacted us, it was impossible for us to select a date to suit his schedule. Our League very much wanted all four candidates to present their views to the public. The League of Women Voters does not support or oppose any candidate or political party. Our purpose is to provide non-partisan information to the voters so that they can make informed decisions when they cast their ballots. We regret that Mr. Gebhard did not communicate with us to enable us to choose a time for the forum that was suitable to him and the other three candidates. I want to be very clear that the League of Women Voters tried very hard to have Mr. Gebhard participate. Shirley McCormick President, League of Women Voters of the Harrisburg Area. They have been enjoying several meals out recently after outdoor dining returned in England. And Trinny Woodall looked effortlessly chic as she joined her partner Charles Saatchi for lunch at their favourite restaurant Scott's in Mayfair, London, on Saturday. The presenter, 57, looked effortlessly chic as she stepped out with the founder of M&C Saatchi, 77, at the upscale eatery with friends. Chic: Trinny Woodall looked effortlessly chic as she joined her partner Charles Saatchi for lunch at their favourite restaurant Scott's in Mayfair, London, on Saturday Trinny wowed in a cream tailored longline coat which she teamed with a matching coloured midi skirt which was adorned with delicate embroidered detailing. Adding some finishing touches, the This Morning star opted for a high-neck white ruffled top and stylish trainers. Trinny accessorised her ensemble with beige sunglasses and a white leather handbag for her lunch. The fashionista styled her brunette locks into a blow-dried hairdo, she added a slick of radiant make-up. Lunch: The presenter, 57, looked effortlessly chic as she stepped out with the founder of M&C Saatchi, 77, at the upscale eatery with friends Sophisticated: Trinny wowed in a cream tailored longline coat which she teamed with a matching coloured midi skirt which was adorned with delicate embroidered detailing Elsewhere, the founder of M&C Saatchi looked equally as stylish in a blue tailored trouser suit with a crisp white shirt underneath and matching waistcoat. The couple, who are regulars at the swanky seafood restaurant, were seen enjoying their meal at an outdoor table with friends. Trinny and Saatchi have been dating since 2013, following the businessman's divorce from celebrity chef Nigella Lawson. Stylish: Elsewhere, the founder of M&C Saatchi looked equally as stylish in a blue tailored trouser suit with a crisp white shirt underneath and matching waistcoat Details: Trinny accessorised her ensemble with beige sunglasses and a white leather handbag for her lunch Earlier this month, Trinny shared her worries after losing a clump of hair in the shower but didn't give a specific reason why. Yet only recently, the star discussed her recent hair loss, admitting it was caused by an unfortunate combination of COVID-19 and stress. The stylist contracted the potentially deadly virus three-months-ago and revealed she is now taking supplements and seeking the advice of a trichologist to understand the link between hair loss and COVID. Outing: The fashionista styled her brunette locks into a blow-dried hairdo, she added a slick of radiant make-up Trichology is the study of diseases or problems related to the hair and scalp and was founded in 1902. According to Sky News, nearly a quarter of Covid sufferers will experience hair loss within six months of contracting the illness, with women at a higher risk. Research into long-term symptoms in Wuhan, China, discovered that 359 out of 1,655 hospital patients who had the virus suffered from hair loss. Recently I attended a graduation ceremony at the Victoria Police Academy. It was interesting to cast an eye over the list of previous occupations of the 22 men and women who passed out of the Academy that day. Mechanical fitter, chemical transfer safety specialist, systems engineer and child and family case manager were among the former occupations listed in the graduation booklet. The average age was around 30. A matter of trust: Graduating recruits at the Victoria Police Academy chapel. Credit:Craig Abraham This situation is not unique to police recruits by any means. The background stories of those who strive to achieve their ambitions in any field provide fascinating insights into the way in which individuals explore meaning, discover who they are and often risk financial insecurity in the process. Theres something deeply moving about witnessing such a ceremony. These occasions take many forms and reflect a wide diversity of interests and gifts. They are ritual moments in which the future is at the graduates feet. Just how many CSO obligations has conductor Riccardo Muti missed? You'd be surprised how few. Take a look at the maestro's track record. Manitoba church fined $10K for violating COVID-19 gathering rules; 2 restaurants fined $5K Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A church in the Canadian province of Manitoba was fined $10,000 while two restaurants in the province each received fines of $5,000 in response to violating gathering restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. From April 12 to April 18, Christian Church of Morden received two fines, each totaling $5,000 for allegedly violating provincial lockdown orders. Flea Whiskey's in Winnipeg and Original Joe's Restaurant and Bar in Brandon were also fined $5,000 during that time, with 14 persons also fined $1,296 each for similar violations, CTV News Winnipeg reported Tuesday. The public is reminded that abusive and aggressive behaviour will not be tolerated, and criminal offences will be reported to police and investigated, stated province officials, according to CTV. On Easter Sunday, Christian Church of Morden held what local news media outlet The Winkler Morden Voice described as a full in-person service on Easter Sunday. In a statement posted online that has since been taken down, the church defended its decision to hold the service, arguing that it was not an act of rebellion or resentment towards our government but an earnest desire to minister to our society during this crisis. Churches have been a place of refuge for people in difficult times where they may receive help for spiritual, emotional and physical suffering, stated the church, as quoted by the Voice. At the moment, we find ourselves in a crisis, and, as a church, we are more than ever required to pray and have open doors for anyone looking for fellowship, help and support. Christian Church of Morden also stated that they were taking precautions, such as reminding our congregation not to attend church services if someone is sick and contagious. According to current provincial public health orders, updated on Monday, Manitoba prohibits gatherings of more than five people indoors and more than 10 people outdoors unless otherwise permitted. Houses of worship are permitted to hold regular worship services, provided they do not exceed 25% of the usual capacity of the premises or 50 persons, whichever is lower and follow public health guidelines like social distancing and wearing face masks. This Order does not prevent the premises of a church, mosque, synagogue, temple or other place of worship from being used by a public or private school or for the delivery of health care, child care or social services, continued the order. Last December, Christian Church of Morden was one of seven congregations to sign onto a lawsuit against the province, challenging the legality of the public health orders. The churches, along with a couple of restaurant owners and an attendee of a protest, were represented by the Calgary, Alberta-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. The lockdowns are devastating society on multiple socio-economic and constitutional levels, and harming the well-being of citizens, said Allison Pejovic, staff lawyer at JCCF, in a statement last year. It is past time that the constitutionality of these restrictions and prohibitions are adjudicated by a fair and impartial court that looks at facts and evidence.